78 
TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. 
most eloquently. We were but two or three gathered together, and 
we could hardly restrain our feelings when, for the first time in 
this strange land, we heard our own prayers from those ordained 
to deliver them, and when the voices in unison rose in a simple, 
touching hymn, I am afraid that some of us broke down. 
Abderachman, the agent who had been accompanied by the 
Neam Neams to Khartoum, rejoiced in two wives: one of them, 
the pretty Wangyo, had a bright little son, two years old, and an 
infant daughter. The other wife was a few years older than W angyo ; 
her countenance was very pleasing and her figure a little rounder ; 
she, too, had a baby daughter. The family lived together on the 
premises. 
One day Wangyo came running with her children to implore my 
protection. Abderachman, she said, had beaten her cruelly, and 
then the young wife, in her rage, poured forth a sad catalogue of 
the wrongs her husband had committed. 
Petherick, who trusted in the man, had not, from pressure of 
business, asked an account of Abderachman as to the merchandise 
entrusted to his care for a period extending over three years, and 
the value whereof was considerable. He now did so, as his con- 
fidence was shaken. Abderachman asked for a little longer delay, 
as his accounts were not ready. This was granted. The man 
acknowledging his harsh treatment of Wangyo, and promising to 
behave better, she returned to him. A fortnight or more passed 
away, and Wangyo^s boy died after a few days^ illness; a bitter 
grief to her. Abderachman felt it deeply ; he loved his child — so 
Petherick did not at the time press for a settlement of his accounts. 
The 2nd of March the Ramadan commenced, the Mahommedan 
month of fasting. At an early hour all the notabilities of the place 
