A person who frequently reverts to the cause of a quarrel, or a woman who is constantly nagging, has a word applied to her which means the _bubbling up of boiling water_; and one who does not contribute his share to the general talk around the evening fire is likened to the useless _fibrous core of a cassava root_, only fit to be thrown away; while a person who answers a question not addressed to him is _picking up something before it is lost_. The native word for an _umbrella_ means a _large bat_. When the eyes are dimmed from any cause they are said to _be covered with cobwebs_; and a man suffering from hunger says, “_My waist is stuck to my back_”; i.e. I am so empty of food that there is nothing to keep the front of the stomach from sticking to the backbone. A foolish, credulous person is likened to _a squirrel constantly nodding its head in assent to everything that is said_. To become conscious of someone behind looking at you is expressed in the phrase: _to feel the back heavy_. The Congo crow has a broad white band round its neck, and when the river is dark with the reflection of the frowning storm-clouds above, and the wind is blowing up-river, covering the water with white-crested waves, such waves are called by the natives _a flock of crows_. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER IV EARLY DAYS AT MONSEMBE Building our house—Armed natives—Their ruse to discover our strength—The reason of their proffered help—A tribal war—Cannibal feast—Taunt us with being cowards and women—We defend some visitors—Blood-brotherhood—Inquisitive Congo boys—Medicine and “books”—Mental powers of Congo lads—Native view of women. We were about a fortnight erecting the framework of our house and finishing the walls; and then it took us over two months to collect and dry local materials for the roof; but in the meantime we made doors and windows, and cut a large number of nine-inch blocks for paving the floor. I thought that these blocks would raise us above the damp earth, and would also help to keep away some of the insect and reptile pests that invade a house built on the ground. We did not square the blocks, but simply laid them evenly bedded in puddled clay; and with some native mats spread over them they formed a fairly comfortable floor. The blocks lasted for more than three years, by which time they began to rot at the bottom and sink; but they served their purpose, and then became useful as firewood.