388 
JOURNAL OF THE EMBASSY 
bodies streaming with blood, Oa taking off my gloves and 
boots I found that I had not escaped, for what I had taken 
to be nothing more than excessive perspiration, now turned 
out to be the effects of these leeches. The officers and men 
employed in clearing the jungles presented an appearance ab- 
solutely shocking, as they seemed to be completely covered 
with blood. Nor was it possible by any precaution to prevent 
the attacks of the leeches, owing to the immense multitudes 
of them which swarmed among the bushes and the grass. 
The Dutch always said they were one of the w r orst enemies 
they had to encounter. The only serious accident which 
occurred to us on this day’s march was one of the Europeans 
being struck with a coup de soldi , which rendered him for 
some hours delirious. It was impossible to avoid the heat 
by marching before sun-rise, as the rain which fell the pre- 
ceding day had so completely drenched our tents that we 
were forced to remain till the morning sun had sufficiently 
dried them. The guns besides could not be conveyed without 
day -light through the shocking roads we were obliged to 
pass. 
On our march we had several beautiful and picturesque 
views of the country, which presented a charming variety of 
thickly wooded hills, intersected with delightful valleys. 
The grove where we encamped was about two miles in cir- 
cumference, being bounded on the West by a large, deep, 
and rapid branch of the Malivagonga, while in front towards 
Ruanelli, another branch ran in a south-east direction, winding 
3 
