f
the great _Bulamatadi_. who governs the country. What we may call the
caste feeling has indeed contributed greatly to civilising the country.
Anyone who is brought into direct contact with the whites as a soldier,
a worker in the plantation or on the roads, soon feels that he is
superior to the wild bushman and then becomes more attached to his new
master than to his own cousins. It is rather amusing to hear the native
domestics or _boys_. who probably rank higher than any other natives on
the social ladder, speaking of the _indigenes_. with great contempt as
though they were quite another and an inferior species. Speaking of
_Bulamatadi_, it may be of interest to state the origin and meaning of
the term--it means literally in the native tongue _one who breaks
stones_. and was given to Stanley, when he blasted rocks to make roads
the term being afterwards buried with him on his coffin. Since then it
has been applied to all officials of the State and is used to connote
anything and everything connected with the State. Thus the State side of
the river is Bulamatadi, a State Post is Bulamatadi, a State steamer is
Bulamatadi, anything indeed belonging to the State is Bulamatadi. White
men traders and hunters, not State officials, are _mundellas_, but the
native at once has a nick name for everyone which describes his chief
characteristic. Lord Mountmorres usually wore long hunting boots and was
named _big boots_. and as I wore eyeglasses, I became _double eyes_.

We left Irebu on August 2nd and at once disturbed many crocodiles and
hippos, which abound in this district. An unfortunate accident happened
in the afternoon. One of the crew fell overboard and must have been
drawn under the stern wheel and struck by a paddle, for he never
re-appeared and no sign of the poor fellow could be found, although
diligent search was made for a long time.

Just before sunset a canoe comes alongside and fastens to the ship,
although it is travelling at full speed. It is indeed wonderful to see
the way the natives manipulate these narrow dug-outs not two feet wide.
In this one were three fishermen with some fish which looked like trout
for sale. At once a great clamouring takes place among the native
passengers and it soon becomes plain that the chief fisherman was a good
man of business. Having taken an empty bottle for one fish and a piece
of cloth for another, he refused more of those articles and demanded
either salt or mitakos for h