186 • MAYOLO. Chap. IX. 



astonishment arose from the assembly, and remember- 

 ing that I had a copy of the " Ilkistrated London 

 News " containing an Indian scene with elephants, I 

 went and fetched it to prove that I told them the 

 truth. There was a rush forward to look at the 

 picture over Mayolo's shoulders. They all recog- 

 nised the animals as elephants, and expressed their 

 astonishment at the men on their backs ; above all, 

 they wondered to see the animals represented as tied 

 by the feet and kept quiet. ' Punch,' the travellers' 

 friend, excited their wonder greatly. They all ex- 

 claimed, " What a fine cap he wears ! " and asked me 

 if I had any like it. They were quite disappointed 

 when I told them I had not. 



Then came numerous questions about white men. 

 How tliey stared when I told them that our houses 

 were made of stone, the same material as was found 

 on their mountains. The last question was a delicate 

 one ; it was, " Do white men die ? " I wished them 

 to remain in their present belief that we did not die, 

 for their superstitious feeling towards me was my 

 best safeguard ; so I feigned not to hear the question, 

 and turned their attention to another subject. 



The people generally, and especially the women, 

 became emboldened after this long chat ; and I could 

 see some of the buxom matrons laughingly conferring 

 with one another, as if on some important business. 

 At last one of them, bolder tlian the rest, said : " We 

 have seen your head and your hands since you have 

 been among us, but we have never seen what the 

 rest of your body is like ; it would make our hearts 

 glad, if you would take off your clothes and let us see." 



