148 
THE MARCH. 
[chap. IV* 
their belts and cartouche boxes, and prepare for the 
start. The animals were loaded, and we moved slowly 
forward at 4.30 p.m. The country was lovely. The 
mountain of Belignan, although not exceeding 1,200 
feet, is a fine mass of gneiss and syenite, ornamented 
in the hollows with fine trees, while the general ap¬ 
pearance of the country at the base was that of a 
beautiful English park well timbered and beautified 
with distant mountains. We had just started with 
the Bari guide that I had engaged at Belignan, when 
we were suddenly joined by two of the Latookas whom 
I had seen when at G-ondokoro, and to whom I had been 
very civil. It appeared that these fellows, who were 
acting as porters to the Turks, had been beaten, and 
had therefore absconded and joined me. This was 
extraordinary good fortune, as I now had guides the 
whole way to Latooka, about ninety miles distant. I 
immediately gave them each a copper bracelet and 
some beads, and they very good-naturedly relieved the 
camels of one hundred pounds of copper rings, which 
they carried in two baskets on their heads. 
We now crossed the broad dry bed of a torrent, and 
the banks being steep, a considerable time was occupied 
in assisting the loaded animals in their descent. The 
donkeys were easily aided, their tails being held by 
two men, while they shuffled and slid down the sandy 
