e. before all is done) you may think
me both," a dark saying which at the time we did not understand.
When we had landed and collected our belongings, Komba told us to
follow him, and led us up a wide street that was very tidily kept and
bordered on either side by the large huts whereof I have spoken. Each
of these huts stood in a fenced garden of its own, a thing I have
rarely seen elsewhere in Africa. The result of this arrangement was
that although as a matter of fact it had but a comparatively small
population, the area covered by Rica was very great. The town, by the
way, was not surrounded with any wall or other fortification, which
showed that the inhabitants feared no attack. The waters of the lake
were their defence.
For the rest, the chief characteristic of this place was the silence
that brooded there. Apparently they kept no dogs, for none barked, and
no poultry, for I never heard a cock crow in Pongo-land. Cattle and
native sheep they had in abundance, but as they did not fear any
enemy, these were pastured outside the town, their milk and meat being
brought in as required.
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