268 JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS

wondering whether I could stand another long trek
(my shoes had given way, the soles had worn evenly
down until they were as thin as tissue-paper, and then
they simply disappeared. I had only left a pair of
gym shoes with crSpe soles). I couldn't understand
what he said to me; the other carriers clustered
round; it was obvious that a Court of Appeal was
supposed to be sitting. Amedoo explained, but Tm
not sure that I understood him correctly.

One of the carriers who was called Bukkai had left
something behind at the spot where we stopped for
lunch. It had been taken by Fadai, the thin emaci-
ated boy with lovely eyes and venereal disease who
called himself a British subject because he had been
born in Sierra Leone. When Bukkai accused Fadai
of the theft and threatened to bring the case to trial,
Fadai was quite ready to return whatever it was (I
think it was a needle and cotton) rather than make
trouble, but Kolieva, taking him down to the stream
below the village, had extorted money from him by
threats and by promising to bear false witness on his
behalf. The trial took place, but Kolieva remained
silent and Fadai told the whole story. Then Kolieva
became the accused, and to bear false witness in their
eyes was a more serious offence than to steal. He was
found guilty and fined four shillings by Amedoo, a
very Targe sum representing nearly ten days' wages.
As I was uncertain whether I understood the facts,
and as I knew how reliable Amedoo was and the
sentence seemed popular, I said, "I agree," and
because Kolieva would have argued it, the absurd
imperial phrase, which never failed to silence them,
^Palaver finished"; At first Kolieva declared that he