154 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



understand a stranger behaving kindly. WheneA 7 er 

 I entered a village every one promptly fled, and I 

 shall never forget the amount of coaxing and wooing 

 I had to go through in order to get the chief I first 

 met to make friends. At first he stood amongst his 

 bananas about 100 yards off, and my interpreter 

 had to shout courtesies at this distance. Whenever 

 I approached he ran, and it was only after I advanced 

 alone to within speaking distance and had assured 

 him over and over again that I only wanted to buy 

 food, that he could be induced to wait for me. 

 After he came to camp, it was about half an hour 

 before he could be induced to come near enough to 

 receive a present of beads:" 



This timidity is not confined to strangers. I am 

 afraid all the Wawamba have a thoroughly bad 

 character. When the king Tengetenge sent me a 

 deputation with food, there was not a soul left in 

 any village within three miles. 



In the Butagu valley, the people on the left 

 bank never cross to the right unless when raiding, 

 and neither ever ascend the valley to the clearing 

 at the head. 



Possibly this habit has arisen because the valleys 

 are so steep and precipitous. To cross from one 

 ridge to the next involves at least three hours. 

 There is first a steep descent composed of slippery 

 black mud, and then a worse ascent, where the 

 steepness and mud together form a combination 

 impossible to describe. 



