276 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



for many years, and that is good." But Langwua left 

 the house in anger. 



It came to pass that the chief died when his little 

 son was seven years old, but the child had spoken 

 destiny, and the people chose him to be chief, and 

 would have none of Langwua, though he forced his 

 claim with a thousand warriors. 



Till then the child had worn no clothing, but when 

 he became chief they put trousers on him, and this 

 is the meaning of his name — " Dauwu " = trousers, 

 " Gan " = to cut or sew : Gandauwu. 



He reigned for thirty years and had no children, so, 

 as he had foretold, Langwua succeeded him. 



The people accepted us very simply into the life 

 of the place, and they would come and tell us such 

 little histories as I have recounted above, in which 

 I have tried, as far as possible, to keep to their ex- 

 pressions ; and they would bring us contributions to 

 Mr Talbot's collections — monkeys, squirrels, rats, and 

 a little duiker. The rats ^ have proved new to science, 

 and have been named after me by the kind wish of 

 Mr Talbot and of Mr Oldfield Thomas, who worked 

 them out at the Natural History Museum. Scorpions 

 also were brought in large numbers, for Mastaba col- 

 lected them from beneath the stones in the town. 

 He brought them in his cap and overturned them on 

 the table, where they scuttled about in a manner 

 that alarmed us very greatly. He, however, picked 

 them up one by one and placed them in the collecting- 

 bottle, assuring us that there was no need to fear, as 

 he had a medicine that preserved him from their sting. 

 Certainly he appeared to be immune, whatever the cause. 



1 Cricetomys gambianus oliviae. 



