CAPTAIN TUCKEY’S NARRATIVE. 137 
button of coloured glass, which had evidently been procured 
from a theatre. The assembly was composed of about fifty 
persons squatted in the sand. Simmons having explained 
my wishes and the motives of the expedition, the Chenoo, 
with less deliberation or questioning than I had been plagued 
with at Bomma, granted two guides to go as far as the cata- 
ract, beyond which the country was to them a terra incog- 
nita, not a single person of the banza having ever been 
beyond it. The palaver being over, the keg of brandy I 
had brought was opened, and a greater scramble than 
even at Bomma took place for a sup of the precious liquor ; 
and, towards the conclusion, one having been unable to 
catch a share, his neighbour, who had been more fortunate, 
and who had kept it, as long as he could hold in his breath, 
(as they always do), very generously spat a portion of this 
mouthful into the other’s mouth! The Chenoo apologized 
for having nothing drest to offer us to eat, but directed a 
small pig to be carried to the boat, which on killing we 
found to be measly and unfit to eat. 
We saw no women during this audience, but a con- 
siderable portion of the assembly was composed of boys of 
all ages down to four or five, and those young urchins were 
observed to pay the utmost attention to the discourse of the 
men, and to express their approbation by clapping their 
hands. 
at 
