Accordingly I engaged a number of natives to cut thorns,
and to make a zareeba, or camp, about four hundred yards from the main
entrance of the town, on the road to the stream of water. In a few days
it was completed, and I constructed houses for my men, and two good huts
for ourselves. Having a supply of garden seeds, I arranged a few beds,
which I sowed with onions, cabbages, and radishes. My camp was eighty
yards long, and forty wide. My horses were picqueted in two corners,
while the donkeys and camels occupied the opposite extremity. We now
felt perfectly independent. I had masses of supplies, and I resolved to
work round to the south-west whenever it might be possible, and thus to
recover the route that I had originally proposed for my journey south.
My present difficulty was the want of an interpreter. The Turks had
several, and I hoped that on the return of Ibrahim from Gondokoro I
might induce him to lend me a Bari lad for some consideration. For the
present I was obliged to send to the Turks' camp and borrow an
interpreter whenever I required one, which was both troublesome and
expensive.
Although I was willing to purchase all supplies with either beads or
copper bracelets, I found it was impossible to procure meat. The natives
refused to sell either cattle or goats.
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