464 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



he dreadfully beaten about the head, and one eye- 

 ball destroyed, but he had received a severe stab 

 in the belly, and his intestines were injured. 



I immediately sent for the king, but he refused 

 to come, saying he was going out to his planta- 

 tions \ so, arming the best of my gang, and 

 accompanied by the men who had come with me 

 from N'jomba, I hunted him up, and found 

 him surrounded by his people, some of whom 

 ' were armed with guns. 



He was evidently in great fear when he saw 

 us coming, anticipating danger, but he saw my 

 rifle, and felt that there was no escape. M'pogola 

 serving as interpreter, I asked him who had in- 

 jured my man ; and a forbidding-looking brute, who 

 was considered a great fetish-man, was imme- 

 diately pointed out to me, the king and his people 

 declaring that he and two strangers had committed 

 the crime without their knowledge. 



I immediately told my people to secure him, 

 and tie his hands, as T intended to take him before 

 the French authorities for punishment ; but when 

 they laid hold of him, being a powerfully-made 



