From the Congo to the Niger and the Nile : an account of The German Central African expedition of 1910-1911 . ong way off, and iliat we could n(jt ])ossibly arrivethere before midnight; we had already been march-ing for six hours instead of three, which, accordingto tlie commandant of Monga. was the time requiredfor the journey to Bangassu. My bed, tent, andcooking ap])aratus had all been sent on aliead, sothat I was forced to push on, in spite of tlie growingdarkness, as I did not feel inclined to camp out in theopen air, under a sky that threatened rain. Half an hour later, to my suqDrise, w
From the Congo to the Niger and the Nile : an account of The German Central African expedition of 1910-1911 . ong way off, and iliat we could n(jt ])ossibly arrivethere before midnight; we had already been march-ing for six hours instead of three, which, accordingto tlie commandant of Monga. was the time requiredfor the journey to Bangassu. My bed, tent, andcooking ap])aratus had all been sent on aliead, sothat I was forced to push on, in spite of tlie growingdarkness, as I did not feel inclined to camp out in theopen air, under a sky that threatened rain. Half an hour later, to my suqDrise, we came to alarge village. An aged sultan, dressed in wliite Euro-])ean clothes, came out to meet me, surrounded bya number of warriors, one of whom carried a largetrumpet. This was not Bangassu, but a neighbour-ing village, the existence of which was unknown tome. The old man escorted me through his each side of the street stood a long row of huts,painted white, to which the last rays of the settingsun imparted a rosy glow. A crowd of women andchildren followed us at a respectful distance, and. ON THE ROAD TO ANGU 17 hiding behind huts and bananas trees, peeped ner-vously and inquisitively at those two strange andmarvellous beasts: the wliite man and his made me feel once more that I was a very finefellow, and I speedily forgot all the troubles of thedays march. In Africa joy and sorrow are very closelyrelated. As we left the village we were met by two natives,who introduced themselves as messengers sent byBangassu to conduct us to his residence. This provedto have been a very necessary precaution, for dark-ness had now fallen and the path led through theforest. I was obliged to take hold of my guidesloin-cloth as I could not see an inch in front of me,but eventually we reached Bangassu in safety. The sultan, surrounded by a great crowd of people,was awaiting my arrival. I was the fijrst white manto visit his village, and he was evidently much im-pressed by
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Keywords: ., bookauthoradolffri, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
