20 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTEAL AFRICA 



enclosed in the most important compounds, but now 

 they lie open and exposed. 



From time to time we bumped across some channel 

 in the road, cut by water as it raced down from the 

 hills in the wet season ; but on this occasion we did 

 not drive far, for dusk was approaching, and we had 

 yet to take up our quarters at Messrs Pagenstecher's 

 stores, where, by the kindness of Mr Hendrich, two 

 large rooms were put at our disposal throughout our 

 stay at Garua. He was an excellent host, was always 

 to be found, made every arrangement for our interest 

 and comfort, and yet gave us the sensation of as 

 much freedom as we could have had in our own 

 quarters. In the stillness of that 

 first night, as we walked back from 

 dinner at the fort, we heard a sound 

 that was very familiar to me. It 

 was the skirl as of the bagpipes. In 

 a moment it had seized my senses 

 wath the magic that the pipes hold 

 — excitement, yearning, and a mad- 

 ness for action. Short notes preceded 

 the accent, the compass was limited, 

 and the illusion would have been com- 

 plete had it not been for the lack of 

 the drone. Still the music played on 

 and on, and presently we came upon 

 the player, a dim figure huddled in 

 a heap upon the ground. His in- 

 strument was a wooden one shaped 

 something like an oboe, with a reed, which is bound 

 tightly or loosely according to the pitch desired. He 

 did not pause, and for a few minutes we w^atched 



Aligata. 



