142 Up the Congo to Banza Nokki. 
the clean sand, surrounded by cool shade and 
blocks of gneiss, the favourite halting-place, as the 
husks of ground-nuts show. Nchama Chamvu 
was at once sent off with a present of gin and a 
verbal report of arrival to Nessudikira Nchinu, 
(King), of Banza Nkaye, whilst we made ready 
for a night’s lodging a la belle Stoile. The mes¬ 
senger returned, bringing a goat, and the good 
news that porters would be sent early next morn¬ 
ing. We slept well in the cool and dewless air, 
with little trouble from mosquitoes. The voice of 
the cataract in its “ sublime same-soundingness ” 
alone broke the silence, and the scenery suggested 
to us, as to the first Britishers, that we might be 
bivouacking among the “ blue misty hills of Mor- 
>> 
ven. 
September 8. — Shortly after sunrise appeared 
Gidi Mavunga, father to the “ king,” accompanied 
by five “ princes,” in the usual black coats, and some 
forty slaves, armed with pistols, blunderbusses, and 
guns of French and Yankee build. Our visitors 
wore the official berretta , European shirts, that 
contrasted with coral necklaces and rings of zinc, 
brass, and copper, and handsome waistcoats, fronted 
by the well-tanned spoil of some “ bush ” animal, 
generally a wild cat, hanging like a Scotch sporran 
—this is and has long been the distinctive sign of 
a “gentleman.” According to John Barbot (Sup¬ 
plement, Churchill, v. 471), all men in Loango 
