My men killing? a cow, with magicians, dwarf, and King Kamrasi’s officers looking on.
containing all tlie powders necessary to give me the gift
of tongues, so that I should be able to converse with any
black men whom I might meet with. We heard that
Kamrasi has called all his Gani guests to play before
him, and a double shot from his Blissett rifle announced
to our ears that he in turn was amusing them. This
was the first time the gun had been discharged since he
received it, and, fearing to fire it himself, he called one
of my men to do it for him.
5 th.—At 9 A.M., the time for measuring the fall of rain
for the last twenty-four hours, we found the rain-gauge
and bottle had been removed, so we sent Kidgwiga to
inform the king we wished his magicians to come at once
and institute a search for it. Kidgwiga immediately
returned with the necessary adept, an old man, nearly
blind, dressed > in strips of old leather fastened to the
waist, and carrying in one hand a cow’s horn primed
with magic powder, carefully covered on the mouth with
leather, from which dangled an iron bell. The old creature
jingled the bell, entered our hut, squatted on his
hams, looked first at one, then at the other—inquired
what the missing things were like, grunted, moved his
skinny arm round his head, as if desirous of catching air
from all four sides of the hut, then dashed the accumulated
air on the head of his horn, smelt it to see if all
was going right, jingled the bell again close to his ear,
and grunted his satisfaction | the missing articles must
be found.
To carry out the incantation more effectually, however,
all my men were sent for to sit in the open before the
hut, when the old doctor rose, shaking the horn and tinkling
the bell close to his ear. He then, confronting one
of the men, dashed the horn forward as if intending to
strike him on the face, then smelt the head, then dashed
at another, and so on, till be became satisfied that my
men were not the thieves. He then walked into Grant’s