My Wife Was Dangerously Ill With
Bilious Fever, And Was Unable To Stand, And I Endeavoured To Persuade
The Traders' Party To Postpone Their Departure For A Few Days.
They
would not hear of such a proposal; they had so irritated the Latookas
that they feared an attack, and their captain, or vakeel, Ibrahim, had
ordered them immediately to vacate the country.
This was a most awkward
position for me. The traders had induced the hostility of the country,
and I should bear the brunt of it should I remain behind alone. Without
their presence I should be unable to procure porters, as the natives
would not accompany my feeble party, especially as I could offer them no
other payment but beads or copper. The rains had commenced within the
last few days at Latooka, and on the route towards Obbo we should
encounter continual storms. We were to march by a long and circuitous
route to avoid the rocky passes that would be dangerous in the present
spirit of the country, especially as the traders possessed large herds
that must accompany the party. They allowed five days' march for the
distance to Obbo by the intended route. This was not an alluring
programme for the week's entertainment, with my wife almost in a dying
state! However, I set to work, and fitted an angarep with arched hoops
from end to end, so as to form a frame like the cap of a wagon. This I
covered with two waterproof Abyssinian tanned hides securely strapped;
and lashing two long poles parallel to the sides of the angarep, I
formed an excellent palanquin.
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