214 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
was hailed with acclamations ; wet garments and other saturated 
things were spread out to dry : the powder had not escaped with- 
out some damage, trifling however. 
September \9th . — Left the kraal at 8.25 a.m., proceeded some 
distance in the punt ; those who marched were up to the waist in 
water; when this became too shallow for the boat, I carried my 
wife to her horse Luxor/^ and placed her in the saddle. Allowed 
the air to escape from punt, doubled it up, and gave it to a porter ; 
I then mounted Arab,^^ and we went on. Rain now falling, at first 
gently, then heavily, continuing until our first halt, at 11.20. A 
long and weary march for my feeble wife, through water always, 
grass, sharp cutting, closing over our heads ; sometimes the horses 
floundered in elephant tracks. A second brief halt, on ant-hills 
some thirty or forty feet in diameter. Our route now lay through 
an open forest, choked with high grass and inundated, the water 
clear, and the sandy bottom rendered the marching less wearying. 
A deliciously fragrant white water-lily was in abundance. 
At 2.15 p.m. bivouacked in a deserted kraal, where we deter- 
mined to pass the night. I was fortunate in bagging a large goose, 
and Carlo still more so, as he shot an ostrich. Rires were quickly 
lighted, and all rejoiced in the prospect of having, by way of a 
change, a good dinner : the flesh of the ostrich is delicate in flavour, 
and not unlike veal. The huts of the village Angwan, in the 
Atwat territory, were visible, but the inhabitants did not approach 
us. Some of our porters were sent to barter beads for grain, and 
returned, in three hours, with a few calabashes containing dourra. 
These convenient vessels are formed of dried gourds ; cut in half, 
they represent a basin without a base, and when containing any 
liquid not intended for immediate use, are suspended in a net-work 
