Chap. II. VISIT TO lUXKIMOXGANI'S GRAVE. 31 



to the burial-place of my faithful guardian Rinki- 

 mongani, which were a mile distant from my new 

 settlement. I felt the loss of the honest old fellow^ 

 more than ever, for the man who now filled the same 

 office, Malonga, the brother of Ranpano, was a tricky 

 knave, whom 1 disliked thoroughly. The natives 

 told me that Rinkimongani was continually talking 

 of me during my absence, counting the seasons as 

 they rolled past, and carefully guarding the house 

 and gardens, in the firm hope that I should soon 

 return. It was universally believed, of course, that 

 he had been bewitched through jealousy of my 

 friendship for him, and that foul play had been used 

 to cause his death. 



I was accompanied by one of my boys to the 

 burial-ground. The road to it from my place led 

 across the prairie and through a few groves of trees 

 to the margins of one of those pretty islands of wood, 

 which diversify the sandy grass-land of the Fernand 

 Yaz. The cemetery was recognisable from a distance 

 by the numerous poles fixed in the ground. Rinki- 

 mongani's body had been placed in a box or coffin, 

 for the Commi people are now so far advanced in 

 civilisation that they have adopted the white man's 

 customs in this respect ; it is only, however, the head 

 men who are laid in boxes, and the}'' are not interred 

 in the earth, but laid according to the old native 

 habit on the surface, or inserted a small depth into 

 the ground. The w^ood of my poor old friend's coffin 

 was decayed, and I could see his mouldering bones 

 inside, tog:ether with the j'cmains of his valuables 

 that were buried with him, consisting of jugs and 



