/ MEET THURSDAY. 23 



ture, " were not in the habit of living among the officers 

 and traders." If his own stories were to be believed he 

 was one of the most skilful elephant hunters in the neigh- 

 borhood, and, in fact, he had come almost daily to the 

 trading posts to barter ivory tusks. 



Around his neck he wore a strino; of charms — tio-ers' 

 and alligators' teeth and bits of stags' antlers — to pre- 

 serve him from fever, accidents, bad luck, and the bite of 

 snakes. He offered me several, urging me especially to 

 accept one that would protect me from evil spirits. At 

 first I laughed at him, but finding this offended him I 

 took his panther's tooth and put it in my pocket, where- 

 upon he seemed satisfied. 



His wife, who accompanied him, wore even less, if pos- 

 sible, than himself. She was a gentle, submissive crea- 

 ture, who carried our drinking water and, aided by her 

 son, a good-looking lad of ten or a dozen years of age, 

 prepared our meals. 



As you see, our little caravan was lightly loaded and 

 few in numbers, which is, I think, the only way to travel 

 in equatorial Africa, where it is impossible to make two 

 negroes agree for more than a week, unless to rob and 

 abandon you some fine night in the midst of the forest. 

 I was not afraid of this fate myself, although it has hap- 

 pened to so many explorers, for I intended to go inland 

 not further than forty or fifty leagues. At that distance 

 the traders almost always ultimately learn the fate of 

 any missing European, and there are plenty of ways to 



