My first "bush" evening was spent in palm-wine, rum, and wassail;
one must begin by humouring Africans, under pain of being
considered a churl; but the inevitable result is, that next day
they will by some pretext or other shirk work to enjoy the
headache. That old villain, "Young Prince," becoming very fou,
hospitably offered me his daughter-in-law Azizeh, Forteune's
second wife; and he was vigorously supported by the Nimrod
himself, who had drawn a horizontal line of white chalk above the
eyebrows, a defence against the Ibambo, those bad ghosts that
cause fevers and sickness. Forteune then hinted that perhaps I
might prefer his daughter--"he be piccanniny; he be all same
woman." Marchandise offerte a le pied coupe, both offers were
declined with, Merci, non! Sporting parties are often made up by
the Messieurs du Plateau, I had been told at the Comptoir; but
such are the fascinations of les petites, that few ever progress
beyond the first village. There was, consequently, wonder in the
land as to what manner of utangani this one might be.
It is only fair to own that the ladies endured with great
philosophy the spretae injuria formae, and made no difference in
their behaviour on account of their charms being unappreciated.
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