HIS SPEECH. 153 



While Marenga sat in the boat hundreds were cram- 

 med all round up to their waists in water, and the 

 shore was crowded. Standing up he called for si- 

 lence, and in an instant every voice was hushed, while, 

 with difficulty preserving his equilibrium, in which he 

 was assisted by his two wives, he thus addressed his 

 sooty audience — 



'' The English are good ; they are my friends and 

 yours ; they never put the stick (alluding to the slave 

 stick) on the necks of my people as the Arabs do." 



This speech was followed by a loud and prolonged 

 clapping of hands. Marenga was then lifted out of 

 the boat as tenderly and carefully as he had been put 

 into it, and we all walked towards the village. Seven 

 cows were driven up to the chief, and he showed 

 them to us, sa}dng, "These are mine ; choose which- 

 ever one you like, and make one of your men shoot 

 it for you." 



Moloka, who was beside me, asked the chief if he 

 should shoot the cow ; and being told to do so, went 

 to the boat for his gun, and in a few minutes the 

 fattest of Marenga's cattle was shot. The chief express- 

 ed his satisfaction at the clever way in which Moloka did 

 his part, having killed the cow by a shot in the brain. 

 Perpetual drumming, singing, and dancing were kept 

 up here during the chiefs stay, the men performing 

 one half of the day and the women the other. It was 

 kept up in the same way all through the night. 

 These were the drums we heard last night while in 

 the marsh. The drums are formed of a hollow cylin- 

 der of wood, from two to three feet long, and from 

 one to two feet in diameter, covered with skin, the 



