He finally determined to move on, but to send another messenger, who would intercept the first and make him hasten back to meet the travellers. In case they should have no word by the time they were within two days' march of the king's residence, they would then stop until the royal mandate had been secured.
Happily they were not delayed, as they met the messenger before reaching the point where it had been determined to halt. The permission to go to the king's residence had been granted, and the messenger brought a document in Arabic to that effect. With that indifference to time for which the Africans are noted, his majesty had taken several days to act upon a matter that could have been disposed of in a few minutes.
The country was much like that over which they travelled from Foueira to the frontier of Unyoro--grassy plains, alternating with stretches of forests, and occasional swamps that rendered locomotion difficult. There was an abundance of game, and if our friends had been inclined to the chase they might have bagged a goodly number of elephants, with no end of deer and smaller animals. Doctor Bronson thought it would not be judicious to delay their advance in order to hunt the elephant, which they were not in pursuit of for ivory; and, furthermore, it might not be satisfactory to the king to have his game killed without permission. But he had no hesitation concerning the antelopes and other edible beasts, and for the greater part of the time the larder was well supplied with venison, so that the preserved meats and vegetables were rarely touched.
There was hardly a day without rain; it began usually about an hour before sunset, and frequently fell with great fury till ten or eleven at night. Then the clouds cleared away, the sun rose bright in the morning, and by waiting a couple of hours our friends found the roads endurable. But in spite of the heat of the sun the water collected in the hollows, and there was altogether more wading and floundering through the mud than was to the taste of any member of the party.
[Illustration: MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE.]
As they approached the capital of Ugunda the boys observed that there was a great deal of red clay in the soil, and whenever it was wet with the rain it showed an adhesiveness equal to the best qualities of glue. The king had ordered the roads swept for their advance, but the sweeping was more figurative than real; the path was cleared of fallen trees or other obstructions, but the absence of brooms was more conspicuous than their presence. In some places the path ascended hills two or three hundred feet high, but for the most part it was along the lowlands, since the natives are not at all fond of climbing when they can avoid it.