CHAP. IX.J 
BACHEETA, THE UN TORO ELATE. 
259 
Was it not worshipped by the ancients as the harbinger 
of the high Nile ? The existence of Lower Egypt 
depending upon the annual inundation, the rise of the 
river was observed with general anxiety. The beetle ap¬ 
pears at the commencement of the rise in the river level, 
and from its great size and extraordinary activity in 
clearing the earth from all kinds of ordure, its presence 
is remarkable. Appearing at the season of the flood, 
may not the ancients have imagined some connexion 
between the beetle and the river, and have considered 
it sacred as the harbinger of the inundation ? 
“ There is a wild bean in this country, the blossom 
of which has a delicious perfume of violets. I regret 
that I have not a supply of paper for botanical speci¬ 
mens, as many beautiful flowers appeared at the 
commencement of the rains. Few thorns and no gums 
form a strong contrast to the Soudan, where nearly 
every tree and shrub is armed.” 
“Aug. 13 th .—I had a long examination of a slave 
woman, Bacheeta, belonging to one of Koorshid’s men. 
She had been sent two years ago by the king, Kamrasi, 
from Unyoro, as a spy among the traders, with orders 
to attract them to the country if appearances were 
favourable, but to return with a report should they be 
dangerous people. 
“ On her arrival at Faloro, Debono’s people captured 
her, and she was eventually sold to her present owner. 
She speaks Arabic, having learnt it from the traders’ 
people. She declares that Magungo, the place of which 
I have heard so much, is only four days’ hard marching 
for a native, direct from Faloro, but eight days’ for 
the Turks; and that it is equi-distant from Faloro 
and from Kamrasi’s capital in Unyoro. She had heard 
of the Luta N’zige, as reported to Speke, but she knew 
it only by the name of ‘ Kara-wootan-N’zige.’ 
“ She corroborated the accounts I had formerly re¬ 
ceived, of large boats arriving with Arabs at Magungo, 
and she described the lake as a c white sheet as far as 
the eye could reach.’ She particularized it as a pecu- 
S 2 
