Thesightfairlymademesick。Buttheyevidentlyexpectedsomerecognition，soIwavedmyarmsinastrikingsortofnon-committalmanner。AndthenIturnedandstalkedontowardsthetreesagain。
AtthattimeIwasprayinglikemad，Iremember，overandoveragain:
’Lordhelpmethroughwithit！Lordhelpmethroughwithit！’It’sonlyfoolswhoknownothingofdangerscanaffordtolaughatpraying。
“Buttheseniggersweren’tgoingtoletmewalkthroughandawaylikethat。Theystartedakindofbowingdanceaboutme，andsortofpressedmetotakeapathwaythatlaythroughthetrees。Itwascleartometheydidn’ttakemeforaBritishcitizen，whateverelsetheythoughtofme，andformyownpartIwasneverlessanxioustoownuptotheoldcountry。
“You’dhardlybelieveit，perhaps，unlessyou’refamiliarwithsavages，butthesepoormisguided，ignorantcreaturestookmestraighttotheirkindofjossplacetopresentmetotheblessedoldblackstonethere。BythistimeIwasbeginningtosortofrealisethedepthoftheirignorance，anddirectlyIseteyesonthisdeityItookmycue。Istartedabaritonehowl，’wow-wow，’verylongononenote，andbeganwavingmyarmsaboutalot，andthenveryslowlyandceremoniouslyturnedtheirimageoveronitssideandsatdownonit。Iwantedtositdownbadly，fordiving-dressesain’tmuchwearinthetropics。Or，toputitdifferentlike，they’reasighttoomuch。Ittookawaytheirbreath，Icouldsee，mysittingontheirjoss，butinlesstimethanaminutetheymadeuptheirmindsandwerehardatworkworshippingme。AndIcantellyouIfeltabitrelievedtoseethingsturningoutsowell，inspiteoftheweightonmyshouldersandfeet。