Chap. IX. ASTONISHMENT OF THE NATIVES. 193 



trated London News' attracting their notice more 

 than anything else — I exhibited my large magnet, 

 which I knew would astonish tl:em. I asked one 

 man to come near with his Apono sword, and stag- 

 gered him by taking it out of his hand with the 

 magnet. I asked for other swords, and knives. 

 All were handed to me at arm's length, for they were 

 afraid of approaching the magical instrument, to 

 which the red paint gave additional terrors. When 

 they saw their knives and swords sticking to the 

 magnet without dropping, sometimes by the edges 

 and sometimes sideways, they all shouted out: "He 

 is surely an Oguizi (Spirit) to do these things." I 

 invited them to take the instrument in their hands, 

 but they dared not ; Mayolo's curiosity eventually 

 overcame his fears, and he handled the magnet with 

 the air of a man who is doing something very 

 courageous. At the conclusion of the exhibition the 

 old chief exclaimed that I was immensely rich, and 

 that if I was not a king I must be next in rank to 

 the king in my country. He was astonished when I 

 told him that the kings of the white men had pro- 

 bably never heard of me. He thought I was telling 

 him a very wicked story, and did not believe me. 



The day previous to this I had a good laugh at the 

 alarm of one of these simple Otando people, when 

 using my boiling-point apparatus to ascertain the 

 height of the place. I was engnged in taking the 

 observation, when a native, attracted by curiosity, 

 came to see what I was doing. He looked earnestly 

 at the aneroids, then at the bull's-ej-e lantern on the 

 top of which was the little kettle where water was to 



