Mr.Goodenough promised that they should not be obliged to proceed unless a safe conduct for their return was obtained from the King of the Fans.

A large canoe was procured, sufficient to convey the whole party.
Twelve paddlers were hired, and the goods taken down and arranged in the boat.

The Houssas had been, on landing, furnished with their guns, which were Snider rifles, had been instructed in the breech loading arrangement, and had been set to work to practice at a mark at a hundred and fifty yards distance--the stump of an old tree, some five feet in height, serving for the purpose.

The men were delighted with the accuracy of their pieces and the rapidity at which they could be fired.

Mr.Goodenough impressed upon them that unless attacked at close quarters, and specially ordered to fire fast, they must aim just as slowly and deliberately as if using their old guns, for that in so long a journey ammunition would be precious, and must, therefore, on no account whatever, be wasted.