AN AUJGATOR IDOI,. 263 



mentioned — the trees were nearly all evergreens, and of 

 good, though not very gigantic, size. The lawns were 

 covered with grass, which in thickness of crop looked 

 like ordinary English hay. We passed two small hamlets 

 surrounded by gardens of maize and manioc, and near 

 each of these I observed, for the first time, an ugly idol 

 common in Londa — the figure of an animal, resembling 

 an alhgator, made of clay. It is formed of grass, plastered 

 over with soft clay ; two cowrie-shells are inserted as eyes, 

 and numbers of the bristles from the tail of an elephant 

 are stuck in about the neck. It is called a lion, though, 

 if one were not told so, he would conclude it to be an 

 alligator. It stood in a shed, and the Balonda pray and 

 beat drums before it all night in cases of sickness. 



Some of the men of Manenko's train had shields made 

 of reeds, neatly woven into a square shape, about five 

 feet long and three broad. With these, and short broad- 

 swords and sheaves of iron-headed arrows, they appeared 

 rather ferocious. But the constant habit of wearing arms 

 is probably only a substitute for the courage they do not 

 possess. We always deposited our fire-arms and spears 

 outside a village before entering it, while the Balonda, 

 on visiting us at our encampment, always came fully 

 armed, until we ordered them either to lay down their 

 weapons or be off. Next day we passed through a piece 

 of forest so dense that no one could have penetrated 

 it without an axe. It was flooded, not by the river, but 

 by the heavy rains which poured down every day, and 

 kept those who had clothing constantly wet. I observed, 

 in this piece of forest, a very strong smell of sulphuretted 

 hydrogen. This I had observed repeatedly in other 

 parts before. I had attacks of fever of the intermittent 

 type again and again, in consequence of repeated drench- 

 ings in these unhealthy spots. 



On the nth and 12th we were detained by incessant 

 rains, and so heavy I never saw the like in the south. 

 I had a little tapioca and a small quantity of Libonta 

 meal, which I still reserved for worse times. The patience 

 of my men under hunger was admirable ; the actual want 

 of the present is never so painful as the thought of getting 

 nothing in the future. We thought the people of some 

 large hamlets near us very niggardly and very indepen- 

 dent of their chiefs, for they gave us and Manenko nothing, 

 though they had large fields of maize in an eatable state 



