374 JOURNEY TO THE COAST. Chap. XIX. 



Niembouai, where our guide resided. The same mis- 

 trust of our proceedings was shown here as at 

 Mongon, but on recognising Magouga the villagers 

 became reassured. Our excellent guide took us down 

 the street to his own house ; but we had little peace 

 all the remainder of the day, for the people were 

 eager to learn the particulars of the late events from 

 the lips of the eloquent Magouga. The story as 

 related by him waxed more sensational after each 

 repetition ; but what pleased the villagers most was 

 the way in which he described us as saving his life 

 when threatened by the Mobana people. At this 

 there was tumultuous cheering, with shouts of "You 

 are men ! you are men ! How can people make war 

 on such men ? " 



July 2%th. Notwithstanding the gush of popularity 

 of the preceding evening, the Niembouai villagers 

 have evidently not yet shaken off their distrust of 

 me. Early in the morning I saw people casting furtive 

 glances at me, and little groups of elders were ob- 

 servable at a distance from my hut, engaged in close 

 confabulation. The cause of all this was made ap- 

 parent shortly afterwards. The people were afraid 

 that I should do something to them in revenge for 

 the articles that had been stolen between Niem- 

 bouai Olomba and Mobana, wdren I passed through 

 their territory on the eastward journey. At length 

 one of the negroes, who I suppose had been chosen 

 to carry out the perilous mission, came and handed 

 me a bottle partly filled with arsenic, saying that he 

 w^as a stranger to the village, and that the bottle 

 having been given to him as my property, he had 



