TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 3?

mission from the chiefs, to whom I had despatched messengers, whose return I intended awaiting at Gowde Bofe.

He objected to our going there, and expressed a wish that we should accompany him to his own town, which lay about twenty-five miles in the opposite direction to that we wished to pursue. On our refusal he went off to the village, and, having directed that none of the inhabitants should dare to supply us with a drop of water, stationed several small parties at short distances round our camp, to enforce the strictest compliance with this order, and to watch our movements.

A tornado with heavy rain, which would at any other time or under any other circumstances have been an unpleasant visitor, was now the thing most to be wished for, as it would have served the double office of supplying us with water, and of driving from their posts those parties, who, not supposing we would (or rather knowing we never did) travel during the rain, would still have abandoned their posts, and have gone to the village, in which case (having prepared every thing to enable us to move in a moment), we would have loaded the animals, and taken the direct road to Baquelle, which we computed to be distant about forty miles. Judge then our disappointment when a tornado, which bore