The Shirt Was Dispatched To Him,
And Some Of My People Went Along With The Servant; They Soon Returned,
Saying That The Shirt Had Been Accepted, And Guides And Food Too
Would Be Sent To Us Next Day.
The chief had, moreover, expressed a hope
to see me on my return.
He is reported to be very corpulent.
The traders who have come here seem to have been very timid,
yielding to every demand made on the most frivolous pretenses.
One of my men, seeing another much like an acquaintance at home,
addressed him by the name of the latter in sport, telling him,
at the same time, why he did so; this was pronounced to be a grave offense,
and a large fine demanded; when the case came before me I could see no harm
in what had been done, and told my people not to answer the young fellow.
The latter felt himself disarmed, for it is chiefly in a brawl
they have power; then words are spoken in anger which rouse the passions
of the complainant's friends. In this case, after vociferating some time,
the would-be offended party came and said to my man that, if they exchanged
some small gift, all would be right, but, my man taking no notice of him,
he went off rather crestfallen.
My men were as much astonished as myself at the demand for payment
for leave to pass, and the almost entire neglect of the rules of hospitality.
Katende gave us only a little meal and manioc, and a fowl.
Being detained two days by heavy rains, we felt that a good stock of patience
was necessary in traveling through this country in the rainy season.
Passing onward without seeing Katende, we crossed a small rivulet,
the Sengko, by which we had encamped, and after two hours came to another,
the Totelo, which was somewhat larger, and had a bridge over it.
At the farther end of this structure stood a negro, who demanded fees.
He said the bridge was his; the path his; the guides were his children;
and if we did not pay him he would prevent farther progress.
This piece of civilization I was not prepared to meet,
and stood a few seconds looking at our bold toll-keeper,
when one of my men took off three copper bracelets, which paid
for the whole party. The negro was a better man than he at first seemed,
for he immediately went to his garden and brought us some leaves of tobacco
as a present.
When we had got fairly away from the villages, the guides from Kangenke
sat down and told us that there were three paths in front,
and, if we did not at once present them with a cloth, they would leave us
to take whichever we might like best. As I had pointed out
the direction in which Loanda lay, and had only employed them
for the sake of knowing the paths between villages which lay along our route,
and always objected when they led us in any other than the Loanda direction,
I wished my men now to go on without the guides, trusting to ourselves
to choose the path which would seem to lead us in the direction
we had always followed.
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