paddles of light wood, propelled them along at
the rate of six knots an hour. They were as
different in form and design from those monsters
up river as the natives themselves were. It was
very curious to watch this transition from one
tribal peculiarity and custom to another. It was
evident that these tribes never traded with those
above. I doubt whether the people of Urangi
and Rubunga are cannibals, though we obtained
proof sufficient that human life is not a subject
of concern with them, and the necklaces of
human teeth which they wore were by no means
assuring— they provoked morbid ideas.
We received a noisy and demonstrative welcome.
They pressed on us in great numbers,
which, considering our late eventful life, did not
tend to promote that perfect feeling of security
which we had briefly tasted at Rubunga. Still
we bore it good-humouredly. If geniality, frankness,
sociability are the best weapons with
which to treat savage man, we showed ourselves i
adepts and practised professors of the art. I
did not observe the least shadow of a frown,
sulkiness, doubt, or suspicion on the face of any
man, woman, or child connected with the Expedition.
As for Frank and myself, our behaviour
was characterized by an angelic benignity
worthy of canonization. I sat smiling in the
midst of a tattooed group, remarkable for their
filed teeth and ugly gashed bodies, and bearing
in their hands fearfully dangerous-looking naked
knives or swords, with which the crowd might
have hacked me to pieces before I could have
even divined their intentions.
But presently murmurs were heard, and finally
he camp was in an uproar. One man complained
of his mat being stolen, another of his knife,
another of his cloth, another o f his store of beads:
thj-ee or four spears were next abstracted; and
finally, the thieving culminated in two guns beings
stolen. Fortunately, however, the thieves
werh apprehended before they had succeeded
in effecting their escape. Then a new order o
things' was determined upon. We fell back upon
the old rule of never forgetting that an unsophisticated
savage was not trustworthy, except
when your eyes were on him. We built a boma,
and refused admission to the camp, but a market
was fixed in a special place without, where, the
natives were told, those who possessed articles
for sale would find purchasers. The chiefs agreed
to this, and friendship, and fraternity were apparently
as much in demand as before the little
disturbance, since no one had been injured, and
the losses had been borne without reprisals.
At 5 P.M. the great chief of Urangi made his
presence known by sounding his double iron
gong. This gong consisted of two long iron
bell-shaped instruments, connected above by an
iron handle, which, when beaten with a short