not too deep for them, breast and chin deep, and Hassani fell and hurt
himself sorely in a hole. The people have goats and sheep, and love them
as they do children.
[Fairly baffled by the difficulties in his way, and sorely troubled by
the demoralised state of his men, who appear not to have been proof
against the contaminating presence of the Arabs, the Doctor turns back
at this point.]
_6th July, 1870._--Back to Mamohela, and welcomed by the Arabs, who all
approved of my turning back. Katomba presented abundant provisions for
all the way to Bambarre. Before we reached this, Mohamad made a forced
march, and Moene-mokaia's people came out drunk: the Arabs assaulted
them, and they ran off.
_23rd July, 1870._--The sores on my feet now laid me up as
irritable-eating ulcers. If the foot were put to the ground, a discharge
of bloody ichor flowed, and the same discharge happened every night with
considerable pain, that prevented sleep: the wailing of the slaves
tortured with these sores is one of the night sounds of a slave-camp:
they eat through everything--muscle, tendon, and bone, and often lame
permanently if they do not kill the poor things. Medicines have very
little effect on such wounds: their periodicity seems to say that they
are allied to fever. The Arabs make a salve of bees'-wax and sulphate of
copper, and this applied hot, and held on by a bandage affords support,
but the necessity of letting the ichor escape renders it a painful
remedy: I had three ulcers, and no medicine. The native plan of support
by means of a stiff leaf or bit of calabash was too irritating, and so
they continued to eat in and enlarge in spite of everything: the
vicinity was hot, and the pain increased with the size of the wound.
_2nd August, 1870._--An eclipse at midnight: the Moslems called loudly
on Moses. Very cold.
On _17th August, 1870,_ Monanyembe, the chief who was punished by
Mohamad Bogharib, lately came bringing two goats; one he gave to
Mohamad, the other to Moenekuss' son, acknowledging that he had killed
his elder brother: he had killed eleven persons over at Linamo in our
absence, in addition to those killed in villages on our S.E. when we
were away. It transpired that Kandahara, brother of old Moenekuss, whose
village is near this, killed three women and a child, and that a trading
man came over from Kasangangaye, and was murdered too, for no reason but
to eat his body. Mohamad ordered old Kandahara to bring ten g
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