CiiAP. VIII. LEGEND OF ATUNGULU SHIMBA. 149 



sliore, or in relating and listening to legends and 

 fables. This latter amusement was alwaj's to me a 

 pleasant way of passing the time. The memory of 

 the Equatorial African is well stored with parables, 

 fables, and extravagant stories of one kind or 

 another. Having improved my acquaintance, on the 

 present journey, with several of the native languages, 

 I was able to note down almost every story I heard, 

 and thus accumulated a large collection of them. 

 The following legend, connected probably with some 

 natural phenomenon in one of the neighbouring rivers, 

 is a sample of these African stories : — 



Atungulu Shimba was a king who attained the 

 chief authority in his village by right of succession, 

 and built eight new houses. But Atungulu had 

 sworn, that whosoever should quarrel with him he 

 would eat him. And so it really happened uiitil, 

 finally, after eating his enemies one after the other, 

 he was left alone in his dominions, and he then 

 married the beautiful Arondo-ienu, daughter of a 

 neighbouring king. 



It was Atungulu's habit, after his marriage, to go 

 daily into the forest to trap wild animals, with the 

 Ashinga net, leaving his wife alone in the village. 

 One day Njali, the eldest brother of Arondo-ienu — 

 for Coniambie (King of the Air), their father, had 

 three sons — came to take back his sister out of the 

 clutches of Atungulu Shimba ; but the king arrived 

 unexpectedly and ate him up. Next came the second 

 brother, and he was also eaten. At last came Ile- 

 ninga, the third brother, and there was a great fight 



