as considered perfectly
satisfactory.

The crowd was very great, and at Mr. Goodenough's dictation Ostik
informed the chief that if the white men were left quiet until the
evening they would show his people many strange things. On the receipt
of this information the crowd dispersed. But when at sunset the two
travelers took a turn through the village, the excitement was again very
great. The men stood their ground and stared at them, but the women and
children ran screaming away to hide themselves. The idea of the people
of Central Africa of the whites is that they are few in number, that
they live at the bottom of the sea, and are possessed of great wealth,
but that they have no palm oil or logwood, and are, therefore, compelled
to come to land to trade for these articles. They believe that the
strange clothes they wear are manufactured from the skins of sea beasts.

When night fell Mr. Goodenough fastened a sheet against the outside of
the chief's hut, and then placed a magic lantern in position ten paces
from it. The Fans were then invited to gather round and take their seats
upon the ground. A cry of astonishment greeted the appearance of the
bright disk. This was followed by a wilder yell when this was darkened,
and an elephant bearing some men sitting on his back was seen to cross
the house. The men leaped to their feet and seized their spears. The
women screamed, and Ostik, who was himself somewhat alarmed, had great
difficulty in calming their fears and persuading them to sit down
again, assuring them that they would see many wonderful things, but that
nothing would hurt them.

The next view was at first incomprehensible to many of them. It was a
ship tossing in a stormy sea; but some of those present had been down to
the mouth of the river, and these explained to the others the nature
of the phenomenon. In all there were twenty slides, all of which were
provided with movable figures; the last two being chromatropes, whose
dancing colors elicited screams of delight from the astonished natives.
This concluded the performance, but for hours after it was over the
village rang with a perfect Babel of shouts, screams, and chatter.
The whole thing was to the Fans absolutely incomprehensible, and their
astonishment was equalled by their awe at the powers of the white men.

The next two days they remained at Olenga, as word was sent up to
Itchongue, the next town, asking the chief there for leave to come
forward. Th