Often they would pick up one of my possessions, and, whilst not exactly coveting it, they would ask for one like it.
Take, for example, the reed flutes which, when played by me, were such a source of joy to the blacks and their children.

Well, I was soon called upon to make flutes for the natives, which I did out of long reeds; but these instruments only had two holes in them at first, as the blacks could not play them when other holes were added.

The great drawback to these flutes was that the reed dried very quickly and became useless for musical purposes; so I was kept pretty busy, more especially as I did not want to create jealousy by refusing some and gratifying others.
Although the immediate country in which I established my home was fertile and extremely rich in tropical vegetation, the adjoining ranges were in striking contrast to it; many districts being rugged and slaty and painfully difficult to traverse on foot.

There were, however, many interesting natural curiosities which beguiled the time in travelling.
Once I came across a certain kind of spider, whose web was so strong and thick that it only broke under considerable pressure from the finger.

The spider itself was fully two inches or three inches long, and had formidable claws.