skin, his ears dangling with ornaments, heavy necklaces around his neck,
and armlets etc., ad lib. His robe was of fine monkey skin embroidered
with rosettes of beads, and his spear was very long, bright and keen. He
was tall and finely built carried himself with a free, lithe swing. As
the quintette came to halt, the villagers fell silent and our shauri
began.

We drew up and dismounted. We all expectorated as gentlemen.

"These," said he proudly, "are my beebees."

We replied that they seemed like excellent beebees and politely inquired
the price of wives thereabout, and also the market for totos. He gave us
to understand that such superior wives as these brought three cows and
twenty sheep apiece, but that you could get a pretty good toto for half
a rupee.

"When we look upon our women," he concluded grandly, "we find them
good; but when we look upon the white women they are as nothing!"
He completely obliterated the poor little beebees with a magnificent
gesture. They looked very humble and abashed. I was, however, a bit
uncertain as to whether this was intended as a genuine tribute to Billy,
or was meant to console us for having only one to his four.

Now observe the stagecraft of all this: entrance of diplomats,
preliminary conversation introducing the idea of the greatness of
N'Zahgi (for that was his name), chorus of villagers, and, as climax,
dramatic entrance of the hero and heroines. It was pretty well done.

Again we stopped about the middle of the afternoon in an opening on the
rounded top of a hill. While waiting for the safari to come up, Billy
wandered away fifty or sixty yards to sit under a big tree. She did not
stay long. Immediately she was settled, a dozen women and young girls
surrounded her. They were almost uproariously good-natured, but Billy
was probably the first white woman they had ever seen, and they intended
to make the most of her. Every item of her clothes and equipment they
examined minutely, handled and discussed. When she told them with great
dignity to go away, they laughed consumedly, fairly tumbling into each
other's arms with excess of joy. Billy tried to gather her effects for a
masterly retreat, but found the press of numbers too great. At last she
had to signal for help. One of us wandered over with a kiboko with which
lightly he flicked the legs of such damsels as he could reach. They
scattered like quail, laughing hilariously. Billy was escorted back to
safety.

Sho