Eastern Chaga and the Lake Chala. 439 
spot, in far more becoming style than I ever saw 
Mandara in. He said I was his guest ; I was a great 
man, and he wished to treat me as such ; would I 
accept a cow ? I told him I had come to see him as 
a friend, and would not refuse his hospitality, though 
I had nothing to give him in return. ^' No matter, 
no matter," he returned ; you are Mandara's friend, 
and you are welcome here." 
Returning to my tent, crowds of people gathered 
about me, anxious to see the white elephant." 
Preaching to them was out of the question, their 
minds being hopelessly pre-occupied with the prodigy 
before them. They were unusually clamorous, evi- 
dently standing less in awe of their chief than the 
Moches do of Mandara. Our men happening at this 
time to be slaughtering the cow which had been 
presented to us, increased the hubbub. One part of 
the crowd, overcome by curiosity, stood chattering 
over me ; the other, hungry as wolves, surrounded the 
slaughtered beast, thirsting for its blood ; and they 
drank the warm, crimson fluid as greedily and with 
as much gusto as the Gallas are wont to do. Not 
satisfied with the blood, some of them snatched at the 
meat, at which the mange's brother flew at the crowd 
with a strong, stout stave, and laid it about him right 
and left, driving all before him. He and one of my 
men from Moche were appointed by the mange 
guardians of the enclosure. In the case of my man 
there was a little ceremony about his instalment. 
Presenting his staff to the mange, the latter, by 
simply touching it, converted it into an official baton, 
and the bearer into a special constable, with full 
power to smash as many skulls as he pleased. 
