NDIAYAI.-MASHUMBA.

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had refused to come and see me, at first, from a belief that he would die in three days after setting eyes on me. But Mbéné had persuaded him to come.

Ndiayai was accompanied by the queen, the ugliest woman I ever saw, and very old. She was called Mashumba. She was nearly naked, her only covering being a strip of cloth about four inches wide, made of the soft bark of a tree, and dyed red. Her body was tattooed in the most fanciful manner; her skin, from long exposure, had become rough and knotty. She wore two enormous iron anklets, and had in her ears a pair of copper rings two inches in diameter. I could easily put my little fingers in the holes through which the earrings passed.

The people looked at me, wondered at my hair, but never ceased to look at my feet. They thought my boots were my own feet. "Look at the strange being," said they to each other; "his feet are not of the color of his face, and he has no toes!"

Finally the king said to Mbéné that, when surrounded by his people, he was not afraid of any body.

I could well believe him. When fighting they must look perfect devils.

When night came I entered my house, and looked about to see how I could barricade myself for the night, for I did not fancy putting myself entirely at the mercy of these savage Fans. Their weapons had been sufficient to show me that they were men who were not afraid to fight. I told Mbéné to send for Ndiayai. The king came, and I presented him a large bunch of white beads, a looking-glass, a file, fire-steels, and some gun-flints. His countenance beamed with joy. I never saw such astonishment as he exhibited when I held the looking-glass be

fore his face. At first he did not know what to make of it, and did not want to take the glass, till Mbéné told him that he had one. He put his tongue out, and he saw it reflected in the looking-glass. Then he shut one eye, and made faces; then he showed his hands before the looking-glass-one finger-two fingers-three fingers. He became speechless, and with all I had given him, he went away as "happy as a king;" and "every inch a (savage) king" he was.

Shortly afterward, Mashumba, the queen, thinking that probably I had something for her, also came and brought me a basketful of plantains. They were cooked. At once the idea rushed into my mind that perhaps the very same pot that cooked the plantains had cooked a Fan's head in the morning, and I began to have a horrible loathing of the flesh-pots of these people. I would not have cooked in their pots for the world.

A little after dark, all became silent in the village. I barred my little bit of a door as well as I could with my chest, and, lying down on that dreadful Fan bed, I placed my gun by my side, and tried hard, but in vain, to go to sleep. I wondered how many times human flesh had entered the hut I was in. I thought of all I had seen during the day, which I have related to you. The faces of those terrible warriors, and the implements of war, were before my eyes, though it was pitch dark.

Was I afraid? Certainly not. What feeling was it that excited me? I can not tell you. It was certainly not fear; for if any one the next day had offered to take me back where I came from, I should have declined the offer. Probably I was agitated by the novel and horrible sights that had greeted my eyes, and which exceeded all

I TRY TO SLEEP.—A PILE OF BONES.

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my previous conceptions of Africa. Now and then I thought that as these men not only killed people, but ate them also, they might perhaps be curious to try how I tasted.

Hour after hour passed, and I could not get to sleep. I said my bed was a dreadfully bad one. It was a frame composed of half a dozen large round bamboos. I might as well have tried to sleep on a pile of cannon-balls. Finally I succeeded in going to sleep, holding my gun tightly under my arm.

When I got up in the morning, and went out at the back of the house, I saw a pile of ribs, leg and arm bones, and skulls piled together. The Cannibals must have had a grand fight not long before, and devoured all their prisoners of war.

In what was I to wash my face? I resolved at last not to wash at all.

AFTER a few days the Fans began to get accustomed to me and I to them, and we were the best friends in the world.

They are great hunters. One day a woman returning from the plantations brought news that she had seen elephants, and that one of the plantain-fields had been entirely destroyed by them. This was an event of common occurrence in the country; for the elephants are not very particular, and whatever they like they take, not caring a bit how much hunger they may occasion among the poor natives.

When the news arrived a wild shout of joy spread among the villagers. The grim faces of the Fans smiled, and, in doing so, showed their ugly filed teeth. "We

A FAN WAR-DANCE.

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are going to kill elephants," they all shouted. "We are going to have plenty of meat to eat," shrieked the

women.

They were all How they gesticuWhat a tumult

So, in the evening, a war-dance took place; a wardance of Cannibals! It was the wildest scene I ever saw. It was pitch-dark, and the torches threw a dim light around us, and showed the fantastic forms of these wild men. Really it was a wild scene. armed as if they were going to war. lated. What contortions they made! they raised! How their wild shouts echoed from hill to hill, and died away in the far distance! They looked like demons. Their skins were painted of different colors; and, as the dancing went on, their bodies became warm, and shone as if they had been dipped in oil.

Suddenly a deafening shout of the whole assemblage seemed to shake the earth. Their greatest warrior (Leopard) came to dance. Leopard was, it appears, the bravest of them all. He had killed more people in war than any body else. He had given more human food to his fellow-townsmen than many other warriors put together. Hence they all admired and praised him; and a song describing his feats of arms was sung by those who surrounded him. How ferocious he looked! He was armed to the teeth. He had a spear like one of those I have already described. A long knife hung by his side, and the hand that held the shield carried a battle-axe also. In dancing, he acted at times as if he were defending himself against an attack; at other times, as if he were himself attacking somebody. Once or twice I thought he really meant to throw his spear at some one. I could hardly breathe while looking at him. He appeared ac