His Boma, He Said, Did Not Lie Much Out Of My Line, And He Did Not Wish A Stitch Of My Cloth.

So far from detaining me, he would give me as many men as I wanted; and, as an earnest of his good intentions, he sent his copper hatchet, the badge of office as chief of the district, as a guarantee for me.

To wait there any longer after this, I knew, would be a mere waste of time, so I ordered my men to pack up that moment, and we all marched over at once to Lumeresi's, when we put up in his boma. Lumeresi was not in then, but, on his arrival at night, he beat all his drums to celebrate the event, and fired a musket, in reply to which I fired three shots. The same night, whilst sitting out to make astronomical observations, I became deadly cold - so much so, that the instant I had taken the star, to fix my position, I turned into bed, but could not get up again; for the cough that had stuck to me for a month then became so violent, heightened by fever succeeding the cold fit, that before the next morning I was so reduced that I could not stand. For the last month, too, I had not been able to sleep on either side, as interior pressure, caused by doing so, provoked the cough; but now I had, in addition, to be propped in position to get any repose whatever. The symptoms, altogether, were rather alarming, for the heart felt inflamed and ready to burst, pricking and twingeing with every breath, which was exceedingly aggravated by constant coughing, when streams of phlegm and bile were ejected. The left arm felt half-paralysed, the left nostril was choked with mucus, and on the centre of the left shoulder blade I felt a pain as if some one was branding me with a hot iron. All this was constant; and, in addition, I repeatedly felt severe pains - rather paroxysms of fearful twinges - in the spleen, liver, and lungs; whilst during my sleep I had all sorts of absurd dreams: for instance - I planned a march across Africa with Sir Roderick Murchison; and I fancied some curious creatures, half-men and half-monkeys, came into my camp to inform me that Petherick was waiting in boats at the south-west corner of the N'yanza, etc., etc.

Though my mind was so weak and excited when I woke up from these trances, I thought of nothing but the march, and how I could get out of Lumeresi's hands. He, with the most benign countenance, came in to see me, the very first thing in the morning, as he said, to inquire after my health; when, to please him as much as I could, I had a guard of honour drawn up at the tent door to fire a salute as he entered; then giving him my iron camp-chair to sit upon, which tickled him much - for he was very corpulent, and he thought its legs would break down with his weight - we had a long talk, though it was as much as I could do to remember anything, my brain was so excited and weak.

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