64 



NATIVE MINSTRELS. 



Chap. III. 



the boats and towed them astern. In the dark, one of the 

 boats was capsized ; but all in it, except one poor fellow 

 who could not swim were, picked up. His loss threw a 

 gloom over us all, and added to the chagrin we often felt 

 at having been so ill-served in our sorry craft. 



Next day we arrived at the village of Mboma (16° 56' 

 30'' S.), where the people raised large quantities of rice, 

 and were eager traders ; the rice was sold at wonderfully 

 low rates, and we could not purchase a tithe of the food 

 brought for sale. 



Airican Fiddle of one String. 



A native minstrel serenaded us in the evening, playing 

 several quaint tunes on a species of one-stringed fiddle, 

 accompanied by wild, but not unmusical songs. He told 

 the Makololo that he intended to play all night to induce 

 us to give him a present. The nights being cold, the 

 thermometer falling to 47°, with occasional fogs, he was 

 asked if he was not afraid of perishing from cold; but, 

 with the genuine spirit of an Italian organ-grinder, he 

 replied, " Oh, no ; I shall spend the night with my white 

 comrades in the big canoe ; I have often heard of the 

 white men, but have never seen them till now, and I must 



