Chap. IX. REJOICING AT MAYOLO'S EECOVERY. 183 



exerting liimself to open tlic way for me into Apono- 

 lancl. In the afternoon I made Igala cut, with a lancet, 

 into the abscess on Mayolo's shoulder, which gave him 

 great relief after the discharge of the matter. The 

 good fellow thanked me very much, and w^e became 

 better friends than ever. • Next day he was so much 

 elated with the improvement in his health, that he 

 got tipsy on a fermented beverage which lie had 

 prepared two days before he had fallen ill, and which 

 was made by mixing honey and water, and adding 

 to it pieces of bark of a certain tvee. The long 

 standing had improved the liquor in his eyes, for the 

 older tlie beverage, the more intoxicating it becomes. 

 All the people of the village had a jollification in the 

 evening to celebrate the recovery of their chief; 

 Mayolo being the' most uproarious of all, dancing, 

 slapping his chest, and shouting " Here I am. alive ; 

 they said I should die because the Spirit had come, 

 but here I am." 



During all the time he was ill he had been con- 

 tinually looking forward to this "jolly treat." He 

 had several of the jars of the country full of the fer- 

 mented beverage. Fortunately, he was very inoffen- 

 sive when under the influence of drink. Scarcely 

 able to stand steady, he came up to me, crying out, 

 " Here I am, Chaillie, well at last. I tell you I am 

 well, Oguizi!" and, in order to prove it to me, he 

 began to leap about and to strike the ground with 

 his feet, saying, " Don't you see that I am well ? 

 The Otando people said, the Apono said — as soon as 

 they heard that you had arrived in my villnge — 

 ' Mayolo is a dead man ! ' As soon as I fell ill, they 



