small cakes. Pousa very politely invited
me to share his ration with him; but as I just then caught the sounds of
Jan's shrieks to his oxen, and the cracking of his long whip, I as
politely declined, inviting him in return to defer his meal for a time
and join me at luncheon, which invitation he eagerly accepted, somewhat
to my surprise, I confess, seeing that the little chap could not
possibly guess what kind of food he would be offered, or whether he
would like it when it was placed before him.

A few minutes later the wagon arrived and was outspanned, its appearance
exciting the utmost curiosity and admiration of the Bandokolo, who, I
now learned, had never before seen a wheeled vehicle, and were
profoundly interested when I endeavoured to explain the principle of the
wheel to them. But they were infinitely more interested and amazed when
'Mfuni, having collected a quantity of dry leaves and sticks with which
to build a fire, came to me, and, receiving from me the burning-glass
which I habitually carried in my pocket, calmly proceeded to kindle the
fire with its aid as usual, it being our regular practice to economise
our flint and steel as much as possible by never using it when a
burning-glass could be made to serve the same purpose. The Bandokolo,
it appeared, used fire for a number of purposes, but possessed no
knowledge of how to produce it, and were therefore obliged to conserve
it by keeping lamps perpetually burning; and I could readily understand
that, as Pousa explained, there were occasions when, as in times of
violent storm and heavy rain, they were put to the gravest inconvenience
through their inability to convey a lighted lamp from one place to
another.

While we were partaking of luncheon--for which, by the way, Pousa
displayed great relish, after regarding the roast deer flesh for a
moment or two rather dubiously--I endeavoured to pump my guest with
regard to the character and disposition of Her Majesty Queen Bimbane;
but I found the old fellow rather inclined to be reticent upon the
subject, and uneasy when I began to question him, the reason being--as
he presently informed me furtively in a whisper--that, as likely as not,
the queen would be with us in spirit, listening to our conversation, and
that he had no wish to offend the lady by affording information that she
would perhaps prefer should be withheld. Despite his disinclination to
talk, however, I contrived to extract a little information