CHAP. VIII.] 
SICKNESS—SMALL-POX, 
347 
died in a few hours. Tetel had been out of condition 
ever since the day of his failure during the elephant 
hunt, and he now refused his food. Sickness rapidly 
spread through my animals; five donkeys died within 
a few days, and the remainder looked poor. Two of 
my camels died suddenly, having eaten the poison 
bush. Within a few days of this disaster my good 
old hunter and companion of all my former sports in 
the Base country, Tetel, died. These terrible blows 
to my expedition were most satisfactory to the La- 
tookas, who ate the donkeys and other animals the 
moment they died. It was a race between the natives 
and the vultures as to who should be first to profit by 
my losses. . 
Not only were the animals sick, but my wife was 
laid up with a violent attack of gastric fever, and I 
was also suffering from daily attacks of ague. The 
small-pox broke out among the Turks. Several people 
died; and, to make matters worse, they insisted upon 
inoculating themselves and all their slaves; thus the 
whole camp was reeking with this horrible disease. 
Fortunately my camp was separate and to wind¬ 
ward. I strictly forbade my men to inoculate them¬ 
selves, and no case of the disease occurred among my 
people, but it spread throughout the country. Small¬ 
pox is a scourge among the tribes of Central Africa, 
