In the mean time I did not feel comfortable at all, and really thought that we might have a fight. I knew these Shekiani people to be funny fellows: if we had gone back, a dozen canoes armed with men would have been after us, for they would have immediately thought we were their enemies. So we pushed on, and at last came opposite the village. Here we had to stop to speak to them, and finally they entreated us to pass the night among them, the chief himself coming to beg us to stay. As it was nearly night I concluded that it would be better to sleep in a village than in the woods, for there we might have been attacked unawares, the people not knowing who we were. [Illustration: AN AFRICAN WAR DANCE.] [Sidenote: _SHEKIANI VILLAGE._] These Shekianis crowded round to see me, and at every move I made they all sent up wild shouts of astonishment. They were all armed to the teeth, and had the air of men continually on the lookout for a fight. Night soon came, and I went into the hut that had been given to me, but could not sleep, for all the villagers were awake, and the drums were beating from one end of the village to the other. Songs of war were sung by the men, women, and children around their Mbuiti (an enormous wooden idol, which was in the midst of the village). Besides, I thought the village might be surprised during the night by the warlike and treacherous Bakalais. So I need not tell you that all my guns were loaded and all the guns of my men likewise. I did not like this kind of travelling at all. These men were all painted with colored chalk, red and yellow being the favorite colors; they were covered with fetiches, which they believed would protect them from the deadly weapons of their enemies; and by the dim light of their fires and torches they appeared to me more like devils than men. The village was also strongly fenced with long poles. At last the morning twilight made its appearance, and after giving a present to the King, we got ready and by sunrise were on our way. We soon came to a Bakalai village, and there I made my head-quarters. The country abounded in birds; wild boars were also said to be abundant, and leopards were rather common. This was just the country in which I expected to discover new species of birds and to enjoy some grand hunting. The house I lived in was at the extreme end of the village, and the villagers were very kind to me. [Illustration: ENCOUNTER WITH A LEOPARD.]