When at length he
appeared I asked him where he had been. He answered, to cut himself a
stick in the forest, as he understood we should have to walk a long
way. Also he showed me the stick, a long, thick staff of a hard and
beautiful kind of bamboo which grows in Mazitu-land.
"What do you want that clumsy thing for," I said, "when there are
plenty of sticks about?"
"New journey, new stick! Baas. Also this kind of wood is full of air
and might help me to float if we are upset into the water."
"What an idea!" I exclaimed, and dismissed the matter from my mind.
At dawn, on the following day, we started, Stephen and I riding on the
two donkeys, which were now fat and lusty, and Brother John upon his
white ox, a most docile beast that was quite attached to him. All the
hunters, fully armed, came with us to the borders of the Mazitu
country, where they were to await our return in company with the
Mazitu regiment. The king himself went with us to the west gate of the
town, where he bade us all, and especially Brother John, an
affectionate farewell.
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