Here was where they were to trade for fresh meat and vegetables--the
object of their river trip.

One tall savage, with a pair of bullock's horns as a head dress, and
with his hair reeking with grease, coiled round the same, appeared to
be the head man of the village.

He wore a long red flannel shirt as an additional badge of dignity.
The rest, men as well as women, wore little else but cloths about the
loins.

They were a jolly, sociable set though, and gave our party a hut to
themselves, after supplying them with a bountiful supper of "mealies,"
bull beef, and a kind of bread made from ground maize and the grated
buds of the cabbage palm.

After that Mr. Duff and the chief began a laborious trade for meat and
vegetables that lasted for an hour or more, and was carried on
principally by signs and gestures. Some red blankets, beads, and cheap
hand mirrors constituted the offers on the part of the mate.

In this way several bushels of potatoes and a lot of green corn were
secured and placed by the natives in the yawl. Meanwhile another
party, taking torches, proceeded to a corral near by, and slaughtered a
fat ox, with great dexterity. This, in its turn, was placed in the
boat, after which all hands prepared to turn in.

"One of us must sleep in the yawl," remarked Duff, "and I guess it
ought to be the lightest sleeper."