Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]
[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

YAMBUYA CAMP.

227

of the Europeans, were half filled up with stores; the fourth was used as a mess-room, and also contained the donkeys' saddles, and various miscellanea, such as spades, hoes, &c. These four were much of a size; the fifth, not being required to hold stores, was only about half as large, and was occupied by Mr Troup. Besides these there was a galley, and four small huts (each about five feet square) for the table-boys.

The two entrances to this enclosure were about three feet wide, and defended by a door formed of planks made from the thick bottoms of large canoes. These doors were hinged at the top, and, during the day, kept open by having their lower ends supported on stout poles: their weight was such as to require four or five men to raise them. They were closed every night, and two men set to guard them. The trench was crossed by means of some light planks, which could have been pulled up in less than half a minute.

The south side of the enclosure was defended only by a palisade,-being covered by the men's camp, a second enclosure, longer than the first, round which the palisade and trench were continued. This outer enclosure contained the numerous small grass huts occupied by the men; and its southern end was just in a line with the foot of the lowest rapid in the river. Among the huts I noticed four with conical roofs, which were all that remained of

the village burnt by the Arabs. These conical structures are only five or six feet in diameter, and are built in the following manner: a circle of sticks, two feet high, is first planted in the ground, and this is filled in with clay, which is beaten down hard. On this foundation a very sharp cone of light sticks is erected, and the leaves that form the covering tied to it. These leaves are very large and heart-shaped, and seem, from the quantities used in building, to be plentiful about here, though I have never seen the tree they grow on. The door of these huts is just large enough for a man to crawl through.

Round the whole place the bush had been cleared away, so as to leave no cover for any enemies approaching from the land side. On the north, the clearing had been extended for some distance up the river, and formed a sort of esplanade, where Major Barttelot and his companions took their constitutionals. At the far end of this clearing began the road down which Stanley had led his men a year before; and just at this spot was the cemetery, where the graves of nearly eighty of Major Barttelot's men (who had succumbed to the hardships of the past year) made one pause, and reflect on the uncertainty of human life. Such was the place in which the Major and his company had lived for nearly a year. On his first arrival, Stanley had, as he wrote to the newspapers, captured the place

« PreviousContinue »