280 IN AFRICA 



over plentifully, were large numbers of children 

 and babies and a few women. A gateway of tangled 

 boughs led into the inclosure, while in one part of 

 the village were the curious woven wickerwork 

 granaries in which the community store of kaffir 

 corn is kept. There were no street signs on the lamp 

 posts, probably because there were no streets and 

 no lamp posts. 



In the first village all the men were away, evi- 

 dently waiting to see whether our visit was a hostile 

 or a peaceful one. 



We soon established ourselves on a peace footing 

 and after that the warriors began to appear out of 

 the tall grass in large numbers from all points of 

 the compass. They all carried spears and shields, 

 neither of which they would sell for love or money. 

 At least they wouldn't for money. We resolved 

 not to try the other unless the worst came to the 

 worst and we had to fall back on it as a last des- 

 perate measure. I suppose they didn't know how 

 soon they might need their weapons, and we heard 

 that the sultan had just sent out a positive order 

 forbidding them to sell their means of defense. 



The first procedure when entering a district 

 where the natives may be unfriendly .is to send out 

 for the chief, or sultan, as he is known in Africa. 

 There is always a sultan to preside over the des- 

 tinies of his tribe and to take any money that hap- 

 pens along. So we sent for the sultan, who was 

 off in a neighboring village, so they said. After a 

 long wait, during which we pitched our camp and 



