280 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



not at the time believe that there was no trickery 

 about the weapons, or illusion about the thrusts — and 

 my incredulity saved me from a sickness I should 

 surely have felt had I realised the truth. 



The performance was put an end to by the gathering 

 of horsemen, in preparation for the fantasia. Then a 

 terrible incident occurred. A little boy ran out amongst 

 them and received a kick on the shin. There he lay, 

 poor little fellow, crying lustily. A man went out and 

 picked him up, but the small leg was broken, and he 

 was laid down again. Mr Talbot hurried across as fast 

 as his injuries would permit him, and improvised splints 

 from a walking-stick, which he broke up for the pur- 

 pose, and we bound them on with our handkerchiefs. 

 The poor baby struggled and screamed without cessa- 

 tion, and Mrs Talbot and I knelt beside him, holding 

 him quiet and trying to soothe him, but the terror of 

 an unaccustomed white face only added to his troubles. 



His father was there, but refused to come to his little 

 son ; and the mother could not, because no woman is 

 allowed to mix with men at a time of festivity. Mr 

 Talbot sent to tell the chief, and in a moment he 

 walked out at the head of his retinue, spoke kindly to 

 the little chap, and directed some men to bear him 

 away on a native bed, on to which he had to be held, 

 for he was still fighting and crying. Native surgery, 

 however, has the reputation of being very good, and 

 each day until we left we heard favourable reports of 

 the poor piccan's progress towards recovery. It was a 

 sad interlude in the wedding festivities. 



When they were renewed the chief seated himself 

 beneath an awning, while the bridegroom and the 

 bride's father led the horse-play. The latter looked 



