4th. - I Gave Kamrasi A Bottle Of Quinine, Which We Call "Strong
Back," And Asked Him In Return For A Horn Containing All The
Powders Necessary To Give Me The Gift Of Tongues, So That I
Should Be Able To Converse With Any Black Men Whom I Might Meet
With.
We heard that Kamrasi has called all his Gani guests to
play before him, and a double shot from his Blissett rifle
announced to our ears that he in turn was amusing them.
This was
the first time the gun had been discharged since he received it,
and, fearing to fire it himself, he called one of my men to do it
for him.
5th. - At 9 a.m., the time for measuring the fall of rain for the
last twenty-four hours, we found the rain-gauge and the bottle
had been removed, so we sent Kidgwiga to inform the king we
wished his magicians to come at once and institute a search for
it. Kidgwiga immediately returned with the necessary adept, an
old man, nearly blind, dressed in strips of old leather fastened
to the waist, and carrying in one hand a cow's horn primed with
magic powder, carefully covered on the mouth with leather, from
which dangled an iron bell. The old creature jingled the bell,
entered our hut, squatted on his hams, looked first at one, then
at the other - inquired what the missing things were like,
grunted, moved his skinny arm round his head, as if desirous of
catching air from all four sides of the hut, then dashed the
accumulated air on the head of his horn, smelt it to see if all
was going right, jingled the bell again close to his ear, and
grunted his satisfaction; the missing articles must be found.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 670 of 767
Words from 184104 to 184403
of 210958
