chap, xiil] CONFINED IN THE COUNTRY. 373 
to immediately return with the boats after having thus 
got rid of the incubus of their guests. 
We were in a great dilemma—had we been in good 
health, I would have forsaken everything but the guns 
and ammunition, and have marched direct to Gondo- 
koro on foot: but this was utterly impossible; neither 
my wife nor I could walk a quarter of a mile without 
fainting—there was no guide—and the country was 
now overgrown with impenetrable grass and tangled 
vegetation eight feet high;—we were in the midst of 
the rainy season;—not a day passed without a few hours 
of deluge—altogether it was a most heartbreaking 
position. Added to the distress of mind at being thus 
thwarted, there was also a great scarcity of provision. 
Many of my men were weak, the whole party having 
suffered much from fever—in fact, we were completely 
helpless. 
Our guide Rabonga, who had accompanied us from 
M rooli, had absconded, and we were left to shift for 
ourselves. I was determined not to remain on the 
island, as I suspected that the boats might be taken 
away, and that we should be kept prisoners; I there¬ 
fore ordered my men to take the canoes, and to ferry 
us to the main land, from whence we had come. The 
headman, upon hearing this order, offered to carry us 
to a village, and then to await orders from Kamrasi as 
to whether we were to be forwarded to Shooa or not. 
The district in which the island of Patooan was situ¬ 
ated was called Shooa Moru, although having no con¬ 
nexion with the Shooa in the Madi country to which 
we were bound. 
We were ferried across to the main shore, and both 
in our respective angareps were carried by the natives 
for about three miles, arriving at a deserted village, 
half of which was in ashes, having been burnt and 
plundered by the enemy; we were deposited on the 
ground in front of an old hut in the pouring rain, and 
were informed that we should remain there that night, 
