Chap. I. OLD ACQUAINTANCES. 7 



in great excitement. In every village the big flag 

 kept by the chiefs for this purpose was hoisted on 

 the top of a long pole to attract the white man ashore 

 to trade, and at night a line of bonfires shone along 

 the coast. 



At length, on the morning of the 10th, I recog- 

 nised the country near the mouth of the river. We 

 shortened sail, and two canoes soon put off and made 

 for the vessel. In the first, as it approached, I recog- 

 nised my old friend Adjouatonga, a chief of one of the 

 villages belonging to the clan Adjiena, which occupies 

 the mouth of the river. He climbed up the vessel's side, 

 and after shaking hands with the captain, advanced 

 towards me to do the same. On my turning round to 

 him, he stepped back in astonishment, and exclaimed — 

 " Are you Chaillie, or are you his spirit ? Have you 

 come from the dead ? Tell me quick, for I don't know 

 whether I am to believe my own eyes ; perhaps I am 

 getting a kende' (fool)." The good fellow hugged 

 me in a transport of joy, but so tightly and so long 

 that I wished his friendship had been a little less 

 enthusiastic, especially as his skin was dripping with 

 a strong mixture of oil and perspiration. In the 

 second canoe came another old friend, Sholomba, 

 nephew of the chief, Ranpano, of my own village 

 of former days. In short, I was surrounded by a 

 crowd of old acquaintances, and had to listen to 

 a confused account of the chief events that had 

 happened since my departure, related by half-a-dozen 

 eager informants. 



The next subject to be considered was how we were 

 to get ashore. Sholomba assured me that the mouth 



