318 THE WORLD'S "WONDERS. 



and then hastily dash into the house. When a little child, uncon- 

 scious of danger, meets you in the street, he sets up a scream at 

 the apparition, and conveys the impression that he is not far 

 from going into fits. Among the Bechuanas Livingstone was 

 often obliged to reprove the women for making a hobgoblin of 

 the white man, and telling their children that they would send 

 for him to bite them. 



AFRICAN DANDIES. 



ON a rivulet called Tamba, Livingstone found a people of a 

 light olive color, who were timid and civil. They file their teeth 

 to a point, which makes the smile of the women frightful, as it 

 reminds one of the grin of an alligator. Many of the men are 

 dandies ; their shoulders are always wet with the oil dripping 

 from their lubricated hair, and everything about them is orna- 

 mented in one way or another. Some thrum a musical instrument 

 the livelong day, and when they wake at night proceed at once 

 to their musical performance. Many of these musicians are too 

 poor to have iron keys to their instruments, but make them of 

 bamboo, and persevere, though no one hears the music but 

 themselves. Others try to appear warlike by never going out 

 of their hut except with a load of bows and arrows, or a gun 

 ornamented with a strip of hide for every animal they have shot; 

 and others never go anywhere without a canary in a cage. Ladies 

 may be seen carefully tending little lap-dogs, which are intended 

 to be eaten. Their villages are generally in forests, and composed 

 of groups of irregularly-planted brown huts, with banana and 

 cotton trees and tobacco growing around. Round baskets are 

 laid on the thatch of the huts for the hens to lay in, and on the 

 arrival of strangers, men, women, and children ply their calling 

 as hucksters with a great deal of noisy haggling ; all their 

 transactions are conducted with civil banter and good temper. 



NARROW ESCAPE FROM A BUFFALO. 



LIVINGSTONE tarried a few days with his good friend Shinte, 

 already spoken of, and then began a descent of the Leeba river. 

 This is a beautiful stream, and aside from its tranquil, clear 

 bosom, its banks are adorned with a rich and varied vegetable 



