182 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



Banda. Though it was quite a small place, we were able to 

 get some of our " gero " ground there, which was fortunate, 

 as we had omitted to see to this before leaving Fort Archam- 

 bault, and the men were beginning to grumble at the prospect 

 of having to live on the raw millet. So we stayed for one 

 day. 



As a rule our arrival at a small village was the signal for the 

 natives to send away their women and poultry into the bush 

 for safety, and it took some little time before confidence was 

 established. It is not that they are afraid of the white man, 

 but they fear the depredations of his " boys." However, 

 our arrival did not in any way upset the simple people of 

 Banda, who, as soon as the camp was made, were continually 

 journeying to and fro with the calabashes of " geri." In the 

 evening the dancers of the village, attended by a band 

 consisting of drums and a musical instrument called a mundi, 

 came down and danced before us by the light of the camp 

 fires. The mundi is a primitive sort of dulcimer made 

 of hollow gourds of different lengths, with pieces of wood 

 stretched across, which are struck by drum-sticks to pro- 

 duce the notes. The old man who played it must have 

 served his art with the devotion of years, for his back was 

 bent double in the manipulation of the instrument which 

 was slung from his neck in front of him. It was altogether 

 an interesting performance. A war-dance with much 

 flourishing of spears and shields was first executed by the 

 men. Afterwards the women joined in, and two rows were 

 formed of the men and women opposite each other. Then a 

 man and woman came out into the middle of the ring and 

 danced, accompanying their steps with gestures expressive 



