Often
occurred to me; but I am not sure that I was quite of that opinion after
a fortnight's grazing upon spinach.
Tea and coffee were things of the past, the very idea of which made our
months water; but I found a species of wild thyme growing in the
jungles, and this when boiled formed a tolerable substitute for tea.
Sometimes our men procured a little wild honey, which added to the thyme
tea we considered a great luxury.
This wretched fare, in our exhausted state from fever and general
effects of climate, so completely disabled us that for nearly two months
my wife lay helpless on one angarep, and I upon the other. Neither of us
could walk. The hut was like all in Kamrasi's country, with a perfect
forest of thick poles to support the roof (I counted thirty-two); thus,
although it was tolerably large, there was but little accommodation.
These poles we now found very convenient, as we were so weak that we
could not rise from bed without lifting ourselves up by one of the
supports.
We were very nearly dead, and our amusement was a childish conversation
about the good things in England, and my idea of perfect happiness was
an English beefsteak and a bottle of pale ale; for such a luxury I would
most willingly have sold my birthright at that hungry moment. We were
perfect skeletons, and it was annoying to see how we suffered upon the
bad fare, while our men apparently throve. There were plenty of wild red
peppers, and the men seemed to enjoy a mixture of porridge and legumes a
la sauce piquante. They were astonished at my falling away on this food,
but they yielded to my argument when I suggested that a "lion would
starve where a donkey grew fat." I must confess that this state of
existence did not improve my temper, which, I fear, became nearly as
bitter as the porridge. My people had a windfall of luck, as Saat's ox,
that had lingered for a long time, lay down to die, and stretching
himself out, commenced kicking his last kick. The men immediately
assisted him by cutting his throat, and this supply of beef was a luxury
which, even in my hungry state, was not the English beefsteak for which
I sighed, and I declined the diseased bull.
The men made several long excursions through the country to purchase
provisions, but in two months they procured only two kids; the entire
country was deserted, owing to the war between Kamrasi and Fowooka.
Every day the boy Saat and the woman Bacheeta sallied out and conversed
with the inhabitants of the different islands on the river. Sometimes,
but very rarely, they returned with a fowl; such an event caused great
rejoicing.
We gave up all hope of Gondokoro, and were resigned to our fate. This,
we felt sure, was to be buried in Chopi, the name of our village. I
wrote instructions in my journal, in case of death, and told my headman
to be sure to deliver my maps, observations, and papers to the English
Consul at Khartoum. This was my only care, as I feared that all my labor
might be lost should I die. I had no fear for my wife, as she was quite
as bad as I, and if one should die the other would certainly follow; in
fact, this had been agreed upon, lest she should fall into the hands of
Kamrasi at my death. We had struggled to win, and I thanked God that we
had won. If death were to be the price, at all events we were at the
goal, and we both looked upon death rather as a pleasure, as affording
REST. There would be no more suffering, no fever, no long journey before
us, that in our weak state was an infliction. The only wish was to lay
down the burden. Curious is the warfare between the animal instincts and
the mind! Death would have been a release that I would have courted; but
I should have liked that one "English beefsteak and pale ale" before I
died!
During our misery of constant fever and starvation at Shooa Moru, insult
had been added to injury. There was no doubt that we had been thus
deserted by Kamrasi's orders, as every seven or eight days one of his
chiefs arrived and told me that the king was with his army only four
days' march from me, and that he was preparing to attack Fowooka, but
that he wished me to join him, as with my fourteen guns, we should win a
great victory. This treacherous conduct, after his promise to forward me
without delay to Shooa, enraged me exceedingly. We had lost the boats at
Gondokoro, and we were now nailed to the country for another year,
should we live, which was not likely. Not only had the brutal king thus
deceived us, but he was deliberately starving us into conditions, his
aim being that my men should assist him against his enemy. At one time
the old enemy tempted me sorely to join Fowooka against Kamrasi; but,
discarding the idea, generated in a moment of passion, I determined to
resist his proposals to the last. It was perfectly true that the king
was within thirty miles of us, that he was aware of our misery, and made
use of our extremity to force us to become his allies.
After more than two months passed in this distress it became evident
that something must be done. I sent my headman, or vakeel, and one man,
with a native as a guide (that Saat and Bacheeta had procured from an
island), with instructions to go direct to Kamrasi, to abuse him
thoroughly in my name for having thus treated us, and tell him that I
was much insulted at his treating with me through a third party in
proposing an alliance.
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