204 INTRODUCTION.

at laying down a route, and his pleasure was very great when he found that I had so profited by his instruction that the route I had constructed coincided very accurately with his own.

The letters and papers which are to be found in this volume are running notes of Emin’s work, written for the information of personal and scientific friends. In nearly all cases personal matters have been omitted. The notes were written under ereat difficulties when on the march, and they reflect the passing thoughts and conjectures of the man’s mind. A certain amount of repetition will of necessity be found in the earlier letters. It might, perhaps, have been better to omit parts of them, but to have done so the German text must have been ignored and connecting sentences introduced. It has therefore been thought best to keep closely to the German original, the more so, perhaps, as the frequent repetition of marches through impenetrable grass, banana groves, thorny jungles, and swamps, will prove to the reader far better than any words of mine can do, the dogged perseverance of the man, who, notwithstanding the immense physical fatigue from which he was constantly suffering upon these expeditions, plodded on, note-book in hand, never permitting a noteworthy fact to escape his eye or a detail of scientific interest to go unremarked. ‘The descriptions, too, of the details of these journeys give an accurate idea of the topography of the country, and will prove of value not only to future travellers, but, I hope, to traders, missionaries, and others who will take part in the opening up of the country. When reading over the proofs of this volume, I have been repeatedly struck with the vivid picture given of paths over which I have myself had occasion to tread. I am able to recall the very trees, the huts, and even the swampy places which Emin so faithfully portrays, and can almost feel again the sting of the numerous insects which he describes as specially haunting particular spots.

While I do not expect the readers of these letters to be