of the slave-trade; brought wife No. 1 to shake hands, directed a
fowl to be killed, and, sitting down, asked us the news in
French. As a return for our information, he told us that the
Gorilla was everywhere to be found, even in the bush behind his
town. The rain coming down heavily, I was persuaded to pass the
night there, the king offering to beat the bush with us, to
engage hunters, and to find a canoe which would carry the party
to Sanga-Tanga, landing us at all the likely places. I agreed the
more willingly to the suggestion of a cruize, as my Mpongwe
fashionables, like the Congoese, and unlike the Yorubans, proved
to be bad and untrained walkers; they complained of sore feet,
and they were always anticipating attacks of fever.

When the delicious sea-breeze had tempered the heat, we set out
for the forest, and passed the afternoon in acquiring a certainty
that we had again been "done." However, we saw the new guides,
and supplied them with ammunition for the next day. The evening
was still and close; the Ifuru (sandflies) and the Nchuna (a red
gad-fly) were troublesome as usual, and at night the mosquitoes
phlebotomized us till we hailed the dawn.[FN#18] A delightful
bath of salt followed by fresh water, effectually quenched the
fiery irritation of these immundicities.

Wednesday, as we might have expected, was wasted, although the
cool and cloudy weather was perfection for a cruize. As we sat
waiting for a boat, a youth rushed in breathless, reporting that
he had just seen an "ole man gorilla" sitting in a tree hard by.
I followed him incredulously at first, but presently the crashing
of boughs and distant grunts, somewhat like huhh! huhh! huhh!
caused immense excitement. After half a day's hard work, which