There were besides six great chests made of light iron. Four of
these were fitted with trays with cork bottoms, for insects. The
other two were for the skins of birds. All the boxes and cases had
strips of India rubber where the lids fitted down, in order to keep
out both damp and the tiny ants which are the plague of naturalists
in Africa.
Four or five days were occupied in getting together a crew, for the
natives had an abject fear of entering the country of the cannibal
Fans. Mr. Goodenough promised that they should not be obliged to
proceed unless a safe conduct for their return was obtained from
the King of the Fans. A large canoe was procured, sufficient to
convey the whole party. Twelve paddlers were hired, and the goods
taken down and arranged in the boat. The Houssas had been, on
landing, furnished with their guns, which were Snider rifles, had
been instructed in the breech loading arrangement, and had been set
to work to practice at a mark at a hundred and fifty yards distance
--the stump of an old tree, some five feet in height, serving
for the purpose. The men were delighted with the accuracy of their
pieces and the rapidity at which they could be fired.
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