CHAP. IX.] 
ARRIVE AGAIN AT OREO. 
373 
On arrival at my former hut I found a great change; 
the grass was at least ten feet high, and my little camp 
was concealed in the rank vegetation. Old Katchiba 
came to meet us, but brought nothing, as he said the 
Turks had eaten up the country. An extract from 
my journal, dated July 1, explains the misery of our 
position. 
“This Obbo country is now a land of starvation. 
The natives refuse do supply provision for beads ; nor 
will they barter anything unless in exchange for flesh. 
This is the curse that the Turks have brought upon 
the country by stealing cattle and throwing them 
away wholesale. We have literally nothing to eat 
except tullaboon, a small bitter grain used in lieu of 
corn by the natives: there is no game ; if it existed, 
shooting would be impossible, as the grass is impenetra¬ 
ble. I hear that the Turks intend to make a razzia on 
the Shoggo country near Farajoke; thus they will stir 
up a wasp's nest for me wherever I go, and render it 
impossible for my small party to proceed alone, or 
even to remain in peace. I shall be truly thankful to 
quit this abominable land ; in my experience I never 
saw such scoundrels as Africa produces—the natives of 
the Soudan being worse than all. It is impossible to 
make a servant of any of these people; the apathy, 
indolence, dishonesty combined with dirtiness, are 
