26 THE FERNAXD VAZ. Chap. II. 



tion of the deep channel. Old Sangala, the chief of 

 Elinde at the mouth of the river, was dead ; and his 

 heir, the present chief, who had taken the name of his 

 predecessor, was a drunkard, and was held in very 

 little estimation. I missed, near the river's mouth, 

 the beautiful little island on which I used to shoot so 

 many winter birds, and ^vhere, as also on the sandy 

 s]3it, the grotesque and large crane Mycteria senegal- 

 ensis used to be found, together with thousands of sea- 

 birds of many species. The widows of old Sangala 

 had all married again ; but they gave me a warm 

 welcome, especially the old konde' (head wife or 

 Queen) who cooked my food for me whilst I stayed, 

 and became eloquent in recalling the events of the 

 good old times when Sangala was alive. Her hus- 

 band showed no jealousy at this discourse, for here 

 widows are allowed freely to praise their former 

 husbands. 



Death had been busy in other places besides Elinde. 

 At the village of Makombe I found that the chief 

 was dead, and that Ilougou, his heir, who had helped 

 me to build my former settlement of Washington, had 

 been accused of having caused his death by witch- 

 craft, and forced to drink the poison ordeal, which 

 ended in. his own life being sacrificed. Similar scenes 

 had been enacted in other villages. It is dangerous 

 in this unhappy country to be the heir of any man 

 who sickens and dies. 



The day after my return from visiting the mouth 

 of the river, I was seized with a severe fit of fever, 

 which laid me prostrate for four days. I was obliged 

 to send on board the Mentor for a supply of calomel 



