after sundown; and finally, that we could
not have anything at all: and finding that
our persuasive eloquence and appeals were
lost upon them, we gave them up as a bad
lot, and unwillingly retraced our steps to the
canoe.

As we passed the palms, Brown suggested
that we should have a cocoa-nut down, and
take a little of the milk in connection with
brandy from our pocket-flasks, to which I
gladly assented.

Quobna, on being consulted, expressed it as
his opinion, that we had better take nothing;
but I told a canoeman to " shin up" the tree,
and bring down three, which he did.

Before he came down, however, we were
surrounded by a number of people, men and
women, all talking together, and all talking
as loud as they were able.

When I made out their demand, I offered
as much as would have bought twenty nuts;
but these fine fellows demanded a dollar for
each nut, said we should not go until it was
paid, and seized on Quobna.

Quobna was urgent that the matter should
be settled. " Good for you, massa, to gib
him dollar. Good for you gib him anything.
Suppose you no pay — nebba get back to canoe
no more."

But I refused to pay for more than the
nuts, and bid Quobna say, that at the court-house
at Oke Omolo, they might make a
complaint, and ascertain if we had committed
any trespass by entering the village or
gathering the nuts.

In a few moments Quobna pointed with
alarm to the kroom, from which other natives,
armed, were hurrying in our direction.

Our guns were loaded; I raised mine, took
a steady aim at the man who held Quobna,
and, having given directions to Brown and
the canoemen to make off, I said:—

"Now, Quobna, when I shoot that fellow,
run for your life to the canoe."

Just one moment, with his dark eye fixed
on mine, not a muscle stirring—the head of
the man who held him, and at whom I was
to fire, only a few inches from his own; but
Quobna never imagined that " massa's" gun
could hit any one but the person for whom it
was intended.

That one moment, however, was sufficient
to convince his captor that I was in earnest;
he started on one side, and Quobna, with a
bound, cleared the ring standing round him.
I followed: we rushed in hot haste through
the bush, the shouts of our pursuers becoming
fainter and fainter, reached the canoes, and
were soon in safety.

We were going with the stream: easy
work. So our boys (men are always boys in
Africa) drew the canoe close to the bank to
catch weaver-birds.

These birds build their nests above the
water, suspending them by a cord about two
feet in length from a slender overhanging
branch. The nest is quite round, and beautifully
woven together; there is a small hole
near the bottom for ingress and egress.

Quobna caught about twelve of the little
fellows, and talked largely of what a good
dish he would make of them.

Then we started again, and I suppose I
fell asleep, lying stretched out in the canoe,
and rolled over the side: for I suddenly
found myself swimming in the river by the
side of the boat, and shouting to Quobna to
pull me in.

To this he answered: " No good! Suppose
you get in this time: you pull all in water.
Must swim to shore."

"But," said I, in that frame of mind
described by my Yankee friend as 'a deadly
funk,' " before I get there, an alligator will
bite me."

"No, he can't bite you. Swim, massa
swim!"

"Quobna, if you don't pull me in, I'll
break your head."

"No, you no good. Tell you alligator no
bite you."

All this time we were going towards the
shore, and I never was in such mortal
dread before. Every stroke of the oar, I
thought, was the splash of one of these
reptiles, and the shadow of the boat nearly
frightened me to death. However, I reached
the bank, got into the canoe in safety, and
did not take the promised vengeance on
Quobna.

It was now nearly dark; I felt chilly in
my wet clothes, and was very glad to find
signs of another kroom. We had a brisk
walk through the bush, and were received—
not hospitably, for the Guinea niggers
haven't got it in them—but still we were
received by the headman. We asked for food and
beds. He set before us tea, and a piece of
Dutch cheese, which looked as though it had
been in cut at least ten years. However, we
made a meal of it, and then inspected the
beds. They consisted of bamboo frames, in
a room seven feet square; the sides, floor,
and ceiling, of mud; the air heavy with
mosquitoes; and sleep out of the question.
Our excursion lasted about a fortnight. It
was not devoid of incidents dear to the
memory of the sportsman, but certainly does
not deserve to be chronicled. We shot
game, and deer, and patacoos, and panthers,
and met with friendly and unfriendly natives.
I cannot, however, pass over one adventure
that befel Brown.

By-the-bye, Brown is a first-rate shot. I
did threaten not to go out with him again;
for before I saw a thing, he had killed it, and
I grew sulky, and tired of watching his
success. One day we had sent a number of
boys to beat a piece of bush that seemed a
likely covert; and he stood at one corner, I
at another, out of sight one of the other, but
able to see everything that should pass out.
Suddenly, I heard a cry of alarm from the
beaters, a shout from Brown, and rushing