22nd April, 1873.—­Carried on kitanda over Buga S.W. 2-1/4.[33]

[His servants say that instead of rallying, they saw that his strength was becoming less and less, and in order to carry him they made a kitanda of wood, consisting of two side pieces of seven feet in length, crossed with rails three feet long, and about four inches apart, the whole lashed strongly together.  This framework was covered with grass, and a blanket laid on it.  Slung from a pole, and borne between two strong men, it made a tolerable palanquin, and on this the exhausted traveller was conveyed to the next village through a flooded grass plain.  To render the kitanda more comfortable another blanket was suspended across the pole, so as to hang down on either side, and allow the air to pass under whilst the sun’s rays were fended off fromthe sick man.  The start was deferred this morning until the dew was off the heads of the long grass sufficiently to ensure his being kept tolerably dry.

The excruciating pains of his dysenteric malady caused him the greatest exhaustion as they marched, and they were glad enough to reach another village in 2-1/4 hours, having travelled S.W. from the last point.  Here another hut was built.  The name of the halting-place is not remembered by the men, for the villagers fled at their approach; indeed the noise made by the drums sounding the alarm had been caught by the Doctor some time before, and he exclaimed with thankfulness on hearing it, “Ah, now we are near!” Throughout this day the following men acted as bearers of the kitanda:  Chowpere, Songolo, Chumah, and Adiamberi.  Sowfere, too, joined in at one time.]

23rd April, 1873.—­(No entry except the date.)

[They advanced another hour and a half through the same expanse of flooded treeless waste, passing numbers of small fish-weirs set in such a manner as to catch the fish on their way back to the Lake, but seeing nothing of the owners, who had either hidden themselves or taken to flight on the approach of the caravan.  Another village afforded them a night’s shelter, but it seems not to be known by any particular name.]

24th April, 1873.—­(No entry except the date.)

[But one hour’s march was accomplished to-day, and again they halted amongst some huts—­place unknown.  His great prostration made progress exceedingly painful, and frequently when it was necessary to stop the bearers of the kitanda, Chumah had to support the Doctor from falling.]

25th April, 1873.—­(No entry except the date.)

[In an hour’s course S.W. they arrived at a village in which they found a few people.  Whilst his servants were busy completing the hut for the night’s encampment, the Doctor, who was lying in a shady place on the kitanda, ordered them to fetch one of the villagers.  The chief of the place had disappeared, but the rest of his people seemed quite at their ease, and drew near to hear what was