460 LETTERS TO DR. SCHWEINFURTH.

Marquet in Khartim has promised me some pineapples, and I believe they will succeed splendidly here.

December 11, 1883. A high day!—a letter from Junker! Two boxes of presents for me accompany it: medicines, nets, cases, glasses, books, and, best of all, a small quantity of blotting-paper, which I can use for drying plants. He tells me that all the paper and portfolios you gave him were burnt last year in the fire. What a pity! Presents coming to one in the interior of Africa from the western A-Zandé districts through Monbuttu are rather mysterious, and in this case they only serve to gild the pill: Junker is not coming, but is going to Khartum by the Meshra, and takes leave of me in this letter. May it be his lot to reach home safely, and meet with the appreciation he so richly deserves! He is a fine, warmhearted fellow. It sounds very curious for him to ask me to mention in my letters to Hurope that he is well, and is thinking of returning. What must his views be of the gracious treatment we experience at the hands of our Government in Khartum—they almost spoil us, steamers are sent so often! The steamer left here on April 14, and this is the 11th of December! In itself it is a matter of indifference to me whether I have any communication with Khartum or not, for I learnt long ago to cut my coat according to my cloth. I scarcely ever drink spirituous liquors, and I can get coffee, which I cannot do without, from the south. What vexes me so much is the waste of time. Here I am, loitering in Lado, where there is nothing to do and nothing to collect, worrying myself in the company of my clerks, and waiting for the steamer, when I might be working and collecting in the south or east.

December 18, 1883. By the post before last Casati sent me a closed letter for you [it has not reached its destination], asking me at the same time to read the contents. As I replied that the letter was fastened when it arrived, he sent me a copy yesterday. It contains some very sensible opinions, but also, to my regret,