THROUGH ELEPHANT GRASS AND WATER 



five, and after a hurried consultation they came forward 

 to within a few feet of where I was sitting, and saluted 

 in approved military style, each man afterwards coming 

 forward to shake hands. This seems rather objection- 

 able at first to the European who has been in South 

 Africa, where one never thinks of shaking hands with a 

 native, but with the Congo people one has to do so, to 

 decline an outstretched hand from any of these people 

 is a foolish thing, and may cause trouble. One of them 

 held a huge fish, another a chicken, another recognized 

 the cook and sprang forward to shake"* hands with him, 

 to my surprise he spoke Swahili fairly well. The cook 

 had been to Wadelai before, and it turned out that he 

 knew quite a number of them. 



In a deep sonorous voice the elder of the party ex- 

 plained to me, through the cook, that he was the headman 

 of the village, and hinted that he generally received 

 presents from white men about to travel through his 

 domain, at which his followers gave a grunt of approval. 

 First of all I presented him with some meat, which seemed 

 to please him ; but, of course, as is customary with these 

 people, he expected more. I told him that when I 

 reached his village I would shoot some more meat for 

 him, provided there were plenty of game about, to which 

 he replied with a series of ahs ! ahs ! and grunts. He was 

 certainly fifty years of age, and powerfully built, and car- 

 ried a bow and quiver of arrows. The latter hung down 

 his back attached to a cord around his neck, and a small 

 dagger in sheath was strapped just above the muscle on 

 his left arm. His head was shaved but for a small ridge 

 of hair that ran across from ear to ear, through the hair 

 was thrust a parrot or other feather, a piece of stick about 

 four inches long hung from the lobe of each ear, and 

 cicatrised marks covered his cheeks and forehead, standing 

 out like warts. On the neck string were hung two empty 

 cartridge cases and dried beans. Large blue and white 



65 F 



