unarmed and defenceless within
five yards of him. All Burnett's endeavours to conciliate and inspire
confidence had but little effect upon the savage, who merely lowered his
tone a little, and then advancing a few steps, addressed himself no
longer to me, but to him. I felt some apprehension for the safety of
Burnett but it was too late to call him back. We were seated in the usual
form at a distance of at least one hundred yards from him, and the savage
held a spear, raised in his hand. At length however he retired slowly
along the riverbank, making it evident by his gestures that he was going
for his tribe; and singing a war-song as he went. The boy in particular
seemed to glory in throwing up the dust at us, and I had not the least
doubt, but certainly not the slightest wish, that we should see this man
again.

(*Footnote. Strange as this custom appears to us it is quite consistent
with some passages in the early history of mankind. King David and his
host met with a similar reception at Bahurim: "And as David and his men
went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him,
and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust." 2 Samuel
16:13. So also we read in Acts 22:23: "They cried out and cast off their
clothes, and threw dust into the air." Frequent mention is made of this
as the practice of the Arabians, in Ockley's History of the Saracens,
when they would express their contempt of a person speaking, and their
abhorrence of what he publicly pronounces. We find also this directly
stated in Light's Travels in Egypt page 64: "One more violent than the
rest, threw dust into the air, the signal both of rage and defiance, ran
for his shield, and came towards me dancing, howling, and striking the
shield with the head of his javelin, to intimidate me.")

About half-past four in the afternoon a party of the tribe made their
appearance in the same quarter; holding out boughs, but according to a
very different ceremonial from any hitherto observed towards us by the
aborigines. They used the most violent and expressive gestures,
apparently to induce us to go back whence we had come; and as I felt that
we were rather unceremonious invaders of their country it was certainly
my duty to conciliate them by every possible means. Accordingly I again
advanced, bearing a green branch on high, but the repulsive gestures then
becoming much more violent than before I stopped at some distance from
the par