The more I thought it over, the more I realised that no Englishwomen had ever lived to tell so dreadful an experience.

I compared their story with mine, and felt how different it was.

I was a man, and a power in the land from the very first--treated with the greatest consideration and respect by all the tribes.

And, poor things, they were terribly despondent when I explained to them that it was impossible for me to take them right away at once.

Had I attempted to do so surreptitiously, I should have outraged the sacred laws of hospitality, and brought the whole tribe about my ears and theirs.
Besides, I had fixed upon a plan of my own; and, as the very fact of my presence in the camp was sufficient protection for the girls, I implored them to wait patiently and trust in me.
That very night I called Yamba to me and despatched her to a friendly tribe we had encountered in the King Leopold Ranges--perhaps three days' journey away.