90 AMUSING THE NATIVES. 



had landed, the inhabitants brought us fowl and flour, 

 to sell ; and here I first tasted the pombe, or native 

 beer, which is made from different kinds of corn, that 

 produced from the Indian corn being the most 

 palatable. 



As a rule, when we anchored for the night, the first 

 work was to turn the boat into a large bed-room, for 

 those who preferred it to sleeping on the shore. This 

 was done by spreading the awning forward to the mast, 

 levelling the bottom, and spreading the beds. Hav- 

 ing completed this work, I took Sinjeery and went for 

 a stroll into the village. It w^as very small, but de- 

 cidedly neat and clean ; and all the women wore the 

 pelele, or lip-ring, which is only found amongst the 

 Manganja tribes. Some fine buffalo and hartebeest 

 heads lay about, and quantities of meat dried in the 

 sun were seen in different parts of the village. One 

 or two men had seen the English before, and all came 

 to look at me without evincing the slightest fear or 

 suspicion ; and I need hardly say I underwent a close 

 examination by both sexes. They informed me that 

 there was abundance of game on the other side of the 

 river. As it was late, however, when I had finished in- 

 specting the place, I did not go out, but amused the 

 natives for some time by playing the cornopean. 



While wandering about I found myself suddenly 

 in the presence of two women, who were standing 

 outside a hut. The moment they saw me they knelt 

 down, muttering something in a whining and unintel- 

 ligible tone. This Sinjeery informed me was done to 

 show respect. I then made him tell them to stand 

 up, and not to be afraid. This they did at once, and 



