XXI.] FISTS VS. ARCHERY. 285 



run away if I persisted in going by this road ; but I only an- September, 

 swered, " Where will they run, you old fool ?" i^'^^- 



He tried by every means in his power to induce me to return, 

 but I obstinately refused ; and after a time the whole party fol- 

 lowed me, and in the evening we arrived safely at a village on 

 the banks of the Lukazi, a branch of the Lomami. 



The guides now insisted that we were in a cul-de-sac formed 

 by the winding of the river, and should have to retrace our 

 steps; and on my sending them forward to discover whether 

 the path did not lead to a bridge, they reported that it was only 

 the way to a watering-place. This statement was so apparently 

 false that I declined to put any faith in my " guides," and, after 

 walking twenty minutes along the path, came upon a fishing- 

 weir bridge. The day following we crossed this, and had not 

 proceeded far before I perceived natives moving about among 

 the long grass ; but all attempts at inducing them to come near 

 failed. 



Very soon afterward, when I was in front, accompanied by 

 two or three men, looking for the road, I was unpleasantly sur- 

 prised by some arrows being shot at us through a narrow strip 

 of jungle. One of them glanced off my shoulder, and, catching 

 sight of the fellow who had shot at me lurking behind a tree, 

 I dropped my rifle and started in chase. Fortune favored me, 

 for my enemy tripped and fell, and before he could regain his 

 feet I was down on him, and, after giving him as sound a thrash- 

 ing as ever he had had in his life, smashed his bow and arrows. 

 This finished, I pointed to some of his friends who were now in 

 view, and considerably assisted him to join them by means of 

 stern propulsion, the kick being a hearty one. 



A large party of natives occupying the path in front seemed 

 inclined to attack us ; but I made signs and overtures of peace, 

 and offered them a few strings of beads, and after some hesita- 

 tion they came forward in a most friendly spirit, and escorted 

 us to Kasenge, the village of their chief, before whom they per- 

 formed a kind of war-dance on bringing me into his presence. 



On inquiry, I learned that we were on an island formed by a 

 bifurcation of the Lomami, having crossed the Lukazi — one of 

 the two branches — which rejoined the Lomami a little farther 

 down. 



