A CAMP AMONG CANNIBALS 



proceeding on the march I turned to see if they were 

 about to follow, but the sight of my Winchester struck 

 terror into their hearts, and in a flash they all dis- 

 appeared, flying behind trees and bushes pell mell, 

 shouting excitedly. 



So much for the passage of the Insa. It seemed that 



the appearance of P 's mule, which was suffering from 



sores, and so had been relieved of its pack, was by no 

 means welcome to these people, who regarded the beast 

 as uncanny, for these animals are not to be seen in those 

 parts. 



Emerging from the trees we continued to toil up the 

 hill, the excited gesticulating naked forms with flashing 

 spears and shining ornaments fast disappearing at our 

 approach, with all sorts of shrill wild cries and whistles. 

 We came upon a number of huge boulders balanced on 

 end on huge flat slabs of stone on which our footsteps 

 sounded with a hollow ring, as though we were passing 

 over an enchanted subterranean kingdom such as is 

 pictured in Rider Haggard's works. Suddenly on the 

 top of a huge rock, not a hundred yards from our path, 

 there stood up a burly naked savage holding a sort of 

 trumpet in his right hand. From his lofty position he 

 first of all surveyed us, with his left hand shading his 

 eyes, and then taking a deep breath he gathered his 

 whole strength together, drawing up his huge oily frame 

 that glistened in the sunlight like a jewel, and sounded a 

 few long notes of a rich tone which echoed and re-echoed 

 through the whole valley beneath. Gazing at us for a 

 second he vanished from the crest of the massive boulder 

 that frowned on us with a mock severity as it stood 

 above everything else, covered with patches of moss and 

 clumps of wild fern. His trumpet was formed of a 

 reed some five feet in length, the bell being made of 

 the neck and half the body of a gourd. It was as though 

 heralding the opening of a musical "turn" at a music 



175 



