quickly occurred to
me that Speke must have given this book to Kamrasi on his arrival from
Zanzibar, and that he now extracted the leaves and sent them to me as a
token I had demanded to show that my message had been delivered to him.

Rabonga made a lame excuse for his previous desertion. He delivered a
thin ox that Kamrasi had sent me, and he declared that his orders were
that he should take my whole party immediately to Kamrasi, as he was
anxious that we should attack Fowooka without loss of time. We were
positively to start on the following morning! My bait had taken, and we
should escape from this frightful spot, Shooa Moru.

After winding through dense jungles of bamboos and interminable groves
of destroyed plantains, we perceived the tops of a number of grass hats
appearing among the trees. My men now begged to be allowed to fire a
salute, as it was reported that the ten men of Ibrahim's party who
had been left as hostages were quartered at this village with Kamrasi.
Hardly had the firing commenced when it was immediately replied to by
the Turks from their camp, who, upon our approach, came out to meet
us with great manifestations of delight and wonder at our having
accomplished our long and difficult voyage.

My vakeel and Yaseen were the first to meet us, with an apology that
severe fever had compelled them to remain in camp instead of returning
to Shooa Moru according to my orders; but they had delivered my message
to Kamrasi, who had, as I had supposed, sent two leaves out of a book
Speke had given him, as a reply. An immense amount of news had to be
exchanged between my men and those of Ibrahim. They had quite given us
up for lost, until they heard that we were at Shooa Moru. A report
had reached them that my wife was dead, and that I had died a few days
later. A great amount of kissing and embracing took place, Arab fashion,
between the two parties; and they all came to kiss my hand and that of
my wife, with the exclamation, that "By Allah, no woman in the world had
a heart so tough as to dare to face what she had gone through." "El
hamd el Illah! El hamd el Illah bel salaam!" ("Thank God--be grateful to
God") was exclaimed on all sides by the swarthy throng of brigands who
pressed round us, really glad to welcome us back again; and I could not
help thinking of the difference in their manner now and fourteen months
before, when they had attempted to drive us back from Gondokoro.

Hardly were we seated in