3G2 RETREAT FROM ASHANGO-LAXD. Chap. XYIII. 



all had been left behind. I began to fear for the 

 safety of this brave and faithful negro. If he lost 

 his life in this affair, I felt that I should never for- 

 give myself. 



As we were again shouldering our otaitais (now 

 almost empty) to resume our march, we descried a 

 man a short distance off, walking stealthily through 

 the bushes up the hill and occasionally hiding him- 

 self. He was coming towards us^ and we were at 

 once on our guard again. Igala volunteered to go 

 down and watch his movements. We waited the 

 result in dead silence, each man gun in hand, and 

 looking round the hill iu expectation of seeing that 

 we were surrounded. The man came nearer, and we 

 saw that he had a gun in his hand : it was Mouitchi, 

 whom we had given up for lost ! He had escaped 

 without a scratch, by running along by-paths in the 

 forest within sound of tlie noisy crowd of our pur- 

 suers. He told us that both the men we had hit in 

 the last encounter were dead, and that our pursuers 

 had resolved to desist from following us, saying that 

 they should all be killed one by one if they went on. 

 The arrival of Mouitchi put us all in good spirits, 

 for we took it as a good omen. We now saw a 

 chance of the whole party arriving safely on the sea- 

 coast. 



The forest after this resumed its accustomed still- 

 ness, undisturbed by the savage war-cries and still 

 more savage curses of the infuriated Ashangos. We 

 had another village to pass, Niembouai Olomba. where 

 I thouglitwe might be attacked. Before we reached 

 the place we met two women in the path belonging 



