resulted in nothing, I returned to Bwamange, and met the "boat-
king," whose capital was an adjacent settlement of three huts. He
was in rags, and my diary might have recorded, Recu un roi dans
un tres fichu etat. He was accompanied by a young wife, with a
huge toupel, and a gang of slaves, who sat down and stared till
their eyes blinked and watered. For the loan of his old canoe he
asked the moderate sum of fifteen dollars per diem, which finally
fell to two dollars; but there was a suspicious reservation anent
oars, paddles and rudder, mast and sail.

Meanwhile the sanguine Selim compelled his guide to keep moving
in the direction of the gorilla's grunt, and explaining his
reluctance to advance by the fear of meeting the brute in the
dark. Savage Africa, however, had as usual the better of the
game, and showed his 'cuteness by planting my factotum in mud
thigh-deep. After dark Forteune returned. He had fired at a huge
njina, but this time the cap had snapped. As the monster was
close, and had shown signs of wrath, we were expected to
congratulate Nimrod on his escape. Kindly observe the neat
gradations, the artistic sorites of Mpongwe lies.

At 7.30 A.M. on the next day the loads were placed upon the
crew's heads, and we made for the village, where the boat was
still drawn up. The "monoxyle" was full of green-brown rain
water, the oar-pins were represented by bits of stick, and all
the furniture was wanting. After a time, the owner, duly
summoned, stalked down from his hut, and began remarking that
there was still a "palaver" on the stocks. I replied by paying
him his money, and ordering the craft to be baled and launched.
It was a spectacle to see the bushmen lying upon their bellies,