"
Thus it will be seen that Sir Francis was much impressed with these
people, and he heartily congratulated me upon our discovery.
To resume my personal account. We soon gave the man confidence
by presenting him with an axe, some calico and beads, and a small
looking-glass, which was held in front of him. He gazed in stupefied
wonderment at his own features so plainly depicted before him. He was
taken back to the other side, and soon returned with two more of his
tribe, who brought us a live pig, which they hauled out from a raised
flooring beneath one of their houses.
The country all round us seemed to be one large swamp, and we stood
upon a springy foundation of reeds and mud; except for these, we
should undoubtedly have soon sunk out of sight in the mud. As it was,
we stood in a foot of water most of the time, and in places we had
to wade through mud over our knees.
The lake swarmed with many kinds of curious water-birds, the most
common being a red-headed kind of plover; there was also a great
variety of duck and teal. The swamps were full of large spiders, which
crawled all over us; we had to keep continually brushing them off.
Farther down the lake we saw another small village, and we were
told that these two villages comprised the whole of this curious
tribe.
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