56 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFEICA 



chairs and tables had, however, been erected outside 

 our doors, to give us warning should they inadver- 

 tently walk in, and Mr Talbot kept guard all night 

 armed with his mightiest weapons. 



Our days were spent paddling peacefully about the 

 lake on our way from one township to another, and 

 wherever we went we received the same M-elcome. 

 Our reputation as buyers had evidently preceded us, 

 for at one place the women had removed temptation 

 from their husbands and from us by the concealment 

 of all treasures. We grazed at the ceilino-s and doors 

 and all the usual places to no avail ; but as we 

 turned ixwaj in despair, our head-man descended from 

 the roof in triumph, with a mass of objects under his 

 arm. An iron poker was among them, and as pokers 

 are rarely found amongst primitive peoples, we could 

 not resist buying it, at a price, however, which seemed 

 amply satisfactory to the vendor. We also bought 

 a bird-snare of attractive simplicity, made of a long 



BiRD-SXARE. 



string of vegetable fibre, to which loops of hair are 

 attached at intervals, each attachment being hidden 

 by a small clay pellet squeezed on the string. When 

 set, grain is placed near by to tempt the victim to 

 destruction, — as it hops away the leg becomes en- 

 tangled in the line, which at once pulls taut and 

 holds it captive. Another curious article consisted 



