rose, and, arming ourselves with poles, crushed i
through the: remaining 300 yards of grass by 1
sunrise.
The people of Asama Island soon roused one 1
another with most heroic and stunning crashes ]
op their huge drums, and launched their war- ]
canoes, of which they had a great number, ex-]
cellently built; but as our existence depended]
upon our dash, twenty men only were reserved ]
to guard the road, while Frank and Manwa Sera, ]
with the assistance of every other healthy man, |
woman, and child, hauled the canoes to the]
landing-place. Though the Asamas made but]
little insistance to our embarking, they attacked]
us ps spon as we began to move with a frenzy ]
which, had it not been so perilous to our poor]
hunted selves, I might haye heartily applauded. ]
J had recourse to a little strategy. Manwa Sera]
was told to loiter behind with one-half of the
canoes and land his party on the island above,]
while I made a bold push at the savages and]
landed below. We in the advance at once]
charged pn the war-canoes, shouting and drum-'
iping, pnd making UP in noise what we lacked
in numbers, and, having descended a mile, suddenly
made for the island at a low landing-place,
and while the savages were confused at this
manoeuvre I detached twenty men and sent
them up to meet Manwa Sera and his party,
and in a short time they had captured two
rjan. H i i«77-j PEACE BY STRATAGEM. 307
[ Asama. J
villages, with all the non-combatant inhabitants,
besides a large herd of goats and sheep. When
these were brought to the landing-place where
the war-canoes were still engaged with us, they
were shown to the warriors, and out of sheer
surprise hostilities ceased, and the war-canoes
retired to the left bank of the stream to consider
what they should do. Meantime Katembo
was industrious in making himself understood
by the women, and we made great progress in
calming their fears, but we did not quite succeed
until I opened a bag of shells, and distributed
a few to each person with appropriate
soothing tones. The Asamas opposite, though
still sullen in their canoes, were not disinterested
spectators of what was transpiring, and they
were soon communicating with their relatives
and children, asking, what we Were doing.
While my people were busy surrounding the
landing-place with a brushwood fence, the negotiations
for peace and good-will proceeded.
At noon a canoe with two men cautiously approached
us, and while it was still hesitating to
comply with our request to come alongside, one
of my boat-boys dexterously grasped it and
brought it near, while the word “ Sennenneh”
was loudly repeated. Into this as a beginning
we put six women, three children, and some
goats," and shoved it off towards the cannibal
warriors, who could scarcely believe their senses
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