AFRICA N HONESTY. 1 $ 



I carried with me thirty tusks of ivory ; and, on leaving 

 my waggon to set forth on my journey, two warriors of 

 the country offered a heifer a-piece to the man who 

 should slay any one who molested it. Having proceeded 

 about a hundred miles, I found myself short of ammuni- 

 tion, and despatched an emissary back to the chief to 

 procure more percussion caps from a box I had in my 

 waggon. Not understanding the lock, the chief took a 

 hatchet and split the lid open, to get what was wanted ; 

 and notwithstanding the insecure state in which it re- 

 mained, I found, on returning two years after, that its 

 contents were precisely as I left them. Such honesty 

 is rare even in civilised Christian England, as I know 

 from experience ; for I sent a box of fossils to Dr Buck- 

 land, which, after arriving safely in England, was stolen 

 from some railway, being probably mistaken for plate. 



I could not make my friend the chief understand that 

 I was poor : I had a quantity of sugar, and while it lasted 

 the chief would favour me with his company to coffee ; 

 when it was gone, I told the chief how it was produced 

 from the cane, which grew in central Africa, but as they 

 had no means of extracting the saccharine matter, he 

 requested me to procure a sugar-mill. When I told him 

 I was poor, the chief then informed me that all the ivory 

 in the country was at my disposal, and he accordingly 

 loaded me with tusks, ten of which on arriving at the 

 coast I spent in purchasing clothing for my followers ; the 

 rest were left at Quillimane, that the impression should 



