I guaranteed him 100 cantars (10,000 pounds) if he would push on at all hazards with me to Kamrasi and secure me porters from Shooa.

Ibrahim behaved remarkably well.

For some time past I had acquired a great influence over him, and he depended so thoroughly upon my opinion that he declared himself ready to do all that I suggested.
Accordingly I desired him to call his men together, and to leave in Shooa all those who were disinclined to follow us.
At once I arranged for a start, lest some fresh idea should enter the ever-suspicious brains of our followers and mar the expedition.

It was difficult to procure porters, and I abandoned all that was not indispensable--our last few pounds of rice and coffee, and even the great sponging-bath, that emblem of civilization that had been clung to even when the tent had been left behind.
On the 18th of January, 1864, we left Shooa.

The pure air of that country had invigorated us, and I was so improved in strength that I enjoyed the excitement of the launch into unknown lands.