Thieves", who was close to me, carrying
his knapsack on his back, his rifle slung across his shoulders, and a
box of 500 snider cartridges (64 lbs.) upon his head, walked up to me
during the halt and reported himself as badly wounded.
A spear had struck him obliquely in the posterior, and had taken a
direction towards the groin. The nian was literally bathed in blood,
which ran from him in such a stream that a large pool was formed at his
feet as he stood before me.
The instant that the box of snider ammunition was taken from his head,
he fell apparently lifeless to the ground.
I thought that he had bled to death.
His rifle and knapsack were removed, and I examined his pulse and heart!
I could not feel any movement. All I could do was to pour some brandy
very slowly down his throat, and to leave him on the side of the path as
another good man lost to the expedition.
We marched forward, and in about ten minutes we arrived at an open field
of sweet potatoes. The change from dark jungle and dense grasses of
giant height to the fresh and clear space cannot be understood, unless
by those who experienced the difficulties of the march.
I halted the advance-guard in the centre of the open field, and waited
for the rear to close up.
As it arrived, I saw a man staggering forward, supported by two
soldiers. Upon nearer approach, I recognized my strong friend, Faddul,
thus risen front the dead! The brandy had revived him sufficiently to
show some signs of life, and the rear-guard had thus brought him along
with them. We laid him down to rest beneath a tree that grew in the
middle of the cultivation.
We were now in a sad difficulty. There were numerous roads, or rather
very narrow paths, which converged from all quarters upon this potato
ground. No one knew the direction. The Baris were completely at fault.
The farther the people explored the immediate neighbourhood, the more
helpless they became.
This was a serious matter. Up to the present time we had been most
fortunate in keeping to the right path.
I now called my renowned pathfinder, Abdullah, of "The Forty".
Abdullah made a survey of the surrounding tracks, and then returned to
me with the news that he had discovered the route. This he immediately
pointed out.
A general exclamation of derision from the officers and many of the men
was the only reward Abdullah received for his important discovery, as
his path was in quite an opposite direction to the route they had
anticipated.
The compass corroborated Abdullah's road, but before I adopted it, I
asked him why he declared so positively that he knew the way? He
replied, that when on the march from Foweera, he had observed a
peculiarly-shaped tree, upon which was fastened a native cojoor, or
spell.
