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CHAPTEE XVIL 



FATAL DISASTERS AT MOUAOU KOMBO. 



Unpromising state of affairs on arriving at Mouaou Kombo — Kakombo 

 is threatened — Obstacles raised by the Villagers — Fair promises of the 

 Chief — A Secret Meeting of the Villagers — Demands of the People — 

 We leave the Village — Night Encampment in the Forest — Threats and 

 Promises from the next Village — Invited to return to Mouaou — Recon- 

 ciliation — Arrival of a hostile Depuration from the next Village — 

 — A man accidentally Shot. 



At this fatal village of Mouaou Kombo my eastward 

 journey came to an end, and all my hopes of tra- 

 versing Equatorial Africa, at least in the present 

 expedition, were dashed to the ground. 



The first events on my arrival at the place were 

 not encouraging ; but still the difficulties I encoun- 

 tered were only of the ordinary sort which every 

 African traveller meets with, and were nearly over- 

 come, when the event happened which brought 

 my further progress to an end. In the first place, I 

 found that Rakombo and his Mobana porters in- 

 tended to break through their agreement to take 

 me to the Njavi country. The Mouaou people be- 

 longed to a different clan from the Mobanans, and 

 there appeared not to be a cordial understanding 

 although there had been a good many intermarriages 

 between them. We had no sooner arrived at the 

 village — the elders of which at first behaved well, 



