68 THE corno.
1883.
Se£t. 25.
Lukolela.
his men stood up and dared to brave the elements, and
to compel them by his powerful charms to go and visit
other countries. Upon which Miyongo observed that
white men seemingly possessed all things save one,
viz., a rain-charm to keep the rain away while
travelling.
The next day we landed him and his family at
Usindi, hut in the faces of the hundreds who hurried
forward to satisfy their curiosity I perceived no joy or
gratitude for the service we had rendered. Had a
European Prince been saved from such a distressful
position as the one Miyongo had been extricated from,
no doubt we should have been dined and toasted;
but then this was Usindi, in Congoese Africa.
During our stay here we went through the ceremony
of hlood-hrotherliood with Miyongo, which provoked
the jealousy of Iuka. Iuka was also inclined to lie
surly because I had not delivered Miyongo into his
hands, that he, as the senior chief of Usindi, might
have had the honour of presenting him in turn to
Miyongo’s villagers. This occasioned a rhetorical
artifice from me, which, by applying the case of
Miyongo to Iuka himself, the old chief became convinced
that he had no reasonable cause of offence.I
“ Is Miyongo a slave of Iuka ? Do his wives or his!
slaves belong to Iuka ? Is not Miyongo a free maul
and a chief? How can Iuka claim authority over I
Miyongo? If Iuka was saved from the Balui pirates,!
or from the river, could Miyongo he displeased that!
iuka was not delivered into his hands ? Ho ; neither!
TEE SUPERSTITIONS OF IUKA. 69
[ must Iuka be displeased' that Miyongo, being a free
I man, could travel freely in his own country.”
Iuka was a dirty old man, who was wickedly mean
I without being aware of it. Two hours after sunset he
I came to me in my cabin on the steamer, and gravely
I begged for a looking-glass with which he might dis-
I cover all hostile designs against him. He then asked for
I a charm by which he could stop the rain from falling
I on the gardens and fields of the people he disliked;
land was anxious for a medicine with which he could
I positively secure the fidelity of his queen ! Iuka
[ dreaded Miyongo evidently after the exhibition of his
jealousy to him, and, after finding that I had no
■charms to give him to prevent the evil effects of it, he
¡earnestly implored me to take himself and his com-
I munity away to colonise some other part on the river.
On departing the next day from Usindi, Miyongo
■gave me a guide, who was reputed to have advanced
¡higher up river than any man in the trading com-
Imunity of Usindi. He had belonged originally to
KJpoto, and had sincO often traded with Langa-Langa
land Iboko.
We had been delayed too long at Bolobo to halt at
B cb u for more than a few hours. About ten miles
¡above Irebu we saw a few canoes belonging to the
piratical Balui, who inhabit a district on the right
Bank, access to which is gained by means of numerous
marrow branches of a delta of a river, bearing no other
Bame than that of the tribe. Inland, a few miles from
B e Congo the Balui’s River is said to be of considerable
Usindi.
I l l