What does the narrator say about “the white man” in paragraph 7 (“But at that...”)?

The villagers saw the narrator as some sort of comic magician that can wave his wand (his gun) and solve their problem:

I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes-faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was going to be shot. They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick. They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching.