The Stomach And Spleen Swelled Enormously, Giving Me,
For The First Time, An Appearance Which I Had Been Disposed To Laugh At
Among The Portuguese.
At Interra we met Senhor Asevedo,
a man who is well known by all who ever visited Kilimane,
and who was presented with a gold chronometer watch by the Admiralty
for his attentions to English officers.
He immediately tendered
his large sailing launch, which had a house in the stern.
This was greatly in my favor, for it anchored in the middle of the stream,
and gave me some rest from the mosquitoes, which in the whole of the delta
are something frightful. Sailing comfortably in this commodious launch
along the river of Kilimane, we reached that village (latitude 17d 53' 8" S.,
longitude 36d 40' E.) on the 20th of May, 1856, which wanted
only a few days of being four years since I started from Cape Town.
Here I was received into the house of Colonel Galdino Jose Nunes,
one of the best men in the country. I had been three years without hearing
from my family; letters having frequently been sent, but somehow or other,
with but a single exception, they never reached me. I received, however,
a letter from Admiral Trotter, conveying information of their welfare,
and some newspapers, which were a treat indeed. Her majesty's brig
the "Frolic" had called to inquire for me in the November previous,
and Captain Nolluth, of that ship, had most considerately left a case of wine;
and his surgeon, Dr. James Walsh, divining what I should need most,
left an ounce of quinine. These gifts made my heart overflow.
I had not tasted any liquor whatever during the time I had been in Africa;
but when reduced in Angola to extreme weakness, I found much benefit
from a little wine, and took from Loanda one bottle of brandy
in my medicine chest, intending to use it if it were again required;
but the boy who carried it whirled the box upside down,
and smashed the bottle, so I can not give my testimony
either in favor of or against the brandy.
But my joy on reaching the east coast was sadly imbittered by the news
that Commander MacLune, of H. M. brigantine "Dart", on coming in to Kilimane
to pick me up, had, with Lieutenant Woodruffe and five men,
been lost on the bar. I never felt more poignant sorrow.
It seemed as if it would have been easier for me to have died for them,
than that they should all be cut off from the joys of life
in generously attempting to render me a service. I would here acknowledge
my deep obligations to the Earl of Clarendon, to the admiral at the Cape,
and others, for the kind interest they manifested in my safety;
even the inquiries made were very much to my advantage. I also refer
with feelings of gratitude to the Governor of Mozambique for offering me
a passage in the schooner "Zambesi", belonging to that province;
and I shall never forget the generous hospitality of Colonel Nunes
and his nephew, with whom I remained.
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