PREFACE 
It was Dr. Spruce's intention to leave all his 
manuscripts and notes to Mr. Daniel Hanbury, 
as stated in one of his letters to that gentleman ; 
but the unexpected death of his friend, and his own 
occupations together with his continuous ill-health, 
led him, apparently, to give up all expectation of 
his Journals being published. He knew that I 
was fully occupied with work of my own, and 
probably did not like to ask me to undertake so 
great a task ; especially as he was quite aware 
that much of his writings were of a fragmentary 
nature, and so full of contractions as to be some- 
times, in his own words, " hieroglyphic," and that it 
would be impossible for any one but himself to 
properly combine and fully utilise them. 
Shortly after Spruce's death, I offered to do 
what I could to put together a narrative of his 
travels from his Journals and letters, if, on examina- 
tion of the materials, it seemed possible to do so. 
His executor, Mr. M. B. Slater, was anxious that 
I should undertake the duties of a literary executor ; 
but, partly owing to both of us being fully occupied 
with our own affairs, it was only after a delay of 
eleven years that I was able to begin the preparation 
of the present volumes. 
The first eight chapters of Spruce's proposed 
V 
