240 Preparations for the March. 
spoils. A tariff, about one-third higher than at 
Boma, was set upon every article and, if the most 
outrageous price was refused, the seller, assuming 
an insipid expression of countenance, declared 
that great white men travelled with barrels, not 
with bottles of aguardente, and that without libe¬ 
rality it would be impossible to leave the village. 
Nsundi, the settlement above the Falls, was a 
journey of two moons, and none of the t£n 
“ kings ” on the way would take less than Nessudi- 
kira’s “ dash.” Congo Grande, as the people call 
Sao Salvador, was only four marches to the E.S.E.; 
the road, however, was dangerous, and an escort of 
at least fifty men would be necessary. 
But when I was “ upon the head of Gidi Ma- 
vunga ” matters changed for the better. Shortly 
after he took charge, one Tetu Mayella, “ King” of 
Neprat, accompanied by some twenty followers, 
entered the village with a view to the stranger s 
rum : by referring them to the new owner they 
perforce contented themselves after three hours’ 
“ parliamenting,” with a single bottle. The ruler of 
Nokki wanted, besides gin and cloth, a pair of 
shoes for his poor feet, which looked clad in alli¬ 
gator’s skin ; I referred him to his father, and he 
got little by that motion. 
On the evening of September 10, Gidi Mavunga, 
who had been visiting his “ small country,” re¬ 
turned, and declared himself ready to set out. He 
