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. Kind as he looked
and spoke, he forgot all his promises about coveting my property,
and scarcely got over the first salutation before he began
begging for many things that he saw, and more especially for a
deole, in order that he might wear it on all great occasions, to
show his contemporaries what a magnanimous man his white visitor
was.
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