CiiAP. IX. REJOICING AT MA YOLO'S RECOVERY. 18o 



exerting liimself to oj)en the way for me into Apono- 

 land, 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 tlianked me very much, and we 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 he 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 tree. The long ■ 

 standing had improved the liquor in his eyes, for tlie 

 older the 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 village — 

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



