Miscerique probat populos et foedera jungi
— A Bend in the River, Motto of the town
This Latin phrase is still visible to Salim on the granite base of a ruined European monument near the dock. Later Father Huismans explains him its meaning. "He approves of the mingling of the peoples and their bonds of union", derived from Virgil's Aeneid, Book IV, line 112. Aeneas lands on the shores of Africa, falls in love with Queen Dido and wants to settle, putting his mission, the migration to Italy, in danger. The gods intervene: they do not approve of a settlement in Africa nor of the mingling of the peoples. In the motto, however, three words were altered to reverse the original meaning.[7]
A second Latin phrase is encountered by Salim: Semper aliquod novi, the motto of the lycée. The original phrase by Pliny the Elder meant that there is always something new out of Africa (ex Africa). Huismans applied it jokingly to the unique masks and carvings with religious quality he had collected.[8]
