We Made Straight For The Beach,
And Drove Our Canoe Among Its Outlying Rocks, And Then Each Of My
Men Stowed His Paddle Quickly, Slung On His Ammunition Bag, And
Picked Up His Ready Loaded Gun, Sliding The Skin Sheath Off The
Lock.
Pagan got out on to the stones alongside the canoe just as
the inhabitants became aware of our arrival,
And, abandoning what I
hope was a mass meeting to remonstrate with the local authorities on
the insanitary state of the town, came - a brown mass of naked
humanity - down the steep cliff path to attend to us, whom they
evidently regarded as an Imperial interest. Things did not look
restful, nor these Fans personally pleasant. Every man among them -
no women showed - was armed with a gun, and they loosened their
shovel-shaped knives in their sheaths as they came, evidently
regarding a fight quite as imminent as we did. They drew up about
twenty paces from us in silence. Pagan and Gray Shirt, who had
joined him, held out their unembarrassed hands, and shouted out the
name of the Fan man they had said they were friendly with: "Kiva-
Kiva." The Fans stood still and talked angrily among themselves for
some minutes, and then, Silence said to me, "It would be bad palaver
if Kiva no live for this place," in a tone that conveyed to me the
idea he thought this unpleasant contingency almost a certainty. The
Passenger exhibited unmistakable symptoms of wishing he had come by
another boat. I got up from my seat in the bottom of the canoe and
leisurely strolled ashore, saying to the line of angry faces
"M'boloani" in an unconcerned way, although I well knew it was
etiquette for them to salute first. They grunted, but did not
commit themselves further. A minute after they parted to allow a
fine-looking, middle-aged man, naked save for a twist of dirty cloth
round his loins and a bunch of leopard and wild cat tails hung from
his shoulder by a strip of leopard skin, to come forward. Pagan
went for him with a rush, as if he were going to clasp him to his
ample bosom, but holding his hands just off from touching the Fan's
shoulder in the usual way, while he said in Fan, "Don't you know me,
my beloved Kiva? Surely you have not forgotten your old friend?"
Kiva grunted feelingly, and raised up his hands and held them just
off touching Pagan, and we breathed again. Then Gray Shirt made a
rush at the crowd and went through great demonstrations of affection
with another gentleman whom he recognised as being a Fan friend of
his own, and whom he had not expected to meet here. I looked round
to see if there was not any Fan from the Upper Ogowe whom I knew to
go for, but could not see one that I could on the strength of a
previous acquaintance, and on their individual merits I did not feel
inclined to do even this fashionable imitation embrace.
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