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THEIR HARMLESSNESS.

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and their groans of rage were hideous to listen to. They showed little powers of strategy, but rather a piggish obstinacy in maintaining their ground, and a frightful savageness of demeanor. The combat lasted an hour. It was evident that their tusks could not give very dangerous wounds to such thickly-protected bodies as theirs. At last one turned about and made off, leaving the other victorious and master of the field.

My observations lead me to believe that in general the hippopotamus will not wantonly attack a canoe passing on the river. They either do not seem to notice it at all, or else avoid it by div ing under water. They are troublesome beasts, however, to the traveler paddling along in a frail canoe, for they are very apt to rise suddenly under a boat and throw it over, to their own alarm, but to the inconvenience and danger of the passengers. In some such cases the huge beast becomes desperate from fright, thinks himself attacked, and with great rage demolishes the canoe. But even in such cases I have not heard of their ever touching the swimming passengers, who have only to keep away from the canoe to make sure their escape. One of my men related an adventure of this kind which happened to him and others a few years ago. They were capsized by a hippopotamus which rose suddenly under their canoe. In an instant, and with the greatest fury, the animal turned upon the canoe, which he did not leave till he had broken it into tolerably small pieces. But he did not even seem to see the men, who swam off, and reached the shore without hurt.

The negroes hunt the hippopotamus only with guns. In those parts where they have not yet obtained guns they never attack it, but leave it undisputed master of the forest and river; for they can but very seldom indeed succeed in entrapping it into the pits which are dug for this and some other of the larger animals.

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To the Anengue.-Canoes.-River Scenery.-Nature of the Country.—The Lagoons.-Navigation.-India-rubber Vines.-Mercantile Products and Facilities. -Porcupine-hunts.-Quengueza, the great King.-Change of Season.-Variety in animal Life.-Birds of Passage.-Fish.-Bee-eater.-Curious Habits of this Bird.-Serpents.-The Rivers in the dry Season.-The Lagoons in the dry Season.-Immense Numbers of Crocodiles.-Damagondai.-Witchcraft.-A Caudle Lecture. Shimbouvenegani.-An Olako.- Royal Costume.- Discover a new Ape.-The Nshiego Mbouve, or nest-building Ape (Troglodytes Calvus).-How they build.-Habits.-Food.-Description of the first Specimen.-A Crocodilehunt.-Anengue Canoes.-The Ogata.-Turtle.-How the Crocodile gets his Prey.-A Fight looms up ahead.—Oshoria backs down.-People of the Anengue.-Family Idols.-Worship.-Sickness.-Bola Ivoga.-African Festivals.-A clear Case of Witchcraft.-A native Doctor.-Exorcising a Witch.-My Town is deserted. I am made a Chief.-We get a second young Gorilla.-I am poisoned with Arsenic.-Trial of the Poisoner.-Singular Effect of Arsenic.

WHEN poor Joe Gorilla died I was ready to go ahead upon my explorations up river. The hope of taming him kept me at Biagano till then.

We were to make a start on the evening of May 27th, and on that morning I called king and people together, and gave them charge of my property; declaring that if any thing was stolen during my absence I would surely shoot the thief.

They all protested that I need not even lock the doors of my house. But I thought it not best to expose them to too much temptation.

I next counted my ten goats in their presence, and told them I wanted no leopard stories told me when I came back—at which they shouted and laughed, and declared neither they nor the leopard should touch them. Then I gave one of my men some goods to trade for ivory, another some with which to buy ebony, and left one of my Mpongwe fellows in charge of my entire premises, locking the doors. And then I was ready to go off.

I had six stout paddlers in each canoe. These were laden pretty deeply with provisions for myself, and with trade-goods for the people I was to meet. My object was on this trip to ascend the

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DIFFICULT NAVIGATION.

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Npoulounay, a branch of the Ogobay, as far as a great swampy country which the Camma fellows were always talking of, and which no white man had yet seen. The reader can follow my

course on the chart.

We found the Npoulounay for the first eight miles to run through the mangrove swamps, which renders navigation so disagreeable. Above that the banks became higher and clearer. Starting about three o'clock in the afternoon, we pulled till four next morning, when all hands were worn out, and we went ashore on a little island to get a nap. But here the musquitoes assailed us in such numbers that, though we could stretch our legs, sleep was out of the question. As soon as daylight came we were off again.

At about sixty miles from Biagano we came to a fork in the river. We took the right branch. A few miles farther up there was another tributary, which we entered, as this led to the lake. This stream was here about two hundred yards wide, but with very low, marshy banks, and no wood. Immense fields of reeds and other water weeds covered the marshy soil as far as we could see from our little canoe, and gave the landscape an aspect of utter desolation. The stream had scarce any current, the water was turbid, and the smell of decaying vegetation exceedingly unpleasant. In the far distance beyond the plains we could see the outlines of hills and higher plains. Where these join the marsh crocodiles are found in great plenty, as I was told now by the natives, and found for myself afterward.

While I was wondering at the change in this sluggish river from the rapid-flowing Ogobay, we came suddenly to what seemed the end of navigation in this direction. The river was here as wide as at the mouth, but closed suddenly. Paddling round the shore, to try for some possible outlet, for it would be too bad to have taken so much trouble to get into this nasty culde-sac, we found at length a stream, not more than six yards wide, which poured with a tolerably rapid current into what seemed to me now only a lagoon. Up this narrow avenue we pushed, much doubting where it would lead us, for none of my men had been here before, and I was going by guess-work.

As we ascended the narrow, deep little stream, it branched off in several places, and became gradually narrower, till at last we were pushing our canoe laboriously along through a deep, crook

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