480 SANSAWE'S IDEA OF DIGNITY. 



their hair woven into the form of a European hat, and it was only 

 by a closer inspection that its nature was detected. Others had it 

 arranged in tufts, with a threefold cord along the ridge of each 

 tuft; while others, again, follow the ancient Egyptian fashion, hav- 

 ing the whole mass of wool plaited into cords, all hanging down 

 as far as the shoulders. This mode, with the somewhat Egyptian 

 cast of countenance in other parts of Londa, reminded me strongly 

 of the paintings of that nation in the British Museum. 



We had now rain every day, and the sky seldom presented that 

 cloudless aspect and clear blue so common in the dry lands of the 

 south. The heavens are often overcast by large white motionless 

 masses, which stand for hours in the same position, and the inter- 

 vening spaces are filled with a milk-and-water-looking haze. Not- 

 withstanding these unfavorable circumstances, I obtained good ob- 

 servations for the longitude of this important point on both sides 

 of the Quango, and found the river running in 9° 50 / S. lat., 18° 

 33' E. long. 



On proceeding to our former station near Sansawe's village, he 

 ran to meet us with wonderful urbanity, asking if we had seen 

 Moene Put, king of the white men (or Portuguese) ; and added, 

 on parting, that he would come to receive his dues in the evening. 

 I replied that, as he had treated us so scurvily, even forbidding 

 his people to sell us any food, if he did not bring us a fowl and 

 some eggs as part of his duty as a chief, he should receive no 

 present from me. When he came, it was in the usual Londa way 

 of showing the exalted position he occupies, mounted on the shoul- 

 ders of his spokesman, as schoolboys sometimes do in England, 

 and as was represented to have been the case in the southern isl- 

 ands when Captain Cook visited them. My companions, amused 

 at his idea of dignity, greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visit- 

 ed the native traders first, and then came to me with two cocks as 

 a present. I spoke to him about the impolicy of treatment we 

 had received at his hands, and quoted the example of the Banga- 

 las, who had been conquered by the Portuguese, for their extor- 

 tionate demands of payment for firewood, grass, water, etc., and 

 concluded by denying his right to any payment for simply pass- 

 ing through uncultivated land. To all this he agreed ; and then 

 I gave him, as a token of friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, 

 two iron spoons, and two yards of coarse printed calico. He 



