FUNERAL OF EDWARD POCOCK: VIEW OF OUR CAMP.
"We excavated a grave, four feet deep, at the foot of a hoary acacia with wide-spreading branches; and on its ancient trunk Frank engraved a deep cross, the emblem of the faith we all believe in; and, when folded in its shroud, we laid the body in its final resting-place, during the last gleams of sunset. We read the beautiful prayers of the church-service for the dead, and, out of respect for the departed—whose frank, sociable, and winning manners had won their friendship and regard—nearly all the Wangwana were present, to pay a last tribute of sighs to poor Edward Pocock.
"When the last solemn prayer had been read, we retired to our tents, to brood, in sorrow and silence, over our irreparable loss."
"By the 21st of January," said Frank, "eighty-nine men had deserted, twenty had died, and there were many sick or disabled. Mr. Stanley would have been justified in fearing that he would be obliged to abandon his expedition and retreat to the coast. The loads were reduced as much as possible, every article that could in any way be spared being thrown out and destroyed. On the 24th the natives attacked the camp, but were driven back; and another battle followed on the 25th, with the same result. On the 26th the march was resumed, and the hostile region was left behind. New men were engaged at some of the villages, the weather improved, provisions were abundant, and in the early days of February the halting-places of the expedition presented a marked contrast to those of a month earlier.
AN AFRICAN LAMB.
"The country in which they were now travelling," Frank continued, "was a fertile region, with broad pastures, and occasional stretches of forest—a land of plenty and promise. The natives had an abundance of cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens, which they sold at low prices; they were entirely friendly to the travellers, and whenever the expedition moved away from its camps, it was urged to come again. Mr. Stanley gives the following list of prices, which he paid in this land of abundance: