Chap. XXV. SUPREMACY OF FIREARMS. 525 



do not produce toothache, as is the case with us when a piece 

 is chipped off by accident. But teeth here are more solid, and 

 often wear down to the gums in old persons without decay, 

 like those found in Egyptian mummies. A phrase used to 

 express a very aged person is, " that he lived so long that his 

 gums and teeth were worn quite smooth together." Cases of 

 toothache are not at all uncommon nevertheless, though pro- 

 bably not so usually met with as among ourselves. This 

 abuse of the fine teeth, which they possess by nature, is 

 common among both sexes. They delight also in wearing 

 the hair so as to give the head the appearance of being pro- 

 longed backwards and upwards. The Babisa are partial to 

 making their locks into the form of a dragoon's helmet. 



It would not be worth while to advert for a moment to the 

 routine of travelling, or the little difficulties that beset every 

 one who attempts to penetrate into a new country, were it 

 not to show the great source of the power here possessed by 

 slave-traders. We needed help in carrying our goods, while 

 our men were ill, though still able to march. When we had 

 settled with others for hire, we were often told, that the 

 dealers in men had taken possession of some, and had taken 

 them away altogether. Other things led us to believe that 

 the slave-traders carry matters with a high hand; and no 

 wonder, for the possession of gunpowder gives them almost 

 absolute power. The mode by which tribes armed with bows 

 and arrows carry on warfare, or defend themselves, is by 

 ambuscade. They never come out in open fight, but wait for 

 the enemy ensconced behind trees, or in the long grass of the 

 country, and shoot at him unawares. Consequently, if men 

 come against them with firearms, when, as is usually the 

 case, the long grass is all burned off, the tribe attacked are as 

 helpless, as a wooden ship, possessing only signal guns, would 

 be before an iron-clad steamer. The time of year selected for 



