PALABALA AND YELALA. ol 
where familiar-sounding Bible names were strangely 
mixed up with unintelligible Fiote. All the while the 
black congregation (swelled this evening by my five 
porters) sat ‘stolidly unmoved, although the missionary 
strove to infuse as much interest as “possible into his 
discourse. After this followed a Moody and Sankey hymn 
in Fiote, in which I felt anything but at home, and could 
only make semblance with my lips to be following. 
Finally, a short prayer finished up the whole, and then 
began a ceremony which the natives would not miss for 
the world. Each one came separately and shook hands 
with the lady, the missionary and myself, accompanying 
the shake-hands with a “goo’-night, Sir,’ applied 
indifferently to either sex. We also retired to our rooms, 
and although mine was rather damp (there was a fine 
crop of mushrooms—alas ! not edible, and waving grass 
growing on my bedroom floor), I had a comfortable bed 
and slept well. | 
It was very humid and wet at Palabala. Every morn- 
ing and evening a thick mist surrounded everything and 
rendered the place clammy and unhealthy. There are 
four kings or chieftains in this neighbourhood, Kongo- 
Mpaka, Nikiangila, Tantia, and a small boy, whose name 
I forget. Kongo-Mpaka is the head king, and only owes 
allegiance to the king of Congo at Sao Salvador. A little 
while ago one of the queens of this king of Congo made a 
sort of progress through his dominions, and was received 
with great respect at Palabala. The local dialect here is 
a very pure form of the Fiote (Fiote really means the 
“people,” the “ mass”) or “Congo” tongue, which has 
been studied by Europeans ever since the days of 
- Brusciotto (1659), Proyart (1776), and Canecattim (1806). 
The Portuguese has largely influenced this tongue, as may 
_hbe seen by the vocabulary ; and perhaps at Palabala there 
are even more terms of that language in common use than 
farther north; nor is this to be wondered at, when we 
consider that Portugal has for four centuries exercised a 
dominating influence, religious and political, over these 
lands, 
E 2 
