346 FATAL DISASTERS AT MOUAOU KOMBO. Chap. XVIL 



have to gather a sufBcient quantity of firewood to 

 last their families during their absence. KombO; 

 addressing himself to Igala — for, when holding a 

 palaver, these people never address themselves 

 directly to the person for whom the speech is in- 

 tended — said, " I see by the look of the Oguizi that 

 he thinks I am deceiving him, and that I lie : he 

 must not judge me so harshly. A man may have 

 a fine body, yet, if his heart is bad, he is an ugly 

 man ; therefore, if a man's heart is good, people 

 should not look at his body. To-morrow the Oguizi 

 will see whether I have a good heart or a bad heart : 

 Kombo will take him to the Njavi country." 



In the afternoon the village street became de- 

 serted. I walked down it, but could see no one. I 

 called my men together ; Igala shook his head, and 

 said that they were all gone to " mogoua oroungo " 

 (hold a secret meeting), and that it boded no good. 



Such was indeed the case. When the meetins: 

 broke up all the men of the village assembled before 

 my hut, and the chief began a long rambling speech, 

 the purport of which was that I must give them 

 more goods before I could leave tlie place. He said 

 the Niembouai and Mobana people had left me be- 

 cause they were unable to take me to tlie Njavi ; 

 that he alone could help me forward, and I must 

 therefore pay him at least as much as I had paid the 

 people at the other places. He asked particularly for 

 the pieces of a large brass kettle which I had broken 

 yesterday, and also for many measures of gunpowder, 

 which, as I have before explained, they wanted to 

 barter for other articles with the Ashangui tribe. 



