TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
1 71 
led by Jickwi, and had started at an early hour this morning. Ques- 
tioning him respecting our box of letters_, he said that several boxes 
of the same description had been carried on^ and thought that not 
one was then in the store ; they were of so portable a size that 
the negroes eagerly seized them in preference to more bulky loads. 
Sending on the porters^ to bring up the last of our party^ Mussaad 
remained with us. The rain abating^ preparations were made to 
inflate the India-rubber punt to convey us across a lagoon. The 
women and children now arrived^ all weary_, but not desponding. 
The horses swam, and Petherick paddled the loads across. The 
men forded and swam, supporting the women ; while we, the last 
to leave, took their children in the punt, the little ones screaming 
all the time. This water arises from the overflow of the Nile : it 
was vast. We heard the snort of a hippopotamus, and saw him 
not far from the boat, and I dreaded lest he should make a dash 
at us. 
It was five p.m. ere all had reached the opposite shore, and then 
the march was resumed. The scene now became beautifully varied. 
Soon we were passing through a wood rich with creeping plants, 
climbers, and many lovely shrubs ; the path winding, the trees 
arching so low that we on horseback had to bend close to the 
horse^s neck to keep free of the branches. A luxuriant mimosa, 
with thorns from three to four inches in length, teased us much, 
tearing our clothes, and inflicting ugly scratches on the face — the 
only part unprotected. The dress I wore was practical : a short 
thick linsey petticoat, leather gaiters, strong boots, cloth jacket, 
leather gloves, and straw hat without a veil — that would soon have 
been torn ofi* ; round my waist was buckled a five-barrelled revolver 
pistol secured in a small pouch. This was the gift of Mr. Holland, 
of Bond Street, who with it wrote the following : 
