purchased the glib promises of assistance from
Chumbiri, not one of which were realized.
Morning of the 13 th March found us, from the
early hours of dawn, anxiously waiting the
arrival of Itsi of Ntamo and the reappearance
ofMankoneh. From our camp we might easily
with a glass note any movement on the other
bank. At 9 A.M.— Itsi evidently was not an early
riser— a large canoe and two consorts, laden
with men, were seen propelled up stream along
the left bank, and a mile above. the landing-
place to cross the river at a furious pace. The
rows of upright figures, with long paddles,
bending their bodies forward in unison, and their
voices rising in a swelling chorus to the sound of
the steady beat of a large drum, formed a pretty
and inspiring sight. Arriving at the right bank,
with a perfect recklessness of the vicinity of the
falls, they dashed down towards our camp at the
rate of six knots an hour. The large war-canoe,
though not quite equal to the monster of the
Aruwimi in size, was a noble vessel, and Itsi,
who was seated in state “ mid-ship,” with Several
grey-headed elders near him, was conscious,
when he saw our admiration, that he-had created
a favourable impression. She measured 85 feet
7 inches in length, 4 feet in width, and 'was
3 feet 3 inches deep. Her crew consisted of
sixty paddlers and four steersmen, and she
carried twenty-two passengers, close-packed, berMarch
I3> 1877-1 t h e GREAT ITSI OF NTAMO. 6 1
[ Ntamo. J
sides, making a total of eighty-six persons. The
other two canoes carried ninety-two persons
altogether.
We cordially invited Itsi and his people to
our camp, to which they willingly responded;
Sortie grass, fresh cut, in anticipation of the visit
of our honourable friends, had been strewn over
a cleared space close to the stream, and our
best mats spread over it.
There were four or five grey-headed elders
i present, one of whom was introduced as Itsi.
He laughed heartily, and it was not long before
we were on a familiar footing. They then broached
the subject of blood-brotherhood. We were
willing, but they wished to defer the ceremony
until they had first shown their friendly feelings
to us. Accordingly the old man handed over
to me ten loaves of cassava bread, or cassaya
pudding, fifty tubers of cassava, three bunches
of bananas, a dozen sweet potatoes, some sugarcane,
three fowls, and a diminutive goat. A
young man of about twenty-six years made
Frank’s acquaintance by presenting to him double
the quantity I received. This liberality drew
my attention to him. His face was dotted with
round spots of soot-and-oil mixture. From his
shoulders depended a long cloth of check pattern,
while over one shoulder was a belt, to which
was attached a queer medley of small gourds
ontaining snuff and various charms,, which he