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.
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