s return
from Gondokoro he would bring him most valuable articles in exchange. He
said that he was not sure whether my belly was black or white; by this
he intended to express evil or good intentions; but that if it were
white I should, of course, have no objection to exchange blood with him,
as a proof of friendship and sincerity. This was rather too strong
a dose! I replied that it would be impossible, as in my country the
shedding of blood was considered a proof of hostility; therefore he must
accept Ibrahim as my substitute. Accordingly the arms were bared and
pricked. As the blood flowed it was licked by either party, and an
alliance was concluded. Ibrahim agreed to act with him against all his
enemies. It was arranged that Ibrahim now belonged to Kamrasi, and that
henceforth our parties should be entirely separate.

On February 21st Kamrasi was civil enough to allow us to quit the marsh.
My porters had by this time all deserted, and on the following day
Kamrasi promised to send us porters and to allow us to start at once.
There were no preparations made, however, and after some delay we were
honored by a visit from Kamrasi, who promised we should start on the
following day.

He concluded, as usual, by asking for my watch and for a number of
beads; the latter I gave him, together with a quantity of ammunition for
his guns. He showed me a beautiful double-barrelled rifle that Speke
had given him. I wished to secure this to give to Speke on my return to
England, as he had told me, when at Gondokoro, how he had been obliged
to part with that and many other articles sorely against his will. I
therefore offered to give him three common double-barrelled guns in
exchange for the rifle. This he declined, as he was quite aware of the
difference in quality. He then produced a large silver chronometer that
he had received from Speke. "It was DEAD," he said, "and he wished me
to repair it." This I declared to be impossible. He then confessed to
having explained its construction and the cause of the "ticking" to his
people, by the aid of a needle, and that it had never ticked since that
occasion. I regretted to see such "pearls cast before swine." Thus he
had plundered Speke and Grant of all they possessed before he would
allow them to proceed.

It is the rapacity of the chiefs of the various tribes that renders
African exploration so difficult. Each tribe wishes to monopolize your
entire stock of valuables, without which th