ing it. We had heard they
held superstitious dreads; that any one who ate the flesh of pigs, fish,
or fowls, or the bean called Maharague, if he tasted the products of
their cows, would destroy their cattle--and I hoped he did not labour
under any such absurd delusions. To which he replied, It was only the
poor who thought so; and as he now saw we were in want, he would set
apart one of his cows expressly for our use. On bidding adieu, the usual
formalities of handshaking were gone through; and on entering camp, I
found the good thoughtful king had sent us some more of his excellent
beer.

The Wanguana were now all in the highest of good-honour; for time after
time goats and fowls were brought into camp by the officers of the
king, who had received orders from all parts of the country to bring in
supplies for his guests; and this kind of treatment went on for a month,
though it did not diminish my daily expenditures of beads, as grain and
plantains were not enough thought of. The cold winds, however, made
the coast-men all shiver, and suspect, in their ignorance, we must be
drawing close to England, the only cold place they had heard of.

16th.--Hearing it would be considered indecent haste to present my
tributary offering at once, I paid my morning's visit, only taking my
revolving-pistol, as I knew Rumanika had expressed a strong wish to
see it. The impression it made was surprising--he had never seen such a
thing in his life; so, in return for his great generosity, as well as to
show I placed no value on property, not being a merchant, I begged
him to accept it. We then adjourned to his private hut, which rather
surprised me by the neatness with which it was kept. The roof was
supported by numerous clean poles, to which he had fastened a large
assortment of spears--brass-headed with iron handles, and iron-headed
with wooden ones--of excellent workmanship. A large standing-screen, of
fine straw-plait work, in elegant devices, partitioned off one part of
the room; and on the opposite side, as mere ornaments, were placed a
number of brass grapnels and small models of cows, made in iron for his
amusement by the Arabs at Kufro. A little later in the day, as soon as
we had done breakfast, both Rumanika and Nnanaji came over to pay us a
visit; for they thought, as we could find our way all over the world, so
we should not find much difficulty in prescribing some magic charms to
kill his brother, Rogero, who lived on a hill