"
Then he began to give me elaborate instructions as to the preservation
of the seed-pod in a perfectly dry and air-tight tin box, etc., at
which point Miss Hope unceremoniously bundled me out of the tent.
That afternoon we held a conference at which it was agreed that we
should begin our return journey to Beza Town at once, as the place
where we were camped was very malarious and there was always a risk of
the Pongo paying us another visit.
So a litter was made with a mat stretched over it in which Stephen
could be carried, since fortunately there were plenty of bearers, and
our other simple preparations were quickly completed. Mrs. Eversley
and Hope were mounted on the two donkeys; Brother John, whose hurt leg
showed signs of renewed weakness, rode his white ox, which was now
quite fat again; the wounded hero, Stephen, as I have said, was
carried; and I walked, comparing notes with old Babemba on the Pongo,
their manners, which I am bound to say were good, and their customs,
that, as the saying goes, were "simply beastly.
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