vent us from following Mr. Baker in his battle with evil and rascality among the villains of Gondokoro. We have the less hesitation in passing over the disagreeable episode, as this is a book which every one must read, and so the story will come before our readers in a better form than we can give it. Painful and irritating as it is, it is deeply interesting. No wonder that he calls Gondokoro a 'hell upon earth.' It really seems to be so; in the midst of it all, however, the constancy, sense, and courage of Mr. Baker shine out like a star.

To follow the politics which preceded his start would be wearisome, as told in précis by us, but is very interesting in the original. Two slave ivory-parties were going south; the one that of Mahommed, commander-in-chief of Debono, the man who had first brought back Speke and Grant from Faloro, Debono's head-quarters (for an account of this man one may consult Speke's Journal); the other that of his very villanous friend, but friend still, Koorshid Aga. Now the party of Mahommed, who was his enemy, were Dongolowas, while the party of Koorshid Aga, who was personally friendly to him, were Jalyns and Soodanes. His own men again were Dongolowas, and he was perfectly aware, from private information, that they intended to revolt, and murder him, as soon as they reached Chenooda's Station, in the Latooka country, whose men were also Dongolowas. Again his friend Koorshid Aga's party dared' him to follow them; here was a political complication which is almost wearisome to unravel, but it was a complication, and here was a statesman to take advantage of it. If we might be allowed a license of catachresis, not much greater than is allowed to the writers in the daily papers, we should say that he determined to launch his bark upon the political complication, with the sole hope that the Soodanes might quarrel with the Dongolowas, and that rogues falling out honest men might get their due. Mahommed, who had just, as we said, escorted Speke from Faloro, was professedly his friend, and said he was prepared to go with him anywhere. This man turned out his bitterest enemy, and on the information he had got from Speke, deserted Mr. Baker, marched off and attacked Kamrasi, doing infinite mischief. Koorshid Aga, on the other hand, was his friend; but his commander-in chief, Ibraham, and all his men, were so strongly averse to Mr. Baker's expedition, from the fear of his spying out and telling their wicked proceedings, that they threatened to fire on him or his men if he dared to follow them.

In these desperate circumstances he, by threats and persuasions, got together seventeen of the most cowardly and probably the most rascally of the fellows he had previously enlisted at such a great expense, and persuaded them to follow him. He

was perfectly aware that they meant to murder him and desert him (indeed it was only with that intention that they followed him, as he well knew), but he was quite up to the emergency. When Ibrahim, the Arab-Turk, commander-in-chief of that kind-natured pirate, Koorshid Aga, started on his raid, Mr. Baker started also, with the hopeless plan of outmarching him, arriving first at the village of Ellyria, and buying the goodwill of the natives by kindness and copper bracelets, before Ibrahim should have time to poison the native mind against him, and render further progress through the mountain passes utterly impossible with such a small party as his, in the face of an infuriated population.

The scheme was good enough, but it failed. Mr. Baker's baggage, consisting of goods intended for legitimate traffic, was carried by camels and donkeys. Thieves generally, in all countries, travel light; and Ibrahim had but little to carry, and that little was carried by native porters of the Latooka tribe. Mr. Baker's plan was to pay his way like an English gentleman, Ibrahim's to lift' cattle from one tribe of natives, and exchange them for slaves or ivory with another. The thief won the race to Ellyria. While the heavy-laden camels of the honest man had been floundering through innumerable nullahs, requiring to be loaded and unloaded at each, the light-footed robber had crept up to them. While Mr. and Mrs. Baker, in advance of their party, had dismounted from their horses, and were talking together under a tree, close to the village, and thinking that the party they heard approaching was their own, they turned and saw that it was not theirs, but the Turks' party, who defiled past them, without salaaming, with an expression of contempt upon their faces.

Everything would have been lost here had it not been for Mrs. Baker; but she was equal to the occasion. The last man of the long cavalcade who passed was Ibrahim himself, who went by without recognition. In another moment he would have been beyond earshot, and advance would have been impossible. Mr. Baker sat there, looking at that beautiful cruel Arab-Turk face, with the wicked dark eyes which would not catch his own, as it went by; but Mr. Baker was in a furious temper, and would not speak to the man (unless in extremely unparliamentary language). Opportunity was slipping away, and Mrs. Baker urged him to speak. He would not, and so she overrid his judgment, and spoke herself; she called to Ibrahim by his name. The ice was broken; and a louder challenge from Mr. Baker brought Ibrahim to their side. They were friends. The lady's voice had brought these two antagonistic spirits into some sort of rapport, and saved the expedition.

Not that they were very affectionate at first; Mr. Baker told Ibrahim that if anything happened to him (Baker), he (Ibrahim) was sure to be hung; Mrs. Baker followed in a milder strain. The result was that a truce was concluded; the Bakers promising ivory, and Ibrahim promising friendship, but warning them against coming near his men at present. From this moment Ibrahim was Mr. Baker's creature. The influence of the strong mind over the weaker one was, of course, gradual in its growth, but it was sure and steady. In the end, Mr. Baker's ascendency was almost absolute.

We must pass to the next great difficulty. Mrs. Baker had so far won the heart of Ibrahim by her kindness to his little girl, that he confided to them that their men intended to desert to Chenoodas people, as soon as they came to his station Latomé. Accordingly, when they approached that village, he found that his men were already mixed with those of his enemy Mahommed. The Vakeel tried to persuade him to stay here shooting, but his answer was that he should start next day with Ibrahim. Upon this his men grew mutinous, and betook themselves to the town against his orders.

Again the fate of the expedition hung in the balance. Again it was saved, not, as in the other case, by the courage and wisdom of Mrs. Baker, but by the strong arm of the chief himself. Meanwhile the wildest contention arose between the two parties of traders, and a battle appeared inevitable. By degrees, however, the rogues scolded themselves and one another into silence, without bloodshed, but the night passed before that happy consummation was arrived at.

The

The men began to get very mutinous that evening. whole night was spent by the traders in squabbling and fighting. At half-past five in the morning Ibrahim's party beat drum and prepared to start, and Mr. Baker gave the order to rise and follow. Not a man moved; on repeating the order, a few rose and rested on their guns.

The arch-rebel, Bellaal, was standing near Mr. Baker, leaning on his gun, and eyeing him with the most determined insolence. Mr. Baker pretended not to notice him, and gave the order the third time. The ill-advised Bellaal marched straight up to him, and striking his gun on the ground, led the mutiny. Not a man,' he declared, should go with him;' and refused to load the camels. Mr. Baker, for reply, struck him one blow on the jaw, so vigorously administered that the wretch's gun went flying into the air, and he himself staggered headlong over and lay insensible. Rushing in among the others single-handed, and seizing some of them by the throat, he brought them one by one to the camels. The Vakeel, who had thought it as well

to be accidentally absent, now appeared, and things went right

once more.

They now passed along through a most beautiful country. Trees and jungles alternated with plains, and fine mountains from 3000 to 5000 feet towered around them on all sides. Their party having been reduced to order, Mr. and Mrs. Baker rode swiftly forward together to overtake the party of Ibrahim; and here a very pretty incident occurred, which served to put Mr. Baker on an excellent footing with both Turks and natives. As they approached a village, one of the native porters suddenly threw down his load and ran for his liberty; he would have been inevitably shot had not Mr. Baker, on his swift horse, started in pursuit, keeping between the guns and the fugitive, and running a great risk of the latter turning on him and killing him with the spear he held in his hand. His good nature was not so ill rewarded. The poor fellow threw away his spear, but ran faster; at length, Mr. Baker, closing with him, made signs for him to catch his horse's mane, which in his despair he did, and returned to the party, cowering under Mr. Baker's leg in his terror. The latter claimed the runaway as his property, and would allow the Turks neither to shoot nor to flog him, but, going to Ibrahim, procured his pardon, thus gaining the admiration of the Turks for his gallantry, and the love of the natives for his humanity.

On the arrival of his own party, he found that three men, including Bellaāl, had deserted to Mahommed Her. Inshallah,' he exclaimed, the vultures shall pick their bones!' These words produced a great effect on the superstitious fears of the hearers at the time, and a still stronger one after their most terrible fulfilment.

They now arrived at Tarrangollé, the chief town of Latooka. These savages are the finest he ever met with in the neighbourhood of the White Nile. They are nearly six feet high, with fine foreheads, handsome bodies, and good features. They are frank, naïve, good-humoured, and polite: an utter contrast to the tribes around them. He ascribes to them a Galla (Abyssinian-Asiatic) origin. One of the most remarkable things about them is their head-dress; their coiffure taking from eight to ten years to bring to perfection. The hair is originally felted with fine twine; as the fresh hair grows through this, the process is repeated, until at last a compact substance is formed, an inch and a half thick, trained into the form of a helmet, with a frontlet and crest of copper. This, of course, is never in any way disturbed, and lasts them their lifetime. They ornament it with beads, cowries, ostrich feathers, etc., but have not a vestige of clothing of any kind whatever.

The town of Tarrangollé (120 miles N.E. of Debono's station at Faloro, where Speke met Mahommed) contained about 3000 houses. It was strongly fortified by palisades, with low entrances here and there, which are closed at night with thorn bushes. The main street is broad, but every other one is so narrow as only to admit one cow at a time; these narrow lanes lead to the kraals in various parts of the town in which the cattle, their only wealth, are stored; and in consequence of these narrow approaches are easily defended. The houses are conical, and, as almost universal in Africa, without windows. He noticed on the approach of every town since Latomé, that there had been a vast heap of human remains mixed with fragments of pottery. He now found that these Golgothas had their origin in the extraordinary funereal rites of these people. When a man dies a natural death, they bury him close to the door, and have funereal dances to his memory for some weeks; at the end of this time they dig him up, and having cleaned the bones put them in an earthen jar and carry them out of the towna good example of the fantastic and now unmeaning ceremonies of savage tribes.

Here he pitched his tent and stayed. The king was extremely friendly, and Mr. Baker won his friendship by handsome presents of beads. Men here, he remarks, have just as many wives as they can afford to keep, as we in England have more or fewer horses according to our wealth. But their domestic affections are very small. They will never fight for their wives and children, while they will stand like lions in defence of their cattle. Before Mr. Baker had been long here, a remarkable proof of this not very creditable fact was given him in a very terrible way. The party of Ibrahim had reconnoitered a village in the hills, with a view to attacking it and carrying the inhabitants into slavery ; they however returned and pronounced it too strong. News came a few days afterwards that the party of Mahommed had attacked it, and had utterly destroyed it. It was perfectly true. He had sent against it 110 armed men, and 300 natives, who had burnt it and carried off a great number of slaves. The miscreants were in safe retreat, when their evil genius induced them to listen to a native, who promised to guide them to the cattle-kraals. Now that their precious beasts were threatened, the Latookas, who had quietly submitted to see their wives and children led away to slavery, turned on the aggressors, and with one mad charge routed them, and drove them down the glen. Every rock hid an assailant, lances and stones were showered on them, retreat became flight, until, mistaking their way, they came to a precipice five hundred feet high, over which they were