PALABALA AND YVELALA. — 55 
overarching grass, rank and high with the previous rainy- 
Season's growth, was most fatiguing and difficult to pass 
through, and before I halted at the pleasant little village 
of Nou Mpanda, I was cut and scratched and slashed - 
to such an exasperating degree that I was quite out of 
temper, the more so as myriads of little barbed seeds had 
crept down the back of my neck, and were pricking me 
at every motion of my body. At Nguvi Mpanda a few 
CHIEF OF NGUVI MPANDA. 
minutes of welcome rest in the verandah of the chief’s 
house, and long copious drinks of creamy, frothing “ palm- 
wine” just drawn from the tree,* restored me to equani- 
mity, and I was enabled to reciprocate the profession of 
brotherhood on the part of the amiable chief with like 
effusion. He had not yet wearied of a whistle I had given 
him on a previous visit, and used it with unnecessary 
frequency to enforce his commands. I ought to remark, 
* In this case, Huis Guineénsis, the vil-palm, but the sap of other 
palms, as will be seen farther on, is used as a beverage. 
