kaross, or skin rug, one being made of lions' skins, one of leopards'
skins, and one--the finest of all--of monkeys' skins of some species
unknown to me, the black fur being extraordinarily long, thick, and
glossy. The remaining two men carried, each of them, a leather bag
weighing about sixty pounds, one bag containing coarse gold dust, while
the other was full of small, rough nuggets of gold. These two men were
also the bearers of a message of apology from the king, to the effect
that, since I seemed to have a liking for gold, he regretted that he had
no more to offer me, but that as gold was of no value in the country,
and was not particularly sought after, it was only occasionally that a
stray nugget or a handful of dust was found; and that the contents of
the bags represented the casual findings of many years.

It was somewhat disappointing to learn that here, in Gwanda, where I had
confidently anticipated that gold in practically unlimited quantity
might be had almost for the asking, there should be so little; yet the
situation was not without its compensations, for if the natives attached
so little value to the metal that they would not even take the trouble
to hunt for it, there ought to be all the more for me--if I could but
coax the king into granting me a concession. So I dissembled my
disappointment, handed over the gifts to Piet, with instructions to pack
them away in the rear of the wagon, rewarded the messengers who had
brought them, and dismissed them, happy in the possession of a few mixed
beads.

About half-past ten o'clock that night I was sitting in my wagon,
reading by the light of the all but full moon--for, this being the eve
of the great annual festival, the town was in an uproar, and the volume
of sound emanating from it and from the temporary encampments outside it
rendered sleep impossible--when I became aware of a figure muffled in a
great kaross in such a manner as to render identification impossible.
Apart from this circumstance, however, there was a certain suggestion of
furtiveness in the movements of the figure, a something indicative of a
desire to avoid observation, that attracted my attention from my book
and aroused my curiosity. It seemed to be wandering about aimlessly;
but when I had been watching it for some ten minutes I became convinced
that, erratic as its movements seemed to be, they were not without
method; and that method, I soon saw, was causing the unknown one--a
man