XXXI.] 



"DEVIL'S FINGER." 



415 



was there with more porridge and locusts for my men, and a Xovember, 

 fowl for myself. After sunset we were left to our own devices, 1875. 

 and, notwithstanding heavy rain, passed a comfortable night, as 

 the huts proved quite weather-tight. 



In the morning our hostess again waited upon us with our 

 breakfast, and wished us all farewell. In return for her hospi- 

 tality she asked me to send her a small brass bell from Ben- 

 guela, a modest request w^hich I gratified by forwarding half a 

 dozen, together with a piece of good cloth sufficient to make 

 her happy for a long time. From her features and appearance, 

 which were decidedly prepossessing, I believe she had some 



TEMBA LUI (TUE " DEVTl's FXNGEE"). 



amount of white blood in her veins, being, too, as light as a 

 mulatto. 



Much curiosity was excited here respecting my beard, and 

 some strange stories were circulated by people who had seen 

 me, and considered this appendage a noteworthy peculiarity. 



We left Kambala by the same gate -way as we entered — 

 which I believe to be the only means of getting in or out of 

 the place, so jealously guarded is the rocky fortress of King 

 Kongo — and soon afterward sighted an extraordinary peak 

 standing up among the hills, more inaccessible than Pieter Bot's 

 mountain at the Mauritius, It took tlie form of an enormous 



