THE LAST FRONTIER 



the white women they are as nothing!" He com- 

 pletely obliterated the poor little beebees with a 

 magnificent gesture. They looked very humble and 

 abashed. I was, however, a bit uncertain as to 

 whether this was intended as a genuine tribute to 

 Billy, or was meant to console us for having only 

 one to his four. 



Now observe the stagecraft of all this: entrance of 

 diplomats, preliminary conversation introducing the 

 idea of the greatness of N'Zahgi (for that was his 

 name), chorus of villagers, and, as climax, dramatic 

 entrance of the hero and heroines. It was pretty 

 well done. 



Again we stopped about the middle of the after- 

 noon in an opening on the rounded top of a hill. 

 While waiting for the safari to come up, Billy wan- 

 dered away fifty or sixty yards to sit under a big tree. 

 She did not stay long. Immediately she was settled, 

 a dozen women and young girls surrounded her. 

 They were almost uproariously good-natured, but 

 Billy was probably the first white woman they had 

 ever seen, and they intended to make the most of her. 

 Every item of her clothes and equipment they ex- 

 amined minutely, handled and discussed. When she 

 told them with great dignity to go away, they laughed 

 consumedly, fairly tumbling into each other's arms 

 with excess of joy. Billy tried to gather her effects 



252 



