Bacheeta their treacherous intention of placing us on the uninhabited
wilderness on the north side, and leaving us to die of hunger. They had
conspired together to land us, but to immediately return with the boats
after having thus got rid of the incubus of their guests.
We were in a great dilemma - had we been in good health, I would have
forsaken everything but the guns and ammunition, and have marched direct
to Gondokoro on foot: but this was utterly impossible; neither my wife
nor I could walk a quarter of a mile without fainting - there was no
guide - and the country was now overgrown with impenetrable grass and
tangled vegetation eight feet high; - we were in the midst of the rainy
season - not a day passed without a few hours of deluge; - altogether
it was a most heartbreaking position. Added to the distress of mind at
being thus thwarted, there was also a great scarcity of provision. Many
of my men were weak, the whole party having suffered much from fever -
in fact, we were completely helpless.
Our guide Rabonga, who had accompanied us from M'rooli, had absconded,
and we were left to shift for ourselves. I was determined not to remain
on the island, as I suspected that the boats might be taken away, and
that we should be kept prisoners; I therefore ordered my men to take the
canoes, and to ferry us to the mainland, from whence we had come. The
headman, upon hearing this order, offered to carry us to a village, and
then to await orders from Kamrasi as to whether we were to be forwarded
to Shooa or not. The district in which the island of Patooan was
situated was called Shooa Moru, although having no connexion with the
Shooa in the Madi country to which we were bound.
We were ferried across to the main shore, and both in our respective
angareps were carried by the natives for about three miles: arriving at
a deserted village, half of which was in ashes, having been burnt and
plundered by the enemy, we were deposited on the ground in front of an
old hut in the pouring rain, and were informed that we should remain
there that night, but that on the following morning we should proceed to
our destination.
Not trusting the natives, I ordered my men to disarm them, and to retain
their spears and shields as security for their appearance on the
following day. This effected, we were carried into a filthy hut about
six inches deep in mud, as the roof was much out of repair, and the
heavy rain had flooded it daily for some weeks. I had a canal cut
through the muddy floor, and in misery and low spirits we took
possession.
On the following morning not a native was present! We had been entirely
deserted; although I held the spears and shields, every man had
absconded - there were neither inhabitants nor provisions - the whole
country was a wilderness of rank grass that hemmed us in on all sides;
not an animal, nor even a bird, was to be seen; it was a miserable,
damp, lifeless country. We were on elevated ground, and the valley of
the Somerset was about two miles to our north, the river roaring
sullenly in its obstructed passage, its course marked by the double belt
of huge dark trees that grew upon its banks.
My men were naturally outrageous, and they proposed that we should
return to Patooan, seize the canoes, and take provisions by force, as we
had been disgracefully deceived. The natives had merely deposited us
here to get us out of the way, and in this spot we might starve. Of
course I would not countenance the proposal of seizing provisions, but I
directed my men to search among the ruined villages for buried corn, in
company with the woman Bacheeta, who, being a native of this country,
would be up to the ways of the people, and might assist in the
discovery.
After some hours passed in rambling over the black ashes of several
villages that had been burnt, they discovered a hollow place, by
sounding the earth with a stick, and, upon digging, they arrived at a
granary of the seed known as "tullaboon;" this was a great prize, as,
although mouldy and bitter, it would keep us from starving. The women of
the party were soon hard at work grinding, as many of the necessary
stones had been found among the ruins.
Fortunately there were three varieties of plants growing wild in great
profusion, that, when boiled, were a good substitute for spinach; thus
we were rich in vegetables, although without a morsel of fat or animal
food. Our dinner consisted daily of a mess of black porridge of bitter
mouldy flour, that no English pig would condescend to notice, and a
large dish of spinach. "Better a dinner of herbs where love is," &c.
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
mouths 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, 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.
