The newcomers, having landed, squatted down some little distance away from the man they had come to meet, and then Gunda and they gradually edged forwards towards one another, until at length each placed his nose upon the other's shoulder.

This was apparently the native method of embracing.

Later Gunda brought his friends to be introduced to me, and to the best of my ability I went through the same ridiculous ceremony.

I must say my new friends evinced an almost uncontrollable terror at the sight of me.

Gunda, however, made it clear that I was _not_ a returned spirit, but a man like themselves--a great man certainly, and a mysterious man, but a man all the same.
Although by this time my skin had become tanned and dark, there was seemingly no end to the amazement it caused the blacks.