Going a little farther, we came to five negro huts or houses, built
after a different manner from any we had seen yet; and at the door of
one of them lay seven elephants' teeth, piled up against the wall or
side of the hut, as if they had been provided against a market. Here
were no men, but seven or eight women, and near twenty children. We
offered them no incivility of any kind, but gave them every one a bit of
silver beaten out thin, as I observed before, and cut diamond fashion,
or in the shape of a bird, at which the women were overjoyed, and
brought out to us several sorts of food, which we did not understand,
being cakes of a meal made of roots, which they bake in the sun, and
which ate very well. We went a little way farther and pitched our camp
for that night, not doubting but our civility to the women would produce
some good effect when their husbands might come home.
Accordingly, the next morning the women, with eleven men, five young
boys, and two good big girls, came to our camp. Before they came quite
to us, the women called aloud, and made an odd screaming noise to bring
us out; and accordingly we came out, when two of the women, showing us
what we had given them, and pointing to the company behind, made such
signs as we could easily understand signified friendship. When the men
advanced, having bows and arrows, they laid them down on the ground,
scraped and threw sand over their heads, and turned round three times
with their hands laid up upon the tops of their heads. This, it seems,
was a solemn vow of friendship. Upon this we beckoned them with our
hands to come nearer; then they sent the boys and girls to us first,
which, it seems, was to bring us more cakes of bread and some green
herbs to eat, which we received, and took the boys up and kissed them,
and the little girls too; then the men came up close to us, and sat them
down on the ground, making signs that we should sit down by them, which
we did. They said much to one another, but we could not understand them,
nor could we find any way to make them understand us, much less
whither we were going, or what we wanted, only that we easily made them
understand we wanted victuals; whereupon one of the men, casting his
eyes about him towards a rising ground that was about half a mile off,
started up as if he was frighted, flew to the place where they had laid
down their bows and arrows, snatched up a bow and two arrows, and ran
like a racehorse to the place. When he came there, he let fly both his
arrows, and comes back again to us with the same speed. We, seeing he
came with the bow, but without the arrows, were the more inquisitive;
but the fellow, saying nothing to us, beckons to one of our negroes to
come to him, and we bid him go; so he led him back to the place, where
lay a kind of deer, shot with two arrows, but not quite dead, and
between them they brought it down to us. This was for a gift to us, and
was very welcome, I assure you, for our stock was low.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account