224 
KATCHIBA DETERMINES TO RIDE . [chap. viii. 
conscience in having adhered to his promise to act as 
guardian during my absence. Mrs. Baker gave him 
an excellent character; he had taken the greatest care 
of her, and had supplied all the luxuries that had so 
much excited my appetite on the first coup d’ceil of my 
home. He had been so mindful of his responsibility, 
that he had placed some of his own sons as sentries 
over the hut both by day and night. 
I accordingly made him a present of many beads 
and bracelets, and a few odds and ends, that threw him 
into ecstacies : he had weak eyes, and the most valued 
present was a pair of sun-goggles, which I fitted on his 
head, to his intense delight, and exhibited in a looking- 
glass—this being likewise added to his gifts. I noticed 
that he was very stiff in the back, and he told me that 
he had had a bad fall during my absence. My wife 
explained the affair. He had come to her to declare 
his intention of procuring fowls for her from some 
distant village; but, said he, “ my people are not very 
good, and perhaps they will say that they have none ; 
but if you will lend me a horse, I will ride there, and 
the effect will impose upon them so much, that they 
will not dare to refuse me.” Now, Katchiba was not a 
good walker, and his usual way of travelling was upon 
the back of a very strong subject, precisely as children 
are wont to ride “ pic-a-back.” He generally had two 
or three spare men, who alternately acted as guides 
and ponies, while one of his wives invariably accom¬ 
panied him, bearing a large jar of beer, with which it 
was said that the old chief refreshed himself so copiously 
during the journey, that it sometimes became necessary 
for two men to carry him instead of one. This may 
have been merely a scandalous report in Obbo ; how¬ 
ever, it appeared that Katchiba was ready for a start, 
as usual accompanied by a Hebe with a jar of beer. 
Confident in his powers as a rider across country on a 
man, he considered that he could easily ride a horse. 
It was in vain that my wife had protested, and had 
prophesied a broken neck should he attempt to bestride 
