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TO BOLOBO. 163 
‘are quite insensible, for they interrupt my musings by 
asking if they may stop for the night at a large and 
populous village which we have just reached, and their 
request 1s seconded by the natives on the shore, who offer 
us the most vociferous greetings and entreaties to honour 
their village with our presence. However, it is only four 
o'clock and we have two hours more daylight, so I will 
not yield, and the Zanzibaris with a very bad grace put 
their oars into the water again. They rowed for about an 
hour, but did not make much progress, for there were > 
several rapids to cross, and the men were, or affected to 
be, tired, and patted their stomachs lugubriously, pre- 
dicting “no chop and natives plenty bad” at the next 
village we meet. They are fairly right, for when we 
direct our course towards some huts embosomed in palm 
trees at the end of a pretty little creek, the inhabitants 
rush down to the beach and ask us in African phraseology 
just to wait until they can get their guns, and then they 
will give us a warm reception. Even the little boys 
imitate the action of putting a gun to the shoulder with 
their tiny lances, and the women shriek, and laugh, and 
utter all sorts of derisive things. I suspect it was more 
than half of it “‘ show off,” as, had there been any prospect 
of a real conflict, the women and chiidren would have 
been sent away to the bush. However, as it was only 
five o’clock, and there was sure to be another village round 
the distant point of rocks (we could already distinguish 
its bananas and palm-trees), it was decided that we should 
leave these inhospitable savages to themselves. We were 
soon in front of the next hamlet, whence a friendly greeting 
reached us over the water, but between us and them 
stretched a terrible line of rocks and breakers that took us 
a whole hour to cross, the men having to get into the 
water and drag the boat along by main force. Our landing 
was momentarily delayed by the arrival of a deputation 
from the preceding village, which had followed us quickly 
along the shore. They met the friendly natives and 
entreated them not to let us land, but the timely waving 
of some bright coloured pocket-handkerchiefs and the 
M 2 
