318 OUR RECEPTION AT A GANI VILLAGE. 
and dressed their heads with single feathers of jays, 
&c, floating like a vane in the wind. Brightly 
polished iron rings were worn round the fleshy part 
of the arm, a pendant of iron-wire hung from the 
under lip, large rings of copper and brass were in 
their ears, and all of them carried spears with bamboo 
handles. Bombay and Mabrook, who had passed 
through the district some weeks previously, were 
gladly welcomed with " Verembe, verembe," sounded 
in a guttural tone of voice. They had stools offered 
them to sit upon, and after some delay permission 
was given us to advance. 
Having mounted the side of the rocky height to its 
top, we were surprised to come upon a flat cleared 
space, surrounded with huts of bamboo and grass. In 
the centre stood a single "miloomba," a bark-cloth 
tree, with two idol-huts of grass, and horns of wild 
animals on the ground by its trunk. An aged man 
with grey hair advanced, with other "elders" and 
women, carrying a white chicken, some mVenge, and 
a handful of a plant with a white flower. This old 
gentleman was Chong'ee, the chief of the place. 
While holding the fowl he addressed us, then waved 
it over the ground, and passed it to his chief officer, 
who did the same. The body of our guide, Luendo, 
who had conveyed us from the Karuma Falls, was 
now rubbed over with m'wenge from the plant ; the 
liquid was also sprinkled on us, and we were invited 
to sit upon the cow-skins placed in the shade of the 
miloomba tree, and were presented with mwenge, 
called "water," to quench our thirst. 
The first impression made by the appearance of the 
little colony was very pleasing. Their beehive-looking 
