314 
THE NEW AFRICA 
purchase guns for cash ; and, before long, Stremboom’s prediction 
proved correct, for within a week we purchased the sixteen guns 
necessary to pay our boys with. A collector of ancient arms 
would probably have rejoiced at the heterogeneous medley of 
weapons fished out from their obscurity for our benefit, but 
we sorted out those that were suitable for our purpose, for it 
was not our intention in any way to take advantage of the boys 
who had served us so faithfully and long. Our only dissatisfac¬ 
tion was that we were unable to supply them with brand-new 
guns in recognition of their staunchness to us in the past. 
However, as they expressed themselves content to receive these 
second-hand weapons in preference to accompanying us further, 
we made up the difference by liberally supplying them with 
extra blankets, five-pound bags of powder and boxes of caps, 
brass wire, beads, cloths, etc., which Stremboom fortunately had 
in stock, to the tune of seventy pounds, to show our extreme 
appreciation of their faithfulness, a proceeding that brought 
shouts of delight from them that did us good to hear. Only 
Chiki seemed to have something weighing on his mind which 
appeared to trouble him very much; and at last it transpired 
that he had set covetous eyes on my knapsack, made of such 
beautiful leather, and he felt as we were such friends, he might 
take the liberty of asking for it, without offending me. It 
would look so well on his shoulders when he reached home, 
and he would look after it so well, etc., etc. The reader may 
be sure that this request was complied with very readily, to 
Chiki’s intense satisfaction, who caressed the bag and handled 
it as a great treasure. Of course, this present meant an extra 
present all round to the boys. And now all the debts were 
paid, and a final visit made to the king and his chiefs to 
thank them for the kindness they had shown the boys, on 
which occasion Moremi surpassed himself by the production 
of huge pots of beer, of which we all drank to uncomfortable 
repletion, sitting in a circle according to native custom and 
passing round the smaller pots holding about three gallons, 
which were immediately filled again as soon as emptied by 
