em from
the damp night air. Ostik had at once set to work on landing, leaving
the Houssas to pitch the tent. A fire was soon blazing and a kettle and
saucepans suspended over it. Rice was served out to the men, with the
addition of some salt meat, of which sufficient had been purchased from
the captain of the brig to last throughout the journey in the canoe. The
men were all in high spirits at this addition to their fare, which was
more than had been bargained for, and their songs rose merrily round the
fire in the night air.

In the morning, after breakfast, they again took their places in the
canoe. For twelve miles they paddled, the tide at first assisting
them, but after this the water from the mountains ahead overpowered it.
Presently they arrived at the first Fan village, called Olenga, which
they reached six hours after starting. The natives crowded round as the
canoe approached, full of curiosity and excitement, for never but once
had a white man passed up the river. These Fans differed widely from
the coast negroes. Their hair was longer and thicker, their figures were
slight, their complexion coffee colored, and their projecting upper jaws
gave them a rabbit mouthed appearance. They wore coronets on their heads
adorned with the red tail feathers of the common gray parrot. Most of
the men had beards, which were divided in the middle, red and white
beads being strung up the tips. Some wore only a strip of goatskin
hanging from the waist, or the skin of a tigercat, while others had
short petticoats made of cloth woven from the inner bark of a tree. The
travelers were led to the hut of the chief, where they were surrounded
by a mob of the cannibals. The Houssas had been strictly enjoined to
leave their guns in the bottom of the canoe, as Mr. Goodenough desired
to avoid all appearance of armed force. The chief demanded of Ostik what
these two white men wanted here, and whether they had come to trade.
Ostik replied that the white men were going up the river into the
country beyond to shoot elephants and buy ivory, that they did not want
to trade for logwood or oil, but that they would give presents to the
chiefs of the Fan villages. A score of cheap Birmingham muskets had been
brought from England by Mr. Goodenough for this purpose. One of these
was now bestowed upon the chief, together with some powder and ball,
three bright cotton handkerchiefs, some gaudy glass beads, and
two looking glasses for his wives. This w