Not only were the animals sick, but my wife was laid up with a violent
attack of gastric fever, and I was also suffering from daily attacks of
ague. The small- pox broke out among the Turks. Several people died,
and, to make matters worse, they insisted upon inoculating themselves
and all their slaves; thus the whole camp was reeking with this horrible
disease.
Fortunately my camp was separate and to windward. I strictly forbade my
men to inoculate themselves, and no case of the disease occurred among
my people; but it spread throughout the country. Small-pox is a scourge
among the tribes of Central Africa, and it occasionally sweeps through
the country and decimates the population.
I had a long examination of Wani, the guide and interpreter, respecting
the country of Magungo. Loggo, the Bari interpreter, always described
Magungo as being on a large river, and I concluded that it must be the
Asua; but upon cross-examination I found he used the word "Bahr" (in
Arabic signifying river or sea) instead of "Birbe (lake). This important
error being discovered gave a new feature to the geography of this part.
According to his description, Magungo was situated on a lake so large
that no one knew its limits. Its breadth was such that, if one journeyed
two days east and the same distance west, there was no land visible on
either quarter, while to the south its direction was utterly unknown.
Large vessels arrived at Magungo from distant arid unknown parts,
bringing cowrie-shells and beads in exchange for ivory. Upon these
vessels white men had been seen. All the cowrie-shells used in Latooka
and the neighboring countries were supplied by these vessels, but none
had arrived for the last two years.
I concluded the lake was no other than the N'yanza, which, if the
position of Mangungo were correct, extended much farther north than
Speke had supposed. I determined to take the first opportunity to push
for Magungo. The white men spoken of by Wani probably referred to Arabs,
who, being simply brown, were called white men by the blacks. I was
called a VERY WHITE MAN as a distinction; but I have frequently been
obliged to take off my shirt to exhibit the difference of color between
myself and men, as my face had become brown.
The Turks had set June 23d as the time for their departure from Latooka.
On the day preceding my wife was dangerously ill with bilious fever, and
was unable to stand, and I endeavored to persuade the trader's party to
postpone their departure for a few days. They would not hear of such a
proposal; they had so irritated the Latookas that they feared an attack,
and their captain or vakeel, Ibrahim, had ordered them immediately to
vacate the country.
