294 
BILLEH S HAREM. 
US. On the following day he was as good as his 
word, and sold three at “ one price,”- — without 
haggling. 
Our former prompt departure, and the scolding he 
had just received, brought Billeh to his senses, as he 
also let us have some goats at “one price,” that is, with- 
out first asking thrice as much as he intended to take. 
He sent four men with muskets to try and shoot 
bullocks for us ; but he said they were “too much wild; 
they savy too much when white man comes, and run 
far away into the bush.” They at length succeeded, 
and brought a small one on board which had been 
shot with broken bits of brass. 
At the back of the palace were numerous huts, 
ranged in two long lines, the dwellings of the chiefs 
wives, children, and slaves. The former came out imme- 
diately on our entering the court-yard, and commenced 
begging for everything they saw. They were neither 
remarkable for decency of manners nor appearance. 
The natural ugliness of their features was increased by 
a dark green pigment, which, however, -was distributed 
on their faces, and other parts of their person, with 
such care as to prove that they thought it had a con- 
trary effect. Some of the children were pretty ; one 
especially, a daughter of the Chief, named Luchinga, 
was a perfect miniature Venus, though she was not 
more than seven years of age. In one large hut, we 
could see through the bars at the entrance a number 
of females of all ages, who were doubtless slaves, from 
