other wild
animals of a more ferocious nature; such as the lion, the leopard,
the elephant, the wild ass, &c., but the solitary lowing of the
buffalo was the only sound that was distinguished in the forest,
although they had not the pleasure of meeting even with that animal.
At eleven o'clock, they entered a very small, cleanly-looking
village, where they halted for the day. Unfortunately the governor
with most of his people were at work in the fields at some distance,
so that they could not get any thing to eat till rather late in the
evening. It appeared that these poor villagers were forced to supply
the soldiers of their sovereign with provisions, gratis, whenever
business led them so far that way from the capital; and that in order
to avoid the rapacity of these men, they built for themselves another
hamlet in the woods, far out of the way of the path, whither they
carry their goats, &c. and the corn of which they may not be in
immediate want.
On their arrival they were introduced into a small grass hut, which
the smoke had changed into the most glossy black, which could
possibly be seen; the interior of the roof was also ingeniously
decorated with large festoons of cobwebs and dust, which must have
been allowed to accumulate for a number of years. Its fetish was a
dried grasshopper, which was preserved in a little calabash, but upon
the supposition that this was insufficient to protect it from all the
danger to which huts in that country are constantly exposed,
auxiliary charms of blood and feathers are likewise stuck inside of
the wall. At sun-set, not having any thing to eat, Richard Lander
went out with his gun into the woods, and was fortunate enough to
shoot a few doves, and Pascoe, who went in a different direction,
shot a guinea hen, which made them an excellent supper. Hunger had
driven back their Keeshee carriers, who were to have accompanied them
to Kiama, and therefore they were obliged to send a messenger to
Yarro for men to supply their place. Late in the evening, the
governor of the village returned from his labour in the fields, and
presented them with corn and honey.
On the forenoon of Friday the 28th, the musical jingling of little
bells announced the approach of a body of horsemen, who in less than
a minute galloped up to their hut, and saluted them one after another
with a martial air, by brandishing their spears, to their great
discomfiture, within a few feet of their faces. To display t
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