My personal experiences in equatorial Africa : as medical officer of the Emin Pasha relief expedition / by Thomas Heazle Parke.

  • Parke, Thomas Heazle, 1857-1893.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: My personal experiences in equatorial Africa : as medical officer of the Emin Pasha relief expedition / by Thomas Heazle Parke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER VIII. FURTHER EXPERIENCES AT IPOTO. The Manynema hear false news regarding three guides sup])lied to Mr. Stanley, whereby oiir lives are endangered—Letters to hand from Stanley and Jephson—Tactics of the chiefs—Troublesome vermin—My birthday —A substantial feast—“Wake” in memory of the three lost guides— Having no food, Nelson and I finish the remainder of the quinine and orange wine—Marked change in our appearance and general behaviour— Hvening visits of the Manyuema to our tentS'—We hold a shauri with the chiefs regarding food suppl}’—Theft of blankets and sleeping things from our tents—Punishment of the Zanzibari thieves—We open Emin Pasha’s bales, and exchange the soiled goods for food—My medical fees 23aid in small food supplies—Sudden generosity of the chiefs—Nelsdi very feverish—Forest game and Arab crops—My boy Sherif steals some cartridges—Construction of a new village by the chiefs—Description of the huts—T am laid up with erysipelas—Dreadful condition of Nelson— Loss of our milch goat—Nelson operates on me—An offer of goats in return for rifles declined by us—Preparing food for Christmas—Arrival ■of Kilonga Longa’s advance guard—My tent is besieged by an army of ants—Improvement in my condition—Dish made from pounded ants—■ Ismailia’s philanthropic suggestion—Christmas Day spent in bed—Only eleven of our Zanzibaris alive—The comic side of our position—Khamisi comes to me to be doctored—Difficulty in milking our goat—Growth of our corn and beans—The chiefs still refuse us food—Kilonga Longa’s arrival delayed. Nov. 24.—Last night was the most unpleasant we have spent for some time. Late in the evening there was a great commotion in the village, and all the women set np a continuous howling (lu, lu). Presently one of our Zanzibari invalids (Muini) crawled up to us in the dark. This apparition whispered that we should sleep lightly, as he had overheard the Manyuema chiefs say that they would have their revenge on us, a report having reached them that Mr. Stanley had killed three of the guides whom he had brought with him, when leaving on the 27th ult. Knowing the barbarous ways of these people, and that under the circumstances, we were both perfectly certain of prolonged torture or being disposed of in some such horrible way, as their cry always is “Blood for blood!”—we made ourselves ready to die quickly rather