the natives from the interior, that at some great distance to the south
there were two white men who had been for a long time prisoners of a
sultan; and that these men had wonderful fireworks; that both had been
very ill, and that one had died. It was in vain that I endeavoured to
obtain some further clue to this exciting report. There was a rumour
that some native had a piece of wood with marks upon it that had
belonged to the white men; but upon inquiry I found that this account
was only a report given by some distant tribe. Nevertheless, I attached
great importance to the rumour, as there was no white man south of
Gondokoro engaged in the ivory trade; therefore there was a strong
probability that the report had some connexion with the existence of
Speke and Grant. I had heard, when at Khartoum, that the most advanced
trading station was about fifteen days' march from Gondokoro, and my
plan of operations had always projected a direct advance to that
station, where I had intended to leave all my heavy baggage in depot,
and to proceed from thence as a "point de depart" to the south. I now
understood that the party were expected to arrive at Gondokoro from that
station with ivory in a few days, and I determined to wait for their
arrival, and to return with them in company. Their ivory porters
returning, might carry my baggage, and thus save the backs of my
transport animals.

I accordingly amused myself at Gondokoro, exercising my horses in riding
about the neighbourhood, and studying the place and people. The native
dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness; the domicile of each family
is surrounded by a hedge of the impenetrable 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
one or more huts surrounded by granaries of neat wicker-work, thatched,
resting upon raised platforms. The huts have projecting roofs in order