The noise that the creature made as I twisted its neck, woke Bukári; so without more ado, I dismembered the warm carcase, and we proceeded to devour it, and a most disgusting and cannibal-like repast it was; notwithstanding which I ate up all the flesh I could scrape off the bones, while as to Bukári, who had the advantage of not being able to see what he was eating, he gobbled up flesh, skin, and entrails with a horrible relish, and seemed to have half a mind to finish up with the feathers. When we had breakfasted in this prehistoric manner we made our way back to the path and resumed our journey, but we were both stiff and tired from the previous day’s exertions, and crawled along rather sluggishly. After half an hour’s weary trudging we heard the crowing of a cock, and a bend in the path showed the entrance to a small village. I had serious doubts as to the wisdom of venturing into the neighbourhood of any human habitation, but Bukári urged me to try to get some food, and while we were debating I perceived that we were already observed; so I walked boldly into the street, leading my companion, and looked about. A single glance showed me that we were the objects of the keenest curiosity, for in less than a minute the entire population of the village had assembled, and stood about staring at us and whispering together, but keeping at a respectful distance nevertheless. Our strange appearance might, indeed, have accounted for their surprise, but there was something in their manner that filled me with uneasiness and suspicion, and I determined to make our stay as brief as possible. As Bukári spoke the Ochwi or Ashanti language, I led him up to the group of villagers, to whom he made his appeal in a gruff, abrupt manner, but pitifully enough, eliciting, however, no more satisfactory response than an emphatically expressed desire that we should leave the village at once; but as we were turning disconsolately away, a fat, elderly woman bustled into her house, and immediately returned with a large, roasted yam, which she put into Bukári’s hands, and then taking us by the shoulders, fairly ran us out of the village, exclaiming in an undertone, “Go! quickly, as far away as you can, _and keep off the road!_” The friendly hint was not thrown away, and, when we had thanked the good-natured soul, I ostentatiously dragged Bukári off the path and re-entered the forest to the right in sight of the whole village; but after walking parallel with the road for a quarter of a mile, I crossed it and plunged into the forest on the left. I did not, however, go far from the track, for the evening was coming on apace, and I felt that we must keep on the move through the darkness; it being evidently impossible to sleep in the forest without the protection of a fire; and whereas it was quite impracticable to attempt to walk through the forest in the dark, the road would be comparatively safe, as it is unusual for Africans to travel at night.