fter awhile his surviving comrades recovered the brave fellow's
body, and gave it honourable burial in the native fashion at the foot of
a patriarchal tree, on the trunk of which was cut a memorial
inscription.
Some days after this sad event, Miss Tinne ascended the river to
Heiligenkreuz, an Austrian missionary station. There she remained until
mid-September, making a short excursion into the interior; crossing
rivers, penetrating into swampy forests, and visiting villages inhabited
by a quite naked population, feeding upon bats, snakes, termites, and
raw roots.
As the voyagers drew near Gondokoro they observed that the scenery
assumed a grander character. The river-banks lay deep in the shadow of
luxuriant tropical forests, in the recesses of which the ruins of
ancient buildings were sometimes visible. Gondokoro, long regarded as
the _ne plus ultra_ of the Nile Valley, was reached on the 30th of
September. It proved to be the farthest limit of the African
explorations of our heroine. She ardently desired to advance; to share
some of the glory which crowns the names of Speke and Grant, Baker and
Petherick; to behold with her own eyes the vast expanse of the blue
Victorian Sea; to trace to its fountain-head the course of the Nile; but
the authorities threw obstacles in her way which proved to be
insurmountable. Apart from these, the progress of the expedition was
arrested by the malarious fever which attacked herself and most of her
followers. In her own case the attack was so severe as at one time to
threaten her life.
After her recovery she devoted herself to the study of the habits and
manners of the tribes dwelling in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro. They
are all Baris; very ignorant and superstitious, but not naturally cruel.
The most prosperous trade among them is that of the sorcerer, who acts
also as the medicine-man. When a Bari falls ill, he hastens to consult
the Punok, receives from him some infallible and grotesque recipe,
and--behold he is cured! His faith in the prescribed remedy is the
source of its efficacy. One of these magicians had the address to
persuade the negroes of his immortality, and extracted from them ample
presents of oxen, sheep, and the like. Unfortunately, he declaimed
vehemently against the proceedings of the Egyptians, who having no
sense of humour, put him to death. His dupes collected round his dead
body, and waited patiently for his resurrection; they began to doubt
only when
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