myself well up in flannels. But perhaps that which best illustrates
the healthiness of the country and pleasantness of its atmosphere, is
the fact that I, although I had no bedstead, but always slept on the
ground, never pitched my tent a single day in the interior, and
neither wore a hat or shoe throughout the journey, save on one or two
occasions, when, severely stabbed with thorns, I put on a sandal. I
never knew a moment's illness.

25th.--This evening, Husayn Hadji, who I now found out was
brother-in-law to Sumunter, approached me as I came in from shooting,
and said, "We are surprised to see you return alive; did you not meet
some armed men when you were shooting?" I replied, "No, not one."
"Then," said he, "there are many men come here, who from the first
have forbid your coming into this country; they are under no control,
but, in open defiance of the Gerad, do and act just as they like:
indeed, every head man is a Gerad here, and those who are strongest
carry the day." This was the prelude to another farce; presently the
men came of whom Husayn Hadji spoke, and, surrounding my camp,
boisterously demanded to know what I was doing in their country
against their orders. A violent altercation then ensued. They must
have all my property given up at once, or they would take it by force;
and remained trying to bully me into compliance, until I said I would
sooner die than give them anything. Seeing me determined, they then
walked off, saying I had not one night left to live, for they would
return and kill me after dark. The place was now getting too hot to be
pleasant, for the fact was, we were so near the watering-place, that
my camp offered a convenient and tempting lounge for all the idle
blackguards of the country to assemble at.

26th.--I sent orders back for the rear traps to come on as quick as