TRIP TO THE ISLANDS 



and dale, through bamboo thickets and palm swamps, 

 for about fifteen miles. 



I found at Cameta an American, named Bean, who 

 had been so long in the country that he had almost 

 forgotten his mother tongue. He knew the neighbour- 

 hood well, and willingly accompanied me as guide in 

 many long excursions. I was astonished in my walks 

 with him at the universal friendliness of the people. 

 We were obliged, when rambling along the intricate 

 pathways through the woods, occasionally to pass the 

 houses of settlers. The good people, most of whom 

 knew Bean, always invited us to stop. The master 

 of the house would step out first and insist on our walking 

 in to take some refreshment ; at the same moment I 

 generally espied the female members of the family hurry- 

 ing to the fireplace to prepare the inevitable cup of coffee. 

 After conversing a little with the good folks we would 

 take our leave, and then came the parting present — a 

 bunch of bananas, a few eggs, or fruits of one kind or other. 

 It would have been cruel to refuse these presents, but 

 they were sometimes so inconvenient to us that we used 

 to pitch them into the thickets as soon as we were out 

 of sight of the donors. 



One day we embarked in a montaria to visit a widow 

 lady, named Dona Paulina, to whom Bean was going to 

 be married, and who lived on one of the islands in mid- 

 river, about ten miles above Cameta. The little boat 

 had a mast and sail, the latter of which was of very 

 curious construction. It was of the shape which sailors 

 call shoulder-of-mutton sail, and was formed of laths 

 of pith split from the leaf stalks of the Jupati palm 

 (Raphia tsedigera). The laths were strung together so 

 as to form a mat, and the sail was hoisted or lowered 

 by means of a rope attached to the top. The same 

 material serves for many purposes ; partitions and even 

 the external walls of houses of the poorer classes are 

 often made of it. It fell to my charge to manage the sail 

 during our voyage, whilst Bean steered, but when in the 

 middle of the broad river the halyard broke, and in 

 endeavouring to mend it we nearly upset the boat, for 

 the wind blew strongly and the waves ran high. We 

 fortunately met, soon afterwards, a negro who was de- 

 scending in a similar boat to ours, and who, seeing our 

 distress, steered towards us and kindly supplied us with 



