198 
THE KILIM A-NJA E 0 EXPEDITION. 
supplies. I laughed at this. ct What ! ” I asked, “ does 
Mandara know I have eighty fowls, a cow, a calf, 
four goats, and two sheep, beside a store-house 
crammed with grain and a garden full of vegetables ? 
Say, how long can we not live on those supplies, and 
does your chief intend to keep you here for months ?” 
They only shrugged- their shoulders indifferently. 
“ Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do or die.” 
One man, however, suggested that perhaps if my water 
supply were cut off at the river-head I might not feel 
so comfortable. I then asked what the other Gaga 
people would say, whom my little canal also supplied 
with water ? Meanwhile my message, with its decided 
refusal, had reached Mandara, and we could from our 
height conjecture somewhat the effect produced. How 
anxiously our gaze wandered over the intervening 
valley, and rested on the little cluster of yellow beehive 
huts which masks Mandara’s capital! We had seen 
the messenger enter the town, and after more than a 
quarter of an hour’s interval he emerged alone, and 
once more took the winding hill-path to our settle¬ 
ment. I was affecting to continue my work in my 
hut, for it would not do to let either my own men or 
the natives perceive that I was alarmed at the critical 
state of affairs, but as I stooped over my bird-skins 
again I heard the clang of a spear-shaft striking the 
hard ground, and again Mandara’s emissary stood 
before me. 
“ The Mange wants to see two of your men,” he said. 
“ I will go myself,” I replied, getting my hat and 
stick. 
“ No,” answered the envoy, “ Mandara does not want 
to see the white man. His heart is bitter. Send two 
of your servants.” 
