. Tramps round the Mountains of the Moon and through the back gate of the Congo State . r of his fine cattle, and he was obliged toreturn for the sake of protecting his people. Before I turned in, Bomeras steward brought me awelcome present of fresh butter, but strangely enoughcould not procure any eggs ; he brought also a smallgoat, but in the impoverished condition of thepeople I did not care to accept it. What was moreremarkable was a bowl of milk courteously sent by thechiefs wife—an unexpected condescension on thepart of a true Muima ! Before leaving in the morning I called in upon herto
. Tramps round the Mountains of the Moon and through the back gate of the Congo State . r of his fine cattle, and he was obliged toreturn for the sake of protecting his people. Before I turned in, Bomeras steward brought me awelcome present of fresh butter, but strangely enoughcould not procure any eggs ; he brought also a smallgoat, but in the impoverished condition of thepeople I did not care to accept it. What was moreremarkable was a bowl of milk courteously sent by thechiefs wife—an unexpected condescension on thepart of a true Muima ! Before leaving in the morning I called in upon herto say goodbye and leave a little present in thanksfor her courtesy as our hostess. Noticing on her heada simple head-dress, characteristic of the devotees of aparticular evil spirit named Dwakaikara, such as I hadlong wanted to get hold of, I offered her some cloth inexchange; her objection to parting with it, however, wasquite decided on the ground that it belonged to the childshe was nursing, and had been given to it by the fatherat its birth. This ornament had been purchased from. y, o ? o ?:; o Q « COMPLETING THE CIRCUIT 287 a medicine-man in league with Dwakaikara, and wasto secure the evil spirits protection of the child. Thepoor father should have known a surer way of blessing! This morning, acting on the advice of the corporal,we had dropped our usual practice of an early start,and waited till daylight. In the uncertain state of thedistrict, it was explained, we might encounter spear-men lurking in the long grass, and having a cow andcalf with us it was desirable to be on the alert. Andso we marched along the little path keeping a sharplook-out on the long grass on both sides of it, witha soldier in front with the cattle and a soldier in therear, and all keeping up close. These Balega, in the use of their bows and arrows,employ a subtle device. At the sound of the twangof a bow-string an opponent would at once drop flatto escape the shaft, without waiting to see where
Size: 1427px × 1752px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonetctfunwin
