nly reward we
required was to be allowed to return to our homes, I understood him to
beg that we would remain one day longer, when he would accompany us as
far as he could venture to go.

I suspected that his tribe were at war with their neighbours, as scouts
were constantly coming and going, and that this was the reason why he
could not accompany us in our search for Leo and Mango. We would gladly
at once have set off to look for them; but when we showed a wish to go
to the south, he made us understand that they were already carried a
long way off, and that, coming from his village, we should be looked
upon as enemies, and probably murdered. This we thought so likely, that
we agreed it would be prudent to return home to obtain the assistance of
our friends.

There was a grand feast at night on the flesh of the rhinoceros, and
dancing and singing were kept up till a late hour--an amusement we would
willingly have avoided.

Natty and I talked over the possibility of returning in the canoe, but
there were no paddles; and we could scarcely have propelled her, even
had we made some. We begged the chief to take care of her till our
return, and this he promised, as far as we could understand, faithfully
to do.

Next morning we again expressed our anxiety to set off, but the chief
showed no inclination to let us go; and each time that we pressed him,
he signified that we must remain a little longer. We were the less
unwilling to do this, in the hope that we might, in the meantime, gain
some news of Leo and Mango, and we once more urged the chief to try and
discover where they were. He let us understand that he wanted first to
have another hunt, and that I must bring my gun to assist him. I, of
course, expressed my readiness to comply with his wishes, but resolved
not to expend much of our powder, as we should require it on our return
home. We were allowed to wander about the village wherever we liked,
but we observed that all the time we were carefully watched. The women
and children always started up with looks of astonishment when we came
near them, the young ones running away, frightened at our white skins,
just as European children would be alarmed at the sudden appearance of a
black man among them. On the outskirts of the village, near the river,
we came upon a group of people employed in burning large quantities of a
coarse-looking rush and stalks of a plant which I had seen growing in a
marsh near at hand.