use, as the rest of her body was entirely destitute of covering. The
men, though tall, were wretchedly thin, and the children mere skeletons.

While the travellers remained here, they were beset by starving crowds,
bringing small gourd shells to receive the expected corn. The natives,
indeed, seem to trust entirely to the productions of nature for their
subsistence, and are the most pitiable set of savages that can be
imagined, their long thin legs and arms giving them a peculiar gnat-like
appearance. They devour both the skin and bones of dead animals. The
bones are pounded between stones, and, when reduced to powder, boiled to
form a kind of porridge.

It is remarkable that in every herd they have a sacred bull, who is
supposed to have an influence over the prosperity of the rest. His
horns are ornamented with tufts of feathers, and frequently with small
bells, and he invariably leads the great herd to pasture.

A short visit was paid to the Austrian mission stationed at Saint Croix,
which has proved a perfect failure--indeed, that very morning it was
sold to an Egyptian for 30 pounds.

It was here the unfortunate Baron Harnier, a Prussian nobleman, was
killed by a buffalo which he had attacked in the hopes of saving the
life of a native whom the buffalo had struck down.

The voyage terminated at Gondokoro on the 2nd of February.

The country is a great improvement to the interminable marshes at the
lower part of the river, being raised about twenty feet above the water,
while distant mountains relieve the eye, and evergreen trees, scattered
in all directions, shading the native villages, form an inviting
landscape. A few miserable grass-huts alone, however, form the town, if
it deserves that name.

A large number of men belonging to the various traders were assembled
here, who looked upon the travellers with anything but friendly eyes.

As Mr Baker heard that a party were expected at Gondokoro from the
interior with ivory in a few days, he determined to await their arrival,
in hopes that their porters would be ready to carry his baggage.

In the mean time he rode about the neighbourhood, studying the place and
people.

"The native dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness. The domicile
of each family is surrounded by a hedge of euphorbia, and the interior
of the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered with a
cement of ashes, cow-dung, and sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface
are