CHAP. II.] 
A BOY SHOT. 
95 
ridding the traders from a spy. A boy was sitting 
upon the gunwale of one of the boats, when a bullet 
suddenly struck him in the head, shattering the skull 
to atoms. No one had done it. The body fell into 
the water, and the fragments of the skull were scat¬ 
tered on the deck. 
After a few days detention at Gondokoro, I saw 
unmistakable signs of discontent among my men, who 
had evidently been tampered with by the different 
traders’ parties. One evening several of the most dis¬ 
affected came to me with a complaint that they had 
not enough meat, and that they must be allowed to 
make a razzia upon the cattle of the natives to procure 
some oxen. This demand being of course refused, 
they retired, muttering in an insolent manner their 
determination of stealing cattle with or without my 
permission. I said nothing at the time, but early on 
the following morning I ordered the drum to beat, and 
the men to fall in. I made them a short address, 
reminding them of the agreement made at Khartoum 
to follow me faithfully, and of the compact that had 
been entered into, that they were neither to indulge in 
slave-hunting nor in cattle-stealing. The only effect 
of my address was a great outbreak of insolence on 
the part of the ringleader of the previous evening. 
This fellow, named Eesur, was an Arab, and his imper- 
