LED ASTRAY BY GUIDES 
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feather with a black tip; and otherwise was clothed in a ragged 
suit of light tweed which, judging from appearances, probably had 
reached him fourth hand from some hunter near Panda Matenga. 
Some of his followers wore hats made of thickly plaited straw 
after the model of Jeluka’s bowler. 
Before we opened negotiations, a tall graceful native arrived, 
clad in skins, who was introduced to us as Lebossi, which 
caused more clapping of hands and increased ‘ side 5 on the part 
of Jeluka. However, he appeared affable enough, although our 
own boys seemed to have reasons to doubt his bona fides, as 
they informed us later. As soon as we had made him some 
presents, he declared himself satisfied, and also thanked us for 
the meat we had sent him. He then ordered some canoe men 
to take us up the Liana river, to a crossing called Angombwe, 
which should bring us nearer to Matambanja’s. After more 
clapping, and testing of balance by pulling instead of shaking 
hands in token of farewell, we made a start in a westerly 
direction up the right Liana bank. From what our boys told 
us, Jeluka was not entitled to all this formality, and even less 
to permit a man to crouch before him, which act is purely the 
king’s prerogative. Jeluka, my friend, if a little bird should 
whisper to Lebossi your king of this attempted state, beware, 
beware! The guides accompanying us pretended to be at a 
loss to find the road, and led us about in various directions, in a 
way that made us suspicious of their intentions. Altogether a 
feeling was growing on us that the natives, spite of their friendly 
exterior, had something brewing below the surface that boded 
us no good. We had too many things and too few people to 
protect them, a fact exposing us to the cupidity of any chieflet 
imagining himself strong enough to take from us what we 
would not give. Annoyed at our guides, who evidently wished 
to lead us astray from the river, we took the lead ourselves, and 
after making eleven miles up stream saw across an open flat 
the men in the canoes off-loading our goods on the opposite 
side of the Liana, a part of the play not on our programme; so 
forming a camp on an elevated sand-belt about eight hundred 
