"Touch him with your stick," cried one of my
men; and acting upon the suggestion, the old sorcerer gave him a
tremendous whack with his staff.
This was immediately responded to by
Tetel, who, quite unused to such eccentricities, gave a vigorous kick,
the effect of which was to convert the sorcerer into a spread eagle,
flying over his head, and landing very heavily upon the ground, amidst a
roar of laughter from my men, in which I am afraid Mrs. Baker was rude
enough to join. The crest-fallen Katchiba was assisted upon his legs,
and feeling rather stunned, he surveyed the horse with great
astonishment; but his natural instincts soon prompted him to call for
the jar of beer, and after a long draught from the mighty cup, he
regained his courage, and expressed an opinion that the horse was "too
high, as it was a long way to tumble down;" he therefore requested one
of the "little horses;" these were the donkeys. Accordingly he was
mounted on a donkey, and held on by two men, one on either side. Thus he
started most satisfactorily and exceedingly proud. On his return the
following day, he said that the villagers had given him the fowls
immediately, as he had told them that he had thirty Turks staying with
him on a visit, and that they would burn and plunder the country unless
they were immediately supplied. He considered this trifling deviation
from fact as a great stroke of diplomacy in procuring the fowls.
Six days after the loss of my horse, I was delighted to see him brought
back by the natives safe and well. They had hunted through an immense
tract of country, and had found him grazing. He was naturally a most
vicious horse, and the natives were afraid to touch him; they had
accordingly driven him before them until they gained the path, which he
then gladly followed. The saddle was in its place, but my sword was
gone.
The rains were terrific; the mornings were invariably fine, but the
clouds gathered upon the mountains soon after noon and ended daily in a
perfect deluge. Not being able to proceed south, I determined to return
to my head-quarters at Latooka, and to wait for the dry season. I had
made the reconnaissance to Farajoke, in latitude 3 degrees 32', and I
saw my way clear for the future, provided my animals should remain in
good condition. Accordingly, on the 21st of May, we started for Latooka
in company with Ibrahim and his men, who were thoroughly sick of the
Obbo climate.
Before parting, a ceremony had to be performed by Katchiba. His brother
was to be our guide, and he was to receive power to control the elements
as deputy-magician during the journey, lest we should be wetted by the
storms, and the torrents should be so swollen as to be impassable.
With great solemnity Katchiba broke a branch from a tree, upon the
leaves of which he spat in several places.
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