543 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
by the AfTar, the Arooffi running through the midft of that diftridt.
My anxiety to lofe no time in this journey had determi- ned me to fet out this afternoon. I had for this purpofe dif- patched Ozoro Efther's fervant, but when we began to ftrike our tents, we were told neither beaft nor man was capable of going farther that day ; in a word, the forced march that we had made of 29 miles without reft, and with but little food, had quite jaded our mules ; our men, too, who carried the quadrant, declared, that, without a night's reft, they could proceed no farther ; we were then obliged to make a virtue of neceffity, and to confefs, that, fince we could go no farther, we were in the moft convenient halting place poflible, ha- ving plenty of both food and water, and as to protection, we had every reafon to be fatisfied that we were mailers of the country in which we were encamped. It was generally agreed therefore to relax that day. I fet afide an hour to put thefe memoirs in order, and then joined our fervants, who, on fuch occafions, are always our companions, and who had provided a fmall horn full of fpirits, and a jar full of beer, or bouza, by offering fome trifling prefent to our com- mandant the Jumper, who was much more tenacious of his drink than his meat: wefwam and dabbled with great delight in the Kelti, where are neither crocodiles nor gomari ; flept a little afterwards, and retired into the tent to a fupper, which would have been a chearful one could I have forgot that Ozoro Either was fuffering.
We now began to difcufs the motive that had induced our friend Strates again to tempt the danger of the ways* This fingulaj fellow, as we learged from Guebra Maiiam >
as
