A LAKE VILLAGE.
It was at least an hour before sundown when the steamer was anchored near the shore, where a headland pushed out into the lake and afforded abundant water for safety. The small boat took Doctor Bronson and Fred to a little village close to the water. It consisted of several huts in front of a dense growth of papyrus-plants, and with a few palms rising from the firm ground beyond. The natives were alarmed at the visit of the strangers, and started to run away. They naturally took the party for a slave-stealing expedition, and concluded that their only safety was in flight.
Our friends were accompanied by two soldiers who had been detailed to remain with them during their voyage, and return with the steamer to its point of departure. As a matter of precaution, these soldiers went wherever our friends did; and as they had seen a good deal of service, and were familiar with many of the African tribes, they were useful in numerous ways besides serving as escort.
One of them shouted to the people not to run away, as no harm was intended, and to indicate that their intentions were not hostile, both the soldiers placed their guns on the ground and held up their empty hands. This caused the fugitives to pause; and, after some parleying, they were convinced of the pacific intentions of their visitors, and signified their willingness to return, provided they received a certain number of beads and hatchets as a token of friendship.
A few beads and other trinkets had been brought along from the steamer, but no hatchets. This circumstance was explained, and led to farther parleying, and finally to the establishment of friendly relations all round. The people came back to their village, the presents were delivered, and in a little while everything was harmonious.
LAKE FISHES OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Then the natives offered presents in return. They had very little to give, as they live entirely by fishing, and their gifts were limited to the products of the lake. Several fishes were brought forward, one of them an enormous fellow, weighing little if anything less than two hundred pounds, and having quite a resemblance to the sturgeon of American waters. One fish was evidently of the perch family, and another was a near relation of the bull-head, or cat-fish, of the United States. The natives said it lived in the mud at the bottom of the lake, and was caught with a long line baited with a piece of another fish, or with a large worm that abounded in the soil back of their village.
One of the fishes was said to live entirely on vegetable food, and his jaws were equipped with teeth not unlike those of a sheep. The abundance of vegetable matter in the lake evidently gave these specimens of the finny tribe an easy life of it, as they could never be at a loss for their dinners. As a result they were large and fat, and their shape did not indicate either speed or power.