Chap. XVI. ROBBED BY TEE ASHANGO POETEES. 339 



mained in our hands. On examining next morning 

 the three boxes which had been pkmdered, I found 

 that none of the articles they contained had been 

 actually stolen ; but the contents of several bottles of 

 medicine had been either drunk or poured away, and 

 the empty bottles put back into their places. A 

 quantity of arsenic was amongst the deficiencies, and 

 I heard afterwards that some people of Niembouai 

 had died mysteriously after touching the white man's 

 goods. 



I believed, of course, that Magouga and the por- 

 ters who had not run away were innocent of the 

 theft, having had no connivance with the thieves ; 

 but the day after the property had been restored, 

 I found, when I awoke in the morning, two of my 

 boxes missing. They had been taken during the 

 night out of the hut in which I slept, and which 

 was divided into three compartments; the innermost 

 was the room in Avliich I slept, and my stock of 

 goods was put into the other two ; wooden doors 

 have now become scarce, and the shutter was hardly 

 good for anything, so that the thieves had come 

 during the night without much difficulty, and had 

 taken two boxes, which, fortunately, contained only 

 salt, shot, some soap, arsenic, and a few beads. I 

 immediately called Eakombo, the chief of Mobana, 

 and accused him and his people of the theft. For 

 three days the palavers lasted ; every day they came, 

 saying they had stolen nothing; that the theft had 

 been committed by some one they did not know. 

 For three days palaver after palaver was held — they 

 could not find tlie thieves. I could see from the sor- 



