THROUGH FRENCH UBANGI 55 



it, as our interpreter explained, "Anger no fit to 

 catch him." 



The people showed us a simple friendliness, very 

 different from the ferocity which is attributed to 

 them — probably on no more substantial ground than 

 their nakedness. The women wear nothing more than 

 a strip of cloth, or a blade of guinea corn, which is 

 just as effective and much prettier, though sometimes 

 a bunch of stalks or the dried leaves of the dum 

 palm are preferred. Some of them were engaged in 

 making pots out of plastic clay, which they moulded 

 and ornamented without other utensil than a piece 

 of shell — of particular interest to us, as it was of a 

 similar species to that originally discovered by Mr 

 Talbot on Lake Chad in 1904. A finish is sometimes 

 given to the pottery by a glaze obtained from a 

 mimosa. 



As we passed down the path that led from the 

 village to the lake, we noticed a little lamp that lay 

 half-hidden in thick grass, placed there for the use 

 of the spirits of the dead. 



We found our tents had been erected on a narrow 

 strip of sand, with but a few feet between us and 

 the water, from which manatees raised their round 

 heads, and fish splashed as they leaped to escape a 

 crocodile's jaws. Mr Talbot played St George to their 

 dragon and killed a monster, in the confident hope 

 that he would retrieve its body in the morning ; but 

 its brethren gathered overnight and celebrated a dif- 

 ferent form of funeral rite. They held their wake 

 close to us, and one thrust his snout against the flap 

 of Mrs Talbot's tent, while another almost overthrew 

 mine by a clumsy trip over the pegs. Barricades of 



