PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA 65 



Was he not the " O.C." of a citadel ?— one, mark 

 you, with wickerwork and timber ramparts and 

 the pomp of sentry-boxes ! When first I saw 

 this gallant fellow he was standing at the door- 

 way of his flimsy residence, holding a small pin- 

 fire revolver out towards me. I almost mistook 

 his intentions and nearly covered him; but 

 presently the little man opened the weapon, and 

 with a sweet confidence disclosed its emptiness. 

 It took us a long time to ascertain the why and 

 wherefore of this strange proceeding, for the 

 sergeant's French was even worse than ours. 

 Eventually, however, we realized that he wished 

 us to give him a few rounds of ammunition. He 

 had seen my Harrington-Richardson strapped to 

 my belt (I was wearing this because of the raw 

 and strange mob of porters we had with us), 

 and presumably had imagined that all revolvers 

 were of the same calibre. I convinced him after 

 practical trials that my '38 cartridges would not 

 fit his murderous pop-gun, and after a while he 

 ceased to worry about this calamity. He was 

 in terror of a lion that, he told us, prowled 

 around the hills at the back of the camp. His 

 pin-fire pistol would have provided a very 

 desperate means of defence ! We lunched with 

 this comical little commandant of the Post 

 Militare e Civil of Chiuta, saw the spoon-shaped 

 bastinadoes which, when occasion requires, are 

 used to instil respect for Portugal into the native ; 

 and then we said " good-bye " over a bottle of vino 

 Unto. 



Portuguese East Africa is a hospitable country. 

 In the most out-of-the-way prazos and posts 

 the traveller is entertained with a liberality 

 which shames less remote portions of the globe. 

 And as to the cost of living, I find it recorded 



