BEWARE OF BOTANISTS! 
[chap, viit. 
22^ 
in the jungles for something esculent. We were 
in a deep gorge on a steep knoll bounded by a 
ravine about sixty feet of perpendicular depth, at the 
bottom of which flowed a torrent. This was an excel¬ 
lent spot for a camp, as no guards were necessary upon 
the side thus protected. Bordering the ravine were 
a., number of fine trees covered with a thorny stem 
creeper, with leaves much resembling those of a species 
of yam. These were at once pronounced by Ibrahimawa 
to be a perfect god-send, and after a few minutes 
grubbing lie produced a basketful of fine-looking yams. 
In an instant this display of food attracted a crowd of 
hungry people, including those of Ibrahim and my own 
men, who, not being botanists, had left the search for 
food to Ibrahimawa, but who determined to share the 
tempting results. A rush was made at his basket, 
which was emptied on the instant; and I am sorry to 
confess that the black angel Saat was one of the first 
to; seize .three or four of the largest yams, which he 
most unceremoniously put in a pot and deliberately 
cooked them as though he had been the botanical 
discoverer. How often the original discoverer suffers, 
while others benefit from his labours ! Ibrahimawa, 
the scientific botanist, was left without a yam, after all 
his labour of grubbing up a basketful. Pots were 
boiling in all directions, and a feast in store for the 
hungry men who had marched twenty miles without 
eating since the morning. The yams were cooked; 
but I did not like the look of them, and seeing that 
the multitude were ready, I determined to reserve a 
few for our own eating should they be generally pro¬ 
nounced good. The men ate them voraciously. Hardly 
ten minutes had elapsed from the commencement of 
the feast when first one and then another disappeared, 
and from a distance I heard a smothered but unmistake- 
able sound, that reminded me of the lurching effect of a 
channel steamer upon a crowd of passengers. Pre¬ 
sently the boy Saat showed symptoms, of distress, and 
vanished from our presence; and all those that had 
