"No, sir, but I cannot divest myself of the idea that this nation of cannibals is overwhelming us with provisions and fattening us up, so that later on they may dine off us with greater enjoyment."
De Morin could not contain himself any longer. He roared with laughter, and we all joined him.
Joseph appeared perfectly scandalized at the unseemly mirth, and kept on saying—
"It is not my own opinion that I have given utterance to. It is the opinion of all the bearers, and their only motive for working so hard at the construction of a palisade round the camp was their fear of being attacked to-night. Alas! will it protect us?"
CHAPTER XXXII.
In spite of the fears indulged in by Joseph and our escort, we passed a very good night in our huts, which were far more comfortable than any we had inhabited for many a long day. On the following morning everybody awoke uneaten, and as our audience was not to take place until the afternoon, we set to work to fill up our leisure time.
Towards 8 a.m. de Morin, Delange and I bent our steps towards a small stream pointed out to us on the previous evening, and there, in the dear water, shaded from the sun's rays by a canopy of foliage, flowers and creepers, we enjoyed a most delicious and refreshing bath. This over, we went to the market, and nothing more picturesque can be imagined than these large gatherings, which in Africa have become, if I may be allowed to use the term, regular institutions. The market is a perfect pleasure-ground for buyers and sellers, rich and poor, large and small, men who go to see, and women who go to be seen. The animation and noise are on a par, extraordinary alike; shouting and laughing are heard on all sides—bargaining here, quarrelling there, and fighting everywhere. Fruits and vegetables are jumbled together in one vast confusion—manioc, sweet potatoes, known amongst the Monbuttoos as mendo, yams, bananas and bundles of the sugar-cane. Earthen jars of artistic design, covered with figures in relief, hold the beer and other liquors.
On our return to camp, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, we were honoured by a visit from the favourite wives of the King. These ladies, in number about twenty, were far more reserved in their manner than we could have expected. It is true that they had had a lesson from Munza, and he was not to be disobeyed with impunity.
Some of them, nevertheless, betrayed such an unmistakable desire to pass their fingers through the beard and hair of a white man, that we felt bound to gratify them. But as neither of us was anxious to sacrifice himself, de Morin summoned Joseph, made him sit down on a stool, and authorised our amiable visitors to make use of his head as if it were a barber's block. Joseph, at first flattered by experiencing the contact of so many royal hands, displayed a tendency in the direction of protest and self-defence when his beard was plucked and his hair pulled to see if they were really attached by nature to his skin. We pointed out to him that the King's wives would bear in mind his amiability, would be a means, some day, perhaps, of saving him from being eaten, and that, from every point of view, it would be better for him to lose a lock of hair than his head. He saw the force of this argument, and resigned himself to his fate, crying out, when the tugs were too forcible, in such a ludicrous way that the women were in fits of laughter.
After having toyed with Joseph's hair and beard, the Monbuttoos expressed a further wish. Until we appeared on the scene they had been accustomed to see men and women bare-footed; our large boots puzzled them, and they longed to know whether the pieces of leather which encased our feet and legs were a part of ourselves and natural, or whether they were merely a covering, like the rest of our clothes. We thought that these charming searchers after knowledge had learnt quite enough for one visit, and we consequently postponed until another opportunity the fresh study which they wanted to take in hand. Having at length dismissed them with a few presents, we were at liberty to take a spell of well-earned repose until the hour fixed for our private audience. But punctually at six o'clock we started for the palace, accompanied by Nassar and a dozen soldiers.