CHAP. XII.] 
UNHEALTHY CLIMATE. 
339 
him upon reaching the lake ; he took his departure, 
agreeing to meet us at Magungo with our oxen, and to 
have porters in readiness to convey us direct to Shooa. 
On the following morning not one of our party could 
rise from the ground. Thirteen men, the hoy Saat, 
four women, and we ourselves, were all down with 
fever. The air was hot and close, and the country 
frightfully unhealthy. The natives assured us that all 
strangers suffered in a similar manner, and that no 
one could live at Yacovia without repeated attacks of 
fever. 
The delay in supplying the boats was most annoy¬ 
ing ; every hour was precious; and the lying natives 
deceived us in every manner possible, delaying us 
purposely in the hope of extorting beads. 
The latitude of Yacovia was 1° 15' N.; longitude 
E. 30° 50'. My farthest southern point on the road 
from Mrooli was latitude 1° 13'. We were now to 
turn our faces towards the north, and every day's 
journey would bring us nearer home. But where was 
home ? As I looked at the map of the world, and at 
the little red spot that represented old England far, 
far away, and then gazed on the wasted form and 
haggard face of my wife and at my own attenuated 
frame, I hardly dared hope for home again. We had 
now been three years ever toiling onwards, and 
having completed the exploration of all the Abyssinian 
affluents of the Nile, in itself an arduous undertaking, 
we were now actually at the Nile head. We had 
neither health nor supplies, and the great journey lay 
all before us. 
Notwithstanding my daily entreaties that boats 
might be supplied without delay, eight days were 
passed at Vacovia, during which time the whole party 
suffered more or less from fever. At length canoes 
were reported to have arrived, and I was requested 
to inspect them. They were merely single trees neatly 
hollowed out, but very inferior in size to the large 
canoes on the Nile at MTooli. The largest boat was 
