rattling, Alan amused himself in adding an address with a feather brush
and a supply of red paint such as the Asiki priests used to decorate
their bodies. At first he was puzzled to know what address to put, but
finally decided upon the following:

_Major A. Vernon, care of Miss Champers, The Court, near Kingswell,
England._ Adding in the corner, _From A. V., Asiki Land, Africa._

It was all childish enough, he knew, yet when it was done he regarded
his handiwork with a sort of satisfaction. For, reflected Alan, if but
one of those boxes should chance to get through to England, it would
tell Barbara a great deal, and if it were addressed to himself, her
uncle could scarcely dare to take possession of it.

Then he bethought him of sending a letter, but was obliged to abandon
the idea, as he had neither pen, pencil, ink, nor paper left to him.
Whatever arts remained to them, that of any form of writing was now
totally unknown to the Asiki, although marks that might be writing, it
will be remembered, did appear on the inner side of the Little Bonsa
mask, an evidence of its great antiquity. Even in the days when they had
wrapped up the Egyptian, the Roman, and other early Munganas in sheets
of gold and set them in their treasure-house, apparently they had no
knowledge of it, for not even an hieroglyph or a rune appeared upon
the imperishable metal shrouds. Since that time they had evidently
decreased, not advanced, in learning till at the present day, except for
these relics and some dim and meaningless survival of rites that once
had been religious and were still offered to the same ancient idols,
there was little to distinguish them from other tribes of Central
African savages. Still Alan did something, for obtaining a piece of
white wood, which he smoothed as well as he was able with a knife, he