chap, ii.] REPORTS OF SPEKE AND GRANT. 61 
that these men had wonderful fireworks ; that both had 
been very ill, and that one had died. 
It was in vain that I endeavoured to obtain some 
further clue to this exciting report. There was a 
rumour that some native had a piece of wood with 
marks upon it that had belonged to the white men; 
but upon inquiry I found that this account was only a 
report given by some distant tribe. Nevertheless, I 
attached great importance to the rumour, as there was 
no white man south of Gondokoro engaged in the 
ivory trade ; therefore there was a strong probability 
that the report had some connexion with the existence 
of Speke and Grant. I had heard, when in Khartoum, 
that the most advanced trading station was about 
fifteen days’ march from Gondokoro, and my plan of 
operations had always projected a direct advance to 
that station, where I had intended to leave all my 
heavy baggage in depot, and to proceed from thence as 
a “point de depart ” to the south. I now understood 
that the party were expected to arrive at Gondokoro 
from that station with ivory in a few days, and I 
determined to wait for their arrival, and to return with 
them in company. Their ivory porters returning, 
might carry my baggage, and thus save the backs of 
my transport animals. 
I accordingly amused myself at Gondokoro, exer¬ 
cising my horses in riding about the neighbourhood, 
and studying the place and people. 
The native dwellings are the perfection of cleanli¬ 
ness ; the domicile of each family is surrounded by a 
hedge of the impenetrable euphorbia, and the interior 
of the inclosure generally consists of a yard neatly 
plastered with a cement of ashes, cow-dung, and 
sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface are one or 
more huts surrounded by granaries of neat wicker¬ 
work, thatched, resting upon raised platforms. The 
huts have projecting roofs in order to afford a 
shade, and the entrance is usually about two feet 
high. 
