An Evil Spirit Possessed The
Man, And He Bolted Off With Some Of The Camel Men Who Were
Returning To Geera With Dried Meat.*
* Some months afterwards he found his way to Khartoum,
where he was imprisoned by the Governor for having
deserted.
He subsequently engaged himself as a soldier
in a slave-hunting expedition on the White Nile; and
some years later, on our return from the Albert N'yanza,
we met him in Shooa, on 3 degrees north latitude. He
had repented--hardships and discipline had effected a
change--and, like the prodigal son, he returned. I
forgave him, and took him with us to Khartoum, where
we left him a sadder but a wiser man. He had many near
relations during his long journey, all of whom had
stolen some souvenir of their cousin, and left him
almost naked. He also met Achmet, his "mothers brother's
cousin's sister's mother's son," who turned up after
some years at Gondokoro as a slave-hunter; he had
joined an expedition, and, like all other blackguards,
he had chosen the White Nile regions for his career.
He was the proprietor of twenty slaves, he had assisted
in the murder of a number of unfortunate negroes, and
he was a prosperous and respectable individual.
Our great loss was Barrake. She had persisted in eating the fruit
of the hegleek, although she had suffered from dysentery upon
several occasions. She was at length attacked with congestion of
the liver. My wife took the greatest care of her, and for weeks
she had given her the entire produce of the goats, hoping that
milk would keep up her strength; but she died after great
suffering, and we buried the poor creature, and moved our camp.
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