Chap. IX. CURIOSITY OV THE OTANDO. 185 



luxurious monarch ever bad fat monkey for dinner. 

 I recommend all future travellers to cast aside their 

 prejudices and try grilled monkey, at least during the 

 months I have mentioned. They will thank me for 

 the advice. Many wild fruit trees are now in full 

 bearing and the monkeys have splendid feed. I 

 finished my dinner with pine-apple as dessert ; the 

 season, however, is now past for pine-apples, it began 

 when I entered the Ashira country and lasted during 

 the whole of the time of my stay there. 



Mayolo after his recovery became more friendly 

 than ever. He was naturally of an inquisitive turn 

 of mind, and in his frequent conversations with me 

 occupied all my time in answering his questions. 

 One day he came with all his people and all the 

 women of the village, to ask me a number of 

 questions. He first asked how the women worked 

 our plantations ? I told him women did no field- 

 work with us. They were astonished to hear this, 

 and still more to hear that plantains and cassava 

 were almost unknown in my country. They all 

 shouted, " Then what do you eat ? " I explained 

 to them that we had always plenty to eat. I 

 told them that we had bullocks like their wild 

 cattle, which remained tame in our villages like 

 their goats, and that we taught them to carry 

 things. They would hardly believe me, when I 

 added that in their own country there were 

 tribes of black men who owned tame oxen. Con- 

 tinuing the subject, I said that there were countries 

 in which even elephants were tamed, and taught to 

 carry people on their backs. At this a wild shout of 



