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NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

From among the hundreds of favorable notices, from the most respectable journals of the
eouatry, of our cheap edition of ‘‘ Livingstone’s Travels and Explorations in Africa,” we take

the following: a

It abounds in descriptions of strange and wonderful scenes, among a people and in a country
entirely new to the civilized world; and altogether we regard it as one of the most interesting
books issued within the past year. The work is well printed and handsomely illustrated; and
one thing which we think considerably enhances the value of this edition above all others, is
the fact that the price at which it is published is sufficiently low to bring it within the reach
of all classes of readers. This is done by leaving out a mass of dry scientific details, which are
of use only to a very small class of the community, and which would actually only make the
narrative department, now so extremely charming, tiresome and uninteresting.—Daily Demo-
crat, Paterson, N. J. :

The present volume is a beautiful 12mo, of 446 pages, numerously illustrated, and contains
all of the original, except some of the more dry scientific details. It is emphatically an edition
for the people; and, judging from the rapid sale with which it is meeting, it is fully appre-
ciated by them.—Christian Freeman, Boston.

_ Great care has been taken to preserve all the incidents and descriptions which are essential
to the interest of the work. In this way a very excellent volume has been made, which de-
serves a large circulation.—New York Chronicle.

The subjects treated of are new and strange, and take a deep hold upon popular feeling.
The book is having a great run, and will be read by every reading man, woman, and child, in
this, as well as other lands.— Ashtabula (Ohio) Telegraph.

The work is finely illustrated, well printed, and firmly bound, thus answering, in every re-
spect, the demand for a popwvlar and cheap edition of the ‘‘ Journeys and Researches in South
Africa.” Those of our readers who would have a delightful book for reading at any hour,
will not be disappointed in this work.— United States Journal.

The price and size of the original volume have led the publisher of this, in view of the popu-
lar interest in the travels of this great explorer, to present the main portions of Dr. Living-
stone’s narrative ina condensed ferm and ata lower price. So far as we have compared the
two, not a single word of Dr. Livingstone’s has been changed, and the only liberty taken with
the text has been simply that of omission. The chapters of the abridgment answer to those of
the original work, so that a reference to them can easily be verified. The entire course of Dr.
Livingstone’s journey is thus traced, and the result given in his own words.—W. Y. Evangelist.

We commend his book to the perusal of all our friends.—Philadelphia City Item.

That this work is a work of merit, is proved by the war waged on it by the various pub.
lishers, who have raised the cry of “‘ spwriows edition,”’ hoping this false alarm would draw
off the public attention from the cheap edition of J. W. Bradley, of Philadelphia ; but we rather
guess that those who want to obtain this excellent work know their own interests well enough
to get not only the cheapest edition yet published, but at the same time get all the impcrtant
facts of the narrative, which, in the English edition, is sold for six dollars.—Temperance
Monitor, Avrora, I.

7

This is an admirable abridgment of the huge volume published by Dr. Livingstone some
months ago, affording to general readers all that they can possibly care for in its contents, un-
less they have become as Africanized as Mrs. Jellaby herself.—Boston Daily Evening Traveler.

This is a valuable work for the general reader, gotten up in beautiful style. A special in
terest is given to this volume by the addition of valuable ‘“ Historical Notices of Discoveries

(1)

2 NOTICES OF THE PRESS CONTINUED.

in Africa.’? Altogethur, it would be difficult to name any work which would more completely
mevt the popular taste of our day. Those of our friends who have perused “ our’ copy, speak
very highly of it.—Fort Edward Institute Monthly.

No book of travels and personal experiences has ever appeared which has excited more in-
terest among all classes than ‘‘ Dr. Livingstone’s Researches and Narrative.’’ But the great
cost of the large work placed it beyond the reach of thousands who desired it. To obviate this
objection of price, the publishers have issued this volume, which contains the gist of the origi-
nal work. It forms a solid 12mo of 440 pages, is given in Dr. Livingstone’s own words, thus
sustaining all the interest which attaches to his wonderful story. The work is finely illus-
trated, well printed, and firmly bound, and will answer the demand for a popular and cheap
edition of the ‘‘ Journeys and Researches in South Africa.” —The Constitution, Erie, Pa.

With truth we can say, that seldom is presented to the reading public a work containing
such a vast amount of solid instruction as the one in question. The volume is handsomely
illustrated, and presents that wnique appearance of exterior for which Mr. Bradley’s publica-
tions are noted.—Family Magazine.

In this volume we Lave presented to us the whole of Dr. Livingstone’s Travels, omitling only
scientific details.— Medical and Surgical Reporter.

This interesting work should be in the hands of every one. Its interesting pages of adven-
tures are full of instruction and amusement. Ten thousand copies, it is stated, have been sold
in one month.— Auburn American.

Nothing of real importance is omitted. The general reader will prefer this to the English
edition, especially as the cost is so trifling.—Pennsylvania Inquirer.

Dr. Livingstone’s Travels and Researches in South Africa appear to great advantage in this
edition, which is undoubtedly the edition most acceptable to the reader who reads for practical
instruction and amusement.—Saturday Post.

It is a rich and valuable book for the general reader; and the admirable style in which the
publisher has issued it, will commend it to the favor of thousands.—Ohristian Observer.

We cannot name thirty-two chapters which are likely to beguile time and enlarge the scope
of reflection more pleasantly, and at the same time more satisfactorily, than these Livingstone
adventures. A special value is given to this volume by the additon of ‘‘ Historical Notices of
Discoveries in Africa;’’ and taken altogether, it would be difficult to name any publication
which more completely meets the popular taste of our time for reading matter, which is
strange, new, the scene laid in far-off countries, which touches the feelings and increases our
stock of useful knowledge.—New Yorker.

It tells the whole story, leaving out digressions and episodes.—Legal Intelligencer.

While it contains all the material portions, it is free from much superfluous matter ineor-
porated in the larger edition —Auburn Daily Advertiser.

The edition of Dr. Livingstone’s travels, published by J. W. Bradley, is just what it purports
to be—the essential portions of the English editions brought within the means of all. Like all
of Mr. Bradley’s publications, it is excellently gotten up.—Tioga Agitator, Pa.

CAUTION.—The attention of the Publisher has been called to spurious editions of this
work, put forth as ‘‘ Narratives of Dr. Livinugstone’s Travels in Africa.’’ Ours is the only
cheap American edition of this great work published, and contains all the important matter
« the English edition, which is sold at six dollars,

J. W. BRADLEY, Publisher,
No. 48 North Fourth Street, Philadelphia

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LIVINGSTONE’S

Cravels and Hesearches
IN SOUTH AFRICA;

INCLUDING

A SKETCH OF SIXTEEN YEARS’ RESIDENCE IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA,
AND A JOURNEY FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO LOANDA
ON THE WEST COAST, THENCE ACROSS THE CONTINENT,
DOWN THE RIVER ZAMBESI, TO THE
EASTERN OCEAN.

SHrom the Personal Aarrative

DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L.

FELLOW OF THE FACULTY OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, GLASGOW; CORRESPONDING MEMBER
OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK; GOLD MEDALLIST
AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETIES
OF LONDON AND PARIS, ETC, ETC.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA.
Allnstrated With Humerous Engrabings.

The Tsetse Fly, magnified.

PHILADELPHIA:
J. W. BRADLEY, 48 N. FOURTH STREET.

Entered according co Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by
J. W. BRADLEY,

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

.
SSS SS SS ee

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO.
PHILADELPHIA,
PRINTED BY KING & BAIRD,

PREFACE

OF THE

AMERICAN PUBLISHER.

Dr. LivinasTone is the most remarkable of all the
travellers who have visited Africa. His personal nar-
rative is the most important and interesting of all that
have yet been published. It will prove the most influ-

-ential on future discovery. His great journey across

the continent was almost entirely over ground hitherto
untrodden by the foot of the white man. The infor-
mation which he gives is therefore fresh, and, in
many instances, refutes and explodes the theories of
previous travellers. In the matter of personal adven-
tures and hairbreadth escapes it is much richer than
the doctor could have desired.

Dr. Livingstone is a very pleasing writer, a man of
true Christian benevolence, a man of extensive scien-
tific information, and an indefatigable laborer in the
cause of discovery and civilization. His personal nar-
rative contains a vast amount of information on the
geology, meteorology, zoology, and history of the coun-
tries which he visited, which will be esteemed highly

Vv

vi PREFACE.

valuable by scientific inquirers. The edition of his
book now offered to the public, by omitting a con-
siderable amount of scientific matter and minor de-
tails, has been compressed into a compass which will
render it perhaps more acceptable to the general
reader than if the whole had been given, and at the
same time bring it within the reach of those who find
it necessary to consult economy in their purchases of
books.

The reader will observe that the narrative is all
given in the language of Dr. Livingstone, and that it
forms a complete account of his various journeys,
omitting only incidental details and scientific matter.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

Personal Sketch—Highland Ancestors—Family Traditions—Grandfather re-
moves to the Lowlands— Parents— Early Labors and Efforts — Evening
School—Love of Reading—Religious Impressions—Medical Education—
Youthful Travels—Geology—Mental Discipline—Study in Glasgow—London
Missionary Society—Native Village—Medical Diploma—Theological Studies
—Departure for Africa—No Claim to Literary Accomplishments...... Page 9

CHAPTER I.

The Bakw4in Country—Study of the Language—Mabétsa Station—A Lion
Encounter—Virus of the Teeth of Lions—Sechéle—Baptism of Sechele—
Opposition of the Natives—Purchase Land at Chonu4ne—Relations with
the People—Their Intelligence—Prolonged Drought—Consequent Trials—
SPH pESTN ELIT Pe EP ONOacauesasesencnsseaescassesacceesdvccdecsaslescaresssiscvssieecndressstsone

CHAPTER II.

The Boers—Their Treatment of the Natives—The Tale of the Cannon—The
Boers threaten Sechele—In violation of Treaty, they expel Missionaries—
They attack the Bakwains—Their Mode of Fighting—The Natives killed
and the School-Children carried into Slavery—Destruction of English Pro-
perty—Continued Hostility of the Boers—The Journey North—Prepara-
tions—Fellow-Travellers...... “CE OACHE sasucese EEC DECEECEORO LORD se arcccncceseoses 20

CHAPTER III.

Departure from Kolobeng, 1st June, 1849—Companions—Our Route—Serotli,
a Fountain in the Desert—The Hyena—The Chief Sekomi—Dangers—The
Wandering Guide—Cross Purposes—Slow Progress—Want of Water—-The
Salt-Pan at Nchokotsa—The Mirage—Reach the River Zouga—The Quakers
of Africa—Discovery of Lake Ngami, Ist August, 1849—Its Extent—Small
Depth of Water—The Bamangwato and their Chief—Desire to visit Sebi-
tuane, the Chief of the Makololo—Refusal of Lechulatebe to furnish us with
Guides—The Banks of the Zouga.......s.csssosscooeceees even hae eeaee pees aceon 34

CHAPTER IV.

Leave Kolobeng again for the Country of Sehituane—Reach the Zouga—The
Tsétse—A Party of Englishmen—Death of Mr. Rider—Obtain Guides—
Children fall sick with Fever—Relinquish the Attempt to reach Sebituane—
Return to Kolobeng—Make a Third Start thence—Reach Nehokotsa—Our

vil

vill CONTENTS.

Guide Shobo—The Banaj6a—An Ugly Chief—The Tsetse—Bite fatal te
Domestic Animals, but harmless to Wild Animals and Man—Operation of
the Poison—Losses caused by it—The Makololo—Our Meeting with Sebi-
tuane—His Sudden Illness and Death—Succeeded by his Daughter—Her
Friendliness to us—Discovery, in June, 1851, of the Zambesi flowing in the
Centre of the Continent—Determine to send Family to England—Return to
the Cape in April, 1852—Safe Transit through the Caffre Country during
Hostilities—Need of a “ Special Correspondent”—Kindness of the London
Missionary Society—Assistance afforded by the Astronomer-Royal at the

CAPO .cwccsaceveveeseesbsscvsisvsscsveuicasvanvescoeraccavsassl ousswsvecsnVersees concuespem nine a4.

CHAPTER V.

Start, in June, 1852, on the Last and Longest Journey from Cape Town—
Companions—Wagon-Travelling—Migration of Springbucks—The Orange
River—Territory of the Griquas and Bechuanas—The Griquas—The Chief
Waterboer—His Wise and Energetic Government—His Fidelity—Success
of the Missionaries among the Griquas and Bechuanas—Manifest Improve-
ment of the Native Character—Dress of the Natives—Articles of Commerce
in the Country of the Bechuanas—Their Unwillingness to learn and Readi-
NESS tO CLILICIZO....ccceercseccccrescescseeee ooccee apngenerAgoneEAene secnac “Aeaoceeenccco vee OF

CHAPTER VI.

Kuruman—Its fine Fountain—The Bible translated by Mr. Moffat—Capa-
bilities of the Language—Christianity among the Natives—Disgracetul
Attack of the Boers on the Bakwains—Letter from Sechele—Details of the
Attack—Destruction of House and Property at Kolobeng—The Boers vow
Vengeance against me—Consequent Difficulty of getting Servants to accom-
pany me on my Journey—Start in November, 1852—Meet Sechele on his
way to England to obtain Redress from the Queen—He is unable to proceed
beyond the Cape—Meet Mr. Macabe on his Return from Lake Ngami—Reach
Litubaruba—The Cave Lepelole—Superstitions regarding it—Impoverished
State of the Bakwains—Retaliation on the Boers—Slavery—Attachment of
the Bechuanas £0 Children. ...,...c.ccssccons oescnssonssonannensaeosseanioessensusivccass) 00

CHAPTER VII.

Departure from the Country of the Bakwains—Large Black Ant—Habits of
Old Lions—Cowardice of the Lion—Its Dread of a Snare—Major Vardon’s
Note—The Roar of the Lion resembles the Cry of the Ostrich—Seldom
attacks full-grown Animals—Buffaloes and Lions—Sekomi’s Ideas of Ho-
nesty—Gordon Cumming’s Hunting Adventures—A Word of Advice for
Young Sportsmen—Bushwomen drawing Water.....ccccccccsccsecsesssccsssseese 13

CHAPTER VIII.

Effects of Missionary Efforts—Belief in the Deity—Departure from their
Country—Nchokotsa—The Bushmen—Their Superstitions—EHlephant-Hunt-
ing—The Chief Kaisa—His Fear of Responsibility—Severe Labor in cutting
our Way—Party seized with Fever—Discovery of Grape-Bearing Vines—-
Difficulty of passing through the Forest—Sickness of my Companion—The
Bushmen—Their Mode of destroying Lions—Poisons—A Pontooning Ex..
pedition—The Chobe—Arrive at the Village of Moremi—Surprise of the
Makololo at our Sudden Appearance—Cross the Chobe on our way to

TAU YAU ss cesses onccsohos cscevsccesarenscesssecossnsssecss "oavenqains’ yonoqalasarneaen tages

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER IX.

Reception at Linyanti—The Court Herald—Sekeletu obtains the Chieftainshif
from his Sister—Sekeletu’s Reason for not learning to read the Bible—
Public Religious Services in the Kotla—Unfavorable Associations of the
Place—Native Doctors—Proposals to teach the Makololo to read—Sekeletu’s
Present—Reason for accepting it—Trading in Ivory—Accidental Fire—
Prckenis fOr SCKSlSty. asses ccsnransecosnsnnsqassnacsnapensapsasovensnsesenerasnaes, Lace) 96

CHAPTER X.

The Fever—Its Symptoms—Remedies of the Native Doctors—Hospitality of
Sekeletu and his People—They cultivate largely—The Makalaka or Subject
Tribes—Sebituane’s Policy respecting them—Their Affection for him—Pro-
ducts of the Soil—Instrument of Culture—The Tribute—Distributed by the
Chief—A Warlike Demonstration—Lechulatebe’s Provocations—The Ma-
kololo determine to punish Him.........s0cssccecsecsescccccccecescees ciosaeesseesssuslU4

CHAPTER XI.

Departure from Linyanti for Sesheke—Level Country—Ant-Hills—Wild Date-
Trees—Appearance of our Attendants on the March—The Chief’s Guard—
They attempt to ride on Oxback—Reception at the Villages—Presents of
Beer and Milk—Kating with the Hand—The Chief provides the Oxen for
Slaughter—Social Mode of Hating—Cleanliness of Makololo Huts—Their
Construction and Appearance—The Beds—Cross the Leeambye—Aspect of
this part of the Country—Hunting—An Eland......sccssesescecsssescvecseesee 109

CHAPTER XII.

Procure Canoes and ascend the Leeambye—Beautiful Islands—Winter Land-
scape—Industry and Skill of the Banyeti—Rapids—Falls of Gonye—Naliele,
the Capital, built on an Artificial Mound—Santuru, a Great Hunter—The
Barotse—More Religious Feeling—Belief in a Future State and in the
Existence of Spiritual Beings—Hippopotamus-Hunters—No Healthy Loca-
tion — Determine to go to Loanda— Buffaloes, Hlands, and Lions above
Libonta—Two Arabs from Zanzibar—Their Opinion of the Portuguese and
the English—Reach the Town of Ma-Sekeletu—Joy of the People at the
First Visit of their Chief—Return to Sesheke—Heathenism.......0..-0e0008 116

CHAPTER XIII.

Preliminary Arrangements for the Journey—A Picho—Twenty-Seven Men
appointed to accompany me to the West—Hagerness of the Makololvu for
Direct Trade with the Coast—Effects of Fever—A Makololo Question—Re-
flections—The Outfit for the Journey—11th November, 1853, leave Linyanti
and embark on the Chobe—Dangerous Hippopotami—Banks of Chobe—
Trees—The Course of the River—The Island Mparia at the Confluence of
the Chobe and the Leeambye—Anecdote—Ascend the Leeambye—Public
Addresses at Sesheke—Attention of the People—Results—Proceed up the
River—The Fruit which yields Vux vomica—The Rapids—Hippopotami and
SARE US canacanadesssaraescdsdredenatesassisag Ae ta samsdee ascossossscdncvsanssdasbaamane sO

*

¥ CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

nereasing Beauty of the Country—Mode of spending the Day—The People
and the Falls of Gonye—A Makololo Foray—A second prevented, and Cap-
tives delivered up—Politeness and Liberality of the People—The Rains—
Present of Oxen—Death from a Lion’s Bite at Libonta—Continued Kindness
—Arrangements for spending the Night during the Journey—Cooking and
Washing—Abundance of Animal Lite—Alligators—Narrow Escape of one
of my Men—Superstitious Feelings respecting the Alligator—Large Game—
Shoals of Fish—Hippopotamii.........00.ssssccccccccsssscesesccscesseveceeeres Page 138

CHAPTER XV.

Message to Masiko, the Barotse Chief, regarding the Captives—Navigation of
the Leeambye—Capabilities of this District—The Leeba—Butfalo-Hunt—
Suspicion of the Baldnda—Sekelénke’s Present—Message from Manénko, a
Female Chief—Mambari Traders—A Dream—Sheakéndo and his People—
Interview with Nyamo4na, another Female Chief—Court Etiquette—Hair
versus Wool—Increase of Superstition—Arrival of Manenko: her Appear-
ance and Husband—Mode of Salutation—Anklets—Embassy, with a Present
from Masiko—Roast Beef—Manioc—Magic Lantern—Manenko an Accom-

. plished Scold : compels us tO Wait.......cccccssccsrccecccecscscccssceccsssscsesecees L4G

CHAPTER XVI.

Nyamoana’s Present—Charms—Manenko’s Pedestrian Powers—Rain—Hunger
—Dense Forests—Artificial Bee-Hives—Villagers lend the Roofs of their
Houses—Divination and Idols—Manenko’s Whims—Shinte’s Messengers
and Present—The Proper Way to approach a Village—A Merman—Enter
Shinte’s Town: its Appearance—Meet two Half-Caste Slave-Traders—The
Makololo scorn them—The Balonda Real Negroes—Grand Reception from
Shinte—His Kotla—Ceremony of Introduction—The Orators—Women—
Musicians and Musical Instruments—A Disagreeable Request—Private In-
terviews with Shinte—Give him an Ox—Manenko’s New Hut—Conversa-
tion with Shinte—Kolimb6ta’s Proposal—Balonda’s Punctiliousness—Selling
Children—Kidnapping—Shinte’s Offer of a Slave—Magic Lantern—Alarm
of Women—Delay—Samb4nza returns intoxicated—The Last and Greatest
Proof Of Shinte’s Friendship. ...cccceco.cocece sosstecve sevens dsssansousuvsessuekevessl NOL

CHAPTER XVII.

Leave Shinte—Manioc-Gardens—Presents of Food—Punctiliousness of the
Balonda—Cazembe—lInquiries for English Cotton Goods—Intemese’s Fiction
—Loss of Pontcon—Plains covered with Water—A Night on an Island—
Loan of the Roofs of Huts—A Halt—Omnivorous Fish—Natives’ Mode of
catching them—The Village of a Half-Brother of Katema: his Speech and
Present—Our Guide’s Perversity—Mozenkwa’s Pleasant Home and Family
—A Messenger from Katema—Quendende’s Village: his Kindness—Crop
of .Wool—Meet People from the Town of Matiamvo—Fireside Talk— Ma-
tiamvo’s Character and Conduct—Presentation at Katema’s Court: his Pre-
sent—lInterview on the following Day—Cattle—A Feast and a Makololo
Dance—Sagacity Of Ants..c.ccscccssscosccrss sccevcccnvensscccsersncsccsssesscenscesss DOO

.

CONTENTS. x1

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Watershed between the Northern and Southern Rivers—A Deep Vifey---
Rustic Bridge—Fountains on the Slopes of the Valleys—Village of Kubinje
—Demand for Gunpowder and English Calico—The Kasai—Vexatious Trick
—Want of Food—No Game—Katende’s Unreasonable Demand—A Grave
Offence—Toll-Bridge Keeper—Greedy Guides—Flooded Valleys—Swim the
RNuana Loké—Prompt Kindness of my Men—Makololo Remarks on the rich
Uncultivated Valleys—Difference in the Color of Africans—Reach a Village
of the Chiboque—The Head Man’s Impudent Message—Surrounds our En-
campment with his Warriors—The Pretence—Their Demand—Prospect of a
Fight—Way in which it was averted—Change our Path—The Ox Sinbad—
Insubordination suppressed—Beset by Enemies—A Robber Party—-More
Troubles—Detained by Ionga Panza—His Village—Annoyed by Bangala
Traders—My Men discouraged—Their Determination and Precaution Page199

CHAPTER XIX.

Guides Prepaid—Bark Canoes—Deserted by Guides—Native Traders—Valley
of the Quango—The Chief Sansawe—His Hostility—Pass him safely—The
River Quango—Chief’s Mode of dressing his Hair—Opposition—Opportune
Aid by Cypriano—His Generous Hospitality—Arrive at Cassange—A Good
Supper—Kindness of Captain Neves—Portuguese Curiosity and Questions—
Anniversary of the Resurrection—No Prejudice against Color—Country
around Cassange—Sell Sekeletu’s Ivory—Makololo’s Surprise at the High
Price obtained—Proposal to return Home, and Reasons—Soldier-Guide—
Tala Mungongo, Village of—Civility of Basongo—Fever—Enter District of
Ambaca—Good Fruits of Jesuit Teaching—The Tampan: its Bite—Uni-
yersal Hospitality of the Portuguese—A Tale of the Mambari—Exhilarating
Effects of Highland Scenery—District of Golungo Alto—Fertility—Forests
of Gigantic Timber—Native Carpenters—Coffee-Estate—Sterility of Country
near the Coast— Fears of the Makololo— Welcome by Mr. Gabriel to

Pena Utics casted es cneeswe'spintsacs ass ocedsmsuadeencodeovas tuacdsndansen ecsdas svcaaceneavecen 224

CHAPTER XX.

Continued Sickness—Kindness of the Bishop of Angola and her Majesty’s
Officers—Mr. Gabriel’s Unwearied Hospitality—Serious Deportment of the
Makololo—They visit Ships of War—Politeness of the Officers and Men—
The Makololo attend Mass in the Cathedral—Their Remarks—Find Employ-
ment in collecting Firewood and unloading Coal—Their Superior Judgment
respecting Goods—Beneficial Influence of the Bishop of Angola—The City
of St. Paul de Loanda—The Harbor—Custom-House—No English Merchants
—Sincerity of the Portuguese Government in suppressing the Slave-Trade—
Convict Soldiers—Presents from Bishop and Merchants for Sekeletu—Outfit
—Leave Loanda 20th September, 1854—Accompanied by Mr. Gabriel as far
as Icollo i Bengo—Women spinning Cotton—Cazengo: its Coffee-Planta-
tions—South American Trees—Ruins of Iron-Foundry—Native Miners—
Coffee-Plantations—Return to Golungo Alto—Self-Complacency of the Ma-
kololo—Fever—Jaundice—Insanity.......00..s0 peRAPh sinuiatadasupseesaed@asssse 20 L

CHAPTER XXI.

Visit a Deserted Convent—Favorable Report of Jesuits and their Teaching—
Marriages and Funerals—Litigation—Mr. Canto’s Illness—Bad Behavier of
his Slaves—An Entertainment—Ideas on Free Labor—Loss of American

1*

re

xl CONTENTS.

Cotton-Seed---Abundance of Cotton in the Country—Sickness of Sekeletu’s
Horse—KEclipse of the Sun—Insects which distill Water—Experiments with
them—Proceed to Ambaca—Present from Mr. Schut, of Loanda—Visit Pungo
Andongo—lIts Good Pasturage, Grain, Fruit, &c.—The Fort and Columnar
Rocks—Salubrity of Pungo Andongo—Price of a Slave—A Merchant-Prince
—His Hospitality—Hear of the Loss of my Papers in “ Forerunner”’—Nar-
row Escape from an Alligator—Ancient Burial-Places—Neglect of Agricul-
ture in Angola—Manioc the Staple Product—Its Cheapness—Sickness—
Friendly Visit from a Colored Priest—The Prince of Congo—No Priests in
the Interior of Angola,.......... Sate clapeh aes essa nelecececienseaeeiae seenene ee Page 265

CHAPTER XXII.

Leave Pungo Andongo—Extent of Portuguese Power—Meet Traders and Car-
riers—Descend the Heights of Tala Mungongo—Cassange Village—Quinine
and Cathory—Sickness of Captain Neves’s Infant—Loss of Life from the
Ordeal—Wide-Spread Superstitions— The Chieftainship—Receive Copies of
the “ Times’— Trading Pombeiros— Present for Matiamvo—Fever after
Westerly Winds—Capabilities of Angola for producing the Raw Materials
of English Manufacture — Trading-Parties with Ivory — More Fever—A
Hyena’s Choice—Makololo Opinion of the Portuguese—Cypriano’s Debt- -
A Funeral—Dread of Disembodied Spirits—Crossing the Quango—Amba-
kistas called “The Jews of Angola”—Fashions of the Bashinje—Approach
the Village of Sansawe—His Idea of Dignity—The Pombeiros’ Present—
Long Detention—A Blow on the Beard—Attacked in a Forest—Sudden
Conversion of a Fighting Chief to Peace-Principles by means of a Re-
volver—No Blood shed in consequence—Rate of Travelling—Feeders of the
Congo or Zaire—Obliged to refuse Presents—Cross the Loajima—Appear-
ance of People: Hair-Fashions........ ceAgonOadgencs Reece poripeccea 0 Scecsschterectee? ZOU

CHAPTER XXIII.

Make a Détour southward—The Chihombo—Cabango—Send a Sketch of the
Country to Mr. Gabriel—The Chief Bango—Valley of the Loembwe—Fune-
ral Observances—Agreeable Intercourse with Kawawa—His Impudent De-
TAN eswesseciecarenasrers cenecnteee acieasescle score Biscevns Eeaeeeee bhldawabelse sets. oe)

CHAPTER XXIV.

Level Plains—Vultures—Twenty-Seventh Attack of Fever—Reach Katema’s
Town—His Renewed Hospitality—Ford Southern Branch of Lake Dilolo—
Hearty Welcome from Shinte—Nyamoana now a Widow—Purchase Canoes
and descend the Leeba—Despatch a Message to Manenko—Arrival of her
Husband Sambanza—Mambawe Hunters—Charged by a Buffalo—Reception
from the People of Libonta—Explain the Causes of our Long Delay—Pit-
sane’s Speech—Thanksgiving Services—Appearance of my ‘‘ Braves” —Won-
derful Kindness of the People..........sscseseeee niggetn saveeacidasmeesenabe sevveveee OUD

CHAPTER XXV.

Colony of Birds called Linkololo—The Village of Chitlane—Murder of Mpo-
lolo’s Daughter—Execution of the Murderer and his Wife—My Companions
find that their Wives have married other Husbands—Sunday—A Party from
Masiko—Freedom of Speech—Canoe struck by a Hippopotamus—Appear-
ance of Trees at the End of Winter—Murky Atmosphere—Surprising Amount
of Organic Life—The Packages forwarded by Mr. Moffat—Makololo Suspi-
cions and Reply to the Matebele who brought them—Convey the Goods tu
an Island and build a Hut over them—Ascertain that Sir R. Murchison had

CONTENTS. xiii

recognised the True Form of African Continent—Arrival at Linyanti—A
Grand Picho—Shrewd Inquiry—Sekeletu in his Uniform—A Trading-Party
sent to Loanda with I[vory—Mr. Gabriel’s Kindness to them—Two Makololo
Forays during our Absence—The Makololo desire to be nearer the Market—
Opinions upon a Change of Residence—Sekeletu’s Hospitality—Sekeletu
wishes to purchase a Sugar-Mill, &ec.—The Donkeys—Influence among the
Natives — “Food fit for. a Chief” — Parting Words of Mamire — Motibe’s
FEXCUSES.. cere ceecccses vocces cee Saeene Spec eneintesthiserenue Etucschenaweestnoce sseceee Page 311

CHAPTER XXVI.

Departure from Linyanti—A Thunder-Storm—An Act of Genuine Kindness—
Fitted out a Second Time by the Makololo—Sail down the Leeambye—Vic-
toria Falls—Native Names—Columns of Vapor—Gigantic Crack—Wear of
the Rocks — Second Visit to the Falls— Part with Sekeletu— Night-Tra-
velling—Moyara’s Village—Savage Customs of the Batoka—A Chain of
Trading-Stations—“ The Well of Joy’”—First Traces of Trade with Euro-
peans—Knocking out the Front Teeth—Facetious Explanation—Degrada-
tion of the Batoka—Description of the Travelling-Party—Cross the Unguesi
—Ruins of a Large Town............. Seca ssawbenese woes vecuccodececteccad sucteciescse O20

CHAPTER XXVIL

Low Hills—A Wounded Buffalo assisted—Buffalo-Bird—Rhinoceros-Bird—
The Honey-Guide—The White Mountain—Sebituane’s Old Home—Hostile
Village—Prophetie Frenzy—Friendly Batoka—Clothing despised—Method
of Salutation—The Captive released—The Village of Monze—Agpect of the
Country—Visit from the Chief Monze and his Wife—Central Healthy Loca-
tions—Friendly Feelings of the People in reference to a White Resident—
Kindness and Remarks of Monze’s ae of the Inhabitants—
Their Anxiety for Medicine—Hooping-Cough appa cen eteceerbecance 8,

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Beautiful Valley—Buffalo—My Young Men kill two Elephants—The Hunt—
Semalembue—His Presents—Joy in prospect of living in Peace—Trade—His
People’s Way of wearing their Hair—Their Mode of Salutation—Old En-
campment— Sebituane’s former Residence— Ford of Kafue — Prodigious
Quantities of Large Game—Their Tameness—Rains—Less Sickness than in
the Journey to Loanda—Reason—Charge from an Elephant—Vast Amount
of Animal Life on the Zambesi—Water of River discolored—An Island with
Buffaloes and Men on it—Native Devices for killing Game—Tsetse now in
Country—Agricultural Industry—An Albino murdered by his Mother—
“Guilty of Tlolo”’—Women who make their Mouths “like those of Ducks”
—First Symptom of the Slave-Trade on this Side—Selole’s Hostility—An
Armed Party hoaxed—An Italian Marauder slain—Elephant’s Tenacity of
Life—A Word to Young Sportsmen—Mr. Oswell’s Adventure with an Ele-
phant: Narrow Escape—Mburuma’s Village—Suspicious Conduct of his
People— Guides attempt to detain us—The Village and People of Ma-
Mburuma—Character our Guides give Of US.....sscsseccessssescscsvescseessossee GOL

CHAPTER XXIX.

Confluence of Loangwa and Zambesi— Hostile Appearances — Ruins of &
Chureh—Turmoil of Spirit—Cross the River—Friendly Parting—The Situa-
tion of Zumbo for Commerce—Pleasant Gardens—Dr. Lacerda’s Visit ta
Cazembe—Pereira’s Statement—Unsuccessful Attempt to establish Trade

xiv CONTENTS.

with the People of Cazembe—One of my Men tossed by a Buffalo—Meet a
Man with Jacket and Hat on—Hear of the Portuguese and Native War—
Dancing for Corn—Mpende’s Hostility—Incantations—A Fight anticipated—
Courage and Remarks of my Men—Visit from two old Councillors of Mpende
—Their Opinion of the English—Mpende concludes not to fight us—His
subsequent Friendship—Aids us to cross the River—Desertion of one of my
Men—Meet Native Traders with American Calico—Boroma—Freshets—
Leave the River—Loquacious Guide—Nyampungo, the Rain-Charmer—An
Old Man—No Silver—Gold-Washing—No Cattle.......cccseeeseeee. Page 372

CHAPTER XXX.

An Elephant-Hunt—Offering and Prayers to the Barimo for Success—Native
Mode of Expression—Working of Game-Laws—A Feast—Laughing Hyenas
—Numerous Insects—Curious Notes of Birds of Song—Caterpillars—Butter-
flies—Silica—The Fruit Makoronga and Elephants—Rhinoceros-Adventure
—Honey and Bees’-Wax—Superstitious Reverence for the Lion—Slow Tra-
velling—Grapes—The Ue—Monina’s Village—Native Names—Suspected of
Falsehood—W ar-Dance—Insanity and Disappearance of Monahin—Fruit-
less Search—Monina’s Sympathy—The Sand-River Tangwe—The Ordeal
Muavyi: its Victims—An Unreasonable Man—“ Woman’s Rights”’—Presents
—Temperance—A Winding Course to shun Villages—Banyai Complexion
and Hair—Mushrooms—The Tubers, Mokuri—The Tree Shekabakadzi—
Face of the Country—Pot-Holes—Pursued by a Party of Natives—Unplea-
sant Threat—Aroused by a Company of Soldiers—A Civilized Breakfast—
LAMULV ANAL OLObs sevencsersseeceslssteseses(eseeeeddvecesceas Hacer eoctoemocpaoacoscocnosscon Gif

CHAPTER XXXI.

Kind Reception from the Commandant—His Generosity to my Men—The Vil-
lage of Tete—The Population—Distilled Spirits—The Fort—Cause of the
Decadence of Portuguese Power—Former Trade—Slaves employed in Gold-
Washing — Slave-Trade drained the Country of Laborers—The Rebel
Nyaude’s Stockade—He burns Tete—Extensive Field of Sugarcane—The
Commandant’s Good Reputation among the Natives—Providential Guidance
—Seams of Coal—A Hot Spring—Picturesque Country—Water-Carriage to
the Coal-Fields—Workmen’s Wages—Exports—Price of Provisions—Visit
Gold-Washings—Coal within a Gold-Field—Present from Major Sicard--
Natives raise Wheat, &c.—Liberality of the Commandant—Geographical
Information from Senhor Candido—Earthquakes—Disinterested Kindness
of the Portuguese.......0.scsseeseee suicsemanaselsiidesincd: eccccescveeccsceceseseessetancee 40D

CHAPTER XXXII. *

Leave Tete and proceed down the River—Pass the Stockade of Bonga—War-
Drum at Shiramba—Reach Senna—lIts Ruinous State—Landeens levy Fines
upen the Inhabitants—Cowardice of Native Militia—Boat-Building at Senna
—Our Departure—Fever: its Hiffects—Kindly received into the House of
Colonel Nunes at Kilimane—Forethought of Captain Nolloth and Dr. Walsh
--Joy imbittered—Deep Obligations to the Earl of Clarendon, &c.—De-
sirableness of Missionary Societies selecting Healthy Stations—Arrange-
ments on leaving my Men—Site of Kilimane—Unhealthiness—Arrival of
H.M. Brig “ Frolic’—Anxiety of one of my Men to go to England—Rough
Passage in the Boats to the Ship—Sekwebu’s Alarm—Sail for Mauritius-
Sekwebu on board: he becomes insane: drowns himself—Kindness of Major-
General C. M. Hay—Escape Shipwreck—Reach Home....sccccccccsssereeee, 420

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF I)ISCOVERY IN AFRICAsssosccnssccsssccseccesevescvsesess 434

JOURNEYS AND RESEARCHES

IN

SOUTH AFRICA.

INTRODUCTION.

My own inclination would lead me to say as little as
possible about myself; but several friends, in whose judg-
ment I have confidence, have suggested that, as the reader
likes to know something about the author, a short account
of his origin and early life would lend additional interest
to this book. Suchis my excuse for the following egotism ;
and, if any apology be necessary for giving a genealogy, 1
find it in the fact that it is not very long, and contains Ged
one incident of which I have reason to be proud.

Our great-grandfather fell at the battle of Culloden,
fighting for the old line of kings; and our grandfather
was a small farmer in Ulva, where my father was born.
lt is one of that cluster of the Hebrides thus alluded to by

Walter Scott :—
“ And Ulva dark, and Colonsay,
And all the group of islets gay
That guard famed Staffa round.”*

Our grandfather was intimately acquainted with all the
traditionary legends which that great writer has since
made use of in the “Tales of a Grandfather’ and other
works. As a boy I remember listening to him with de-

* Lord of the Isles, canto iv.

10 THE AUTHOR’S ANCESTORS.

light, for his memory was stored with a never-ending
stock of stories, many of which were wonderfully like
those I have since heard while sitting by the African even-
ing fires. Our grandmother, too, used to sing Gaelic
songs, some of which, as she believed, had been composed
by captive islanders languishing hopelessly among the
Turks.

Grandfather could give particulars of the lives of his
ancestors for six generations of the family before him;
and the only point of the tradition I feel proud of is this:
One of these poor hardy islanders was renowned in the
district for great wisdom and prudence; and it is related
that, when he was on his death-bed, he called all his chil-
dren around him and said, “‘ Now, in my lifetime I have
searched most carefully through all the traditions I could
find of our family, and I never could discover that there
was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If, therefore,
any of you or any of your children should take to dis-
honest ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood:
it does not belong to you. I leave this precept with you:
Be honest.” If, therefore, in the following pages I fali
into any errors, I hope they will be dealt with as honest
mistakes, and not as indicating that I have forgotten our
ancient motto. This event took place at a time when the
Highlanders, according to Macaulay, were much like the
Cape Caffres, and any one, it was said, could escape punish-
ment for cattle-stealing by presenting a share of the
plunder to his chieftain. Our ancestors were Roman Catho-
lies: they were made Protestants by the laird coming
round with a man having a yellow staff, which would
seem to have attracted more attention than his teaching,
for the new religion went long afterward, perhaps it does
so still, by the name of “the religion of the yellow stick.”

Finding his farm in Ulva insufficient to support a nume-
rous family, my grandfather removed to Blantyre Works,
a large cotton-manufactory on the beautiful Clyde, above
Glasgow; and his sons, having had the best education the

EARLY LABORS AND INSTRUCTIONS. 11

Hebrides afforded, were gladly received as clerks by the
proprietors, Monteith and Co. He himself, highly esteemed
for his unflinching honesty, was employed in the con-
veyance of large sums of money from Glasgow to the
works, and in old age was, according to the custom of
that company, pensioned off, so as to spend his declining
years in ease and comfort.

Our uncles all entered his majesty’s service during the
Jast French war, either as soldiers or sailors; but my father
remained at home, and, though too conscientious ever to
become rich as a small tea-dealer, by his kindliness of
manner and winning ways he made the heart-strings of his
children twine around him as firmly as if he had possessed,
and could have bestowed upon them, every worldly advan-
tage. He reared his children in connection with the Kirk
of Scotland,—a religious establishment which has been an
incalculable blessing to that country; but he afterward
left it, and during the last twenty years of his life held the
office of deacon of an independent church in Hamilton, and
deserved my lasting gratitude and homage for presenting
me, from my infancy, with a continuously consistent pious
example, such as that the ideal of which is so beautifully
and truthfully portrayed in Burns’s “Cottar’s Saturday
Night.” He died in February, 1856, in peaceful hope of
that mercy which we all expect through the death of our
Lord and Saviour. I was at the time on my way below
Zumbo, expecting no greater pleasure in this country than
sitting by our cottage-fire and telling him my travels. I
revere his memory.

The earliest recollection of my mother recalls a picture
so often seen among the Scottish poor,—that of the anxious
housewife striving to make both ends meet. At the age
of ten I was put into the factory as a “piercer,” to aid by
my earnings in lessening her anxiety. With a part of my
first week’s wages I purchased Ruddiman’s “ Rudiments
of Latin,’ and pursued the study of that language for
many years afterward, with unabated ardor, at an evening

12 RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS.

school, which met between the hours of eight and ten.
The dictionary part of my labors was followed up till
twelve o’clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by
jumping up and snatching the books out of my hands. I
had to be back in the factory by six in the morning, and
continue my work, with intervals for breakfast and dinner,
till eight o’clock at night. I read in this way many of the
classical authors, and knew Virgil and Horace better at
sixteen than I do now. Our schoolmaster—happily still
alive—was supported in part by the company; he was
attentive and kind, and so moderate in his charges that all
who wished for education might have obtained it. Many
availed themselves of the privilege; and some of my
schoolfellows now rank in positions far above what they
appeared ever likely to come to when in the village school.
If such a system were established in England, it would
prove a never-ending blessing to the poor.

In reading, every thing that I could lay my hands on
was devoured except novels. Scientific works and books
of travels were my especial delight; though my father,
believing, with many of his time who ought to have known
better, that the former were inimical to religion, would
have preferred to have seen me poring over the “ Cloud of
Witnesses,” or Boston’s “ Fourfold State.”” Our difference
of opinion reached the point of open rebellion on my part,
and his last application of the rod was on my refusal to
peruse Wilberforce’s “ Practical Christianity.” This dislike
to dry doctrinal reading, and to religious reading of every
sort, continued for years afterward ; but having lighted on
those admirable works of Dr. Thomas Dick, ‘‘ The Philoso-
phy of Religion” and “The Philosophy of a Future State,”
it was gratifying to find my own ideas, that religion and
science are not hostile, but friendly to each other, fully
proved and enforced.

Great pains had been taken by my parents to instil the
doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and I had no diffi-
culty in understanding the theory of our free salvation by

YOUTHFUL EXCURSIONS. 13

the atonement of our Saviour; but it was only about this
time that I really began to feel the necessity and value of
a personal application of the provisions of that atonement
to my own case. The change was like what may be sup-
posed would take place were it possible to cure a case of
‘‘color-blindness.”” The perfect freeness with which the
pardon of all our guilt is offered in God’s book drew forth
feelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with
his blood, and a sense of deep obligation to Him for his
mercy has influenced, in some small measure, my conduct
ever since. But I shall not again refer to the inner spiritual
life which I believe then began, nor do I intend to specify
with any prominence the evangelistic labors to which the
love of Christ has since impelled me. This book will
speak, not so much of what has been done, as of what stil.
remains to be performed before the gospel can be said to
be preached to all nations.

In the glow of love which Christianity inspires, I soon
resolved to devote my life to the alleviation of human
misery. ‘Turning this idea over in my mind, I felt that to
be a pioneer of Christianity in China might lead to the
material benefit of some portions of that immense empire,
and therefore set myself to obtain a medical education, in
order to be qualified for that enterprise.

In recognising the plants pointed out in my first medical
book, that extraordinary old work on astrological medicine,
Culpeper’s “Herbal,” I had the guidance of a book on the
plants of Lanarkshire, by Patrick. Limited as my time
was, I found opportunities to scour the whole country-side,
“collecting simples.” Deep and anxious were my studies
on the still deeper and more perplexing profundities of
astrology, and I believe 1 got as far into that abyss of fan-
tasies as my author said he dared to lead me. It seemed
perilous ground to tread on farther, for the dark hint seemed
to my youthful mind to loom toward “selling soul and body
to tne devil,” as the price of tne unfathomable knowledge

of the stars. ‘These excursions, often in company with
2

14 STUDY DURING WORKING-HOURS.

brothers, one now in Canada, and the other a clergyman
in the United States, gratified my intense love of nature;
and though we generally returned so unmercifully hungry
and fatigued that the embryo parson shed tears, yet we
discovered, to us, 80 many new and interesting things, that
he was always as eager to join us next time as he was the
last.

On one of these exploring tours we entered a limestone-
quarry,—long before geology was so popular as it is now.
It is impossible to describe the delight and wonder with
which I began to collect the shells found in the carboni-
ferous limestone which crops out in High Blantyre and Cam-
buslang. A quarry-man, seeing a little boy so engaged,
looked with that pitying eye which the benevolent assume
when viewing the insane. Addressing him with, “How
ever did these shells come into these rocks?” “When God
made the rocks, he made the shells in them,” was the
damping reply. What a deal of trouble geologists might
have saved themselves by adopting the Turk-like philo-
sophy of this Scotchman !

My reading while at work was carried on net placing the
book on a portion of the spinning-jenny, so that I could
catch sentence after sentence as I passed at my work: I
thus kept up a pretty constant study, undisturbed by the
roar of the machinery. To this part of my education I owe
my present power of completely abstracting the mind from
surrounding noises, so as to read and write with perfect
comfort amid the play of children or near the dancing and
songs of savages. The toil of cotton-spinning, to which
I was promoted in my nineteenth year, was excessively
severe on a slim, loose-jointed lad, but it was well paid for;
and it enabled me to support myself while attending me-
dical and Greek classes in Glasgow in winter, as also the
divinity lectures of Dr. Wardlaw by working with my
hands in summer. I never received a farthing of aid from
any one, and should have accomplished my project of going
to China as a medical missionary, in the course of time, by

THE AUTHOR’S NATIVE VILLAGE. 15

my own efforts, had not some friends advised my joining
the London Missionary Society, on account of its perfectly
unsectarian character. It “sends neither Episcopacy, nor
Presbyterianism, nor Independency, but the gospel of
Christ, to the heathen.” This exactly agreed with my
ideas of what a missionary society ought to do; but it was
not without a pang that I offered myself, for *t was not
quite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way
to become in a measure dependent on others; and I would
not have been much put about though my offer had been
rejected.

Looking back now on that life of toil, I cannot but feel
thankful that it formed such a material part of my early
education; and, were it possible, I should like to begin life
over again in the same lowly style, and to pass through
the same hardy training.

Time and travel have not effaced the feelings of respect
1 imbibed for the humble inhabitants of my native village.
For morality, honesty, and intelligence, they were, in
general, good specimens of the Scottish poor. In a popu-

lation of more than two thousand souls, we had, of course,

a variety of character. In addition to the common run
of men, there were some characters of sterling worth and
ability, who exerted a most beneficial influence on the chil-
dren and youth of the place by imparting gratuitous reli-
gious instruction.* Much intelligent interest was felt by the
villagers in all public questions, and they furnished a proof
that the possession of the means of education did not render
them an unsafe portion of the population. They felt kindly

* The reader will pardon my mentioning the names of two of these
most worthy men,—David Hogg, who addressed me on his death-bed with
the words, ‘‘Now, lad, make religion the every-day business of your
life, and not a thing of fits and starts; for if you do not, temptation and
other things will get the better of you;’’ and Thomas Burke, an old
Forty-Second Peninsula soldier, who has been incessant and never weary
in good works for about forty years. I was delighted to find him stil
alive: men like these are an honor to their country and profession

YP

16 MEDICAL DIPLOMA.

toward each other, and much respected those of the neigh-
boring gentry who, like the late Lord Douglas, placed some
confidence in their sense of honor. Through the kindness
of that nobleman, the poorest among us could stroll at
pleasure over the ancient domains of Bothwell, and other
spots hallowed by the venerable associations of which our
school-books and local traditions made us well aware; and
few of us could view the dear memorials of the past with-
out feeling that these carefully-kept monuments were our
own. The masses of the working-people of Scotland have
read history, and are no revolutionary levellers. They re-
joice in the memories of “Wallace and Bruce and a’ the
lave,” who are still much revered as the former champions
of freedom. And, while foreigners imagine that we want
the spirit only to overturn capitalists and aristocracy, we
are content to respect our laws till we can change them,
and hate those stupid revolutions which might sweep away
time-honored institutions, dear alike to rich and poor.

Having finished the medical curriculum and presented a
thesis on a subject which required the use of the stetho-
scope for its diagnosis, I unwittingly procured for myself an
examination rather more severe and prolonged than usual
among examining bodies. ‘The reason was, that between
me and the examiners a slight difference of opinion existed
as to whether this instrument could do what was asserted.
The wiser plan would have been to have had no opinion of
my own. However, I was admitted a Licentiate of Faculty
of Physicians and Surgeons. It was with unfeigned delight
I became a member of a profession which is pre-eminently
devoted to practical benevolence, and which with unwearied
energy pursues from age to age its endeavors to lessen
humar. woe.

But, though now qualified for my original plan, the opium
war was then raging, and it was deemed inexpedient fox
me to proceed to China. I had fondly hoped to have
gained access to that then closed empire by means of the
healing art; but, there being no prospect of an early peace

“ey

NO CLAIM TO LITERARY MERIT. 17

with the Chinese, and as another inviting field was open-
ing out through the labors of Mr. Moffat, I was induced to
turn my thoughts to Africa; and, after a more extended
course of theological training in England than I had en-
joyed in Glasgow, I embarked for Africa in 1840, and, after
a voyage of three months, reached Cape Town. Spending
but a short time there, I started for the interior by going
round to Algoa Bay, and soon proceeded inland, and have
spent the following sixteen years of my life, namely, from
1840 to 1856, in medical and missionary labors there with-
out cost to the inhabitants.

As to those literary qualifications which are acquired by
habits of writing, and which are so important to an author,
my African life has not only not been favorable to the
growth of such accomplishments, but quite the reverse;
it has made composition irksome and laborious. I think I
would rather cross the African continent again than under-
take to write another book. It is far easier to travel than
to write about it. Jintended on going to Africa to con-
tinue my studies; but as I could not brook the idea of
simply entering into other men’s labors made ready to my
hands, I entailed on myself, in addition to teaching, ma-
nual labor in building and other handicraft-work, which
made me generally as much exhausted and unfit for study
in the eveningsias ever I had been when a cotton-spinner.
The want of time for self-improvement was the only source
of regret that I experienced during my African career.
The reader, remembering this, will make allowances for
the mere gropings for light of a student who has the vanity
to think himself “not yet too old to learn.” More precise
information on several subjects has necessarily been omitted
in a popular work like the present; but I hope to give such
details to the scientific reader through some other channel

B

18 THE BAKWAIN COUNTRY

CHAPTER I.
DR. LIVINGSTONE A MISSIONARY IN THE BAKWAIN COUNTRY.

Tue general instructions I received from the Directors
of the London Missionary Society led me, as soon as I
reached Kuruman or Lattakoo, then, as it is now, their
farthest inland station from the Cape, to turn my attention
to the north. Without waiting longer at Kuruman than
was necessary to recruit the oxen, which were pretty well
tired by the long journey from Algoa Bay, I proceeded, in
company with another missionary, to the Bakuéna or
Bakwain country, and found Sechele, with his tribe, located
at Shokuane. We shortly after retraced our steps to Kuru-
man; but as the objects in view were by no means to be
attained by a temporary excursion of this sort, I determined
to make a fresh start into the interior as soon as possible.
Accordingly, after resting three months at Kuruman, which
is a kind of head-station in the country, I returned to a
spot about fifteen miles south of Shokuane, called Lepelole,
(now Litubartba.) Here, in order to obtain an accurate
knowledge of the language, I cut myself off from all Hu-
ropean society for about six months, and gained by this
ordeal an insight into the habits, ways off thinking, laws,
and language of that section of the Bechuanas called Bak-
wains, which has proved of incalculable advantage in my
intercourse with them ever since.

In this second journey to Lepeldle—so called from a
eavern of that name—I began preparations for a settle-
ment, by making a canal to irrigate gardens, from a stream
then flowing copiously, but now quite dry. When these
preparations were well advanced, I went northward to
vis't the Bakaa and Bamangwato, and the Makalaka, living
between 22° and 28° south latitude. The Bakaa Mountains
had been visited before by a trader, who, with his people,
all perished from fever. In going round the northern part

APPEARANCES DECEITFUL. 19

of these basaltic hills near Letloche I was only ten days
distant from the lower part of the Souga, which passed by
the same name as Lake Ngami; and 1 might then (in
1842) have discovered that lake, had discovery alone been

my object. Most part of this journey beyond Shokuane

was performed on foot, in consequence of the draught-oxen
having become sick. Some of my companions who had
recently joined us, and did not know that I understood a
little of their speech, were overheard by me discussing my
appearance and powers: “He is not strong; he is quite
slim, and only appears stout because he puts himself into
those bags, (trowsers:) he will soon knock up.” This
caused my Highland blood to rise, and made me despise the
fatigue of keeping them all at the top of their speed for
days together, and until I heard them expressing proper
opinions of my pedestrian powers.

Returning to Kuruman, in order to bring my luggage
to our proposed settlement, I was followed by the news
that the tribe of Bakwains, who had shown themselves so
friendly toward me, had been driven from Lepelole by the
Barolongs, so that my prospects for the time of forming a
settlement there were at an end. One of those periodical
outbreaks of war, which seem to have occurred from time
immemorial, ‘i the possession of cattle, had burst forth in

the land, an so changed the relations of the tribes to
each othe: that I was obliged to set out anew to look for
a suitable locality for a mission-station.

As some of the Bamangwato people had accompanied me
to Kuruman, I was obliged to restore them and their goods
to their chief Sekémi. This made a journey to the residence
of that chief again necessary, and, for the first time, I per-
formed a distance of some hundred miles on ox-back.

Returning toward Kuruman, I selected the beautiful
valley of Mabotsa (lat. 25° 14’ south, long. 26° 30?) as the
rite of a missionary station, and thither I removed in 1843.
Here an occurrence took place concerning which I have
frequently been questioned in England, and which, but for

$

20 RAVAGES OF LIONS.

the importunities of friends, I meant to have kept in store
to tell my children when in my dotage. The Bakatla of
the village Mabotsa were much troubled by lions, which
leaped into the cattle-pens by night and destroyed their
zows. They even attacked the herds in open day. This
was so unusual an occurrence that the people believed that
they were bewitched,—“ given,” as they said, “into the
power of the lions by a neighboring tribe.” They went
once to attack the animals; but, being rather a cowardly
people compared to Bechuanas in general on such occasions,
they returned without killing any.

It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed,
the others take the hint and leave that part of the country.
So, the next time the herds were attacked, I went with the
people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the
annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found
the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length
and covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round
it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to
each other. Being down below on the plain with a native
schoolmaster, named Mebdlwe, a most excellent man, I saw
one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the now
closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could,
and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was
sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a an at a stick
or stone thrown at him, then, leaping away, broke through
the opening circle and escaped unhurt. The men were
afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in
witchcraft. When the circle was reformed, we saw two
other lions in it; but we were afraid to fire, lest we should
strike the men, and they allowed the beasts to burst through
also. If the Bakatla had acted according to the custom
of the country, they would have speared the lions in their
attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill
one of the lions, we bent our footsteps toward the village:
in going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of
the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, bul, this time

A LION-ENCOUNTER. gh

he had a little bush in front. Being about thirty yards off,
I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired
both barrels into it. The men then called out, “‘He is shot!
he is shot!” Others cried, “He has been shot by another
man too; let us go to him!” I did not see any one else
shoot at him, but I saw the lion’s tail erected in anger be-
hind the bush, and, turning to the people, said, “Stop a
little, till I load again.” When in the act of ramming
down the bullets, I heard a shout. Starting, and looking
balf round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon
me. I was upon a little height; he caught my shoulder as
he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together.
Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier
dog doesarat. The shock produced a stupor similar to
that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake
of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there
was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite
conscious of all that was happening. It was like what
patients partially under the influence of chloroform de-
scribe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife.
This singular condition was not the result of any mental
process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense
of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar
state is probably produced in all animals killed by the car-
nivora, and, if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent
Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round
to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the
back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who
was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen
yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels;
the lion immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit
his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before,
after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear
the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe
and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment
the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down
dead. Tr vhole was the work of a few moments, and

ys SECHELE.

must have been his paroxysms of dying rage. In order to
take out the charm from him, the Bakatla on the following
day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was de-
clared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen.
Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven
teeth-wounds on the upper part of my arm.

A wound from this animal’s tooth resembles a gun-shot
wound ; it is generally followed by a great deal of slough-
ing and discharge, and pains are felt in the part periodically
ever afterward. I had on a tartan jacket on the occasion,
and I believe that it wiped off all the virus from the teeth
that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this affray
have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have
escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in my
limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded showed me
his wound actually burst forth afresh on the same month
of the following year. This curious point deserves the
attention of inquirers.

I attached myself to the tribe called Bakuena or Bak-
wains, thé chief of which, named Sechele, was then living
with his people at a place called Shokuane. I was from
the first struck by his intelligence, and by the marked
manner in which we both felt drawn to each other. This
remarkable man has not only embraced Christianity, but
expounds its doctrines to his people.

Sechele continued to make a consistent profession for
about three years; and, perceiving at last some of the
difficulties of his case, and also feeling compassion for the
poor women, who were by far the best of our scholars, I had
no desire that he should be in any hurry to make a full
profession by baptism and putting away all his wives but
one. His principal wife, too, was about the most unlikely
subject in the tribe ever to become any thing else than an
out-and-out greasy disciple of the old school. She has
since become greatly altered, I hear, for the better; but
again and again have I seen Sechele send her out of church
to put her gown on, and away she would go with her lips

BAPTISM OF SECHELE. 23

shot out, the very picture of unutterable disgust at his
new-fangled notions.

When he at last applied for baptism, I simply asked him
how he, having the Bible in his hand, and able to read it,
thought he ought to act. He went home, gave each of his
superfluous wives new clothing, and all his own goods,
which they had been accustomed to keep in their huts
for him, and sent them to their parents with an inti-
mation that he had no fault to find with them, but that in
parting with them he wished to follow the will of God.
On the day on which he and his children were baptized,
great numbers came to see the ceremony. Some thought,
from a stupid calumny circulated by enemies to Chris-
tianity in the south, that the converts would be made to
drink an infusion of ‘dead men’s brains,” and were asto-
nished to find that water only was used at baptism. Seeing
several of the old men actually in tears during the service,
I asked them afterward the cause of their weeping ; they
were crying to see their father, as the Scotch remark over
a case of suicide, “so far left to himself.” They seemed to
think that I had thrown the glamour over him, and that
he had become mine. Here commenced an opposition
which we had not previously experienced. All the friends
of the divorced wives became the opponents of our re-
ligion. The attendance at school and church diminished
to very few besides the chief’s own family. They all
treated us still with respectful kindness, but to Sechele
himself they said things which, as he often remarked, had
they ventured on in former times, would have cost them
their lives. It was trying, after all we had done, to see
our labors so little appreciated; but we had sown the
good seed, and have no doubt but it will yet spring up,
though we may not live to see the fruits.

Leaving this sketch of the chief, I proceed to give an
equally rapid one of our dealing with his people, the Ba-
kena, or Bakwains. A small ‘piece of land, sufficient for a
garden, was purchased when we first went to live with

==

=
==

RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE. 25

them, though that was scarcely necessary in a country
where the idea of buying lang was quite new. It was ex-
pected that a request for a suitable spot would have been
made, and that we should have proceeded to occupy it as
any other member of the tribe would. But we explained
to them that we wished to avoid any cause of future
dispute when land had become more valuable; or when a
foolish chief began to reign, and we had erected large or
expensive buildings, he might wish to claim the whole.
These reasons were considered satisfactory. About £5
worth of goods were given for a piece of land, and an ar-
rangement was come to that a similar piece should be
allotted to any other missionary, at any other place to
which the tribe might remove. The particulars of the
sale sounded strangely in the ears of the tribe, but were
nevertheless readily agreed to.

In our relations with this people we were simply
strangers, exercising no authority or control whatever.
Our influence depended entirely on persuasion; and, having
taught them by kind conversation as well as by public

_ instruction, I expected them to do what their own sense
_ of right and wrong dictated. We never wished them to
do right merely because it would be pleasing to us, nor
. t ourselves to blame when they did wrong, although
“we were quite aware of the absurd idea to that effect
We saw that our teaching did good to the general mind
of the people by bringing new and better motives into
lay. Five instances are positively known to me in
which, by our influence on public opinion, war was pre-
ented; and where, in individual cases, we failed, the peo-
ple did no worse than they did before we came into the
country. In general they were slow, like all the African
eople hereafter to be described, in coming to a decision
on religious subjects; but in questions affecting their
worldly affairs they were keenly alive to their own inte-
rests. They might be called stupid in matters which had

not come within the sphere of their observation, but in
3

26 THE HOPO.

other things they showed more intelligence than is to be
inet with in our own uneducated peasantry. They are
~emarkably accurate in their knowledge of cattle, sheep,
and goats, knowing exactly the kind of pasturage suited
to each; and they select with great judgment the varieties
of soil best suited to different kinds of grain. They are
also familiar with the habits of wild animals, and in
general are well up in the maxims which embody their
ideas of political wisdom.

The place where we first settled with the Bakwains is
called Chonuane, and it happened to be visited, during the
first year of our residence there, by one of those droughts
which occur from“time to time in even the most favored
districts of Africa.

The conduct of the people during this long-continued
drought was remarkably good. The women parted with
most of their ornaments to purchase corn from more for-»
tunate tribes. The children scoured the country in search
of the numerous bulbs and roots which can sustain life,
and the men engaged in hunting. Very great numbers of
the large game, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, tsessébes, kamas| _
or hartebeests, kokongs or gnus, pallahs, rhinoceroses, &e.,
congregated at some fountains near Kolobeng, and the tra 0,

called “‘hopo”’ was constructed, in the lands adjacent, fo
their destruction. The hopo consists of two hedges in the
form of the letter V, which are very high and thick nea
the angle. Instead of the hedges being joined there, they
are made to form a lane of about fifty yards in length, a
the extremity of which a pit is formed, six or eight f
deep, and about twelve or fifteen in breadth and leng
Trunks of trees are laid across the margin of the pit, a
more especially over that nearest the lane where the ani
mals are expected to leap in, and over that farthest from
the lane where it is supposed they will attempt to egcape
after they are in. The trees form an overlapping border
and render escape almost impossible. The whole is care- .@
fully decked with short green rushes, making the pit like

Hn in hit dey sc 8
Hil i ii ce

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‘odory ay

28 THE BOERS.

a concealed pitfall. As the hedges are frequently abont a
mile long, and about as much apart at their extremities, a
tribe making a circle three or four miles round the country
adjacent to the opening, and gradually closing up, are
almost sure to enclose a large body of game. Driving it up
with shouts to the narrow part of the hopo, men secreted
there throw their javelins into the affrighted herds, and on
the animals rush to the opening presented at the con-
verging hedges, and into the pit, till that is full of a living
mass. Some escape by running over the others, as a
Smithfield market-dog does over the sheep’s backs. It isa
frightful scene. The men, wild with excitement, spear the
lovely animals with mad delight; others of the poor crea-
tures, borne down by the weight of their dead and dying
companions, every now and then make the whole mass
heave in their smothering agonies.

The Bakwains often killed between sixty and seventy
head of large game at the different hopos in a single week;
and as every one, both rich and pcor, partook of the prey, »
the meat counteracted the bad effects of an exclusively —
vegetable diet.

CHAPTER II.

DR. LIVINGSTONE PREPARES TO GO TO LAKE NGAMI.

had to contend was the vicinity of the Boers of the
Cashan Mountains, otherwise named “Magaliesberg.”
These are not to be confounded with the Cape colonists,
who sometimes pass by the name. The word Boer simply
means “farmer,” and is not synonymous with our word
boor. Indeed, to the Boers generally the latter term
would be quite inappropriate, for they are a sober, indus-
trious, and most hospitable body of peasantry. Those, how-

: ; : mA
ANOTHER adverse influence with which the mission 6

TREATMENT OF NATIVES BY BOERS. 29

ever, who have fled from English law on various pretexts,
and have been joined by English deserters and every other
variety of bad character in their distant localities, are
unfortunately of a very different stamp. The great ob-
jection many of the Boers had, and still have, to English
law, is that it makes no distinction between black men
and white. They felt aggrieved by their supposed losses
in the emancipation of their Hottentot slaves, and deter-
mined to erect themselves into a republic, in which they
might pursue, without molestation, the “proper treatment
of the blacks.” It is almost needless to add that the
“proper treatment” has always contained in it the essen-
tial element of slavery, namely, compulsory unpaid labor.

One section of this body, under the late Mr. Hendrick
Potgeiter, penetrated the interior as far as the Cashan
Mountains, whence a Zulu or Caffre chief, named Mosili-
katze, had been expelled by the well-known Caffre Din-
gaan ;* and a glad welcome was given them by the Be-
chuana tribes, who had just escaped the hard sway of that
cruel chieftain. They came with the prestige of white
men and deliverers; but the Bechuanas soon found, as
they expressed it, “that Mosilikatze was cruel to his
enemies, and kind to those he conquered; but that the
Boers destroyed their enemies, and made slaves of their
friends.” ‘The tribes who still retain the semblance of
independence are forced to perform all the labor of the
fields, such as manuring the land, weeding, reaping, building,

* Dingaan was the brother and successor of Chaka, the most cruel and

bloodthirsty tyrant that ever disgraced the soil of Africa. He had formed
his tribe into a military organization and ravaged all the neighboring
tribes; but his horrible cruelties to his own subjects led to a revolt,
headed by Dingaan and Umslungani, his two elder brothers, who first
attacked him with spears, wounding him in the back. Chaka was en-
veloped in a blanket, which he cast off and fled. He was overtaken and
again wounded. Falling at the feet of his pursuers, he besought them in
the most abject terms to let him live, that he might be their slave; but he
was instantly speared to ae, Ed

30 THE BOERS MAKE WAR ON THE BAKWAINS.

making dams and canals, and at the same time to support
themselves. I have myself been an eye-witness of Boers
coming to a village, and, according to their usual custom,
demanding twenty or thirty women to weed their gardens,
and have seen these women proceed to the scene of unre-
quited toil, carrying their own food on their heads, their
children on their backs, and instruments of labor on their
shoulders. Nor have the Boers any wish to conceal the
meanness of thus employing unpaid labor: on the contrary,
every one of them, from Mr. Potgeiter and Mr. Gert
Krieger, the commandants, downward, lauded his own
humanity and justice in making such an equitable regula-
tion. ‘We make the people work for us, in consideration
of allowing them to live in our country.”

The Boers determined to put a stop to English traders
going past Kolobeng, by dispersing the tribe of Bakwains
and expelling all the missionaries. Sir George Cathcart
proclaimed the independence of the Boers, the best thing
that could have been done had they been between us and
the Caffres. A treaty was entered into with these Boers;
an article for the free passage of Englishmen to the coun-
try beyond, and also another, that no slavery should be
allowed in the independent territory, were duly inserted,
as expressive of the views of her majesty’s government at
home. “ But what about the missionaries?” inquired the
Boers. ‘ You may do as you please with them,” is said to
have been the answer of the “Commissioner.” This re-
mark, if uttered at all, was probably made in joke: design-
ing men, however, circulated it, and caused the general
belief in its accuracy which now prevails all over the coun-
try, and doubtless led to the destruction of three mission-
stations immediately after. The Boers, four hundred in
number, were sent by the late Mr. Pretorius to attack the
Bakwains in 1852. Boasting that the English had given
up all the blacks into their power, and had agreed to aid
them in their subjugation by preventing all supplies of
ammunition from coming into the Bechuara country, they

HOSTILITY OF THE BOERS. 31

assaulted the Bakwains, and, besides killing a considerable
number of adults, carried off two hundred of our school-
shildren into slavery. The natives under Sechele defended
themselves till the approach of night enabled them to flee
to the mountains; and having in that defence killed a
number of the enemy, the very first ever slain in this coun-
try by Bechuanas, I received the credit of having taught
the tribe to kill Boers! My house, which had stood per-
fectly secure for years under the protection of the natives,
was plundered in revenge. English gentlemen, who had
come in the footsteps of Mr. Cumming to hunt in the coun-
try beyond, and had deposited large quantities of stores in
the same keeping, and upward of eighty head of cattle as
relays for the return journeys, were robbed of all, and,
when they came back to Kolobeng, found the skeletons of
the guardians strewed all over the place. The books of a
good library—my solace in our solitude—were not taken
away, but handfuls of the leaves were torn out and scat-
tered over the place. Mystock of medicines was smashed,
and all our furniture and clothing carried off and sold at
public auction to pay the expenses of the foray. >
In trying to benefit the tribes living under the Boers of
the Cashan Mountains, I twice performed a journey of about
three hundred miles to the eastward of Kolobeng. Sechele
had become so obnoxious to the Boers that, though anxious
to accompany me in my journey, he dared not trust him-
self among them. This did not arise from the crime of
cattle-stealing; for that crime, so common among the
Caffres, was never charged against his tribe, nor, indeed,
against any Bechuana tribe. It is, in fact, unknown in the
country, except during actual warfare. His independence
and love of the English were his only faults. In my last
journey there, of about two hundred miles, on parting at
the river Marikwe he gave me two servants, “to be,” as
he said, “ his arms to serve me,” and expressed regret that
he could not come himself. ‘Suppose we went north,” I
said, ‘‘would you come?” He then told me the story of

32 PREPARING TO CROSS THE DESERT.

Scbituane having saved his life, and expatiated on the far
famed generosity of that really great man. This was the
first time I had thought of crossing the Desert to Lake
Ngami.

The conduct of the Boers, who had sent a letter designed
to procure my removal out of the country, and their well-
known settled policy which I have already described, be-
came more fully developed on this than on any former
occasion. When I spoke to Mr. Hendrick Potgeiter of the
danger of hindering the gospel of Christ among these poor
savages, he became greatly excited, and called one of his
followers to answerme. He threatened to attack any tribe
that might receive a native teacher ; yet he promised to use”
his influence to prevent those under him from throwing,
obstacles in our way. I could perceive plainly that nothing
more could be done in that direction, so I commenced col-
lecting all the information I could abot the desert, with
the intention of crossing it, if possible. Sekomi, the chief
of the Bamangwato, was acquainted with a route which
he kept carefully to himself, because the Lake country’
abounded in ivory, and he drew large quantities thence
periodically at but small cost to himself.

Sechele, who valued highly every thing European, and
was always fully alive to his own interest, was naturally
anxious to get a share of that inviting“jeld. He was most
anxious to visit Sebituane too, partly, perhaps, from a wish
to show off his new acquirements, but chiefly, I believe,
from having very exalted ideas of the benefits he would
derive from the liberality of that renowned chieftain.

Sechele, by my advice, sent men to Sekomi, asking leave
for me to pass along his path, accompanying the request
with the present of an ox. Sekomi’s mother, who possesses
great influence over him, refused permission, because she
had not been propitiated. This produced a fresh message;
and the most honorable man in the Bakwain tribe, next
to Sechele, was sent with an ox for both Sekomi and his
mother. This, too, was met by refusal. It was said,

PREPARING TO CROSS THE DESERT. 33

‘ The Matebele, the mortal enemies of the Bechuanas, ara
in the direction of the lake, and, should they kill the white
man, we shall incur great blame from all his nation.”

The exact position of the Lake Ngumi had, for half a
century at least, been correctly pointed out by the natives,
who had visited it when rains were more copious in the
Desert than in more recent times, and many attempts had
been made to reach it by passing through the Desert in the
direction indicated ; but it was found impossible, even for
Griquas, who, having some Bushman blood in them, may
be supposed more capable of enduring thirst than Euro-
“‘peans. It was clear, then, that our only chance of suc-
cess was by going. round, instead of through, the Desert.
The best time for the attempt would have been about the
end of the rainy season, in March or April, for then we
should have been likely to meet with pools of rain-water,
which always dry up during the rainless winter. I com-
municated my intention to an African traveller, Colonel
Steele, then aide-de-camip to the Marquis of Tweedale at
‘Madras, and he made it kewn to two other gentlemen,
“whose friendship. we had ga during their African travel,
namely, Major Vardon and swell. All of these gentle-
men were so enamored wit ican hunting and African
discovery that the two,former must have envied the latter
his good fortune ingitin able to leave India to undertake
afresh the pleasures and pains of desert life. I believe Mr.
Oswell came from his high position at a very considerable
pecuniary sacrifice, and with no other end in view but to
extend th boundaries f geographical knowledge. Before
I knew of his coming, [had arranged that the payment
of the guides furnished by Sechele should be the loan of
my wagon to bring back whatever ivory he might obtain
from the chief at the lake. When, at last, Mr. Oswell
came, bringing Mr. Murray with him, he undertook to
defray the entire expense of the guides, and fully executed
his generous intention.

pee himself would have come with us, but, fearing

34 DEPARTURE FROM KOLOBENG.

that the much-talked-of assault of the Boers might take
place during our absence, and blame be attached to me for
taking him away, I dissuaded him against it by saying that
he knew Mr. Oswell “would be as determined as himself
to get through the Desert.”

CHAPTER III.
DR. LIVINGSTONE DISCOVERS LAKE NGAMI.

Just before the arrival of my companions, a party of tho
people of the lake came to Kolobeng, stating that they
were sent by Lechulatebe, the chief, to ask me to visit
that country. They brought such flaming accounts of the
quantities of ivory to be found there, (cattle-pens made of
elephants’ tusks of enormous size, &c.,) that the guides of
the Bakwains were quite as eager to succeed in reaching
the lake as any one of us could desire. This was fortunate,
as we knew the way the strangers had come was impass-
able for wagons.

Messrs. Oswell and Murray came at the end of May, and
we all made a fair start for the unknown region on the Ist
of June, 1849. Proceeding northward, and passing through
a range of tree-covered hills to Shokuane, formerly the re-
sidence of the Bakwains, we soon after entered on the high
road to the Bamangwato, which lies generally in the bed
of an ancient river or wady that must formerly have flowed
N. to 8.

Boatlanama, our next station, is a lovely any in the
otherwise dry region. The wells from which we had to
lift out the water for our cattle are deep, but they were
well filled. A few villages of Bakalahari were found near
them, and great numbers of pallahs, springbucks, Guinea-
fowl, and small monkeys.

Lopépe came next This place afforded another proof

"ps2aQa,Wn]T poop 0 punoww uayy—sojom ayp WoL Burwoo uauo4s, —szozuajjoFT

aa:

TU or

Y
WWWZ

HH

36 MESSAGE FROM SEKOMT

of the desiccation of the country. The first time I passed
it, Lopépe was a large pool with a stream flowing out of it .
to the south; now it was with difficulty we could get our
cattle watered by digging down in the bottom of a well.

At Mashiie—where we found a never-failing supply of
pure water in a sandstone rocky hollow—we left the road
to the Bamangwato Hills, and struck away to the north
into the Desert. Having watered the cattle at a well called
Lobotani, about N. W. of Bamangwato, we next proceeded
to a real Kalahari fountain, called Serotli.

In the evening of our second day at Serotli, a hyena,
appearing suddenly among the grass, succeeded in raising
a panic among our cattle. This false mode of attack is
the plan which this cowardly animal always adopts. His
courage resembles closely that of a turkey-cock. He will
bite if an animal is running away; but if the animal stand
still, so does he. Seventeen of our draught-oxen ran away,
and in their flight went right into the hands of Sekomi,
whom, from his being unfriendly to our success, we had no
particular wish to see. Cattle-stealing, such as in the cir-
cumstances might have occurred in Caffraria, is here un-
known; so Sekomi sent back our oxen, and a message
strongly dissuading us against attempting the Desert.
“Where are you going? You will be killed by the sun
and thirst, and then all the white men will blame me for
not saving you.” This was backed by a private message
from his mother. “ Why do you pass me? I always made
the people collect to hear the word that you have got.
What guilt have I, that you pass without looking at me?”
We replied by assuring the messengers that the white men
would attribute our deaths to our own stupidity and ‘hard-
headedness,” (tlogo, e thata,) ‘‘as we did not intend to
allow our companions and guides to return till they had
put us into our graves.” We sent a handsome present to
Sekomi, and a promise that, if he allowed the Bakalahari
to keep the wells open for us, we would repeat the gift on
our return.

DISCOVERY OF WATER. 37

After exhausting all his eloquence in fruitless attempts
to persuade us to return, the under-chief, who headed the
party of Sekomi’s messengers, inquired, “Who is taking
them?” Looking round, he exclaimed, with a face ex-
pressive of the most unfeigned disgust, “It is Ramotohi !”
Our guide belonged to Sekomi’s tribe, but had fled to
Sechele; as fugitives in this country are always well re-
ceived, and may even afterward visit the tribe from which
they had escaped, Ramotobi was in no danger, though doing
that which he knew to be directly opposed to the interests
of his own chief and tribe.

For sixty or seventy miles beyond Serotli, one clump of
bushes and trees seemed exactly like another; but, as we
walked together this morning, Ramotobi remarked, “ When
we come to that hollow we shall light upon the highway
of Sekomi; and beyond that again lies the river Mokéko;”
which, though we passed along it, I could not perceive to
be a river-bed at all.

After breakfast, some of the men, who had gone forward
on a little path with some footprints of water-loving
animals upon it, returned with the joyful tidings of
““metse,” water, exhibiting the mud on their knees in con-
firmation of the news being true. It does one’s heart good
to see the thirsty oxen rush into a pool of delicious rain-
water, as this was. In they dash until the water is deep
enough to be nearly level with their throat, and then they
stand drawing slowly in the long, refreshing mouthfuls,
until their formerly collapsed sides distend as if they would
burst. So much do they imbibe, that a sudden jerk, when
they come out on the bank, makes some of the water run
out again from their mouths; but, as they have been days
without food too, they very soon commence to graze, and
of grass there is always abundance everywhere. ‘This
pool was called Mathuluana; and thankful we were to have
obtained so welcome a supply of water.

After giving the cattle a rest at this spot, we proceeded

down the dry bed of the river Mokoko.
4

38 SALT-PANS.

At Nchokotsa we came upon the first of a great number
of sa‘t-pans, covered with an efflorescence of lime, probably
the nitrate. <A thick belt of mopane-trees (a Bauhinia)
hides this salt-pan, which is twenty miles in circumference,
entirely from the view of a person coming from the sonth-
east; and, at the time the pan burst upon our view, the
setting sun was casting a beautiful blue haze over the white
incrustations, making the whole look exactly like a lake.
Oswell threw his hat up in the air at the sight, and shouted
out a huzza which made the poor Bushwoman and the
Bakwains think him mad. I was a little behind him, and
was as completely deceived by it as he; but, as we had
agreed to allow each other to behold the lake at the same
instant, I felt a little chagrined that he had, unintentionally,
got the first glance. We had no idea that the long-looked-
for lake was still more than three hundred miles distant.
One reason of our mistake was that the river Zouga was
often spoken of by the same name as the lake,—viz.: Noka
ea Batletli, (“‘ River of the Batletli.’’)

On the 4th of July we went forward on horseback toward
what we supposed to be the lake, and again and again did
we seem to see it; but at last we came to the veritable
water of the Zouga, and found it to be a river running to
the N.E. A village of Bakurutse lay on the opposite bank:
these live among Batletli, a tribe having a click in their.
. dunguage, and who were found by Sebituane to possess large
herds of the great horned cattle. They seem allied to the
Hottentot family. Mr. Oswell, in trying to cross the river,
got his horse bogged in the swampy bank. Two Bakwains
aud I managed to get over by wading beside a fishing-weir.
The people were friendly, and informed us that this water
came out of Ngami. This news gladdened all our hearts,
for we now felt certain of reaching our goal. We might,
they said, be a moon on the way: but we had the river
Zouga at our feet, and by following it we should at last
reach the broad water.

Next day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly

THE ZOUGA. 89

with every one, two of the Bamangwato, who had been
sent on before us by Sekomi to drive away all the Bushmen
and Bakalahari from our path, so that they should not
assist or guide us, came‘and sat down by our fire. We had
seen their footsteps fresh in the way, and they had watched
our slow movements forward, and wondered to see how we,
without any Bushmen, found our way to the waters. This
was the first time they had seen Ramotobi. “You have
reached the river now,” said they; and we, quite disposed
to laugh at having won the game, felt no ill-will to any one.
They seemed to feel no enmity to us, either; but, after an
apparently friendly conversation, proceeded to fulfil to the -
ethe instructions of their chief. Ascending the Zouga
in our front, they circulated the report that our object was
to plunder all the tribes living on the river and lake; but
when they had got half-way up the river, the principal man
ickened of fever, turned back some distance, and died.
_ His death had a good effect, for the villagers connected it
_ with.the injury he was attempting to do us. They all saw
& through Sekomi’s reasons for wishing us to fail in our at-
tempt; and, though they came to us at first armed, kind
and fair treatment soon produced perfect confidence.

When we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river
about ninety-six miles from the point where we first struck
it, and understood that we were still a considerable distance
from the Ngami, we left all the oxen and wagons, except
Mr. Oswell’s, which was the smallest, and one team, at
Ngabisane, in the hope that they would be recruited for the
home journey, while we made a push for the lake. The
Bechuana chief of the Lake region, who had sent men to

- Sechele, now sent orders to all the people on the river to
assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba, whose lan-
guage clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes in
thenorth. They call themselves Bayeiye, i.e. men; but the
Bechuanas call them Bakoba, which contains somewhat of
the idea of slaves. They have never been known to fight,
and, indeed, have a tradition that their forefathers, in their

46 DISCOVERY OF LAKE NGAMI.

first essays at war, made their bows of the Palma Christi,
and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether.
They have invariably submitted to the rule of every horde
which has overrun the countries adjacent to the rivers on
which they specially love to dwell. They are thus the
Quakers of the body politic in Africa.

Twelve days after our departure from the wagons at
Negabisane we came to the northeast end of Lake Ngami;
and on the Ist of August, 1849, we went down together to
the broad part, and, for the first time, this fine-looking
sheet of water was beheld by Europeans. The direction
of the lake seemed to be N.N.H. and S.8.W. by compass.
The southern portion is said to bend round to the west, and
to receive the Teoughe from the north at its northwest
extremity. We could detect no horizon where we stood
looking S.S.W., nor could we form any idea of the extent
of the lake, except from the reports of the inhabitants of
the district; and, as they professed to go round it in three
days, allowing twenty-five miles a day would make it
seventy-five, or less than seventy geographical miles in cir-
cumference. Other guesses have been made since as to its
circumference, ranging between seventy and one hundred
miles. It is shallow, for I subsequently saw a native punt-
ing his canoe over séven or eight miles of the northeast
end; it can never, therefore, be of much value as a com-
mercial highway. In fact, during the months preceding
the annual supply of water from the north, the lake is so
shallow that it is with difficulty cattle can approach the
water through the boggy, reedy banks. These are low on
all sides, but on the west there is a space devoid of trees,
showing that the waters have retired thence at no very
ancient date. This is another of the proofs of desiccation
met with so abundantly throughout the whole country. A
number of dead trees lie on this space, some of them em-
bedded in the mud, right in the water. Wewere informed
by the Bayeiye, who live on the lake, that when the annual
inundation begins, not only trees of great size, but ante

:

5,

‘howingy pun yams ‘auojsbmary hq gunbyy ayo fo haoaoosug

iui ld
‘

42 THE NGAMI.

lopes, as the 8pringbuck and tsessebe, (Acronotus lunata,) are
swept down by its rushing waters; the trees are gradually
driven by the winds to the opposite side, and become em-
bedded in the mud.

The water of the lake is perfectly fresh when full, but
brackish when low; and that coming down the Tamunak’le
we found to be so clear, cold, and soft, the higher we
ascended, that the idea of melting snow was suggested to
our minds. We found this region, with regard to that from
which we had come, to be clearly a hollow, the lowest
point being Lake Kumadau; the point of the ebullition of
water, as shown by one of Newman’s barometric thermome-
ters, was only between 207%° and 206°, giving an elevation
of not much more than two thousand feet above the level of
the sea. We had descended above two thousand feet in
coming to it from Kolobeng. It is the southern and lowest
part of the great river-system beyond, in which large tracts
of country are inundated annually by tropical rains.

My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebi-
tuane, the great chief of the Makololo, who was reported
to live some two hundred miles beyond. We had now
come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called. Batauana.
Their chief was a young man named Lechulatébe. Sebi-
tuane had conquered his father Morémi, and Lechulatebe
received part of his education while a captive among the
Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible man, ransomed him, and,
having collected a number of families together, abdicated
the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe
had just come into power, he imagined that the proper
way of showing his abilities was to act directly contrary
to every thing that his uncle advised. When we came, the
uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely: therefore
the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought
to have been an ox. SoI proposed to my companions to
loose the animal and let him go, as a hint to his master.
They, however, did not wish to insult him. I, being more
of a native, and familiar with their customs, knew that

THE BAMANGWATO AND THEIR CHIEF. 43

this shabby present was an insult to us. W® wished to
purchase some goats or oxen; Lechulatebe offered us ele-
phants’ tusks. “No, we cannot eat these; we want some-
thing to fill our stomachs.” ‘Neither can I; but I hear
you white men are all very fond of these bones; so I offer
them: I want to put the goats into my own stomach.” A
trader, who accompanied us, was then purchasing ivory
at the rate of ten good large tusks for a musket worth
thirteen shillings. They were called “bones;” and I
myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been
left to rot with the other bones where the elephant fell. The
Batauana never had a chance of a market before; but, in
less than two years after our discovery, not a man of them
could be found who was not keenly alive to the great value
of the article.

On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to
Lechulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much
afraid of that chief, he objected, fearing lest other white
men should go thither also, and give Sebituane guns;
whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession
of fire-arms would give him such a superiority that Sebi-
tuane would be afraid of him. It was in vain to explain
that I would inculcate peace between them,—that Sebi-
tuane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was as
anxious to see me as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He
offered to give me as much ivory as I needed without
going to that chief; but, when I refused to take any, he
unwillingly consented to give me guides. Next day, how-
ever, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, with the
horses only, we received a senseless refusal; and like Se-
komi, who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men
to the Bayeiye with orders to refuse us a passage across
the river. Trying hard to form a raft at a narrow part, I
worked many hours in the water; but the dry wood was
so worm-eaten it would not bear the weight of a single
person. I was not then aware of the number of alligators
which exist in the Zouga, and never think of my labor in

44 START FOR THE COUNTRY OF SEBITUANE.

the water without feeling thankful that I escaped their
jaws. The season was now far advanced; and as Mr. Os-
well, with his wonted generots feelings, volunteered, on
the spot, to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat, we
resolved to make our way south again.

CHAPTER IV.

DR. LIVINGSTONE PERFORMS TWO JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR
AND DISCOVERS THE RIVER ZAMBESI—HE SENDS HIS
FAMILY TO ENGLAND.

Havine returned to Kolobeng, I remained there till
April, 1850, and then left in company with Mrs. Living-
stone, our three children, and the chief Sechele,—who had
now bought a wagon of his own,—in order to go across the
Zouga at its lower end, with the intention of proceeding
up the northern bank till we gained the Tamunak’le, and
of then ascending that river to visit Sebituane in the north.
Sekomi had given orders to fill up the wells which we had
dug with much labor at Serotli; s0 we took the more
eastern route through the Bamangwato town and by
Letloche. That chief asked why I had avoided him in our
former journeys. I replied that my reason was that I
knew he did not wish me to go to the lake, and I did not
want to quarrel with him. “Well,” he said, “you beat
me then, and I am content.”

Parting with Sechele at the ford, as he was eager to
visit Lechulatebe, we went along the northern woody
bank of the Zouga with great labor, having to cut down
very many trees to allow the wagons to pass. Our losses
by oxen falling into pitfalls were very heavy: The Ba-
yeiye kindly opened the pits when they knew of our ap-

GUIDES OBTAINED FROM LECHULATEBE. 45

proach; but, when that was not the case, we ‘could blame
no one on finding an established custom of the country
inimical to our interests. On approaching the confluence
of the Tamunak’le we were informed that the fly called
tsétse* abounded on its banks. ‘This was a barrier we
never expected to meet; and, as it might have brought
our wagons to a complete stand-still in a wilderness,
where no supplies for the children could be obtained,
we were reluctantly compelled to recross the Zouga.

From the Bayeiye we learned that a party of English-
men, who had come to the lake in search of ivory, were
all laid low by fever; so we travelled hastily down about
sixty miles to render what aid was in our power. We
were grieved to find, as we came near, that Mr. Alfred
Rider, an enterprising young artist who had come to
make sketches of this country and of the lake immediately
after its discovery, had died of fever before our arrival;
but, by the aid of medicines and such comforts as could be
made by the only English lady who ever visited the lake,
the others happily recovered.

Sechele used all his powers of eloquence with Lechula-
tebe to induce him to furnish guides, that I might be able
to visit Sebituane on ox-back, while Mrs. Livingstone and
the children remained at Lake Ngami. He yielded-at
last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the gift of
Lieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the greatest
value, both on account of the donor and the impossibility
of my replacing it. Lechulatebe fell violently in love with
it, and offered whatever number of elephants’ tusks I might
ask for it. Itoo was enamored with Sebituane; and, as he
promised in addition that he would furnish Mrs. Living-
stone with meat all the time of my absence, his argu-
ments made me part with the gun. Though he had no
ivory at the time to pay me, I felt the piece would be well

England in 1848 by my friend Major Vardon, from the banks of the
Limpopo.

46 MR. OSWELL’S HUNTING.

spent on those terms, and delivered it to him All being
ready for our departure, I took Mrs. Livingstone about six
miles from the town, that she might have a peep at the
broad part of the lake. Next morning we had other work
to do than part, for our little boy and girl were seized
with fever. On the day following, all our servants were .
down too with the same complaint. As nothing is better
in these cases than change of place, I was forced to give
up the hope of seeing Sebituane that year; so, leaving my
gun as part payment for guides next year, we started for
the pure air of the Desert. |
Some mistake had happened in the arrangement with
Mr. Oswell, for we met him on the Zouga on our return,
and he had devoted the rest of this season to elephant-
‘hunting, at which the natives universally declare he is the
greatest adept that ever came into the country. He hunted
without dogs. It is remarkable that this lordly animal
is so completely harassed by the presence of a few yelp-
ing curs as to be quite incapable of attending to man. He
makes awkward attempts to crush them by falling on hia
knees, and sometimes places his forehead against a tree
ten inches in diameter; glancing on one side of the tree
and then on the other, he pushes it down before him, aa
if he thought thereby to catch his enemies. The only
danger the huntsman has to apprehend is the dogs’ run-
ning toward him, and thereby leading the elephant to
their master. Mr. Oswell has been known to kill four
large old male elephants a day. The value of the ivory in
these cases would be one hundred guineas. We had reason
to be proud of his success, for the inhabitants conceived
from it a very high idea of English courage, and when
they wished to flatter me would say, “If you were nota
missionary you would just be like Oswell; you would not
hunt with dogs either.’ When, in 1852, we came to the
Cape, my black coat eleven years out of fashion, and with-
out a penny of’ salary to draw, we found that Mr. Oswell
had most generously ordered an outfit for the half-naked

NCHOKOTSA. 47

children, which cost about £200, and presented it to us,
saying he thought Mrs. Livingstone had a right oe the
game of her own preserves.

Foiled in this second attempt to reach aedamts we
returned again to Kolobeng, whither we were soon followed
by a number of messengers from that chief himself. When
he heard of our attempts to visit him, he despatched three
detachments of his men with thirteen brown cows to
Lechulatebe, thirteen white cows to Sekomi, and thirteen
black cows to Sechele, with a request to each to assist the
white men to reach him. Their policy, however, was to
keep him out of view, and act as his agents in purchasing
with his ivory the goods he wanted. This is thoroughly
African ; and that continent being without friths and arms
of the sea, the tribes in the centre have always been de-
barred from European intercourse by its universal preva-
lerce among all the people around the coasts.

Before setting out on our third journey to Sebituane, it
was necessary to visit Kuruman; and Sechele, eager, for
the sake of the commission thereon, to get the ivory of
that chief into his own hands, allowed all the messengers
to leave before our return. Sekomi, however, was more
than usually gracious, and even furnished us with a guide,
but no one knew the path beyond Nchokotsa which we
intended to follow. When we reached that point, we found
that the mainspring of the gun of another of his men,
who was well acquainted with the Bushmen, through whose
country we should pass, had opportunely broken. I never
undertook to mend a gun with greater zest than this; for,
under promise of his guidance, we went to the north in-
stead of westward. All the other guides were most libe-
rally rewarded by Mr. Oswell.

We passed quickly over a hard country, which is perfectly
flat. A little soil lying on calcareous tufa, over a tract of
several hundreds of miles, supports a vegetation of fine,
sweet short grass, and mopane and baobab trees.

We found a great number of wells in this tufa. A plare

48 THE GUIDE SHOBO.

called Matlomagan-yana, or the “Links,” is quite a chain
of these never-failing springs. As they occasionally be-
come full in seasons when no rain falls, and resemble some-
what in this respect the rivers we have already mentioned,
it is probable they receive some water by percolation from
the river-system in the country beyond. Among these
links we found many families of Bushmen; and, unlike
those on the plains of the Kalahari, who are generally of
short stature and light yellow color, these were tall, strap-
ping fellows, of dark complexion. Heat alone does not
produce blackness of skin, but heat with moisture seems
to insure the deepest hue.

One of these Bushmen, named Shobo, consented to be our
guide over the waste between these springs and the country
of Sebituane. Shobo gave us no hope of water in less than
a month. Providentially, however, we came sooner than
we expected to some supplies of rain-water in a chain of
pools. It is impossible to convey an idea of the dreary
scene on which we entered after leaving this spot: the only
vegetation was a low scrub in deep sand; not a bird or in-
sect enlivened the landscape. It was, without exception,
the most uninviting prospect I ever beheld; and, to make
matters worse, our guide Shobo wandered on the second
day. We coaxed him on at night, but he went to all points
of the compass on the trails of elephants which had been
here in the rainy season, and then would sit down in the
path, and in his broken Sichuana say, ‘“‘No water, all
country only; Shobo sleeps; he breaks down; country
only,” and then coolly curl himself up and go to sleep.
The oxen were terribly fatigued and thirsty; and, on the
morning of the fourth day, Shobo, after professing igno-
rance of every thing, vanished altogether. We went on in
the direction in which we last saw him, and about eleven
o’clock began to see birds; then the trail of a rhinoceros.
At this we unyoked the oxen, and they, apparently know-
ing the sign, rushed along to find the water in the river
Mahabe, which comes from the Tamunak’le, and lay to the

THE "BANAJOA. 49

west of us. The supply of water in the wagons had been
wasted by ene of our servants, and by the afternoon only
a small portion remained for the children. This was a bit-
terly anxious night; and next morning the less there was
of water the more thirsty the little rogues became. The
idea of their perishing before our eyes was terrible. It
would almost have been a relief to me to have been re-
proached with being the entire cause of the catastrophe ;
but not one syllable of upbraiding was uttered by their
mother, though the tearful eye told the agony within. In
the afternoon of the fifth day, to our inexpressible relief,
some of the men returned with a supply of that fluid of
which we had never before felt the true value.

The cattle, in rushing along to the water in the Mahahe,
probably crossed a small patch of trees containing tsétse,
an insect which was shortly to become a perfect pest to us.
Shobo had found his way to the Bayeiye, and appeared,
when we came up to the river, at the head of a party;
and, as he wished to show his importance before his friends,
he walked up baldly and commanded our whole cavaleade
to stop, and to bring forth fire and tobacco, while he coolly
sat down and smoked his pipe. It was such an inimitably
natural way of showing off that we all stopped to admire
the acting, and, though he had left us previously in the
Jarch, we all liked Shobo, a fine specimen of that wonder-
ful people, the Bushmen.

Next day we came to a village of Banajoa, a tribe which
extends far to the eastward. They were living on the bor-
ders of a marsh in which the Mahabe terminates. They
had lost their crop of corn, (Holcus sorghum,) and now sub-
sisted almost entirely on the root called “tsitla,’ a kind of
aroidea, which contains avery large quantity of sweet-tasted
starch. When dried, pounded into meal, and allowed to fer-
ment, it forms a not unpleasant article of food. The women
shave all the hair off their heads, and seem darker than the
Bechuanas. Their huts were built on poles, and a fire 1s
made beneath by night, in order that the smoke may drive

D %

50 OPERATION OF TSETSE POISON.

away the mosquitos, which abound on the Mahabe and
Tamunak’le more than in any other part of the country.
The head-man of this village, Majane, seemed a little want-
ing in ability, but had had wit enough to promote a younger
member of the family to the office. This person, the most
like the ugly negro of the tobacconists’ shops I ever saw,
was called Mordéa Majane, or son of Majane, and proved an
active guide across the river Sonta, and to the banks of
the Chobe, in the country of Sebituane. We had come
through another tsetse district by night, and at once passed
our cattle over to the northern bank to preserve them from
its ravages.

A few remarks on the Tsetse, or Glossina morsitans, may
here be appropriate. It is not much larger than the com-
mon house-fly, and is nearly of the same brown color as
the common honey-bee; the after-part of the body has
three or four yellow bars across it; the wings project be-
yond this part considerably, and it is remarkably alert,
avoiding most dexterously all attempts to catch it with
the hand at common temperatures; in the cool of the morn-
ings and evenings it is less agile. Its peculiar buzz when
once heard can never be forgotten by the traveller whose
means of locomotion are domestic animals; for it is well
known that the bite of this poisonous insect is certain
death to the ox, horse, and dog. In this journey, though
we’were not aware of any great number having at any
time lighted on our cattle, we lost forty-three fine oxen by
its bite. We watched the animals carefully, and believe
that not a score of flies were ever upon them.

A most remarkable feature in the bite of the tsetse is its
perfect harmlessness in man and wild animals, and even
calves so long as they continue to suck the cow. We
never experienced the slightest injury from them ourselves,
personally, although we lived two months in their haditat,
which was in this case as sharply defined as in many others,
for the south bank of the Chobe was infested by them, and
the northern bank, where our cattle were placed, only fifty

THE TSETSE POISON. 51

yards distant, contained not a single specimen. This was
the more remarkable as we often saw natives carrying over
raw meat to the opposite bank with many tsetse settled
upon it.

The poison does not seem to be injected by a sting, or by
ova placed beneath the skin; for, when one is allowed to
feed freely on the hand, it is seen to insert the middle prong
of three portions, into which the proboscis divides, some-
what deeply into the true skin; it then draws it out a little
way, and it assumes a crimson color as the mandibles come
into brisk operation. The previously-shrunken belly swells
out, and, if left undisturbed, the fly quietly departs when it
is full. A slight itching irritation follows, but not more
than in the bite of a mosquito. In the ox this same bite
produces no more immediate effects than in man. It does
not startle him as the gad-fly does; but a few days after-
ward the following symptoms supervene: the eye and nose
begin to run, the coat stares as if the animal were cold, a
swelling appears under the jaw and sometimes at the navel;
and, though the animal continues to graze, emaciation com-
mences, accompanied with a peculiar flaccidity of the mus-*
cles, and this proceeds unchecked until, perhaps months after-
ward, purging comes on, and the animal, no longer able
to graze, perishes in a state of extreme exhaustion. Those
which are in good condition often perish soon after the bite
is inflicted, with staggering and blindness, as if the brain
were affected by it. Sudden changes of temperature pro-
duced by fails of rain seem to hasten the progress of the
complaint; but, in general, the emaciation goes on unin-
terruptedly for months, and, do what we will, the poor
animals perish miserably.

When opened, the cellular tissue on the surface of the
budy beneath the skin is seen to be injected with air, as if
a quantity of soap-bubbles were scattered over it, or a dis-
honest, awkward butcher had been trying to make it look
fat. The fat is of a greenish-yellow color and of an oily
consistence. All the muscles are flabby, and the heart

52 MEETING WITH SEBITUANE.

often so soft that the fingers may be made to meet through
it. The iungs and liver partake of the disease. The
stomach and bowels are pale and empty, and the gall-
bladder is distended with bile.

The mule, ass, and goat enjoy the same immunity from
the tsetse as man and game. Many large tribes on the
Zambesi can keep no domestic animals except the goat, in
consequence of the scourge existing in their country. Our
children were frequently bitten, yet suffered no harm;
and we saw around us numbers of zebras, buffaloes, pigs,
pallahs and other antelopes, feeding quietly in the very
habitat of the tsetse, yet as undisturbed by its bite as
oxen are when they first receive the fatal poison.

The Makololo whom we met on the Chobe were delighted
to see us; and, as their chief Sebituane was about twenty
miles down the river, Mr. Oswell and I proceeded in canoes
to his temporary residence. He had come from the Barotse
town of Naliéle down to Seshéke as soon as he heard of
white men being in search of him, and now came one hundred
_ miles more to bid us welcome into his country. He was
‘upon an island, with all his principal men around him, and.
engaged in singing when we arrived. It was more like
church-music than the sing-song 6 6 6, © # &, of the
Bechuanas of the south, and they continued the tune for
some seconds after we approached. We informed him of the
difficulties we had encountered, and how glad we were that
they were all at an end by at last reaching his presence.
He signified his own joy, and added, ‘Your cattle are al:
bitten by the tsetse, and will certainly die; but never mind,
T have oxen, and will give you as many as you need.” We,
in our ignorance, then thought that as so few tsetse had
bitten them no great mischief would follow. He then pre-
sented us with an ox and a jar of honey as food, and handed
us over to the care of Mahale, who had headed the party
to Kolobeng, and would now fain appropriate to himself
the whole credit of our coming. Prepared skins of oxen,
as soft as cloth, were given to cover us through the night;

HIS CHARACTER. 58

and, as nothing could be returned to this chief, Mahale be-
came the owner of them. Long before it was day, Sebiiuane
came, and sitting down by the fire, which was lighted for
our benefit behind the hedge where we lay, he narrated the
difficulties he had himself experienced, when a young man,
in crossing that same desert which we had mastered long
afterward.

He was much pleased with the proof of confidence we
had showr in bringing our children, and promised to take
us to see his country, s0 that we might choose a part in
which to locate ourselves. Our plan was, that I should
remain in the pursuit of my objects as a missionary,
while Mr. Oswell explored the Zambesi to the east. Poor
Sebituane, however, just after realizing what he had so long
ardently desired, fell sick of inflammation of the lungs,
which originated in and extended from an old wound got at
Melita. I saw his danger, but, being a stranger, I feared
to treat him medically, lest, in the event of his death, I
should be blamed by his people. I mentioned this to one
of his doctors, who said, “ Your fear is prudent and wise:
this people would blame you.” He had been cured of this.
complaint, during the year before, by the Barotse making
a large number of free incisions in the chest. The Mako-
lolo doctors, on the other hand, now scarcely cut the skin.
On the Sunday afternoon in which he died, when our usual
religious service was over, I visited him with my little boy
Robert. “Come near,’’ said Sebituane, “and see if I am
any longera man. Iam done.” He was thus sensible of
the dangerous nature of his disease; so I ventured to as-
sent, and added a single sentence regarding hope after
death. “Why do you speak of death?” said one of a
relay of fresh doctors; ‘‘Sebituane will never die.” If 1
had persisted, the impression would have been produced
that by speaking about it I wished him to die. After
sitting with him some time, and commending him to the
mercy of God, I rose to depart, when the dying chieftain,
raising himself up a little from his prone position, called a

5m

54 DEATH OF SEBITUANE.

servant, and said, “Take Robert to Maunku, [one of his
wives, ] and tell her to give him some milk.” These were
the last words of Sebituane.

We were not informed of his death until the next day.
The burial of a Bechuana chief takes place in his cattle.
pen, and all the cattle are driven for an hour or two around
aud over the grave, so that it may be quite obliterated.
We went and spoke to the people, advising them to keep
together and support the heir. They took this kindly;
and in turn told us not to be alarmed, for they would not
think of ascribing the death of their chief to us; that
Sebituane had just gone the way of his fathers; and,
though the father had gone, he had left children, and they
hoped that we would be as friendly to his children as we
intended to have been to himself.

He was decidedly the best specimen of a native chief I
ever met. I never felt so much grieved by the loss of a
black man before; and it was impossible not to follow him
in thought into the world of which he had just heard be-
fore he was called away, and to realize somewhat of the
reelings of those who pray for the dead. The deep, dark
question of what is to become of such as he must, how-
ever, be left where we find it, believing that, assuredly,
the “Judge of all the earth will do right.”

At Sebituane’s death the chieftainship devolved, as he.
father intended, on a daughter named Ma-mochisane. He
had promised to show us his country and to select a suitable
locality for our residence. We had now to look to the
daughter, who was living twelve days to the north, at
Naliele. We were obliged, therefore, to remain until a
message came from her; and, when it did, she gave us
perfect liberty to visit any part of the country we chose.
Mr. Oswell and I then proceeded one hundred and thirty
miles to the northeast, to Sesheke ; and in the end of June,
1851, we were rewarded by the discovery of the Zambesi, in
the centre of the continent. This was a most important
point, for that river was not previously known to exist

DISCOVERY OF THE ZAMBESI. 65

there at all. The Portuguese maps all represent it as
rising far to the east of where we now were; and, if ever
any thing like a chain of trading-stations had existed
across the country between the latitudes 12° and 18° south,
this magnificent portion of the river must have been
known before. We saw it at the end of ey season, at
the time when the river is about at its lowest; and yet
there was a breadth of from three hundred to six hundred
yards of deep, flowing water. Mr. Oswell said he had
never seen such a fine river even in India. At the period
of its annual inundation it rises fully twenty feet in per-
pendicular height, and floods fifteen or twenty miles of
lands adjacent to its banks.

Occasionally the country between the Chobe and Zam-
besi is flooded, and there are large patches of swamps lying
near the Chobe or on its banks. The Makololo were living
among these swamps for the sake of the protection the
deep reedy rivers afforded them against their enemies.

Now, in reference to a suitable locality for a settlement
for myself, I could not conscientiously ask them to aban-
don their defences for my convenience alone. The healthy
districts were defenceless, and the safe localities were so
deleterious to human life that the original Basutos had
nearly all been cut off by the fever: I therefore feared te
subject my family to the scourge.

As there was no hope of the Boers allowing the peace
able instruction of the natives at Kolobeng, I at once re
solved to save my family from exposure to this unhealthy
region by sending them to England, and to return alone,
with a view to exploring the country in search of a
healthy district that might prove a centre of civilization
and open up the interior by a path to either the east or
west coast. This resolution led me down to the Cape in
April, 1852, being the first time during elever vears that 1
had visited the scenes of civilization. Our route to Cape
Town led us to pass through the centre f the colony
during the twentieth month of a Caffre war; and if those

56 RETURN TO THE CAPE.

who periodically pay enormous sums for these inglorioua
affairs wish to know how our little unprotected party
could quietly travel through the heart of the colony to
the capital with as little sense or sign of danger as if we
had been in England, they must engage a “Times Special
Correspondent” for the next outbreak to explain where
the money goes, and who have been benefited by the
blood and treasure expended.

Having placed my family on board a homeward-bound
ship, and promised to rejoin them in two years, we parted,
for, as it subsequently proved, nearly five years. The
Directors of the London Missionary Society signified their
cordial approval of my project, by leaving the matter
entirely to my own discretion; and I have much pleasure
in acknowledging my obligations to the gentlemen com-
posing that body for always acting in an enlightened
spirit and with as much liberality as their constitution
would allow.

I have the like pleasure in confessing my thankfulness
to the Astronomer Royal at the Cape, Thomas Maclear,
Esq., for enabling me to recall the little astronomical.
knowledge which constant manual labor and the engross-
ing nature of missionary duties had effaced from my
memory, and in adding much that I did not know before.
The promise he made on parting, that he would examine
and correct all my observations, had more effect in making
me persevere in overcoming the difficulties of an unassisted
solitary observer than any thing else; so, whatever credit
may be attached to the geographical positions laid down
in my route must be attributed to the voluntary aid of
the excellent and laborious astronomer of the Cape Obser-
vatory.

Having given the reader as rapid a sketch as possible
of events which attracted notice between 1840 and 1852, I
now proceed to narrate the incidents of the last and
longest journey of all, performed in 1852-56.

THE LAST AND LONGEST JOURNEY. ae

CHAPTER V.

DR. LIVINGSTONE STARTS IN JUNE, 1852, ON THE LAST AND
LONGEST JOURNEY FROM CAPE TOWN.

Havine sent my family home to England, I started in
the beginning of June, 1852, on my last journey from
Cape Town. This journey extended from the southern
extremity of the continent to St. Paul de Loando, the
capital of Angola, on the west coast, and thence across
South Central Africa in an oblique direction to Kilimane
(Quilimane) in Hastern Africa. I proceeded in the usual
conveyance of the country, the heavy lumbering Cape
wagon drawn by ten oxen, and was accompanied by two
Christian Bechuanas from Kuruman,—than whom I never
saw better servants anywhere,—by two Bakwain men,
and two young girls, who, having come as nurses with our
children to the Cape, were returning to their home at
Kolobeng. Wagon-travelling in Africa has been so often
described that I need say no more than that it is a prolonged
system of picnicking, excellent for the health, and agree-
able to those who are not over-fastidious about trifles,
and who delight in being in the open air.

Our route to the north lay near the centre of the cone-
shaped mass of land which constitutes the promontory of
the Cape.

The slow pace at which we wound our way through the
colony made almost any subject interesting. The attention
is attracted to the names of different places, because they
indicate the former existence of buffaloes, elands, and ele-
phants, which are now to be found only hundreds of miles
beyond. A few blesbucks, (Antilope pygarga,) gnus, bluv-
bucks, (A. cerulea,) steinbucks, and the ostrich, (Struthio
camelus,) continue, like the Bushmen, to maintain a pre-
carious existence when all the rest are gone. The ele-

58 ; ANIMALS OF THE DESERT.

phant, the most sagacious, flees the sound of fire-arms
first; the gnu and ostrich, the most wary and the most
stupid, last. The first emigrants found the Hottentots in
possession of prodigious herds of fine cattle, but no horses,
asses, or camels. The original cattle, which may still be
seen in some parts of the frontier, must have been brought
south from the north-northeast, for from this point the
natives universally ascribe their original migration. They
brought cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs: why not the horse,
the delight of savage hordes? Horses thrive well in the
Cape Colony when imported. Naturalists point out cer-
tain mountain-ranges as limiting the habitat of certain
classes of animals; but there is no Cordillera in Africa to
answer that purpose, there being no visible barrier between
the northeastern Arabs and the Hottentot tribes to prevent
the different hordes, as they felt their way southward,
from indulging their taste for the possession of this noble
animal.

I am here led to notice an invisible barrier, more insur-
mountable than mountain-ranges, but which is not opposed
to the southern progress of cattle, goats, and sheep. The
tsetse would prove a barrier only until its well-defined
habitat was known; but the disease passing under the
term of horse-sickness (peripneumonia) exists in such viru-
lence over nearly seven degrees of latitude that no precau-
tion would be sufficient to save these animals. The horse
is so liable to this disease, that only by great care in stabling
can he be kept anywhere between 20° and 27° 8. during
the time between December and April. The winter, begin-
ning in the latter month, is the only period in which Eny-
lishmen can hunt on horseback, and they are in danger of
losing all their studs some months before December. To
this disease the horse is especially exposed, and it is almost
always fatal. One attack, however, seems to secure im-
munity from a second. Cattle, too, are subject to it, but
only at intervals of a few, sometimes many, years; but it
never makes a clean sweep of the whole cattle of a village,

HORSE-SICK NESS. 69

as it would do of a troop of fifty horses. This barrier,
then, seems to explain the absence of the horse among the
Hottentots, though it is not opposed to the southern migra-
tion of cattle, sheep, and goats.

When the fiesh of animals that have died of this disease
is eaten, it causes a malignant carbuncle, which,-when it
appears over any important organ, provesprapidly fatal.
It is more especially dangerous over the pit of the stomach.
The effects of the poison have been experienced by mis-
sionaries who had eaten properly-cooked food,—the flesh
of sheepyreally but not visibly affected by the disease.
in the flesh of the animal is destroyed neither by
cain This fact, of which we have had innu-

merable examples, shows the superiority of experiments on
a large | scale to those of acute and able physiologists and
chemists i in the laboratory; for a well-known physician of
Paris, after careful investigation, considered that the virus
in such cases was completely neutralized by boiling.

This disease attacks wild animals too. During our re-
sidence at Chonuan, great numbers of tolos, or koodoos,
were attracted to the gardens of the Bakwains, abandoned
at the asual period of harvest because there was no pros-
pect of the corn (Holcus sorghum) bearing that year. The
koodoo is remarkably fond of the green stalks of this kind
of millet. Free feeding produced that state of fatness favor-
able for the development of this disease, and no fewer than
twenty-five died on the hill opposite our house. Great
numbers of gnus and zebras perished from the same cause ;
but the mortality produced no sensible diminution in the
numbers of the game, any more than the deaths of many
of the Bakwains who persisted, in spite of every remon-
strance, in eating the dead meat, caused any sensible de-
crease in the strength of the tribe.

Before we came to the Orange River, we saw the last
portion of a migration of springbucks, (Gazella euchore, or
tsepe.) They came from the great Kalahari Desert, and,
when first seen after crossing the colonial boundary, are

60 THE GRIQUAS.

said often to exceed forty thousand in number. I cannot
give an estimate of their numbers, for they appear spread
over a vast expanse of country, and make a quivering
motion as they feed, and move, and toss their graceful
horns. They feed chiefly on grass; and, as they come
from the north about the time when the grass most
abounds, it cannot be want of food that prompts the
movement. Nor is it want of water; for this antelope is
one of the most abstemious in that respect. Their nature
prompts them to seek as their favorite haunts level plains
with short grass, where they may be able to watch the
approach of an ‘enemy. ‘The Bakalahari take advantage
of this feeling, and burn off large patches of grass, not only
to attract the game by the new crop when it comes up, but
also to form bare spots for the springbuck to range over.
On crossing the Orange River we come into inde-
pendent territory inhabited by Griquas and Bechuanas.
By Griquas is meant any mixed race sprung from natives
and Huropeans. Those in question were of Dutch extrac-
tion through association with Hottentot and Bush women.
Half-castes of the first generation consider themselves
superior to those of the second, and all possess in some
degree the characteristics of both parents. They were
governed for many years by an elected chief, named
Waterboer, who, by treaty, received a small sum per
annum from the colonial government for the support of
schools in his country, and proved a most efficient guard
of our northwest boundary.
- Many hundreds of both Griquas and Bechuanas have
become Christians and partially civilized through the
teaching of English missionaries. My first impressions of
the progress made were that the accounts of the effects of
the gospel among them had been too highly colored. 1
expected a higher degree of Christian simplicity and purity
than exists either among them or among ourselves. I was
not anxious for a deeper insight in detecting shams than
others; but I expected character, such as we imagine the

DRESS OF THE NATIVES. 61

primitive disciples had,—and was disappointed. When,
however, I passed on to the true heathen in the countries
beyond the sphere of missionary influence, and could com-
pare the people there with the Christian natives, I came to
the conclusion that, if the question were examined in the
most rigidly severe or scientific way, the change effected
by the missionary movement would be considered unques-
tionably great.

We cannot fairly compare these poor people with our-
selves, who have an atmosphere of Christianity and en
lightened public opinion, the growth of centuries, around
us, to influence our deportment; but let any one from the
natural and proper point of view behold the public mo-
rality of Griqua Town, Kuruman, Likatlong, and other
villages, and remember what even London was a century
ago, and he must confess that the Christian mode of treat-
ing aborigines is incomparably the best.

The Griquas and Bechuanas were in former times clad
much like the Caffres, if such a word may be used where
there is scarcely any clothing at all. A bunch of leather
strings about eighteen inches long hung from the lady’s
waist in front, and a prepared skin of a sheep or antelope
covered the shoulders, leaving -the breast and abdomen
bare; the men wore a patch of skin, about the size of the
vrown of one’s hat, which barely served for the purposes
of decency, and a mantle exactly like that of the women.
To assist in protecting the pores of the skin from the in-
fluence of the sun by day and of the cold by night, all
smeared themselves with a mixture of fat and ochre; the
head is anointed with pounded blue mica schist mixed with
fat; and the fine particles of shining mica, falling on the
body and on strings of beads and brass rings, were con-
sidered as highly ornamental, and fit for the most fasti-
dious dandy. Now these same people come to church in
decent though poor clothing, and behave with a decorum
certainly superior to what seems to have been the case in
the time of Mr. Samuel Pepys in London. Sunday is well

6

a
62 ARTICLES OF COMMERCE. bes

observed, and, even in localities where no missionary lives,
religious meetings are regularly held, and children ard
adults taught to read by the more advanced of their o
fellow-countrymen; and no one is allowed to make a pi
fession of faith by baptism unless he knows how to read
and understands the nature of the Christian religion.
The Bechuana Mission has been so far successful that,
when coming from the interior, we always felt, on reaching
Kuruman, that we had returned to civilized life. But I
would not give any one to understand by this that they
are model Christians,—we cannot claim to be model Chris- q
tians ourselves,—or even dn any degree superior to the
members of our country churches. They are more stingy ;
and greedy than the poor home ; but i in many respects 5
the two are exactly alike. O ng an intelligent chief 4
what he thought of them, he replied, “You white men
have no idea of how wicked we are; we know each other
better than you: some feign belief to ingratiate themselves F
with the missionaries; some profess Christianity because
they like the new system, which gives so muchymore
importance to the poor, and desire that the old tem |
may pass away; and the rest—a pretty large number— —
profess because they are really true believers.” Sa i .
testimony may be considered as very nearly correct, it me
There is not much prospect of this country ever Fs pro a
ducing much of the materials of commerce except i
At present the chief articles of trade are karosses or man
tles,—the skins of which they are composed come from the
Desert; next to them, ivory, the quantity of which cannot
now be great, inasmuch as the means of shooting elephants
is sedulously debarred entrance into the country. A few
skins and horns, and some cattle, make up the remainder
of the exports. English goods, sugar, tea, and coffee are
the articles received in exchange. All the natives of these
parts soon become remarkably fond of coffee. The acme
of respectability among the Bechuanas is the possession of
cattle and a wagon. It is remarkable that, though these

’ KURUMAN: ITS FOUNTAIN. 63

latter require frequent repairs, none of the Bechuanas have
ever learned to mend them. Forges and tools have been
__ at their service, and teachers willing to aid them, but,
beyond putting together a camp-stool, no effort nee ever
been made to acquire a knowledge of the trades. They
me:
serve most carefully a missionary at work until they
understand whether a tire is well welded or not, and then
pronounce upon its merits with great emphasis; but there
their ambition rests satisfied. It is the same peculiarity
among ourselves which leads us in other matters, such as
book-making, to attain the excellence of fault-finding
without the wit to indite a page. It was in vain I tried
to indoctrinate the Bechuanas with the idea that criticism
did not imply any superiority over the workman, or even
equality with him.

CHAPTER VI.

It comes from beneath the trap-rock, and, as it usually
issues at a temperature of 72° Fahr., it probably comes
from the old silurian schists which formed the bottom of
the great primeval valley of the continent. I could not
detect any diminution in the flow of this gushing fountain
during my residence in the country; but when Mr. Moffat
first attempted a settlement here, thirty-five years ago, he
made a dam six or seven miles below the present one, and
led ont the stream for irrigation, where not a drop of the
fountain-water ever now flows. Other parts, fourteen miles
pelow the Kuruman gardens, are pointed out as haying

64 ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN WATER.

contained, within the memory of people now living,
hippopotami, and pools sufficient to drown both men and
cattle. This failure of water must be chiefly ascribed to
the general desiccation of the country, but partly also to
the amount of irrigation carried on along both banks of
the stream at the mission-station. This latter circum-
stance would have more weight were it not coincident
with the failure of fountains over a wide extent of
country.

Without at present entering minutely into this feature
of the climate, it may be remarked that the Kuruman dis-
trict presents evidence of this dry southern region having
at no very distant date, been as well watered as the country
north of Lake Ngami is now. Ancient river-beds and
water-courses abound, and the very eyes of fountains long
since dried up may be seen, in which the flow of centuries
has worn these orifices from a slit to an oval form, having
on their sides the tufa so abundantly deposited from these
primitive waters; and just where the splashings, made |
when the stream fell on the rock below, may be supposed
to have reached and evaporated, the same phenomenon
appears. Many of these failing fountains no longer flow,
because the brink over which they ran is now too high, or
because the elevation of the western side of the country
lifts the land away from the water-supply below; but let a
cutting be made from a lower level than the brink, and
through it to a part below the surface of the water, and
water flows perennially. Several of these ancient fountains
have been resuscitated by the. Bechuanas near Kuruman,
who occasionally show their feelings of self-esteem by
laboring for. months at deep cuttings, which, having once
begun, they feel bound in honor to persevere in, though
told by a missionary that they can never force water to run
up hill.

During the period of my visit at Kuruman, Mr. Moffat,
who has eee a missionary in Africa during upward of forty
years, and is well known by his interesting work, “Scenes

THE BECHUANA LANGUAGE. 5

tnd Labors in South Africa,” was busily engaged in carry-
ing through the press, with which his station is furnished,
the Bible in the language of the Bechuanas, which is called
Sichuana. This has been a work of immense labor; and
as he was the first to reduce their speech to a written form,
and has had his attention directed to the study for at least
thirty years, he may be supposed to be better adapted for
the task than any man living. Some idea of the copious-
ness of the language may be formed from the fact that
even he never spends a week at his work without discover-
ing new words; the phenomenon, therefore, of any man
who, after a few months’ or years’ study of a native tongue,
cackles forth a torrent of vocables, may well be wondered
at, if it is meant to convey instruction. In my own case,
though I have had as much intercourse with the purest
‘diom as most Englishmen, and have studied the language
carefully, yet I can never utter an important statement
without doing so very slowly, and repeating it too, lest the
foreign accent, which is distinctly perceptible in all Euro-
peans, should render the sense unintelligible. In this I
follow the example of the Bechuana orators, who, on im-
portant matters, always speak slowly, deliberately, and
with reiteration. The capabilities of this language may
be inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch is fully ex-
pressed in Mr. Moffat’s translation in fewer words than in
the Greek Septuagint, and in a very considerably smaller
number than in our own English version. The language
is, however, so simple in its construction, that its copious-
ness by no means requires the explanation that the people
have fallen from a former state of civilization and culture.

The fact of the complete translation of the Bible at a
station seven hundred miles inland from the Cape naturally
suggests the question whether it is likely to be permanently
useful, and whether Christianity, as planted by modern
missions, is likely to retain its vitality without constant
supplies of foreign teaching. It would certainly be no

cause for congratulation if the Bechuana Bible seemed at
E _ 6

66 _ TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

all likely to meet the fate of Elliot’s Choctaw version, a
specimen of which may be seen in the library of one of the
American colleges,—as God’s word in a language which no
living tongue can articulate, nor living mortal understand;
but a better destiny seems in store for this, for the Sichuana
language has been introduced into the new country beyond
Lake Ngami. There it is the court language, and will take
a stranger anywhere through a district larger than France.
The Bechuanas, moreover, in all probability possess that
imperishability which forms so remarkable a feature in the
entire African race.

Protestant missionaries of every denomination in South
Africa all agree in one point, that no mere profession of
Christianity is sufficient to entitle the converts to the
Christian name. They are all anxious to place the Bible
in the hands of the natives, and, with ability to read that,
there can be little doubt as to the future. We believe
Christianity to be divine, and equal to all it has to perform ;
then let the good seed be widely sown, and, no matter to
what sect the converts may belong, the harvest will be
glorious. Let nothing that I have said be interpreted as
indicative of feelings inimical to any body of Christians,
for I never, as a missionary, felt myself to be either Pres-
byterian, Episcopalian, or Independent, or called upon in
any way to love one denomination less than another. My
earnest desire is, that those who really have the best in-
terests of the heathen at heart should go to them; and
assuredly, in Africa at least, self-denying labors among real
heathen will not fail to be appreciated. Christians have
never yet dealt fairly by the heathen and been disappointed.

When Sechele understood that we could no longer remain
with him at Kolobeng, he sent his children to Mr. Moffat,
at Kuruman, for instruction in all the knowledge of the
white men. Mr. Moffat very liberally received at once an
accession of five to his family, with their attendants.

Having been detained at Kuruman about a fortnight by
the breaking of a wagon-wheel, I was thus providentially

SECHELE’S LETTER. 67

prevented from being present at the attack of the Boers
on the Bakwains, news of which was brought, about the
end of that time, by Masebele, the wife of Sechele. She
had herself been hidden in a cleft of a rock, over which a
number of Boers were firing. Her infant began to cry,
and, terrified lest this should attract the attention of the
men, the muzzles of whose guns appeared at every discharge
over her head, she took off her armlets as.playthings to quiet
the child. She brought Mr. Moffat a letter, which tells its
own tale. Nearly literally translated it was as follows : —

“Friend of my heart’s love, and of all the confidence of
my heart, Iam Sechele. Iam undone by the Boers, who
attacked me, though I had no guilt with them. They de-
manded that I should be in their kingdom, and I refused.
They demanded that I should prevent the English and
Griquas from passing (northward). I replied, These are
my friends, and I can prevent no one (of them). They
came on Saturday, and I besought them not to fight on
Sunday, and they assented. They began on Monday
morning at twilight, and fired with all their might, and
burned the town with fire, and scattered us. They killed
sixty of my people, and captured women, and children,
and men. And the mother of Baleriling (a former wife of
Sechele) they also took prisoner. They took all the cattle
and all the goods of the Bakwains; and the house of Living-
stone they plundered, taking away all his goods. The
number of wagons they had was eighty-five, and a cannon;
and after they had stolen my own wagon and that of
Macabe, then the number of their wagons (counting tho
cannon as one) was eighty-eight. All the goods of the
bunters (certain English gentlemen hunting and exploring
in the north) were burned in the town; and of the Boers
were killed twenty-eight. Yes, my beloved friend, now
my wife goes to see the children, and Kobus Hae will con.
vey her to you. “T am SECHELE,

“The son of Mochoasele.”

68 A PANIC.

This statement 1s in exact accordance with the account
given by the native teacher Mebalwe, and also that sent
by some of the Boers themselves to the public colonial
papers. The crime of cattle-stealing, of which we hear so
much near Caffreland, was never alleged against these
people; and, if a single case had occurred when I was in
the country, I must have heard of it, and would at once
say so. But the only crime imputed in the papers was
that “‘Sechele was getting too saucy.” The demand made
for his subjection and service in preventing the English
traders passing to the north was kept out of view.

Very soon after Pretorius had sent the marauding-party
against Kolobeng, he was called away to the tribunal of
infinite justice. His policy is justified by the Boers gene-
rally from the instructions given to the Jewish warriors
in Deuteronomy xx. 10-14. Hence, when he died, the
obituary notice ended with “Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord.” I wish he had not “forbidden us to preach
unto the Gentiles that they may be saved.”

The report of this outrage on the Bakwains, coupled
with denunciations against myself for having, as it was
alleged, taught them to kill Boers, produced such a panic
in the country that I could not engage a single servant to
accompany me to the north. I have already alluded to
their mode of warfare, and in all previous Boerish forays
the killing had all been on one side; now, however, that a
tribe where an Englishman had lived had begun to shed
their blood as well, it was considered the strongest pre-
sumptive evidence against me. Loud vows of vengeance
were uttered against my head, and threats of instant pur-
suit by a large party on horseback, should I dare to go into
or beyond their country; and as these were coupled with
the declaration that the English Government had given
over the whole of the native tribes to their rule, and would
assist in their entire subjection by preventing fire-arms
and ammunition from entering the country except for the
use of the Boers, it was not to be wondered at that I was

SECHELE’S INVENDED JOURNEY. 69

detained for months at Kuruman from sheer inability to get
wagon-drivers. The English name, from being honored
and respected all over the country, had become somewhat
more than suspected; and as the policy of depriving those
friendly tribes of the means of defence was represented
by the Boers as proof positive of the wish of the English
that they should be subjugated, the conduct of a govern-
ment which these tribes always thought the paragon
of justice and friendship was rendered totally incompre- .
hensible to them; they could neither defend themselves
against their enemies, nor shoot the animals in the pro-
duce of which we wished them to trade.

At last I found three servants willing to risk a journey
to the north; and a man of color named George Fleming,
who had generously been assisted by Mr. H. E. Rutherford,
a mercantile gentleman of Cape Town, to endeavor to
establish a trade with the Makololo, had also managed to
get a similar number; we accordingly left Kuruman on the
20th of November, and proceeded on our journey. Our
servants were the worst possible specimens of those who
imbibe the vices without the virtues of Europeans; but we
had no choice, and were glad to get away on any terms.

When we reached Motito, forty miles off, we met Sechele
on his way, as he said, “‘to the Queen of England.” Two
of his own children, and their mother, a former wife, were
among the captives seized by the Boers; and, being strongly
imbued with the then very prevalent notion of England’s
justice and generosity, he thought that in consequence of
the violated treaty he had a fair case to lay before her
majesty. He employed all his eloquence and powers of
persuasion to induce me to accompany him, but I excused
myself on the ground that my arrangements were already
made for exploring the north. On explaining the diffi-
culties of the way, and endeavoring to dissuade him from
the attempt, on account of the knowledge I possessed of
the governor’s policy, he put the pointed question, “ Will
the queen not listen to me, supposing I should reach her?”

TJ HIS RETURN.

I replied, “I believe she would listen, but the difficulty is
to get to her.” ‘Well, I shall reach her,” expressed his
final determination. Others explained the difficulties more
fully, but nothing could shake his resolution. When he
reached Bloemfontein he found the English army just re-
‘turning from a battle with the Basutos, in which both
parties claimed the victory, and both were glad that a
second engagement was not tried. Our officers invited
Sechele to dine with them, heard his story, and collected
a handsome sum of money to enable him to pursue his
journey to England. The commander refrained from no-
ticing him, as a single word in favor of the restoration of
the children of Sechele would have been a virtual confes-
sion of the failure of his own policy at the very outset.
Sechele proceeded as far as the Cape; but, his resources
being there expended, he was obliged to return to his own
country, one thousand miles distant, without accomplishing
the object of his journey.

On his return he adopted a mode of punishment which
he had seen in the colony, namely, making criminals work
on the public roads. And he has since, I am informed,
made himself the missionary to his own people. He is tall,
rather corpulent, and has more of the negro feature than
common, but has large eyes. He is very dark, and his peo-
ple swear by “Black Sechele.” He has great intelligence,
reads well, and is a fluent speaker. Great numbers of the
tribes formerly living under the Boers have taken refuge
under his sway, and he is now greater in power than he
was before the attack on Kolobeng.

Having parted with Sechele, we skirted along the Kala-
hari Desert, and sometimes within its borders, giving the
Boers a wide berth. A larger fall of rain than usual had
occurred in 1852, and that was the completion of a cycle
of eleven or twelve years, at which the same phenomenon
is reported to have happened on three occasions. An un-
usually large crop of melons had appeared in consequence
We had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. J. Macabe return.

SACRED CAVE. 71

» ¢ from Lake Ngami, which he had succeeded in reaching
by going right across the Desert from a point a little to the
south of Kolobeng. The accounts of the abundance of
water-melons were amply confirmed by this energetic
traveller; for, having these in vast quantities, his cattle sub-
sisted on the fluid contained in them for a period of no less
than twenty-one days; and when at last they reached a
supply of water they did not seem to care much about it.
Coming to the lake from the southeast, he crossed the
Teoughe, and went round the northern part of it, and is
the only European traveller who had actually seen it all.
His estimate of the extent of the lake is higher than that
given by Mr. Oswell and myself, or from about ninety to
one hundred miles in circumference.

On the 31st of December, 1852, we reached the town of
Sechele, called, from the part of the range on which it is
situated, Litubaruba. Near the village there exists a cave
named Lepelole; it is an interesting evidence of the former
existence of a gushing fountain. No one dared to enter the
Lohaheng, or cave, for it was the common belief that it was
the habitation of the Deity. As we never had a holiday
from January to December, and our Sundays were the pe-
riods of our greatest exertions in teaching, I projected an
excursion into the cave on a weekday to see the god of the
Bakwains. The old men said that every one who went in
remained there forever, adding, “If the teacher is so mad
as to kill himself, let him do so alone: we shall not be to
blame.” The declaration of Sechele, that he would follow
where I led, produced the greatest consternation. It is
curious that in all their pretended dreams or visions of their
god he has always a crooked leg, like the Egyptian Thau.
Supposing that those who were reported to have perished
in this cave had fallen over some precipice, we went well
provided with lights, ladder, lines, &c.; but it turned out to
be only an open cave, with an entrance about ten feet square,
which contracts into two water-worn branches, ending in
round orifices through which the water once flowed. The

72 RETALIATION ON BOERS.

only inhabitants it seems ever to have had were baboons.
I left at the end of the upper branch one of Father Mathew’s
leaden teetotal tickets.

I never saw the Bakwains looking so haggard and lean
as at this time. Most of their cattle had been swept away
by the Boers, together with about eighty fine draught-oxen ;
and much provision left with them by two officers, Cap-
tains Codrington and Webb, to serve for their return jour-
ney south, had been carried off also. On their return these
officers found the skeletons of the Bakwains where they
expected to find their own goods. All the corn,.clothing,
and furniture of the people, too, had been consumed in the
flames which the Boers had forced the subject tribes to
apply to the town during the fight, so that its inhabitants
were now literally starving.

Sechele had given orders to his people not to commit any
act of revenge pending his visit to the Queen of England;
but some of the young men ventured to go to meet a party
of Boers returning from hunting, and, as the Boers became
terrified and ran off, they brought their wagons to Lituba-
ruba. This seems to have given the main body of Boers
an idea that the Bakwains meant to begin a guerrilla war
upon them. This “Caffre war’ was, however, only in
embryo, and not near that stage of development in which
the natives have found out that the hide-and-seek system is
the most successful.

The Boers, in alarm, sent four of their number to ask for
peace! I, being present, heard the condition :—“Sechele’s
children must be restored to him.” I never saw men so
completely and unconsciously in a trap as these four Boers
were. Strong parties of armed Bakwains occupied every
pass in the hills and gorges around; and had they not pro-
mised much more than they plendanl or did perform, that
day would have been their last. aa ae Scholz
had appropriated the children of See rele to be his own
domestic slaves. Iwas tie when one li little boy, Khari,

: apthe child =

LOVE OF CHILDREN. 65

been allowed to roll into the fire, and there were three large
unbound open sores upon different parts of his body. His
mother and,the women received him with a flood of silent
tears.

Slavery is said to be mild and tender-hearted in some
places. The Boers assert that they are the best of masters,
and that, if the English had possessed the Hottentot slaves,
they would have received much worse treatment than they

did: what that would have been it is difficult to imagine.
wn was names of some gaa of boys and girls,

.

A little child toddling near a party of men while they are

eating is sure to get a handful of the food. This love of
children may arise in a great measure from the patriarchal
system under which they ‘dwell. Every little stranger
forms an increase of property to the whole community,
and is duly reported to the chief,—boys being more wel-
eome than girls. The parents take the name of the child,
and often address their children as Ma, (mother,) or Ra,
(father.) Our eldest boy being named Robert, Mrs. Living-
stone was, after his birth, always addressed as Ma-Robert,
instead of Mary, her Christian name.

CHAPTER VII.
LIVINGSTONE LEAVES THE COUNTRY OF THE BAKWAINS.

Havine remained five days with the wretched Bakwains,
seeing the effects of war, of which only a very inadequate
idea ean ever be formed by those who have not been eye-
witnesses of its miseries, we prepared to depart on the
15th of January, 1853. Several dogs, in better condition
by far than any of the people, had taken up their residence

7

74 DEPARTURE FROM BAKWAIN COUNTRY

at the water. No one would own them; there they hac
remained, and, coming on the trail of the people, long after
their departure from the scene of conflict, it was plain
they had

‘¢ Held o’er the dead their carnival.”

Hence the disgust with which they were viewed.

On our way from Khopong, along the ancient river-bed
which forms the pathway to Boatlanama, I found a species
of cactus, being the third I had seen in the country, namely,
one in the colony with a bright red flower, one at Lake
Ngami, the flower of which was liver-colored, and the
present one, flower unknown. That the plant is uncommon
may be inferred from the fact that the Bakwains find so
much difficulty in recognising the plant again after having
once seen it, that they believe it has the power of changing
its locality.

On the 21st of January we reached the wells of Boat-
lanama, and found them for the first time empty. Lopepe,
which I had formerly seen a stream running from a large
reedy pool, was also dry. The hot salt spring of Serinane,
east of Lopepe, being undrinkable, we pushed on to Mashiie
for its delicious waters. In travelling through this country,
the olfactory nerves are frequently excited by a strong, dis-
agreeable odor. This is caused by a large jet-black ant
named “Leshonya.” It is nearly an inch in length, and
emits a pungent smell when alarmed, in the same manner
as the skunk. The scent must be as volatile as ether, for,
on irritating the insect with a stick six feet long, the odor is
instantly perceptible.

That the fear of man often remains excessively strong in
the carnivora is proved from well-authenticated cases in
which the lioness, in the vicinity of towns where the large
game had been unexpectedly driven away by fire-arms,
has been known to assuage the paroxysms of hunger by
devouring her own young. It must be added that, though
the effluvium which is left by the footsteps of man is in
general sufficient to induce lions to avoid a village, there

THE LION. 75

are exceptions: so many came about our half-deserted
houses at Chonuane while we were in the act of removing
to Kolobeng, that the natives who remained with Mrs.
Livingstone were terrified to stir out of doors in the even-
ing. Bitches, also, have been known to be guilty of the
horridly unnatural act of eating their own young, probably
from the great desire for animal food, which is experienced
by the inhabitants as well.

When a lion is met in the daytime, a circumstance by ne
means unfrequent to travellers in these parts, if precon-
ceived notions do not lead them to expect something very
“noble” or “majestic,” they will see merely an animal
somewhat larger than the biggest dog they ever saw, and
partaking very strongly of the canine features: the face is
not much like the usual drawings of a lion, the nose being
prolonged like a dog’s; not exactly such as our painters
make it,—though they might learn better at the Zoological
Gardens,—their ideas of majesty being usually shown by
making their lions’ faces like old women in nightcaps.
When encountered in the daytime, the lion stands a second
or two, gazing, then turns slowly round, and walks as
slowly away for a dozen paces, looking over his shoulder,
then begins to trot, and, when he thinks himself out of
sight, bounds off like a greyhound. By day there is not,
as a rule, the smallest danger of lions which are not
molested attacking man, nor even on a clear moonlight
night, except when they possess the breeding stopy7, (natural
affection :) this makes them brave almost any danger; and
if a man happens to cross to the windward of them, both
lion and lioness will rush at him, in the manner of a bitch |
with whelps. This does not often happen, as I only became
aware of two or three instances of it. In one case a man,
passing where the wind blew from him to the animals, was
bitten before he could climb a tree; and occasionally a man
on horseback has been caught by the leg under the same
circumstances. So general, however, is the sense of security
on moonlight nights, that we seldom tied up our oxen, but

76 HABITS OF THE LION.

let thera lie loose by the wagons; while on a dark, rainy
night, if a lion is in the neighborhood, he is almost sure to
venture to kill an ox. His approach is always stealthy,
except when wounded; and any appearance of a trap is
enough to cause him to refrain from making the last spring.
_ This seems characteristic of the feline species: when a
goat is picketed in India for the purpose of enabling the
huntsmen to shoot a tiger by night, if on a plain, he would
whip off the animal so quickly by a stroke of the paw that
no one could take aim; to obviate this, a small pit is dug,
and the goat is picketed to a stake in the bottom; a small
stone is tied in the ear of the goat, which makes him ery
the whole night. When the tiger sees the appearance of
a trap, he walks round and round the pit, and allows the
hunter, who is lying in wait, to have a fair shot.

When a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight
of an animal may make him commence stalking it. In one
case a man, while stealthily crawling toward a rhinoceros,
happened to glance behind him, and found to his horror a
lion stalking him; he only escaped by springing up a tree
like a cat. At Lopepe a lioness sprang on the after-quarter
of Mr. Oswell’s horse, and when we came up to him we
found the marks of the claws on the horse, and a scratch
on Mr. O.’s hand. The horse, on feeling the lion on him,
sprang away, and the rider, caught by a wait-a-bit thorn,
was brought to the ground and rendered insensible. His
dogs saved him. Another English gentleman (Captain
Codrington) was surprised in the same way, though not
hunting tke lion at the time, but turning round he shot him
dead in the neck. By accident a horse belonging to Cod-
rington ran away, but was stopped by the bridle catching
a stump; there he remained a prisoner two days, and when
found the whole space around was marked by the footprints
of lions. They had evidently been afraid to attack the
haltered horse, from fear that it was a trap. Two lions
came up by night to within three yards of oxen tied to a
wagon, and a sheep tied to a tree, and stood roaring, but

HABITS OF THE LION. “(76

afraid to make a spring. On another occasion, one of our
party was lying sound asleep and unconscious of danger
between two natives behind a bush at Mashiie; the fire was
nearly out at their feet in consequence of all being com-
pletely tired out by the fatigues of the previous day: a lion
came up to within three yards of the fire, and there com-_
menced roaring instead of making a spring: the fact of
their riding-ox being tied to the bush was the only reason
the lion had for not following his instinct and making a
meal of flesh. He then stood on a knoll three hundred
yards distant, and roared all night, and continued his
growling as the party moved off by daylight next morning.
Nothing that I ever learned of the lion would lead me to

attribute to it either the ferocious or noble character ascribed
to it elsewhere. It possesses none of the nobility of the
Newfoundland or St. Bernard dogs. With respect to its
great strength there can be nodoubt. The immense masses
of muscle around its jaws, shoulders, and forearms pro-
claim tremendous force. They would seem, however, to
be inferior in power to those of the Indian tiger. Most of
those feats of strength that I have seen performed by lions,
such as the taking away of an ox, were not carrying, but
dragging or trailing the carcass along the ground: they
have sprung on some occasions on to the hind-quarters of
a horse, but no one has ever seen them on the withers of
a giraffe. They do not mount on the hind-quarters of an
eland even, but try to tear him down with their claws.
Messrs. Oswell and Vardon once saw three lions endeavor-
ing to drag down a buffalo, and they were unable to do so
for a time, though he was then mortally wounded by a
two-ounce ball.*

j°&
* This singular encounter, in the words of an eye-witness, happened
as follows :— t
“My South African Journal is now before me, and I have got hold of
the account of the lion and buffalo affair; here it is:—‘15th September,
1846. Oswell and I were riding this afternoon along the banks of the
Vag

738 HABITS OF THE LION.

In general the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the
flank near the hind-leg, or by the throat below the jaw. Itis
questionable whether he ever attempts to seize an animal by
the withers. The flank is the most co:nmon point of attack,
and that is the part he begins to feast on first. The natives
and lions are very similar in their tastes in the selection ot
titbits: an eland may be seen disembowelled by a lion so
completely that he scarcely seems cut up atvall. The
bowels and fatty parts form a full meal for even the largest
lion. The jackal comes sniffing about, and sometimes
suffers for his temerity by a stroke from the lion’s paw

Limpopo, when a waterbuck started in front of us. I dismounted, and
was following it through the jungle, when three buffaloes got up, and,
after going a little distance, stood still, and the nearest bull turned round
and looked at me. A ball from the two-ouncer crashed into his shoulder,
aud they all three made off. Oswell and I followed as soon as I had re-
Joaded, and when we were in sight of the buffalo, and gaining on him at
every stride, three lions leaped on the unfortunate brute; he bellowed
most lustily as he kept up a kind of running fight, but he was, of course,
soon overpowered and pulled down. We had a fine view of the struggle,
and saw the lions on their hind-legs tearing away with teeth and claws
in most ferocious style. We crept up within thirty yards, and, kneeling
down, blazed away at the lions. My rifle was a single barrel, and I had
no spare gun. One lion fell dead almost on the buffalo; he had merely
time to turn toward us, seize a bush with his teeth, and drop dead with
the stick in his jaws. The second made off immediately; and the third
raised his head, cooily looked round for a moment, then went on tearing
and biting at the carcass as hard as ever. We retired a short distance
to load, then again advanced and fired. The lion made off, but a ball
that he received ought to have stopped him, as it went clean through his
shoulder-blade. He was followed up and killed, after having charged
several times. Both lions were males. It is not often that one bags a
brace of lions and a bull-buffalo in about ten minutes. | It was an exciting
adventure, and I shall never forget it.’

‘Such, my dear Livingstone, is the plain unvarnished account. The
‘buffalo had, of course, gone close to where the lions were lying down for
the day; and they, seeing him lame and bleeding, thought the opportu:
nity too good a one to be lost. Ever yours,

‘‘FRANK VARDUN.”

‘oping » unog bougr of buydwany suovt 99 J,

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$0 HIS ROAR.

laying him dead. When gorged, the lion falls fast asleep, and
is then easily despatched. Hunting a lion with dogs involves
very little danger compared with hunting the Indian tiger,
because the dogs bring him out of cover and make him stand
at bay, giving the hunter plenty of time for a good deliberate
shot.

Where game is abundant, there you may expect lions m
proportionately large numbers. They are never seen in
herds, but six or eight, probably one family, occasionally
hunt together. One is in much more danger of being run
over when walking in the streets of London than he is of
being devoured by lions in Africa, unless engaged in hunt-
ing the animal. Indeed, nothing that I have seen or heard
about lions would constitute a barrier in the way of men of
ordinary courage and enterprise.

The same feeling which has induced the modern painter
to caricature the lion has led the sentimentalist to consider
the lion’s roar the most terrific of all earthly sounds. We
hear of the “majestic roar of the king of beasts.” It is,
indeed, well calculated to inspire fear if you hear it in
combination with the tremendously loud thunder of that
country, on a night so pitchy dark that every flash of the
intensely vivid lightning leaves you with the impression
of stone-blindness, while the rain pours down so fast that
your fire goes out, leaving you without the protection of
even a tree, or the chance of your gun going off. But
when you are in a comfortable house or wagon, the case is
very different, and you hear the roar of the lion without
any awe or alarm. The silly ostrich makes a noise as loud ;
yet he never was feared by man. To tall of the majestic
roar of the lion is mere majestic twaddle.. On my men-
tioning this fact some years ago, the assertion was doubted,
sc I have beer careful ever since to inquire the opinions
of Europeans, who have heard both, if they could detect
any difference between the roar of a lion and that of an
ostrich; the invariable answer was, that they could not
when the animal was at any distance. The natives assert

LIONS AND BUFFALOES. 8]

that they can detect a variation between the commence.
ment of the noise of each. There is, it must be admitted,
considerable difference between the singing noise of a lion
when full, and his deep, gruff growl when hungry. In
general the lion’s voice seems to come deeper from the
chest than that of the ostrich; but to this day I can dis-
tinguish between them with certainty only by knowing
that the ostrich roars by day and the lion by night.

The African lion is of a tawny color, like that of some
mastifis. The mane in the male is large, and gives the
idea of great power. In some lions the ends of the hair
of the mane are black; these go by the name of black-
maned lions, though as a whole all look of the yellow
tawny color. At the time of the discovery of the lake,
Messrs. Oswell and Wilson shot two specimens of another
variety. One was an old lion, whose teeth were mere
stumps, and his claws worn quite blunt; the other was
full grown, in the prime of life, with white, perfect teeth :
both were entirely destitute of mane. The lions in the
country near the lake give tongue less than those farther
south. We scarcely ever heard them roar at all.

The lion has other checks on inordinate increase besides
man. He seldom attacks full-grown animals; but fre-
quently, when a buffalo-calf is caught by him, the cow
rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills him.
One we found was killed thus; and on the Leeambye an-
other, which died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of
having received his death-blow from a buffalo. It is ques-
tionable if a single lion ever attacks a full-grown buffalo.
The amount of roaring heard at night, on occasions when
2 buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are always more
than one lion engaged in the onslaught.

On the plain, south of Sebituane’s ford, a herd of buffa-
loes kept a number of lions from their young by the males
turning their heads to the enemy. The young and the
cows were in the rear. One toss from a bull would kill
the oor lion that ever breathed I have been in-

82 SEKOMI’S VIEW OF EXTORTION.

formed that in one part of India even the tame buffaloes
feel their superiority to some wild animals, for they have
been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they
enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any elephants ex-
cept the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn
by them; every living thing retires before the lordly ele-
phant, yet a full-grown one would be an easier prey than
the rhinoceros; the lion rushes off at the mere sight of
this latter beast. .

When we reached the Bamangwato, the chief, Sekomi,
was particularly friendly, collected all his people to the
religious services we held, and explained his reasons for
compelling some Englishmen to pay him a horse. “They
would not sell him any powder, though they had plenty ;
so he compelled them to give it and the horse for nothing.
He would not deny the extortion to me; that would be
‘poherehere,’ (swindling.)” He thus thought extortion
better than swindling. 1 could not detect any difference
in the morality of the two transactions; but Sekomi’s ideas
of honesty are the lowest I have met with in any Bechu-
ana chief, and this instance is mentioned as the only ap-
proach to demanding payment for leave to pass that [ have
met with in the south. In ali other cases the difficulty has
been to get a chief to give us men to show the way, and
the payment has only been for guides. Englishmen have
always very properly avoided giving that idea to the native
mind which we shall hereafter find prove troublesome, that
payment ought to be made for passage through a country.

January 28.—Passing on to Letloche, about twenty
miles beyond the Bamangwato, we found a fine supply of
water. This is a point of so much interest in that country
that the first question we ask of passers-by is, “Have you
had water?” the first inquiry a native puts to a fellow-
countryman is, ‘‘ Where is the rain?” and, though they are
by no means an untruthful nation, the answer generally is,
“T don’t know: there is none: we are killed with hunger
and by the sun.” If news is asked for, they commence

84 MR. GORDON CUMMING.

with, “There is no news; I heard some lies only,” and
then tell all they know.

This spot was Mr. Gordon Cumming’s farthest station
north. Our house at. Kolobeng having been quite in the
hunting-country, rhinoceros and buffaloes several times
rushed past, and I was able to shoot the latter twice from
our own door. We were favored by visits from this famous
hunter during each of the five years of his warfare with
wild animals. Many English gentlemen following the
same pursuits paid their guides and assistants so punc-
tually that in making arrangements for them we had to be
careful that four did not go where two only were wanted:
they knew so well that an Englishman would pay that
they depended implicitly on his word of honor, and not
only would they go and hunt for five or six months in the
north, enduring all the hardships of that trying mode of
life, with little else but meat of game to subsist on, but
they willingly went seven hundred or eight hundred miles
to Graham’s Town, receiving for wages only a musket
worth fifteen shillings.

No one ever deceived them, except one man; and, as 1
believed that he was afflicted with a slight degree of the _
insanity of greediness, I upheld the honor of the English
name by paying his debts. As the guides of Mr. Cumming
were furnished through my influence, and usually got some
strict charges as to their behavior before parting, looking
upon me in the light of a father, they always came to give
me an account of their service, and told most of those
hunting-adventures which have since been given to the
world, before we had the pleasure of hearing our friend
relate them himself by our own fireside. I had thus a tole-
rably good opportunity of testing their accuracy, and I
have no hesitation in saying that, for those who love that
sort of thing, Mr. Cumming’s book conveys a truthful idea
of South African hunting. Some things in it require ex-
planation, but the numbers of animals said to have been
met with and killed are by no means improbable, consider-

SPORTING 85

ing the amount of large game then in the country. Two
other gentlemen hunting in the same region destroyed in
one season no fewer than seventy-eight rhinoceroses alone.
Sportsmen, however, would not now find an equal number ;
for, as guns are introduced among the tribes, all these fine
animals melt away like snow in spring. In the more
remote districts, where fire-arms have not yet been intro-
duced, with the single exception of the rhinoceros, the
game is to be found in numbers much greater than Mr.
Cumming ever saw. The tsetse is, however, an insuper-
able barrier to hunting with horses there, and Europeans
can do nothing on foot. The step of the elephant when
charging the hunter, though apparently not quick, is so
long that the pace equals the speed of a good horse at a
canter. A young sportsman, no matter how great among
pheasants, foxes, and hounds, would do well to pause before
resolving to brave fever for the excitement of risking such
a terrific charge; the scream or trumpeting of this enor-
mous brute when infuriated is more like what the shriek
of a French steam-whistle would be to a man standing on
the dangerous part of a railroad than any other earthly
sound : a horse unused to it will sometimes stand shivering
instead of taking his rider out of danger. It has happened
often that the poor animal’s legs do their duty so badly
that he falls and causes his rider to be trodden into a
mummy; or, losing his presence of mind, the rider may
allow the horse to dash under a tree and crack his cranium
against a branch. As one charge from an elephant has
made embryo Nimrods bid a final adieu to the chase, inci-
pient Gordon Cummings might try their nerves by stand-
ing on railways till the engines were within a few yards
of them. Hunting elephants on foot would be not less
dangerous,* unless the Ceylon mode of killing them by

* Since writing the above statement, it has received confirmation in
the reported death of Mr. Walhberg while hunting elephants on foot at
Lake Ngami.

8

&6 SCARCITY OF WATER.

one shot could be followed: it has never been tried in
Africa.

Advancing to some wells beyond Letloche, at a spot
named Kanne, we found them carefully hedged round by
the people of a Bakalahari village situated near the spot.
We had then sixty miles of country in front without water,
and very distressing for the oxen, as it is generally deep
soft sand. There is one sucking-place, around which were
congregated great numbers of Bushwomen with their egg-
shells and reeds. Mathuluane now contained no water, and
Motlatsa only a small supply ; so we sent the oxen across
the country to the deep well Nkauane, and half were lost
on the way. When found at last, they had been five whole
days without water. Very large numbers of elands were
met with, as usual, though they seldom can get a sip of
drink. Many of the plains here have large expanses of
grass without trees ; but you seldom see a treeless horizon.

CHAPTER VIII.
DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE COUNTRY OF THE MAKOLOLO.

Tuer Bakalahari, who live at Motlatsa Wells, have always
been very friendly to us, and listen attentively to instruc-
tion conveyed to them in their own tongue. It is, how-
ever, difficult to give an idea to a European of the little
effect teaching produces; because no one can realize the
degradation to which their minds have been sunk by cen-
turies of barbarism and hard struggling for the necessaries
of life: like most others, they listen with respect and
attention; but, when we kneel down and address an
unseen Being, the position and the act often appear to
them so ridiculous that they cannot refrain from bursting
into uncontrollable laughter. After a few services they

EFFECTS OF MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 87

get over this tendency. I was once present when a mis-
sionary attempted to sing among a wild heathen tribe of
Bechuanas, who had no music in their composition: the
effect on the risible faculties of the audience was such that
the tears actually ran down their cheeks. Nearly all their
thoughts are directed to the supply of their bodily wants;
and this has been the case with the race for ages. Ifasked,
then, what effect the preaching of the gospel has at the com-
mencement on such individuals, I am unable to tell, except
that some have confessed long afterward that they then first
began to pray in secret. Of the effects of a long-continued
course of instruction there can be no reasonable doubt, as
mere nominal belief has never been considered sufficient
proof of conversion by any body of missionaries; and, after
the change which has been brought about by this agency,
we have good reason to hope well for the future: those IL
have myself witnessed behaving in the manner described,
when kindly treated in sickness, often utter imploring
words to Jesus, and, I believe, sometimes really do pray to
him in their afflictions. As that great Redeemer of the
guilty seeks to save all he can, we may hope that they
find mercy through his blood, though little able to appre-
ciate the sacrifice he made.

Leaving Motlatsa on the 8th of February, 1853, we
passed down the Mokoko, which, in the memory of per-
sons now living, was a flowing stream.

At Nchokotsa, the rainy season having this year been
delayed beyond the usual time, we found during the day
_ the thermometer stand at 96° in the coolest possible

shade.

We dug out several wells; and, as we had on each occa-
sion to wait till the water flowed in again, and then allow
our cattle to feed a day or two and slake their thirse
thoroughly, as far as that could be done, before starting,
our progress was but slow. At Koobe there was sucha
mass of mud in the pond, worked up by the wallowing
rhinoceros to the consistency of mortar, that only by great

88 THE BUSHMEN.

labor could we get a space cleared at one side for the watez
to ooze through and collect in for the oxen.

At Rapesh we came among our old friends the Bushmen,
under Horoye. This man, Horoye, a good specimen of
that tribe, and his son Mokantsa, and others, were at least
six feet high, and of a darker color than the Bushmen of
the south. They have always plenty of food and water ;
and, as they frequent the Zouga as often as the game in
company with which they live, their life is very different
from that of the inhabitants of the thirsty plains of the
Kalahari.

Those among whom we now were kill many elephants,
and, when the moon is full, choose that time for the chase,
on account of its coolness. Hunting this animal is the
best test of courage this country affords. The Bushmen
choose the moment succeeding a charge, when the ele-
phant is out of breath, to run in and give him a stab with
their long-bladed spears. In this case the uncivilized have
the advantage over us; but I believe that, with half their
training, Englishmen would beat the Bushmen.

At Maila we spent a Sunday with Kaisa, the head-man
of a village of Mashona, who had fled from the iron sway
of Mosilikatse, whose country lies east of this. I wished
him to take charge of a packet of letters for England, to
be forwarded when, as is the custom of the Bamangwato,
the Bechuanas come hither in search of skins and food
among the Bushmen; but he could not be made to compre-
hend that there was no danger in the consignment. He
feared the responsibility and guilt if any thing should hap- |
pen to them; so I had to bid adieu to all hope of letting
my family hear of my welfare till I should reach the west
- coast.

At Unku we came into a tract of country which had
been visited by refreshing showers long before, and every
spot was covered with grass run up to seed, and the flowers
of the forest were in full bloom. Instead of the dreary
prospect around Koobe and Nchokotsa, we had here a de-

PARTY ATTACKED BY FEVER. 89

hghtfal scene,—all the ponds full of water, and the birds
twitverins joyfully. As the game can now obtain water
everywhere, they become very shy, and cannot be found
in their sccustomed haunts.

lst Murch—The thermometer in the shade generally
stood at 98° from 1 to 3 p.m.; but it sank as low as 65° by
night; so that the heat was by no means exhausting. At
the surfice of the ground, in the sun, the thermometer
marked 125°, and, three inches below it, 188°. The hand
cannot |e held on the ground, and even the horny soles of
the feet of the natives must be protected by sandals of
hide; yet the ants were busy working on it. The water
in the ponds was as high as 100°; but, as water does not
conduct heat readily downward, deliciously-cool water
may be obtained by any one walking into the middle and
lifting up the water from the bottom to the surface with
his hands.

Proceeding to the north, from Kama-kama, we entered
into dense Mohonono bush, which required the constant
application of the axe by three of our party for two days.
This bush has fine silvery leaves, and the bark has a sweet
taste. The elephant, with his usual delicacy of taste, feeds
much on it. On emerging into the plains beyond, we found
a number of Bushmen, who afterward proved very service-
able. The rains had been copious; but now great numbers
of pools were drying up. Lotus-plants abounded in them,
and a low, sweet-scented plant covered their banks.
Breezes came occasionally to us from these drying-up
pools; but the pleasant odor they carried caused sneezing
in both myself and people; and on the 10th of March (when
in lat. 19° 16’ 11” S., long. 24° 24’ BE.) we were brought
to a stand by four of the party being seized with fever.
I had seen this disease before, but did not at once recognise
it as the African fever: I imagined it was only a bilious
attack arising from full feeding on flesh; for, the large
game haying been. very abundant, we always had a good
supply. But, instead of the first sufferers recovering somn,

Qe

90 GRAPEw-

every man of our party was in a few days laid low, except
a Bakwain and myself. He managed the oxen, while I
attended to the wants of the patients and went out occa-
sionally with the Bushmen to get a zebra or buffalo, so as
to induce them to remain with us.

Here for the first time I had leisure to follow the mstrue-
sions of my kind teacher, Mr. Maclear, and calculated seve-
ral longitudes from lunar distances. The hearty manner
in which that eminent astronomer and frank, friendly man
had promised to aid me in calculating and verifying my
work conduced more than any thing else to inspire me
with perseverance in making astronomical observations
throughout the journey.

We wished to avoid the tsetse of our former path, so
kept a course on the magnetic meridan from Lurilopepe.
The necessity of making a new path much increased our
toil. We were, however, rewarded in lat. 18° with a sight
we had not enjoyed the year before, namely, large patches
of grape-bearing vines. There they stood before my eyes;
but the sight was so entirely unexpected that I stood some
time gazing at the clusters of grapes with which they were
loaded, with no more thought of plucking than if I had
been beholding them in a dream. The Bushmen know
and eat them; but they are not well flavored, on account
of the great astringency of the seeds, which are in shape
and size like split peas. The elephants are fond of the
fruit, plant, and root alike.

The forest, through which we were slowly toiling, daily
became more dense, and we were kept almost constantly
at work with the axe; there was much more leafiness in
' the trees here than farther south. The leaves are chiefly
of the pinnate and bi-pinnate forms, and are exceedingly
neautiful when seen against the sky: a great variety of
the papilionaceous family grow in this part of the country.

Fleming had until this time always assisted to drive his
wn wagon, but about the end of March he knocked up, as
well as his people. As I could not drive two wagons, J

BUSHMEN’S MODE OF LION-HUNTING. 91

shared with him the remaining water, half a caskful, and
went on, with the intention of coming back for him as
soon as we should reach the next pool. Heavy rain now
commenced; I was employed the whole day in cutting down
trees, and every stroke of the axe brought down a thick
shower on my back, which in the hard work was very
refreshing, as the water found its way down into my shoes
In the evening we met some Bushmen, who volunteered
to show us a pool; and, having unyoked, I walked some
miles in search of it. As it became dark they showed
their politeness—a quality which is by no means confined
entirely to the civilized—by walking in front, breaking the
branches which hung across the path, and pointing out the
fallen trees. On returning to the wagon, we found that
being left alone had brought out some of Fleming’s energy,
for he had managed to come up.

As the water in this pond dried up, we were soon
obliged to move again. One of the Bushmen took out his
dice, and, after throwing them, said that God told him to
go home. He threw again, in order to show me the com-
mand, but the opposite result followed; so he remained
and was useful, for we lost the oxen again by a lion driving
them off to a very great distance. The lions here are not
often heard. They seem to have a wholesome dread of the
Bushmen, who, when they observe evidence of a lion’s
having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly
that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a
poisoned arrow from a distance of only a few feet, while
his companion simultaneously throws his skin cloak on the
beast’s head. The sudden surprise makes the lion lose his
presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest con-
fusion and terror. Our friends here showed me the poison
which they use on these occasions. It is the entrails
of a caterpillar called N’gwa, half an inch long. They
squeeze out these, and place them all around the bottom
‘ of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. They
are very careful in cleaning their nails after working with

92 THE SANSHUREH.

it, as a small portion introduced into a scratch acts like
morbid matter in dissection-wounds. The agony is so
great that the person cuts himself, calls for his mother’s
breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood again,
or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The
effects on the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moan-
ing in distress, and becomes furious, biting the trees and
ground in rage.

As the Bushmen have the reputation of curing the
wounds of this poison, I asked how this was effected.
They said that they administer the caterpillar itself in
combination with fat; they also rub fat into the wound,
saying that “the N’gwa wants fat, and, when it does not
find it in the body, kills the man: we give it what it
wants, and it is content: a reason which will commend
itself to the enlightened among ourselves.

None of the men of our party had died, but two seemed
unlikely to recover; and Kibopechoe, my willing Mokwain,
at last became troubled with boils, and then got all the
symptoms of fever. As he lay down, the others began to
move about, and complained of weakness only. Believing
that frequent change of place was conducive to their
recovery, we moved along as much as we could, and came
to the hill N’gwa, (lat. 18° 27’ 20” S., long. 24° 13’ 36” EH.)
This being the only hill we had seen since leaving Bamang-
wato, we felt inclined to take off our hats to it. It is
three or four hundred feet high, and covered with trees.

Our Bushmen wished to leave us, and, as there was no
use in trying to thwart these independent gentlemen, I
paid them, and allowed them to go. The payment, how-
ever, acted as a charm on some strangers who happened
to be present, and induced them to volunteer their aid.

We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an
impassable barrier; so we drew up under a magnificent
baobab-tree, (lat. 18° 4’ 27” S., long. 24° 6’ 20” E.,) and
resolved to explore the river for a ford. The great quan-
tity of water we had passed through was part of the

BANKS OF THE CHOBE. 93

annual inundation of the Chobe; and this, which appeared
a large, deep river, filled in many parts with reeds, and
having hippopotami in it, is only one of the branches by
which it sends its superabundant water to the southeast.

We made so many attempts to get over the Sanshureh,
both to the west and east of the wagon, in the hope of
reaching some of the Makololo on the Chobe, that my
Bushmen friends became quite tired of the work. By
means of presents I got them to remain some days; but at
last they slipped away by night, and I was fain to take
one of the strongest of my still weak companions and cross
the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains Codrington and
Webb. We each carried some provisions and a blanket,
and penetrated about twenty miles to the westward, in
the hope of striking the Chobe. It was much nearer to us
in a northerly direction, but this we did not then know.
The plain, over which we splashed the whole of the first
day, was covered with water ankle deep, and thick grass
which reached above the knees. In the evening we came
to an immense wall of reeds, six or eight feet high, without
any opening admitting of a passage. When we tried to
enter, the water always became so deep that we were fain
to desist. We concluded that we had come to the banks
of the river we were in search of; so we directed our course
to some trees which appeared in the south, in order to get
a bed and a view of the adjacent locality. Having shot a
leche, and made a glorious fire, we got a good cup of tea
and had a comfortable night.

Next morning, by climbing the highest trees, we could
see a fine large sheet of water, but surrounded on all sides
vy the same impenetrable belt of reeds. This is the broad
part of the river Chobe, and is called Zabesa. Two tree-
covered islands seemed to be much nearer to the water
than the shore on which we were; so we made an attempt
to get to them first. It was not the reeds alone we had
to pass through; a peculiar serrated grass, which at certain
angles cut the hands like a razor, was mingled with the

94 THE CHOBE.

reed, and the climbing convolvulus, with stalks which felt
as strong as whipcord, bound the mass together. We felt
like pygmies in it, and often the only way we could get
on was by both of us leaning against a part and bending
it down till we could stand upon it. The perspiration
streamed off our bodies, and as the sun rose high, there
being no ventilation among the reeds, the heat was stifling,
and the water, which was up to the knees, felt agreeably
refreshing. After some hours’ toil we reached one of the
islands. Here we met an old friend, the bramble-bush.
My strong moleskins were quite worr through at the knees;
and the leather trousers of my companion were torn and
nis legs bleeding. Tearing my handkerchief in two, I tied
the pieces round my knees, and then encountered another
difficulty. We were still forty or fifty yards from the clear
water, but now we were opposed by great masses of papy-
rus, which are like palms in miniature, eight or ten feet
high, and an inch and a half in diameter. These were
laced together by twining convolvulus so strongly that the
weight of both of us could not make way into the clear
water. At last we fortunately found a passage prepared
by a hippopotamus. Eager as soon as we reached the
island to look along the vista to clear water, I stepped in
and found it took me at once up to the neck.

Returning nearly worn out, we proceeded up the bank
of the Chobe till we came to the point of departure of the
branch Sanshureh; we then went in the opposite direction,
or down the Chobe, though from the highest trees we could
sce nothing but one vast expanse of reed, with here and
there a tree on the islands. This was a hard day’s work;
and, when we came to a deserted Bayeiye hut on an ant-
hill, not a bit of wood or any thing else could be got for a
fire except the grass and sticks of the dwelling itself. I
dreaded the “ Tampans,”’ so common in all old huts; but
outside of it we had thousands of mosquitos, and cold
dew began to be deposited, s0 we were fain to crawl be-
neath its shelter.

ARRIVAL AT MOREMI. 95

We were close to the reeds, and could listen to the strange
sounds which are often heard there. By day I had seen
water-snakes putting up their heads and swimming about.
There were great numbers of otters, (Lutra inunguis, F.
Cuvier,) which have made little spoors all over the plains
m search of the fishes, among the tall grass of these flooded
prairies; curious birds, too, jerked and wriggled among
these reedy masses, and we heard human-like voices and
unearthly sounds, with splash, guggle, jupp, as if rare fun
were going on in their uncouth haunts. After a damp,
cold night, we set to, early in the morning, at our work of
exploring again, but left the pontoon in order to lighten
our labor. The ant-hills are here very high, some thirty
fect, and of a base so broad that trees grow on them; while
the lands, annually flooded, bear nothing but grass. From
one of these ant-hills we discovered an inlet to the Chobe;
and, having gone back for the pontoon, we launched our-
selves on a deep river, here from eighty to one hundred
yards wide. I gave my companion strict injunctions to
stick by the pontoon in case a hippopotamus should look »
at us; nor was this caution unnecessary, for one came up
at our side and made a desperate plunge off. We had _
passed over him. The wave he made caused the pontoon
to glide quickly away from him.

We paddled on from mid-day till sunset. There was
nothing but a wall of reed on each bank, and we saw every
prospect of spending a supperless night in our float; but,
just as the short twilight of these parts was commencing,
we perceived on the north bank the village of Moremi, one
of the Makololo, whose acquaintance I had made on our
foimer visit, and who was now located on the island Ma.
honta, (lat. 17° 58’S., long. 24° 6’ E.) The villagers looked
as we may suppose people do who see a ghost, and in their
figurative way of speaking said, ‘He has dropped among
us from the clouds, yet came riding on the back of a hip-
popotamus! We Makololo thought no one could cross the

96 DEPARTURE FROM LINYANTI.

Chobe without our knowledge, but here he drops among
us like a bird.”

Next day we returned in canoes across the flooded lands,
and found that, in our absence, the men had allowed the
cattle to wander into a very small patch of wood to the
west containing the tsetse; this carelessmess cost me ten
fine large oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the
head-men of the Makololo came down from Linyanti, with
a large party of Barotse, to take us across the river. This
they did in fine style, swimming and diving among the
oxen more like alligators than men, and taking the wagons
to pieces and carrying them across on a number of canoes
lashed together. We were now among friends; so, going
about thirty miles to the north, in order to avoid the still
flooded lands on the north of the Chobe, we turned west-
ward toward Linyanti, (lat. 18° 17’ 20” S., long. 23° 50’ 9”
E.,) where we arrived on the 28d of May, 1858. This is
the capital town of the Makololo, and only a short distance
from our wagon-stand of 1851, (lat. 18° 20’S., long. 23°
5U’ E.)

CHAPTER IX.

DR. LIVINGSTONE LABORS AS A MISSIONARY AMONG THE
MAKOLOLO.

Tue whole population of Linyanti, numbering between
six and seven thousand souls, turned out en masse to see
the wagons in motion. They had never witnessed the phe-
nomenon before, we having on the former occasion departed
by night. Sekeletu, now in power, received us in what is
considered royal style, setting before us a great number
of pots of boyaloa, the beer of the country. These were
brought by women, and each bearer takes a good draught
of the beer when she sets it down, by way of “tasting,”
to show that there is no poison.

THE COURT HERALD. 97

The court herald, an old man who occupied the post also
in Sebituane’s time, stood up, and after some antics, such
as leaping, and shouting at the top of his voice, roared out
some adulatory sentences, as, ‘‘ Don’t I see the white man?
Don’t I see the comrade of Sebituane? Don’t I see the
father of Sekeletu ?’—“ We want sleep.”—“ Give your son
sleep, my lord,” &c. &. The perquisites of this man are
the heads of all the cattle slaughtered by the chief, and he
even takes a share of the tribute before it is distributed
and taken outof the kotla. He is expected to utter all the
prezlamations, call assemblies, keep the kotla clean, and
the fire burning every evening, and when a person is
executed in public he drags away the body.

I found Sekeletu a young man of eighteen years of age,
of that dark yellow or coffee-and-milk color of which the
Makololo are so proud, because it distinguishes them
considerably from the black tribes on the rivers. He is
about five feet seven in height, and neither so good-looking
nor of so much ability as his father was, but is equally
friendly to the English. Sebituane installed his daughter
Mamochisane into the chieftainship long before his death,
but, with all his acuteness, the idea of her having a hus-
band who should not be her lord did not seem to enter his
mind. He wished to make her his successor, probably in
imitation of some of the negro tribes with whom he had
come into contact; but, being of the Bechuana race, he
could not look upon the husband except as the woman’s
lord; so he told her all the men were hers,—she might
take any one, but ought to keep none. In fact, he thought
she might do with the men what he could do with the
women; but these men had other wives; and, according
to a saying in the country, “the tongues of women can-
not be governed,” they made her miserable by their re-
marks. One man whom she chose was even called her wife,
and her son the child of Mamochisane’s wife; but the ar-
rangement was so distasteful to Mamochisane herself that,

aa soon as Sebituane died, she said she never would consent
@ 9

98 SEKELETU BECOMES CHIEFTAIN.

to govern the Makololo so long as she had a brother living.
Sekeletu, being afraid of another member of the family,
Mpépe, who had pretensions to the chieftainship, urged his
sister strongly to remain as she had always been, and
allow him to support her authority by leading the Mako-
lolo when they went forth to war. Three days were spent
in public discussion on the point. Mpepe insinuated that
Sekeletu was not the lawful son of Sebituane, on account
of his mother having been the wife of another chief befcre
her marriage with Sebituane; Mamochisane, however,
upheld Sekeletu’s claims, and at last stood up in the as-
sembly and addressed him with a womanly gush of tears:
—TI have been a chief only because my father wished it.
I always would have preferred to be married and have a
family like other women. You, Sekeletu, must be chief,
and build up your father’s house.” This was a death-blow
to the hopes of Mpepe, who was soon after speared for an
attempt to assassinate Sekeletu.

Soon after our arrival at Linyanti, Sekeletu took me
aside, and pressed me to mention those things I liked best
and hoped to get from him. Any thing, either in or out
of his town, should be freely given if I would only men-
tion it. I explained to him that my object was to elevate
him and his people to be Christians; but he replied he did
not wish to learn to read the Book, for he was afraid “ it
might change his heart, and make him content with only
one wife, like Sechele.” It was of little use to urge that
the change of heart implied a contentment with one wife
equal to his present complacency in polygamy. Such a
preference after the change of mind could not now be
understood by him any more than the real, unmistakable
pleasure of religious services can by those who have not
experienced what is known by the term the “new heart.”
Lassured him that nothing was expected but by his own
voluntary decision. “No,no; he wanted always to have
five wives at least.” I liked the frankness of Sekeletu, for

PUBLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICE. 99

ncthing is so wearying to the spirit as talking to those
who agree with every thing advanced. Opts He

At our public religious services in the kotla, the Maku-
lolo women always behaved with decorum from the first,
except at the conclusion of the prayer. When all knelt
down, many of those who had children, in following the
example of the rest, bent over their little ones: the chil-
dren, in terror of being crushed to death, set up a simul-
taneous yell, which so tickled the whole assembly there
was often a subdued titter, to be turned into a hearty
laugh as soon as they heard Amen.

The numbers who attended at the summons of the
herald, who acted as beadle, were often from five to seven
hundred. The service consisted of reading a small portion
of the Bible and giving an explanatory address, usually
short enough to prevent weariness or want of attention.
So long as we continue to hold services in the kotla, the as-
sociations of the place are unfavorable to solemnity; hence
it is always desirable to have a place of worship as soon as
possible ; and it is of importance, too, to treat such place
with reverence, as an aid to secure that serious attention
which religious subjects demand. This will appear more
evident when it is recollected that, in the very spot where
we had been engaged in acts of devotion, half an hour
after a dance would be got up; and these habits cannot be
at first opposed without the appearance of assuming too
much authority over them. It is always unwise to hurt
their feelings of independence.

To give an idea of the routine followed for months to-
gether, on other days as well as on Sundays, I may advert
to my habit of treating the sick for complaints which
seemed to surmount the skill of their own doctors. I re-
frained from going to any one unless his own doctor
wished it or had given up the case. This led to my
having a selection of the severer cases only, and prevented
the doctors’ being offended at my taking their practice out
of their hands. When attacked by fever myself, and wish

J00 TEACHING THE MAKOLOLC TO READ.

ing to ascertain what their practices were, I could safely
intrust myself in their hands, on account of their well-
known friendly feelings.

I proposed to teach the Makololo to read; but, for the
reasons mentioned, Sekeletu at first declined: after some
weeks, however, Motibe, his father-in-law, and some others,
determined to brave the mysterious book. To all who
have not acquired it, the knowledge of letters is quite
unfathomable; there is naught like it within the compass
of their observation; and we have no comparison with
any thing except pictures, to aid them in comprehending
the idea of signs of words. It seems to them supernatural
that we see in a book things taking place or having oc-
curred at a distance. No amount of explanation conveys
the idea unless they learn to read. Machinery is equally
inexplicable, and money nearly as much so until they see
it in actual use. They are familiar with barter alone; and
in the centre of the country, where gold is totally un-
known, if a button and sovereign were left to their choice,
they would prefer the former on account of its having an
eye.

In beginning to learn, Motibe seemed to himself in the
position of the doctor, who was obliged to drink his potion
before the patient, to show that it contained nothing detri-
mental; after he had mastered the alphabet, and reported
the thing so far safe, Sekeletu and his young companions
came forward to try for themselves. He must have re-
solved to watch the effects of the book against his views
on polygamy, and abstain whenever he perceived any ten-
dency, in reading it, toward enforcing him to put his wives
away. A number of men learned the alphabet in a short
time, and were set to teach others, but before much pro-
gress could be made I was on my way to Loanda.

As I had declined to name any thing as a present from
Sekeletu, except a canoe to take me up the river, he brought
ten fine elephants’ tusks and laid them down beside my
wagon. He would take no denial, though I told hin J

SEKELETU’S PRESENT. 101

should prefer to see him trading with Fleming, a man ot’
color from the West Indies, who had come for the purpose.
I had, during the eleven years of my previous course,
invariably abstained from taking presents of ivory, from an
idea that a religious instructor degraded himself by accept-
ing gifts from those whose spiritual welfare he professed
to seek. My precedence of all traders in the line of dis-
covery put me often in the way of very handsome offers ;
but I always advised the donors to sell their ivory to
traders, who would be sure to follow, and when at some
future time they had become rich by barter they might
remember me or my children. When Lake Ngami was
discovered, I might have refused permission to a trader
who accompanied us; but when he applied for leave to
form part of our company, knowing that Mr. Oswell
would no more trade than myself, and that the people of
the lake would be disappointed if they could not dispose
of their ivory, I willingly granted a sanction, without
which his people would not at that time have ventured so
far. This was surely preferring the interest of another to
my own. The return I got for this was a notice in one
of the Cape papers that this “‘ man was the true discoverer
of the lake!” :

The conclusion I had come to was that it is quite lawful,
though perhaps not expedient, for missionaries to trade ;
but barter is the only means by which a missionary in the
interior can pay his way, as money has no value. In all
the journeys I had previously undertaken for wider diffu-
sion of the gospel, the extra expenses werc defrayed from -
my salary of £100 per annum. This sum ‘is sufficient to
enable a missionary to live in the interior of South Africa,
supposing he has a garden capable of yielding corn and
vegetables; but should he not, and still consider that six
or eight months cannot lawfully be spent simply in getting
goods at a lower price than they can be had from itinerant
traders, the sum mentioned is barely sufficient for the

poorest fare and plainest apparel. As we never felt our-
g*

102 PRESENTS AND TRADING.

selves justified in making journeys to the colony for the
sake of securing bargains, the most frugal living was ne-
cessary to enable us to be a little charitable to others; but
when to this were added extra travelling-expenses, the
wants of an increasing family, and liberal gifts to chiefs, it
was difficult to make both ends meet. The pleasure of
missionary labor would be enhanced if one could devote
_ his life to the heathen without drawing a salary from a
society at all. The luxury of doing good from one’s own
private resources, without appearing to either natives or
Europeans to be making a gain of it, is far preferable, and
an object worthy the ambition of the rich. But few men
of fortune, however, now devote themselves to Christian
missions, as of old. Presents were always given to the
chiefs whom we visited, and nothing accepted in return ;
but when Sebituane (in 1851) offered some ivory, I took
it, and was able by its sale to present his son with a num-
per of really useful articles of a higher value than I had
ever been able to give before to any chief. In doing this,
of course, I appeared to trade, but, feeling I had a right to
do so, I felt perfectly easy in my mind; and, as I still held
the view of the inexpediency of combining the two profes-
sions, | was glad of the proposal of one of the most honor-
able merchants of Cape Town, Mr. H. E. Rutherford, that
he should risk a sum of money in Fleming’s hands for the
purpose of attempting to develop a trade with the Mako-
lolo. It was to this man I suggested Sekeletu should sell
the tusks which he had presented for my acceptance; but
the chief refuse. to take them back from me. The goods
which Fleming had brought were ill adapted for the use
of the natives, but he got a pretty good load of ivory in
exchange; and though it was his first attempt at trading,
and the distance travelled over made the expenses enor-
mous, he was nota loser by the trip. Other traders fol-
lowed, who demanded 90 lbs. of ivory for a musket. The
Makololo, knowing nothing of steelyards, but supposing
that they were meant to cheat them, declined to trade

PRESENTS TO SEKELETU. 103

except by exchanging one bull and one cow elephant’s
tusk for each gun. This would average 70 lbs. of ivory,
which sells at the Cape for 5s. per pound, for a second-
hand musket worth 10s. I, being sixty miles distant, did
not witness this attempt at barter, but, anxious to enable
my countrymen to drive a brisk trade, told the Makololo
to sell my ten tusks on their own account for whatever
they would bring. Seventy tusks were for sale, but, the
parties not understanding each other’s talk, no trade was
established ; and when I passed the spot some time after-
ward I found that the whole of that ivory had been de-
stroyed by an accidental fire, which broke out in the village
when all the people were absent. Success in trade is as
much dependent on knowledge of the language as success
in travelling.

I had brought with me as presents an improved breed
of goats, fowls, and a pair of cats. A superior bull was
bought, also as a gift to Sekeletu; but I was compelled to
leave it on account of its having become foot-sore. As the
Makololo are very fond of improving the breed of their
domestic animals, they were much pleased with my selec-
tion. I endeavored to bring the bull, in performance of a
promise made to Sebituane before he died. Admiring a
calf which we had with us, he proposed to give me a cow for
it, which in the native estimation was offering three times
its value. I presented it to him at once, and promised to
bring him another and a better one. Sekeletu was much
gratified by my attempt to keep my word given to Is
father

104 THE FEVER.

CHAPTER X.

SICKNESS OF DR. LIVINGSTONE— ACCOUNT OF SEKELETU AND
4 =
HIS SUBJECTS.

On the 30th of May I was seized with fever, for the first
time. We reached the town of Linyanti on the 23d; and,
as my habits were suddenly changed from great exertion to
comparative inactivity, at the commencement of the cold
season I suffered from a severe attack of stoppage of the
secretions, closely resembling a common cold. Warm baths
and drinks relieved me, and I had no idea but that I was
now recovering from the effects of a chill got by leaving
the warm wagon in the evening in order to conduct family
worship at my people’s fire. But on the 2d of June a
relapse showed to the Makololo, who knew the complaint,
that my indisposition was no other than the fever, with
which I have since made a more intimate acquaintance.
Cold east winds prevail at this time; and as they come
over the extensive flats inundated by the Chobe, as well as
many other districts where pools of rain-water are now
drying up, they may be supposed to be loaded with mala- —
ria and watery vapor, and many cases of fever follow. The
usual symptoms of stopped secretion are manifested,—
shivering and a feeling of coldness, though the skin is
quite hot to the touch of another. The heat in the axille,
over the heart and region of the stomach, was in my case
100°, but along the spine and at the nape of the neck 103°.
The internal processes were all, with the exception of the
kidneys and liver, stopped; the latter, in its efforts to free
the blood of noxious particles, often secretes enormous
quantities of bile. There were pains along the spine, and
frontal headache. Anxious to ascertain whether the natives
possessed the knowledge of any remedy of which we were
ignorant, I requested the assistance of one of Sekeletu’s
doctors. He put some roots into a pot with water, and,

NATIVE REMEDIES. 105

when it was boiling, placed it on a spot beneath a blanket
thrown around both me and it. This produced no im-
mediate effect: he then got a small bundle of different
kinds of medicinal woods, and, burning them in a potsherd
nearly to ashes, used the smoke and hot vapor arising from
them as an auxiliary to the other in causing diaphoresis.
I fondly hoped that they had a more potent remedy than
our own medicines afford; but after being stewed in their
vapor-baths, smoked like a red herring over green twigs,
and charmed secundum artem, I concluded that I could cure
the fever more quickly than they can. If we employ a wet
sheet and a mild aperient in combination with quinine, in
addition to the native remedies, they are an important aid
in curing the fever, as they seem to have the same stimu-
lating effects on the alimentary canal as these means have
on the external surface. Purgatives, general bleeding, or
indeed any violent remedies, are injurious; and the ap-
pearance of a herpetic eruption near the mouth is regarded
as an evidence that no internal organ is in danger. There
is a good deal in not “‘giving in” to this disease. He who
is low-spirited, and apt to despond at every attack, will die
sooner than the man whois not of such a melancholic nature.

The Makololo had made a garden and planted maize for
me, that, as they remarked when I was parting with them
to proceed to the Cape, I might have food to eat when I
returned, as well as other people. The maize was now
pounded by the women into fine meal. This they do in
large wooden mortars, the counterpart of which may be
seen depicted on the Egyptian monuments. Sekeletu added
to this good supply of meal ten or twelve jars of honey,
each of which contained about two gallons. Liberal sup-
plies of groundnuts were also furnished every time the
tributary tribes brought their dues to Linyanti, and an ox
was given for slaughter every week or two. Sckeletu also
appropriated two cows to be milked for us every morning
and evening. This was in accordance with the acknow-
ledged rule throughout the country, that the chief should

\

106 EXTENSIVE CULTIVATION OF LAND.

feed all the strangers who come on any special business 19
him and take up their abode in his kotla.

The Makololo cultivate a large extent of land around
their villages. Those of them who are real Basutos still
retain the habits of that tribe, and may be seen going out
with their wives with their hoes in hand,—a state of things
never witnessed at Kolobeng, or among any other Be-
chuana or Caffre tribe. The great chief Moshesh affords
an example to his people annually, by not only taking the hoe
in hand, but working hard with it on certain, public occasions.
His Basutos are of the same family with the Makololo to
whom I refer. The younger Makololo, who have been
accustomed from their infancy to lord it over the conquered
Makalaka, have unfortunately no desire to imitate the
agricultural tastes of their fathers, and expect their sub-
jects to perform all the manual labor. They are the aris-
tocracy of the country, and once possessed almost unlimited
power over their vassals. Their privileges were, however,
much abridged by Sebituane himself.

The tribes which Sebituane subjected in this great
country pass by the general name of Makalaka. The Ma-
kololo were composed of a great number of other tribes,
as well as these central negroes. The nucleus of the whole ©
were Basuto, who came with Sebituane from a compara-
tively cold anl hilly region in the south. When he con-
quered various tribes of the Bechuanas, as Bakwains,
Bangwaketze, Bamangwato, Batauana, &., he incorpo-
rated the young of these tribes into his own. Great mor-
tality by fever having taken place in the original stock, he
wisely adopted the same plan of absorption on a large scale
with the Makalaka. So we found him with even the sons
of the chiefs of the Barotse closely attached to his person:
and they say to this day, if any thing else but natural
death had assailed their father, every one of them would
have laid down his life in his defence. One reason for their
strong affection was their emancipation by the decree of
Sebituane, “al are children of the chief.”

-

f WARLIKE DEMONSTRATION. 107

Sekeletu receives tribute from a great number of tribes
in corn or dura, groundnuts, hoes, spears, honey, canoes,
paddles, wooden vessels, tobacco, mutokuane, (Cannabis sa-
tiva,) various wild fruits, (dried,) prepared skins, and ivory.
When these articles are brought into the kotla, Sekeletu
has the honor of dividing them among the loungers who
usually congregate there. A small portion only is reserved
for himself. The ivory belongs nominally to him too, but
this is simply a way of making a fair distribution of the
profits. The chief sells it only with the approbation of his
zounsellors, and the proceeds are distributed in open day
among the people as before. He has the choice of every
thing; but, if he is not more liberal to others than to him-
self, he loses in popularity. I have known instances in this
and other tribes in which individuals aggrieved, because
they had been overlooked, fied to other chiefs. One discon-
tented person, having fled to Lechulatebe, was encouraged
to go to a village of the Bapalleng, on the river Cho or 'I'so,
and abstracted the tribute of ivory thence which ought to
have come to Sekeletu. This theft enraged the whole of
the Makololo, because they all felt it to be a personal loss
Some of Lechulatebe’s people having come on a visit to
Linyanti, a demonstration was made, in which about five
hundred Makololo, armed, went through a mimic fight; the
principal warriors pointed their spears toward the lake
where Lechulatebe lives, and every thrust in that direction
was answered by all with the shout, ‘‘H60!” while every
stab on the ground drew out a simultaneous “ Huzz!” On
these occasions all capable of bearing arms, even the old,
must turn out at the call. In the time of Sebituane, any
one remaining in his house was searched for and killed
without mercy.

This offence of Lechulatebe was aggravated by repeti-
tion, and by a song sung in his town accompanying the
dances, which manifested joy at the death of Sebituane.
He had enjoined his people to live in peace with those at
the lake, and Sekeletu felt disposed to follow his advice;

ATEBE VOCATIONS
108 LECHULATEBE’S PROVOCATION

but Lechulatebe had now got possession of fire-arms, and
considered himself more than a match for the Makololo.
His father had been dispossessed of many cattle by Sebi-
tuane; and, as forgiveness is not considered among the
virtues by the heathen, Lechulatebe thought he had a
right to recover what he could. As I had a good deal of
influence with the Makololo, I persuaded them that, before
they could have peace, they must resolve to give the same
blessing to others, and they never could do that without
forgiving and forgetting ancient feuds. It is hard to make
them feel that shedding of human blood is a great crime:
they must be conscious that it is wrong, but, having been
accustomed to bloodshed from infancy, they are remarkably
callous to the enormity of the crime of destroying human
life.

I sent a message at the same time to Lechulatebe, advising
him to give up the course he had adopted, and especially
the song; because, though Sebituane was dead, the arms
with which he had fought were still alive and strong.

Sekeletu, in order to follow up his father’s instructions
and promote peace, sent ten cows to Lechulatebe to be ex-
changed for sheep; these animals thrive well in a bushy
country like that around the lake, but will scarcely live in
the flat prairies between the network of waters north of
the Chobe. The men who took the cows carried a number
of hoes to purchase goats besides. Lechulatebe took the
cows and sent back an equal number of sheep. Now, ac-
cording to the relative value of sheep and cows in these
parts, he ought to have sent sixty or seventy.

One of the men who had f.2es was trying to purchase in
a village without formal leave from Lechulatebe ; this chief
punished him by making him sit some hours on the broiling
hot sand, (at Jeast 180°.) This further offence put a stop to
amicable relations between the two tribes altogether. It
was a case in which a very small tribe, commanded by a
weak and foolish chief, had got possession of fire-arms, and
felt conscious of ability to cope with a numerous and war-

ANT-IILLS. 169

like race. Such cases are the only ones in which the pos-
session of fire-arms does evil. The universal effect of the dir
fusion of the more potent instruments of warfare in Africa
is the same as among ourselves. Fire-arms render wars less
frequent and less bloody. It is indeed exceedingly rare to
hear of two tribes having guns going to war with each other;
and, as nearly all the feuds, in the south at least, have been
about cattle, the risk which must be incurred from long
shots generally proves a preventive to the foray.

The Makololo were prevailed upon to keep the peace
during my residence with them, but it was easy to per-
ceive that public opinion was against sparing a tribe of
Bechuanas for whom the Makololo entertained the most
sovereion contempt. The young men would remark,
“Lechulatebe is herding our cows for us; let us only go,
we shall ‘lift’ the price of them in sheep,” &c.

CHAPTER XI.
DR. LIVINGSTONE LEAVES LINYANTI.

Havyine waited a month at Linyanti, (lat. 18° 17’ 20”S.,
long. 23° 50’ 9” E.,) we again departed, for the purpose of
ascending the river from Sesheke, (lat. 17° 31’ 38” S., long.
25° 13’ E.) To the Barotse country, the capital of which
is Nariéle or Naliéle, (lat. 15° 24’ 17” S., long. 23° 5’ 54” E.,)
I went in company with Sekeletu and about one hundred
and sixty attendants. We had most of the young men
with us, and many of the under-chiefs besides. The country
between Linyanti and Sesheke is perfectly flat, except
patches elevated only a few feet above the surrounding
level.. There are also many mounds where the gigantic
ant-hills of the country have been situated or still appear:
these mounds are evidently the work of the termites. No
one who has not seen their gigantic structures can fancy

10

110 THE CHIEF'S GUARD

the industry of these little laborers; they seem to impart
fertility to the soil which has once passed through their
mouths, for the Makololo find the sides of ant-hills the
choice spots for rearing early maize, tobacco, or any thing
on which they wish to bestow especial care. We had the
Chobe on our right, with its scores of miles of reed occupy-
ing the horizon there. It was pleasant to look back on the
long extended line of our attendants, as it twisted and bent
according to the curves of the footpath, or in and out behind
the mounds, the ostrich-feathers of the men waving in the
wind. Some had the white ends of ox-tails on their heads,
hussar fashion, and others great bunches of black ostrich-
feathers, or caps made of lions’ manes. Some wore red
tunics, or various-colored prints which the chief had bought
from Fleming ; the common men carried burdens; the gen-
tlemen walked with a small club of rhinoceros-horn in their
hands, and had servants to carry their shields; while the
“Machaka,” battle-axe men, carried their own, and were
liable at any time to be sent off a hundred miles on an
errand, and expected to run all the way.

Sekeletu is always accompanied by his own Mopato, a
number of young men of his own age. When he sits down
they crowd around him; those who are nearest eat out of
the same dish, for the Makololo chiefs pride themselves on
eating with their people. He eats a little, then beckons
his neighbors to partake. When they have done so, he
perhaps beckons to some one at a distance to take a share;
that person starts forward, seizes the pot, and removes it
to his own companions. The comrades of Sekeletu, wish
ing to imitate him in riding on my old horse, leaped on the
backs of a number of half-broken Batoka oxen as they ran ;
but, having neither saddle nor bridle, the number of tumbles
they met with was a source of much amusement to the
rest.

When we arrived at any village, the women all turned
out to lulliloo their chief. Their shrill voices, to which
they give a tremulous sound by a quick motion of the

RECEPTION AT VILLAGES. 111

tongue, peal forth, “Great lion!’ “Great chief!’ “Sleep,
my lord!” &c. The men utter similar salutations; and
Sekeletu receives all with becoming indifference. After a
few minutes’ conversation and telling the news, the head
man of the village, who is almost always a Makololo, rises
and brings forth a number of large pots of beer. Cala-
bashes, being used as drinking-cups, are handed round, and
as many as can partake of the beverage do so, grasping
the vessels so eagerly that they are in danger of being ©
broken. ;

They bring forth also large pots and bowls of thick mill;
some contain six or eight gallons; and each of these, as
well as of the beer, is given to a particular person, who has
the power to divide it with whom he pleases. The head-
man of any section of the tribe is generally selected for
this office. Spoons not being generally in fashion, the mill
is conveyed to the mouth with the hand. I often presented
my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe
how the habit of hand-eating prevailed, though they were
delighted with the spoons. They lifted out a little with
the utensil, then put it on the left hand, and ate it out of
that. .

As the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the
chief is expected to feed all who accompany him, he either
selects an ox or two of his own from the numerous cattle-
stations that he possesses at different spots all over the
couutry, or is presented by the head-men of the villages
he visits with as many as he needs, by way of tribute. The
animals are killed by a thrust from a small javelin in the
region of the heart, the wound being purposely small in
order to avoid any loss of blood, which, with the internal
parts, are the perquisites of the men who perform the work
of the butcher; hence all are eager to render service in
that line. Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and
distributing an animal. Among the Makololo the hump
and ribs belong to the chief; among the Bakwains the
breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up, the dif

112 SOCIAL MODE OF EATING.

ferent joints are placed before Sekeletu, and he apportions
them among the gentlemen of the party. The whole is
rapidly divided by their attendants, cut into long strips,
and so many of these are thrown into the fires at once that
they are nearly put out. Half broiled and burning hot,
the meat is quickly handed round; every one gets a mouth-
ful, but no one except the chief has time to masticate. It
is not the enjoyment of eating they aim at, but to get as
- much of the food into the stomach as possible during the
short time the others are cramming as well as themselves,
for no one can eat more than a mouthful after the others
have finished. They are eminently gregarious in their
eating; and, as they despise any one who eats alone, I
always poured out two cups of coffee at my own meals, so
that the chief, or some one of the principal men, might
partake along with me. They all soon become very fond
of coffee; and, indeed, some of the tribes attribute greater
fecundity to the daily use of this beverage. They were all
well acquainted with the sugarcane, as they cultivate it
in the Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method
of extracting the sugar from it. They use the cane only
for chewing. Sekeletu, relishing the sweet coffee and bis-
cuits, of which I then had a store, said “he knew my heart
loved him by finding his own heart warming to my food.”
He had been visited during my absence at the Cape by
some traders and Griquas, and ‘their coffee did not taste
half so nice as mine, because they loved his ivory and not
himself.” This was certainly an original mode of dis-
cerning character.

Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to
sleep. The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those
of the Makalaka are infested with vermin. The cleanli-
ness of the former is owing to the habit of frequently
smearing the floors with a plaster composed of cow-dung
and earth. If we slept in the tent in some villages, the
mice ran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or hungry
prowling dogs would eat our shoes and leave only the

MAKOLOLO HUTS. 113

soles. When they were guilty of this and other misde-
meanors, we got the loan of a hut. The best sort of Ma-
kololo huts consist of three circular walls, with small holes
as doors, each similar to that in a dog-house; and it
necessary to bend down the body to get in, even when on
all-fours. The roof is formed of reeds or straight sticks,
in shape like a Chinaman’s hat, bound firmly together with
circular bands, which ‘are lashed with the strong inner
bark of the mimosa-tree. When all prepared except the
thatch, it is lifted on to the circular wall, the rim resting
on a circle of poles, between each of which the third wall
is built. The roof is thatched with fine grass, and sewed
with the same material as the lashings; and, as it projects
far beyond the walls, and reaches within four feet of the
ground, the shade is the best to be found in the country.
These huts are very cool in the hottest day, but are close
and deficient in ventilation by night.

The bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with
twine; the hip-bone soon becomes sore on the hard flat
surface, as we are not allowed to make a hole in the floor
to receive the prominent part called trochanter by ana-
tomists, as we do when sleeping on grass or sand.

Our course at this time led us to a part above Sesheke,
called Katonga, where there is a village belonging to a
Bashubia man named Sekhosi,—latitude 17° 29’ 13”, longi-
tude 24° 33’. The river here is somewhat broader than at
Sesheke, and certainly not less than six hundred yards.
It flows somewhat slowly in the first part of its eastern
course. When the canoes came from Sekhosi to take us
over, one of the comrades of Sebituane rose, and, looking
to Sekeletu, called out, ‘‘The elders of a host always take
the lead in an attack.” This was understood at once; and
Sekeletu, with all the young men, were obliged to give the
elders the precedence, and remain on the southern bank
and see that all went orderly into the canoes. It took a
considerable time to ferry over the whole of our large
party, as, even with quick paddling, from six to eight

H 10% /

11+ THE LREAMBYE. on

—

minutes were spent in the mere passage from bank to
bank.

Several days were spent in collecting canoes from dif:
ferent villages on the river, which we now learned is called
by the whole of the Barotse the Liambai or Leeambye.
This we could not ascertain on our first visit, and, conse-
quently, called the river after the town “Sesheke.” This
term Sesheke means “white sand-banks,” many of which
exist at this part. There is another village in the valley
of the Barotse likewise called Sesheke, and for the same
reason; but the term Leeambye means ‘the large river,”
or the river par excellence. Luambéji, Luambesi, Ambézi,
Ojimbési, and Zambési, &c., are names applied to it at dif
ferent parts of its course, according to the dialect spoken,
and all possess a similar signification, and express the na-
tive idea of this magnificent stream being the main drain
of the country.

In order to assist in the support of our large party, and
at the same time to see the adjacent country, I went
several times, during our stay, to the north of the villago
for game. The country is covered with clumps of beauti-
ful trees, among which fine open glades stretch away in
every direction ; when the river is in flood these are inun-
dated, but the tree-covered elevated spots are much more
numerous here than in the country between the Chobe and
the Leeambye. The soil is dark loam, as it is everywhere
on spots reached by the inundation, while among the trees
it is sandy, and not covered so densely with grass as else-
where. A sandy ridge covered with trees, running parallel
to and about eight miles from the river, is the limit of the
inundation on the north; there are large tracts of this
sandy forest in that direction, till you come to other dis-
tricts of alluvial soil and fewer trees. The latter soil is
always found in the vicinity of rivers which either now
overflow their banks annually or formerly did so. The
people enjoy rain in sufficient quantity to raise very large
supplies of grain and groundnuts.

. AN ELAND SHOT. T15

Great numbers of buffaloes, zebras, tsessebes, tahaetsi,
and eland, or pohu, grazed undisturbed on these plains, so
that very little exertion was required to secure a fair sup-
ply of meat for the party during the necessary delay.
Hunting on foot, as all those who have engaged in it in
this country will at once admit, is very hard work indeed.
The heat of the sun by day is so great, even in winter, ag
it now was, that, had there been any one on whom I could
have thrown the task, he would have been most welcome
to all the sport the toil is supposed to impart. But the
Makololo shot so badly, that, in order to save my powder,
I was obliged to go myself.

We shot a beautiful cow-eland, standing in the shade of
a fine tree. It was evident that she had lately had hex
calf killed by a lion, for there were five long deep scratches
on both sides of her hind-quarters, as if she had run to the
rescue of her calf, and the lion, leaving it, had attacked
herself, but was unable to pull her down. When lying on
the ground, the milk flowing from the large udder showed
that she must have been seeking the shade, from the dis-
tress its non-removal in the natural manner caused. She.
was a beautiful creature, and Lebedle, a Makololo gentle-
man who accompanied me, speaking in reference to its size
and beauty, said, “Jesus ought to have given us these in-
stead of cattle.” It was a new, undescribed variety of this
splendid antelope. It was marked with narrow white
bands across the body, exactly like those of the koodoo,
and had a black patch of more than a hand-breadth on the
vuter side of the forearm.

116 ASCENT OF THE LEEAMBYE.

CHAPTER XII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE ASCENDS THE LEEAMBYE, AND DETERMINES
TO OPEN A COMMUNICATION WITH THE WEST COAST OF
AFRICA.

Havine at last procured a sufficient number of canoes,
we began to ascend the river. I had the choice of the
whole fleet, and selected the best, though not the largest ;
it was thirty-four feet long by twenty inches wide. I had
six paddlers, and the larger canoe of Sekeletu had ten.
They stand upright, and keep the stroke with great pre-
cision, though they change from side to side as the course
demands. The men at the head and stern are selected from
the strongest and most expert of the whole. The canoes,
being flat-bottomed, can go into very shallow water; and
whenever the men can feel the bottom they use the paddles,
which are about eight feet long, as poles to punt with.
Our fleet consisted of thirty-three canoes, and about one
hundred and sixty men. It was beautiful to see them
skimming along so quickly and keeping the time so well.
On land the Makalala fear the Makololo; on water the
Makololo fear them, and cannot prevent them from racing
with each other, dashing along at the top of their speed,
and placing their masters’ lives in danger. In the event
of ‘a capsize, many of the Makololo would sink like stones.
A case of this kind happened on the first day of our voyage
up. The wind, blowing generally from the east, raises very
large waves on the Leeambye. An old doctor of the Mako-
lolo had his cano? filled by one of these waves, and, being
unable to swim, was lost. The Barotse who were in the
canoe with him saved themselves by swimming, and were
afraid of being punished with death in the evening for rot
saving the doctor as well. Had he been a man of more
influence, they certainly would have suffered death.

ISLANDS—THE BANYETI. 117

We proceeded rapidly up the river, and I felt the plea-
sure of looking on lands which had never been seen by a
European before. The river is, indeed, a magnificent one,
often more than a mile broad, and adorned with many
islands of from three to five miles in length. Both islands
and banks are covered with forests, and most of the trees
on the brink of the water send down roots from their
branches like the banian, or Ficus Indica. The islands at
a little distance seem great rounded masses of sylvan vege-
tation reclining on the bosom of the glorious stream. The
beauty of the scenery of some of the islands is greatly in-
creased by the date-palm, with its gracefully-curved fronds
and refreshing light-green color, near the bottom of the
picture, and the lofty paimyra towering far above, and
casting its feathery foliage against a cloudless sky. It
being winter, we had the strange coloring on the banks
which many parts of African landscape assume. The
country adjacent to the river is rocky and undulating,
abounding in elephants and all other large game, except
teches and nakongs, which seem generally to avoid stony
ground. The soil is of a reddish color, and very fertile, as
is attested by the great quantity of grain raised annually
by the Banyeti. A great manv villages of this poor and
very industrious people are situated on both banks of the
viver: they are expert hunters of the hippopotami and
other animals, and very proficient in the manufacture of
articles of wood and iron. The whole of this part of the
country being infested with the tsetse, they are unable to
rear domestic animals. This may have led to their skill
in handicraft works. Some make large wooden vessels
with very neat lids, and wooden bowls of all sizes; and,
since the idea of sitting on stools has entered the Makololo
mind, they have shown great taste in the different forms
given to the legs of these pieces of furniture.

Other Banyeti, or Manyeti, as they are called, make neat
and strong baskets of the split roots of a certain tree,
while others excel in pottery and iron. I cannot find that

118 RAPIDS AND FALLS.

they have ever been warlike. Indeed, the wars 1n the
centre of the country, where no slave-trade existed, have
seldom been about any thing else but cattle. So well
known is this, that several tribes refuse to keep cattle,
because they tempt their enemies to come and steal
Nevertheless, they have no objection to eat them when
offered, and their country admits of being well stocked. I
have heard of but one war having occurred from another
cause. Three brothers, Barolongs, fought for the possession
of a woman who was considered worth a battle, and the
tribe has remained permanently divided ever since.

From the bend up to the north, called Katima-molelo, (I
quenched fire,) the bed of the river is rocky, and the
stream runs fast, forming a succession of rapids and cata-
racts, which prevent continuous navigation when the
water is low. The rapids are not visible when the river
is full, but the cataracts of Nambwe, Bombwe, and Kale
must always be dangerous. The fall at each of these is
between four and six feet. But the falls of Gonye present
a much more serious obstacle. There we were obliged to
take the canoes out of the water, and carry them more
than a mile by land. The fall is about thirty feet. The
main body of water, which comes over the ledge of rock
when the river is low, is collected into a space seventy or
eighty yards wide before it takes the leap, and, a mass of
rock being thrust forward against the roaring torrent, a
loud sound is produced.

As we passed up the river, the different villages of Ban-
yeti turned out to present Sekeletu with food and skins, as
their tribute. One large village is placed at Gonye, the
inhabitants of which are required to assist the Makololo
to carry their canoes past the falls. The tsetse here
lighted on us even in the middle of the stream. This -
we crossed repeatedly, in order to make short cuts at
bends of the river. The course is, however, remarkably
straight among the rocks; and here the river is shallow,
on account of the great breadth of surface which it covers.

NALIELE—SANTURU. 119

When we came to about 16° 16’ S. latitude, the high
wooded banks seemed to leave the river, and no more
tsetse appeared.

This visit was the first Sekeletu had made to these parts
since he attained the chieftainship. ‘Those who had taken
part with Mpepe were consequently in great terror.
When we came to the town of Mpepe’s father, as he and
another man had counselled Mamochisane to put Sekeletu
to death and marry Mpepe, the two were led forth and
tossed into the river. Nokuane was again one of tho
executioners. When I remonstrated against human blood
being shed in the offhand way in which they were pro-
ceeding, the counsellors justified their acts by the evidence
given by Mamochisane, and calmly added, ‘You see we
are still Boers: we are not yet taught.”

Naliele, the capital of the Barotse, is built on a mound
which was constructed artificially by Santuru, and was his
storehouse for grain. His own capital stood about five
hundred yards to the south of that, in what is now the
bed of the river. All that remains of the largest mound
in the valley are a few cubic yards of earth, to erect which
cost the whole of the people of Santuru the labor of many
years. The same thing has happened to another ancient
site of a town, Linangelo, also on the left bank. It would
seem, therefore, that the river in this part of the valley
must be wearing eastward.

Santuru, at whose ancient granary we are staying, was
a great hunter, and very fond of taming wild animals.
His people, aware of his taste, brought to him every young
antelope they could catch, and, among other things, two
young hippopotami. These animals gambolled in the river
by day, but never failed to remember to come up to Naliele
for their suppers of milk and meal. They were the wonder
of the country, till a stranger, happening to come to visit
Santuru, saw them reclining in the sun, and speared one
of them, on the supposition that it was wild. The same
unlucky accident happened to one of the cats 1 had brought

120 BAROTSE ERAS.

to Sekeletu. <A stranger, seeing an animal he had never
viewed before, killed it, and brought the trophy to the
chief, thinking that he had made a very remarkable dis-
covery: we thereby lost the breed of cats, of which, from
the swarms of mice, we stood in great need.

On making inquiries to ascertain whether Santuru, the
Moldiana, had ever been visited by white men, I could find
no vestige of any such visit; there is no evidence of any
of Santuru’s people having ever seen a white man before
the arrival of Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. The people
have, it is true, no written records; but any remarkable
event here is commemorated in names, as was observed by
Park to be the case in the countries he traversed. The
‘year of our arrival is dignified by the name of the year
when the white men came, or of Sebituane’s death; but
they prefer the former, as they avoid, if possible, any direct
reference to the departed. After my wife’s first visit, great
numbers of children were named Ma-Robert, or mother of

tobert, her eldest child; others were named Gun, Horse,
Wagon, Monare, Jesus, &c.; but though our names, and
those of the native Portuguese who came in 1853, were
adopted, there is not a trace of any thing of the sort having
happened previously among the Barotse: the visit of a
white man is such a remarkable event, that, had any taken
place during the last three hundred years, there must have
remained some tradition of it.

The town or mound of Santuru’s mother was shown to
me: this was the first symptom of an altered state of feel-
ing with regard to the female sex that I had observed.
There are few or no cases of women being elevated to the
headships of towns farther south. The Barotse also showed
some relics of their chief, which evinced a greater amount
of the religious feeling than I had ever known displayed
among Bechuanas. His more recent capital, Lilonda, built,
too, on an artificial mound, is covered with different kinds
of trees, transplanted when young by himself. They form
a grove on the end of the mound, in which are to be seen

RELIGIOUS FEELING. 121

various instruments of iron just in the state he left them.
One looks like the guard of a basket-hilted sword; another
has an upright stem of the metal, on which are placed
branches worked at the ends into miniature axes, hoes, and
spears; on these he was accustomed to present offerings,
according as he desired favors to be conferred in undertak-
ing hewing, agriculture, or fighting. The people still living
there, in charge of these articles, were supported by presents
from the chief; and the Makololo sometimes follow the ex-
ample. This was the nearest approach to a priesthood I
met. When I asked them to part with one of these relics,

they replied, ‘Oh, no: he refuses.” “Who refuses?” “San-
' turu,” was their reply, showing their belief in a future state
of existence. After explaining to them, as I always did
when opportunity offered, the nature of true worship, and
praying with them in the simple form which needs no
offering from the worshipper except that of the heart, and
planting some fruit-tree seeds in the grove, we departed.

Another incident, which occurred at the confluence of
the Leeba and Leeambye, may be mentioned here, as show-
ing a more vivid perception of the existence of spiritual
beings, and greater proneness to worship, than among the
Bechuanas. Having taken lunar observations in the morn-
ing, 1 was waiting for a meridian altitude of the sun for
the latitude; my chief boatman was sitting by, in order to
pack up the instruments as soon as I had finished; there
was a large halo, about 20° in diameter, round the sun;
thinking that the humidity of the atmosphere, which this
indicated, might betoken rain, I asked him if his experience
did not lead him to the same view. ‘Oh, no,” replied he;
“it is the Barimo, [gods or departed spirits,] who have
called a picho; don’t you see they have the Lord [sun] in
the centre ?”

While still at Naliele, I walked out to Katongo, (lat. 15°
16! 33”,) on the ridge which bounds the valley of the Barotse
in that direction, and found it covered with trees. It is

only the commencement of the lands which are never
11

122 THE HERALD.

inundated; their gentle rise from the dead level of the
valley much resembles the edge of the Desert in the valley
of the Nile.

I imagined the slight elevation (Katongo) might be
healthy, but was informed that no part of this region is
exempt from fever. When the waters begin to retire from
this valley, such masses of decayed vegetation and mud
are exposed to the torrid sun that even the natives suffer
severely from attacks of fever. The grass is so rank in
its growth that one cannot see the black alluvial soil of
the bottom of this periodical lake. Even when the grass
falls down in winter, or is “laid” by its own weight, one is
obliged to lift the feet so high, to avoid being tripped up ~
by it, as to make walking excessively fatiguing. Young
leches are hidden beneath it by their dams; and the Mako-
lolo youth complain of being unable to run in the Barotse
land on this account. There was evidently no healthy
spot in this quarter; and, the current of the river being
about four and a half miles per hour, (one hundred yards
in sixty seconds, ) I imagined we might find what we needed
in the higher lands, from which the river seemed to come.
I resolved, therefore, to go to the utmost limits of the Ba-
rotse country before coming to a final conclusion. Katongo
was the best place we had seen; but, in order to accomplish
a complete examination, I left Sekeletu at Naliele, and
ascended the river. He furnished me with men, besides
my rowers, and among the rest a herald, that I might
enter his villages in what is considered a dignified manner.
This, it was supposed, would be effected by the herald
shouting out, at the top of his voice, “Here comes the lord,
the great lion;” the latter phrase being “tau e tona,”
which, in his imperfect way of pronunciation, became
“sau e tona,” and so like “the great sow” that I could not
receive the honor with becoming gravity, and had to
entreat him, much to the annoyance of my party, to be
silent.

In our ascent we visited a number of Makololo villages,

THE LEEAMBYE AND LOETI 123

and were always received with a hearty welcome, as mes-
sengers to them of peace, which they term ‘‘sleep.” They
dehave well in public meetings, even on the first occasion
of attendance, probably from the habit of commanding the
Makalaka, crowds of whom swarm in every village, and
whom the Makololo women seem to consider as especially
ander their charge.

The river presents the same appearance of low banks
without trees as we have remarked it had after we camo
to 16° 16’, until we arrive at Libonta, (14° 59'S. lat.)
Twenty miles beyond that, we find forests down to the
water’s edge, and tsetse. Here I might have turned back,
as no locality can be inhabited by Europeans where that
scourge exists; but, hearing that we were not far from
the confluence of the river of Loénda or Lunda, named Leeba
or Loiba, and the chiefs of that country being reported to
be friendly to strangers, and therefore likely to be of use
to me on my return from the west coast, I still pushed on
to latitude 14° 11’ 2” S. There the Leeambye assumes the
name Kabompo, and seems to be coming from the east. It
is a fine large river, about three hundred yards wide, and
the Leeba two hundred and fifty. The Loeti, a branch of
which is called Langebongo, comes from W.N.W., through
a level grassy plain named Mango; it is about one hundred
yards wide, and enters the Leeambye from the west; the
waters of the Loeti are of a light color, and those of the
Leeba of a dark mossy hue. After the Loeti joins the
Leeambye, the different-colored waters flow side by side for
some distance unmixed.

Before reaching the Loeti, we came to a number of people
from the Lobale region, hunting hippopotami. They fled
precipitately as soon as they saw the Makololo, leaving
their canoes and all their utensils and clothing. My own
Makalaka, who were accustomed to plunder wherever they
went, rushed after them like furies, totally regardless of
my shouting. As this proceeding would have destroyed
my character entirely at Lobale, I took my stand on a

124 NO HEALTHY LOCATION.

commanding position as they returned, and forced them to
lay down all the plunder on a sand-bank, and leave it there
for its lawful owners.

It was now quite evident that no healthy location could
be obtained in which the Makololo would be allowed to live
in peace. I nad thus a fair excuse, if I had chosen to avail
myself of it, of coming home and saying that the “door
was shut,”’ because the Lord’s time had not yet come. But
believing that it was my duty to devote some portion of
my life to these (to me at least) very confiding and affee
tionate Makololo, I resolved to follow out the second part
of my plan, though I had failed in accomplishing the first.
The Leeba seemed to come from the N. and by W., or
N.N.W.; so, having an old Portuguese map, which pointed
out the Coanza as rising from the middle of the continent
in 9° S. lat., I thought it probable that, when we had as-
cended the Leeba (from 14° 11") two or three degrees, we
should then be within one hundred and twenty miles of
the Coanza, and find no difficulty in following it down to
the coast near Loanda. This was the logical deduction ;
but, as is the case with many a plausible theory, one of
the premises was decidedly defective. The Coanza, as we
afterward found, does not come from anywhere near the
centre of the country.

The numbers of large game above Libonta are prodigious,
and they proved remarkably tame. Highty-one buffaloes
defiled in slow procession before our fire one evening, within
gunshot; and herds of splendid elands stood by day, with-
out fear, at two hundred yards’ distance. They were all of
the striped variety, and, with their forearm markings, large
dewlaps, and sleek skins, were a beautiful sight to see.
The lions here roar much more than in the country near
the lake, Zouga, and Chobe. One evening we had a good
opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the animal
can make in that line. We had made our beds on a large
sand-bank, and could be easily seen from all sides. <A lion
on the opposite shore amused himself for hours by roaring

LIONS—ARABS. 125

as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual in such cases, his
mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate
The river was too broad for a ball to reach him, so we let
him enjoy himself, certain that he durst not have been
guilty of the impertinence in the Bushman country.
Wherever the game abounds, these animals exist in pro-
portionate numbers. Here they were very frequently seen,
and two of the largest I ever saw seemed about as tall as
common donkeys; but the mane made their bodies appear
rather larger.

A party of Arabs from Zanzibar were in the country at
this time. Sekeletu had gone from Naliele to the town of
his mother before we arrived from the north, but left an ox
for our use, and instructions for us to follow him thither.
We came down a branch of the Leeambye called Marile,
which departs from the main river in latitude 15° 15’ 43”S.,
and is a fine deep stream about sixty yards wide. It makes
the whole of the country around Naliele an island. When
sleeping at a village in the same latitude as Naliele town,
two of the Arabs mentioned made their appearance. They
were quite as dark as the Makololo, but, having their heads
shaved, I could not compare their hair with that of the
inhabitants of the country. When we were about to leave,
they came to bid adieu; but I asked them to stay and
help us to eat our ox. As they had scruples about eating
an animal not blooded in their own way, I gained their
good-will by saying I was quite of their opinion as to
getting quit of the blood, and gave them two legs of an
animal slaughtered by themselves. They professed the
greatest detestation of the Portuguese, “because they eat
pigs ;” and disliked the English, “because they thrash them
for selling slaves.” I was silent about pork; though, had
they seen me at a hippopotamus two days afterward, they
would have set me down as being as much a heretic as any
of that nation; but I ventured to tell them that I agreed
with the English, that it was better to let the children

grow up and comfort their mothers when they became old,
11* :

126 TOWN OF MA-SEKELETU.

than tv carry them away and sell them across the sea.
This they never attempt to justify ; “they want them only
to cultivate the land, and take care of them as their chil-
dren.” It is the same old story, justifying a monstrous
wrong on pretence of taking care of those degraded por-
tions of humanity which cannot take care of themselves;
doing evil that good may come.

These Arabs, or Moors, could read and write their own
language readily ; and, when speaking about our Savior, I
admired the boldness with which they informed me “that
Christ was a very good prophet, but Mohammed was far
greater.” And with respect to their loathing of pork, it
may have some foundation in their nature; for I have
known Bechuanas who had no prejudice against the wild
animal, and ate the tame without scruple, yet, unconscious
of any cause of disgust, vomit it again. The Bechuanas
south of the lake have a prejudice against eating fish, and
allege a disgust to eating any thing like a serpent. This
may arise from the remnants of serpent-worship floating in
their minds, as, in addition to this horror of eating such
animals, they sometimes render a sort of obeisance to
living serpents by clapping their hands to them, and re-
fuisng to destroy the reptiles; but in the case of the hog
they are conscious of no superstitious feeling.

Having parted with our Arab friends, we proceeded down
the Marile till we re-entered the Leeambye, and went to
the town of Ma-Sekeletu (mother of Sekeletu,) opposite the
island of Loyela. Sekeletu had always supplied me most
liberally with food, and, as soon as I arrived, presented me
with a pot of boiled meat, while his mother handed ine 4
large jar of butter, of which they make great quantities
for the purpose of anointing their bodies. He had himself
sometimes felt the benefit of my way of putting aside a
quantity of the meat after a meal, and had now followed
my example by ordering some to be kept forme. Accord-
ing to their habits, every particle of an ox is devoured at
one meal; and as the chief cannot, without a deviation

HEATHENISM. 127

from their customs, eat alone, he is often compelled to suffer
severely from hunger before another meal is ready. We
henceforth always worked into each other’s hands by sav-
ing a little for each other; and when some of the sticklers
for use and custom grumbled, I advised them to eat like
men, and not like vultures.

As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this
part of his dominions, it was to many a season of great joy.
The head-men of each village presented oxen, milk, and
beer, more than the horde which accompanied him could
devour, though their abilities in that line are something
wonderful. The people usually show their joy and work
off their excitement in dances and songs.

As Sekeletu had been waiting for me at his mother’s, we
left the town as soon as | arrived, and proceeded down the
river. Our speed with the stream was very great, for in
one day we went from Litofe to Gonye, a distance of forty-
four miles of latitude; and if we add to this the windings
of the river, in longitude the distance will not be much less
than sixty geographical miles. At this rate we soon
reached Sesheke, and then the town of Linyanti.

1 had been, during a nine weeks’ tour, in closer contact
with heathenism than I had ever been before; and though
all, including the chief, were as kind and attentive to me
as possible, and there was no want of food, (oxen being
slaughtered daily, sometimes ten at a time, more than suf-
ficient for the wants of all,) yet to endure the dancing,
roaring, and singing, the jesting, anecdotes, grumbling,
quarrelling, and murdering of these children of nature,
seemed more like a severe penance than any thing I had
before met with in the course of my missionary duties. I
took thence a more intense disgust at heathenism than I
had before, and formed a greatly-elevated opinion of the
latent effects of missions in the south, among tribes which
are reported to have been as savage as the Makololo. The
indirect benefits which, to a casual observer, lie beneath the
surface and are inappreciable, in reference to the probable

128 ARRANGEMENTS FOR JOURNEYS.

wide diffusion of Christianity at some future time, are
worth all the money and labor that have been expended
to produce them.

CHAPTER XIII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE SETS. OUT ON THE EXPEDITION TO THE
WEST COAST.

Linyanti, September, 1853.—The object proposed to the
Makololo seemed so desirable that it was resolved to proceed
with it as soon as the cooling influence of the rains should
be felt in November. The longitude and latitude of Lin-
yanti (lat. 18° 17’ 20” S., long. 28° 50’ 9” E.) showed that
St. Philip de Benguela was much nearer to us than
Loanda; and I might have easily made arrangements
with the Mambari to allow me to accompany them as far
as Bihe, which is on the road to that port; but it is so
undesirable to travel in a path once trodden by slave-
traders that I preferred to find out another line of march.

Accordingly, men were sent at my suggestion to examine
all the country to the west, to see if any belt of country
free from tsetse could be found to afford us an outlet. The
search was fruitless. The town and district of Linyanti
are surrounded by forests infested by this poisonous insect,
except at a few points, as that by which we entered at
Sanshureh and another at Sesheke. But the lands both
east and west of the Barotse valley are free from this’
insect-plague. There, however, the slave-trade had defiled
the path, and no one ought to follow in its wake unless
well armed. The Mambari had informed me that many
English lived at Loanda; so I prepared to go thither. The
prospect of meeting with countrymen seemed to over:
balance the toils of the longer march.

A “PpicHo:” ITS RESULTS. 129

A “picho” was called te deliberate on the steps proposed.
In these assemblies great freedom of speech is allowed;
and on this occasion one of the old diviners said, ‘Where
is he taking you to? This white man is throwing you
away. Your garments already smell of blood.” It is
curious to observe how much identity of character appears
all over the world. This man was a noted croaker. He
always dreamed something dreadful in every expedition,
and was certain that an eclipse or comet betokened the
propriety of flight. But Sebituane formerly set his visions
down to cowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed at him now.
The general voice was in my favor; so a band of twenty-
seven were appointed to accompany me to the west.
These men were not hired, but sent to enable me to
accomplish an object as much desired by the chief and
most of his people as by me. They were eager to obtain
free and profitable trade with white men. The prices
which the Cape merchants could give, after defraying the
great expenses of a long journey hither, being very small,
made it scarce worth while for the natives to collect pro-
duce for that market; and the Mambari, giving only a few
bits of print and baize for elephants’ tusks worth more
pounds than they gave yards of cloth, had produced the
belief that trade with them was throwing ivory away.
The desire of the Makololo for direct trade with the sea-
coast coincided exactly with my own conviction that nu
permanent elevation of a people can be effected without
commerce. Neither could there be a permanent mission
here, unless the missionaries should descend to the level of
the Makololo, for even at Kolobeng we found that traders
demanded three or four times the price of the articles we
needed, and expected us to be grateful to them besides for
letting us have them at all.

The three men whom I had brought from Kuruman had
frequent relapses of the fever; so, finding that instcad of
_ serving me I had to wait on them, I decided that they

should return to the south with Fleming as soon as he had
I

{30 THE LOST JOURNAL

finished his trading. I was then entirely dependent on
my twenty-seven men, whom I might name Zambesians,
for there were two Makololo only, while the rest con-
sisted of Barotse, Batoka, Bashubia, and two of the Am-
honda. -

The fever had caused considerable weakness in my own
frame, and a strange giddiness when I looked up suddenly
to any celestial object, for every thing seemed to rush
to the left, and if I did not catch hold of some object
I fell heavily on the ground: something resembling a
gush of bile along the duct from the liver caused the
same fit to occur at night, whenever I turned suddenly
round.

The Makololo now put the question, “In the event of
your death, will not the white people blame us for having
allowed you to go away into an unhealthy, unknowxz
country of enemies?’ I replied that none of my friends
would blame them, because I would leave a book with
Sekeletu, to be sent to Mr. Moffat in case I did not return,
which would explain to him all that had happened until
the time of my departure. The book was a volume of my
Journal; and, as I was detained longer than I expected at
Loanda, this book, with a letter, was delivered by Sekeletu
to a trader, and I have been unable to trace it. I regret
this now, as it contained valuable notes on the habits of
wild animals, and the request was made in the letter to
convey the volume to my family. The prospect of passing
away from this fair and beautiful world thus came before
me ina pretty plain, matter-of-fact form, and it did seem
a serious thing to leave wife and children,—to break up all
connection with earth and enter on an untried state of
existence; and I find myself in my journal pondering over
that fearful migration which lands us in eternity, wonder-
ing whether an angel will soothe the fluttering soul, sadly
flurried as it must be on entering the spirit-world, and
hoping that Jesus might speak but one word of peace, for
that would establish in the bosom an everlasting calm.

OUTFIT FOR JOURNEY. 131

Bat, as I had always believed that, if we serve God at all,
it ought to be done in a manly way, I wrote to my
brother, commending our little girl to his care, as I was
determined to “succeed or perish” in the attempt to open
up this part of Africa. The Boers, by taking possession
of all my goods, had saved me the trouble of making a
will; and, considering the light heart now left in my:
bosom, and some faint efforts to perform the duty of Chris-
tian forgiveness, I felt that it was better to be the plun-
dered party than one of the plunderers.

When I committed the wagon and remaining goods to
the care of the Makololo, they took all the articles except
one box into their huts; and two warriors—Ponuane and
Mahale—brought forward each a fine heifer-calf. After
performing a number of warlike evolutions, they asked
the chief to witness the agreement made between them,
that whoever of the two should kill a Matebele warrior
first, in defence of the wagon, should possess both the
calves.

I had three muskets for my people, a rifle and a double-
barrelled smooth-bore for myself; and, having seen such
great abundance of game in my visit to the Leeba, I
imagined that I could easily supply the wants of my
party. Wishing also to avoid the discouragement which
would naturally be felt on meeting any obstacles if my
companions were obliged to carry heavy loads, I took only
a few biscuits, a few pounds of tea and sugar, and about
twenty of coffee, which, as the Arabs find, though used
without either milk or sugar, isa most refreshing beverage
after fatigue or exposure to the sun. We carried one small
tin canister, about fifteen inches square, filled with spare
shirting, trousers, and shoes, to be used when we reached
civilized life, and others in a bag, which were expected to
wear out on the way; another of the same size for medi-
cines; and a third for books, my stock being a Nautical
Almanac, Thomson’s Logarithin Tables, and a Bible; a
fourth box rontained a magic lantern, whizh we found of

[82 OUTFIT—INSTRU MENTS.

much use. The sextant and artificial horizon, thermos
meter, and, compasses were carried apart. My ammuni-
tion was distributed in portions through the whole lug-
gage; so that, if an accident should befall one part, we
could still have others to fall back upon. Our chief hopes
for food were upon that; but, in case of failure, I took
about twenty pounds of beads, worth forty shillings, which
still remained in the stock I brought from Cape Town, a
small gypsy tent, just sufficient to sleep in, a sheep-skin
mantle as a blanket, and a horse-rug as a bed. As I had
always found that the art of successful travel consisted in
taking as few “impediments” as possible, and not for-
getting to carry my wits about me, the outfit was rather
spare, and intended to be still more so when we should
come to leave the canoes. Some would consider it inju-
dicious to adopt this plan; but I had a secret conviction
that, if I did not succeed, it would not be for want of the
‘‘knick-knacks” advertised as indispensable for travellers,
but from want of “pluck,” or because a large array of
baggage excited the cupidity of the tribes through whose
country we wished to pass.

The instruments I carried, though few, were the best of
their kind. A sextant, by the famed makers Troughton
and Sims, of Fleet Street; a chronometer watch, with a
stop to the seconds-haud,—an admirable contrivance for
enabling a.person to take the exact time of observations.
it was constructed’ by Dent, of the Strand, (61,) for the
Royal Geographical Society, and selected for the service
by the President, Admiral Smythe, to whose judgment and
kindness I am in this and other matters deeply indebted.
It was pronounced by Mr. Maclear to equal most chrono-
meters in performance. For these excellent instruments I
have much pleasure in recording my obligations to my
good friend Colonel Steel, and at the same time to Mr.
Maclear for much of my ability to use them. Besides
these, had a thermometer by Dollond; a compass from
the Cape Observatory, and a small pocket one in addition;

.

BANKS OF THE CHOBE. 133

a good small telescope with a stand capable of being
sereweil into a tree.

11th of November, 1853.—Left the town of Linyanti,
accompanied by Sekeletu and his principal men, to embark
on the Chobe. The chief came to the river in order to see
that all was right at parting. _We crossed five branches
of the Chobe before reaching the main stream: this
ramification must be the reason why it appeared so
small to Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. When all the
departing branches re-enter, it is a large, deep river. The
spot of embarkation was the identical island where we met
Sebituane, first known as the island of Maunku, one of his
wives. The chief lent me his own canoe; and, as it was
broader than usual, I could turn about in it with ease.

The Chobe is much infested by hippopotami, and, as
certain elderly males are expelled the herd, they become
soured in their temper, and so misanthropic as to attack
every canoe that passes near them.

The course of the river we found to be extremely tor-
tuous; so much so, indeed, as to carry us to all points of the
compass every dozen miles. Some of us walked from a bend
at the village of Moremi to another nearly due east of that
point in six hours, while the canoes, going at more than
double our speed, took twelve to accomplish the voyage
between the same two places. And though the river is
from thirteen to fifteen feet in depth at its lowest ebb, and
broad enough to allow a steamer to ply upon it, the sud-
denness of the bendings-would prevent navigation; but,
should the country ever become civilized, the Chobe would
be a convenient natural canal. We spent forty-two and a
half hours, paddling at the rate of five miles an hour, in
coming from Linyanti to the confluence; there we found a
dike of amygdaloid lying across the Leeambye.

The actual point of confluence of the Chobe and the
lieeambye is ill defined, on account of each dividing into
several branches as they inosculate; but when the whole
body of water collects into one bed it is a goodly sight

12

184 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

for one who has spent many years in the thirsty south.
Standing on one bank, even the keen eye of the natives
cannot detect whether two large islands, a few miles east
of the junction, are mainland or not.

After spending one night at the Makololo village on
Mparia, we left the Chobe, and, turning round, began to
ascend the Leeambye; on the 19th of November we again
reached the town of Sesheke. It stands on the north bank
of the river, and contains a large population of Makalaka,
under Moriantsane, brother-in-law of Sebituane. There
are parties of various tribes here, assembled under their
respective head-men, but a few Makololo rule over all.
Their sway, though essentially despotic, is considerably
modified by certain customs and laws.

The following circumstance, which happened here when
I was present with Sekeletu, shows that the simple mode
of punishment by forcing a criminal to work out a fine did
not strike the Makololo mind until now.

A stranger, having visited Sesheke for the purpose of
barter, was robbed by one of the Makalaka of most of his
goods. The thief, when caught, confessed the theft, and
that he had given the articles to a person who had removed
to a distance. The Makololo were much enraged at the
idea of their good name being compromised by this treat-
ment of a stranger. Their customary mode of punishing
a crime which causes much indignation is to throw the
criminal into the river; but, as this would not restore the
lost property, they were sorely puzzled how to act. The
case was referred to me, and I solved the difficulty by pay-
ing for the loss myself and sentencing the thief to work
out an equivalent with his hoe ina garden. This system
wos immediately introduced, and thieves are now sen-
tenced to raise an amount of corn proportioned to their
offences. Among the Bakwains, a woman who had stolen
from the garden of another was obliged to part with her
own entirely: it became the property of her whose field
was injured by the crime.

PUBLIC ADDRESSES. 38

There is no stated day of rest in any part of this country,
except the day after the appearance of the new moon; and
the people then refrain only from going to their gardens.
A curious custom, not to be found among the Bechuanas,
prevails among the black tribes beyond them. They watch
most eagerly for the first glimpse of the new moon, and,
when they perceive the faint outline after the sun has set
deep in the west, they utter a loud shout of “Kua!” and
vociferate prayers to it. My men, for instance, called out,
“Let our journey with the white man be prosperous! Let
our enemies perish, and the children of Nake become rich!
May he have plenty of meat on this journey!” &c. &ec.

I gave many public addresses to the people of Sesheke
under the outspreading camel-thorn-tree, which serves as a
shade to the kotla on the high bank of the river. It was
pleasant to see the long lines of men, women, and children
winding along from different quarters of the town, each
party following behind their respective head-men. They
often amounted to between five and six hundred souls, and
required an exertion of voice which brought back the com-
-plaint for which I had got the uvula excised at the Cape.
They were always very attentive; and Moriantsane, in
order, as he thought, to please me, on one occasion rose up
in the middle of the discourse, and hurled his staff at the
heads of some young fellows whom he saw working with
a skin instead of listening. My hearers sometimes put very
sensible questions on the subjects brought before them; at
other times they introduced the most frivolous nonsense
immediately after hearing the most solemn truths. Some
begin to pray to Jesus in secret as soon as they hear of the
white man’s God, with but little idea of what they are
about, and no doubt are heard by Him who, like a father,
pitieth his children. Others, waking by night, recollect
what has been said about the future world so clearly that
they tell next day what a fright they got by it, and resolve
not to listen to the teaching again; and not a few keep to
the determination not to believe, as certain villagers in the

G

156 PROGRESS UP THE LEEAMBYE.

south, who put all their cocks to death because they
crowed the words, “Tang lo rapeleng,’’— Come along to
prayers.”

On recovering partially from a severe attack of fever
which remained upon me ever since our passing the village
of Moremi on the Chobe, we made ready for our departure
up the river by sending messages before us to the villages
to prepare food. We took four elephants’ tusks, belonging
to Sekeletu, with us, as a means of testing the difference of
prices between the Portuguese, whom we expected to reach,
and the white traders from the south. Moriantsane sup-
plied us well with honey, milk, and meal. The rains were
just commencing in this district; but, though showers
sufficient to lay the dust had fallen, they had no influence
whatever on the amount of water in the river, yet never
was there less in any part than three hundred yards of a
deep flowing stream.

Our progress up the river was rather slow: this was
caused by waiting opposite different villages for supplies
of food. We might have done with much less than we got;
but my Makololo man, Pitsane, knew of the generous orders
of Sekeletu, and was not at all disposed to allow them to
remain a dead letter. The villages of the Banyeti con-
tributed large quantities of mosibe, a bright-red bean
yielded by a large tree. The pulp enclosing the seed is not
much thicker than a red wafer, and is the portion used. It
requires the addition of honey to render it at all palatable.

To these were added great numbers of the fruit which
yields a variety of the nux vomica, from which we derive
that virulent poison strychnia. The pulp between the nuts
is the part eaten, and it is of a pleasant juicy nature, having
a sweet acidulous taste. The fruit itself resembles a large
yellow orange, but the rind is hard, and, with the pips and
bark, contains much of the deadly poison. They evince
their noxious qualities by an intensely bitter taste. Tho
outs, swallowed inadvertently, cause considerable pain,
but not death; and, to avoid this inconvenience, the people

HIPPOPOTAMI. 137

dry the pulp before the fire, in order to be able the more
easily to get rid of the noxious seed.

The rapids in the part of the river between Katima-
molelo and Naméta are relieved by several reaches of still,
deep water, fifteen or twenty miles long. In these very
large herds of hippopotami are seen ; and the deep furrows
they make, in ascending the banks to graze during the
nights, are everywhere apparent. . They are guided back
to the water by the scent; but a long-continued pouring rain
makes it impossible to perceive by that means in which
direction the river lies, and they are found bewildered on
the land. The hunters take advantage of their helplessness
on these occasions to kill them.

It is impossible to judge of the numbers in a herd, for
they are almost always hidden beneath the waters; but, as
they require to come up every few minutes to breathe,
when there is a constant succession of heads thrown up,
then the herd is supposed to be large. They love a still
reach of the stream, as in the more rapid parts of the
channel they are floated down so quickly that much exer-
tion is necessary to regain the distance lost, by frequently
swimming up again: such constant exertion disturbs them
in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy,
yawning state, and, though their eyes are open, they take
little notice of things at a distance. The males uttera
loud succession of snorting grunts, which may be heard
a mile off. The canoe in which I was, in passing over a
wounded one, elicited a distinct grunting, though the
animal lay entirely under the water.

The young, when very little, take their stand on the

“neck of the dam, and the small head, rising above the
large, comes soonest to the surface. The dam, knowing
the more urgent need of her calf, comes more frequently to
the surface when it 1s in her care. But in the rivers of
Londa, where they are much in danger of being shot, even
the hippopotamus gains wit by experience; for, while those
in the Zambesi put up their heads openly to blow, those

12* ,

138 MODE OF SPENDING THE DAY.

referred to keep their noses among water-plants, and
breathe so quietly that one would not dream of their exist-
ence in the river except by footprints on the banks.

CHAPTER XIV.
VOYAGE ON THE LEEAMBYE, CONTINUED.

30th of November, 1853.—At Gonye Falls. No rain has
fallen here; so it is excessively hot. The trees have put on
their gayest dress, and many flowers adorn the landscape
yet the heat makes all the leaves droop at mid-day and
look languid for want of rain. If the country increases
as much in beauty in front as it has done within the last
four degrees of latitude, it will be indeed a lovely land.

We all felt great lassitude in travelling. The atmo-
sphere is oppressive both in cloud and sunshine. The evapo-
ration from the river must be excessively great; and I feel
as if the fluids of the system joined in the general motion
of watery vapor upward, as enormous quantities of water
must be drunk to supply its place.

When under way our usual procedure is this :—We get
up a little before five in the morning; it is then beginning
to dawn. While I am dressing, coffee is made; and, having
filled my pannikin, the remainder is handed to my com-
panions, who eagerly partake of the refreshing beverage
The servants are busy loading the canoes, while the prin-
cipal men are sipping the coffee, and, that being soon over,
we embark. The next two hours are the most pleasant
part of the day’s sail. The men paddle away most vigor-
ously: the Barotse, being a tribe of boatmen, have large,
deeply-developed chests and shoulders, with indifferent
lower extremities. They often engage in loud scolding of
each other, in order to relieve the tedium of their work.
About eleven we land, and eat any meat which may have

FALLS OF GONYE. 138

remained from the previous evening meal, or a biscuit with
honey, and drink water.

After an hour’s rest, we again embark and cower under
an umbrella. The heat is oppressive, and, being weak
from the last attack of fever, I cannot land and keep the
camp supplied with flesh. The men, being quite uncovered
in the sun, perspire profusely, and in the afternoon begin
to stop, as if waiting for the canoes which have been left
behind. Sometimes we reach a sleeping-place two hours
before sunset, and, all being troubled with languor, we
gladly remain for the night. Coffee again, and a biscuit, or
a piece of coarse bread made of maize-meal, or that of the
native corn, make up the bill of fare for the evening, un-
less we have been fortunate enough to kill something,—
when we boil a potful of flesh. This is done by cutting it
up into long strips and pouring in water till it is covered.
When that is boiled dry, the meat is considered ready.

The people at Gonye carry the canoes over the space
requisite to avoid the falls by slinging them on poles tied
on diagonally. They place these on their shoulders, and,
setting about the work with good humor, soon accomplish the
task. They are a merry set of mortals; a feeble joke sets
them off in a fit of laughter. Here, as elsewhere, all peti-
tioned for the magic lantern; and, as it is a good means of
conveying instruction, I willingly complied.

The falls of Gonye have not been made by wearing back
like those of Niagara, but are ofa fissure form. For many
miles below, the river is confined in a narrow space of not
more than one hundred yards wide. The water goes boiling
along, and gives the idea uf great masses of it rolling over
and over, so that eventhe most expert swimmer would find
it difficult to keep on the surface. Here it is that the river,
when in flood, rises fifty or sixty feet in perpendicular
height. The islands above the falls are covered with foliage
as beautiful as can be seen anywhere. Viewed from the
mass of rock which overhangs the fall, the scenery was the
loveliest I had seen.

Nothing worthy of note occurred on our way to Nameta

140 MAKOLOLO FORAY.

There we heard that a party of the Makololo, headed by
Lerimo, had made a foray to the north and up the Leeba,
in the very direction in which we were. about to proceed.
Mpololo, the uncle of Sekeletu, is considered the head-man
of the Barotse valley ; and the perpetrators had his full
sanction, because Masiko, a son of Santuru, the former
chief of the Barotse, had fled high up the Leeambye, and,
establishing himself there, had sent men down to the vici-
uity of Naliele to draw away the remaining Barotse from
their allegiance. Lerimo’s party had taken some of this
Mesiko’s subjects prisoners, and destroyed several villages
of the Balonda, to whom we were going. This was in
direct opposition to the policy of Sekeletu, who wished to
be at peace with these northern tribes; and Pitsane, my
head-man, was the bearer of orders to Mpololo to furnish
us with presents to the very chiefs they had attacked.
Thus, we were to get large pots of clarified butter and
bunches of beads, in confirmation of the message of peace
we were to deliver.

When we reached Litofe, we heard that a fresh foray
was in contemplation ; but I sent forward orders to disband
the party immediately. At Ma-Seckeletu’s town we found
the head-offender, Mpololo himself, and I gave him a bit
of my mind, to the effect that, as I was going with the full
sanction of Sekeletu, if any harm happened to me in con-
sequence of his ill-advised expedition the guilt would rest
with him. Ma-Sekeletu, who was present, heartily approved
all I said, and suggested that all the captives taken by
Lerimo should be returned by my hand, to show Masiko
that the guilt of the foray lay nov with the superior per-
sons of the Makololo, but with a mere servant. Her good
sense appeared in other respects besides; and, as this was
exactly what my own party had previously resolved to
suggest, we were pleased to hear Mpololo agree to do what
he was advised. He asked me to lay the matter before
the under-chiefs of Naliele, and when we reached that
place, on the 9th of December, I did so in a picho, called

LIBERALITY OF THE PEOPLE. 141

expressly for the purpose. Jerimo was present, and felt
rather crestfallen when his exploit was described by Moho-
Tisi, One of my companions, as one of extreme cowardice,
he having made an attack upon the defenceless villagers of
Londa, while, as we had found on our former visit, a lion
had actually killed eight people of Naliele without his
daring to encounter it. The Makololo are cowardly in
respect to animals, but brave against men. Mpololo took
all the guilt upon himself before the people, and delivered
up a captive child whom his wife had in her possession ;
others followed his example, till we procured the release of
five of the prisoners. Some thought, as Masiko had tried
to take their children by stratagem, they ought to take his
by force, as the two modes suited the genius of each people:
the Makalaka delight in cunning, and the Makololo in
fighting; and others thought, if Sekeletu meant them to.
be at peace with Masiko, he ought to have told them so.

It is rather dangerous to tread in the footsteps of a
marauding-party with men of the same tribe as the
aggressors, but my people were in good spirits, and several
voiunteers even offered to join our ranks. We, however,
adhered strictly to the orders of Sekeletu as to our com-
panions, and refused all others.

The people of every village treated us most liberally,
presenting, besides oxen, butter, milk, and meal, more than
we could stow away in our canoes. The cows in this valley
are now yielding, as they frequently do, more milk than
the people can use, and both men and women present
butter in such quantity that I shall be able to refresh my
men as we move along. Anointing the skin prevents the
excessive evaporation of the fluids of the body, and acts as
clothing in both sun and shade. They always made their
presents gracefully. When an ox was given, the owner
would say, “Here isa little bit of bread for you.” This was
pleasing, for I had been accustomed to the Bechuanas pre-
senting a miserable goat, with the pompous exclamation,
“Behold an ox!’ The women persisted in giving me

142 DEPARTURE FROM NALIELE.

copious supplies of shrill praises, or ‘lullilooing;” but, -
though I frequently told them to modify their “ great lords”
and “great lions” to more humble expressions, they so evi-
dently intended to do me honor that I could not help being
pleased with the poor creatures’ wishes for our success.

The rains began while we were at Naliele; this is much
Jater than usual; but, though the Barotse valley has been
in need of rain, the people never lack abundance of food.
The showers are refreshing, but the air feels hot and close;
-he thermometer, however, in a cool hut, stands only at
84°. The access of the external air to any spot at once
yaises its temperature above 90°. A new attack of fever
here caused excessive languor; but, as I am already getting
tired of quoting my fevers, and never liked to read travels
myself where much was said about the illnesses of the
traveller, I shall henceforth endeavor to say little about
them.

We here sent back the canoe of Sekeletu, and got the
loan of others from Mpololo. Eight riding-oxen, and seven
for slaughter, were, according to the orders of that chief,
also furnished; some were intended for our own use, and
others as presents to the chiefs of the Balénda. Mpololo
was particularly liberal in giving all that Sekeletu ordered,
though, as he feeds on the cattle he has in charge, he might
have felt it so much abstracted from his own perquisites.

Leaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the
success of our expedition, and hopes that we might return
accompanied with white traders, we began again our ascent of
the river. It was now beginning to rise, though the rains
had but just commenced in the valley. The banks are low,
but cleanly cut, and seldom sloping. At low-water they are
from four to eight feet high, and make the river always
assume very ict the aspect of a canal.

These perpendicular banks afford building-places to a
pretty bee-eater,* which loves to breed in society. The

* Merops apiaster and M. bullockoides, (Smith. )

LIBONTA. 143

face of the sand-bank is perforated with hundreds of holes
leading to their nests, each of which is about a foot apart
from the other; and as we pass they pour out of their
hiding-places and float overhead.

1ith December.—At Libonta. We were detained for days
together collecting contributions of fat and butter, accord-
ing to the orders of Sekeletu, as presents to the Balonda
chiefs. Much fever prevailed, and ophthalmia was rife, as
is generally the case before the rains begin. Some of my
own men required my assistance, as well as the people of
Libonta. A lion had done a good deal of mischief here,
and when the people went to attack it two men were badly
wounded; one of them had his thigh-bone quite broken,
showing the prodigious power of this animal’s jaws. The
inflammation produced by the teeth-wounds proved fatal to
one of them. |

Here we demanded the remainder of the captives, and
got our number increased to nineteen. They consisted of
women and children, and one young man of twenty. One
of the boys.was smuggled away in the crowd as we em-
barked. The Makololo under-chiefs often act in direct
opposition to the will of the head-chief, trusting to cir-
cumstances and brazen-facedness to screen themselves from
his open displeasure; and, as he does not always find it
convenient to notice faults, they often go to considerable
lengths in wrong-doing.

Libonta is the last town of the Makololo; so, when we
parted from it, we had only a few cattle-stations and out-
lying hamlets in front, and then an uninhabited border-
country till we came to Londa or Lunda. Libonta is situ-
ated on a mound, like the rest of the villages in the Barotse
valley, but here the tree-covered sides of the valley begin
to approach nearer the river. The village itself belongs to
two of the chief wives of Sebituane, who furnished us with
an ox and abundance of other food. The same kindness
was manifested by all who could afford to give any thing ;
aud, as I glance over their deeds of generosity recorded in

144 MODE OF PASSING THE NIGHT.

my journal, my heart glows with gratitude to them, and L
hope and pray that God may spare me to make them some
return.

Before leaving the villages entirely, we may glance at
our way of spending the nights. As soon as we land, some
of the men cut a little grass for my bed, while Mashauana
plants the poles of the little tent. These are used by day
for carrying burdens, for the Barotse fashion is exactly
like that of the natives of India, only the burden is fastened
near the ends of the pole, and not suspended by long cords.
The bed is made, and boxes ranged on each side of it, and
ther. the tent pitched over all. Four or five feet in front
of my tent is placed the principal or kotla fire, the wood
for which must be collected by the man who occupies the
post of herald and takes as his perquisite the heads of all
the oxen slaughtered and of all the game too. Each per-
son knows the station he is to occupy in reference to the
post of honor at the fire in front of the door of the tent.
The two Makololo occupy my right and left, both in eating
and sleeping, as long as the journey lasts. But Mashauana,
my head-boatman, makes his bed at the door of the tent as
soon as I retire. The rest, divided into small companies
according to their tribes, make sheds all round the fire,
leaving a horseshoe-shaped space in front sufficient for the
cattle to stand in. The fire gives confidence to the oxen;
so the men are always careful to keep them in sight of it.
The sheds are formed by planting two stout forked poles
in an inclined direction, and placing another over these in a
horizontal position. A number of branches are then stuck in
tu2 ground in the direction to which the poles are inclined, |
the twigs drawn down to the horizontal pole and tied with
strips of bark. Long grass is then laid over the branches
in sufficient quantity to draw off the rain, and we have
sheds open to the fire in front but secure from beasts be-
hind. In less than an hour we were usually all under cover.
We never lacked abundance of grass during the whole
journey. It is a picturesque sight at night, when the clear

ALLIGATORS. 145

bright moon of these climates glances on the sleeping forms
around, to look out upon the attitudes of profound repose
both men and beasts assume. There being no danger from
wild animals on such a night, the fires are allowed almost
to go out; and, as there is no fear of hungry dogs coming
over sleepers and devouring the food, or quietly eating up
the poor fellows’ blankets, which at best were but greasy
skins, which sometimes happened in the villages, the pic-.
ture was one of perfect peace.

The cooking is usually done in the natives’ own style;
and, as they carefully wash the dishes, pots, and the hands
before handling food, it is by no means despicable. Some-
times alterations are made at my suggestion, and then they
believe that they can cook in thorough white man’s fashion.
The cook always comes in for something ‘eft in the pot, so
all are eager to obtain the office.

1 taught several of them to wash my shirts, and they
did it well, though their teacher had never been taught
that work himself. Frequent changes of linen and sunning
of my blanket kept me more comfortable than might have
been anticipated, and I feel certain that the lessons of
cleanliness rigidly instilled by my mother in childhood
helped to maintain that respect which these people enter-
tain for European ways. It is questionable if a descent to
barbarous ways ever elevates a man in the eyes of savages.

Part of our company marched along the banks with the
oxen, and part went in the canoes, but our pace was regu-
lated by the speed of the men on shore. Their course was
rather difficult, on account of the numbers of departing and
re-entering branches of the Leeambye, which they had to
avoid or wait at till we ferried them over. The number
of alligators is prodigious, and in this river they are more
savage than in some others. Many children are carried
off annually at Sesheke and cther towns; for, notwith-
standing the danger, when they go down for water they
almost always must play a while. This reptile is said by the

natives to strike the victim with his tail, then drag him in
K 13

146 GAME.

and drown him. ‘When lying in the water watching for
prey, the body never appears. Many calves are lost also,
and it is seldom that a number of cows can swim over at
Sesheke without some loss. I never could avoid shudder-
ing on seeing my men swimming across these branches,
after one of them had been caught by the thigh and taken
below. He, however, retained, as nearly all of them in
the most trying circumstances do, his full presence of mind,
and, having a small, square, ragged-edged javelin with
him, when dragged to the bottom gave the alligator a stab
behind the shoulder. The alligator, writhing in pain, left
him, and he came out with the deep marks of the reptile’s
teeth on his thigh. Here the people have no antipathy to
persons who have met with such an adventure ; but in the
Bamangwato and Bakwain tribes, if a man is either bitten
or even has had water splashed over him by the reptile’s
tail, he is expelled his tribe.

When we had gone thirty or forty miles above Libonta,
we sent eleven of our captives to the west, to the chief
called Makoma, with an explanatory message. ‘This
caused some delay; but as we were loaded with presents
of food from the Makololo, and the wild animals were in
enormous herds, we fared sumptuously. It was grievous,
however, to shoot the lovely creatures, they were so tame.
With but little skill in stalking, one could easily get within
fifty or sixty yards of them. There I lay, looking at the
graceful forms and motions of beautiful pokus, leches, and
other antelopes, often till my men, wondering what was
the matter, came up to sec, and frightened them away.
If we had been starving, I could have slaughtered them
with as little hesitation as I should cut off a patient’s leg;
but I felt a doubt, and the antelopes got the benefit of it.

My men, having never had fire-arms in their hands be-
fore, found it so- difficult to hold the musket steady at the
flash of fire in the pan, that they naturally expected me to
furnish them with “gun-medicine,” without which, it is
almost universally believed, no one can shoot straight.

DIFFICULTY IN USING THE GUN. 147

Great expectations had been formed when I arrived among
the Makololo on this subject; but, having invariably de-
clined to deceive them, as some for their own profit have
done, my men now supposed that I would at last consent,
and thereby relieve myself from the hard work of hunting
by employing them after due medication. This I was most
willing to do, if I could have done it honestly; for, having
but little of the hunting-furore in my composition, I always
preferred eating the game to killing it. Sulphur is the
remedy most admired, and I remember Sechele giving a
large price for a very small bit. He also gave some
elephants’ tusks, worth £30, for another medicine which
was to make him invulnerable to musket-balls. As I
uniformly recommended that these things should be tested
by experiment, a calf was anointed with the charm and
tied toa tree. It proved decisive, and Sechele remarked
it was “pleasanter to be deceived than undeceived.” I
offered sulphur for the same purpose, but that was declined,
even though a person came to the town afterward and
rubbed his hands with a little before a successful trial of
shooting at a mark.

I explained to my men the nature of a gun, and tried to
teach them, but they would soon have expended all the
ammunition in my possession. I was thus obliged to do
all the shooting myself ever afterward. Their inability
was rather a misfortune; for, in consequence of working
too soon after having been bitten by the lion, the bone of
my left arm had not united well. Continual hard manual
lubor, and some falls from ox-back, lengthened the liga-
ment by which the ends of the bones were united, and a
false joint was the consequence. The limb has never been
painful, as those of my companions on the day of the ren-
counter with the lion have been; but, there being a joint
too many, I could not steady the rifle, and was always
obliged to shoot with the piece resting on the left shoulder.
I wanted steadiness of aim, and it generally happened that

148 HIPPOPOTAMI.

the more hungry the party became, the more frequently 1
missed the animals.

Before we came to the junction of the Leeba and
Leeambye we found the banks twenty feet high, and com-
posed of marly sandstone. They are covered with trees,
and the left bank has the tsetse and elephants. I suspect
the fly has some connection with this animal, and the
Portuguese in the district of Tete must think so too, for
they call it the Musca da elephant, (the elephant-fly.)

We passed great numbers of hippopotami. They are
very numerous in the parts of the river where they are
never hunted. The males appear of a dark color, the
females of yellowish brown. There is not such a complete
separation of the sexes among them as among elephants
They spend most of their time in the water, lolling about
in a listless, dreamy manner. When they come out of the
river by night, they crop off the soft succulent grasses
very neatly. When they blow, they puff up the water
about three feet high.

CHAPTER XV.

DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE FEMALE CHIEFS MANENKO AND
NYAMOANA.

On the 27th of December we were at the confluence of the
Tieeba and Leeambye, (lat. 14° 10’ 52” S., long. 23° 35! 4u”
E.) Masiko, the Barotse chief, for whom we had some
captives, lived nearly due east of this point. They were
two little boys, a little girl, a young man, and two middle-
aged women. One of these was a member of a Babimpe
tribe, who knock out both upper and lower front teeth as
a distinction. As we had been informed by the captives
on the previous Sunday that Masiko was in the habit of
seizing all orphans, and those who have no powerful ‘riend

MESSAGE TO MASIKO. 149

m the tribe whose protection they can claim, and selling
them fur clothing to the Mambari, we thought the objec-
tion of the women to go first to his town before seeing their
friends quite reasonable, and resolved to send a party of
our own people to see them safely among their relatives.
J told the captive young man to inform Masiko that he
was very unlike his father Santuru, who had refused to
sell his people to Mambari. He will probably be afraid to
deliver such a message himself, but it is meant for his peo-
ple, and they will circulate it pretty widely, and Masiko
may yet feel a little pressure from without. We sent
Mosantu, a Batoka man, and his companions, with the cap-
tives. The Barotse whom we had were unwilling to go to
Masiko, since they owe him allegiance as the son of San-
turu, and while they continue with Makololo are consi-
dered rebels. The message by Mosantu was that “I was
sorry to find that Santuru had not borne a wiser son. San-
turu loved to govern men, but Masiko wanted to govern
wild beasts only, as he sold his people to the Mambari ;”
adding an explanation of the return of the captives, and
an injunction to him to live in peace, and prevent his
people kidnapping the children and canoes of the Makololo,
as a continuance in these deeds would lead to war, which
I wished to prevent. He was also instructed to say, if
Masiko wanted fuller explanation of my views, he must
send a sensible man to talk with me at the first town of the
Balonda, to which I was about to proceed.

We ferried Mosantu over to the left bank of the Leeba.
The journey required five days, but it could not have been
at a quicker rate than ten or twelve miles per day; the
children were between seven and eight years of age, and
anable to walk fast in a hot.sun.

Leaving Mosantu to pursue his course, we shall take but
me glance down the river, which we are now about to
feave, for it comes at this point from the eastward, and our
eourse is to be directed to the northwest, as we mean to

go to Loanda in Angola. From the confluence, where we
13%

130 NAVIGATION OF THE LEEAMBYE.

now are, down to Mosioatunya, there are many long
reaches, where a vessel equal to the Thames steamers ply-
ing between the bridges could run as freely as they do on
the Thames. It is often, even here, as broad as that river
at London Bridge; but, without accurate measurement of
the depth, one could not say which contained most water.
There are, however, many and serious obstacles to a con-
tinued navigation for hundreds of miles at a stretch.
About ten miles below the confluence of the Loeti, for in-
stance, there are many large sand-banks in the stream; then
you have a hundred miles to the river Simah, where a
Thames steamer could ply at all times of the year; but,
again, the space between Simah and Katima-molelo has five
or six rapids with cataracts, one of which—Gonye—could
not be passed at any time without portage. Between
these rapids there are reaches of still, deep water, of
several miles in length. Beyond Katima-molelo to the
confluence of the Chobe you have nearly a hundred miles,
again, of a river capable of being navigated in the same
way as in the Barotse valley.

Now, I do not say that this part of the river presents a
very inviting prospect for extemporaneous European enter-
prise; but when we have a pathway which requires only
the formation of portages to make it equal to our canals
for hundreds of miles, where the philosophers supposed
there was naught but an extensive sandy desert, we must
- confess that the future partakes at least of the elements
of hope. My deliberate conviction was and is that the
part of the country indicated is as capable of supporting
millions of inhabitants as it is of its thousands. The grass
of the Barotse valley, for instance, is such a densely-matted
mass, that, when “laid,” the stalks bear each other up, so
that one feels as if walking on the sheaves of a naystack,
and the leches nestle under it to bring forth their young
The soil which produces this, if placed under the plough,
instead of being mere pasturage, would yield grain sufi
cient to feed vast multitudes.

BUFFALO-HUNT. _ eek

We now began to ascend the Leeba. The water is black
in color as compared with the main stream, which hero
assumes the name of Kabompo. The Leeba flows placidly,
and, unlike the parent river, receives numbers of little rivu-
lets from both sides. It winds slowly through the most
charming meadows, each of which has either a soft, sedgy
centre, large pond, or trickling rill down the middle.

A large buffalo was wounded, and ran into the thickest
part of the forest, bleeding profusely. The young men
went on his trail; and, though the vegetation was so dense
that no one could have run more than a few yards, most
of them went along quite carelessly, picking and eating a
fruit of the melon-family called mponko. When the animal
heard them approach, he always fled, shifting his stand
and doubling on his course in the most cunning manner.
In other cases I have known them to turn back to a point
a few yards from their own trail, and then lie down in a
hollow waiting for the hunter to come up. -Though a
heavy, lumbering-looking animal, his charge is then rapid
and terrific. More accidents happen by the buffalo and
the black rhinoceros than by the lion. Though all are
aware of the mischievous nature of the buffalo when
wounded, our young men went after him quite carelessly.
They never lose their presence of mind, but, as a buffalo
charges back in a forest, dart dexterously out of his way
behind a tree, and, wheeling round, stab him as he passes.

On the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank from
which had just emerged two broods of alligators. We had
seen many young ones as we came up; so this seems to be
their time of coming forth from the nests, for we saw them
sunning themselves on sand-banks in company with the
old ones. We made our fire in one of the deserted nests,
which were strewed all over with the broken shells. At
the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken out of one such nest
alone. They are about the size of those of a goose, only
the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter at both
ends, and the white shell is partially elastic, from having a

152 ALLIGATORS’ EGGS.

strong internal membrane and but little lime in its compo
sition. The distance from the water was about ten feet
and there were evidences of the same place having beer
used for a similar purpose in former years. A broad path
led up from the water to the nest, and the dam, it was said
hy my companions, after depositing the eggs, covers them
up, and returns afterward to assist the young out of the
place of confinement and out of the egg. She leads them.
to the edge of the water, and then leaves them to catch
smnall fish for themselves.

When we reached the part of the river opposite to the
village of Manenko, the first female chief whom we encoun-
tered, two of the people called Balunda, or Balénda, came
to us in their little canoe. From them we learned that
Kolimbota, one of our party, who had been in the habit of
visiting these parts, was believed by the Balonda to have
acted as a guide to the marauders under Lerimo, whose
captives we were now returning. They very naturally
suspected this, from the facility with which their villages .
had been found; and, as they had since removed them to
some distance from the river, they were unwilling to lead
us to their places of concealment. We were in bad repute;
but, having a captive boy and girl to show in evidence of
Sekeletu and ourselves not being partakers in the guilt of
inferior men, I could fully express my desire that all should
live in peace. They evidently felt that I ought to have
taught the Makololo first, before coming to them; for they
remarked that what I advanced was very good, but guilt
lay at the door of the Makololo for disturbing the pre-
viously-existing peace. They then went away to report
us to Manenko.

When the strangers visited us again in the evening, they
were accompanied by a number of the people of an Am-
binda chief named Sekelenke. The Ambonda live far to
the N.W.; their language (the Bonda) is the common dia-
lect in Angola. Sekelenke had fled, and was now living
with his village as a vassal of Masiko. Sekelenke had

SEKELENKE’S PRESENT 15%

gone with his villagers to hunt elephants on the right
bank of the Leeba, and was now on his way back to
Masiko. He sent mea dish of boiled zebra’s flesh, and a
request that I should lend him a canoe to ferry his wives
and family across the river to the bank on which we were
encamped. Many of Sekelenke’s people came to salute the
first white man they ever had an opportunity of seeing;
but Sekelenke himself did not come near. We heard he
was offended with some of his people for letting me know
he was among the company. He said that I should be
displeased with nim for not coming and making some pre-
sent. This was the only instance in which I was shunnea
in this quarter.

Sekelenke and his people, twenty-four in number, defiled
past our camp, carrying large bundles of dried elephants’
meat. Most of them came to say good-bye, and Sekelenke
himself sent to say that he had gone to visit a wife living
in the village of Manenko. It was a mere African manceuvre
to gain information, and not to commit himself to either
one line of action or another with respect to our visit. As
he was probably in the party before us, I replied that it
was all right, and when my people came up from Masiko
I would go to rzy7 wife too.

To our first message offering a visit of explanation to
Manenko, we got an answer, with a basket of manioc-roots,
that we must remain where we were till she should visit
us. Having waited two days already for her, other mes-
sengers arrived with orders for me to come to her. After
four days of rains and negotiation, I declined going at all,
and proceeded up the river to the small stream Makondo,
(lat. 15° 23’ 12” S.,) which enters the Leeba from the east,
and is between twenty and thirty yards broad.

January 1, 1854.—We had heavy rains almost every day:
indeed, the rainy season had fairly set in. Baskets of the
purple fruit called mawa were frequently brought to us by
the villagers; not for sale, but from a belief that their

154 MAMBARI TRADERS.

chiefs would be pleased to hear that they had treated us
well: we gave them pieces of meat in return.

When crossing at the confluence of the Leeba and Ma-
kondo, one of my men picked up a bit of a steel watch-
chain of English manufacture, and we were informed that
this was the spot where the Mambari cross in coming to
Masiko. Their visits explain why Sekelenke kept his tusks
so carefully. These Mambari are very enterprising mer-
chants : when they mean to trade with a town, they delibe-
rately begin the affair by building huts, as if they knew
that little business could be transacted without a liberal
allowance of time for palaver. They bring Manchester
goods into the heart of Africa; these cotton prints look so
wonderful that the Makololo could not believe them to be
the work of mortal hands. On questioning the Mambari,
they were answered that English manufactures came out
of the sea, and beads were gathered on its shore. To
Africans our cotton-mills are fairy dreams. “How can the
irons spin, weave, and print so beautifully?” Our country
is like what Taprobane was to our ancestors,—a strange
realm of light, whence came the diamond, muslin, and
peacocks; an attempt at explanation of our manufactures
usually elicits the expression, “Truly ye are gods!”

When about to leave the Makondo, one of my men had
dreamed that Mosantu was shut up a prisoner in a stockade:
this dream depressed the spirits of the whole party, and
when I came out of my little tent in the morning, they
were sitting the pictures of abject sorrow. I asked if we
were to be guided by dreams, or by the authority I derived
from Sekeletu, and ordered them to load the boats at once;
they seemed ashamed to confess their fears; the Makololo
picked up courage and upbraided the others for having
such superstitious views, and said this was always their
way: if even a certain bird called to them, they would turn
back from an enterprise, saying it was unlucky. They
entered the canoes at last, and were the better of a little
scolding for beng inclined to put dreams before authority.

INTERVIEW WITM FEMALE CHIEF. 155

It rained all the morning, but about eleven we reached the
village of Sheakondo, on a small stream named Lonkonye.
We sent a message to the head-man, who soon appeared
with two wives, bearing handsome presents of manioc:
Sheakondo could speak the language of the Barotse well,
and seemed awe-struck when told some of the “words of
God.” He manifested no fear, always spoke frankly, and,
when he made an asseveration, did so by simply pointing
up to the sky above him.

Sheakondo’s old wife presented some manioc-roots, and
then politely requested to be anointed with butter: as I
had been bountifully supplied by the Makololo, I gave her
as much as would suffice, and, as they have little clothing,
I can readily believe that she felt her comfort greatly
enhanced thereby.

The favorite wife, who was also present, was equally
anxious for butter. She had a profusion of iron rings on
her ankles, to which were attached little pieces of sheet-
iron, to enable her to make a tinkling as she walked in her
mincing African style; the same thing is thought pretty
by our own dragoons in walking jauntingly.

On the 6th of January we reached the village of another
female chief, named Nyamodana, who is said to be the
mother of Manenko, and sister of Shinté or Kabdémpo, the
greatest Balonda chief in this part of the country. Her
people had but recently come to the present locality, and
had erected only twenty huts. Her husband, Samodna,
was clothed in a kilt of green and red baize, and was armed
with a spear and a broadsword of antique form, about
' eighteen inches long and three broad. The chief and her
husband were sitting on skins placed in the middle of a
circle thirty paces in diameter, a little raised above the
ordinary level of the ground, and having a trench round it.
Unutside the trench sat about a hundred persons of all ages
and both sexes. The men were well armed with bows,
arrows, spears, and broadswords. Beside the husband sat
# rather aged woman, having a bad outward squint in the

156 COURT ETIQUETTE.

‘eft eye. We put down our arms about forty yards off, and
{ walked up to the centre of the circular bench, and saluted
aim in the usual way by clapping the hands together in
their fashion. He pointed to his wife, as much as to say,
The honor belongs to her. I saluted her in the same way,
aud, a mat having been brought, I squatted down in front
of them.

The talker was then called, and I was asked who was
my spokesman. Having pointed to Kolimbota, who knew
their dialect best, the palaver began in due form. I ex-
plained the real objects I had in view, without any attempt
to mystify or appear in any other character than my own,
for I have always been satisfied that, even though there
were no other considerations, the truthful way of dealing
with the uncivilized is unquestionably the best. Kolimbota
repeated to Nyamoana’s talker what I had said to him.
He delivered it all verbatim to her husband, who repeated
it again to her. It was thus all rehearsed four times over,
in a tone loud enough to be heard by the whole party of
auditors. The response came back by the same round-
about route, beginning at the lady to her husband, &e.

After explanations and re-explanations, I perceived that
our new friends were mixing up my message of peace and
friendship with Makololo affairs, and stated that it was
not delivered on the authority of any one less than that
of their Creator, and that if the Makololo did again break
his laws and attack the Balonda, the guilt would rest with
the Makololo and not with me. The palaver then came to
a close.

By way of gaining their confidence, I showed them my
hair, which is considered a curiosity in all this region. They
said, “Is that hair? It is the mane of a lion, and not hair
at all.’ Some thought that I had made a wig of lion’s
mane, as they sometimes do with fibres of the ‘ife,’ and
dye it black and twist it so as to resemble a mass of then
own wool. I could not return the joke by telling them
that theirs was not hair, but the wool of sheep, for they

INCREASE OF SUPERSTITION. 157

have none of these in the country; and even though they
had, as Herodotus remarked, “the African sheep are clothed
with hair, and men’s heads with wool.” So I had to be
content with asserting that mine was the real original hair,
such as theirs would have been had it not been scorched
and frizzled by the sun. In proof of what the sun could
do, I compared my own bronzed face and hands, then about
the same in complexion as the lighter-colored Makololo,
with the white skin of my chest. They readily believed
that, as they go nearly naked and fully exposed to that
influence, we might be of common origin after all. Here,
as everywhere when heat and moisture are combined, the
people are very dark, but not quite black. There is always
a shade of brown in the most deeply colored. I showed
my watch and pocket-compass, which are considered great
curiosities ; but, though the lady was called on by her hus-
band to look, she would not be persuaded to approach near
enough.

These people are more superstitious than any we had
yet encountered: though still only building their village,
they had found time to erect two little sheds at the chief
dwelling in it, in which were placed two pots having charms
in them. When asked what medicine they contained, they
replied, “ Medicine for the Barimo;” but when I rose and
looked into them they said they were medicine for the
game. Here we saw the first evidence of the existence of
idolatry, in the remains of an old idol at a deserted village.
It was simply a human head carved on a block of wood.
Certain charms mixed with red ochre and white pipe-clay
are dotted over them when they are in use; and a crooked
stick is used in the same way for an idol when they have
no professional carver.

As the Leeba seemed still to come from the direction in
which we wished to go, I was desirous of proceeding far-
ther up with the canoes; but Nyamoana was anxious that
we should allow her people to conduct us to her brother
Shinte; and, when I explained to her the advantage of

4

158 MODE OF SALUTATION.

water-carriage, she represented that her brother did not
live near the river, and, moreover, there was a cataract in
front, over which it would be difficult to convey the canoes.
She was afraid, too, that the Balobale, whose country lies
to the west of the river, not knowing the objects for which
we had come, would kill us. To my reply that I had been
so often threatened with death if I visited a new tribe
that I was now more afraid of killing any one than of
being killed, she rejoined that the Balobale would not kill-
me, but the Makololo would all be sacrificed as their ene-
mies. This produced considerable effect on my companions,
and inclined them to the plan of Nyamoana, of going to
the town of her brother rather than ascending the Leeba.
The arrival of Manenko herself on the scene threw so
much weight into the scale on their side that I was forced
to yield the point.

Manenko was a tall, strapping woman about twenty, dis-
tinguished by a profusion of ornaments and medicines hung
round her person; the latter are supposed to act as charms.
Her body was smeared all over with a mixture of fat and
red ochre, as a protection against the weather ; a necessary
precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was
otherwise in a state of frightful nudity. This was not from
want of clothing; for, being a chief, she might have been
as well clad as any of her subjects, but from her peculiar
ideas of elegance in dress. When she arrived with her
husband, Sambanza, they listened for some time to the
statements I was making to the people of Nyamoana, after
which the husband, acting as spokesman, commenced an
oration, stating the reasons for their coming; and, during
every two or three seconds of the delivery, he picked up a
little sand and rubbed it on the upper part of his arms
and chest. This is a common mode of salutation in Londa;
and when they wish to be excessively polite they bring ~
a quantity of ashes or pipe-clay in a piece of skin, and,
taking up bandfuls, rub it on the chest and upper front
part of each arm; others, in saluting, drum their ribs with —

EMBASSY AND PRESENT FROM MASIKO. 159

their elbows; while others still touch the ground with one
cheek after the other, and clap their hands. The chiefs go
through the manceuvre of rubbing the sand on the arms,
but only make a feint of picking up some. When Sam-
banza had finished his oration, he rose up and showed his
ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings: had
they been very heavy they would have made him adopt a
straggling walk. Some chiefs have really so many as to be
forced, by the weight and size, to keep one foot apart from
tne other, the weight being a serious inconvenience in
Walking. The gentlemen like Sambanza, who wish to
imitate their betters, do so in their walk; so you see men
with only a few ounces of ornament on their legs strutting
along as if they had double the number of pounds. When
I smiled at Sambanza’s walk, the people remarked, ‘That
is the way in which they show off their lordship in these
parts.”

Manenko was quite decided in the adoption of the policy
of friendship with the Makololo which we recommended ;
and, by way of cementing the bond, she and her coun-
sellors proposed that Kolimbota should take a wife among
them. Kolimbota, I found, thought favorably of the pro-
position, and it afterward led to his desertion from us.

On the evening of the day in which Manenko arrived,
we were delighted by the appearance of Mosantu and an
mposing embassy from Masiko. It consisted of all his
under-chiefs; and they brought a fine elephant’s tusk, two
calabashes of honey, and a large piece of blue baizo, as a
present. The last was intended perhaps to show mo that
he was a truly great chief, who had such stores of white
men’s goods at hand that he could afford to give presents
of them; it might also be intended for Mosantu, for chiefs
usually remember the servants: I gave it to him. Masiko
expressed delight, by his principal men, at the return of
the captives, and at the proposal of peace and alliance
with the Makololo. He stated that he never sold any of
his own people to the Mambari, bu‘ only captives whom

160 MANENKO A SCOLD.

his people kidnapped from small neighboring tribes. When
the question was put whether his people had been in
the habit of molesting the Makololo by kidnapping their
servants and stealing canoes, it was admitted that two
of his men, when hunting, had gone to the Makololo
gardens, to see if any of their relatives were there. As
the great object in all native disputes is to get both parties
to turn over a new leaf, I explained the desirableness of
forgetting past feuds, accepting the present Makololo pro-
fessions as genuine, and avoiding in future to give them
any cause for marauding. I presented Masiko with an ox
furnished by Sekeletu as provision for ourselves.

We were now without any provisions, except a small
dole of manioc-roots each evening from Nyamoana, which,
when eaten raw, produce poisonous effects. A small loaf,
made from nearly the last morsel of maize-meal from Li-
bonta, was my stock, and our friends from Masiko were
still more destitute; yet we all rejoiced so much at their
arrival that we resolved to spend a day with them. The
Barotse of our party, meeting with relatives and friends
among the Barotse of Masiko, had many old tales to tell ;
and, after pleasant hungry converse by day, we regaled
our friends with the magic lantern by night; and, in order
to make the thing of use to all, we removed our camp up
to the village of Nyamoana. This is a good means of
arresting the attention and conveying important facts to
the minds of these people.

When erecting our sheds at the village, Manenko fell
upon our friends from Masiko in a way that left no doubt
on our minds but that she is a most accomplished scold.
Masiko had, on a former occasion, sent to Samoana for
a cloth,—a common way of keeping up intercourse,—and,
after receiving it, sent it back, because it had the appear-
ance of having had ‘ witchcraft-medicine” on it: this was
a grave offence, and now Manenko had a good excuse for
venting her spleen, the ambassadors having called at her
village and slept in one of the huts without leave. If her

DETAINED BY MANENKO. 161

tamily was to be suspected of dealing in evil tharms, why
were Masiko’s people not to be thought guilty of leaving
the same in her hut? She advanced and receded in true
oratorical style, belaboring her own servants as well for
allowing the offence, and, as usual in more civilized femi-
nine lectures, she leaned over the objects of her ire, and
screamed forth all their faults and failings ever since they
were born, and her despair of ever seeing them become
better until they were all “killed by alligators.” Masiko’s
people followed the plan of receiving hits torrent of abuse
in silence, and, as neither we nor they had any thing to
eat, we parted next morning. In reference to Masiko
selling slaves to the Mambari, they promised to explain
the relationship which exists between even the most abject
of his people and our common Father; and that no more
kidnapping ought to be allowed, as he ought to give that
peace and security to the smaller tribes on his eastern
borders which he so much desired to obtain himself from
the Makololo. We promised to return through his town
when we came back from the sea-coast.

Manenko gave us some manioc-roots in the morning,
and had determined to carry our baggage to her uncle’s,
Kabompo or Shinte. We had heard a sample of what
she could do with her tongue; and, as neither my men nor
myself had much inclination to encounter a scolding from
this black Mrs. Caudle, we made ready the packages; but
she came and said the men whom she had ordered for the
service had not yet come: they would arrive to-morrow.
Being on low and disagreeable diet, I felt annoyed at this
further delay, and ordered the packages to be put into the
canoes to proceed up the river without her servants. “But
Manenko was not to be circumvented in this way: she
came forward with her people, and said her uncle would
be angry if she did not carry forward the tusks and goods
of Sekeletu, seized the luggage, and declared that she
would carry it in spite of me. My men succumbed sooner

to this petticoat-government than I felt inclined to do, and
L 1li#

162 CHARMS.

left me no power; and, being unwilling to encounter her
tongue, I was moving off to the canoes, when she gave me
a kind explanation, and, with her hand on my shoulder,
put on a motherly look, saying, ‘‘Now, my little man, just
(lo as the rest have done.” My feelings of annoyance of
vourse vanished.

CHAPTER XVI.
DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS SHINTE, CHIEF OF THE BALONDA.

lithof January, 1854.—On starting this morning, Samoana
(or rather Nyamoana, for the ladies are the chiefs here)
presented a string of beads, and a shell highly valued
among them, as an atonement for having assisted Manenko,
as they thought, to vex me the day before. They seemed
anxious to avert any evil which might arise from my dis-
pleasure; but, having replied that I never kept my anger
up all night, they were much pleased to see me satisfied.
We had to cross, in a canoe, a stream which flows past
the village of Nyamoana. Manenko’s doctor waved some
charms over her, and she took some in her hand and on
her body before she ventured upon the water. One of my
men spoke rather loudly when near the doctor’s basket of
medicines. The doctor reproved him, and always spoke
in a whisper himself, glancing back to the basket as if
afraid of being heard by something therein. So much
superstition is quité unknown in the south, and is men-
tioned here to show the difference in the feelings of this
new people, and the comparative want of reverence on
these points among Caffres and Bechuanas.

Manenko was accompanied by her husband and her
drummer; the latter continued to thump most vigorously
until a heavy, drizzling mist set in and compelled him to

HUNGER. 163

desist. Her husband used various incantations and vocife
rations to drive away the rain, but down it poured inces-
santly, and on our Amazon went, in the very lightest
marching-order, and at a pace that few of the men could
keep up with. Being on ox-back, I kept pretty close to
our leader, and asked her why she did not clothe herself
during the rain, and learned that it is not considered proper
for a chief to appear effeminate. He or she must always
wear the appearance of robust youth and bear vicissitudes
without wincing. My men, in admiration of her pedestrian
powers, every now and then remarked, ‘‘ Manenko is a
soldier ;” and, thoroughly wet and cold, we were all glad
when she proposed a halt to prepare our night’s lodging
on the banks of a stream.

Next day we passed through a piece of forest so dense that
no one could have penetrated it without an axe. It was
flooded, not by the river, but by the heavy rains which
poured down every day and kept those who had clothing
constantly wet. I observed in this piece of forest a very
strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen. This I had observed
repeatedly in other parts before. I had attacks of fever
of the intermittent type again and again, in consequence
of repeated drenchings in these unhealthy spots.

On the 11th and 12th we were detained by incessant
rains, and so heavy I never saw the like in the south. I
had a little tapioca and a small quantity of Libonta meal,
which I still reserved for worse times. The patience of
my men under hunger was admirable; the actual want of
tlie present is never so painful as the thought of getting
nothing in the future. We thought the people of some
large hamlets very niggardty and very independent of their
chiefs, for they gave us and Manenko nothing, though they
had large fields of maize in an eatable state around them.
When she went and kindly begged some for me, they gave
ner five ears only. They were subjects of her uncle, and,
had they been Makololo, would have been lavish in their
gifts to the niece of their chief. I suspected that they

164 DENSE FORESTS.

were dependents of some of Shinte’s principal men, and
had no power to part with the maize of their masters.

The forests became more dense as we went north. We
travelled much more in the deep gloom of the forest than
in open sunlight. No passage existed on either side of the
harrow path made by the axe. Large climbing plants
entwined themselves around the trunks and branches of
gigantic trees like boa-constrictors, and they often do con-
strict the trees by which they rise, and, killing them, stand
erect themselves. The bark of a fine tree found in abun-
dance here, and called ‘‘motuia,” is used by the Barotse for
making fish-lines and nets, and the “molompi,” so well
adapted for paddles by its lightness and flexibility, was
abundant. There were other trees quite new to my com-
panions: many of them ran up to a height of fifty feet of
one thickness, and without branches.

In these forests we first encountered the artificial bee-
hives so commonly met with all the way from this to
Angola. They consist of about five feet of the bark of a
trée fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter. Two incisions
are made right round the tree at points five feet apart,
then one longitudinal slit from one of these to the other;
the workman next lifts up the bark on each side of this slit,
and detaches it from the trunk, taking care not to break it,
antil the whole comes from the tree. The elasticity of the
bark makes it assume the form it had before; the slit is
sewed or pegged up with wooden pins, and ends made of
coiled grass rope are inserted, one of which has a hole for
the ingress of the bees in the centre, and the hive is com-
plete. These hives are placed in a horizontal position on
high trees in different parts of the forest, and in this way
all the wax exported from Benguela and Loanda is col-
lected. It is all the produce of free labor. A “piece of
medicine” is tied round the trunk of the tree, and proves
sufficient protection against thieves. The natives seldom
rob each other, for all believe that certain medicines can
inflict disease and death; and, though they consider that

NATURAL WELLS. 165

these are only known to a few, they act on the principle
that it is best to let them all alone. The gloom of these
forests strengthens the superstitious feelings of the people.
In other quarters, where they are not subjected to this
influence, I have heard the chiefs issue proclamations to
the effect that real witchcraft-medicines had been placed at
certain gardens from which produce had been stolen, the
thieves having risked the power of the ordinary charms
previously placed there.

There was considerable pleasure, in spite of rain and
fever, in this new scenery. The deep gloom contrasted
strongly with the shadeless glare of the Kalahari, which
had left an indelible impression on my memory. Though
drenched day by day at this time, and for months after-
ward, it was long before I could belicve that we were
getting too much of a good thing. Nor could I look at
water being thrown away without a slight, quick impres-
sion flitting across the mind that we were guilty of wast-
ing it. Every now and then we emerged from the deep
gloom into a pretty little valley, having a damp portion in
the middle; which, though now filled with water, at other
times contains moisture enough for wells only. These wells
have shades put over them in the form of little huts.

We crossed, in canoes, a little never-failing stream, which
passes by the name of Lefuje, or ‘the rapid.” It comes
from a goodly high mountain, called Monakadzi, (the
woman,) which gladdened our eyes as it rose to our sight
about twenty or thirty miles to the east of our course. It
is of an oblong shape, and seemed at least eight hundred
feet above the plains. The Lefuje probably derives its
name from the rapid descent of the short course it has to
flow from Monakadzi to the Leeba.

The number of little villages seemed about equal to tlre
number of valleys. At some we stopped and rested, the
people becoming more liberal as we advanced. Others we
found deserted, a sudden panic having seized the inhabit-
ants, though the drum of Nanenko was kept beaten pretty

166 LENDING ROOFS OF HUTS.

constantly, in order to give notice of the approach of great
people. When we had decided to remain for the night at
any village, the inhabitants lent us the roofs of their huts,
which in form resemble those of the Makololo, or a China-
man’s hat, and can be taken off the walls at pleasure.
They lifted them off, and brought them to the spot we had
selected as our lodging, and, when my men had propped
them up with stakes, they were then safely housed for the
night. Every one who comes to salute either Manenko or
ourselves rubs the upper parts of the arms and chest with
ashes; those who wish to show profounder reverence put
some also on the face.

We found that every village had its idols near it. This
is the case all through the country of the Balonda, so that,
when we came to an idol in the woods, we always knew
that we were within a quarter of an hour of human habi-
tations. One very ugly idol we passed rested on a hori-
zontal beam placed on two upright posts This beam was
furnished with two loops of cord, as of a chain, to suspend
offerings before it On remarking to my companions that
these idols had ears, but that they heard not, &c., I learned
that the Balonda, and even the Barotse, believe that divina-
tion may be performed by means of these blocks of wood
and clay; and, though the wood itself could not hear, the
owners had medicines by which it could be made to hear
and give responses, so that if an enemy were approaching
they would have full information. Manenko having brought
us to a stand on account of slight indisposition and a desire
to send forward notice of our approach to her uncle, 1
asked why it was necessary to send forward information
of our movements if Shinte had idols who could tell him
every thing. “She did it only,’* was the reply. It is
seldom of much use to show one who worships idols the
folly of idolatry without giving something else as an object

* This is a curious African idiom, by which a person implies he had ne
particular reason for his act.

MANENKO’S WHIMS. 167

of adoration mstead. They do not love them. They fear
them, and betake themselves to their idols only when in
perplexity and danger.

While delayed, by Manenko’s management, among the
Balonda yillages, a little to the south of the town of
Shinte, we were well supplied by the villagers with sweet
potatoes and green maize: Sambanza went to his mother’s
village for supplies of other food. J was laboring under
fever, and did not find it very difficult to exercise patience
with her whims; but, it being Saturday, I thought we
might as well go to the town for Sunday, (15th.) “No:
her messenger must return from her uncle first.” Being
sure that the answer of the uncle would be favorable, I
thought we might go on at once, and not lose two days in
the same spot. ‘No: it is our custom ;” and every thing
else I could urge was answered in the genuine pertinacious
lady style. She ground some meal for me with her own
hands, and when she brought it told me she had actually
gone to a village and begged corn for the purpose. She
said this with an air as if the inference must be drawn by
even a stupid white man, “I know how to manage, don’t
1?” It was refreshing to get food which could be eaten
without producing the unpleasantness described by the
Rey. John Newton, of St. Mary’s, Woolnoth, London,
when obliged to eat the same roots while a slave in the
West Indies. The day, (January 14th,) for a wonder, was
fair, and the sun shone, so as to allow us to dry our cloth-
ing and other goods, many of which were mouldy and
rotten from the long-continued damp. The guns rusted,
in spite of being oiled every evening.

On Sunday afternoon, messengers arrived from Shinte,
expressing his approbation of the objects we had in view
in our journey through the country, and that he was glad
of the prospect of a way being opened by which white
men might visit and allow him to purchase ornaments at
pleasure. Manenko now threatened in sport to go on, and
[ soon afterward perceived that what now seemed to me

168 MODE OF APPROACHING VILLAGES.

the dilly-dallying way of this lady was the proper mode
of making acquaintance with the Balonda; and much of
the favor with which I was received in different places
was owing to my sending forward messengers to state the
object of our coming before entering each town and vil-
lage. When we came in sight of a village, we sat down
under the shade of a tree and sent forward a man to give
notice who we were and what were our objects. The head-
man of the village then sent out his principal men, as
Shinte now did, to bid us welcome and show us a tree
under which we might sleep. Before I had profited by the
rather tedious teaching of Manenko, I sometimes entered
a village and created unintentional alarm. The villagers
would continue to look upon us with suspicion as long as
we remained. Shinte sent us two large baskets of manioc
and six dried fishes. His men had the skin of a monkey,
called in their tongue “ poluma,” (Colobus guereza,) of a jet-
black color, except the long. mane, which is pure white: it
is said to be found in the north, in the country of Mati-
iimvo, the paramount chief of all the Balonda. We
learned from them that they are in the habit of praying
to their idols when unsuccessful in killing game or in any
other enterprise. They behaved with reverence at our re-
ligious services. This will appear important if the reader
remembers the almost total want of prayer and reverence
we encountered in the south.

Our friends informed us that Shinte would be highly
honored by the presence of three white men in his town
at once. Two others had sent forward notice of their ap-
proach from another quarter, (the west ;) could it be Barth
or Krapf? How pleasant to meet with Europeans in such
an out-of-the-way region! The rush of thoughts made me
almost forget my fever. Are they of the same color as I
am? ‘Yes; exactly so.” And have the same hair? “Is
that hair? we thought it was a wig; we never saw the
like before: this white man must be of the sort that lives
in the sea.” Henceforth my men took the hint, and always

A MERMAN. 169

sounded my praises as a true specimen of the variety of
white men who live in the sea. “Only look at his hair; it
is made quite straight by the sea-water !””

T explained to them again and again that, when it was
said we came out of the sea, it did not mean that we came
from beneath the water; but the fiction has been widely
spread in the interior by the Mambari that the real white
men le in the sea, and the myth was too good not to be
taken advantage of by my companions: so, notwithstand-
ing my injunctions, I believe that, when I was out of hear.
ing, my men always represented themselves as led by a
genuine merman: “Just see his hair!” If I returned from
walking to a little distance, they would remark of some to
whom they had been holding forth, “These people want to
see your hair.”

As the strangers had woolly hair like themselves, I had
to give up the idea of meeting any thing more European
than two half-caste Portuguese engaged in trading for
slaves, ivory, and bees’-wax.

16¢h.—After a short march we came to a most lovely valley
about a mile and a half wide, and stretching away east-
ward up to a low prolongation of Monakadzi. <A small
stream meanders down the centre of this pleasant green
glen; and on a little rill, which flows into it from the
western side, stands the town of Kabompo, or, as he likes
best to be called, Shinte. (Lat. 12° 37’ 35” S., long. 22°
47’ E.) When Manenko thought the sun was high enough
for us to make a lucky entrance, we found the town em-'
bowered in banana and other tropical trees having great
expansion of leaf; the streets are straight, and present a
complete contrast to those of the Bechuanas, which are all
very tortuous. Here, too, we first saw native huts with
square walls and round roofs. Goats were browsing about,
and, when we made our appearance, a crowd of negroes,
all fully armed, ran toward us as if they would eat us up:
some had guns, but the manner in which they were held

showed that the owners were more accustomed to bows
15 $

170 SLAVE-TRADERS.

and arrows than to white men’s weapons. After surround.
ing and staring at us for an hour, they began to disperse.

The two native Portuguese traders of whom we had heard
had erected a little encampment opposite the place where
ours was about to be made. One of them, whose spine
had been injured in youth,—a rare sight in this country,—
came and visited us. I returned the visit next morning.
His tall companion had that sickly yellow hue which made
him look fairer than myself, but his head was covered with
a crop of unmistakable wool. They had a gang of young
female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground in front of their
encampment to clear it of weeds and grass; these were
purchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now
come. There were many Mambari with them, and the
establishment was conducted with that military order which
pervades all the arrangements of the Portuguese colonists.
A drum was beaten and trumpet sounded at certain hours,
quite in military fashion. It was the first time most of my
men had seen slaves in chains. ‘ They are not men,” they
exclaimed, (meaning, they are beasts,) ‘“who treat their
children so.”

The Balonda are real negroes, having much more woo)
on their heads and bodies than any of the Bechuana or
Caffre tribes. They are generally very dark in color, but
several are to be seen of a lighter hue; many of the slaver
who have been exported to Brazil have gone from this
region; but, while they have a general similarity to the
typical negro, I never could, from my own observation,
think that our ideal negro, as seen in tobacconists’ shops,
is the true type. A large proportion of the Balonda, iadeed,
have heads somewhat elongated backward and upward,
thick lips, flat noses, elongated ossa calces, &c. &e.; but there
are also many good-looking, well-shaped heads and persons
among them.

17th, Tuesday—We were honored with a grand recep-
tion by Shinte about eleven o’clock. Sambanza claimed
the honor of presenting us, Manenko being slightly indis-

RECEPTION BY SHINTE. iy a

posed. The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully
armed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute, their
drummer and trumpeter making all the noise that very
old instruments would produce. The kotla, or place of
audience, was about a hundred yards square, and two
graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one
end; under one of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne
covered with a leopard’s skin. He had on a checked
jacket and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green; many
strings of large beads hung from his neck, and his limbs
were covered wiih iron and copper armlets and bracelets;
on his head he wure a helmet made of beads woven neatly
together and crowned with a great bunch of goose-feathers.
Close to him sat three lads with large sheaves of arrows
over their shoulders.

When we entere\ the kotla, the whole of Manenko’s
party saluted Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sam-
banza did obeisance by rubbing his chest and arms with
ashes. One of the trees being unoccupied, I retreated to
it for the sake of the shade, and my whole party did the
same. We were now about forty yards from the chief,
and could see the whole ceremony. The different sections
of the tribe came forward in the same way that we did,
the head-man of each making obeisance with ashes which
he carried with him for the purpose; then came the sol-
diers, all armed to the teeth, running and shouting toward
us, with their swords drawn and their faces screwed up so
as to appear as savage as possible, for the purpose, I
thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to
our heels. As we did not, they turned round toward
Shinte and saluted him, then retired. When all had come
and were seated, then began the curious capering usually
seen in pichos. A man starts up, and imitates the most
approved attitudes observed in actual fight, as throwing
one javelin, receiving another on the shield, springing to
one side to avoid a third, running backward or forward,
leaping, &c. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of

172 RECEPTION BY SHINTE.

Nyamoana stalked backward and forward in front ut
Shinte, and gave forth, in a loud voice, all they had been
able to learn, either from myself or people, of my past his-
tory and connection with the Makololo; the return of the
captives; the wish to open the country to trade; the Bible
as a word from heaven; the white man’s desire for the
tribes to live in peace: he ought to have taught the Ma-
kololo that first, for the Balonda never attacked them, yet
they had assailed the Balonda: perhaps he is fibbing, per-
haps not: they rather thought he was; but as the Balonda
had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to any
one, he had better receive the white man well, and send
him on his way. Sambanza was gayly attired, and, be-
sides a profusion of beads, had a cloth so long that a boy
carried it after him as a train.

Behind Shinte sat about a hundred women, clothed in
their best, which happened to be a profusion of red baize.
The chief wife of Shinte, one of the Matebele or Zulus, sat
in front with a curious red cap on her head. During the
intervals between the speeches, these ladies burst forth
into a sort of plaintive ditty; but it was impossible for any
of us to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of
Shinte, or of themselves. This was the first time I had
ever seen females present in a public assembly. In the
south the women are not permitted to enter the kotla,
and, even when invited to come to a religious service there,
would not enter until ordered to do so by the chief; but
here they expressed their app.sobation by clapping their
hands and laughing to different speakers; and Shinte fre-
quently turned round and spoke to them.

A party of musicians, consisting of three drummers and
four performers on the piano, went round the kotla several
times, regaling us with their music. Their drums are
neatly carved from the trunk of a tree, and have a small
hole in the side covered with a bit of spider’s web: the
ends are covered with the skin of an antelope pegged on;
and, when they wish to tighten it, they hold it to the fire

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 173

to make it contract: the instruments are beaten with the
hands.

The piano, named “marimba,” consists of two bars of
wood placed side by side, here quite straight, but, farther
north, bent round so as to resemble half the tire of a car-
riage-wheel; across these are placed about fifteen wooden
keys, each of which is two or three inches broad and
fifteen or eighteen inches long; their thickness is regu-
lated according to the deepness of the note required: each
of the keys has a calabash beneath it; from the upper part
of each a portion is cut off to enable them to embrace the
bars, and form hollow sounding-boards to the keys, which
also are of different sizes, according to the note required ;
and little drumsticks elicit the music. Rapidity of execu-
tion seems much admired among them, and the music is
pleasant to the ear. In Angola the Portuguese use the
marimba in their dances.

When nine speakers had concluded their orations, Shinte
stood up, and so did all the people. He had maintained
true African dignity of manner all the while, but my
people remarked that he scarcely ever took his eyes off me
for a moment. About a thousand people were present,
according to my calculation, and three hundred soldiers.
The sun had now become hot; and the scene ended by the
Mambari discharging their guns.

18th.—We were awakened during the night by a message -
from Shinte, requesting a visit at a very unseasonable hour.
As I was just in the sweating-stage of an intermittent, and
the path to the town lay through a wet valley, I declined
yoing. Kolimbota, who knows their customs best, urged
me to go; but, independent of sickness, I hated words of
the night and deeds of darkness. ‘I was neither a hyena
nor a witch.” Kolimbota thought that we ought to con-
form to their wishes in every thing: I thought we ought
to have some choice in the matter as well, which put him
into high dudgeon. However, at ten next morning we
went, and were led into the courts of Shinte, the walls of

. 15*

174 PRIVATE INTERVIEW WITH SHINTE.

which were woven rods, all very neat and high. Many
trees stood within the enclosure and afforded a grateful
shade. These had been planted, for we saw some recently
put in, with grass wound round the trunk to protect them
from the sun. The otherwise waste corners of the streets
were planted with sugarcane and bananas, which spread
their large light leaves over the walls.

The Ficus Indica tree, under which we now sat, had
very large leaves, but showed its relationship to the Indian
banian by sending down shoots toward the ground. Shinte —
soon came, and appeared a man of upward of fifty-five
years of age, of frank and open countenance, and about
the middle height. He seemed in good humor, and said he
had expected yesterday “that a man who came from the
gods would have approached and talked to him.” That
had been my own intention in going to the reception; but
when we came and saw the formidable preparations, and
all his own men keeping at least forty yards off from him,
I yielded to the solicitations of my men, and remained by
the tree opposite to that under which he sat. His remark
confirmed my previous belief that a frank, open, fearless
manner is the most winning with all these Africans. I
stated the object of my journey and mission, and to all I
advanced the old gentleman clapped his hands in approba-
tion. He replied through a spokesman; then all the com-
pany joined in the response by clapping of hands too.

After the more serious business was over, I asked
if he had ever seen a white man before. He replied,
“ Never: you are the very first I have seen with a white
skin and straight hair: your clothing, too, is different from
any we have ever seen.” They had been visited by native
Portuguese and Mambari only.

On learning from some of the people that “Shinte’s
mouth was bitter for want of tasting ox-flesh,” I presented
him with an ox, to his great delight; and, as his country
is so well adapted for cattle, I advised him to begin a trade
in cows with the Makololo. He was pleased with the idea,

FERTILITY OF SOIL. 175

and when we returned from Loanda we found that he had
profited by the hint, for he had got three, and one of them
justified my opinion of the country, for it was more like a
prize-heifer for fatness than any we had seen in Africa.
He soon afterward sent us a basket of green maize boiled,
another of manioc-meal, and a small fowl.

During this time Manenko had been extremely busy
with all her people in getting up a very pretty hut and
court-yard, to be, as she said, her residence always when
white men were brought by her along the same path.
When she heard that we had given an ox to her uncle,
she came forward to us with the air of one wronged, and
explained that “this white man belonged to her; she had
brought him here, and therefore the ox was hers, not
Shinte’s.” \ She ordered her men to bring it, got it slaugh-
tered by them, and presented her uncle with a leg only.
Sninte did not seem at all annoyed at the occurrence.

19th.—I was awakened at an early hour by a messenger
from Shinte; but, the thirst of a raging fever being just
assuaged by the bursting forth of a copious perspiration, I
declined going for a few hours. Violent action of the
heart all the way to the town did not predispose me to be
patient with the delay which then occurred, probably on
account of the divination being unfavorable :—“They could
not find Shinte.” When I returned to bed, another mes-
sage was received :—“‘ Shinte wished to say all he had to
tell me at once.” This was too tempting an offer; so we
went, and he had a fowl ready in his hand to present, also
a basket of manioc-meal, and a calabash of mead. Refer-
ring to the constantly-recurring attacks of fever, he re-
marked that it was the only thing which would prevent
a successful issue to my journey, for he had men 10 guide
me who knew all the paths which led to the white men.
He had himself travelled far when a young man. On
asking what he would recommend for the fever, “ Drink
plenty of the mead, and as it gets in it will drive the fever
out.” It was rather strong, and I suspect he liked the

176 KIDNAPPING

remedy pretty well, even though he had no fever. He had
always been a friend to Sebituane; and, now that his son
Sekeletu was in his place, Shinte was not merely a friend,
but a father to him; and if a son asks a favor the father
must give it. He was highly pleased with the large cala-
bashes of clarified butter and fat which Sekeletu had sent
him, and wished to detain Kolimbota, that he might send
a present back to Sekeletu by his hands. This proposition
we afterward discovered was Kolimbota’s own, as he had
heard sc much about the ferocity of the tribes through
which we were to pass that he wished to save his skin.
It will be seen farther on that he was the only one of our
party who returned with a wound.

An incident which occurred while we were here may be
mentioned, as of a character totally unknown in the south.
Two children, of seven and eight years old, went out to
collect firewood a short distance from their parents’ home,
which was a quarter of a mile from the village, and were
kidnapped ; the distracted parents could not find a trace of
them. This happened so close to the town, where there
are no beasts of prey, that we suspect some of the high
men of Shinte’s court were the guilty parties: they can
sell them by night. The Mambari erect large huts of a
square shape to stow these stolen ones in; they are well fed,
but aired by night only. The frequent kidnapping from
outlying hamlets explains the stockades we saw around
them: the parents have no redress, for even Shinte himself,
seems fond of working in the dark. One night he sent for
me, though I always stated I liked all my dealings to be
aboveboard. When I came, he presented me with a slave-
girl about ten years old: he said he had always been in the
habit of presenting his visitors with a child. On my
thanking him, and saying that I thought it wrong to take
away children from their parents, that I wished him to
give up this system altogether and trade in cattle, ivory,
and bees’-wax, he urged that she was “to be a.child” to
bring me water, and that a great man ought to have a

MAGIC LANTERN. 177

child for the purpose, yet I had none. As I replied that 1
had four children, and should be very sorry if my chief wero
to‘take my little girl and give her away, and that I would
prefer this child to remain and carry water for her own
mother, he thought I was dissatisfied with her size, and
sent for one a head taller. After many explanations of our
abhorrence of slavery, and how displeasing it must be to
God to see his children selling one another and giving each
other so much grief as this child’s mother must feel, I
declined her also. If I could have taken her into my family
for the purpose of instruction, and then returned her as a
free woman, according to a promise I should have made to
the parents, I might have done so; but to take her away,
and probably never be able to secure her return, would have
produced no good effect on the minds of the Balonda; they
would not then have seen evidence of our hatred to slavery,
and the kind attentions of my friends would, as it almost
always does in similar cases, have turned the poor thing’s
head.

Shinte was most anxious to see the pictures of the magic
iantern; but fever had so weakening an effect, and I had
such violent action of the heart, with buzzing in the ears,
that I could not go for several days; when I did go for tlie
purpose he had his principal men and the same crowd of
court beauties near him as at the reception. The first
picture exhibited was Abraham about to slaughter his son
Isaac: it was shown as large as life, and the uplifted knife
was in the act of striking the lad; the Balonda men re-
marked that the picture was much more like a god than
the things of wood and clay they worshipped. I explained
that this man was the first of a race to whom God had
given the Bible we now held, and that among his children
our Savior appeared. The ladies listened with silent awe;
but, when I moved the slide, the uplifted dagger moving
toward them, they thought it was to be sheathed in their
bodies instead of Isaac’s. ‘ Mother! mother!” all shouted

at once, and off they rushed, helter-skelter, tumbling pell-
M

178 DELAY—HEAVY RAINS.

mell over each other, and over the little idol-huts and
tobacco-bushes; we could not get one of them back again.
Shinte, however, sat bravely through the whole, and after-
ward examined the instrument with interest. An explana-
tion was always added after each time of showing its
powers, so that no one should imagine there was aught
supernatural in it; and had Mr. Murray, who kindly brought
it from England, seen its popularity among both Makololo
and Balonda, he would have been gratified with the direc-
tion his generosity then took. It was the only mode of
instruction I was ever pressed to repeat. The people came
long distances for the express purpose of seeing the objects
and hearing the explanations.

One cannot get away quickly from these chiefs; they
like to have the honor of strangers residing in their vil-
lages. Here we had an additional cause of delay in fre-
quent rains: twenty-four hours never elapsed without
heavy showers; every thing is affected by the dampness;
surgical instruments become all rusty, clothing mildewed,
and shoes mouldy; my little tent was now so rotten and so
full of small holes that every smart shower caused a fine
mist to descend on my blanket, and made me fain to cover
the head with it. Heavy dews lay on every thing in the
morning, even inside the tent; there is only a short time
of sunshine in the afternoon, and even that is so interrupted
by thunder-showers that we cannot dry our bedding. |

The winds coming from the north always bring heavy
clouds and rain; in the south, the only heavy rains noticed
are those which come from the northeast or east. The
thermometer falls as low as 72° when there is no sunshine,
‘though, when the weather is fair, the protected thermo-
meter generally rises as high as 82°, even in the mornings
and evenings.

24th.—We expected to have started to-day ; but Sambanza,
who had been sent off early in the morning for guides, re-
turned at mid-day without them, and drunk. As faras we
could collect from his incoherent sentences, Shinte had said

FAREWELL TO SHINTE. 179

the rain was too heavy for our departure, and the guides
still required time for preparation. Shinte himself was
busy getting some meal ready for my use in the journey.
As it rained nearly all day, it was no sacrifice to submit to
his advice and remain. Sambanza staggered to Manenko’s
hut: she, however, who had never promised ‘to love,
honor, and obey him,” had not been ‘nursing her wrath
to keep it warm;” so she coolly bundled him into the hut,
and put him to bed.

As the last proof of friendship, Shinte came into my tent,
though it could scarcely contain more than one person,
looked at all the curiosities, the quicksilver, the looking-
glass, books, hair-brushes, comb, watch, &c. &c., with the
greatest interest; then, closing the tent, so that none of his
own people might see the extravagance of which he was
about to be guilty, he drew out from his clothing a string
of beads and the end of a,conical shell, which ‘is consi-
dered, in regions far from the sea, of as great value as the
Lord Mayor’s badge isin London. He hung it round my
neck, and said, “There, now you have a proof of my friend-
ship.”

My men informed me that these shells are so highly
valued in this quarter, as evidences of distinction, that for
two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be
considered a handsome price for an elephant’s tusk worth
ten pounds. At our last interview old Shinte pointed out
our principal guide, Intemése, a man about fifty, who was,
he said, ordered to remain by us till we should reach the
sea; that I had now left Sekeletu far behind, and must
henceforth look to Shinte alone for aid, and that it would
always be most cheerfully rendered. This was only a
polite way of expressing his wishes for my success. It was
the good words only of the guides which were to aid me
from the next chief, Katema, on to the sea; they were to
turn back on reaching him; but he gave a good supply of
food for the journey before us, and, after mentioning as a-
reason for letting us go even now that no one could say

180 MANIOC-GARDENS.

that we had been driven away from the town, since we had
been several days with him, he gave a most hearty saluta-
tion, and we parted with the wish that God might bless
him.

CHAPTER XVII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE PASSES THROUGH LONDA AND VISITS
KATEMA.

26th.—LEAvinG Shinte, with eight of his men to aid in
carrying our luggage, we passed, in a northerly direction,
down the lovely valley on which the town stands, then
went a little to the west through pretty open forest, and
slept at a village of Balonda. In the morning we had a
fine range of green hills, called Saloisho, on our right, and
were informed that they were rather thickly inhabited
yy the people of Shinte, who worked in iron, the ore of
which abounds in these hills.

The country through which we passed possessed the same
general character of flatness and forest that we noticed
before The soil is dark with a tinge of red—in some
places it might be called red—and appeared very fertile.
fivery valley contained villages of twenty or thirty huts,
with gardens of manioc, which here is looked upon as the
staff of life. Very little labor is required for its cultiva-
tion. The earth is drawn up into oblong beds, about three
feet broad and one in height, and in these are planted
pieces of the manioc-stalk, at four feet apart A crop of
beans or groundnuts is sown between them, and when
these are reaped the Jand around the manioc is cleared of
weeds. In from ten to eighteen months after planting, ac-
cording to the quality of the soil, the roots are fit for food.
There is no necessity for reaping soon, as the roots do not
4ecome bitter and dry until after three years. Whena

VILLAGES BEYOND THE LONAJE. 181

woman takes up the roots, she thrusts a piece or two of
the upper stalks into the hole she has made, draws back
the soil,and a new crop is thereby begun. The plant grows
to a height of six feet, and every part of it is useful; the
leaves may be cooked as a vegetable. The roots are from
three to four inches in diameter, and from twelve to
eighteen inches long.

There are two varieties of the manioc or cassava,—one
sweet and wholesome, the other bitter and containing
poison, but much more speedy in its growth than the
former. This last property causes its perpetuation.

Our chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages
around our route that Shinte’s friends must have abundance
of provisions. Our progress was impeded by ths time re-
quisite for communicating the chief’s desire and consequent
preparation of meal. We received far more food from:
Shinte’s people than from himself. Kapende, for instance,
presented two large baskets of meal, three of manioc-roots
steeped and dried in the sun and ready to be converted
into flour, three fowls, and seven eggs, with three smoke-
dried fishes; and others gave with similar liberality. I
gave to the head-men small bunches of my stock of beads,
with an apology that we were now on our way to tne
market for these goods. The present was always politely
received.

After crossing the Lonaje, we came to some pretty vil-
lages. embowered, as the negro villages usually are, in
banaras, shrubs, and manioc, and near the banks of the
Leeb* we formed our encampment in a nest of serpents,
one “f which bit one of our men; but the wound was
harm‘ess. The people of the surrounding villages pre-
sented us with large quantities of food, in obedience to
the »aandate of Shinte, without expecting any equivalent
One village had lately been transferred hither from the
courtry of Matiamvo. ‘They, of course, continue to ac-
knowledge him as paramount chief; but the frequent in-
stances which occur of people changing from one part of

16

182 CROSSING THE LEEBA.

the country to another show that the great chiefs possess
only a limited power. The only peculiarity we observed in
these people is the habit of plaiting the beard into a three-
fold cord.

‘The town of the Balonda chief Cazembe was pointed
out to us as lying to the N.E. and by E. from the town of
Shinte, and great numbers of people in this quarter have
gone thither for the purpose of purchasing copper anklets,
made at Cazembe’s, and report the distance,to be about five
days’ journey.

It took us about four hours to cross the Leeba, which is
considerably smaller here than where we left it,—indeed,
only about a hundred yards wide. It has the same dark
mossy hue. The villagers lent us canoes to effect our pass-
age; and, having gone to a village about two miles beyond
the river, I had the satisfaction of getting observations for
both longitude and latitude,—for the former, the distance
between Saturn and the moon, and for the latter, a meridian
altitude of Canopus. Long. 22° 57’ E., lat. 12° 6’ 6” S.

Here we were surprised to hear English cotton cloth
much more eagerly inquired after than beads and orna-
ments. They are more in need of clothing than the Be-
chuana tribes living adjacent to the Kalahari Desert, who
have plenty of skins for the purpose. Animals of all kinds
are rare here, and a very small piece of calico is of great
value.

As the people on the banks of the Leeba were the last
of Shinte’s tribe over which Intemese had power, he was
naturally anxious to remain as long as possible. He was
not idle, but made a large wooden mortar and pestle for
his wife during our journey. He also carved many wooden
spoons and a bowl; then commenced a basket; but, as
what he considered good living was any thing but agreeable
to us, who had been accustomed to milk and maize, we went
forward on the 2d without him. He soon followed, but left
our pontoon, saying it would be brought by the head-man
of the village. This was a great loss, as we afterward

PLAINS COVERED WITH WATEK. 183

found: it remained at this village more than a year, and,
when we returned, a mouse had eaten a hole in it.

We entered on an extensive plain beyond the Leeba, at
least twenty miles broad, and covered with water ankle
deep in the shallowest parts. We deviated somewhat from
our N.W course. by the direction of Intemese, and kept
the hils Piri nearly on our right during a great part of
the firsi day, in order to avoid the still more deeply-flooded
plains o? Lobale (Luval?) on the west. These, according
to Intemese, are at present impassable on account of being
thigh dep. The plains are so perfectly level that rain-
water, wlich this was, stands upon them formonths together
They were not flooded by the Leeba, for that was still far
within its banks. Here and there, dotted over the surface,
are little islands, on which grow stunted date-bushes and
scraggy trees.

We mée our beds on one of the islands, and were
wretchedl supplied with firewood. The booths constructed
by the mn were but sorry shelter, for the rain poured
down witlnut intermission till mid-day. There is no drain-
age for theprodigious masses of water on these plains, ex-
cept slow percolation into the different feeders of the Leeba
and into tht river itself. The quantity of vegetation has
prevented he country from becoming furrowed by many
rivulets or ‘nullahs.” Were it not so remarkably flat, the
drainage mist have been effected by torrents, even in spite
of the mattd vegetation.

When relased from our island by the rain ceasing, we
marched or till we came to a ridge of dry inhabited land
in the N.W The inhabitants, according to custom, lent
us the roofsof some huts to save the men the trouble of
booth-makiig. I suspect that the story in Park’s “Travels,”
of the men Ifting up the hut to place it on the lion, referred
to the roof aly. We leave them for the villagers to replace
at their leisre. No payment is expected for the use of
them. By nght it rained so copiously that all our beds
were floodec from below; and from this time forth we

184 A HALT.

always made a furrow round each booth, and used the earth
to raise our ‘sleeping-places. My men turned out to work
in the wet most willingly: indeed, they always did. I
could not but contrast their conduct with that of Intemese.
He was thoroughly imbued with the slave-spirit, and lied
on all occasions without compunction. Untruthfulness is
a sort of refuge for the weak and oppressed. We expected
to move on the 4th, but he declared that we were so near
Katema’s, if we did not send forward to apprize that chief
of our approach, he would certainly impose a fine. It
rained the whole day, so we were reconciled to the delay ;
but on Sunday, the 5th, he let us know that we ab still
two days distant from Katema. We unfortunattly could
not manage without him, for the country was sd deluged
we should have been brought to a halt, petnelal went
many miles, by some deep valley, every one of which was
full of water. Intemese continued to plait his baket with
all his might, and would not come to our religiois service.
He seemed to be afraid of our incantations, but " always
merry and jocular.

6th.—Soon after starting, we crossed a branch o/the Loka-
lueje by means of a canoe, and in the afternoon yassed over
the main stream by a like conveyance. The former, as is
the case with all branches of rivers in this jountry, is
called fiuana Kalueje, (child of the Kalueje.) Hppopotami
exist in the Lokalueje, so it may be inferred t) be peren-
nial, 9s the inhabitants asserted. We cannot jidge of the
size of the stream from what we now saw. Ithad about
forty yards of deep, fast-flowing water, but pybably not
more than half that amount in the dry seasol. Besides
these, we crossed numerous feeders in our N.NW. course,
and, there being no canoes, got frequently wet i] the course
of the day. The oxen in some places had theirheads only
above water, and the stream, flowing over teir backs,
wetted our blankets, which we used as saddles; The arm-
pit was the only safe spot for carrying the watd, for there
it was preserved from rains above and waters klow. T

OMNIVOROUS FISH. 185

mep on foot crossed these gullies holding up their burdens
at arms’ length.

Great numbers of the omnivorous-feeding fish Glanis
siluris, or mosala, spread themselves over the flooded plains,
and, as the waters retire, try to find their way back again
to the rivers. The Balonda make earthen dikes and
hedges across the outlets of the retreating waters, leaving
only small spaces through which the chief part of the
water flows. In these open spaces they plant creels, simi-
lar in shape to our own, into which the fish can enter but
cannot return. They secure large quantities of fish in
this way, which, when smoke-dried, make a good relish for
their otherwise-insipid food. They use also a weir of mats
made of reeds sewed together, with but half an inch be-
tweeneach. Open spaces are left for the insertion of the
ereels as before.

In still water, a fish-trap is employed of the same shape
and plan as the common round wire mouse-trap, which has
an opening surrounded with wires pointing inward. This
is made of reeds and supple wands, and food is placed
inside to attract the fish.

Besides these means of catching fish, they use a hook of
iron without a barb; the point is bent inward instead, so
as not to allow the fish to escape. Nets are not so common
as in the Zouga and Leeambye; but they kill large quan-
tities of fishes by means of the bruised leaves of a shrub
which may be seen planted beside every village in the
country.

On the 7th we came to the village of Sodna Moldpo,
a half-brother of Katema, a few miles beyond the Loka-
lueje. When we went to visit him, we found him sitting
with about one hundred men. He called on Intemese to
give some account of us, though no doubt it had been done
in private before. He then pronounced the following sen-
tences :—“ The journey of the white man is very proper;
but Shinte has disturbed us by showing the path to the

Makololo who accompany him. He ought to have taken
16%

186 OUR GUIDE’S PERVERSITY.

them through the country without showing them the
towns. We are‘afraid of the Makclolo.”’ He then gave
us a handsome present of food, and seemed perplexed by
my sitting down familiarly and giving him a few of our
ideas When we left, Intemese continued busily impart-
ing an account of all we had given to Shinte and Masiko,
and instilling the hope that Soana Molopo might obtain as
much as they had received. Accordingly, when we ex-
pected to move on the morning of the 8th, we got some
hints about the ox which Soana Molopo expected to eat;
but we recommended him to get the breed of cattle for
himself, seeing his country was so well adapted for rearing
stock. Intemese also refused tc move: he, moreover,
tried to frighten us into parting with an ox by saying
that Soana Molopo would send fo; ward a message that we
were a marauding-party; but we packed up and went on
without him. We did not absolutely need him; but he
was useful in preventing the inhabitants of secluded vil-
lages from betaking themselves to flight. We wished to
be on good terms with all, and therefore put up with our
guide’s peccadilloes. His good word respecting us had
considerable influence, and he was always asked if we had
behaved ourselves like men on the way. The Makololo
are viewed as great savages; but Intemese could not
justly look with scorn on them, for he has the mark of a
large gash on his arm, got in fighting; and he would never
tell the cause of battle, but boasted of his powers, as the
Makololo do, till asked about a scar on his back, betoken-
ing any thing but bravery. —

Intemese was useful in cases like that of Monday, when
we came upon a whole village in a forest enjoying their
noonday nap. Our sudden appearance in their midst so
terrified them that one woman nearly went into con-
vulsions from fear. When they saw and heard Intemeso,
their terror subsided.

As usual, we were caught by rains after leaving Soana
Molop9’s, and made our booths at the house of Mozinkwa,’

MOZINKWA AND HIS FAMILY. 187

a most intelligent and friendly man belonging to Katema.
He had a fine large garden in cultivation,‘and well hedged
round. He had made the walls of his compound, or court-
yard, of branches of the banian, which, taking root, had
grown to be a live hedge of that tree. Mozinkwa’s wife
had cotton growing all round her premises, and sereral
plants used as relishes to the insipid porridge of the
country. She cultivated also the common castor-oil plant,
and a larger shrub (Jatropha curcas) which also yields a
purgative oil. Here, however, the oil is used for anointing
the heads and bodies alone. We saw in her garden like-
wise the Indian bringalls, yams, and sweet potatoes.
Several trees were planted in the middle of the yard, and
in the deep shade they gave stood the huts of his fine
fausily. His children, all by one mother, very black, but
comely to view, were the finest negro family I ever saw.
We were much pleased with the frank friendship and
literality of this man and his wife. She asked me to bring
her a cloth from the white man’s country; but, when we
returned, poor Mozinkwa’s wife was in her grave, and he,
as is the custom, had abandoned trees, garden, and huts to
ruia. They cannot live on a spot where a favorite wife
has died, probably because unable to bear the remem-
brance of the happy times they have spent there, or afraid
to remain in a spot where death has once visited the esta-
biishment. If ever the place is revisited, it is to pray to
ler or make some offering. This feeling renders any per-
manent village in the country impossible.

We learned from Mozinkwa that Soana Molopo was the
elder brother of Katema, but that he was wanting in wis-
dom; and Katema, by purchasing cattle and receiving in
a kind manner all the. fugitives who came to him, had
secured the birthright to himself, so far as influence in the
country is concerned. Soanags first address to us did not
savor much of African wisdom.

Friday, 10th.—On leaving Mozinkwa’s hospitable mansion,
we crossed another stream, about forty yards wide, in

18% QUENDENDE’S POLITENESS.

canoes. While this tedious process was going on, I was in-
formed that it is called the Mona-Kalueje, or brother of
Kalueje, as it flows into that river; that both the Kalueje
and Livéa flow into the Leebe; and that the Chifumadze,
swollen by the Lotembwa, is a feeder of that river also,
below the point where we lately crossed it.

As we were crossing the river, we were joined by a mes-
senger from Katema, called Shakatwala. This person was
a sort of steward or factotum to his chief. Every chief has
one attached to his person, and, though generally poor,
they are invariably men of great shrewdness and ability.
They act the part of messengers on all important occasions,
and possess considerable authority in the chief’s house-
hold. Shakatwala informed us that Katema had not re-
ceived precise information about us, but if we were peaceably
disposed, as he loved strangers, we were to come to his
town. We proceeded forthwith, but were turned aside, by
the strategy of our friend Intemese, to the village of
Quendénde, the father-in-law of Katema. This fine old
man was sovery polite that we did not regret being obliged
to spend Sunday at his village. He expressed his pleasure
at having ashare in the honor of a visit as well as Katema,
though it seemed to me that the conferring that pleasure
required something like a pretty good stock of impudence,
in leading twenty-seven men: through the country without
the means of purchasing food. My men did a little busi-
ness for themselves in the begging line: they generally
commenced every interview with new villagers by saying,
“JT have come from afar; give me something to eat.” I
forbade this at first, believing that, as the Makololo had a
bad name, the villagers gave food from fear. But, after
some time, it was evident that in many cases maize and
manioce were given from pure generosity. The first time I
came to this conclusion was at the house of Mozinkwa:
scarcely any one of my men returned from it without
something in his hand; and as they protested they had not

CROP OF WOOL. 189

begged, [ asked himself, and found that it was the case,
and that he had given spontaneously.

Quendende’s head was a good specimen of the greater
crop of wool with which the negroes of Londa are fur-
nished. The front was parted in the middle, and plaited
into two thick rolls, which, falling down behind the ears,
reached the shoulders: the rest was collected into a large
knot, which lay on the nape of the neck. As he was an
intelligent man, we had much conversation together: he
had just come from attending the funeral of one of his
people, and I found that the great amount of drum-beating
which takes place on these occasions was with the idea
that the Barimo, or spirits, could be drummed to sleep.
There is a drum in every village, and we often hear it going
from sunset to sunrise. They seem to look upon the de-
parted as vindictive beings, and, I suspect, are more in-
fluenced by fear than by love. In beginning to speak on
reiigious subjects with those who have never heard of Chris-
tianity, the great fact of the Son of God having come down
from heaven to die for us is the prominent theme. No fact
more striking can be mentioned. “He actually came to
men. He himself told us about his Father and the dwell-
ing-place whither he has gone. We have his words in this
book, and he really endured punishment in our stead from
pure love,” &c. If this fails to interest them, nothing else
will succeed.

We here met with some people just arrived from the
town of Matiamvo, (Muata yanvo,) who had been sent to
announce the death of the late chieftain of that name.
Matiamvo is the hereditary title, muata meaning lord or
chief. The late Matiamvo seems, from the report of these
men, to have become insane, for he is said to have some-
times indulged the whim of running a muck in the town
and beheading whomsoever he met, until he had quite a
beap of human heads. Matiamvo explained this conduct
by saying that his people were too many, and he wanted
to diminish them. He had absolute power of life and death.

190 MATIAMVO’S CONDUCT.

On inquiring whether human sacrifices were still made, as
in the time of Pereira, at Cazembe’s, we were informed
that these had never been so common as was represented
to Pereira, but that it occasionally happened, when certain
charms were needed by the chief, that a man was slaugh-
tered for the sake of some part of his body. He added |
that he hoped the present chief would not act like his
(mad) predecessor, but kill only those who were guilty of
witchcraft or theft. These men were very much astonished
at the liberty enjoyed by the Makololo; and, when they
found that all my people had cattle, we were told that
Matiamvo alone had a herd. One very intelligent man
among them asked, “If he should make a canoe, and take
it down the river to the Makololo, would he get a cow for
it?” This question, which my men answered in the affirma- *
tive, was important, as showing the knowledge of water-
communication from the country of Matiamvo to the
Makololo; and the river runs through a fertile country
abounding in large timber. If the tribes have intercourse
with each other, it exerts a good influence on their chieis
to hear what other tribes think of their deeds. The Ma-
kololo have such a bad name, on account of their perpetuai
forays, that they have not been known in Londa except as
ruthless destroyers. The people in Matiamvo’s country
submit to much wrong from their chiefs, and no voice can
be raised against cruelty, because they are afraid to flee
elsewhere. ;

We left Quendende’s village in company with Quendende
himself, and the principal man of the ambassadors of Ma-
tiamvo, and, after two or three miles’ march to the N.W.,
came to the ford of the Lotembwa, which flows southward.
A canoe was waiting to ferry us over, but it was very
tedious work; for, though the river itself was only eighty
yards wide, the whole valley was flooded, and we were
obliged to paddle more than half a mile to get free of the
water. A fire was lit to warm old Quendende and enable
him to dry his tobacco-leaves. The leaves are taker from

SUPERSTITIOUS CUSTOMS. 19]

the plant and spread close to the fire until they are quite
dry and crisp; they are then put into a snuff-box, which,
with a little pestle, serves the purpose of a mill to grind
them into powder: it is then used as snuff. As we sat by
the fire, the ambassadors communicated their thoughts
freely respecting the customs of their race. When a chiet
dies, a number of servants are slaughtered with him to
form his company in the other world. The Barotse followed
the same custom; and this and other usages show them to
be genuine negroes, though neither they nor the Balonda
resemble closely the typical form of that people. Quen-
dende said if he were present on these occasions he would
hide his people, so that they might not be slaughtered.
As we go north, the people become more bloodily super-
stitious.

We were assured that if the late Matiamvo took a fancy
to any thing,—such, for instance, as my watch-chain, which
was of silver wire, and was a great curiosity, as they had
never seen metal plaited before,—he would order a whole
village to be brought up to buy it from a stranger. When
a slave-trader visited him, he took possession of all his
goods; then, after ten days or a fortnight, he would send
out a party of men to pounce upon some considerable
village, and, having killed the head-men, would pay for all
the goods by selling the inhabitants. This has frequently
been the case, and nearly all the visitants he ever had were
men of color. On asking if Matiamvo did not know he
was a man, and would be judged, in company with those
he destroyed, by a Lord who is no respecter of persons,
the ambassador replied, “We do not go up to God, as you
do: we are put into the ground.” I could not ascertain
that even those who have such a distinct perception of the
coutinued existence of departed spirits had any notion of
neaven: they appear to imagine the souls to be always
near the place of sepulture.

After crossing the river Lotembwa, we travelled about
eight miles, and came to Katema’s straggling town, (lat.

192 PRESENTATION TO KATEMA.

11° 35’ 49” S., long. 22° 27’ KE.) It is more a collection ot
villages than a town. We were led out about half a
mile from the houses, that we might make for ourselves
the best lodging we could of the trees and grass, while
Intemese was taken to Katema to undergo the usual pro-
cess of pumping as to our past conduct and professions.
Katema soon afterward sent a handsome present of food.

Next morning we had a formal presentation, and found
Katema seated on a sort of throne, with about three hun-
dred men on the ground around, and thirty women, who
were said to be his wives, close behind him. The main
body of the people were seated in a semicircle, at a dis-
tance of fifty yards. Each party had its own head-man
stationed at a little distance in front, and, when beckoned
hy the chief, came near him as councillors. Intemese gave
our history, and Katema placed sixteen large baskets of
meal before us, half a dozen fowls, and a dozen eggs, and
expressed regret that we had slept hungry: he did not like
any stranger to suffer want in his town; and added, ‘Go
home and cook and eat, and you will then be in a fit state
to speak to me at an audience I will give you to-morrow.”
He was busily engaged in hearing the statements of a large
body of fine young men who had fled from Kangénke,
chief of Lobale, on account of his selling their relatives to
the native Portuguese who frequent his country. Katema
is a tall man, about forty years of age, and his head was
ornamented with a helmet of beads and feathers. He had
on a snuff-brown coat, with a broad band of tinsel down
the arms, and carried in his hand a large tail made of the
caudal extremities of a number of gnus. This has charms
attached to it, and he continued waving it in front of him-
self all the time we were there. He seemed in good spirits,
laughing heartily several times. This is a good sign, for a
man who shakes his sides with mirth is seldom difficult to
deal with. When we rose to take leave, all rose with us,
as at Shinte’s. '

Returning next morning, Katema addressed me thus:—

INTERVIEW WITH KATEMA. 193

“Tam the great Moene (lord) Katema, the fellow of Ma-
tiamvo. There is no one in the country equal to Matiamvo
and me. I have always lived here, and my forefathers too.
There is the house in which my father lived. You found
no human skulls near the place where you are encamped.
T never killed any of the traders: they all come tome. I
-am the great Moene Katema, of whom you have heard.”
He looked as if he had fallen asleep tipsy and dreamed
of his greatness. On explaining my objects to him, he
promptly pointed out three men who would be our guides,
and explained that the northwest path was the most
direct, and that by which all traders came, but that the
water at present standing on the plains would reach up to
the loins: he would therefore send us by a more northerly
route, which no trader had yet traversed. This was more
suited to our wishes, for we never found a path safe that
had been trodden by slave-traders.

We presented a few articles which pleased him highly,—
a small shawl, a razor, three bunches of beads, some but-
tons, and a powder-horn. Apologizing for the insignifi-
cance of the gift, I wished to know what I could bring
him from Loanda, saying, not a large thing, but something
small. He laughed heartily at the limitation, and replied,
“Every thing of the white people would be acceptable, and
he would receive any thing thankfully; but the coat he
then had on was old, and he would like another.” I intro-
duced the subject of the Bible; but one of the old coun-
cillors broke in, told all he had picked up from the Mam-
bari, and glided off into several other subjects. It is a
misery to speak through an interpreter, as I was now
forced to do. With a body of men like mine, composed as
they were of six different tribes, and all speaking the lan-
guage of the Bechuanas, there was no difficulty in commu-
cating on common subjects with any tribe we came to; but
doling out a story in which they felt no interest, and
which I understood only sufficiently well to perceive that

a mere abridgment was given, was uncommonly slow
N 17

194 CATTLE—A FEAST.

work. Neither could Katema’s attention be arrested,
except by compliments, of which they have always plenty
to bestow as well as receive. We were strangers, and
knew that, as Makololo, we had not the best of characters ;
yet his treatment of us was wonderfully good and liberal.

I complimented him on the possession of cattle, and
pleased him by telling him how he might milk the cows.
He has a herd of about thirty, really splendid animals, all
reared from two which he brought from the Balobale when
he was young. They are generally of a white color, and
are quite wild, running off with graceful ease like a herd
of elands on the approach ofa stranger. They excited the
unbounded admiration of the Makololo, and clearly proved
that the country was well adapted for them. When Katema
wishes to slaughter one, he is obliged to shoot it as if it
were a buffalo. Matiamvo is said to possess a herd of cattle
in a similar state. I never could feel certain as to the
reason why they do not all possess cattle in a country con-
taining such splendid pasturage.

As Katema did not offer an ox, as would have been done
by a Makololo or Caffre chief, we slaughtered one of our
own, and all of us were delighted to get a meal of meat,
after subsisting so long on the light porridge and green
maize of Londa. On occasions of slaughtering an animal,
some pieces of it are in the fire before the skin is all
removed from the body. A frying-pan full of these pieces
having been got quickly ready, my men crowded about
their father, and I handed some all round. It was a
strange sight to the Balonda, who were looking on wonder-
ing. I offered portions to them too, but these were declined,
thovgh they are excessively fond of a little animal food to
eat with their vegetable diet. They would not eat with us,
but they would take the meat and cook it in their own
way, and thenuse it. I thought at one time that they had
imported something from the Mohammedans, and the more
especially as an exclamation of surprise, “ Allah!’ sounds
like the Illah of the Arabs; but we found, a little farther

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Bechuana Reed-Dance by Moonlight.

NEW ATTACK OF FEVER. 197

on, another form of salutation, of Christian (?) origin, ‘ Ave-
' rie,” (Ave Marie.) The salutations probably travel farther
than the faith. My people, when satisfied with a meal like
that which they enjoy so often at home, amused themselves
by an uproarious dance. Katema sent to ask what I had
given them toproducesomuchexcitement. Intemese replied
_ it was their custom, and they meant no harm. The com-
panion of the ox we slaughtered refused food for two days,
and went lowing about for him continually. He seemed
inconsolable for his loss, and tried again and again to
escape back to the Makololo country. My men remarked,
“He thinks, They will kill meas wellasmy friend.” Katema
thought it the result of art, and had fears of my skill in
medicine, and, of course, witchcraft. He refused to see the
magic lantern.

On Sunday, the 19th, both I and several of our party
were seized with fever, and I could do nothing but toss
about in my little tent, with the thermometer about 90°,—
though this was the beginning of winter, and my men
made as much shade as possible by planting branches of
trees all round and over it. We have, for the first time in
my experience in Africa, had a cold wind from the north. —
All the winds from that quarter are hot, and those from
the south are cold; but they seldom blow from eithe
direction.

20th.—We were glad to get away, though not on account
of any scarcity of food; for my men, by giving small
presents of meat as an earnest of their sincerity, formed
many friendships with the people of Katema. We went
about four or five miles in a N.N.W. direction, then two in
a westerly one, and came round the small end of Lake
Dilolo. It seemed, as far as we could at this time discern,
to be like a river a quarter of a mile wide.

Immediately beyond Dilolo there is a large flat abou
twenty miles in breadth. Here Shakatwala insisted on our
remaining to get supplies of food from Katema’s subjects
before entering the uninhabited watery plains.

*

198 SAGACITY OF ANTS.

Heavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in front
(N.N.W.) in one day, and the constant wading among the
grass hurt the feet of the men. There is a footpath all the
way across, but, as this is worn down beneath the level of
the rest of the plain, it is necessarily the deepest portion,
and the men, avoiding it, make a new walk by its side. A
path, however narrow, is a great convenience, as any one
who has travelled on foot in Africa will admit. The virtual
want of it here caused us to make slow and painful progress.

Ants surely are wiser than some men, for they learn by
experience. They have established themselves even on
these plains, where water stands so long annually as to
allow the lotus, and other aqueous plants, to come to matu-
rity. When all the ant-horizon is submerged a foot deep
they manage to exist by ascending to little houses built of
black tenacious loam on stalks of grass and placed higher
than the line of inundation. This must have been the re-
sult of experience; for, if they had waited till the water
actually invaded their terrestrial habitations, they would not
have been able to procure materials for their aerial quarters
unless they dived down to the bottom for every mouthful
of clay. Some of these upper chambers are about the size
of a bean, and others as large as a man’s thumb, They
must have built in anticipation; and, if so, let us humbly
hope that the sufferers by the late inundations in France
may be possessed of as much common sense as the little
black. ants of the Dilolo plains.

DEEP VALLEY. 199

CHAPTER XVIII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE ADVANCES TO THE NORTHWEST— VISITS
KATENDE AND IONGA PANZA.

24th of February.—On reaching unflcoded lands beyond
the plain, we found the villages there acknowledged the
authority of the chief named Katénde, and we discovered,
also, to our surprise, that the almost level plain we had
passed forms the watershed between the southern and
northern rivers, for we had now entered a district in
which the rivers flowed in a northerly direction into the
Kasai or Loké, near to which we now were, while the
rivers we had hitherto crossed were all running southward.
Having met with kind treatment and aid at the first vil-
lage, Katema’s guides returned, and we were led to the
N.N.W. by the inhabitants, and descended into the very
first really-deep valley we had seen since leaving Kolo-
beng. A stream ran along the bottom of a slope of three
or four hundred yards from the plains above.

We crossed this by a rustic bridge at present submerged
thigh deep by the rains. The trees growing along the
stream of this lovely valley were thickly planted and very
high. Many had sixty or eighty feet of clean straight
trunk, and beautiful flowers adorned the ground beneath
them. Ascending the opposite side, we came, in two
hours’ time, to another valley, equally beautiful, and with
a stream also in its centre.

Reaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent
us a present of tobacco, Mutokuane or “bang,” (Cannabis
sativa,) and maize, by the man who went forward to an-
nounce our arrival, and a message expressing satisfaction
at the prospect of having trade with the coast. The
westing we were making brought us among people
who are frequently visited by the Mambari as slave-dealers.

200 DEMAND FOR GUNPOWDER AND CALICO.

This trade causes bloodshed; for when a poor family is
selected as the victims it is necessary to get rid of the
older members of it, because they are supposed to be able
to give annoyance to the chief afterward by means of
enchantments. ‘The belief in the power of charms for
good or evil produces not only honesty, but a great amount
of gentle dealing. The powerful are often restrained in
their despotism from a fear that the weak and helpless
may injure them by their medical knowledge.

When we wished to move on, Kabinje refused a guide to
the next village, because he was at war with it; but, after
much persuasion, he consented, provided that the guide
should be allowed to return as soon as he came in sight
of the enemy’s village. This we felt to be a misfortune,
as the people all suspect a man who comes telling his own
tale; but, there being no help for it, we went on, and found
the head-man of a village on the rivulet Kalomba, called
Kangénke, a very different man from what his enemy
represented. We found, too, that the idea of buying and
selling took the place of giving for friendship. As I had
nothing with which to purchase food except a parcel of
beads, which were preserved for worse times, I began to fear
that we should soon be compelled to suffer more from
hunger than we had done. The people demanded gun-
powder for every thing. If we had possessed any quan-
tity of that article, we should have got on well, for here
it is of great value. On our return, near this spot we
found a good-sized fowl was sold for a single charge of
gunpowder. Next to that, English calico was in great
demand, and so were beads; but money was of no value
whatever. Gold is quite unknown; it is thought to be
brass: trade is carried on by barter alone. The people
know nothing of money. A purse-proud person would
here feel the ground move from beneath his feet. Occasion-
ally a large piece of copper, in the shape of a St. Andrew’s
cross, is offered for sale.

February 27.—Kangenke promptly furnished guides

i Sai laa Ae Bah
é plegpa 7k est aE hie
demoed 55

River Scenery on the West Coast.

VEXATIOUS TRICK. 203

this morning, so.we went briskly on a short distance, and
came to a part of the Kasye, Kasai, or Loke, where lhe
had appointed two canoes to convey us across. This is a
most beautiful river, and very much like the Clyde in Scot-
land. The slope of the valley down to the stream is about
five hundred yards, and finely wooded. It is perhaps
one hundred yards broad, and was winding slowly from
side to side in the beautiful green glen, in a course to the
north and northeast. In both the directions from which
it came and to which it went it seemed to be alternately
embowered in sylvan vegetation or rich meadows covered
with tall grass. The men pointed out its course, and said,
«Though you sail along it for months, you will turn with-
out seeing the end of it.”

While at the ford of the Kasai we were subjected to a
trick, of which we had been forewarned by the people of
Shinte. A knife had been dropped by one of Kangenke’s
people, in order to entrap my men; it was put down near
our encampment, as if lost, the owner in the mean time
watching till one of my men picked it up. Nothing was
said until our party was divided, one half on this and the
other on that bank of the river. Then the charge was
made to me that one of my men had stolen a knife.
Certain of my people’s honesty, I desired the man, who
was making a great noise, to search the luggage for it;
the unlucky lad who had taken the bait then came forward
and confessed that he had the knife in a basket which was
already taken over the river. When it was returned, the
owner would not receive it back unless accompanied with
a fine. The lad offered beads, but these were refused with
scorn. A shell hanging round his neck, similar to that
which Shinte had given me, was the object demanded, and
the victim of the trick, as we all knew it to be, was obliged
to part with his costly ornament. I could not save him
from the loss, as all had been forewarned; and it is the
universal custom among the Makololo and many other
tribes to show whatever they may find to the chief person

204 WANT OF FOOD.

of their company, and make a sort of offer of it to him.
This lad ought to have done so to me: the rest of the
party always observed this custom. I felt annoyed at the
imposition, but the order we invariably followed in cross-
ing ariver forced me to submit. The head of the party
remained to be ferried over last; so, if I had not come to
terms, I would have been, as I always was in crossing
rivers which we could not swim, completely in the power
of the enemy. It was but rarely we could get a head-man
so witless as to cross a river with us and remain on the
opposite bank in a convenient position to be seized as a
hostage in case of my being caught.

This trick is but one of a number equally dishonorable
which are practised by tribes that lie adjacent to the more
civilized settlements. The Balonda farther east told us,
by way of warning, that many parties of the more central
tribes had at various periods set out, in order to trade with
the white men themselves, instead of through the Mambari,
but had always been obliged to return without reaching
their destination, in consequence of so many pretexts being
invented by the tribes encountered in the way for fining
them of their ivory.

This ford was in 11° 15’ 47” S. latitude, but the weather was
so excessively cloudy we got no observation for longitude.

We were now in want of food; for, to the great surprise
of my companions, the people of Kangenke gave nothing
except by way of sale, and charged the most exorbitant
prices for the little meal and manioc they brought. The
only article of barter my men had was a little fat saved
from the ox we slaughtered at Katema’s; so I was obliged
to give them a portion of the stock of beads. One day
(29th) of westing brought us from the Kasai to near the
village of Katende, and we saw that we were in a land
where no hope could be entertained of getting supplies of
animal food, for one of our guides caught a light-blue-
eolored mole and two mice for his supper. The care with
which he wrapped them up in a leaf and slung them on

A GRAVE OFFENCE. 205

his spear told that we could not hope to enjoy any larger
game. We saw no evidence of any animals besides; and,
on coming to the villages beyond this, we often saw boys
and girls engaged in digging up these tiny quadrupeds.
Katende sent for me on the day following our arrival,
and, being quite willing to visit him, I walked, for this
purpose, about three miles from our encampment. When we
approached the village we were desired to enter a hut, and, as
it was raining at the time, we didso. After along time spent
in giving and receiving messages from the great man, we were
told that he wanted either a man, a tusk, beads, copper rings,
or a shell, as payment for leave to pass through his country.
No one, we were assured, was allowed that liberty, or even
to behold him, without something of the sort being pre-
sented. Having humbly explained our circumstances, and
that he could not expect to “catch an humble cow by the
horns,’—a proverb similar to ours that “you can’t draw
milk out of a stone,”’—we were told to go home, and he
would speak again to us next day. 1 could not avoida
hearty laugh at the cool impudence of the savage, and
made the best of my way home in the still pouring rain.
My men were rather nettled at this want of hospitality ;
but, after talking over the matter with one of Katende’s
servants, he proposed that some small article should be
given, and an attempt made to please Katende. I turned
out my shirts, and selected the worst one as a sop for him,
and invited Katende to come and choose any thing else I
had, but added that, when I should reach my own chief
naked, and was asked what I had done with my clothes, I
should be obliged to confess that I had left them with
Katende. The shirt was despatched to him, and some of
my people went along with the servant: they soon returned,
saying that the shirt had been accepted, and guides and
food too would be sent to us next day. The chief had,
moreover, expressed a hope to see me on my return. He
is reported to be very corpulent. The traders who have

come here seem to have beer very timid, yielding to every
18

206 A NATIVE TOI1-KEEPER.

demand made on the most frivolous pretences. One of ny
men, seeing another much like an acquaintance at home,
addressed him by the name of the latter in sport, telling
him, at the same time, why he did so; this was pronounced
to be a grave offence, and a large fine demanded: when the
case came before me I could see no harm in what had been
done, and told my people not to answer the young fellow.
The latter felt himself disarmed, for it is chiefly in a brawl
they have power; then words are spoken in anger which
rouse the passions of the complainant’s friends. In this
case, after vociferating some time, the would-be offended
party came and said to my man that, if they exchanged
some small gift, all would be right, but, my man taking nc
notice of him, he went off rather crest-fallen.

My men were as much astonished as myself at the de-
mand for payment for leave to pass, and the almost entire
neglect of the rules of hospitality. Katende gave us only
a little meal and manioc, and a fowl. Being detained two
days by heavy rains, we felt that a good stock of patience
was necessary in travelling through this country in the
rainy season.

Passing onward without seeing Katende, we crossed a ~
small rivulet, the Sengko, by which we had encamped, and
after two hours came to another, the Totélo, which was
somewhat larger and had a bridge over it. At the farther
end of this structure stood a negro, who demanded fees.
He said the bridge was his, the path his; the guides were
his children; and if we did not pay him he would prevent
farther progress. This piece of civilization I was not pre-
pared to meet, and stood a few seconds looking at our bold
toll-keeper, when one of my men took off three copper
bracelets, which paid for the whole party. The negro was
a better man than he at first seemed, for he immediately
went to his garden and brought us some leaves of tobacco
as a present.

When we got fairly away from the villages, the guides
fiom Kangenke sat down and told us that there were three

FLOODED VALLEYS. 207

paths in front, and if we did not at once present them
with a cloth they would leave us to take whichever we
might like best. As I had pointed out the direction in
which Loanda lay, and had only employed them for the
suke of knowing the paths between villages which lay
along our route, and always objected when they led us in
any other than the Loanda direction, I wished my men
now to go on without the guides, trusting to ourselves to
choose the path which would seem to lead us in the direction
we had always followed. But Mashauana, fearing lest wo
might wander, asked leave to give his own cloth, and when
the guides saw that they came forward, shouting, “‘Averié!
Averié!”

In the afternoon of this day we came to a valley about
a mile wide, filled with clear, fast-flowing water.. The men
on foot were chin deep in crossing, and we three on ox-back
got wet tothe middle, the weight of the animals preventing
them from swimming. A thunder-shower descending com-
pleted the partial drenching of the plain, and gave a cold,
uncomfortable “packing in a wet blanket” that night.
Next day we found another flooded valley about half a
mile wide, with a small and now deep rivulet in its middle,
flowing rapidly to the S.S.E., or toward the Kasai. The
middle part of this flood, being the bed of what at other
times is the rivulet, was so rapid that we crossed by holding
on to the oxen, and the current soon dashed them to the
opposite bank: we then jumped off, and, the oxen being re-
lieved of their burdens, we could pull them on to the shal-
lower part. The rest of the valley was thigh deep and
boggy, but, holding on by the belt which fastened the blanket
to the ox, we each floundered through the nasty slough as
well as we could.

In the afternoon we came to another stream, filuana Loke,
for child of Loke,) with a bridge over it. The men had to
swim off to each end of the bridge, and when on it were
breast deep: some preferred holding on by the tails of the
oxen the whole way across. I intended to do this too;

298 UNCULTIVATED VALLEYS.

but, riding to the deep part, before I could dismount and
seize the helm the ox dashed off with his companions, and
his body sank so deep that I failed in my attempt even to
catch the blanket-belt, and if I pulled the bridle the ox
seemed as if he would come backward upon me; so I struck
out for the opposite bank alone. My poor fellows were
dreadfully alarmed when they saw me parted from the
cattle, and about twenty of them made a simultaneous rush
into the water for my rescue, and just as I reached the
opposite bank one seized my arm, and another threw his
around my body. When I stood up it was most gratifying
to see them all struggling toward me. Some had leaped
off the bridge and allowed their cloaks to float down the
stream. Part of my goods, abandoned in the hurry, were
brought up from the bottom after I was safe. Great was
the pleasure expressed when they found that I could swim
like themselves, without the aid of a tail, and I did and do
feel grateful to these poor heathens for the promptitude
with which they dashed in to save, as they thought, my
life. I found my clothes cumbersome in the water: they
could swim quicker from being naked. They swim like
dogs, not frog-fashion as we do.

In the evening we crossed the small rivulet Lozéze, and
came to some villages of the Kasdbi, from whom we got
some manioc in exchange for beads. They tried to frighten
us by telling of the deep rivers we should have to cross in
our way. I was drying my clothes by turning myself round
and round before the fire. My men laughed at the idea of
being frightened by rivers. ‘We can all swim: who car-
ried the white man across the river but himself?” I felt
proud of their praise.

Saturday, 4th March.—Came to the outskirts of the ter-
ritory of the Chiboque. We crossed the Konde and Ka-
luze rivulets. The former is a deep, small stream with a
bridge, the latter insignificant; the valleys in which these
rivulets run are beautifully fertile. My companions are
continually lamenting over the uncultivated vales in such

DIFFERENCE IN COLOR OF AFRICANS. 209

words as these:—‘What a fine country for cattle! My
heart is sore to see such fruitful valleys for corn lying
waste.”

While at the villages of the Kasabi we saw no evidences
of want of food among the people. Our beads were very
valuable, but cotton cloth would have been still more so; as
we travelled along, men, women, and children came running
after us, with meal and fowls for sale, which we would
gladly have purchased had we possessed any English manu-
factures. When they heard that we had no cloth, they
turned back much disappointed.

The amount of population in the central parts of the
country may be called large only as compared with the
Cape Colony or the Bechuana country. The cultivated
land is as nothing compared with what might be brought
under the plough. There are flowing streams in abundance,
which, were it necessary, could be turned to the purpose
of irrigation with but little labor. Miles of fruitful country
are now lying absolutely waste, for there is not even game
to eat off the fine pasturage, and to recline under the ever-
green, shady groves which we are ever passing in our pro-
gress. The people who inhabit the central region are not
all quite black in color. Many incline to that of bronze,
and others are as light in hue as the Bushmen, who, it may
be remembered, afford a proof that heat alone does not
cause blackness, but that heat and moisture combined do
very materially deepen the color.

Having, on the aforementioned date, reached the village
of Njambi, one of the chiefs of the Chiboque, we intended
to pass a quiet Sunday; and, our provisions being quite
spent, I ordered a tired riding-ox to be slaughtered. As
we wished to be on good terms with all, we sent the hump
and ribs to Njambi, with the explanation that this was the
customary tribute to chiefs in the part from which we had
come, and that we always honored men in his position. He
returned thanks, and promised to send food. Next morn-

ing he sent an impudent mga, with a very small present
0 8%

210 OUR ENCAMPMENT SURROUNDED.

ol meal; scorning the meat he had accepted, he demandeu
either a man, an ox, a gun, powder, cloth, or a shell; and,
in the event of refusal to comply with his demand, he inti-
mated his intention to prevent our farther progress. We
replied, we should have thought ourselves fools if we had
scorned his small present and demanded other food instead ;
and, even supposing we had possessed the articles named,
no black man ought to impose a tribute on a party that did
not trade in slaves. The servants who brought the mes-
sage said that, when sent to the Mambari, they had always
got a quantity of cloth from them for their master, and now
expected the same, or something else as an equivalent,
from me.

We heard some of the Chiboque remark, “They have
only five guns;” and about mid-day Njambi collected all his
people and surrounded our encampment. Their object was
evidently to plunder us of every thing. My men scized
their javelins, and stood on the defensive, while the young
Chiboque had drawn their swords and brandished them
with great fury. Some even pointed their guns at me, and
nodded to each other, as much as to say, ‘‘ This is the way
we shall do with him.” I sat on my camp-stool, with my
double-barrelled gun across my knees, and invited the chief
to be seated also. When he and his counsellors had sat
down on the ground in front of me, I asked what crime
we had committed that he had come armed in that way.
He replied that one of my men, Pitsane, while sitting at
the fire that morning, had, in spitting, allowed a small
quantity of the saliva to fall on the leg of one of his men,
and this “guilt” he wanted to be settled by the fine of a
man, Ox, or gun. Pitsane admitted the fact of a little
saliva having fallen on the Chiboque, and, in proof of its
being a pure accident, mentioned that he had given the
inan a piece of meat, by way of making friends, just before
it happened, and wiped it off with his hand as soon as it
fell. In reference to a man being given, I declared that we
were all ready to die rather than give up one of our num-

PROSPLOTS OF A FIGHT. act.

bet to be a slave; that my men might as well give me as lL
give one of them, for we were all free men. “Then you
can give the gun with which the ox was shot.” As we
heard some of his people remarking even now that we had
only “five guns,” we declined, on the ground that, as they
were intent on plundering us, giving a gun would be helps
ing them to do sv.

This they denied, saying they wanted the customary
tribute only. I asked what right they had to demand pay-
ment for leave to tread on the ground of God, our common
Father. If we trod on their gardens, we would pay, but
not for marching on land which was still God’s, and not
theirs. They did not attempt to controvert this, because
it is in accordance with their own ideas, but reverted again
to the pretended crime of the saliva.

My men now entreated me to give something; and, after
asking the chief if he really thought the affair of the
spitting a matter of guilt, and receiving an answer in the
affirmative, I gave him one of my shirts. The young
Chiboque were dissatisfied, and began shouting and bran-
dishing their swords for a greater fine.

As Pitsane felt that he had been the cause of this dis-
agreeable affair, he asked me to add something else. I
gave a bunch of beads, but the counsellors objected this
time ; so I added a large handkerchief. The more I yielded,
the more unreasonable their demands became, and at
every fresh demand a shout was raised by the armed party,
and a rush made around us with brandishing of arms. One
young man made a charge at my head from behind; but I
quickly brought round the muzzle of my gun to his mouth,
and he retreated. I pointed him out to the chief, and he
ordered him to retire a little. I felt anxious to avoid the
effusion of blood; and though sure of being able, with my
Makololo, who had been drilled by Sebituane, to drive oif
' twice the number of our assailants, though now a large
body and well armed with spears, swords, arrows, and
guns, I strove to avoid actual collision. My men were

212 THE FIGHT AVERTED.

quite unprepared for this exhibition, but behaved with
admirable coolness. The chief and counsellors, by accept-
ing my invitation to be seated, had placed themselves in a
trap, for my men very quietly surrounded them, and made
them feel that there was no chance of escaping their spears.
I then said that, as one thing after another had failed to
satisfy them, it was evident that they wanted to fight, while
we only wanted to pass peaceably through the country;
that they must begin first, and bear the guilt before God:
we would not fight till they had struck the first blow. I
then sat silent for some time. It was rather trying for
me, because I knew that the Chiboque would aim at the
white man first; but I was careful not to appear flurried,
and, having four barrels ready for instant action, looked
quietly at the savage scene around. The Chiboque coun-
tenance, by no means handsome, is not improved by the
practice which they have adopted of filing the teeth to a
point. The chief and counsellors, seeing that they were
in more danger than I, did not choose to follow our decision
that they should begin by striking the first blow and then
see what we could do, and were perhaps influenced by
seeing the air of cool preparation which some of my men
displayed at the prospect of a work of blood.

The Chiboque at last put the matter before us in this
way :—“ You come among us in a new way, and say you
are quite friendly: how can we know it unless you give us
some of your food, and you take some of ours? If you
give us an ox, we will give you whatever you may wish,
and then we shall be friends.” In accordance with the
entreaties of my men, I gave an ox, and, when asked what
I should like in return, mentioned food as the thing which
we most needed. In the evening, Njambi sent us a very
small basket »f meal, and two or three pounds of the flesh
of our own ox! with the apology that he had no fowls,
and very little of any other food. It was impossible to
avoid a laugh at the coolness of the generous creatures. I
was truly thankful, nevertheless, that, though resolved to

CHANGE OF PATH. 213

tie rather than deliver up one of our number to be a
slave, we had so far gained our point as to be aliowed to
pass on without having shed human blood.

In the midst of the commotion, several Chiboque stole
pieces of meat out of the sheds of my people, and Moho-
risi, one of the Makololo, went boldly into the crowd and
took back a marrow-bone from one of them. A few of my
Batoka seemed afraid, and would perhaps have fled had
the affray actually begun, but, upon the whole, I thought
my men behaved admirably. They lamented having left
their shields at home by command of Sekeletu, who feared
that, if they carried these, they might be more disposed to
be overbearing in their demeanor to the tribes we should
meet. We had proceeded on the principles of peace and
conciliation, and the foregoing treatment shows in what
light our conduct was viewed: in fact, we were taken for
interlopers trying to cheat the revenue of the tribe. They
had been accustomed to get a slave or two from every
slave-trader who passed them, and, now that we disputed
the right, they viewed the infringement on what they con-
sidered lawfully due with most virtuous indignation.

March 6.—We were informed that the people on the
west of the Chiboque of Njambi were familiar with the
visits of slave-traders ; and it was the opinion of our guides
from Kangenke that so many of my companions would be
demanded from me, in the same manner as the people
of Njambi had done, that I should reach the coast without
a single attendant. I therefore resolved to alter our course
and strike away to the N.N.E., in the hope that at some
point farther north I might find an exit to the Portuguese
settlement of Cassange. We proceeded at first due north,
with the Kasabi villages on our right and the Kasau on
our left. During the first twenty miles we crossed many
small, but now swollen, streams, having the usual boggy
banks; and wherever the water had stood for any length
of time it was discolored with rust of iron.

On the &th, one of the men had left an ounce or twa of

Zit THE OX ‘¢SINBAD.”’

powder at our sleeping-place, and went back several miles
for it. My clothing being wet from crossing a stream, 1
was compelled to wait for him: had I been moving in the
sun I should have felt no harm; but the inaction led to a
violent fit of fever. The continuance of this attack was a
source of much regret; for we went on next day to a small
rivulet called Chihuné, in a lovely valley, and had, for a
wonder, a clear sky and a clear moon; but such was the
confusion produced in my mind by the state of my body,
that I could scarcely manage, after some hours’ trial, to
get a lunar observation in which I could repose confidence.
The Chihune flows into the Longe, and that into the Chi-
hombo, a feeder of the Kasai. Those who know the diffi-
culties of taking altitudes, times, and distances, and com-
mitting all of them to paper, will sympathize with me in
this and many similar instances. While at Chibune, the
men of a village brought wax for sale, and, on finding that
we wished honey, went off and soon brought a hive. , All
the bees in the country are in possession of the natives ;
for they place hives sufficient for them all. After having
ascertained this, we never attended the call of the honey-
guide, for we were sure it would only lead us to a hive
which we had no right to touch. The bird continues its
habit of inviting attention to the honey, though its ser-
vices in this district are never actually needed. My
Makololo lamented that they never knew before that wax
could be sold for any thing of value.

In passing through these narrow paths I had an oppor-
tunity of observing the peculiarities of my ox “Sinbad.”
He had a softer back than the others, but a much more
intractable temper. His horns were bent downward and
hung loosely, so he could do no harm with them; but, as
we wended our way slowly along the narrow path, he
would suddenly dart aside. A string tied to a stick put
through the cartilage of the nose serves instead of a bridle:
if you jerk this back, it makes him run faster on; if you
pull it to one side, he allows the nose and head to go, but

INCIPIENT MUTINY. ots

keeps the opposite eye directed to the forbidden spot and
goes in spite of you. The only way he can be brought to
a stand is by a stroke with a wand across the nose. When
Sinbad ran in below a climber stretched over the path so
low that I could not stoop under it, I was dragged off and
came down on the crown of my head; and he never
allowed an opportunity of the kind to pass without trying
to inflict a kick, as if I neither had nor deserved his love.

On leaving the Chihune, we crossed the Longe, and, as
the day was cloudy, our guides wandered in a forest away
to the west till we came to the river Chihombo, flowing to
the E.N.E. My men depended so much on the sun for
guidance, that, having seen nothing of the luminary all
day, they thought we had wandered back to the Chiboque;
and, as often happens when bewildered, they disputed as
to the point where the sun should rise next morning. As
soon as the rains would allow next day, we went off to the
N.E. It would have been better to have travelled by com-
pass alone; for the guides took advantage of any fears ex-
pressed by my people, and threatened to return if presents
were not made at once. But my men had never left their
own country before except for rapine and murder. When
they formerly came to a village, they were in the habit of
killing numbers of the inhabitants and then taking a few
young men to serve as guides to the next place. As this
was their first attempt at an opposite line of conduct, and
as they were without their shields, they felt defenceless
among the greedy Chiboque, and some allowance must be
made for them on that account.

Saturday, 11th.—Reached a small village on the banks
of a narrow stream. I was too ill to go out of my little
covering except tc quell a mutiny which began to show
itself among some of the Batoka and Ambonda of our
party. They grumbled, as they often do against their
chiefs when they think them partial in their gifts, because
they supposed that I had shown a preference in the distri-
bution of the beads; but the beads I had given to my prin-

216 INSUBORDINATION SUEPRESSED.

cipal men were only sufficient to purchase a scanty meal,
and I had hastened on to this village in order to slaughter
a tired ox and give them all a feast as well as a rest on
Sunday, as preparation for the journey before us. I ex-
plained this to them, and thought their grumbling was al-
layed. I soon sank into a state of stupor, which the fever
sometimes produced, and was oblivious to.all their noise in
slaughtering. On Sunday the mutineers were making a
terrible din in preparing a skin they had procured. I re-
quested them twice, by the man who attended me, to be
more quiet, as the noise pained me; but, as they paid no
attention to this civil request, I put out my head, and, re-
peating it myself, was answered by an impudent laugh.
Knowing that discipline would be at an end if this mutiny
were not quelled, and that our lives depended on vigor-
ously upholding authority, I seized a double-barrelled
pistol and darted forth from the domicile, looking, I sup-
pose, so savage as to put them to a precipitate flight. As
some remained within hearing, I told them that I must
maintain discipline, though at the expense of some of their
limbs; so long as we travelled together they must re-
member that 1 was master, and not they. There being
but little room to doubt my determination, they imme-
diately became very obedient, and never afterward gave
me any trouble or imagined that they had any right to
my property.

13th.—We went forward some miles, but were brought
to a stand by the severity of my fever on the banks of a
branch of the Loajima, another tributary of the Kasai. I
was in a state of partial coma until late at night, when it
became necessary for me to go out; and I was surprised to
find that my men had built a little stockade, and some of
them took their spears and acted as a guard. I found that
we were surrounded by enemies, and a party of Chiboque
Jay near the gateway, after having preferred the demand
of “a man, an ox, a gun, or a tusk.” My men had prepared
for defence in case of a night-attack, and, when the Chi-

DEMANDS OF THE CHIBOQUE. 217

boque wished to be shown where I lay sick, they very
properly refused to point me out. In the morning I went
out to the Chiboque, and found that they answered me
civilly regarding my intentions in opening the country,
teaching them, &. &c. They admitted that their chiefs
would be pleased with the prospect of friendship, and now
only wished to exchange tokens of good-will with me, and
offered three pigs, which they hoped I would accept. The
people here are in the habit of making a present and then
demanding whatever they choose in return. We had been
forewarned of this by our guides; so I tried to decline, by
asking if they would eat one of the pigs in company with
us. To this proposition they said that they durst not
accede. I then accepted the present, in hope that the
blame of deficient friendly feeling might not rest with me,
and presented a razor, two bunches of beads, and twelve
copper rings, contributed by my men from their arms.
They went off to report to their chief; and, as I was quite
unable to move from excessive giddiness, we continued in
the same spot on Tuesday evening, when they returned
with a message couched in very plain terms, that a man,
tusk, gun, or even an ox, alone would be acceptable; that
he had every thing else in his possession but oxen, and
that, whatever I should please to demand from him, he
would gladly give it. As this was all said civilly, and
there was no help for it if we refused but bloodshed, I gave
a tired riding-ox. My late chief mutineer, an Ambonda
man, was now overloyal, for he armed himself and stood
at the gateway. He would rather die than see his father
imposed on; but I ordered Mosantu to take him out of the
way, which he did promptly, and allowed the Chiboque to
march off well pleased with their booty. I told my men
that I esteemed one of their lives of more value than all the
oxen we had, and that the only cause which could induce
me to fight would be to save the lives and liberties of the
majority. In the propriety of this they all agreed, and

said that, if. the Chiboque molested us who behaved se¢
19

218 A ROBBER-PARTY.

peaceably, the guilt would be on their heads This is a
favorite mode of expression throughout the whole country.
All are anxious to give explanation of any acts they have
performed, and conclude the narration with, “I have no
guilt or blame,” (“molatu.”) “They have the guilt.” 1]
never could be positive whether the idea in their minds is
guilt in the sight of the Deity, or of mankind only.

Next morning the robber-party came with about thirty
yards of strong striped English calico, an axe, and two
hoes for our acceptance, and returned the copper rings, as
the chief was a great man and did not need the ornaments
of my men, but we noticed that they were taken back
again. I divided the cloth among my men, and pleased
them a little by thus compensating for the loss of the ox.
I advised the chief, whose name we did not learn, as he
did not deign to appear except under the alias Matiamvo,
to get cattle for his own use, and expressed sorrow that I
had none wherewith to enable him to make a commence-
ment. Rains prevented our proceeding till Thursday
morning, and then messengers appeared to tell us that
their chief had learned that all the cloth sent by him had
not been presented; that the copper rings had been secreted
by the persons ordered to restore them to us, and that he
had stripped the thievish emissaries of their property as a
punishment. Our guides thought these were only spies of
a larger party concealed in the forest through which we
were now about to pass. We prepared for defence by
marching in a compact body and allowing no one te
straggle far behind the others. We marched through
many miles of gloomy forest in gloomier silence, but no-
thing disturbed us. We came to a village, and found all
the men absent,—the guides thought, in the forest, with
their countrymen. I was too ill to care much whether we
were attacked or not. Though a pouring rain came on, as
we were all anxious to get away out of a bad neighbor-
hood, we proceeded. The thick atmosphere prevented my
seeing the creeping plants in time to avoid them; sc

MORE TROUBLES. 219

Pitsane, Mohorisi, and I, who alone were mounted, were
often caught; and, as there is no stopping the oxen when
they have the prospect of giving the rider a tumble, we
came frequently to the ground. In addition to these mis-
haps, Sinbad went off at a plunging gallop, the bridle
broke, and I came down backward on the crown of my
head. He gave me a kick on the thigh at the same time.
I felt none the worse for this rough treatment, but would
not recommend it to others as a palliative in cases of fever.
This last attack of fever was so obstinate that it reduced
me almost to a skeleton. The blanket which J used as
a saddle on the back of the ox, being frequently wet,
remained so beneath me even in the hot sun, and, aided by
the heat of the ox, caused extensive abrasion of the skin,
which was continually healing and getting sore again. 'To
this inconvenience was now added the chafing of my pro-
jecting bones on the hard bed.

On Friday we came to a village of civil people on the
banks of the Loajima itself, and we were wet all day in
consequence of crossing it. The bridges over it, and
another stream which we crossed at mid-day, were sub-
merged, as we have hitherto invariably found, by a flood
of perfectly-clear water. At the second ford we were met
by a hostile party, who refused us farther passage. I
ordered my men to proceed in the same direction we had
been pursuing, but our enemies spread themselves out in
front of us with loud cries. Our numbers were about
equal to theirs this time, so I moved on at the head of my
men. Some ran off to other villages, or back to their own
village, on pretence of getting ammunition; others called
out that all traders came to them, and that we must do
the same. As these people had plenty of iron-headed
arrows and some guns, when we came to the edge of
the forest I ordered my men to put the luggage in our
centre, and, if our enemies did not fire, to cut down
some young trees and make a screen as quickly as possible,
but do nothing to them except in case of actual attack. I

220 CONTINUED DEMANDS.

then dismounted, and, advancing a little toward our prin-
cipal opponent, showed him how easily I could kill him,
but pointed upward, saying, “I fear God.” He did the
same, placing his hand on his heart, pointing upward, and
saying, “I fear to kill; but come to our village; come: do
come.” At this juncture, the old head-man, longa Panza,
a venerable negro, came up, and I invited him and all to
be seated, that we might talk the matter over. Ionga
Panza soon let us know that he thought himself very ill
treated in being passed by. As most skirmishes arise
from misunderstanding, this might have been a serious
one; for, like all the tribes near the Portuguese settle-
ments, people here imagine that they have a right to
demand payment from every one who passes through the
country ; and now, though Ionga Panza was certainly no
match for my men, yet they were determined not to forego
their right without a struggle. I removed with my men
to the vicinity of the village, thankful that no accident had
as yet brought us into actual collision.

The reason why the people have imbibed the idea so
strongly that they have a right to demand payment for
leave to pass through the country is probably this. They
have seen no traders except those either engaged in pur-
chasing slaves or who have slaves in their employment.
These slave-traders have always been very much at the
mercy of the chiefs through whose country they have
passed; for, if they afforded a ready asylum for runaway
slaves, the traders might be deserted at any moment, and
stripped of their property altogether. They are thus
obliged to curry favor with the chiefs, so as to get a safe-
conduct from them. The same system is adopted to induce
the chiefs to part with their people, whom all feel to be the
real source of their importance in the country. On the
return of the traders from the interior with chains of slaves,
it is so easy for a chief who may be so disposed to take
away a chain of eight or ten unresisting slaves, that the
merchant is fain to give any amount of presents in order to

VILLAGE OF IONGA PANZA. 221

secure the good-will of the rulers. The independent chiefs,
not knowing why their favor is so eagerly sought, become
excessively proud and supercilious in their demands, and
look upon white men with the greatest contempt. To such
lengths did the Bangala, a tribe near to which we had now
approached, proceed a few years ago, that they compelled
the Portuguese traders to pay for water, wood, and even
grass, and every possible pretext was invented for levying
fines; and these were patiently submitted to so long as the
slave-trade continued to flourish. We had unconsciously
come in contact with a system which was quite unknown
in the country from which my men had set out. An
English trader may there hear a demand for payment of
guides, but never, so far as I am aware, is he asked to pay
for leave to traverse a country. The idea does not seem
to have entered the native mind, except through slave-
traders; for the aborigines all acknowledge that the un-
tilled land, not needed for pasturage, belongs to God alone,
and that no harm is done by people passing through it. IL
rather believe that, wherever the slave-trade has not pene-
trated, the visits of strangers are esteemed a real privilege
The village of old longa Panza (lat. 10° 25’S., long. 20°

15’ E.) is small, and embowered in lofty evergreen trees,
which were hung around with fine festoons of creepers.

He sent us food immediately, and soon afterward a goat,
which was considered a handsome gift, there being but few
domestic animals, though the country is well adapted for
them. I suspect this, like the country of Shinte and Ka-
tema, must have been a tsetse district, and only recently
rendered capable of supporting other domestic animals be-
sides the goat by the destruction of the game through the
extensive introduction of fire-arms. We might all have
been as ignorant of the existence of this insect-plague as
the Portuguese, had it not been for the numerous migra-
tious of pastoral tribes which took place in the south in
consequence of Zulu irruptions.

During these exciting scenes I always forgot my fever;
19%

222 DIFFICULTY WITH THE GUIDES

but a terrible sense of sinking came back with the feeling
of safety. The same demand of payment for leave to pass
was made on the 20th by old Ionga Panza as by the other
Chiboque. I offered the shell presented by Shinte, but
Jonga Panza said he was too old for ornaments. We might
have succeeded very well with him, for he was by no
means unreasonable, and had but a very small village of
supporters; but our two guides from Kangenke compli-
cated our difficulties by sending for a body of Bangala
traders, with a view to force us to sell the tusks of Seke-
letu and pay them with the price. We offered to pay
them handsomely if they would perform their promise of
guiding us to Cassange, but they knew no more of the
paths than we did; and my men had paid them repeatedly
and tried to get rid of them, but could not. They now
joimed with our enemies, and so did the traders. Two
guns and some beads belonging to the latter were standing
in our encampment, and the guides seized them and ran
off. As my men knew that we should be called upon to
replace them, they gave chase, and when the guides saw
that they would be caught they threw down the guns,
directed their flight to the village, and rushed into a hut.
The doorway is not much higher than that of a dog’s ken-
nel. One of the guides was reached by one of my men as
he was in the act of stooping to get in, and a cut was
inflicted on a projecting part of the body which would have
made any one in that posture wince. The guns were
restored, but the beads were lost in the flight. All I had

remaining of my stock of beads could not replace those
‘lost; and, though we explained that we had no part in the
guilt of the act, the traders replied that we had brought
the thieves into the country ; these were of the Bangala,
who had been accustomed to plague the Portuguese in the
most vexatious way. We were striving to get a passage
through the country, and, feeling anxious that no crime -
whatever should be laid to our charge, tried the concilia

DISCOURAGEMENTS. 223

tery plan here, though we were not, as in the other in-
stances, likely to be overpowered by numbers.

My men offered all their ornaments, and I offered all my
beads and shirts; but, though we had come to the village
against our will, and the guides had also followed us con-
trary to our desire, and had even sent for the Bangala
traders without our knowledge or consent, yet matters
could not be arranged without our giving an ox and one
of the tusks. We were all becoming disheartened, and
could not wonder that native expeditions from the interior
to the coast had generally failed to reach their destinations.
My people were now so much discouraged that some pro-
posed to return home: the prospect of being obliged to
return when just on the threshold of the Portuguese set-
tlements distressed me exceedingly. After using all my
powers of persuasion, I declared to them that if they re-
turned I would go on alone, and went into my little tent
with the mind directed to Him who hears the sighing of
the soul, and was soon followed by the head of Mohorisi,
saying, “ We will never leave you. Do not be disheartened.
Wherever you lead we will follow. Our remarks were
made only on account of the injustice of these people.”
Others followed, and with the most artless simplicity of
manner told me to be comforted: ‘‘they were all my chil-
dren; they knew no one but Sekeletu and me, and they
would die for me; they had not fought, because I did not
wish it; they had just spoken in the bitterness of their
spirit, and when feeling that they could do nothing; but
if these enemies begin you will see what we can do.” One
of the oxen we offered to the Chiboque had been rejected
because he had lost part of his tail, as they thought that it
had been cut off and witchcraft-medicine inserted; and
some mirth was excited by my proposing to raise a similar
objection to all the oxen we still had in our possession.
The remaining four soon presented a singular shortness of
their caudal extremities, and, though no one ever asked
whether they had medicine in the stumps or no, we were

224 ; GUIDES PREPAID.

no more troubled by the demand for an ox! We now
slaughtered another ox, that the spectacle might not be
seen of the owners of the cattle fasting while the Chiboque
were feasting.

CHAPTER XIX.
DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.

24th.—IonaA Panza’s sons agreed to act as guides into
the territory of the Portuguese if I would give them the
shell given by Shinte. I was strongly averse to this, and
especially to give it beforehand, but yielded to the entreaty
of my people to appear asif showing confidence in these hope-
ful youths. They urged that they wished to leave the shell
with their wives as a sort of payment to them for enduring
their husbands’ absence so long. Having delivered the pre-
cious shell, we went west-by-north to the river Chikapa,
which here (lat. 10° 228.) is forty or fifty yards wide,
and at present was deep; it was seen flowing over a rocky,
broken cataract with great noise about half a mile above
our ford. We were ferried over in a canoe made out of a
single piece of bark sewed together at the ends, and having
sticks placed in it at different parts to act as ribs.

Next morning our guides went only about a mile, and
then told us they would return home. I expected this
when paying them beforehand, in accordance with the en-
treaties of the Makololo, who are rather ignorant of the
world. Very energetic remonstrances were addressed to
the guides, but they slipped off one by one in the thick
forest through which we were passing, and I was glad to
hear my compsgnions coming to the conclusion that, as we
were now in parts visited by traders, we did not require -
the guides, whose chief use had been to prevent misappre-
bension of our objects in the minds of the villagers. .

TRADERS. . 225

26th—We spent Sunday on the banks of the Quilo or
Kweelo, here a stream of about ten yards wide. It runs .
in a deep glen, the sides of which are almost five hundred
yards of slope, and rocky, the rocks being hardened cal-
careous tufa lying on clay shale and sandstone below, with
a capping of ferruginous conglomerate. The scenery would
have been very pleasing, but fever took away much of the
joy of life, and severe daily intermittents rendered me very
weak and always glad to recline.

In continuing our W.N.W. course, we met many parties
of native traders, each carrying some pieces of cloth and
salt, with a few beads to barter for bees’-wax. They are
all armed with Portuguese guns, and have cartridges with
iron balls. When we meet, we usually stand a few minutes.
They present a little salt, and we give a bit of ox-hide, or
some other trifle, and then part with mutual good wishes.
The hide of the oxen we slaughtered had been a valuable
addition to our resources, for we found it in so great repute
for girdles all through Loanda that we cut up every skin
into strips about two inches broad, and sold them for meal
and manioc as we went along. As we came nearer Angola
we found them of less value, as the people there possess
cattle themselves.

_ The village on the Kweelo, at which we spent Sunday,
was that of a civil, lively old man, called Sakandala, whe
offered no objections to our progress. We found we should
soon enter on the territory of the Bashinjé, (Chinge of the
Portuguese,) who are mixed with another tribe, named
Bangala, which have been at war with the Babindéle or
Portuguese. Rains and fever, as usual, helped to impede
our progress until we were put on the path which leads
from Cassange and Bihe to Matiamvo by a head-man
named Kamboéla. This was a well-beaten footpath, and
soon after entering upon it we met a party of half-caste
traders from Bihe, who confirmed the information we had
already got of this path leading straight to Cassange,
wan they had come on their way from Bihe to

226 VALLEY OF THE QUANGO.

tanango They kindly presented my men with some
tobacco, and marvelled greatly when they found that I
had never been able to teach myself to smoke.

As we were now alone, and sure of being on the way to
the abodes of civilization, we went on briskly.

On the 30th we came to a sudden descent from the high
land, indented by deep, narrow valleys, over which we had
lately been travelling. It is generally so steep that it can
only be descended at particular points, and even there I
was obliged to dismount, though so weak that I had to be
led by my companions to prevent my toppling over in
walking down. It was annoying to feel myself so helpless,
for I never liked to see a man, either sick or well, give in
cffeminately. Below us lay the valley of the Quango. If
you sit on the spot where Mary Queen of Scots viewed the
battle of Langside, and look down on the vale of Clyde,
you may see in miniature the glorious sight which a much
greater and richer valley presented to our view. It is
about a hundred miles broad, clothed with dark forest,
except where the light-green grass covers meadow-lands on
the Quango, which here and there glances out in the sun
as it wends its way to the north. The opposite side of this
great valley appears like a range of lofty mountains, and
the descent into it about a mile, which, measured perpen-
dicularly, may be from a thousand to twelve hundred feet.
Emerging from the gloomy forests of Londa, this magnifi-
cent prospect made us all feel as if a weight had been lifted
off our eyelids. A cloud was passing across the middle of
the valley, from which rolling thunder pealed, while above
all was glorious sunlight; and when we went down to the
part where we saw it passing we found that a very heavy
thunder-shower had fallen under the path of the cloud,
and the bottom of the valley, which from above seemed
quite smooth, we discovered to be intersected by great
numters of deep-cut etreams. Looking back from below,
the descent appears as the edge of a table-land, with
numerous indented dells and spurs jutting out all along,

VALLEY OF THE QUANGO. 227,

giving it a serrated appearance. Both the top and sides
of the sierra are covered with trees; but large patches
of the more perpendicular parts are bare, and exhibit the
red soil which is general over the region we have now
entered.

The hollow affords a section of this part of the country;
and we find that the uppermost stratum is the ferruginous
conglomerate already mentioned. The matrix is rust of
iron, (or hydrous peroxide of iron and hematite,) and in it
are embedded water-worn pebbles of sandstone and quartz.
Asthisis the rock underlying the soil of a large part of Londa,
its formation must have preceded the work of denudation by
an arm of the sea which washed away the enormous mass
of matter required before the valley of Cassange could as-
sumeits present form. The strata under the conglomerate
are all of red clay shale of different degrees of hardness,
the most indurated being at the bottom. This red clay
shale is named “keele” in Scotland, and has always been
considered as an indication of gold; but the only thing we
discovered was that it had given rise to a very slippery
clay soil, so different from that which we had just left that
Mashauana, who always prided himself on being an adept
at balancing himself in the canoe on water, and so sure of
foot on land that he could afford to express contempt for
any one less gifted, came down in a very sudden and un-
dignified manner, to the delight of all whom he had pre-
viously scolded for falling.

Sunday, April 2—We rested beside a small stream, and
our hunger being now very severe, from having lived on
manioc alone since leaving Ionga Panza’s, we slaughtered
one of our four remaining oxen. We could get neither
meal nor manioc, but should have been comfortable had not
the Bashinje chief Sansawé pestered us for the customary
present. The native traders informed us that a display of
force was often necessary before they could pass this man.

Sansawe, the chief of a portion of the Bashinje, having
sent the usual formal demand for a man, an ox, or a tusk,

228 THE CHIEF SANSAWE.

spoke very contemptuously of the poor things we offered
him instead. We told his messengers that the tusks were
Sekeletu’s: every thing was gone except my instruments,
which could be of no use to them whatever. One of them
begged some meat, and, when it was refused, said to my
men, “You may as well give it, for we shall take all after
we have killed you to-morrow.” The more humbly we
spoke, the more insolent the Bashinje became, till at last
we were all feeling savage and sulky, but continued to
speak as civilly as we could. They are fond of argument,
and, when I denied their right to demand tribute from a
white man who did not trade in slaves, an old white-
headed negro put rather a posing question :—“ You know
that God has placed chiefs among us whom we ought to
support. How is it that you, who have a book that tells
you about him, do,not come forward at once to pay this
chief tribute like every one else?” I replied by asking,
“‘ How could I know that this was a chief, who had allowed
me to remain a day and a half near him without giving me
any thing to eat?’ This, which to the uninitiated may
seem sophistry, was to the Central Africans quite a rational
question; for he at once admitted that food ought to have
been sent, and added that probably his chief was only
making it ready for me, and that it would come soon.
After being wearied by talking all day to different par-
ties sent by Sansawe, we were honored by a visit from
himself: he is quite a young man, and of rather a pleasing
countenance. There cannot have been much intercourse
between real Portuguese and these people even here, so
close to the Quango, for Sansawe asked me to show him
my hair, on the ground that, though he had heard of it,
and some white men had even passed through his country,
he had never seen straight hair before. This is quite pos-
sible, as most of the slave-traders are not Portuguese, but
half-castes. The difference between their wool and our hair
caused him to burst into a laugh, and the contrast between
the exposed and unexposed parts of my skin, when exhibited

HOSTILITY OF THE BASHINJE. 229

m evidence of our all being made of one stock originally,
and the children of one Maker, seemed to strike him with
wonder. I then showed him my watch, and wished to
win my way into his confidence by conversation; but, when
about to exhibit my pocket-compass, he desired me to de-
sist, as he was afraid of my wonderful things. I told him,
if he knew my aims as the tribes in the interior did, and
as [ hoped he would yet know them and me, he would be
glad to stay, and see also the pictures of the magic lan-
tern ; but, as it was now getting dark, he had evidently got
enough of my witchery, and began to use some charms to
dispel any kindly feelings he might have found stealing
round his heart. He asked leave to go, and when his party
moved off a little way he sent for my spokesman, and
told him that, “if we did not add a red jacket and a man
to our gift of a few copper rings and a few pounds of meat,
we must return by the way we had come.” I said, in
reply, ‘that we should certainly go forward next day, and
if he commenced hostilities the blame before God would
be that of Sansawe ;” and my man added, of his own ac-
cord, ‘‘ How many white men have you killed in this path?”
which might be interpreted into, “ You have never killed
any white man; and you will find ours more difficult to
manage than you imagine.” It expressed a determination,
which we had often repeated to each other, to die rather
than yieid one of our party to be a slave.

Hunger has a powerful effect on the temper. When we
had got a good meal of meat, we could all bear the petty
annoyances of these borderers on the more civilized region
in front with equanimity; but, having suffered considerably
of late, we were all rather soured in our feelings, and not
unfrequently I overheard my companions remark in their
own tongue, in answer to threats of attack, “That’s what
we want: only begin, then;” or with clenched teeth they
would exclaim to each other, “These things have never
travelled, and do not know what men are.”” The worrying,
of which I give only a slight sketch, had considerable in-

20

230 THE QUANGO.

fluence on my mind, and more espec.ally as it was inipos-
sible to make any allowance for the Bashinje such as I
was willing to award to the Chiboque. They saw that we
had nothing to give, nor would they be benefited in the
least by enforcing the impudent order to return whence
we had come. They were adding insult to injury, and this
put us all into a fighting spirit, and, as nearly as we could
judge, we expected to be obliged to cut our way through
the Bashinje next morning.

3d April—As soon as day dawned we were astir, and,
setting off in a drizzling rain, passed close to the village.
This rain probably damped the ardor of the robbers.
We, however, expected to be fired upon from every clump
of trees, or from some of the rocky hillocks among which
we were passing; and it was only after two hours’ march
that we began to breathe freely, and my men remarked,
in thankfulness, “We are children of Jesus.’ We con-
tinued our course, notwithstanding the rain, across the
bottom of the Quango valley, which we found broken by
clay shale rocks jutting out, though lying nearly horizon-
tally. We passed many villages during this drenching,
one of which possessed a flock of sheep; and after six
hours we came to a stand near the river Quango, (lat. 9°
53’ S., long. 18° 37’ E.,) which may be called the boundary
of the Portuguese claims to territory on the west. As I
had now no change of clothing, I was glad to cower under
the shelter of my blanket, thankful to God for his good-
ness in bringing us so far without losing one of the
party.

4th April—We were now on the banks of the Quango, a
river one hundred and fifty yards wide, and very deep. The
water was discolored,—a circumstance which we had ob-
served in no other river in Londa or in the Makololo
country. This fine river flows among extensive meadows
clothed with gigantic grass and reeds, and in a direction
nearly north.

We were advised not to sleep near it; but, as we were

DIFFICULTY WITH BASHINJE CHIEF. 231

anxious to cross to the western side, we tried to induce
some of the Bashinje to lend us canoes for the purpose.
This brought out the chief of these parts, who informed us
that all the canoe-men were his children, and nothing
could be done without his authority. He then made the
usual demand for a man, an ox, or a gun, adding that
otherwise we must return to the country from which we
had come. AsI did not believe that this man had any
power over the canoes of the other side, and suspected that

BASHINJE CHIEF’S MODE OF WEARING THE HAIR.

if I gave him my blanket—the only thing I now had in
reserve—he might leave us in the lurch after all, I tried to
persuade my men to go at once to the bank, about two
miles off, and obtain possession of the canoes before we
gave up the blanket; but they thought that this chief
might attack us in the act of crossing, should we do so.
The chief came himself to our encampment and made his
demand again. My men stripped off the last of their cop-
per rings and gave them; but he was still intent on a man.

282 OPPORTUNE AID.

He thought, as others did, that my men were slaves. He
was a young man, with woolly hair elaborately dressed :
thav behind was made up into a cone, about eight inches
in diameter at the base, carefully swathed round with red -
and black thread. As I resisted the proposal to deliver up
my blanket until they had placed us on the western bank,
this chief continued to worry us with his demands till L-
was tired. My little tent was now in tatters, and, having
a wider hole behind than the door in front, I tried in vain
to lie down out of sight of our persecutors. We were on a
reedy flat, and could not follow our usual plan of a small
stockade in which we had time to think over and concoct .
our plans. As I was trying to persuade my men to move
on to the bank in spite of these people, a young half-caste
Portuguese sergeant of militia, Cypriano di Abreu, made
his appearance and gave the same advice. He had come
across the Quango in search of bees’-wax. When we
moved off from the chief who had been plaguing us, his
people opened a fire from our sheds, and continued to blaze
away some time in the direction we were going; but none
of the bullets reached us. It is probable that they ex-
pected a demonstration of the abundance of ammunition
they possessed would make us run; but, when we con-
tinued to move quietly to the ford, they proceeded no
farther than our sleeping-place. Cypriano assisted us in
making a more satisfactory arrangement with the ferry-
man than parting with my blanket; and as soon as we
reached the opposite bank we were in the territory of the
Bangala, who are subjects of the Portuguese, and often
spoken of as the Cassanges or Cassantse; and happily all
our difficulties with the border-tribes were at an end.
Passing with light hearts through the high grass by a
narrow footpath about three miles west of the river, we came
to several neat square houses, with many cleanly-looking
half-caste Portuguese standing in front of them to salute
us. They are all enrolled in the militia, and our friend
Cypriano is the commander of a division established here.

=

CYPRIANO’S GENEROUS HOSPITALITY. #33

We came to the dwelling of Cypriano after dark, and L
pitched my little tent in front of it for the night. We had
the company of mosquitos here. We never found them
troublesome on the banks of the pure streams of Londa.
On the morning of the 5th, Cypriano generously supplied
my men with pumpkins and maize, and then invited me to
breakfast, which consisted of groundnuts and roasted
maize, then boiled manioc-roots and groundnuts, with
guavas and honey as a dessert. I felt sincerely grateful
for this magnificent breakfast.

At dinner Cypriano was equally bountiful, and several
of his friends joined us in doing justice to his hospitality.
Before eating, all had water poured on the hands by a
female slave to wash them. One of the guests cut up a
fowl with a knife and fork. Neither forks nor spoons were
used in eating. The repast was partaken of with decency
and good manners, and concluded by washing the hands as
at first.

Much of the civility shown to us here was, no doubt,
owing to the flattering letters of recommendation I carried
from the Chevalier Du Prat, of Cape Town; but I am
inclined to believe that my friend Cypriano was influenced,
too, by feelings of genuine kindness, for he quite bared his
garden in feeding us during the few days which I remained,
anxiously expecting the clouds to disperse so far as to
allow of my taking observations for the determination of
the position of the Quango. He slaughtered an ox for us,
and furnished his mother and her maids with manioc-roots,
to prepare farina for the four or five days of our journey to
Cassange, and never even hinted at payment. My wretched
appearance must have excited his compassion.

We were detained by rains and a desire to ascertain our
geographical position till Monday, the 10th, and only got
the latitude 9° 50’S., and, after three days’ pretty hard
travelling through the long grass, reached Cassange, the
farthest inland station of the Portuguese in Western Africa.
I made my entrance in a somewhat forlorn state as to

20%

234 ARRIVAL AT CASSANGE.

clothing among our Portuguese allies. The first gentleman
1 met in the village asked if I had a passport, and said it .
was necessary to take me before the authorities. As I was
in the same state of mind in which individuals are who
commit a petty depredation in order to obtain the shelter
and food of a prison, I gladly accompanied him to the house
of the commandant or Chefe, Senhor de Silva Rego. Having
shown my passport to this gentleman, he politely asked me
to supper, and, as we had eaten nothing except the farina
of Cypriano from the Quango to this, I suspect I appeared
particularly ravenous to the other gentlemen around the
table. They seemed, however, to understand my position
pretty well, from having all travelled extensively them-
selves: had they not been present, i might have put some
in my pocket to eat by night; for, after fever, the appetite

is excessively keen, and manioc is one of the most unsatisfv-__—

ing kinds of food. Captain Antonio Rodrigues Neves then
kindly invited me to take up my abode in his house. -Next
morning this generous man arrayed me in decent clothing,
and continued during the whole period of my stay to treat
me as if I had been his brother. I feel deeply grateful to
him for his disinterested kindness. He not only attended
to my wants, but also furnished food for my famishing
party free of charge.

The village of Cassange (pronounced Kassanjé) is com-
posed of thirty or forty traders’ houses, slattered about,
without any regularity, on an elevated flat spot in the great
Quango or Cassange valley. They are built of wattle and
daub, and surrounded by plantations of manioc, maize, &e.
There are about forty Portuguese traders in this district,
all of whom are officers in the militia, and many of them
have become rich from adopting the plan of sending out:
pombeiros, or native traders, with large quantities of goods,
to trade in the more remote parts of the country. If 1
might judge from the week of feasting I passed among
them, they are generally prosperous.

As I always preferred to appear in my owr proper cha-

PORTUGUESE CURIOSITY Jaa

racter, I was an object of curiosity to these hospitable
Portuguese. They evidently looked upon me as an agent
of the English Government engaged in some new move
ment for the suppression of slavery. They could not divine
what a “‘ missionario” had to do with latitudes and longi-
tudes, which I was intent on observing. When we became
a little familiar, the questions put were rather amusing :—
‘Js it common for missionaries to be doctors?” “ Are you
a doctor of medicine and a ‘doutor mathematico’ too?
You must be more than a missionary to know how to calcu-
late the longitude. Come; tell us at once what rank k you
hold in the English army. They may have given bee
to my reason for wearing the mustache, as that explains.
_why men have beards.and women have none ;/ but that
“which puzzled many besides my Cassange friends was the
anomaly of my being a “sacerdote,”’ with a wife and four
children! I usually got rid of the last question by putting
another :—“ Is it not better to have children with a wife than
to have children without a wife?’ But all were most kind
and hospitable; and, as one of their festivals was near, they
invited me to partake of the feast.

The anniversary of the Resurrection of our Savior was
observed on the 16th of April as a day of rejoicing, though |
the Portuguese have no priests at Cassange. The colored
population dressed up a figure intended to represent Judas
Iscariot, and paraded him on a riding-ox about the village:
sneers and maledictions were freely bestowed on the poor
wretch thus represented. The slaves and free colored popu-
lation, dressed in their gayest clothing, made visits to all
the principal merchants, and, wishing aed “a good feast,”
expected a present in return. This, though frequently
granted in the shape of pieces of calico to make new
dresses, was occasionally refused; but the rebuff did not
much affect the petitioner.

At ten A.M. we went to the residence of the commandant,
and, on a signal being given, two of the four brass guns
belonging to the Government commenced firing, and con-

236 NO PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR.

tinued some time, to the great admiration of my men,
whose ideas of the power of a cannon are very exalted.
The Portuguese flag was hoisted and trumpets sounded, as
an expression of joy at the resurrection of our Lord. Cap-
tain Neves invited all the principal inhabitants of the place,
and did what he could to feast them in a princely style.
All manner of foreign preserved fruits and wine from Por-
tugal, biscuits from America, butter from Cork, and beer
from England, were displayed, and no expense spared in
rendering the entertainment joyous. After the feast was
over, they sat down to the common amusement of card-
playing, which continued till eleven o’clock at night. As
far as a mere traveller could judge, they seemed to be
polite and willing to aid each other. They live in a febrile
district, and many of them had enlarged spleens. They
have neither doctor, apothecary, school, nor priest, and,
when taken ill, trust to each other and to Providence. As
men left in such cireumstances must think for themselves,
they have all a good idea of what ought to be done in the
common diseases of the country, and what they have
of either medicine or skill they freely impart to each
other.

None of these gentlemen had Portuguese wives. They.
usually come to Africa in order to make a little money,
and return to Lisbon. Hence they seldom bring their
wives with them, and never can be successful colonists in
consequence. It is common for them to have families by
native women. It was particularly gratifying to me, who
had been familiar with the stupid prejudice against color
entertained only by those who are themselves becoming
tawny, to view the liberality with which people of color
were treated by the Portuguese. Instances, so common
in the south, in which half-caste children are abandoned,
are here extremely rare. They are acknowledged at table,
and provided for by their fathers as if European. The
colored clerks of the merchants sit at the same table with
their employers without any embarrassment. The civil

COUNTRY AROUND CASSANGR. ES |

manners of superiors to inferiors is probably the result of
the position they occupy,—a few whites among thc usands
of blacks; but nowhere else in Africa is there so much
good-will between Europeans and natives as here. Ifsome
border-colonists had the absolute certainty of our Govern-
ment declining to bear them out in their arrogance, we
should probably hear less of Caffre insolence. It is inso-
lence which begets insolence.

From the village of Cassange we have a good view of
the surrounding country: it is a gently-undulating plain,
covered with grass and patches of forest. The western
edge of the Quango valley appears, about twenty miles
off, as if it were a range of lofty mountains, and passes by
the name of Tala Mungongo, (“Behold the Range.”) In
the old Portuguese map, to which I had been trusting in
planning my route, it is indicated as Talla Mugongo, or
“Castle of Rocks!” and the Coanza is put down as rising
therefrom; but here I was assured that the Coanza had
its source near Bihe, far to the southwest of this, and we
should not see that river till we came near Pungo Andonga.
It is somewhat remarkable that more accurate information
about this country has not been published. Captain Neves
and others had a correct idea of the courses of the rivers,
and communicated their knowledge freely; yet about this
time maps were sent to Kurope from Angola representing
the Quango and Coanza as the same river, and Cassange
placed about one hundred miles from its true position.
The frequent recurrence of the same name has probably
helped to increase the confusion. I have crossed several
Quangos, but all insignificant except that which drains this
valley. The repetition of the favorite names of chiefs, as
Watendé, is also perplexing, as one Catende may be mis-
taken for another. To avoid this confusion as much as
possible, I have refrained from introducing many names.
Numerous villages are studded all over the valley; but
these possess no permanence, and many more existed pre-

238 SALE OF IVORY.

vious to the Portuguese expedition of 1850 to punish the
Bangala.

This valley, as I have before remarked, is all fertile in
the extreme. My men could never cease admiring its
capability for raising tneir corn (Holcus sorghum) and
despising the comparatively-limited cultivation of the in-
habitants. The Portuguese informed me that no manure
is ever needed, but that the more the ground is tilled the
better it yields. Virgin soil does not give such a heavy
crop as an old garden; and, judging from the size of the
maize and manioc in the latter, I can readily believe the
statement. Cattle do well, too. Viewing the valley asa
whole, it may be said that its agricultural and pastoral
riches are lying waste. Both the Portuguese and their
descendants turn their attention almost exclusively to
trade in wax and ivory; and, though the country would
vield any amount of corn and dairy-produce, the native
Portuguese live chiefly on manioc, and the Huropeans
purchase their flour, bread, butter, and cheese from the
Americans.

As the traders of Cassange were the first white men we
had come to, we sold the tusks belonging to Sekeletu, which
had been brought to test the difference of prices in the Ma-
kololo and white men’s country. The result was highly
satisfactory to my companions, as the Portuguese give
much larger prices for ivory than traders from the Cape
can possibly give, who labor under the disadvantage of con-
siderable overland expenses and ruinous restrictions. Two
muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder, and English —
calico and baize sufficient to clothe my whole party, with
large bunches of beads, all for one tusk, were quite delight-
ful for those who had been accustomed to give two tusks
for one gun. With another tusk we procured calico, which
bere is the chief currency, to pay our way down to the
coast. The remaining two were sold for money to purchase
a horse for Sekeletu at Loanda.

The superiority of this new market was quite astound-

DEPARTURE FROM CASSANGE. 239

ing to the Makololo, and they began to abuse the traders
by whom they had, while in their own country, been visited,
and, as they now declared, “cheated.” They had no idea
of the value of time and carriage, and it was. somewhat
difficult for me to convince them that the reason of the dif-
ference of prices lay entirely in what they themselves had
done in coming here, and that, if the Portuguese should
carry goods to their country, they would by no means be
so liberal in their prices. They imagined that, if the Cas-
sange traders came to Linyanti, they would continue to
vend their goods at Cassange prices. I believe I gave them
at last a clear idea of the manner in which prices were regu-
lated by the expenses incurred; and when we went to
Loanda, and saw goods delivered at a still cheaper rate,
they concluded that it would be better for them to come to
that city than to turn homeward at Cassange.

_ Mr. Rego, the commandant, very handsomely offered me
a soldier as a guard to Ambaca. My men told me that
they had been thinking it would be better to turn back
here, as they had been informed by the people of color at
Cassange that I was leading them down to the sea-coast
only to sell them, and they would be taken on board ship,
fattened, and eaten, as the white men were cannibals. I
asked if they had ever heard of an Englishman buying or
selling people; if I had not refused to take a slave when
she was offered to me by Shinte; but, as I had always be-
naved as an English teacher, if they now doubted my inten-
tions, they had better not go to the coast; I, however, who
expected to meet some of my countrymen there, was deter-
mined to goon. They replied that they only thought it
right to tell me what had been told to them, but they did
not intend to leave me, and would follow wherever I
should lead the way. This affair being disposed of for the
time, the commandant gave them an ox, and me a friendly
dinner before parting. All the merchants of Cassange
accompanied us, in their hammocks carried by slaves, to
the edge of the plateau on which their village stands, and

240 A SOLDIER-GUIDE.

we parted with the feeling in my mind that I should never
forget their disinterested kindness. They not only did
every thing they could to make my men and me comfort-
able during our stay, but, there being no hotels in Loanda,
they furnished me with letters of recommendation to their
friends in that city, requesting them to receive me into
their houses, for without these a stranger might find him-
self a lodger in the streets. May God remember them in
their day of need!

The latitude and longitude of Cassange, the most easterly
station of the Portuguese in Western Africa, is lat. 9° 37’
30” S and long. 17° 49’ E.; consequently we had still about
three hundred miles to traverse before we could reach the
coast. We had a black militia-corporal as a guide. He was
a native of Ambaca, and, like nearly all the inhabitants of
that district, known by the name of Ambakistas, could both
read and write. He had three slaves with him, and was
carried by them in a “tipoia,”’ or hammock slung to a. pole.

Having left Cassange on the 21st, we passed across the
remaining portion of this excessively-fertile valley to the
foot of Tala Mungongo. We crossed a fine little stream
called the Lui on the 22d, and another named the Luare on
the 24th, and then slept at the bottom of the height, which
is from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet.

Situated a few miles from the edge of the descent, we
found the village of Tala Mungongo, and were kindly
accommodated with a house to sleep in,—which was very
welcome, as we were all both wet and cold. We found
that the greater altitude and the approach of winter
lowered the temperature so much that many of my men
suffered severely from colds. At this, as at several other
Portuguese stations, they have been provident enough to
erect travellers’ houses on the same principle as khans or
caravanserais of the East. They are built of the usual
wattle and daub, and have benches of rods for the way-
farer to make his bed on; also chairs, and a table, and a
large jar of water. These benches, though far from luxu-

THE QUIZE. 241

rious couches, were better than the ground under the
rotten fragments of my gypsy-tent, for we had still showers
occasionally, and the dews were very heavy. I continued
to use them for the sake of the shelter they afforded, until
I found that they were lodgings also for certain inconve-
nient bedfellows.

27th.—Five hours’ ride through a pleasant country of
_ forest and meadow, like those of Londa, brought us to a
village of Basongo, a tribe living in subjection to the Por-
tuguese. We crossed several little streams, which were
flowing in the westerly direction in which we were march-
ing, and unite to form the Quize, a feeder of the Coanza.
The Basongo were very civil, as indeed all the tribes were
- who had been conquered by the Portuguese. The Basongo
and Bangala are yet only partially subdued. The farther
west we go from this the less independent we find the
black population, until we reach the vicinity of Loanda,
where the free natives are nearly identical in their feelings
toward the Government with the slaves. But the go-
vernors of Angola wisely accept the limited allegiance and
tribute rendered by the more distant tribes as better than
none.

We spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Ngio, close to
the ford of the Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the
Coanza. The country becomes more open, but is still
abundantly fertile, with a thick crop of grass between two
and three feet high. It is also well wooded and watered.
Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and
frequently a square house of wattle and daub, belonging to
native Portuguese, is placed beside them for the purposes
of trade.

Pitsane and another of the men had violent attacks of
fever, and it was no wonder; for the dampness and evapo-
ration from the ground was excessive. When at any time
1 attempted to get an observation of a star, if the trough
of mercury were placed on the ground, so much moisture

was condensed on the inside of the glass roof over it that
Q 21

242 FEVER—ARRIVAL AT AMBACA.

it was with difficulty the reflection of the star could be
seen. When the trough was placed on a box to prevent
the moisture entering from below, so much dew was de-
posited on the outside of the roof that it was soon neces-
sary, for the sake of distinct vision, to wipe the glass.
This would not have been of great consequence, but a short
exposure to this dew was so sure to bring on a fresh fever
that I was obliged to give up observation by night alto-
gether. The inside of the only covering I now had was
not much better, but under the blanket one is not so liable
to the chill which the dew produces.

It would have afforded me pleasure to have cultivated a
more intimate acquaintance with the inhabitants of this
part of the country, but the vertigo produced by frequent
fevers made it as much as I could do to stick on the ox
and crawl along in misery. In crossing the Lombe, my
ox Sinbad, in the indulgence of his propensity to strike out
a new path for himself, plunged overhead into a deep hole,
and so soused me that I was obliged to move on to dry my
clothing without calling on the Europeans who live on the
bank. This I regretted, for all the Portuguese were very
kind, and, like the Boers placed in similar circumstances,
feel it a slight to be passed without a word of salutation.
But we went on to a spot where orange-trees had been
planted by the natives themselves, and where abundance
of that refreshing fruit was exposed for sale.

On entering the district of Ambaca, we found the land-
scape enlivened by the appearance of lofty mountains in
the distance, the grass comparatively short, and the whole —
country at this time looking gay and verdant. We crossed
the Lucalla by means of a large canoe kept there by a man
who farms the ferry from the Government and charges
about a penny per head. A few miles beyond the Lucalla
we came to the village of Ambaca, an important place in
former times, but now a mere paltry village, beautifully
situated on a little elevation in a plain surrounded on all
hands by lofty mountains. It has a jail, and a good house

FRUITS OF JESUIT TEACHING. 243

for the commandant, but neither fort nor church, though
the ruins of a place of worship are still standing.

We were most kindly received by the commandant of
Ambaca, Arsenio de Carpo, who spoke a little English.
He recommended wine for my debility, and here I took
the first glass of that beverage I had taken in Africa. I
felt much refreshed, and could then realize and meditate
on the weakening effects of the fever. They were curious
even to myself; for, though I had tried several times since
we left Ngio to take tease observations, I could not avoid
confusion of time and distance, neither could I hold the
instrument steady, nor perform a simple calculation: hence
many of the positions of this part of the route were left
till my return from Loanda. Often, on getting up in the
mornings, I found my clothing as wet from perspiration as
if it had been dipped in water. In vain had I tried to
learn or collect words of the Bunda, or dialect spoken in
Angola. I forgot the days of the week and the names of
my companions, and, had I been asked, I probably could
not have told my own. The complaint itself occupied
many of my thoughts. One day I supposed that I had got
the true theory of it, and would certainly cure the next
attack, whether in myself or companions; but some new
symptoms would appear and scatter all the fine specula-
‘ions which had sprung up, with extraordinary fertility, in
one department of my brain.

This district is said to contain upward of 40,000 souls.
Some ten or twelve miles to the north of the village of Am-
baca there once stood the missionary station of Cahenda;
and it is now quite astonishing to observe the great num-
bers who can read and write in this district. This is the
fruit of the labors of the Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries,
for they taught the people of Ambaca; and ever since the
expulsion of the teachers by the Marquis of Pombal the
natives have continued to teach each other. These devoted
men are still held in high estimation throughout the coun-
try to this day. All speak well of them, (os padres Jesuitas;)

244 THE TAMPAN.

and, now that they are gone from this lower sphere, I could
not help wishing that these our Roman Catholic fellow-
Christians had felt it to be their duty to give the people
the Bible, to be a light to their feet when the good men
themselves were gone.

When sleeping in the house of the commandant, an
insect, well known in the southern country by the name
tampan, bit my foot. It isa kind of tick, and chooses by
preference the parts between the fingers or toes for inflict-
ing its bite. It is seen from the size of a pin’s head to that
of a pea, and is common in all the native huts in this coun-
try. It sucks the blood until quite full, and is then of a
dark-blue color, and its skin so tough and yielding that it
is impossible to burst it by any amount of squeezing with -
the fingers. I had felt the effects of its bite in former
years, and eschewed all native huts ever after; but, as I
was here again assailed in a European house, I shall detail
the effects of the bite. These are a tingling sensation of
mingled pain and itching, which commences ascending the
limb until the poison imbibed reaches the abdomen, where
it soon causes violent vomiting and purging. Where these
effects do not follow, as we found afterward at Tete, fever
sets in; and I was assured by intelligent Portuguese there
that death has sometimes been the result of this fever.
The anxiety my friends at Tete manifested to keep my
men out of the reach of the tampans of the village made it
evident that they bad seen cause to dread this insignificant
insect. The only inconvenience I afterward suffered from
this bite was the continuance of the tingling sensation in
the point bitten for about a week.

May 12.—As we were about to start this morning, the
commandant, Senhor Arsenio, provided bread and meat
most bountifully for my use on the way to the next sta-
tion, and sent two militia-soldiers as guides, instead of our
Cassange corporal, who left us here. About mid-day we
asked for shelter from the sun in the house of Senhor Mel-
lot, at Zangu; and, though I was unable to sit and engage

CABINDA—GOLUNGO ALTO. 245

in conversation, I found, on rising from his couch, that he
had at once proceeded to cook a fowl for my use; and at
parting he gave me a glass of wine, which prevented the
violent fit of shivering I expected that afternoon. The
universal hospitality of the Portuguese was most gratify-
ing, as it was quite unexpected; and even now, as I copy
my journal, I remember it all with a glow of gratitude.

We spent Sunday, the 14th of May, at Cabinda, which is
one of the stations of the sub-commandants, who are placed
at different. points in each district of Angola as assistants
of the head-commandant, or chefe. It is situated in a
beautiful glen, and surrounded by plantations of bananas
and manioc.

We met numbers of Mambari on their way back to Bihe.
Some of them had belonged to the parties which had pene-
trated as far as Linyanti, and foolishly showed their dis-
pleasure at the prospect of the Makololo preferring to go
to the coast-markets themselves to intrusting them with
their ivory. The Mambari repeated the tale of the mode
in which the white men are said to trade. ‘The ivory is
left on the shore in the evening, and next morning the
seller finds a quantity of goods placed there in its stead by
the white men who live on the sea.” “ Now,” added they
to my men, “how can you Makolo trade with these ‘ mer-
men’? Can you enter into the sea and tell them to come
ashore?” It was remarkable to hear this idea repeated so
near the sea as we now were. My men replied that they
- only wanted to see for themselves; and, as they were now
getting some light on the nature of the trade carried on by
the Mambari, they were highly amused on perceiving the
reasons why the Mambari would rather have met them on
the Zambesi than so near the sea-coast.

There is something so exhilarating to one of Highland
Slood in being near or on high mountains, that I forgot my
fever as we wended our way among the lofty tree-covered
masses of mica schist which form the highlands around the

roriantic residence of the chefe of Golungo Alto. (lat. 9°
21%

246 CARRIERS.

8’ 30” S., long. 15° 2’! H.) The whole district is extremely
beautiful. The hills are all bedecked with trees of various
hues of foliage, and among them towers the graceful palm,
which yields the oil of commerce for making our soaps and
the intoxicating toddy.

We were most kindly received by the commandant,
Lieutenant Antonio Canto e Castro, a young gentleman
whose whole subsequent conduct will ever make me re-
gard him with great affection. Like every other person
of intelligence whom I had met, he lamented deeply the
neglect with which this fine country had been treated.
This district contained, by the last census, 26,000 hearths
or fires; and, if to each hearth we reckon four souls, we
have a population of 104,000. The number of carre-
gadores (carriers) who may be ordered out at the pleasure
of Government to convey merchandise to the coast is in
this district alone about 6000; yet there is no good road
in existence. This system of compulsory carriage of mer-
chandise was adopted in consequence of the increase in
numbers and activity of our cruisers which took place in
1845. Hach trader who went, previous to that year, into
the interior, in the pursuit of his calling, proceeded on the
plan of purchasing ivory and bees’-wax, and a sufficient
number of slaves to carry these commodities. The whole
were intended for exportation as soon as the trader reached
the coast. But when the more stringent measures of 1845
came into operation, and rendered the exportation of slaves
almost impossible, there being no roads proper for the em-
ployment of wheel-conveyances, this new system of com-
pulsory carriage of ivory and bees’-wax to the coast was
resorted to by the Government of Loanda. <A trader who
requires two or three hundred carriers to convey his mer-
chandise to the coast now applies to the general Govern-
ment for aid. An order is sent to the commandant of a
district to furnish the number required. Hach head-man
of the villages to whom the order is transmitted must fur-
nish from five to twenty or thirty men, according to the

GOLUNGO ALTO. 247

proportion that his people bear to the entire population of
the district. For this accommodation the trader must pay
a tax to the Government of one thousand reis, or about
three shillings, per load carried. The trader is obliged to
pay the carrier also the sum of fifty reis, or about two-
pence a day, for his sustenance. And, as a day’s journey
is never more than from eight to ten miles, the expense
which must be incurred for this compulsory labor is felt to
be heavy by those who were accustomed to employ slave-
labor alone. Yet no effort has been made to form a great
line of road for wheel-carriages. The first great want of 3
country has not been attended to, and no development of
its vast resources has taken place. The fact, however, of
a change from one system of carriage to another, taken in
connection with the great depreciation in the price of
slaves near this coast, proves the effectiveness of our efforts
at repressing the slave-trade on the ocean.

The latitude of Golungo Alto, as observed at the re-
sidence of the commandant, was 9° 8’ 30” S., longitude
15° 2’ K. A few days’ rest with this excellent young man
enabled me to regain much of my strength, and I could
look with pleasure on the luxuriant scenery before his
door. We were quite shut in among green hills, many of
which were cultivated up to their tops with manioc, coffee,
cotton, groundnuts, bananas, pineapples, guavas, papaws,
custard-apples, pitangas, and jambos,—fruits brought from
South America by the former missionaries.

We left Golungo Alto on the 24th of May,—the winter
in those parts. Every evening clouds come rolling in
great masses over the mountains in the west, and pealing
thunder accompanies the fall of rain during the night or
early in the morning. The clouds generally remain on the
hills till the morning is well spent, so that we become fami-
liar with the morning mists,—a thing we never once saw
at Kolobeng. The thermometer stands at 80° by day, but
sinks as low as 76° by night.

In going westward we crossed several fine little gushing

248 COFFEE-ESTATE.

streams which never dry. They unite in the Luinha (pro-
nounced Lueenya) and Lucalla. As they flow over many
little cascades, they might easily be turned to good account;
but they are all allowed to run on idly to the ocean. We
passed through forests of gigantic timber, and, at an open
space named Cambondo, about eight miles from Golungo
Alto, found numbers of carpenters converting these lofty
trees into planks, in exactly the same manner as was fol-
lowed by the illustrious Robinson Crusoe. A tree of three
or four feet in diameter and forty or fifty feet up to the
nearest branches was felled. It was then cut into lengths
of a few feet, and split into thick junks, which again were
reduced to planks an inch thick by persevering labor with
the axe. The object of the carpenters was to make little
chests, and they drive a constant trade in them at Cam-
bondo. When finished with hinges, lock, and key, all of
their own manufacture, one costs only a shilling and eight-
pence. My men were so delighted with them that they
carried several of them on their heads all the way to
Linyanti.

At Trombeta we were pleased to observe a great deal ot
taste displayed by the sub-commandant in the laying out
of his ground and adornment of his house with flowers.
This trifling incident was the more pleasing, as it was the
first attempt at neatness I had seen since leaving the esta-
blishment of Mozinkwa in Londa. Rows of trees had
been planted along each side of the road, with pineapples
and flowers between. This arrangement I had an oppor-
tunity of seeing in several other districts of this country,
for there is no difficulty in raising any plant or tree if it is
only kept from being choked by weeds.

This gentleman had now a fine estate, which but a few
years ago was a forest and cost him only £16. He had
planted about nine hundred coffee-trees upon it, and as
these begin to yield in three years from being planted, and
in six attain their maximum, I| have no doubt but that ere
now his £16 yields him sixty-fold. All sorts of fruit-trees

MOSQUITOS. 249

and grape-vines yield their fruit twice in each year, with-
out any labor or irrigation being bestowed on thera. All
‘grains and vegetables, if only sown, do the same; and, if
advantage is taken of the mists of winter, even three crops
of pulse may be raised. Cotton was now standing in the
pods in his fields, and he did not seem to care about it. I
understood him to say that this last plant flourishes, but the
wet of one of the two rainy seasons with which this coun-
try is favored sometimes proves troublesome to the grower.
Iam not aware whether wheat has ever been tried, but 1
saw both figs and grapes bearing well. The great com-
plaint of all cultivators is the want of a good road to carry
their produce to market. Here all kinds of food are re-
markably cheap.

Farther on we left the mountainous country, and, as we
descended toward the west coast, saw the lands assuming
a more sterile, uninviting aspect. On our right ran the
river Senza, which nearer the sea takes the name of Bengo
It is about fifty yards broad, and navigable for canoes.
The low plains adjacent to its banks are protected from
inundation by embankments,.and the population is entirely
occupied in raising food and fruits for exportation to
Loanda by means of canoes. The banks are infested by
myriads of the most ferocious mosquitos I ever met. Not
one of our party could get a snatch of sleep. I was taken
into the house of a Portuguese, but was soon glad to make
my escape and lie across the path on the lee side of the
fire, where the smoke blew over my body. My host won-
dered at my want of taste, and I at his want of feeling ;
for, to our astonishment, he and the other inhabitants had
actually become used to what was at least equal to a nail
through the heel of one’s boot, or the toothache.

As we were now drawing near to the sea, my com-
panions were looking at every thing ina serious light. One
of them asked me if we should all have an opportunity of
watching each other at Loanda. “Suppose one went for
water: would the others see if he were kidnapped?” I

250 FEARS OF THE MAKOLOLO.

replied, “I see what you are driving at; and if you suspect
me you may return, for I am as ignorant of Loanda as
you are; but nothing will happen to you but what happens
to myself. We have stood by each other hitherto, and will
do so to the last.” The plains adjacent to Loanda are
somewhat elevated and comparatively sterile. On coming
across these we first beheld the sea: my companions
looked upon the boundless ocean with awe. Qn describing
their feelings afterward, they remarked that “we marched
along with our father, believing that what the ancients had
always told us was true, that the world has no end; but all
at once the world said to us, ‘I am finished: there is no
more of me!” They had always imagined that the world
was one extended plain without limit.

They were now somewhat apprehensive of suffering
want, and I was unable to allay their fears with any pro-
mise of supply, for my own mind was depressed by disease
and care. The fever had induced a state of chronic dys-
entery so troublesome that I could not remain on the ox
more than ten minutes at a time; and as we came down
the declivity above the city of Loanda on the 31st of May,
I was laboring under great depression of spirits, as I under-
stood that, in a population of twelve thousand souls, there
was but one genuine English gentleman. I naturally felt
anxious to know whether he were possessed of good-nature,
or was one of those crusty mortals one would rather not
meet at all. j

This gentleman, Mr. Gabriel, our commissioner for the
suppression of the slave-trade, had kindly forwarded in
invitation to meet me on the way from Cassange, but,
unfortunately, it crossed me on the road. When we
entered his porch, I was delighted to see a number of
flowers cultivated carefully, and inferred from this circum-
stance that he was, what I soon discovered him to be, a
real whole-hearted Englishman.

Seeing me ill, he benevolently offered me his bed. Never
shall I forget the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling

CONTINUED SICKNESS. 251

myself again on a good English couch, after six months’
sleeping on the ground. I was soon asleep; and Mr. Ga.
briel, coming in almost immediately, rejoiced at the sound-
ness of my repose.

CHAPTER XX.

DR. LIVINGSTONE COMMENCES HIS GREAT JOURNEY ACROSS
AFRICA.

In the hope that a short enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel’s
generous hospitality would restore me to my wonted vigor,
I continued under his roof; but, my complaint having been
caused by long exposure to malarious influences, I became
much more reduced than ever, even while enjoying rest.
Several Portuguese gentlemen called on me shortly after
my arrival; and the Bishop of Angola, the Right Reverend
Joaquim Moreira Reis, then the acting governor of the
province, sent his secretary to do the same, and likewise to
offer the services of the Government physician.

Some of her majesty’s cruisers soon came into the port,
and, seeing the emaciated condition to which I was re-
duced, offered to convey me to St. Helena or homeward ;
but, though I had reached the coast, I had found that, in
consequence of the great amount of forest, rivers, and
marsh, there was no possibility of a highway for wagons,
and I had brought a party of Sekeletu’s people with me,
and found the tribes near the Portuguese settlement so very
unfriendly that it would be altogether impossible for my
men to return alone. I therefore resolved to decline the
tempting offers of my naval friends, and take back my Mako-
Jolo companions to their chief, with a view of trying to
make a path from his country to the east coast by means
of the great river Zambesi or Leeambye.

I, however, gladly availed myself of the medical assist.

Zon MAKOLOLO’S VISIT "0 THE SHIPS.

ance of Mr. Cockin, the surgeon of the ‘ Polyphemus,”
at the suggestion of his commander, Captain Phillips. Mr
Cockin’s treatment, aided by the exhilarating presence
of the warm-hearted naval officers, and Mr. Gabriel’s un
wearied hospitality and care, soon brought me round
again. On the 14th I was so far well as to call on the
bishop, in company with my party, who were arrayed in
new robes of striped cotton cloth and red caps, all pre-
sented to them by Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head
of the provisional Government, in the grand hall of the
palace. He put many intelligent questions respecting the
Makololo, and then gave them free permission to come to
Loanda as often as they pleased. This interview pleased
the Makololo extremely.

Every one remarked the serious deportment of. the
Makololo. They viewed the large stone houses and
churches in the vicinity of the great ocean with awe.
A house with two stories was, until now, beyond their
comprehension. In explanation of this strange thing, I
had always been obliged to use the word for hut; and, as
huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth,
they never could comprehend how the poles of one hut
could be founded upon the roof of another, or how men
could live, in the upper story, with the conical roof of the.
lower one in the middle. Some Makololo, who had visited
my little house at Kolobeng, in trying to describe it to
their countrymen at Linyanti, said, “It is not a hut: it is
a mountain with several caves in it.”

Commander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited them
to visit their vessels, the “Pluto” and “Philomel.” Know-
ing their fears, I told them that no one need go if he
entertained the least suspicion of foul play. Nearly the
whole party went; and, when on deck, I pointed to the
sailors, and said, ‘‘ Now, these are all my countrymen, sent
by our queen for the purpose of putting down the trade of
those that buy and sell black men.” They replied, “ Truly!
they are just like you!” and all their fears seemed to

MAKOLOLO AT MASS. ie

vanish. at once, for they went forward among the men,
and the jolly tars, acting much as the Makololo would have
done in similar circumstances, handed them a share of the
bread and beef which they had for dinner. The com-
mander allowed them to fire off a cannon; and, having
the most exalted ideas of its power, they were greatly
pleased when I told them, “That is what they put down
the slave-trade with.” The size of the brig-of-war amazed
them. “It is not a canoe at all: it is a town!” The
sailors’ deck they named “the kotla;’ and then, as a
climax to their description of this great ark, added, “‘ And
what sort of a town is it that you must climb up into with
a rope?”

The effect of the politeness of the officers and men on
their minds was most beneficial. They had behaved with
the greatest kindness to me all the way from Linyanti,
and I now rose rapidly in their estimation; for, whatever
they may have surmised before, they now saw that I was
respected among my own countrymen, and always after-
ward treated me with the greatest deference.

On the 15th there was a procession and service of the
mass in the Cathedral; and, wishing to show my mena
place of worship, I took them to the church, which now
serves as the chief one of the see of Angola and Congo.
There is an impression on some minds that a gorgeous
ritual is better calculated to inspire devotional feelings
than the simple forms of the Protestant worship. But
here the frequent genuflexions, changing of positions,
burning of incense, with the priests’ back turned to the
people, the laughing, talking, and manifest irreverence of
the singers, with firing of guns, &c., did not convey to the
minds of my men the idea of adoration. I overheard
them. *n talking to each otber, remark that “they had
seen the white men charming their demons;” a phrase
identical with one they had used when seeing the Balonda
beating drums before their idols.

In the beginni g of August I suffered a severe relapse,

22

254 THEIR JUDGMENT RESPECTING GOODS.

which reduced me to a mere skeleton. I was then unable
to attend to my men for a considerable time; but, when in
convalescence from this last attack, I was thankful to find
that I was free from that lassitude which, in my first
recovery, showed the continuance of the malaria in the
system. I found that my men, without prompting, had
established a brisk trade in firewood. They sallied forth
at cock-crowing in the morning, and by daylight reached
the uncultivated parts of the adjacent country, collected
a bundle of firewood, and returned to the city. It was
then divided into smaller fagots, and sold to the inhabit-
ants; and, as they gave larger quantities than the regular
wood-carriers, they found no difficulty in selling. A ship
freighted with coal for the cruisers having arrived from
England, Mr. Gabriel procured them employment in un-
loading her at sixpence a day. They continued at this
work for upward of a month; and nothing could exceed
their astonishment at the vast amount of cargo one ship
contained. As they themselves always afterward ex-
pressed it, they had labored every day from sunrise to
sunset for a moon and a half, unloading, as yuickly as they
could, “stones that burn,” and were tired out, still leaving
plenty in her. With the money so obtained they purchased
clothing, beads and other articles to take back to their
own country. Their ideas of the value of different kinds
of goods rather astonished those who had dealt only with
natives on the coast. Hearing it stated with confidence
that the Africans preferred the thinnest fabrics, provided
they had gaudy colors and a large extent of surface, the
idea was so new to my experience in the interior that I
dissented, and, in order to show the superior good sense
of the Makololo, took them to the shop of Mr. Schut.
When he showed them the amount of general goods which
they might procure at Loanda for a single tusk, I requested
them, without assigning any reason, to point out the fabrics
they prized most. They all at once selected the strongest
pieces of English calico and other cloths, showing ? hat they

.

THE BISHOP OF ANGOLA. 255

had regard tc strength without reference to color. I believe
that most of the Bechuana nation would have done the
same. But I was assured that the people near the coast,
with whom the Portuguese have to deal, have not so much
regard to durability. This probably arises from calico
being the chief circulating-medium,—quantity being then
of more importance than quality.

During the period of my indisposition, the bishop sent
frequently to make inquiries, and as soon as I was.able to
walk I went to thank him for his civilities.. His whole
conversation and conduct showed him to be a man of great
benevolence and kindness of heart. Alluding to my being
a Protestant, he stated that he was a Catholic from convic-
tion; and though sorry to see others, like myself, following
another path, he entertained no uncharitable feelings, nor
would he ever sanction persecuting measures. He com-
pared the various sects of Christians, in their way to
heaven, to a number of individuals choosing to pass down
the different streets of Loanda to one of the churchés: all
would arrive at the same point at last. His good influence,
both in the city and the country, is universally acknow-
ledged: he was promoting the establishment of schools,
which, though formed more on the monastic principle than
Protestants might approve, will no doubt be a blessing. He
was likewise successfully attempting to abolish the non-
marriage @ustom of the country; and several marriages
had taken place in Loanda among those who, but for nis
teaching, would have been content with concubinage.

St. Paul de Loanda has been a very considerable city,
but is now in a state of decay. It contains about twelve
thousand inhabitants, most of whom are people of color.*

* From the census of 1850-51 we find the population of this city
arranged thus :—830 whites, only 160 of whom are females. This is the
largest collectic= of whites in the country, for Angola itself contains only
about 1000 whites. There are 2400 half-castes in Loanda, and only 120
of them slaves; and there are 9000 blacks, more than 5000 of whom are
slaves

256 ST. PAUL DE LOANDA.

There are various evidences of its former magnificence,
especially two cathedrals, one of which, once a Jesuit
college, is now converted into a workshop; and in passing
the other we saw with sorrow a number of oxen feeding
within its stately walls. Three forts continue in a good
state of repair. Many large stone houses are to be found.
The palace of the governor and Government offices are
commodious structures, but nearly all the houses of the
native inhabitants are of wattle and daub. Trees are
planted all over the town for the sake of shade, and the
city presents an imposing appearance from the sea. It is
provided with an effective police, and the custom-house
department is extremely well managed. All parties agree
in representing the Portuguese authorities as both polite
and obliging; and, if ever any inconvenience is felt by
strangers visiting the port, it must be considered the fault
of the system, and not of the men.

The harbor is formed by the low, sandy island of Loanda,
which is inhabited by about 1800 souls, upward of 600 of
whom are industrious native fishermen, who supply the
city with abundance of good fish daily. The space between
it and the mainland, on which the city is built, is the
station for ships.. When a high southwest wind blows,
the waves of the ocean dash over part of the island, and,
driving large quantities of sand before them, gradually fill
up the harbor. Great quantities of soil are also washed
in the rainy season from the heights above the city, so that
the port, which once contained water sufficient to float the
largest ships close to the custom-house, is now at low-water
dry. The ships are compelled to anchor about a mile north
of their old station. Nearly all the water consumed in
Loanda is brought from the river Bengo by means of
launches, the only supply that the city affords being from
some deep wells of slightly-brackish water. Unsuccessful
attempts have been made by different governors to finish a
canal which the Dutch, while in possession of Loanda
during the seven years preceding 1648, had begun, to bring

CUSTOM-HOUSE ARRANGEMENTS. 257

water from the river Coanza to the city. There is nota
single English merchant at Loanda, and only two American.
This is the more remarkable as nearly all the commerce 1s
carried on by means of English calico brought hither vid
lisbon. Several English houses attempted to establish a
trade about 1845, and accepted bills on Rio de Janeiro in
payment for their goods; but the increased activity of our
cruisers had such an effect upon the mercantile houses of
that city that most of them failed. The English merchants
lost all, and Loanda got a bad name in the commerciai
world in consequence.

One of the arrangements of the custom-house may have
had some influence in preventing English trade. Ships
coming here must be consigned to some one on the spot;
the consignee receives one*hundred dollars per mast, and
he generally makes a great deal more for himself by put-
ting a percentage on boats and men hired for loading and
unloading, and on every item that passes through his hands
The port-charges are also rendered heavy by twenty dollars
being charged as a perquisite of the secretary of Govern-
ment, with a fee for the chief physician, something for the
hospital, custom-house officers, guards, &. &c. But, with
all these drawbacks, the Americans carry on a brisk and
profitable trade in calico, biscuit, flour, butter, &ec. &e.

The Portuguese home Government has not generally re-
ceived the credit for sincerity in suppressing the slave-trade
which I conceive to be its due. In 1839, my friend Mr.
Gabriel saw thirty-seven slave-ships lying in this harbor,
waiting for their cargoes, under the protection of the guns
of the forts. At that time slavers had to wait many
months at a time for a human freight, and a certain sum
per head was paid to the Government for all that were ex-
ported. The duties derived from the exportation of slaves
far exceeded those from other commerce, and, by agreeing
to the suppression of this profitable traffic, the Government
actually sacrificed the chief part of the export-revenue.

Since that period, however, the revenue from lawful com.
R 22%

258 CONVICT SOLDIKES.

merce has very much exceeded that on slaves. The inten
tions of the home Portuguese Government, however good,
cannot be fully carried out under the present system.
The pay of the officers is so very small that they are nearly
all obliged to engage in trade; and, owing to the lucrative
nature of the slave-trade, the temptation to engage in it is
so powerful that the philanthropic statesmen of Lisbon
need hardly expect to have their humane and enlightened
views carried out. The law, for instance, lately promul-
gated for the abolition of the carrier-system (carregadores)
is but one of several equally humane enactments against
this mode of compulsory labor, but there is very little pro-
bability of the benevolent intentions of the legislature
being carried into effect.

Loanda is regarded somewhat as a penal settlement, and
those who leave their native land for this country do so
with the hope of getting rich in a few years and then re-
turning home. They have thus no motive for seeking the
permanent welfare of the country. The Portuguese law
preventing the subjects of any other nation from holding
landed property unless they become naturalized, the country
has neither the advantage of native nor foreign enterprise,
and remains very much in the same state as our allies found
it in 1575. Nearly all the European soldiers sent out are
convicts, and, contrary to what might be expected from
men in their position, behave remarkably well. A few
riots have occurred, but nothing at all so serious as have
taken place in our own penal settlements. It is a remark-
able fact that the whole of the arms of Loanda are every
night in the hands of those who have been convirs.
Various reasons for this mild behavior are assigned by
the officers, but none of these, when viewed in connection
with our own experience in Australia, appear to be valid.
Religion seems to have no connection with the change.
Perhaps the climate may have some influence in subduing
their turbulent disposition, for the inhabitants generally
are a timid race: they are not half so brave as our Caffres.

PRESENTS FOR SEKELETU. 259

The people of Ambriz ran away like a flock of sheep, and
allowed the Portuguese to take possession of their copper-
mines and country without striking a blow. If we must have
convict-settlements, attention to the climate might be of
advantage in the selection. Here even bulls are much
tamer than with us. I never met with a ferocious one in
this country, and the Portuguese use them generally for
riding: an ox is seldom seen.

The objects which I had in view in opening up the
country, as stated in a few notes of my journey published
in the newspapers of Angola, so commended themselves to
the general Government and merchants of Loanda, that,
at the instance of his excellency the bishop, a handsome
present for Sekeletu was granted by the Board of Public
Works, (Junta da Fazenda Publica.) It consisted of a
coionel’s complete uniform and a horse for the chief, and
suits of clothing for all the men who accompanied me. The
merchants also made a present, by public subscription, of
handsome specimens of all their articles of trade, and two
donkeys, for the purpose of introducing the breed into his
country, as tsetse cannot kill this beast of burden. These
presents were accompanied by letters from the bishop and
merchants; and I was kindly favored with letters of recom-
mendation to the Portuguese authorities in Eastern Africa.

I took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh sup
plies of ammunition and beads, and gave each of my men
a musket. As my companions had amassed considerable
quantities of goods, they were unable to carry mine; but
the bishop furnished me with twenty carriers, and sent for-
ward orders to all the commandants of the districts through
which we were to pass to render me every assistance in
their power. Being now supplied with a good new tent
made by my friends on board the Philomel, we left Loanda
on the 20th of September, 1854, and passed round by sea
to the mouth ot the river Bengo. Ascending this river, we
went through the district in which stand the ruins of the
Convent of St. Antonio; thence into Icollo i Bengo, which

260 SPINNING AND WEAVING.

contains a population of 6530 blacks, 172 mulattoes, and 11
whites, and is so named from having been the residence of
a former native king. The proportion of slaves is only
3.38 per cent. of the inhabitants. The commandant of this
place, Laurence José Marquis, is a frank old soldier and a
most hospitable man: he is one of the few who secure the
universal approbation of their fellow-men for stern unflinch-
ing honesty, and has risen from the ranks to be a major in
thearmy. We were accompanied thus far by our generous
host, Edmund Gabriel, Esq., who, by his unwearied atten-
tions to myself, and liberality in supporting my men, had
hecome endeared to all our hearts. My men were strongly
impressed with a sense of his goodness, and often spoke. of
him in terms of admiration all the way to Linyanti.

28th September, Kalungwembo.—We were still on the same
path by which we had come, and, there being no mosqui-
tos, we could now better enjoy the scenery. Ranges of
hills occupy both sides of our path, and the fine level road
is adorned with a beautiful red flower named Bolcamaria.
The markets or sleeping-places are well supplied with pro-
visions by great numbers of women, every one of whom is
seen spinning cotton with a spindle and distaff exactly like
those which were in use among the ancient Egyptians. <A
woman is scarcely ever seen going to the fields—though
with a pot on her head, a child on her back, and the hoe
over her shoulder—but she is employed in this way. The
cotton was brought to the market for sale, and I bought a
pound for a penny. This was the price demanded, and
probably double what they ask from each other. We saw
the cotton growing luxuriantly all around the market-
places from seeds dropped accidentally. It is seen also
about the native huts, and, so far as I could learn, it was
the American cotton, so influenced by climate as to be
perennial. We met in the road natives passing with bun-
dles of cops, or spindles full of cotton thread, and these
they were carrying t» other parts to be woven into cloth.
The women are the spinners, and the men perform the

COFFEE-PLANTATIONS. 261

weaving. Each web is about five feet long, and fifteen or
eighteen inches wide. The loomis of the simplest construc-
tion, being nothing but two beams placed one over the other,
the web standing perpendicularly. The threads of the web
are separated by means of a thin wooden lath, and the
woof passed through by means of the spindle on which it
has been wound in spinning.

Numbers of other articles are brought for sale to these
sleeping-places. The native smiths there carry on their
trade. I bought ten very good table-knives, made of
country iron, for twopence each.

Labor is extremely cheap, for I was assured that even
carpenters, masons, smiths, &c. might be hired for four-
pence a day; and agriculturists would gladly work for half
that sum.

Being anxious to obtain some more knowledge of this in-
teresting country and its ancient missionary-establishments
than the line of route by which we had come afforded, 1
resolved to visit the town of Massangano, which is situated
to the south of Golungo Alto and at the confluence of the
rivers Lucalla and Coanza. This led me to pass through
the district of Cazengo, which is rather famous for the
abundance and excellence of its coffee. Extensive coffee-
plantations were found to exist on the sides of the seve-
ral lofty mountains that compose this district. They were
not planted by the Portuguese. The Jesuit and other mis-
sionaries are known to have brought some of the fine old
Mocha seed, and these have propagated themselves far and
wide: hence the excellence of the Angola coffee. Some
have asserted that, as new plantations were constantly dis-
covered even during the period of our visit, the coffee-treo
was indigenous; but the fact that pineapples, bananas,
yams, orange-trees, custard-apple-trees, pitangas, guavas,
and other South American trees were found by me in the
same localities with the recently-discovered coffee would
seem to indicate that all foreign trees must have been
introduced by the same agency. It is known that the

262 RUINS OF IRON-FOUNDRY.

Jesuits also introduced many other trees for the sake of
their timber alone. Numbers of these have spread over
the country ; some have probably died out and others failed
to spread, like a lonely specimen that stands in what was
the Botanic Gurden of Loanda, and, though most useful
in yielding a substitute for frankincense, is the only one
of the kind in Africa.

Accompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was
well acquainted with this part of the country, I pro-
ceeded ina canoe down the river Lucalla to Massangano. |
This river is about eighty-five yards wide, and navigable for
canoes from its confluence with the Coanza to about six
miles above the point where it receives the Luinha. Near
this latter point stand the strong, massive ruins of an iron-
foundry erected in the times (1768) and by the order of the
famous Marquis of Pombal. The whole of the buildings
were constructed of stone cemented with oil and lime. The
dam for water-power was made of the same materials, and
twenty-seven feet high. This had been broken through by
a flood, and solid blocks, many yards in length, were carried
down the stream, affording an instructive example of the
transporting-power of water. There was nothing in the
appearance of the place to indicate unhealthiness; but
eight Spanish and Swedish workmen, being brought hither
for the purpose of instructing the natives in the art of
smelting iron, soon fell victims to disease and “ irregulari-
ties.” The effort of the marquis to improve the mode of
manufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive. Labor
and subsistence are, however, so very cheap that almost
any amount of work can be executed at a cost that renders
expensive establishments unnecessary.

A party of native miners and smiths are still kept in the
employment of the Government, who, working the rich,
black, magnetic iron-ore, produce for the Government from
480 to 500 bars of good malleable iron every month. They
are supported by the appropriation of a few thousands of a
emall fresh-water fish, called “Cacusu,” a portion of the tax

MASSANGANO. 263

levied upon the fishermen of the Coanza. This fish is so
much relished in the country that those who do not wish
to eat them can easily convert them into money. The
commandant of the district of Massangano, for instance,
has a right to a dish of three hundred every morning, as
part of his salary. Shell-fish are also found in the Coanza,
and the “ Peixemulher,” or woman-fish of the Portuguese,
which is probably a Manatee.

We found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather
high land formed by the left bank of the Lucalla:and right
bank of the Coanza, and received true Portuguese hospi-
tality from Senhor Lubata. The town has more thana
thousand inhabitants: the district has 28,063, with only
315 slaves.

Massangano district is well adapted for sugar and rice,
while Cambambe is a very superior field for cotton; but
the bar at the mouth of the Coanza would prevent the ap-
proach of a steamer into this desirable region, though a
small one could ply on it with ease when once in.

The latitude of the town and fort of Massangano is 9°
37’ 46” S., being nearly the same as that of Cassange. The
country between Loanda and this point.being compara-
tively flat, a railroad might be constructed at small ex-
pense. The level country is prolonged along the north
bank of the Coanza to the edge of the Cassange basin, and
a railway carried thither would be convenient for the trans-
port of the products of the rich districts of Cassange,
Pungo Andongo, Ambaca, Cambambe, Golungo Alto, Ca-
zengo, Muchima, and Calumbo,—in a word, the whole of
Angola and independent tribes adjacent to this kingdom.

Returning by ascending the Lucalla into Cazengo, we
had an opportunity of visiting several flourishing coffee-
plantations, and observed that several men, who had begun
with no capital but honest industry, had in the course of
a few years acquired a comfortable subsistence. One of
these, Mr. Pinto, generously furnished me with a good
supply of his excellent coffee, and my men with a breed

264 FEVER— INSANITY.

of rabbits to carry to their own country. Their lands,
granted by Government, yielded, without much labor, coffee
sufficient for all the necessaries of life.

On returning to Golungo Alto, I found several of my men
laid up with fever. One of the reasons for my leaving
them there was that they might recover from the fatigue
of the journey from Loanda, which had much more effect
upon their feet than hundreds of miles had on our way west-
ward. They had always been accustomed to moisture in
their own well-watered land, and we certainly had a super-
abundance of that in Loanda. The roads, however, from
Loanda to Golungo Alto were both hard and dry, and they
suffered severely in consequence; yet they were composing
songs to be sung when they should reach home. The
Argonauts were nothing to them; and they remarked very
impressively to me, “It was well you came with Makololo;
for no tribe could have done what we have accomplished
in coming to the white man’s country: we are the true
ancients, who can tell wonderful things.’ Two of them
now had fever in the continued form, and became jaun-
diced, the whites or conjunctival membrane of their eyes
becoming as yellow as saffron; and a third suffered from
an attack of mania. He came to his companions one day,
and said, “ Remain well. Iam called away by the gods!”
and set off at the top of his speed. The young men caught
him before he had gone a mile, and bound him. By gentle
treatment and watching for a few days he recovered. I
have observed several instances of this kind in the country,
but very few cases of idiocy; and I believe that continued
insanity is rare.

~

2
DESERTED CONVENT. 265

CHAPTER XXI.
DR LIVINGSTONE VISITS PUNGO ANDONGO.

WHILE waiting for the recovery of my men, I visited, in
company with my friend Mr. Canto, the deserted Convent
of St. Hilarion, at Bango, a few miles northwest of Golungo
Alto. It is situated in a magnificent valley, containing a
population numbering 4000 hearths. This is the abode of
the Sova, or Chief Bango, who still holds a place of autho-
rity under the Portuguese. The garden of the convent,
the church, and dormitories of the brethren are still kept
in a good state of repair. I looked at the furniture, couches,
and large chests for holding the provisions of the brother-
hood with interest, and would fain have learned something
of the former occupants; but all the books and sacred
vessels had lately been removed to Loanda, and even the
graves of the good men stand without any record: their
resting-places are, however, carefully tended. All speak
well of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as the Capuchins,
&c., for having attended diligently to the instruction of the
children. They were supposed to have a tendency to take
the part of the people against the Government, and were
supplanted by priests, concerning whom no regret is ex-
pressed that they were allowed to die out. In viewing the
present fruits of former missions, it is impossible not to
feel assured that, if the Jesuit teaching has been so per-
manent, that of Protestants, who leave the Bible in the
hands of their converts, will not be less abiding.

The chief recreations of the natives of Angola are mar-
riages and funerals. When a young woman is about to be
married, she is placed in a hut alone and anointed with
various unguents, and many incantations are employed in
order to secure good fortune and fruitfulness. Here, as almost

everywhere in the south, the height of good fortune is te
23

266 MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS.

bear sons. They often leave a husband altogether if they
have daughters only. In their dances, when any one may
wish to deride another, in the accompanying song a line is
introduced, “So and so has no children, and never will get
any.” She feels the insult so keenly that it is not uncom-
mon for her to rush away and commit suicide. After some
days the bride elect is taken to another hut, and adorned
with all the richest clothing and ornaments that the rela-
tives can either lend or borrow. She is then placed in a
public situation, saluted as a lady, and presents made by
all her acquaintances are placed around her. After this .
she is taken to the residence of her husband, where she
has a hut for herself, and becomes one of several wives,—for
polygamy is general. Dancing, feasting, and drinking on
such occasions are prolonged for several days. In case of
separation, the woman returns to her father’s family, and
the husband receives back what he gave for her. In nearly
all cases a man gives a price for the wife, and in cases of
mulattoes as much as £60 is often given to the parents of
the bride. This is one of the evils the bishop was trying
to remedy.

In cases of death the body is kept several days ; and there
is a grand concourse of both sexes, with beating of drums,
dances, and debauchery, kept up with feasting, &c., accord-
ing to the means of the relative. The great ambition of
many of the blacks of Angola is to give their friends an
expensive funeral. Often, when one is asked to sell a pig.
he replies, ‘“‘I am keeping it in case of the death of any of
my friends.” <A pig is usually slaughtered and eaten on
the last day of the ceremonies, and its head thrown into
the nearest stream or river. A native will sometimes
appear intoxicated on these occasions, and, if blamed for
his intemperance, will reply, ‘“ Why, my mother is dead!”
as if he thought it a sufficient justification. The expenses
of funerals are so heavy that often years elapse before they
can defray them.

These people are said to be very litigious and obstinate :

MISCONDUCT OF SLAVES. 267

constant disputes are taking place respecting their lands.
A case came before the weekly court of the commandant
involving property in a palm-tree worth twopence. ‘The
judge advised the pursuer to withdraw the case, as the
mere expenses of entering it would be much more than the
cost of the tree. “Oh, no,” said he; “I have a piece of
calico with me for the clerk, and money for yourself. It’s
my right: I will not forego it.” The calico itself cost
three or four shillings. They rejoice if they can say of an
enemy, “I took him before the court.”

My friend Mr. Canto, the commandant, being seized with
fever in a severe form, it afforded me much pleasure to attend
him in his sickness who had been so kind to me in mine.
He was for some time in a state of insensibility; and I,
having the charge of his establishment, had thus an oppor-
tunity of observing the workings of slavery. When a
master is ill, the slaves run riot among the eatables. I did
not know this until I observed that every time the sugar-
basin came to the table it was empty. On visiting my
patient by night, 1 passed along a corridor, and unexpect-
edly came upon the washerwoman eating pineapples and
sugar. All the sweetmeats were devoured, and it was
difficult for me to get even bread and butter until I took
the precaution of locking the pantry-door. Probably the
slaves thought that, as both they and the luxuries were the
master’s property, there was no good reason why they
should be kept apart.

Debarred by my precaution from these sources of enjoy-
ment, they took to killing the fowls and goats, and, when
the animal was dead, brought it to me, saying, “We
found this thing lying out there.” They then enjoyed a
feast of flesh. A feeling of insecurity prevails throughout
this country. It is quite common to furnish visitors with
the keys of their rooms. When called on to come to break-
fast or dinner, each locks his door and puts the key in his
pocket. At Kolobeng we never locked our doors by night
or by day for months together; but there slavery is un-

268 LOSS OF COTTON-SEED.

known. The Portuguese do not seem at all bigoted in
their attachment to slavery, nor yet in their prejudices
against color. Mr. Canto gave an entertainment in order
to draw all classes together and promote general good-will.
Two sovas or native chiefs were present, and took their
places without the least appearance of embarrassment.
The Sova of Kilombo appeared in the dress of a general,
and the Sova of Bango was gayly attired in a red coat
profusely ornamented with tinsel. The latter had a band
of musicians with him, consisting of six trumpeters and
four drummers, who performed very well. These men are
fond of titles, and the Portuguese Government humors
them by conferring honorary captaincy, &c.: the Sova of
Bango was at present anxious to obtain the title of ‘Major
of all the Sovas.” At the tables of other gentlemen I
observed the same thing constantly occurring. At this
meeting Mr. Canto communicated some ideas which I had
written out on the dignity of labor and the superiority of
free over slave labor. The Portuguese gentlemen present
were anxiously expecting an arrival of American cotton-
seed from Mr. Gabriel. They are now in the transition-
state from unlawful to lawful trade, and turn eagerly to
cotton, coffee, and sugar as new sources of wealth. Mr.
Canto had been commissioned by them to purchase three
sugar-mills. Our cruisers have been the principal agents
in compelling them to abandon the slave-trade; and our
Government, in furnishing them with a supply of cotton-
seed, showed a generous intention to aid them in com-
mencing a more honorable course. It can scarcely be
believed, however, that after Lord Clarendon had been at
the trouble of procuring fresh cotton-seed through our
minister at Washington, and had sent it out to the care of
H. M. Commissioner at Loanda, probably from having
fallen into the hands of a few incorrigible slave-traders, it
never reached its destination. It was most likely cast into
the sea of Ambriz, and my friends at Golungo Alto were
left without the means of commencing a new enterprise.

ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, 269

Mr. Canto mentioned that there is now much more cot-_
ton in the country than can be consumed; and if he had
possession of a few hundred pounds he would buy up ali
the oil and cotton at a fair price, and thereby bring about
a revolution in the agriculture of the country. These
commodities are not produced in greater quantity, because
the people have no market for those which now spring
up almost spontaneously around them. The above was
put down in my journal when I had no idea that enlarged
supplies of cotton from new sources were so much needed
at home.

It is common to cut down cotton-trees as a nuisance,
and cultivate beans, potatoes, and manioc sufficient only
for their own consumption. I have the impression that
cotton, which is deciduous in America, is perennial here;
for the plants I saw in winter were not dead, though going
by the name Algodaio Americana, or American cotton. The
rents paid for gardens belonging to the old convents are
merely nominal, varying from one shilling to three pounds
per annum. The higher rents being realized from those
in the immediate vicinity of Loanda, none but Portuguese
or half-castes can pay them.

When about to start, the horse which the governor had
kindly presented for Sekeletu was seized with inflamma-
tion, which delayed us some time longer; and we ultimately
lost it.

November 20.—An eclipse of the sun, which I had
anxiously hoped to observe with a view of determining
the longitude, happened this morning, and, as often took
place in this cloudy climate, the sun was covered four
minutes before it began. When it shone forth, the eclipse
was in progress, and a few minutes before it should
(according to my calculations) have ended the sun was
again completely obscured. The greatest patience and
perseverance are required if one wishes to ascertain his
position when it is the rainy season.

Before leaving, I had an opportunity of observing a

23%

270 INSECTS WHICH DISTIL WATER.

curious insect, which inhabits trees of the fig family,
‘Ficus,) upward of twenty species of which are found
here. Seven or eight of them cluster round a spot on one
of the smaller branches, and there keep up a constant dis-
tillation of a clear fluid, which, dropping to the ground,
forms a little puddle below. If a vessel is placed under
them in the evening, it contains three or four pints of fluid
in the morning. The natives say that if a drop falls into
the eyes it causes inflammation of these organs. To the
question, whence is this fluid derived, the people reply that
the insects suck it out of the tree; and our own natu-
ralists give the same answer. I have never seen an orifice,
and it is scarcely possible that the tree can yield so much.
A similar but much smaller homopterous insect, of the
family Cercopide, is known in England as the frog-hopper,
(Aphrophora spumaria,) when full grown and furnished
with wings, but while still in the pupa state it is called
“ Cuckoo-spit,” from the mass of froth in which it envelops
itself. The circulation of sap in plants in our climate,
especially of the graminace, is not quick enough to yield
much moisture. The African species is five or six times
the size of the English. In the case of branches of the
fi-tree, the point the insects congregate on is soon marked
by a number of incipient roots, such as are thrown out
when a cutting is inserted in the ground for the purpose
of starting another tree. I believe that both the English
and African insects belong to the same family, and differ
only in size, and that the chief part of the moisture is
derived from the atmosphere. I leave it for naturalists to
explain how these little creatures distil both by night and
day as much water as they please, and are more indepen-
dent than her majesty’s steamships with their apparatus
for condensing steam; for, without coal, their abundant
supplies of sea-water are of no avail. I tried the following
experiment. Finding a colony of these insects busily dis-
tilling on a branch of the Ricinus communis, or castor-oil
plant, I denuded about twenty inches of the bark on the tree-

EXPERIMENTS. ot

side of the insects, and scraped away the inner bark, so as
to destroy all the ascending vessels. I also cut a hole in
the side of the branch, reaching to the middle, and then
cut out the pith and internal vessels. The distillation
was then going on at the rate of one drop each sixty-seven
seconds, or about 2 ounces 5} drachms in twenty-four
hours. Next morning the distillation, so far from being
affected by the attempt to stop the supplies, supposing
they had come up through the branch from the tree, was
increased to a drop every five seconds, or twelve drops
per minute, making one pint (16 ounces) in every twenty-
four hours. I then cut the branch so much that, during
the day, it broke; but they still went on at the rate of a
drop every five seconds, while another colony on a branch
of the same tree gave a drop every seventeen seconds
only, or at the rate of about 10 ounces 44 drachms in
twenty-four hours. I finally cut off the branch; but this
was too much for their patience, for they immediately
decamped, as insects will do from either a dead branch or
a dead animal,—which Indian hunters soon know when
they sit down on a recently-killed bear. The presence of
greater moisture in the air increased the power of these
distillers: the period of greatest activity was in the morn-
ing, when the air and every thing else was charged with
dew.

Having but one day left for experiment, I found again
that another colony on a branch denuded in the same way
yielded a drop every two seconds, or 4 pints 10 ounces in
twenty-four hours, while a colony on a branch untouched
yielded a drop every eleven seconds, or 16 ounces 233
drachms in twenty-four hours. I regretted somewhat the
want of time to institute another experiment, namely,
to cut a branch and place it in water, so as to keep ‘t in
life, and then observe if there was any diminution of the
quantity of water in the vessel. This alone was wanting
to make it certain that they draw water from the atmo-
sphere. I imagine that they have some power of which we

272 ARRIVAL AT AMBACA.

are not aware, besides that nervous influence which caus,.a
constant motion to our own involuntary muscles, tue
power of life-long action without fatigue. The reader will
remember, in connection with this insect, the case of the
ants already mentioned.

December 14.—Both myself and men having recovered
from severe attacks of fever, we left the hospitable resi-
dence of Mr. Canto with a deep sense of his kindness to
us all, and proceeded on our way to Ambaca. (Lat. 9° 16’
35” S., long. 15° 23’ E.)

Owing to the weakness of the men who had been sick,
we were able to march but short distances. Three hours
and a half brought us to the banks of the Caloi, a small
stream which flows into the Senza.

We found, on reaching Ambaca, that the gallant old
soldier, Laurence José Marquis, had, since our passing
Icollo i Bengo, been promoted, on account of his stern
integrity, to the government of this important district.
The office of commandant is much coveted by the officers
of the line who come to Angola, not so much for the salary
as for the perquisites, which, when managed skilfully, in
the course of a few years make one rich.

Before leaving Ambaca we received a present of ten head
of cattle from Mr. Schut of Loanda; and, as it shows the
cheapness of provisions here, I may mention that the cost
was only about a guinea per head.

On crossing the Lucalla we made a détour to the south,
in order to visit the famous rocks of Pungo Andongo. As
soon as we crossed the rivulet Lotete, a change in the
vegetation of the country was apparent. We found trees
identical with those to be seen south of the Chobe. The
grass, too, stands in tufts, and is of that kind which the
natives consider to be best adapted for cattle. Two species
of grape-bearing vines abound everywhere in this district,
and the influence of the good pasturage is seen in the plump
condition of the cattle. In all my previous inquiries re-
specting the vegetable products of Angola, I was invariably

PUNGO ANDONGO. 273

directed to Pungo Andongo. “Do you grow wheat ?”’—
“Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.” ‘Grapes, figs, or peaches?”
—‘‘Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.” ‘Do you make butter,
cheese, &c.?” The uniform answer was, “Oh, yes: there
is abundance of all these in Pungo Andongo.” But when
we arrived here we found that the answers all referred to
the activity of one man, Colonel Manuel Antonio Pires.
The presence of the wild grape shows that vineyards might
be cultivated with success; the wheat grows well without
irrigation; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese
at the table of Colonel Pires would prefer them to the
stale produce of the Irish dairy in general use throughout
that province. The cattle in this country are seldom
milked, on account of the strong prejudice which the Por-
tuguese entertain against the use of milk. They believe
that it may be used with safety in the morning, but, if
taken after mid-day, that it will cause fever. It seemed
to me that there was not much reason for carefully avoid-
ing a few drops in their coffee after having devoured ten
times the amount in the shape of cheese at dinner.

The fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9° 42’ 14”8., long. 15°
30’ E.) is situated in the midst of a group of curious
columnar-shaped rocks, each of which is upward of three
hundred feet in height. They are composed of conglome-
rate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces in a
matrix of dark red sandstone. They rest on a thick stra-
tum of this last rock, with very few of the pebbles in its
substance. On this a fossil palm has been found, and if of
tne same age as those on the eastern side of the continent
on which similar palms now lie, there may be coal under-
neath this, as well as under that of Tete. The asserted
existence of petroleum-springs at Dande, and near Cam-
hambe, would seem to indicate the presence of this useful
mineral, though I am not aware of any one having actually
seen a seam of coal tilted up to the surface in Angola, as
we have at Tete. The gigantic pillars of Pungo Andongo
have been formed by a current of the sea coming from the

s

pies PUNGO ANDONGO.

S.5.E.; for, seen from the top, they appear arranged in that
direction, and must have withstood the surges of the ocean
at a period of our world’s history when the relations of
land and sea were totally different from what they are now,
and long before ‘‘the morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy to see the abodes prepared
which man was soon to fill’? The embedded pieces in
the conglomerate are of gneiss, clay shale, mica and sand-
stone schists, trap, and porphyry, most of which are large
enough to give the whole the appearance of being the
only remaining vestiges of vast primeval banks of shin-
gle. Several little streams run among these rocks, and
in the central part of the pillars stands the village, com-
pletely environed by wellnigh-inaccessible rocks. The
pathways into the village might be defended by a small
body of troops against an army; and this place was long
the stronghold of the tribe called Jinga, the original pos-
sessors of the country.

In former times the Portuguese imagined that this place
was particularly unhealthy, and banishment to the black
rocks of Pungo Andongo was thought by their judges to
be a much severer sentence than transportation to any
part of the coast; but this district is now well known to
be the most healthy part of Angola. The water is remark-
ably pure, the soil is light, and the country open and undu-
lating, with a general slope down toward the river Coanza,
afew miles distant. That river is the southern boundary
of the Portuguese, and beyond, to the S. and 8.W., we see
the high mountains of the Libollo. On the 8.E. we have
also a mountainous country, inhabited by the Kimbonda or
Ambonda, who are said by Colonel Pires to be a very brave
and independent people, but hospitable and fair in their
dealings. They are rich in cattle, and their country pro-
duces much bees’-wax, which is carefully collected and
brought to the Portuguese, with whom they have always
been on good terms.

The Ako, (Hako,) a branch of this family, inhabit the

A MERCHANT-PRINCE. 275

left bank of the Coanza above this village, who, instead
of bringing slaves for sale, as formerly, now occasionally
bring wax for the purchase of a slave from the Portuguese.
I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings: he said that he be-
longed to the country of Matiamvo. Here I bought a pair
of well-made boots, of good tanned leather, which reached
above the knee, for five shillings and eightpence, and that
was just the price given for one pound of ivory by Mr.
Pires: consequently, the boy was worth two pairs of boots,
or two pounds of ivory. The Libollo on the south have
not so good a character; but the Coanza is always deep
enough to form a line of defence. Colonel Pires is a good
example of what an honest, industrious man in this country
may become. He came as-a servant in a ship, and, by a
long course of persevering labor, has raised himself to be
the richest merchant in Angola. He possesses some thou-
sands of cattle, and, on any emergency, can appear in the
field with several hundred armed slaves.

While enjoying the hospitality of this merchant-prince
in his commodious residence, which is outside the rocks
and commands a beantiful view of all the adjacent country,
I learned that all my despatches, maps, and journal had
gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet “Fore-
runner.’ I felt so glad that my friend Lieutenant Beding-
feld, to whose care I had committed them, though in the
most imminent danger, had not shared a similar fate, that
I was at once reconciled to the labor of rewriting. IL
availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and re-
mained till the end of the year reproducing my lost
papers.

Colonel Pires having another establishment on the banks
of the Coanza, about six miles distant, I visited it with
him about once a week for the purpose of recreation. The
difference of temperature caused by the lower altitude was
seen in the cashew-trees; for while, near the rocks, these
trees were but coming into flower, those at the lower sta-
tion were ripening their fruit. Cocoanut-trees and »ananag

276 ANCIENT BURIAL-PLACE.

bear well at the lower station, but yield little or no fruit
at the upper. The difference indicated by the thermo.
meter was 7°. The general range near the rocks was 67°
at 7 A.M., 74° at mid-day, and 72° in the evening. —

A slave-boy belonging to Colonel Pires, having stolen
and eaten some lemons in the evening, went to the river
to wash his mouth, so as not to be detected by the flavor.
An alligator seized him and carried him to an island in the
middle of the stream: there the boy grasped hold of the
reeds, and baffled all the efforts of the reptile to dislodge
him, till his companions, attracted by his cries, came to his
assistance. The alligator at once let go his hold; for when
out of his own element he is cowardly. The boy had many
marks of the teeth in his abdomen and thigh, and those of
the claws on his legs and arms.

The slaves in Colonel Pires’ establishments appeared
more like free servants than any I had elsewhere seen.
Every thing was neat and clean,—while generally, where
slaves are the only domestics, there is an aspect of sloven-
liness, as if they went on the principle of always doing as
little for their masters as possible.

In the country near to this station were a large number
of the ancient burial-places of the Jinga. These are simply
large mounds of stone, with drinking and cooking vessels
of rude pottery on them. Some are arranged in a circular
form, two or three yards in diameter, and shaped like a
haycock. There is not a single vestige of any inscription.
The natives of Angola generally have a strange predilec-
tion for bringing their dead to the sides of the most fre-
quented paths. They have a particular anxiety to secure
the point where cross-roads meet. On and around the
graves are planted tree-euphorbias and other species of
that family. On the grave itself they also place water-
bottles, broken pipes, cooking-vessels, and sometimes a
little bow and arrow.

The Portuguese Government, wishing to prevent this
custom, affixed a penalty on any cne burying in the roads,

MANIOC THE CHIEF PRODUCT. 277
and appointed places of public sepulture in every district
in the country. The people persist, however, in spite of
the most stringent enforcement of the law, to follow their
ancient custom.

The country between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is
covered with low trees, bushes, and fine pasturage. In the
latter we were pleased to see our old acquaintances, the
gaudy gladiolus, Amaryllis toxicaria, hymanthus, and other
bulbs, in as flourishing a condition as at the Cape.

It is surprising that so little has been done in the way
of agriculture in Angola. Raising wheat by means of ir-
rigation has never been tried; no plough is ever used; and
the only instrument is the native hoe, in the hands of
slaves. The chief object of agriculture is the manioc,
which does not contain nutriment sufficient to give proper
stamina to the people. The half-caste Portuguese have
not so much energy as their fathers. They subsist chiefly
on the manioc; and, as that can be eaten either raw,
roasted, or boiled, as it comes from the ground, or fer-
mented in water, and then roasted or dried after fermenta-
tion, and baked or pounded into fine meal, or rasped into
meal and cooked as farina, or made into confectionary
with butter and sugar, it does not so soon pall upon the
palate as one might imagine when told that it constitutes
their principal food. The leaves boiled make an excellent
vegetable for the table; and, when eaten by goats, their
yailkk is much increased. The wood is a good fuel, and
‘yields a large quantity of potash. If planted in a dry
soil, it takes two years to come to perfection, requiring
luring that time one weeding only. It bears drought
well, and never shrivels up like other plants when de-
prived of rain. When planted in low, alluvial soils, and
either well supplied with rain or annually flooded, twelve,
or even ten, months are sufficient to bring it to maturity.
The root rasped while raw, placed upon a cloth, and rubbed
with the hands while water is poured upon it, parts with

its starchy glutinous matter, and this, when it settles at
24

278 VISIT FROM A COLORED PRIEST.

the bottom of the vessel and the water poured off, is
placed in the sun till nearly dry, to form tapioca. The
process of drying is completed on an iron plate over a slow
fire, the mass being stirred meanwhile with a stick, and
when quite dry it appears agglutinated into little globules,
and is in the form we see the tapioca of commerce. This
is never eaten by weevils, and so little labor is required in
its cultivation that on the spot it is extremely cheap.
Throughout the interior parts of Angola, fine manioc-meal,
which could with ease have been converted either into supe-
rior starch or tapioca, is commonly sold at the rate of about
ten pounds fora penny. All this region, however, has no
means of transport to Loanda other than the shoulders of
the carriers and slaves over a footpath.

Cambambe, to which the navigation of the Coanza
reaches, is reported to be thirty leagues below Pungo
Andongo. A large waterfall is the limit on that side; and
another exists higher up, at the confluence of the Lombe,
(lat. 9° 41’ 26” S. and about long. 16° E.,) over which hip-
popotami and elephants are sometimes drawn and killed.
The river between is rapid, and generally rushes over a
rocky bottom. Its source is pointed out as 8.H. or 8.8.H.
of its confluence with the Lombe, and near Bihe. The situa-
tion of Bihe is not well known. When at Sanza, we were
assured that it lies nearly south of that point, and eight
days distant. This statement seemed to be corroborated
by our meeting many people going to Matiamvo and to
Loanda from Bihe. Both parties had come to Sanza, and
then branched off, one to the east, the other to the west.
The source of the Coanza is thus probably not far from
Sanza.

I had the happiness of doing a little good in the way of
administering to the sick; for there are no doctors in the
interior of Angola. Notwithstanding the general healthi-
ness of this fine district and its pleasant temperature, I was
attacked by the fever myself. While confined to my room,
a gentleman of color, a canon of the Church, kindly paid

THE KING OF CONGO. 279

me a visit. He was on a tour of visitation in the different
interior districts for the purpose of baptizing and marrying
He had lately been on a visit to Lisbon in company with
the Prince of Congo, and had been invested with an orde1z
of honor by the King of Portugal as an acknowledgment
of his services. He had all the appearance of a true negro,
but commanded the respect of the people; and Colonel P.,
who had known him for thirty years, pronounced him to bea
good man. There are only three or four priests in Loanda,
—all men of color, but educated for the office. About the
time of my journey in Angola, an offer was made to any
young men of ability who might wish to devote themselves
to the service of the Church to afford them the requisite
education at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. I
was informed, on what seemed good authority, that the
Prince of Congo is professedly a Christian, and that there
are no fewer than twelve churches in that kingdom, the
fruits of the mission established in former times at San
Salvador, the capital. These churches are kept in partial
repair by the people, who also keep up the ceremonies of
the Church, pronouncing some gibberish over the dead in
imitation of the Latin prayers which they had formerly
heard. Many of them can read and write. When a king
of Congo dies, the body is wrapped up in a great many
folds of cloth until a priest can come from Loanda to cone
secrate his successor. The King of Congo still retains the
title of Lord of Angola, which he had when the Jinga, the
original possessors of the soil, owed him allegiance; and,
when he writes to the Governor of Angola, he places his
own name first, as if addressing his vassal. The Jinga
paid him tribute annually in cowries, which were found on
the island that shelters Loanda Harbor, and, on. refusing to
continue payment, the King of Congo gave over the island
to the Portuguese, and thus their dominion commenced in
this quarter.

There is not much knowledge of the Christian religion
in either Congo or Angola; yet it is looked upon with a

280 DEPARTURE FROM PUNGO ANDONGO.

certain degree of favor. The prevalence of fever is pro-
bably the reason why no priest occupies a post in any part
of the interior. They come on tours of visitation like that
mentioned, and it is said that no expense is incurred, for
all the people are ready not only to pay for their services,
but also to furnish every article in their power gratuitously.
In view of the desolate condition of this fine missionary-
field, it is more than probable that the presence of a few
Protestants would soon provoke the priests, if not to love,
to good works.

CHAPTER XXII.
DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE LOAJIMA RIVER. ‘

January 1, 1855.—Havina, through the kindness of
Colonel Pires, reproduced some of my lost papers, I left
Pungo Andongo the first day of this year, and at Can-
dumba slept in one of the dairy-establishments of my
friend, who had sent forward orders for an ample supply
of butter, cheese, and milk. Our path lay along the right
bank of the Coanza. This is composed of the same sand-
stone rock, with pebbles, which forms the flooring of the
country. The land is level, has much open forest, and is
well adapted for pasturage.

On reaching the confluence of the Lombe, we left the
river, ard proceeded in a northeasterly direction, through
a fine open green country, to the village of Malange, where
we struck into our former path. A few miles. to the west
of this a path branches off to a new district named the
Duke Braganza. This path crosses the Lucalla and several
of its feeders. The whole of the country drained by these
is described as extremely fertile. The territory west of
Braganza is reported to be mountainous, well wooded and
watered; wild coffee is abundant, and the people even

MEETING WITH NATIVE TRADERS. 281

_Xe their huts of coffee-trees. The rivers Dande, Senza,
aid Lucalla are said to rise in one mountain-range
Namerous tribes inhabit the country to the north, who are
all independent. The Portuguese power extends chiefly
over the tribes through whose lands we have passed. It
may be said to be firmly seated only between the rivers
Dande and Coanza. It extends inland about three hun-
dred miles to the river Quango; and the population,
according to the imperfect data afforded by the census
given annually by the commandants of the fifteen or six-
teen districts into which it is divided, cannot be under
600,000 souls.

Leaving Malange, we passed quickly, without deviation,
along the path by which we had come. At Sanza (lat. 9°
37’ 46” S., long. 16° 59’ E.) we expected to get a little seed-
wheat, but this was not now to be found in Angola.

While at Tala Mungongo, we met a native of Bihe who
has visited the country of Shinte three times for the pur-
poses of trade. He gave us some of the news of that dis-
tant part, but not a word of the Makololo, who have always
been represented in the countries to the north as a despe-
rately-savage race, whom no trader could visit with safety.
The half-caste traders whom we met at Shinte’s had re-
turned to Angola with sixty-six slaves and upward of fifty
tusks of ivory. As we came along the path, we daily met
long lines of carriers bearing large square masses of bees’-
wax, each about a hundred pounds’ weight, and numbers
of elephants’ tusks, the property of Angolese merchants.
Many natives were proceeding to the coast also on their
own account, carrying bees’-wax, ivory, and sweet oil.
They appeared to travel in perfect security ; and at differ-
ent parts of the road we purchased fowls from them at a
penny each. My men took care to celebrate their own
daring in having actually entered ships, while the natives
of these parts, who had endeavored to frighten them on
their way down, had only seen them at a distance. Poor

fellows! they were more than ever attentive to me; and,
24*

282 CASSANGE VILLAGE.

as they were not obliged to erect sheds for themselves, in
consequence of finding them already built at the different
sleeping-places, all their care was bestowed in making me
comfortable. Mashauana, as usual, made his bed with his
head close to my feet, and never during the entire journey
did I have to call him twice for any thing I needed.

Junuary 15, 1855.—We descended in one hour from the
heights of Tala Mungongo. I counted the number of paces
made on the slope downward, and found them to be sixteen
hundred, which may give a perpendicular Heigl of from
twelve to fifteen hundred feet.

Before we reached Cassange we were overtaken by the
commandant, Senhor Carvalho, who was returning, with a
detachment of fifty men and a field-piece, from an unsuc-
cessful search after some rebels. The rebels had fled, and
all he could do was to burn their huts. He kindly invited —
me to take up my residence with him; but, not wishing to
pass by the gentleman (Captain Neves) who had so kindly
received me on my first arrival in the Portuguese pos-
sessions, I declined. Senhor Rego had been superseded in
his command, because the Governor Amaral, who had come
into office since my departure from Loanda, had determined
that the law which requires the office of commandant to be
exclusively occupied by military officers of the line should
once more come into operation. I was again most kindly
welcomed by my friend Captain Neves, whom I found
laboring under a violent inflammation and abscess of the
hand. There is nothing in the situation of this village te
indicate unhealthiness, except, perhaps, the rank luxu
riance of the vegetation. Nearly all the Portuguese in-
habitants suffer from enlargement of the spleen, the effects
of frequent intermittents, and have generally a sickly ap-
pearance. Thinking that this affection of the hand was
simply an effort of nature to get rid of malarious matter
from the system, I recommended the use of quinine. He
himself applied the leaf of a plant called cathory, famed
among the natives as an excellent remedy for ulcers. The

THE ORDEAL. 283

eathory-leaves, when boiled, exude a gummy juice, whicb
effectually shuts out the external air. Hach remedy, of
course, claimed the merit of the cure.

Many of the children are cut off by fever. A fine boy
of Captain Neves’ had, since my passage westward, shared
a similar fate. Another child died during the period of
my visit.

The intercourse which the natives have had with white
men does not seem to have much ameliorated their con-
dition. A great number of persons are reported to lose
their lives annually in different districts of Angola by the
cruel superstitions to which they are addicted, and the
Portuguese authorities either know nothing of them or are
unable to prevent their occurrence. The natives are bound
to secrecy by those who administer the ordeal, which gene-
rally causes the death of the victim. A person, when ac-
cused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant districts
in order to assert her innocency and brave the test. They
come to a river on the Cassange called Dua, drink the
infusion of a poisonous tree, and perish unknown.

The same superstitious ideas being prevalent through
the whole of the country north of the Zambesi seems to
indicate that the people must originally have been one.
Afl believe that the souls of the departed still mingle
among the living and partake in some way of the food
they consume.

The chieftainship is elective from certain families. Among
the Bangalas of the Cassange valley the chief is chosen
from three families in rotation. A chief’s brother inherits
in preference to his son. The sons of a sister belong to her
brother; and he often sells his nephews to pay his debts.
By this and other unnatural customs, more than by war, is
the slave-market supplied.

While here, I reproduced the last of my lost papers and
maps; and, as there is a post twice a month from Loanda,
I had the happiness to receive a packet of the “Times,”
and, among other news, an account of the Russian war up

284 TRADING POMBEIROS.

to the terrible charge of the light cavalry. The intense
anxiety I felt to hear more may be imagined by every
true patriot; but I was forced to brood on in silent
thought, and utter my poor prayers for friends who per-
chance were now no more, until I reached the other side
of the continent.

A considerable trade is carried on by the Cassange mer-
chants with all the surrounding territory by means of
native traders, whom they term “pombeiros.” Two of
these, called in the history of Angola “ the trading blacks,”
(os feirantes pretos,) Pedro Joao Baptista and Antonio
José, having been sent by the first Portuguese trader that
lived at Cassange, actually returned from some of the Por-
tuguese possessions in the Hast with letters from the
governor of Mozambique in the year 1815, proving, as is
remarked, ‘the possibility of so important a communica-
tion between Mozambique and Loanda.” ‘This is the only
instance of native Portuguese subjects crossing the conti-
nent. No European ever accomplished it, though this
fact has lately been quoted as if the men had been
“ Portuguese.”

Captain Neves was now actively engaged in preparing
a present, worth about fifty pounds, to be sent by pom-
beiros to Matiamvo. It consisted of great quantities’ of
cotton cloth, a large carpet, an arm-chair with a canopy
and curtains of crimson calico, an iron bedstead, mosquito-
curtains, beads, &c., and a number of pictures rudely
painted in oil by an embryo black painter at Cassange.

Matiamyo, like most of the natives in the interior of the
country, has a strong desire to possess a cannon, and had
sent ten large tusks to purchase one; but, being Govern-
ment property, it’could not be sold: he was now furnished
with a blunderbuss mounted as a cannon, which would
probably please him as well.

Senhor Graca and some other Portuguese have visited
this chief at different times; but no European resides
beyond the Quango: indeed, it is contrary to the policy of

A LARGE TUSK. 285

the Guvernment of Angola to allow their subjects to pene.
trate farther into the interior. The present would have
deen a good opportunity for me to have visited that chief,
and I felt strongly inclined to do so, as he had expressed
dissatisfaction respecting my treatment by the Chiboque,
and even threatened to punish them. As it would be im-
proper to force my men to go thither, I resolved to wait
and see whether the proposition might not emanate from
themselves. When I can get the natives to agree in the
propriety of any step, they go to the end of the affair
without a murmur. I speak to them and treat them as
rational beings, and generally get on well with them in
consequence.

February 20.—On the day of starting from Cassange the
westerly wind blew strongly, and on the day following we
were brought to a stand by several of our party being laid
up with fever. This complaint is the only serious draw-
back Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an
agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich
abundance of tropical produce for the rest of the world.
Indeed, I have no hesitation in asserting that, had it been
in the possession of England, it would now have been
yielding as much or more of the raw material for her
manufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-
growing States of America. A railway from Loanda to
this valley would secure the trade of most of the interior
of South Central Africa.

As soon as we could move toward the Quango we did so,
meeting in our course several trading-parties, both native
and Portuguese. We met two of the latter carrying a
tusk weighing 126 lbs. The owner afterward informed us
that its fellow on the left side of the same elephant was 130
Ibs. It was 8 feet 62 inches long, and 21 inches in circum-
ference at the part on which the lip of the animal rests.
The elephant was rather a small one, as is commen in this
hot central region. Some idea may be formed of the
_ strength of his neck when it is recollected that he bore a

286 RENEWED ATTACK OF FEVER.

weight of 256 lbs. The ivory which comes from the east
and northeast of Cassange is very much larger than any
tu be found farther south. Captain Neves had one weigh-
ing 120 lbs.; and this weight is by no means uncommon.
They have been found weighing even 158 lbs.

Before reaching the Quango we were again brought to
a stand, by fever in two of my companions, close to the
residence of a Portuguese who rejoiced in the name of
William Tell and who lived here in spite of the prohibition
of the Government. We were using the water of a pond;
and this gentleman, having come to invite me to dinner,
drank a little of it, and caught fever in consequence. If
malarious matter existed in water, it would have been a
wonder had we escaped; for, travelling in the sun, with
the thermometer from 96° to 98° in the shade, the evapora-
tion from our bodies causing much thirst, we generally
partook of every water we came to. We had probably
thus more disease than others might suffer who had better
shelter.

Mr. Tell remarked that his garden was rather barren,
being still, as he said, wild; but when more worked it
would become better, though no manure be applied. My
men were busy collecting a better breed of fowls and
pigeons than those in their own country. Mr. Tell pre-
sented them with some large specimens from Rio Janeiro.
Of these they were wonderfully proud, and bore the cock
in triumph through the country of the Balonda, as evidence
of having been to the sea. But when at the village of
Shinte a hyena came into our midst when we were all
sound asleep, and picked out the giant in his basket from

eighty-four others, and he was lost, to the great grief of

my men. The anxiety these people have always shown to
improve the breed of their domestic animals is, I think, a
fuvorable point in their character. ,

On coming back to Cypriano’s village on the 28th, we
found his step-father had died after we had passed, and,

according to the custom of the country, he had spent more —

ee

SUPERSTITIOUS FEAKS. 287

than his patrimony in funeral orgies. He acted with his
wonted kindness, though, unfortunately, drinking has got
him so deeply in debt that he now keeps out of the way of
his creditors. He informed us that the source of the
Quango is eight days, or one hundred miles, to the south
of this, and in a range called Mosamba, in the country of
the Basongo. We can see from this a sort of break in the
high land which stretches away round to Tala Mongongo,
through which the river comes.

A death had occurred in a village about a mile off, and
the people were busy beating drums and firing guns. The
funeral rites are half festive, half mourning, partaking
somewhat of the character of an Irish wake. There is
nothing more heart-rending than their death-wails. When
the natives turn their eyes to the future world, they have
a view cheerless enough of their own utter helplessness
and hopelessness. They fancy themselves completely in
the power of the disembodied spirits, and look upon the
prospect of following them as the greatest of misfortunes.
Hence they are constantly deprecating the wrath of de-
parted souls, believing that, if they are appeased, there is
no other cause of death but witchcraft, which may be
averted by charms.

We were informed that a chief named Gando, living on
the other side of the river, having been accused of witch-
craft, was killed by the ordeal, and his body thrown into
the Quango.

The ferrymen demanded thirty yards of calico, but
received six thankfully. The canoes were wretched, carry-
ing only two persons at a time; but, my men being well
acquainted with the water, we all got over in about two
hours and a half. They excited the admiration of the
inhabitants by the manner in which they managed the
cattle and donkeys in crossing.

On the eastern side of the Quango we passed on, without
visiting our friend of the conical head-dress, to the resi-
dence of some Ambakistas who had crossed the river in

288 AMBAKISTAS—BASHINJE.

order to secure the first chances of trade in wax. I have
pefore remarked on the knowledge of reading and writing
that these Ambakistas possess; they are famed for their
love of ali sorts of learning within their reach, a knowledge
of the history of Portugal, Portuguese law, &c. &e. They
are remarkably keen in trade, and are sometimes ealled
the Jews of Angola. They are employed as clerks and
writers, their feminine delicacy of constitution enabling
them to write a fine lady’s hand, a kind of writing much
esteemed among the Portuguese. They are not physically
equal to the European Portuguese, but possess considerable
ability; and it is said that half-castes, in the course of a
few generations, return to the black color of the maternal
ancestor.

The Bashinje, in whose country we now are, seem to
possess more of the low negro character and physiognomy
than either the Balonda or Basongo; their color is generally
. dirty black, foreheads low and compressed, noses flat and
much expanded laterally, though this is partly owing to
the alee spreading over the cheeks, by the custom of insert-
ing bits of sticks or reeds in the septum; their teeth are
deformed by being filed to points; their lips are large.
They make a nearer approach to a general negro appear-
ance than any tribes I met; but I did not notice this on
my way down. They cultivate pretty largely, and rely upon
their agricultural products for their supplies of salt, flesh,
tobacco, &c. from Bangalas. Their clothing consists of
pieces of skin hung loosely from the girdle in front and
behind. They plait their hair fantastically. We saw some
women coming with their hair woven into the form of a
European hat, and it was only by a closer inspection that
its nature was detected. Others had it arranged in tufts,
with a threefold cord along the edge of each tuft; while
others, again, follow the ancient Egyptian fashion, having
the whole mass of wool plaited. into cords, all hanging
down as far as the shoulders. This mode, with the some-
what Egyptian cast of countenance in other parts of Londa,

SANSAWE’S IDEA OF DIGNITY 289

reminded me strongly of the paintings of that nation in
the British Museum.

We had now rain every day, and the sky seldom pre-
sented that cloudless aspect and clear blue so common in
the dry lands of the south. The heavens are often over-
east by large white motionless masses, which stand for
hours in the same position; and the intervening spaces are
filled with a milk-and-water-looking haze. Notwithstand-
ing these unfavorable circumstances, I obtained good op-
servations for the longitude of this important point on both
sides of the Quango, and found the river running in 9° 50’ S.
lat., 18° 33’ E. long.

On proceeding to our former station near Sansawe’s
village, he ran to meet us with wonderful urbanity, asking
if we had seen Moene Put, king of the white men, (or Por-
tuguese,) and added, on parting, that he would come to
receive his dues in the evening. I replied that, as he had
treated us so scurvily, even forbidding his people to sell us
any food, if he did not bring us a fowl and some eggs as
part of his duty as a chief, he should receive no present
from me. When he came, it was in the usual Londa way
of showing the exalted position he occupies, mounted on
the shoulders of his spokesman, as schoolboys sometimes
do in England, and as was represented to have been the
case in the southern islands when Captain Cook visited
them. My companions, amused at his idea of dignity,
greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visited the native
traders first, and then came to me with two cocks as a
present. I spoke to him about the impolicy of treatment
we had received at his hands, and quoted the example of
the Bangalas, who had been conquered by the Portuguese
for their extortionate demands of payment for firewood,
grass, water, &c., and concluded by denying his right to
any payment for simply passing through uncultivated land.
To all this he agreed; and then I gave him, as a token of
friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, two iron spoons,

and two yards of coarse printed calico He looked rather
T 25

290 MORE FEVER.

saucily at these articles, for he had just received a barrel
containing eighteen pounds of powder, twenty-four yards
of calico, and two bottles of brandy, from Senhor Pascoal
the pombeiro. Other presents were added the next day,
but we gave nothing more; and the pombeiros informed
me that it was necessary to give largely, because they are
accompanied by slaves and carriers who are no great
friends to their masters; and, if they did not secure the
friendship of these petty chiefs, many slaves and their loads
might be stolen while passing through the forests. It is
thus a sort of black-mail that these insignificant chiefs
levy; and the native traders, in paying, do so simply as a
bribe to keep them honest. This chief was a man of no
power, but in our former ignorance of this he plagued us a
whole day in passing.

Finding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other
pombeiros excessively slow, I resolved to forego his com-
pany to Cabango after I had delivered to him some letters
to be sent back to Cassange. I went forward with the
intention of finishing my writing and leaving a packet for
him at some village. We ascended the eastern acclivity
that bounds the Cassange valley, which has rather a
gradual ascent up from the Quango, and we found that
the last ascent, though apparently not quite so high as
‘hat at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The top
is about 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and the
bottom 3500 feet ; water boiling on the heights at 202°, the
thermometer in the air showing 96°, and at the bottom at
205°, the air being 75°. We had now gained the summit -
of the western subtending ridge, and began to descend
toward the centre of the country, hoping soon to get out
of the Chiboque territory, which, when we ascended from
the Cassange valley, we had entered; but, on the 19th of |
April, the intermittent, which had begun on the 16th of
March, was changed into an extremely severe attack of
rheumatic fever. This was brought on by being obliged
to sleep on an extensive plain covered with water. The

A BLOW ON TIE BEARD. 291

rain poured down incessantly; but we formed our beds by
dragging up the earth into oblong mounds, somewhat like
graves in a country churehyard, and then placing grass
upon them. The rain continuing to deluge us, we were
unable to leave for two days; but as soon as it became fair
we continued our march. The heavy dew upon the high
grass was so cold as to cause shivering, and I was forced
to lie by for eight days, tossing and groaning with violent
pain in the head. This was the most severe attack I had
endured. It made me quite unfit to move, or even know
what was passing outside my little tent. Senhor Pascoal,
who had been detained by the severe rain at a better spot,
at last came up, and, knowing that leeches abounded in
the rivulets, procured a number, and applied some dozens
to the nape of the neck and the loins. This partially
relieved the pain. He was then obliged to move forward,
in order to purchase food for his large party. After many
days, I began to recover, and wished to move on, but my
men objected to the attempt on account of my weakness.
When Senhor Pascoal had been some time at the village in
front, as he had received instructions from his employer,
Captain Neves, to aid me as much as possible, and being
himself a kindly-disposed person, he sent back two mes-
sengers to invite me to come on, if practicable.

It happened that the head-man of the village where I
had lain twenty-two days, while bargaining and quarrelling
in my camp for a piece of meat, had been struck on the
mouth by one of my men. My principal men paid five
pieces of cloth and a gun as an atonement; but the more
they yielded the more exorbitant he became, and he sent
word to all the surrounding villages to aid him in avenging
the affront of a blow on the beard. As their courage
usually rises with success, I resolved to yield no more, and
departed. In passing through a forest in the country
beyond, we were startled by a body of men rushing after
us. They began by knocking down the burdens of the
hindermost of my men, and several shots were fired, each

292 SKIRMISH IN A FOREST.

party spreading out on both sides of the path. I fortu-
nately had a six-barrelled revolver, which my friend
Captain Henry Need, of her majesty’s brig “ Linnet,” had
considerately sent to Golungo Alto after my departure
from Loanda. Taking this in my hand, and forgetting
fever, I staggered quickly along the path with two or three
otf my men, and fortunately encountered the chief. The
sight of the six barrels gaping into his stomach, with my
own ghastly visage looking daggers at his face, seemed to
produce an instant revolution in his martial feelings; for
he cried out, “‘Oh, I have only come to speak to you, and
wish peace only.” Mashauana had hold of him by the
hand, and found him shaking. We examined his gun, and
found that it had been discharged. Both parties crowded
up to their chiefs. One of the opposite party coming too
near, one of mine drove him back with a battle-axe. The
enemy protested their amicable intentions, and my men
asserted the fact of having the goods knocked down as
evidence of the contrary. Without waiting long, I re-
quested all to sit down; and Pitsane, placing his hand upon
the revolver, somewhat allayed their fears. I then said to
the chief, “If you have come with peaceable intentions,
we have no other: go away home to your village.” He
replied, “I am afraid lest you shoot me in the back.” I
rejoined, “If I wanted to kill you, I could shoot you in
the face as well.” Mosantu called out to me, “ That’s
only a Makalaka trick: don’t give him your back.” But
I said, “‘ Tell him to observe that I am not afraid of him,”
and, turning, mounted my ox. There was not much danger
in the fire that was opened at first, there being so many
trees. The enemy probably expected that the sudden
attack would make us forsake our goods and allow them
to plunder with ease. The villagers were no doukt
pleased with being allowed to retire unscathed, and we
were also glad to get away without having shed a drop of
blood or having compromised ourselves for any future visit.
My men were delighted with their own bravery, and made

RATE OF TRAVEL. ) 293

the woods ring with telling each other liow “brilliant their
conduct before the enemy” would have been, had hosti-
lities not been brought to a sudden close.

Ido not mention this little skirmish as a very frightful
affair. The negro character in these parts, and in Angola,
is essentially cowardly, except when influenced by success.
A partial triumph over any body of men would induce the
whole country to rise in arms; and this is the chief danger
to be feared. These petty chiefs have individually but
little power, and with my men, now armed with guns, I
could have easily beaten them off singly; but, being of
the same family, they would readily unite in vast numbers
if incited by prospects of successful plunder. They are by
no means equal to the Cape Caffres in any respect what-
ever.

In the evening we came to Moena Kikanje, and found
him a sensible man. He is the last of the Chiboque chiefs
in this direction, and is in allianee with Matiamvo, whose
territory commences a short distance beyond. His village
is placed on the east bank of the Quilo, which is here
twenty yards wide and breast deep.

The country was generally covered with forest, and we
slept every night at some village. I was so weak, and had
become so deaf from the effects of the fever, that I was
glad to avail myself of the company of Senhor Pascoal and
the other native traders. Our rate of travelling was only
two geographical miles per hour, and the average number of
hours three and a half per day, or seven miles. Two-thirds
of the month was spent in stoppages, there being only ten
travelling-days in each month. The stoppages were caused
by sickness, and the necessity of remaining in different
parts to purchase food; and also because when one carrier
was sick the rest refused to carry his load.

We crossed the Loange, a deep but narrow stream, by a
bridge. It becomes much larger, and contains hippopo-
tami, lower down. It is the boundary of Londa on the west.
We slept also on the banks of the Pezo, now flooded, and

25%

294 FEEDERS OF THE CONGO.

could not but admire their capabilities for easy irrigation,
On reaching the river Chikapa, (lat. 10° 10’ S., long. 19°
42’ K.,) the 25th of March, we found it fifty or sixty yards
wide, and flowing E.N.E, into the Kasai. The adjacent
country is of the same level nature as that part of Londa
formerly described; but, having come farther to the east-
ward than our previous course, we found that all the rivers
had worn for themselves much deeper valleys than at the
points we had formerly crossed them.

Surrounded on all sides by large gloomy forests, the
people of these parts have a much more indistinct idea of
the geography of their country than those who live in hilly
regions. It was only after long and patient inquiry that I
became fully persuaded that the Quilo runs into the Chi-
kapa. As we now crossed them both considerably farther
down, and were greatly to the eastward of our first route,
there can be no doubt that these rivers take the same
course as the others, into the Kasai, and that I had been
led into a mistake in saying that any of them flowed to
the westward. Indeed, it was only at this time that IT
began to perceive that all the western feeders of the Kasai,
except the Quango, flow first from the western side toward
the centre of the country, then gradually turn, with the
Kasai itself, to the north, and, after the confluence of the
Kasai with the Quango, an immense body of water, col-
lected from all these branches, finds its way out of the
country by means of the river Congo or Zaire, on the west
coast.

The people living along the path we are new following
were quite accustomed to the visits of native traders, and
did not feel in any way bound to make presents of food
except for the purpose of cheating: thus, a man gave me
a fowl and some meal, and after a short time returned.
I offered him a handsome present of beads; but these he
declined, and demanded a cloth instead, which was far
more than the value of his gift. They did the same with
my men, until we had torefuse presents altogether. Others

*
wy CROSSING THE LOAJIMA. 295

made high demands because I slept in a “house of cloth”
and must be rich. They seemed to think that they had a
perfect right to payment for simply passing through the
country.

Beyond the Chikapa we crossed the Kamaue, a small,
deep stream proceeding from the 8.S.W. and flowing into
the Chikapa.

On the 30th of April we reached the Loajima, where we
had to form a bridge to effect our passage. This was not
so difficult an operation as some might imagine; for a tree

——

A LONDA LADY’S MODE OF WEARING HER HAIR.

was growing in a horizontal position across part of the
stream, and, there being no want of the tough climbing
plants which admit of being knitted like ropes, Senhor P.
soon constructed a bridge. The Loajima was here about
twenty-five yards wide, but very much deeper than where
I had crossed before on the shoulders of Mashauana. The

296 MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR.

last rain of this season had fallen on the 28th, and had
suddenly been followed bya great decrease of the tempera-
ture. The people in these parts seemed more slender in,
form, and their color a lighter olive, than any we had
hitherto met. The mode of dressing the great masses of
woolly hair which lay upon their shoulders, together with
their general features, again reminded me of the ancient
Egyptians. Several were seen with the upward inclination
of the outer angles of the eye; but this was not general.

LADY’S HEAD-DRESS OF WOVEN HAIR.

A few of the ladies adopt a curious custom of attaching
the hair to a hoop which encircles the head, giving it some-
what the appearance of the glory round the head of the
Virgin, as shown on p. 295. Some have asmall hoop behind
that represented in the wood-cut. Others wear an orna-
ment of woven hair and hide adorned with beads. The
hair of the tails of buffaloes, which are to be found farther

HEAD-DRESSES. 297

east, is sometimes added; while others weave their own
hair on pieces of hide into the form of buffalo-horns, ot
make a single horn in front. Many tattoo their bodies by
inserting some black substance beneath the skin, which
leaves an elevated cicatrix about half an inch long: these
are made in the form of stars and other figures of uo pars
ticular beauty.

LADY’S HEAD-DRESS IN SHAPE OF BUFFALO-HORNS.

298 CABANGO.

CHAPTER XXIII.
DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE COUNTRY OF THE BALONDA.

We made a little détour to the southward, in order to
get provisions in a cheaper market. This led us along the
rivulet called Tamba, where we found the people, who had
not been visited so frequently by the slave-traders as the
rest, rather timid and very civil.

We reached the river Moamba (lat. 9° 38’8., long. 20°
13’ 34” EH.) on the 7th May. This is a stream of thirty
yards wide, and, like the Quilo, Loange, Chikapa, and
Loajima, contains both alligators and hippopotami. We
crossed it by means of canoes.

We crossed two small streams, the Kanesi and Fombeji,
before reaching Cabango, a village situated on the banks
of the Chihombo. The country was becoming more
densely peopled as we procecded, but it bears no popula-
tion compared to what it might easily sustain.

Cabango (lat. 9° 31’ S., long. 20° 31’ or 82’ E.) is the
dwelling-place of Muanzanza, one of Matiamvo’s subor-
dinate chiefs. His village consists of about two hundred
huts and ten or twelve square houses, constructed of
poles with grass interwoven. The latter are occupied
by halfcaste Portuguese from Ambaca, agents for the
Cassange traders. The cold in the mornings was now
severe to the feelings, the thermometer ranging from 58°
to 60°, though, when protected, sometimes standing as
high as 64° at six a.m. When the sun is well up, the
thermometer in the shade rises to 80°, and in the even-
ings it is about 78°.

Having met with an accident to one of my eyes by 4
blow from a branch in passing through a forest, I remained
some days here, endeavoring, though with much pain, to
draw a sketch of the country thus far, to be sent back to

DEPARTURE FROM CABANGO. 299

Mr. Gabriel at Loanda. I was always anxious to transmit
an account of my discoveries on every possible occasion,
lest, any thing happening in the country to which I was
going, they should be entirely lost. I also fondly expected
a packet of letters and papers which my good angel at
Loanda would be sure to send if they came to hand; but 1
afterward found that, though he had offered a large sum
to any one who would return with an assurance of having
delivered the last packet he sent, no one followed me with
it to Cabango. The unwearied attentions of this good
Englishman, from his first welcome to me, when, a weary,
dejected, and worn-down stranger, I arrived at his resi-
dence, and his whole subsequent conduct, will be held in
lively remembrance by me to my dying day

As we thought it best to strike away to the S.H. from
Cabango to our old friend Katema, I asked a guide from
Muanzanza. He agreed to furnish one, and also accepted
a smaller present from me than usual, when it was re-
presented to him by Pascoal and Faria that I was nota
trader.

We were forced to prepay our guide and his father too;
and he went but one day, although he promised to go with
us to Katema.

The reason why we needed a guide at all was to secure
the convenience of a path, which, though generally no
better than a sheep-walk, is much easier than going
straight in one direction through tangled forests and
tropical vegetation. We knew the general direction we
ought to follow, and also if any deviation occurred from
our proper route; but, to avoid impassable forests and
untreadable bogs, and to get to the proper fords of the
rivers, we always tried to procure a guide, and he always
followed the common path from one village to another
when that lay in the direction we were going.

After leaving Cabango, on the 21st, we crossed several
little streams running into the Chihombo on our left.

On the 28th we reached the village of the chief Bango,

3800 INTERVIEW WITH KAWAWA.

(lat. 12° 22’ 53” S., long. 20° 58’ E.,) who brought us a
handsome present of meal and the meat of an entire
pallah. We here slaughtered the last of the cows pre-
sented to us by Mr. Schut, which I had kept milked until
it gave only a teaspoonful at a time. My men enjoyed a
hearty laugh when they found that I had given up all hope
of more, for they had been talking among themselves about
my perseverance.

May 30.—We left Bango, and proceeded to the river
Loembwe, which flows to the N.N.E. and abounds in
hippopotami. It is about sixty yards wide and four fect
deep, but usually contains much less water than this, for
there are fishing-weirs placed right across it. Like all the
African rivers in this quarter, it has morasses on each
bank; yet the valley in which it winds, when seen from
the high lands above, is extremely beautiful.

Having passed the Loembwe, we were in a more open
eountry, with every few hours a small valley, through
which ran a little rill in the middle of a bog. These were
always difficult to pass, and, being numerous, kept the
lower part of the person constantly wet.

On the evening of the 2d of June we reached the village

of Kawawa,—rather an important personage in these parts.

This village consists of forty or fifty huts, and is surrounded

by forest. Drums were beating over the body of a man
who had died the preceding day, and some women were
making a clamorous wail at the door of his hut, and
addressing the deceased as if alive.

In the morning we had agreeable intercourse with Kae
wawa: he visited us, and we sat and talked nearly the
whole day with him and his people. When we visited
him in return, we found him in his large court-house,
which, though of a bee-hive shape, was remarkably well
built. As I had shown him a number of curiosities, he
now produced a jug, of English ware, shaped like an old
man holding a can of beer in his hand, as the greatest
euriosity he had to exhibit.

TRIBUTE DEMANDED. 301

‘We exhibited the pictures of the magic lantern in the
evening, and all were delighted except Kawawa himself.
He showed symptoms of dread, and several times started
up as if to run away, but was prevented by the crowd
behind, Some of the more intelligent understood the ex-
planations well, and expatiated eloquently on them to the
more obtuse. Nothing could exceed the civilities which
had passed between us during this day; but Kawawa had
heard that the Chiboque had forced us to pay an ox, and
now thought he might do the same. When, therefore, I
sent next morning to let him know that we were ready to
start, he replied, in his figurative way, “If an ox come in
the way of a man, ought he not to eat it? I had given
one to the Chiboque, and must give him the same, together
with a gun, gunpowder, and a black robe, like that he had
seen spread out to dry the day before; that, if I refused an
ox, I must give one of my men, and a book by which he
might see the state of Matiamvo’s heart toward him, and
which would forewarn him should Matiamvo ever resolve
to cut off his head.” Kawawa came in the coolest manner
possible to our encampment after sending this message,
and told me he had seen all our goods and must have all
he asked, as he had command of the Kasai in our front,
and would prevent us from passing it unless we paid this
tribute. I replied that the goods were my property and
not his; that I would never have it said that a white man
had paid tribute to a black, and that I should cross the
Kasai in spite of him. He ordered his people to arm them-
selves, and when some of my men saw them rushing for
their bows, arrows, and spears, they became somewhat
panic-stricken. I ordered them to move away, and not to
fire unless Kawawa’s people struck the first blow. I took
the lead, and expected them all to follow, as they usually
had done; but many of my men remained behind. When
I knew this, I jumped off the ox and made a rush to them
with the revolver in my hand. Kawawa ran away among
his people, and they turned their backs too. I shouted to

26

302 UNPLEASANT PARTING.

my men to take up their luggage and march: some did so
with alacrity, feeling that they had disobeyed orders by
remaining; but one of them refused} and was preparing to
fre at Kawawa, until I gave him a punch on the head
with the pistol and made him go too. I felt here, as else-
where, that subordination must be maintained at all risks.
We all moved into the forest, the people of Kawawa stand-
ing about a hundred yards off, gazing, but not firing a shot
or an arrow. It is extremely unpleasant to part with these
chieftains thus, after spending a day or two in the most
amicable intercourse, and in a part where the people are
generally civil. This Kawawa, however, is not a good
specimen of the Balonda chiefs, and is rather notorious in
the neighborhood for his folly. We were told that he has
good reason to believe that Matiamvo will some day cut
off his head for his disregard of the rights of strangers.
Kawawa was not to be balked of his supposed rights by
the unceremonious way in which we had left him; for,
when we had reached the ford of the Kasai, about ten
miles distant, we found that he had sent four of his men
with orders to the ferrymen to refuse us passage. We
were here duly informed that we must deliver up all the
articles mentioned, and one of our men besides. This de-
mand for one of our number always nettled every heart.
The canoes were taken away before our eyes, and we were
supposed to be quite helpless without them, at a river a

good hundred yards broad, and very deep. Pitsane stood _

on the bank, gazing with apparent indifference on the
stream, and made an accurate observation of where the
canoes were hidden among the reeds. The ferrymen
casually asked one of my Batoka if they had rivers in his
country, and he answered, with truth, “No; we have
none.” Kawawa’s people then felt sure we could not cross.
I thought of swimming when they were gone; but, after’
it was dark, by the unasked loan of one of the hidden
canoes, we soon were snug in our bivouac on the southern”
bank of the Kasai. I left some beads as payment for some”

RR a

LEVEL PLAINS. 303

meal which had been presented by the ferrymen; and, the
canoe having been left on their own side of the river,
Pitsane and his companions laughed uproariously at the
disgust our enemies would feel, and their perplexity as
to who had been our paddler across. They were quite
sure that Kawawa would imagine that we had been ferried
over by his own people and would be divining to find ont
who had done the deed. When ready to depart in the
morning, Kawawa’s people appeared on the opposite
heights, and could scarcely believe their eyes when they
saw us prepared to start away to the south. At last one
of them called out, “Ah! ye are bad;” to which Pitsane
and his companions retorted, “Ah! ye are good, and we
thank you for the loan of your canoe.” We were careful
to explain the whole of the circumstances to Katema and
the other chiefs, and they all agreed that we were per-
fectly justifiable under the circumstances, and that Ma-
tiamvo would approve our conduct. When any thing that
might bear an unfavorable construction happens among
themselves, they send explanations to each other. The
mere fact of doing so prevents them from losing their
character, for there is public opinion even among them.

CHAPTER XXIV.

DR. LIVINGSTONE RETURNS TO THE COUNTRY OF THE
MAKOLOLO.

Arter leaving the Kasai, we entered upon the extensive
level plains which we had formerly found in a flooded con-
dition. The water on them was not yet dried up, as it
still remained in certain hollow spots. Vultures were seen
floating in the air, showing that carrion was to be found;
and, indeed, we saw several of the large game, but so
exceedingly wild as to be unapproachable.

804 LAKE DILOLO.

During our second day on this extensive plain I suffered
from my twenty-seventh attack of fever, at a part where
no surface-water was to be found. We never thought it
necessary to carry water with us in this region; and now,
when I was quite unable to move on, my men soon found
water to allay my burning thirst by digging with sticks a
few feet beneath the surface. We had thus an opportunity
of observing the state of these remarkable plains at differ-
ent seasons of the year. Next day we pursued our way,
and on the 8th of June we forded the Lotembwa to the
N.W. of Dilolo, and regained our former path.

After crossing the Northern Lotembwa, we met a party
of the people of Kangenke, who had treated us kindly on
our way to the north, and sent him a robe of striped calico,
with an explanation of the reason for not returning through
his village. We then went on to the Lake Dilolo. It isa
fine sheet of water, six or eight miles long and one or two
broad, and somewhat of a triangular shape. <A branch
proceeds from one of the angles and flows into the Southern
Lotembwa.

We found Moene Dilolo (Lord of the Lake) a fat, jolly
fellow, who lamented that when they had no strangers
they had plenty of beer, and always none when they came.
He gave usa handsome present of meal and putrid buffalo’s
flesh. Meat cannot be too far gone for them, as it is used
only in small quantities, as a sauce to their tasteless manioc

June 14.—We reached the collection of straggling vil-.
lages over which Ketema rules, and were thankful to see
old familiar faces again. Shakatwala performed the part
of a chief by bringing forth abundant supplies of food in
ois master’s name. He informed us that Katema, too, was.
out hunting skins for Matiamvo. 4

On the 15th Katema came home from his hunting, having.
heard of our arrival. He desired me to rest myself and
eat abundantly, for, being a great man, I must feel tired,
and took good care to give the means of doing so. All the —
people in these parts are exceedingly kind and liberal with —

WELCOME FROM SHINTE. 305

their food, and Katema was not behindhand. When he
visited our encampment, I presented him with a cloak of
red baize, ornamented with gold tinsel, which cost thirty
shillings, according to the promise I had made in going to
Londa; also a cotton robe, both large and small beads, an
iron spoon, and a tin pannikin containing a quarter of a
pound of powder. He seemed greatly pleased with the
liberality shown, and assured me that the way was mine,
and that no one should molest me in it if he could help it.

Leaving Katema’s town on the 19th, and proceeding
four miles to the eastward, we forded the southern branch
of Lake Dilolo. We found it a mile and a quarter broad;
and, as it flows into the Lotembwa, the lake would seem
to be a drain of the surrounding flats, and to partake of
the character of a fountain. The ford was waist deep, and
very difficult, from the masses of arum and rushes through
which we waded. Going to the eastward about three
miles, we came to the Southern Lotembwa itself, running
in a valley two miles broad. It is here eighty or ninety
yards wide, and contains numerous islands covered with
dense sylvan vegetation.

We traversed the extended plain on the north bank of
the Leeba, and crossed this river a little farther on at Kan-
yonke’s village, which is about twenty miles west of the
Peri Hills, our former ford. The first stage beyond the
Leeba was at the rivulet Loamba, by the village of Che-
bende, nephew of Shinte; and next day we met Chebende
himself returning from the funeral of Samoana, his father.
He was thin and haggard-looking compared to what he
had been before,—the probable effect of the orgies in which
he had been engaged.

We reached our friend Shinte, and received a hearty
welcome from this friendly old man, and abundant pro-
visions of the best he had. On hearing a report of the
journey given by my companions, and receiving a piece
uf cotton cloth about two yards square, he said, ‘‘These
Mambari cheat us by bringing little pieces only; but the

U 26%

506 VISIT TO NYAMOANA.

next time you pass I shall send men with you to trade fo»
me in Loanda.” When I explained the use made of the
slaves he sold, and that he was just destroying his own
tribe by selling his people, and enlarging that of the Mam-
bari for the sake of these small pieces of cloth, it seemed to
him quite a new idea.

We parted on the best possible terms with our friend
Shinte, and proceeded by our former path to the village of
his sister Nyamoana, who is now a widow. She received us
with much apparent feeling, and said, ““We had removed
from our former abode to the place where you found us,
and had no idea then that it was the spot where my hus-
band was to die.” She had come to the river Lofuje, as
they never remain in a place where death has once visited
them. We received the loan of five small canoes from her,
and also one of those we had left here before, to proceed
down the Leeba.

Having despatched a message to our old friend Manenko,
we waited a day opposite her village, which was about
fifteen miles from the river. Her husband was instantly
despatched to meet us with liberal presents of food, she
being unable to travel in consequence of a burn on the
foot. Sambanza gave us a detailed account of the political
affairs of the country, and of Kolimbota’s evil doings.

A short distance below the confluence of the Leeba and
Leeambye we met a number of hunters belonging to the
tribe called Mambowe, who live under Masiko. They had
dried flesh of hippopotami, buffaloes, and alligators. This
party had been sent by Masiko to the Makololo for aid to
repel their enemy, but, afraid to go thither, had spent the
time in hunting. They have a dread of the Makololo, and
hence the joy they expressed when peace was proclaimed.*

* The Masiko were terrible warriors, but the atrocities committed by
them in war will hardly bear comparison with those committed even in
time of peace by the Zulus (Zooloos) under Chaka. Here is a specimen
given by Captain Harris:—‘‘ Umnante, the queen-mother, died, and
every subject in the realm was expected to proceed, according to esta-

CRUELTY OF THE ZULUS. 307

The Mambowe hunters were much alarmed until my name
was mentioned. They then joined our party, and on the
following day discovered a hippopotamus dead, which they
had previously wounded. This was the first feast of flesh
my men had enjoyed, for, though the game was wonder-
fully abundant, I had quite got out of the way of shooting,
and missed perpetually. Once 1 went with the determina-
tion of getting so close that I should not miss a zebra.
We went along one of the branches that stretch out from the
river in a small canoe, and two men, stooping down as low
as they could, paddled it slowly along to an open space near
to a herd of zebras and pokus. Peering over the edge of
the canoe, the open space seemed like a patch of wet ground,
such as is often seen on the banks of a river, made smooth
as the resting-place of alligators. When we came within
a few yards of it, we found by the precipitate plunging of
the reptile that this was a large alligator itself. Although
I had been most careful to approach near enough, I unfor-
tunately only broke the hind-leg of a zebra. My two men
pursued it, but the loss of a hind-leg does not prevent this
animal from a gallop. As I walked slowly after the men
on an extensive plain covered with a great crop of grass,

hlished custom, to the king’s residence, there to mourn for the illustrious
deceased. Umnante had been repudiated by Essenzinconyarna, and had
afterward been guilty of signal infidelity to the nation by cohabiting with
a commoner of her father’s tribe. Whether in consequence of this lapse,
or from some other circumstance, the usual etiquette was somewhat laxls
observed, and there ensued an appalling tragedy, which had never beer
exceeded, either in brutality or foulness, by any of the black and inhu-
man exploits detailed in the long and bloody catalogue of Chaka’s crimes.
Upon the grounds that ‘some of the subjects must have been accessary
by witchcraft to the death of the queen-mother, and did not therefore
attend to mourn,’ several kraals and villages were fired; men, women,
and children, having first been cruelly tortured, were roasted alive in the
flames by the ferocious agents of a still more fiendish master; this act
of unprecedented barbarity being followed up by a general massacre
throughout the realm,—the tide of blood flowing for a whole fortnight,
and reeking of cruelties too revolting to narrate.” —d.

$08 CHARGE OF A BUFFALO.

which was laid by its own weight, I observed that a soli-
tary buffalo, disturbed by others of my own party, was
coming to me at a gallop. I glanced around, but the only
tree on the plain was a hundred yards off, and there was
no escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle, with
the intention of giving him a steady shot in the forehead
when he should come within three or four yards of me. The
thought flashed across my mind, “ What if your gun misses
fire?’ I placed it to my shoulder as he came on at full
speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is a
lumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and
bunch of grass fifteen yards off made him swerve a little,
and exposed his shoulder. I just heard the ball crack
there as I fell flat on my face. The pain must have made
him renounce his purpose, for he bounded close past me ou
to the water, where he was found dead. In expressing my
thankfulness to God among my men, they were much
offended with themselves for not being present to shield
me from thisdanger. The tree near me was a camel-thorn,
and reminded me that we had come back to the land of
thorns again, for the country we had left is one of ever-
greens.

July 27.—We reached the town of Libonta, and were
received with demonstrations of joy such as I had never
witnessed before. he women came forth to meet us,
making their curious dancing gestures and loud lulliloos.
Some carried a mat and stick, in imitation of a spear and
shield. Others rushed forward and kissed the hands and
cheeks of the different persons of their acquaintance among
us, raising such a dust that it was quite a relief to get to
the men assembled and sitting with proper African decorum
in the kotla. We were looked upon as men risen from the
dead, for the most skilful of their diviners had pronounced
us to have perished long ago. After many expressions of
joy at meeting, I arose, and, thanking them, explained the
vauses of our long delay, but left the report to be made by
their own countrymen Formerly I had been the chief

RECEPTION AT LIBONTA. 309

speaker, now I would leave the task of speaking to them.
Pitsane then delivered a speech of upward of an hour in
length, giving a highly-flattering picture of the whole jour-
ney, of the kindness of the white men in general, and of
Mr. Gabriel in particular. He concluded by saying that I
had done more for them than they expected ; that I had not
only opened up a path for them to the other white men,
but conciliated all the chiefs along the route. The oldest
man present rose and answered this speech, and, among
other things, alluded to the disgust I felt at the Makololo
for engaging in marauding-expeditions against Lechulatebe
and Sebolamakwaia, of which we had heard from the first
persons we met, and which my companions most energeti-
eally denounced as ‘ mashue hela,” entirely bad. He en-
treated me not to lose heart, but to reprove Sekeletu as my
child. Another old man followed with the same entreaties.
The following day we observed as our thanksgiving to
God for his goodness in bringing us all back in safety to
ouc friends. My men decked themselves out in their best,
ard I found that, although their goods were finished, they
had managed to save suits of European clothing, which,
heing white, with their red caps, gave them rather a dash-
ing appearance. They tried to walk like the soldiers they
bad seen in Loanda, and valled themselves my “braves,”
(batlabani.) During the service they all sat with their
guns over their shoulders, and excited the unbounded admi-
ration of the women and children. I addressed them all
on the goodness of God in preserving us from all the
dangers of strange tribes and disease. We had a similar
service in the afternoon. ‘The men gave us two fine oxen
for slaughter, and the women supplied us abundantly with
milk, meal, and butter. It was allquite gratuitous, and I felt
ashamed that I couid make no return. My men explained
the total expenditure of our means, and the Libontese
answered, gracefally, “It does not matter: you have opened
a path for us, and we shall have sleep.” Strangers came

310 KINDNESS OF THE PEOPLE.

flocking from a distance, and seldom empty-handed. Their
presents I distributed among my men.

Our progress down the Barotse valley was just like this.
Every village gave us an ox, and sometimes two. The
people were wonderfully kind. I felt, and still feel, most
deeply grateful, and tried to benefit them in the only way
I could, by imparting the knowledge of that Savior who
can comfort and supply them in the time of need; and my
prayer is that he may send his good Spirit to instruct them
and lead them into his kingdom. Even now I earnestly

long to return and make some recompense to them for ~

their kindness. In passing them on our way to the north,
their liberality might have been supposed to be influenced
by the hope of repayment on our return, for the white
man’s land is imagined to be the source of every ornament
they prize most. But, though we set out from Loanda
with a considerable quantity of goods, hoping both to pay
our way through the stingy Chiboque and to make presents
to the kind Balonda and still more generous Makololo, the
many delays caused by sickness made us expend all my
stock, and all the goods my men procured by their own
labor at Loanda, and we returned to the Makololo as poor
as when we set out. Yet no distrust was shown, and my
poverty did not lessen my influence. They saw that I had
been exerting myself for their benefit alone, and even my
men remarked, ‘Though we return as poor a8 we went,
we have not gone in vain.” They began immediately to
coilect tusks of hippopotami and other ivory for a second

journey.

ins ae

COLONY OF BIRDS 31]

CHAPTER XXYV.

DR. LIVINGSTONE PREPARES FOR HIS JOURNEY TO THE EAST
COAST.

On the 31st of July we parted with our kind Libonta
friends. We planted some of our palm-tree seeds in differ-
ent villages of this valley. They began to sprout even
while we were there; but, unfortunately, they were always
destroyed by the mice which swarm in every hut.

At Chitlane’s village we collected the young of a colony
of the linkololo (Anastomus lamalligerus,) a black, long-
legged bird, somewhat larger than a crow, which lives on
shell-fish (Ampullaria) and breeds in society at certain
localities among the reeds. These places are well known,
as they continue there from year to year, and belong to the
chiefs, who at particular times of the year gather most
of the young. The produce of this “harvest,” as they
cali it, which was presented to me, was a hundred and
seventy-five unfiedged birds. They had been rather late
in collecting them, in consequence of waiting for the
arrival of Mpololo, who acts the part of chief, but gave
them to me, knowing that this would be pleasing to him,
otherwise this colony would have yielded double the
amount. The old ones appear along the Leeambye in vast
flocks, and look lean and scraggy. The young are very
fat, and, when roasted, are esteemed one of the dainties of
the Barotse valley. In presents of this kind, as well as of
oxen, it is a sort of feast of joy, the person to whom they
are presented having the honor of distributing the mate-
rials of the feast. We generally slaughtered every ox at
the village where it was presented, and then our friends
and we rejoiced together.

The village of Chitlane is situated, like all others in the
Tvrotse valley, on an eminence, over which floods do not

312 CHITLANE’S VILLAGE.

rise; but this last year the water approached nearer to an
entire submergence of the whole valley than has been
known in the memory of man. Great numbers of people
were now suffering from sickness, which always prevails
when the waters are drying up, and I found much demand
for the medicines I had brought from Loanda. ‘The great
yariation of the temperature each day must have a trying
effectupon the health. At this village there is a real Indian
banian-tree, which has spread itself over a considerable
space by means of roots from its branches; it has been
termed, in consequence, ‘the tree with legs,’ (more oa
maotu.) It is curious that trees of this family are looked
upon with veneration, and all the way from the Barotse to
Loanda are thought to be preservatives from evil.

On reaching Naliele on the Ist of August we found
Mpololo in great affliction on account of the death of his
daughter and her child. She had been lately confined;
and her father naturally remembered her when an ox was
slaughtered, or when the tribute of other food, which he
receives in lieu of Sekeletu, came in his way, and sent fre-
quent presents to her. This moved the envy of one of
the Makololo who hated Mpololo, and, wishing to vex him,
he entered the daughter’s hut by night, and strangled both
her and her child. He then tried to make fire in the hut
and burn it, so that the murder might not be known; but
the squeaking noise of rubbing the sticks awakened a ser-
vant, and the murderer was detected. Both he and his
wife were thrown into the river,—the latter having “known
of her husband’s intentions, and not revealing them.”
She declared she had dissuaded him from the crime, and,
had any one interposed a word, she might have been
spared.

Mpololo exerted himself in every way to supply us with
other canoes, and we left Shinte’s with him. The Mam-
bowe were well received, and departed with friendly mes-
sages to their chief Masiko. My men were exceedingly

delighted with the cordial reception we met with every=

ieee

MESSAGE FROM MASIKO. 318

where; but a source of annoyance was found where it was
not expected. Many of their wives had married other
men during our two years’ absence. Mashauana’s wite,
who had borne him two children, was umong the number.
He wished to appear not to feel it much, saying, “ Why,
wives are as plentiful as grass, and I can get another: she
may go;”’ but he would add, “If I had that fellow, I
would open his ears for him.” As most of them had more
wives than one, I tried to console them by saying that
they had still more than I had, and that they had enough
yet; but they felt the reflection to be galling that, while
they were toiling, another had been devouring their corn.
Some of their wives came with very young infants in their
arms. This excited no discontent; and for some I had to
speak to the chief to order the men, who had married the
only wives some of my companions ever had, to restore
them.

Sunday, August 5.—A large audience listened most atten-
tively to my morning address. Surely some will remember
the ideas conveyed, and pray to our merciful Father, who
would never have thought of him but for this visit. The
invariably kind and respectful treatment I have received
from these and many other heathen tribes in this central
country, together with the attentive observations of many
years, have led me to the belief that,if one exerts him-
self for their good, he will never be ill treated. There
may be opposition to his doctrine, but none to the man
himself.

While still at Naliele, a party which had been sent after
me by Masiko arrived. He was much disappointed because
I had not visited him. They brought an elephant’s tusk,
two calabashes of honey, two baskets of maize, and one
of groundnuts, as a present. Masiko wished to say that
he had followed the injunction which I had given as the
will of God, and lived in peace until his brother Limboa
came, captured his women as they went to their gardens,
and then appeared before his stockade. Masilo offered to

27

314 FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

lead his men out; but they objected, saying, “Let us
servants be killed: you must not be slain.” Those who
said this were young Barotse who had been drilled to
fighting by Sebituane, and used shields of ox-hide. They
beat off the party of Limboa, ten being wounded and ten
slain in the engagement. Limboa subsequently sent three
slaves as a self-imposed fine to Masiko for attacking him.
I succeeded in getting the Makololo to treat the messengers
of Masiko well, though, as they regarded them as rebels,
it was somewhat against the grain at first to speak civilly
to them.

Mpololo, attempting to justify an opposite line of con-
duct, told me how they had fled from Sebituane, even
though he had given them numbers of cattle after their
subjection by his arms, and was rather surprised to find that
I was disposed to think more highly of them for having
asserted their independence, even at the loss of milk. For
this food all who have been accustomed to it from infancy
in Africa have an excessive longing. I pointed out how
they might be mutually beneficial to each other by the
exchange of canoes and cattle.

There are some very old Barotse living here, who were
the companions of the old chief Santuru. These men,
protected by their age, were very free in their comments
on the “upstart” Makololo. One of them, for instance,
interrupted my conversation one day with some Makololo
gentlemen with the advice “not to believe them, for they
were only a set of thieves;” and it was taken in quite a
good-natured way. It is remarkable that none of the
ancients here had any tradition of an earthquake having
occurred in this region. Their quick perception of events
recognizable by the senses, and retentiveness of memory,
render it probable that no perceptible movement of the
earth has taken place between 7° and 27° S. in the centre
of the continent during the last two centuries at least.
There is no appearance of recent fracture or disturbance
of rocks to be seen in the central country, except the fallr

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GONYE—END OF WINTER. 217

of Gonye; nor is there any evidence or tradition of hur.
rivanes.

I left Naliele on the 15th of August, and, when proceed-
ing along the shore at mid-day, a hippopotamus struck the
canoe with her forehead, lifting one-half of it quite out of
the water, so as nearly to overturn it. The force of the
butt she gave tilted Mashauana out into the river; the rest
of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards
off. Glancing back, I saw her come to the surface a short
way off and look to the canoe, as if to see if she had
done much mischief. It was a female, whose young one
had been speared the day before. No damage was done,
except wetting person and goods. This is so unusual an
occurrence, when the precaution is taken to coast along
the shore, that my men exclaimed, “Is the beast mad ?”
There were eight of us in the canoe at the time, and the
shake it received shows the immense power of this animal
in the water.

August 22.—This is the end of winter. The trees which
line the banks begin to bud and blossom, and there is some
show of the influence of the new sap, which will soon end
in buds that push off the old foliage by assuming a very
bright orange color. This orange is so bright that I mis-
took it for masses of yellow blossom. ‘There is every
variety of shade in the leaves,—yellow, purple, copper,
liver-color, and even inky black.

Having got the loan of other canoes from Mpololo, and
three oxen as provision for the way, which made the
number we had been presented with in the Barotse valley
amount to thirteen, we proceeded down the river toward
Sesheke, and were as much struck as formerly with the
noble river. The whole scenery is lovely, though the atmo-
sphere is murky in consequence of the continuance of the
smoky tinge of winter.

The amount of organic life is surprising. At the time
the river begins to rise, the Ibis religiosa comes down in

flocks of fifties, with prodigious numbers of other water.
27*

318 ABUNDANCE OF WATERFOWL.

fowl. Some of the sand-banks appear whitened daring
the day with flocks of pelicans; I once counted three hun-
dred ; others are brown with ducks, (Anas histrionica,)—I
got fourteen of these by one shot,—( Querquedula Hottentota,
Smith,) and other kinds. Great numbers of gulls, (Procel.
laria turtur, Smith,) and several others, float over the sur-
face. The vast quantity of small birds which feed on in-
sects show that the river teems also with specimens of
minute organic life. In walking among bushes on the
banks, we are occasionally stung by a hornet, which makes
its nest in form like that of our own wasp, and hangs it
on the branches of trees. The breeding cropyy is so strong
in this insect that it pursues any one twenty or thirty
yards who happens to brush too closely past its nest. The
sting, which it tries to inflict near the eye, is more like a
discharge of electricity from a powerful machine, or a
violent blow, than aught else. It produces momentary
insensibility, and is followed by the most pungent pain.
Yet this insect is quite timid when away from its nest.
It is named Murotuani by the Bechuanas.

We have tsetse between Nameta and Sekhosi. An in-
sect of prey, about an inch in length, long-legged and
gaunt-looking, may be observed flying about and lighting
upon the bare ground. It is a tiger in its way, for it
springs upon tsetse and other flies, and, sucking out their
blood, throws the bodies aside.

Long before reaching Sesheke we had been informed that
a party of Matebele, the people of Mosilikatse, had brought
some packages of goods for me to the south bank of the
river, near Victoria Falls, and, though they declared they
had been sent by Mr. Moffat, the Makololo had refused to
credit the statement of their sworn enemies. They ima-
gined the parcels were directed to me as a mere trick
whereby to place witchcraft-medicine in the hands of the
Makololo. When the Matebele on the south bank called to
the Makololo on the north to come over in canoes and re-

or

DISCOVERY FORESTALLED. 819

ceive the goods sent by Moffat to “Nake,” the Makololo
replied, “Go along with you: we know better than that.
How could he tell Moffat to send his things here, he having
gone away to the north?” The Matebele answered, “Here
are the goods: we place them now before you, and if you
leave them to perish the guilt will be yours.” When they
had departed, the Makololo thought better of it, and, after
much divination, went over with fear and trembling, and
earried the packages carefully to an island in the middle of
the stream; then, building a hut over them to protect
them from the weather, they left them ; and there I found
they had remained from September, 1854, till September,
1855, in perfect safety. Here, as I had often experienced
before, I found the news was very old, and had lost much
of its interest by keeping; but there were some good eat-
ables from Mrs. Moffat. Among other things, I discovered
that my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, while in his study
in London, had arrived at the same conclusion respecting
the form of the African continent as I had lately come to
on the spot; and that from the attentive study of the geo-
logical map of Mr. Bain and other materials, some of which
were furnished by the discoveries of Mr. Oswell and my-
self, he had not only clearly enunciated the peculiar configu-
ration as a hypothesis in his discourse before the Geogra-
phical Society in 1852, but had even the assurance to send
me out a copy for my information! There was not much
use in nursing my chagrin at being thus fairly “cut out”
by the man who had foretold the existence of the Austra-
lian gold before its discovery; for here it was in black and
white. In his easy-chair he had forestalled me by three
years, though I had been working hard through jungle,
marsh, and fever, and, since the light dawned on my mind
at Dilolc, had been cherishing the pleasing delusion that I
should be the first to suggest the idea that the interior of
Africa was a watery plateau of less elevation than flanking
hilly ranges.

Having waited a few days at Sesheke till the horses

320 TRADING-PARTY TO LOANDA.

which we had left at Linyanti should arrive, we proceeded
to that town, and found the wagon, and every thing we
had left in November, 1853, perfectly safe. A grand meet-
ing of all the people was called to receive our report and
the articles which had been sent by the governor and mer-
chants of Loanda. I explained that none of these were
my property, but that they were sent to show the friendly
feelings of the white men, and their eagerness to enter into
commercial relations with the Makololo. I then requested
my companions to give a true account of what they had
seen. The wonderful things lost nothing in the telling, the
climax always being that they had finished the whole world,
and had turned only when there was no more land. One
glib old gentleman asked, “Then you reached Ma Robert
[Mrs. L.]?” They were obliged to confess that she lived
a little beyond the world. The presents were received with
expressions of great satisfaction and delight; and on Sun-
day, when Sekeletu made his appearance at church in his
uniform, it attracted more attention than the sermon; and
the kind expressions they made use of respecting myself
were so very flattering that I felt inclined to shut my eyes.
Their private opinion must have tallied with their public
report, for I very soon received offers from volunteers to
accompany me to the east coast. They said they wished
to be able to return and relate strange things like my re-
cent companions; and Sekeletu immediately made arrange-
ments with the Arab Ben Habid to conduct a fresh party
with a load of ivory to Loanda. These, he said, must go
with him and learn to trade; they were not to have any
thing to do in the disposal of the ivory, but simply look
and learn. My companions were to remain and rest them-
selves, and then return to Loanda when the others had
come home. Sekeletu consulted me as to sending presents
back to the governor and merchants of Loanda; but, not
possessing much confidence in this Arab, I advised him to
send a present by Pitsane, as he knew who ought to ro
ceive it.

tii

DR. LIVINGSTONE REPROVES SEKELETU. 321

Since my arrival in England, information has been re-
ceived from Mr. Gabriel that this party had arrived on the
west coast, but that the ivory had been disposed of to some
Portuguese merchants in the interior, and the men had
been obliged to carry it down to Loanda. They had not
been introduced to Mr. Gabriel, but that gentleman, having
learned that they were in the city, went to them and pro-
nounced the names Pitsane, Mashauana, when all‘started up
and crowded round him. When Mr. G. obtained an inter-
preter, he learned that they had been ordered by Sekeletu
to be sure and go to my brother, as he termed him. Mr.
G. behaved in the same liberal manner as he had done to
my companions, and they departed for their distant home
after bidding him a formal and affectionate adieu.

During the time of our absence at Loanda, the Makololo
had made two forays and captured large herds of cattle.
One to the lake was in order to punish Lechulatebe for
the insolence he had manifested after procuring some fire-
arms ; and the other to Sebola Makwaia, a chief living far
to the N.E. This was most unjustifiable, and had been
condemned by all the infiuential Makololo.

In accordance with the advice of my Libonta friends, I
did not fail to reprove “my child Sekeletu” for his marau-
ding. This was not done in an angry manner, for no good
is ever achieved by fierce denunciations. Motibe, his
father-in-law, said to me, “Scold him much, but don’t let
others hear you.”

The Makololo expressed great satisfaction with the route
we had opened up to the west, and soon after our arrival a
“picho” was called, in order to discuss the question of
removal to the Barotse valley, so that they might be nearer
the market. Some of the older men objected to abandon-
ing the line of defence afforded by the rivers Chobe and
Zambesi against their southern enemies the Matebele. The
Makololo generally have an aversion to the Barotse valley,
on account of the fevers which are annually engendered in

it as the waters dry up. They prefer it only as a cattle
Vv

Bjeaed KINDNESS OF THE MAKOLOLO CHIEF.

station; for, though the herds are frequently thinned by an
evidemic disease, (peripneumonia,) they breed so fast that the
.osses are soon made good. Wherever else the Makololo
go, they always leave a portion of their stock in the charge
of herdsmen in that prolific valley. Some of the younger
men objected to removal because the rankness of the grass
at the Barotse,did not allow of their running fast, and be-
cause there “it never becomes cool.”

Sekeletu at last stood up, and, addressing me, said, “I am
perfectly satisfied as to the great advantages for trade of
the path which you have opened, and think that we ought
to go to the Barotse, in order to make the way from us to
Loanda shorter; but with whom am I to live there? If
you were coming with us, | would remove to-morrow; but
now you are going to the white man’s country to bring Ma
Robert, and when you return you will find me near to the
spot on which you wish to dwell.” I had then no idea
that any healthy spot existed in the country, and thought
only of a convenient central situation, adapted for inter-
course with the adjacent tribes and with the coast, such as
that near to the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye.

During the whole of my stay with the Makololo, Seke-
lutu supplied my wants abundantly, appointing some cows
to furnish me with milk, and, when he went out to hunt,
sent home orders for slaughtered oxen to be given. That
the food was not given ina niggardly spirit may be inferred
from the fact that when I proposed to depart on the 20th
of October he protested against my going off in such a
hot sun. ‘Only wait,” said he, “for the first shower, and
then I will let you go.” This was reasonable, for the ther-
mometer, placed upon a deal box in the sun, rose to 138°.
It stood at 108° in the shade by day, and 96° at sunset.

I still possessed some of the coffee which I had brought
from Angola, and some of the sugar which I had left in my
wagon. So long as the sugar lasted, Sekeletu favored me
with his company at meals; but the sugar soon came toa
close. The Makololo, as formerly mentioned, were well

SEKELETU’S COMMISSIONS. 323

acquainted with the sugarcane, as it is cultivated by the
Barotse, but never knew that sugar could be got frora it.
When I explained the process by which it was produced,
Sekeletu asked if I could not buy him an apparatus for the
purpose of making sugar. He said he would plant the
eane largely if he only had the means of making the sugar
from it. I replied that I was unable to purchase a mill,
when he instantly rejoined, “Why not take ivory to buy
it?” As I had been living at his expense, I was glad of
the opportunity to show my gratitude by serving him; and
when he and his principal men understood that I was
willing to execute a commission, Sekeletu gave me an
order for a sugar-mill, and for all the different varieties of
clothing that he had ever seen, especially a mohair coat, a
good rifle, beads, brass wire, &c. &c., and wound up by
saying, ‘And any other beautiful thing you may see in
your own country.” As to the quantity of ivory required
to execute the commission, I said I feared that a large
amount would be necessary. Both he and his councillors
replied, “The ivory is all your own: if you leave any in
the country it will be your own fault.” He was also
anxious for horses. The two I had left with him when 1
went to Loanda were still living, and had been of great use
to him in hunting the giraffe and eland; and he was now
anxious to have a breed. This, I thought, might be ob-
tained at the Portuguese settlements. All were very much
delighted with the donkeys we had brought from Loanda.
As we found that they were not affected by the bite of the
tsetse, and there was a prospect of the breed being con-
tinued, it was gratifying to see the experiment of their
introduction so far successful. The donkeys came as
frisky as kids all the way from Loanda until we began
to descend the Leeambye. There we came upon so many
interlacing branches of the river, and were obliged to
drag them through such masses of tangled aquatic plants
that we half drowned them, and were at last obliged te
leave them, somewhat exhausted, at Naliele. They excited

824 THE AUTHOR’S INFLUENCE WITH THE NATIVES.

the unbounded admiration of my men by their knowledge
of the different kinds of plants, which, as they remarked,
“the animals had never before seen in their own country ;”
and when the donkeys indulged in their music they
startled the inhabitants more than if they had been lions.
We never rode them, nor yet the horse which had been
given by the bishop, for fear of hurting them by any
work.

Although the Makololo were so confiding, the reader must
not imagine that they would be so to every individual who
might visit them. Much of my influence depended upon
the good name given me by the Bakwains, and that I
secured only through a long course of tolerably good con-
duct. No one ever gains much influence in this country
without purity and uprightness. The acts of a stranger
are keenly scrutinized by both young and old; and seldom
is the judgment pronounced, even by the heathen, unfair
or uncharitable. I have heard women speaking in admira-
tion of a white man because he was pure and never was
guilty of any secret immorality. Had he been, they would
have known it, and, untutored heathen though they be,
would have despised him in consequence. Secret vice
becomes known throughout the tribe; and, while one un-
acquainted with the language may imagine a peccadillo to
be hidden, it is as patent to all as it would be in London
had he a placard on his back.

27th October, 1855.—The first continuous rain of the
season commenced during the night, the wind being from
the N.E., as it always was on like occasions at Kolobeng.
The rainy season was thus begun, and I made ready to go
The mother of Sekeletu prepared a bag of groundnuts, by
frying them with cream with a little salt, as a sort of sand-
wiches for my journey. This is considered food fit fora
chief. Others ground the maize from my own garden into
meal, and Sekeletu pvinted out Sekwébu and Kanyata as
the persons who sh uid head the party intended to form
my company. Sekweu had been captured by the Matebele

REMARKS OF MAMIRE. 325

when a little boy, and the tribe in which be was a captive
had migrated to the country near Tete; he had travelled
along both banks of the Zambesi several times, and was
intimately acquainted with the dialects spoken there. I
found him to be a person of great prudence and sound
judgment, and his subsequent loss at the Mauritius has
been, ever since, a source of sincere regret. He at once
recommended our keeping well away from the river, on
account of the tsetse and rocky country, assigning also as
a reason for it that the Leeambye beyond the falls turns
round tothe N.N.E. Mamire, who had married the mother
of Sekeletu, on coming to bid me farewell before starting,
said, “You are now going among people who cannot be
trusted, because we have used them badly ; but you go with
a different message from any they ever heard before, and
Jesus will be with you and help you, though among enemies;
and if he carries you safely, and brings you and Ma Robert
back again, I shall say he has bestowed a great favor upon
me. May we obtain a path whereby we may visit and be
visited by other tribes and by white men!’ On telling
him my fears that he was still inclined to follow the old
marauding system, which prevented intercourse, and that
he, from his influential position, was especially guilty in the
late forays, he acknowledged all rather too freely for my
taste, but seemed quite aware that the old system was far
from right. Mentioning my inability to pay the men who |
were to accompany me, he replied, “A man wishes, of
course, to appear among his friends, after a long absence,
with something of his own to show: the whole of the
ivory in the country is yours, so you must take as much as
you can, and Sekeletu will furnish men to carry it.” These
remarks of Mamire are quoted literally, in order to show
the state of mind of the most influential in the tribe. And,
as I wish to give the reader a fair idea of the other side of
the question as well, it may be mentioned that Motibe
parried the imputation of the guilt of marauding by every

possible subterfuge. He would not admit that they had
28

326 A THUNDER-STORM.

done wrong, and laid the guilt of the wars in which the
Makololo had engaged on the Boers, the Matebele, and
every other tribe except his own. When quite a youth,
Motibe’s family had been attacked by a party of Boers: he
hid himself in an ant-eater’s hole, but was drawn out and
thrashed with a whip of hippopotamus-hide. When en-
joined to live in peace, he would reply, “Teach the Boers
to lay down their arms first.” Yet Motibe, on other occa-
sions, seemed to feel the difference between those who are
Christians indeed and those who are so only in name. In
all our discussions we parted good friends.

CHAPTER XXVI.
DR. LIVINGSTONE DISCOVERS THE FALLS OF VICTORIA.

On the 3d of November we bade adieu to our friends at
Linyanti, accompanied by Sekeletu and about 200 followers.
We were all fed at his expense, and he took cattle for this
purpose from every station we came to. The principal
men of the Makololo, Lebeole, Ntlarié, Nkwatlele, &. were
also of the party. We passed through the patch of the
tsetse, which exists between Linyanti and Sesheke, by night.
The majority of the company went on by daylight, m
order to prepare our beds. Sekeletu and I, with about
forty young men, waited outside the tsetse till dark. We
then went forward, and about ten o’clock it became so
pitchy dark that both horses and men were completely
blinded. The lightning spread over the sky, forming eight
or ten branches at a time, in shape exactly like those of a
tree. This, with great volumes of sheet-lightning, enabled
us at times to see the whole country. The intervals between
the flashes were so densely dark as te convey the idea of
stone-blindness. The horses trembled, cried out, and turned
round, as if searching for each other, and every new flash

KINDNESS OF MAKOLOLO. 827

revealed the men taking different directions, laughing, and
stumbling against each other. The thunder was of that tre-
mendously-loud kind only to be heard in tropical countries,
and which friends from India have assured me is louder
in Africa than any they have ever heard elsewhere. Then
came a pelting rain, which completed our confusion. After
the intense heat of the day, we soon felt miserably cold,
and turned aside to a fire we saw in the distance. This
had been made by some people on their march; for this
path isseldom without numbers of strangers passing to and
from the capital. My clothing having gone on, I lay down
on the cold ground, expecting to spend a miserable night;
but Sekeletu kindly covered me with his own blanket and
lay uncovered himself. I was much affected by this act
of genuine kindness. If such men must perish by the
advance of civilization, as certain races of animals do be-
fore others, it is a pity. God grant that ere this time
comes they may receive that gospel which is a solace for
the soul in death!

While at Sesheke, Sekeletu supplied me with twelve
oxen,—three of which were accustomed to being ridden
upon,—hoes, and beads to purchase a canoe when we
should strike the Leeambye beyond the falls. He likewise
presented abundance of good fresh butter and honey, and
did every thing in his power to make me comfortable for
the journey. I was entirely dependent on his generosity;
for the goods I originally brought from the Cape were all
expended by the time I set off from Linyanti to the west
coast. I there drew £70 of my salary, paid my men with
it, and purchased goods for the return-journey to Linyanti.
These being now all expended, the Makololo again fitted
me out, and sent me on to the east coast. I was thus
dependent on their bounty and that of other Africans for
the means of going from Linyanti to Loanda, and again
from Linyanti to the east coast, and I feel deeply grateful
to them. Coin would have been of no benefit, for gold and
silver are quite unknown. We were here joined by

828 SEKOTE’S ISLAND.

Moriantsdne, uncle of Sekeletu and head-man of Sesheke;
and, entering canoes on the 13th, some sailed down the
river to the confluence of the Chobe, while others drove the
cattle along the banks, spending one night at Mparia, the
island at the confluence of the Chobe, which is composed
of trap having crystals of quartz in it coated with a
pellicle of green copper-ore. Attempting to proceed down
the river next day, we were detained some hours by a
strong east wind raising waves so large as to threaten te
swamp the canoe. The river here is very large and deep,
and contains two considerable islands, which from either
bank seem to be joined to the opposite shore.

Hlaving descended about ten miles, we came to the
island of Nampéne, at the beginning of the rapids, where
we were obliged to leave the canoes and proceed along the
banks on foot. The next evening we slept opposite the
island of Chondo, and, then crossing the Lekone or Lek-
wine, early the following morning were at the island of |
Sekote, called Kalai. This Sekote was the last of the
Batoka chiefs whom Sebituane rooted out.

As this was the point from which we intended to strike
off to the northeast, I resolved on the following day to
visit the falls of Victoria, called by the natives Mosioa-
tunya, or, more anciently, Shongwe. Of these we had
often heard since we came into the country: indeed, one
of the questions asked by Sebituane was, “‘ Have you smoke
that sounds in your country?’ ‘They did not go near
enough to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at
a distance, said, in reference to the vapor and noise, ‘“Mosi
oa tunya,” (smoke does sound there.) It was previously
called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascer-
tain. The word for a “pot” resembles this, and it may
mean a seething caldron; but I am not certain of it.
Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself were the very
tirst Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre
of the country, and that this is the connecting-link between
the known and unknown portions of that river, I decided

VICTORIA FALLS. , 829

to use the same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave the
duly English name I have affixed to any part of the
country. No better proof of previous ignorance of this
river could be desired than that an untravelled gentleman,
who had spent a great part of his life in the study of the
geography of Africa and knew every thing written on the
subject from the time of Ptolemy downward, actually
asserted in the “Atheneum,” while I was coming up the
Red Sea, that this magnificent river, the Leeambye, “had
no connection with the Zambesi, but flowed under the
Kalahari Desert and became lost ;” and “that, as all the
old maps asserted, the Zambesi took its rise in the very
hills to which we have now come.” This modest assertion
smacks exactly as if a native of Timbuctoo should declare
that the “Thames” and the “Pool” were different rivers,
he having seen neither the one nor the other. Leeambye
and Zambesi mean the very same thing,—viz., the River.
Sekeletu intended to accompany me; but, one canoe
only having come instead of the two he had ordered, he
resigned it tome. After twenty minutes’ sail from Kalai
we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor
appropriately called “smoke,” rising at a distance of five
or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are
burned in Africa. Five columns now arose, and, bending
in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a
low ridge covered with trees; the tops of the columns at
this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They
were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to
simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was ex-
tremely beautiful. The banks and islands dotted over the
river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety
of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees
were spangled over with blossoms. ‘Trees have each their
own physiognomy. There, towering over all, stands the
great burly baobab, each of whose enormous arms would
form the trunk of a large tree, besides groups of graceful

palms, which, with their feathery-shaped leaves depicted
28%

330 VICTORIA FALLS.

on the sky, lend their beauty to the scene. As a hiero-
glyphic they always mean ‘far from home,” for one can
never get over their foreign air in a picture or landscape.
The silvery mohonono—which in the tropics is in form like
the cedar of Lebanon—stands in pleasing contrast with the
dark color of the motsouri, whose cypress-form is dotted
over at present with its pleasant scarlet fruit. Some trees
resemble the great spreading oak; others assume the cha-
racter of our own elms and chestnuts; but no one can
imagine the beauty of the view from any thing witnessed
in England. It had never been seen before by Juropean
eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by
angels in their flight. The only want felt is that of moun-
tains in the background. The falls are boundeu on three
sides by ridges three hundred or four hundred feet in
height, which are covered with forest, with the red soil
appearing among the trees. When about half a mile from
the falls, I left the canoe by which we had come down
thus far, and embarked in a lighter one, with men well
acquainted with the rapids, who, by passiug down the
ventre of the stream in the eddies and still places caused
by many jutting rocks, brought me to an island situated in
the middle of the river and on the edge of the lip over
which the water rolls. In coming hither there was danger
of being swept down by the streams which rushed along
on each side of the island; but the river was now low, and
we sailed where it is totally impossible to go when the
water is high. But, though we had reached the island,
and were within a few yards of the spot a view from
which would solve the whole problem, I believe that no
one could perceive where the vast body of water went: it
seemed to lose itself in the earth, the opposite lip of the
fissure into which it disappeared being only eighty feet
distant. Atleast I did not comprehend it until, creeping
with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent
which had been made from bank to bank of the broad
Zambesi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad

VICTORIA FALLS. aol

leaped down a hundred feet and then became suddenly
compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. The
entire falls are simply a crack made in a hard basaltic
rock from the right to the left bank of the Zambesi, and
then prolonged from the left bank away through thirty or
forty miles of hills. If ‘one imagines the Thames filled
with low, tree-covered hills immediately beyond the tunnel,
extending as far as Gravesend, the bed of black basaltic
rock instead of London mud, and a fissure made therein
from one end of the tunnel to the other down through the
keystones of the arch, and prolonged from the left end of
the tunnel through thirty miles of hills, the pathway being
one hundred feet down from the bed of the river instead
of what it is, with the lips of the fissure from eighty to
one hundred feet apart, then fancy the Thames leaping
boldly into the gulf, and forced there to change its direc-
tion and flow from the right to the left bank and then
rush boiling and roaring through the hills, he may have
some idea of what takes place at this, the most wonderful
sight I had witnessed in Africa. In looking down into the
fissure on the right of the island, one sees nothing but a
dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the spot,
had two bright rainbows on it. (The sun was on the
meridian, and the declination about equal to the latitude
of the place.) From this cloud rushed up a great jet of
vapor exactly like steam, and it mounted two hundred or
three hundred feet high; there, condensing, it changed its
hue to that of dark smoke, and came back in a constant
shower, which soon wetted us to the skin. This shower
fulls chiefly on the opposite side of the fissure, and a few
yards back from the lip there stands a straight hedge of
evergreen trees, whose leaves are always wet. From their
roots a number of little rills run back into the gulf; but,
as they flow down the steep wall there, the column of
vapor, in its ascent, licks them up clean off the rock, and
away they mount again. They are constantly running
down, but uever reach the bottom.

332 GIGANTIC FISSURE.

On the left of the island we see the water at the bottom,
a white rolling mass moving away to the prolongation of
the fissure, which branches off near the left bank of the
river. <A piece of the rock has fallen off a spot on the left
of the island, and juts out from the water below, and from
it I judged the distance which the water falls to be about
one hundred feet. The walls of this gigantic crack are
perpendicular, and composed of one homogeneous mass of
rock. The edge of that side over which the water falls is
worn off two or three feet, and pieces have fallen away, so
as to give it somewhat of a serrated appearance. That
over which the water does not fall is quite straight, except
at the left corner, where a rent appears and a piece seems
inclined to fall off. Upon the whole, it is nearly in the
state in which it was left at the period of its formation.
The rock is dark brown in color, except about ten feet from
the bottom, which is discolored by the annual rise of the
water to that or a greater height. On the left side of the
island we have a good view of the mass of water which
causes one of the columns of vapor to ascend, as it leaps
quite clear of the rock, and forms a thick unbroken fleece
all the way to the bottom. Its whiteness gave the idea of
snow, a sight I had not seen for many a day. As it broke
into (if I may use the term) pieces of water all rushing on
in the same direction, each gave off several rays of foam,
exactly as bits of steel, when burned in oxygen gas, give
off rays of sparks. The snow-white sheet seemed like
myriads of small comets rushing on in one direction, each
of which left behind its nucleus-rays of foam. I never saw
the appearance referred to noticed elsewhere. It seemed
to be the effect of the mass of water leaping at once clear
of the rock and but slowly breaking up into spray.

I have mentioned that we saw five columns of vapo1
ascending from this strange abyss. They are evidently
formed by the compression suffered by the force of the
water’s own fall into an unyielding wedge-shaped space.
Of the five columns, two on the right and one on the lett of

ISLAND GARDEN. 333

the island were the largest, and the streams which formed
them seemed each to exceed in size the falls of the Clyde
at Stonebyres when that river is in flood. This was the
period of low-water in the Leeambye; but, as far as I
could guess, there was a flow of five or six hundred yards
of water, which, at the edge of the fall, seemed at least
three feet deep.

Having feasted my eyes long on the beautiful sight, I
returned to my friends at Kalai, and, saying to Sekeletu
that he had nothing else worth showing in his country, his
curiosity was excited to visit it the next day. I returned
with the intention of taking a lunar observation from the
island itself; but the clouds were unfavorable, consequently
all my determinations of position refer to Kalai. (Lat. 17°
51’54”S., long. 25° 41’ EH.) Sekeletu acknowledged to feel-
ing a little nervous at the probability of being sucked into
the gulf before reaching the island. His companions
amused themselves by throwing stones down, and won-
dered to see them diminishing in size, and even disappear-
ing, before they reached the water at the bottom.

I had another object in view in my return to the island.
I observed that it was covered with trees, the seeds of
which had probably come down with the stream from the
distant north, and several of which I had seen nowhere
else, and every now and then the wind wafted a little of
the condensed vapor over it, and kept the soil in a state of
moisture, which caused a sward of grass, growing as green
as on an English lawn. I selected a spot—not too near
the chasm, for there the constant deposition of the moisture
nourished numbers of polypi of a mushroom shape and
fleshy consistence, but somewhat back—and made a little
garden. I there planted about a hundred peach and apricot
stones, and a quantity of coffee-seeds. I had attempted
fruit-trees before, but, when left in charge of my Makololo
friends, they were always allowed to wither, after having
vegetated, by being forgotten. I bargained for a hedge
with one of the Makololo, and, if he is faithful, [have great

- Bod” RESUMPTION OF THE JOURNEY.

hopes of Mosioatunya’s abilities as a nursery-man. My
only source of fear is the hippopotami, whose footprints 1
saw on the island. When the garden was prepared, I cut
my initials on a tree, and the date 1855. This was the only
instance in which I indulged in this piece of vanity. The
garden stands in front, and, were there no hippopcetami, I
have no doubt but this will be the parent of all the gardens
which may yet be in this new country. We then went up
to Kalai again.

20th November.—Sekeletu and his large party having
conveyed me thus far, and furnished me with a company
of one hundred and fourteen men to carry the tusks to the
coast, we bade adieu to the Makololo and proceeded north-
ward to the Lekone. The country around is very beautiful,
and was once well peopled with Batoka, who possessed
enormous herds of cattle. When Sebituane came in former
times, with his small but warlike party of Makololo, to
this spot, a general rising took place of the Batoka through
the whole country, in order to “eat him up;” but his usual
success followed him, and, dispersing them, the Makololo
obtained so many cattle that they could not take any note
of the herds of sheep and goats. The tsetse has been
brought by buffaloes into some districts where formerly
cattle abounded. This obliged us to travel the first few
stages by night. We could not well detect the nature of
the country in the dim moonlight: the path, however,
seemed to lead along the high bank of what may have
been the ancient bed of the Zambesi before the fissure was
made. The Lekone now winds in it in an opposite direc-
tion to that in which the ancient river must have flowed.

24th.— We remained a day at tlfe village of Moyara.
Here the valley in which the Lekone flows trends away to
the eastward, while our course is more to the northeast.
The country is rocky and rough, the soil being red sand,
which is covered with beautiful green trees, yielding abun-
dance of wild fruits. The father of Moyara was a powerful
chief; but the son now sits among tbe ruins of the town,

SAVAGE CUSTOMS OF BATOKA. - 835

with four or five wives and very few people. At his hamlet
a number of stakes are planted in the ground, and I counted
fifty-four human skulls hung on their points. These were
Matebele, who, unable to approach Sebituane on the island
of Loyéla, had returned sick and famishing. Moyara’s
futher took advantage of their reduced condition, and, aftcr
putting them to death, mounted their heads in the Batoka
fashion. The old man who perpetrated this deed now lies
in the middle of his son’s huts, with a lot of rotten ivory
over his grave. One cannot help feeling thankful that the
reign of such wretches is over. They inhabited the whole
of this side of the country, and were probably the barrier to
the extension of the Portuguese commerce in this direction.
When looking at these skulls, I remarked to Moyara that
many of them were those of mere boys. He assented
readily, and pointed them out as such. I asked why his
father had killed boys. ‘To show his fierceness,”’ was the
answer. ‘Is it fierceness to kill boys?” ‘Yes: they had
no business here.” When I told him that this would pro-
bably insure his own death if the Matebele came again, he
replied, “When I hear of their coming I shall hide the
bones.” He was evidently proud of these trophies of
his father’s ferocity; and I] was assured by other Batoka
that few strangers ever returned from a visit to this quar-
ter. If a man wished to curry favor with a Batoka chief,
he ascertained when a stranger was about to leave, and
waylaid him at a distance from the town, and when he
brought his head back to the chief it was mounted asa
trophy, the different chiefs vieing with each other as to
which should mount the greatest number of skulls in his
village. ;

Next day we came to Namilanga, or “ The Well of Joy.”
It is a small well dug beneath avery large fig-tree, the
shade of which renders the water delightfully cool. The
temperature through the day was 104° in the shade and 94°
after sunset, but the air was not at all oppressive. This
well receives its name from the fact that, in former times,

3836 KNOCKING OUT FRONT TEETH.

marauding-parties, in returning with cattle, sat down here
and were regaled with boyaloa, music, and the lullilooing
of the women from the adjacent towns.

All the surrounding country was formerly densely peo-
pled, though now desolate and still. The old head-man
of the place told us that his father once went to Bambala,
where white traders lived, when our informant was a child,
and returned when he had become a boy of about ten years
He went again, and returned when it was time to knock
out his son’s teeth. As that takes place at the age of
puberty, he must have spent at least five years in each
‘ourney. He added that many who went there never re-
turned, because they liked that country better than this.
They had even forsaken their wives and children; and
children had been so enticed and flattered by the finery
bestowed upon them there that they had disowned their
parents and adopted others. The place to which they had
gone, which they named Bambala, was probably Damba-
rari, which was situated close to Zumbo. This was the
first intimation we had of intercourse with the whites.
The Barotse, and all the other tribes in the central valley,
have no such tradition as this; nor have either the one or
the other any account of a trader’s visit to them in ancient
times.

All the Batoka tribes followthe curious custom of knock-
ing out the upper front teeth at the age of puberty. This
is done by both sexes; and though the under teeth, being
relieved from the attrition of the upper, grow long and
somewhat bent out and thereby cause the under lip to pro-
trude in a most unsightly way, no young woman thinks
herself accomplished until she has got rid of the upper in-
cisors. This custom gives all the Batoka an uncouth, old-
man-like appearance. Their laugh is hideous; yet they
are so attached to it that even Sebituane was unable to
eradicate the practice. He issued orders that none of the
children living under him should be subjected to the custom
by their parents,-and disobedience to his mandates was

THE TRAVELLING PARTY. 337

usually punished with severity ; but, notwithstanding this,
the children would appear in the streets without their in-
cisors, and no one would confess to the deed. When ques
tioned respecting the origin of this practice, the Batoka
reply that their object is to be like oxen, and those wha
retain their teeth they consider to resemble zebras.
Whether this is the true reason or not it is difficult to
say; but it is noticeable that the veneration for oxen which
prevails in many tribes should be associated with hatred
to the zebra, as among the Bakwains, that this operation
is performed at the same age that circumcision is in other
tribes, and that here that ceremony is unknown. The
custom is so universal that a person who has his teeth is
considered ugly; and occasionally, when the Batoka bor-
rowed my looking-glass, the disparaging remark would be
made respecting boys or girls who still retained their teeth,
“ Look at the great teeth!’ Some of the Makololo give a
more facetious explanation of the custom: they say that,
the wife of achief having in a quarrel bitten her husband’s
hand, he, in revenge, ordered her front teeth to be knockea
out, and all the men in the tribe followed his example: but
this does not explain why they afterward knocked out
their own.

The Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in
color and very degraded and negro-like in appearance,
while those who live on the high lands we are now ascend-
ing are frequently of the color of coffee and milk. We
had a large number of the Batoka of Mokwiné in our
party, sent by Sekeletu to carry his tusks. Their greater
degradation was probably caused by the treatment of their
chiefs,—the barbarians of the islands. I found them more
difficult to manage than any of the rest of my companions,
being much less reasonable and impressible than the others.
My party consisted of the head-men aforementioned, Sels-
webu, and Kanyata. We were joined at the falls by
another head-man of the Makololo, named Monahin, in

command of the Batoka. We had also some of the Bana-
W 29

838 REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY.

joa under Mosisinyane, and, last of all, a small party of
Bashubia and Barotse under Tuba Mokoro, which had been
furnished by Sekeletu because of their ability to swim
They carried their paddles with them, and, as the Makololo
suggested, were able to swim over the rivers by night and
steal canoes if the inhabitants should be so unreasonable
as to refuse to lend them. These different parties assorted
together into messes: any orders were given through their
head-man, and when food was obtained he distributed it. to
the mess. Each party knew its own spot in the encamp
ment; and, as this was always placed so that our backs
should be to the east, the direction from whence the pre-
vailing winds came, no time was lost in fixing the sheds of
our encampment. They each took it in turn to pull grass
to make my bed; so I lay luxuriously.

November 26.—As the oxen could only move at night, in
consequence of a fear that the buffaloes in this quarter
might have introduced the tsetse, I usually performed the
march by day on foot, while some of the men brought on
the oxen by night. On coming to the villages under
Marimba, an old man, we crossed the Unguesi, a rivulet
which, like the Lekone, runs backward. It falls into the
Leeambye a little above the commencement of the rapids.

We passed the remains of a very large town, which, from
the only evidence of antiquity afforded by ruins in this

country, must have been inhabited for a long period: the .

millstones of gneiss, trap, and quartz were worn down two

and a half inches perpendicularly. The ivory gravestones ,

soon rot away. ‘Those of Moyara’s father, who must have
died not more than a dozen years ago, were crumbling into
powder; and we found this to be generally the case all
over the Batoka country. The region around is pretty
well covered with forest; but there is abundance of epen
pasturage, and, as we are ascending in altitude, we find
the grass to be short and altogether unlike the tangled
herbage of the Barotse valley.

LOW HILLS. ° 339

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE BATOKA COUNTRY—DR. LIVINGSTONE VISITS THE CHIEF
MONZE.

November 27.—Stitu at Marimba’s. In the adjacent
country palms abound, but none of that species which
yields the oil: indeed, that is met with only near the
coast. There are numbers of flowers and bulbs just shoot-
ing up from the soil. The surface is rough and broken
into gullies; and, though the country is parched, it has
not that appearance, so many trees having put forth their
fresh green leaves at the time the rains ought to have
come. Among the rest stands the mola, with its dark
brownish-green color and spreading oak-like form. In the
distance there are ranges of low hills. On the north we
have one called Kanjele, and to the east that of Kaonka, to
which we proceed to-morrow. We have made a consider-
able detour to the north, both on account of our wish to
avoid the tsetse and to visit the people. Those of Kaonka
are the last Batoka we shall meet in friendship with the
Makololo.

November 28.—The inhabitants of the last of Kaonka’s
villages complained of being plundered by the independent
’ Batoka. The tribes in front of this are regarded by the
Makololo as in a state of rebellion. I promised to speak to
the rebels on the subject, and enjoined on Kaonka the duty
of giving them no offence. According to Sekeletu’s order,
Kaonka gave us the tribute of maize-corn and groundnuts
which would otherwise have gone to Linyanti. This had
been done at every village, and we thereby saved the
people the trouble of a journey to the capital. My own
Batoka had brought away such loads of provisions from
their homes that we were in no want of food.

340 BORDER-TERRITORY

After leaving Kaonka, we travelled over an uninhabited,
gently-undulating, and most beautiful district, the border-
territory between those who accept and those who reject
the sway of the Makololo. The face of the country appears
as if in long waves running north and south. There are
no rivers, though water stands in pools in the hollows.
We were now come into the country which my people all
magnify as a perfect paradise. Sebituane was driven from
it by the Matebele. It suited him exactly for cattle, corn,
and health. The soil is dry, and often a reddish sand:
there are few trees, but fine large shady ones stand dotted
here and there over the country where towns formerly
stood. One of the fig family I measured and found to be
forty feet in circumference; the heart had been burned out,
and some one had made a lodging in it, for we saw the
remains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open country,
with the increased altitude we were attaining, was most
refreshing to the spirits. Large game abound. We see in
the distance buffaloes, elands, hartebeest, gnus, and ele-
phants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them. Lions,
which always accompany other large animals, roared about
us; but, as it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the
evening, while standing on a mass of granite, one began to
roar at me, though it was still light. The temperature was
pleasant, as the rains, though not universal, had fallen in
many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observations.
The temperature at 6 A.M. was 70°, at mid-day 90°, in the
evening 84°. This is very pleasant on the high lands, with
but little moisture in the air.

On the 380th we crossed the river Kalomo, which is about
fifty yards broad, and is the only stream that never dries
up on this ridge. The current is rapid, and its course is
toward the south, as it joins the Zambesi at some distance
below the falls. The Unguesi and Lekone, with their
feeders, flow westward, this river to the south, and all
those to which we are about to come take an easterly di-
rection. We were thus at the apex of the ridge, and found

WOUNDED BUFFALO ASSISTED. 341

that, as water boiled at 202°, our altitude above the level
of the sea was over 5000 feet.

We met an elephant on the Kalomo which had no tusks
This is as rare a thing in Africa as it is to find them with
tusks in Ceylon. As soon as she saw us she made off. It
is remarkable to see the fear of man operating even on this
buge beast. Buffaloes abound, and we see large herds of
them feeding in all directions by day. When much dis.
turbed by man, they retire into the densest parts of the
forest and feed by night only. We secured a fine large
bull by crawling close to a herd. When shot, he fell down,
and the rest, not seeing their enemy, gazed about, wonder-
ing where the danger lay. The others came back to it,
and, when we showed ourselves, much to the amusement
of my companions, they lifted him up with their horns,
and, half supporting him in the crowd, bore him away.
All these wild animals usually gore a wounded companion
and expel him from the herd; even zebras bite and kick
an unfortunate or a diseased one. It is intended by this
instinct that none but the perfect and healthy ones should
propagate the species. In this case they manifested their
usual propensity to gore the wounded; but our appearance
at that moment caused them to take flight, and this, with
the goring being continued a little, gave my men the im-
pression that they were helping away their wounded com-
panion. He was shot between the fourth and fifth ribs;
the ball passed through both lungs and a rib on the oppo-
site side, and then lodged beneath the skin. But, though
it was eight ounces in weight, yet he ran off some distance,
and was secured only by the people driving him into a pool
of water and killing him there with their spears. The
herd ran away in the direction of our camp, and then caine
bounding past us again. We took refuge on a large ant-
hill, and as they rushed by us at full gallop I had a good
opportunity of seeing that the leader of a herd of about
sixty was an old cow: all the others allowed her a full

half-length in their front. On her withers sat about twenty
29%

342 THE BUFFALO-BIRD.

buffalo-birds, ( Textor erythrorhynchus, Smith,) which act the
part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the buffalo
is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the
ground picking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of
the insects with which their skins are sometimes infested.
The sight of the bird being much more acute than that of
the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the approach of any dan-
ger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise their heads
to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of
their guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes
in their flight on the wing; at other times they sit as above
described.

Another African bird—namely, the Buphaga Africana—
attends the rhinoceros for a similar purpose. It is called
“kala” in the language of the Bechuanas. When these
people wish to express their dependence upon another,
they address him as “my rhinoceros,” as if they were the
birds. The satellites of a chief go by the same name.
This bird cannot be said to depend entirely on the insects
on that animal, for its hard, hairless skin is a protection
against all except a few spotted ticks; but it seems to be
attached to the beast somewhat as the domestic dog is to
man; and, while the buffalo is alarmed by the sudden flying
up of its sentinel, the rhinoceros, not having keen sight,
but an acute ear, is warned by the cry of its associate, the
Buphaga Africana. The rhinoceros feeds by night, and its
sentinel is frequently heard in the morning uttering its
well-known call as it searches for its bulky companion.
One species of this bird, observed in Angola, possesses a bill of
a peculiar scoop or stone-forceps form, as if intended only
to tear off insects from the skin; and its claws are as sharp
as needles, enabling it to hang on to an animal’s ear while
performing a useful service within it. This sharpness of
the claws allows the bird to cling to the nearly-insensible
cuticle without irritating the nerves of pain on the true
skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand; but, in the
case of the Buphaga Africana and erythrorhyncha, other

LEADERS OF HERDS. 343

food is partaken of, for we observed flocks of them roosting
on the reeds in spots where neither tame nor wild animals
were to be found.

The most wary animal in a herd is generally the “leader.”
When it is shot, the others often seem at a loss what to do,
and stop in a state of bewilderment. 1 have seen them
then attempt to follow each other, and appear quite con-
fused, no one knowing for half a minute or more where to
direct the flight. On one occasion I happened to shoot the
leader, a young zebra mare, which at some former time
had been bitten on the hind-leg by a carnivorous animal,
and, thereby made unusually wary, had, in consequence,
become a leader. If they see eitherone of their own herd
or any other animal taking to flight, wild animals invariably
flee. The most timid thus naturally leads the rest. It is
not any other peculiarity, but simply this provision, which
is given them for the preservation of the race. The great
increase of wariness which is seen to occur when the females
bring forth their young, causes all the leaders to be at that
time females; and there is a probability that the separa-
tion of sexes into distinct herds, which is annually observed
in many antelopes, arising from the simple fact that the
greater caution of the she antelopesis partaken of only by
the young males, and their more frequent flights now have
the effect of leaving the old males behind. I am inclined
to believe this, because they are never seen in the act of
expelling the males.

December 2, 1855.—We remained near a small hill, called
Maundo, where we began to be frequently invited by‘the
honey-guide, (Cuculus indicator.) Wishing to ascertain the
truth of the native assertion that this bird is a deceiver,
and by its call sometimes leads to a wild beast and not to
honey, I inquired if any of my men had ever been led by
this friendly little bird to any thing else than what its
name implies. Only one of the one hundred and fourteen
could say he had been led to an elephant instead of a hive.
I am quite convinced that the majority of people who

344 SEBITUANE’S FORMER RESIDENCE

eommit themselves to its guidance are led to honey, and te
it alone.

On the 3d we crossed the river Mozuma, or river of Dila,
haying travelled through a beautifully-undulating pastoral
country. To the south, and a little east of this, stands the
hill Taba Cheu, or ‘‘ White Mountain,” from a mass of white
rock, probably dolomite, on its top. But none of the hills
are of any great altitude.

At the river of Dila we saw the spot where Sebituane
lived, and Sekwebu pointed out the heaps of bones of cattle
which the Makololo had been obliged to slaughter after
performing a march with great herds captured from the
Batoka through a patch of the fatal tsetse. When Sebi-
tnane saw the symptoms of the poison, he gave orders to
his people to eat the cattle. He still had vast numbers;
and when the Matebele, crossing the Zambesi opposite this
part, came to attack him, he invited the Batoka to take
repossession of their herds, he having so many as to be
unable to guide them in their flight. The country was at
that time exceedingly rich in cattle, and, besides pasturage,
it is all well adapted for the cultivation of native produce.
Being on the eastern slope of the ridge, it receives more
rain than any part of the westward. Sekwebu had been
instructed to point out to me the advantages of this posi-
tion for a settlement, as that which all the Makololo had
never ceased to regret. It needed no eulogy from Sek-
webu; I admired it myself, and the enjoyment of good
health in fine open scenery had an exhilarating effect on
my spirits. The great want was population, the Batoka
having all taken refuge in the hills. We were now in the
vicinity of those whom the Makololo deem rebels, and felt
some anxiety as to how we should be received.

On the 4th we reached their first village. Remaining at
a distance of a quarter of a mile, we sent two men to
inform them who we were and that our purposes were
peaceful. The head-man came and spoke civilly, but, when.
nearly dark, the people of another village arrived and

PROPHETIC FRENZY. 815

behaved very differently. They began by trying to spear
a young man who had gone for water. Then they ap-
proached us, and one came forward howling at the top of
his yoice in the most hideous manner: his eyes were shot
out, his lips covered with foam, and every muscle of his
frame quivered. He came near to me, and, having a small
battle-axe in his hand, alarmed my men lest he might
do violence; but they were afraid to disobey my previous
orders and to follow their own inclination by knocking
him on the head. I felt a little alarmed too, but would not
show fear before my own people or strangers, and kept a
sharp look-out on the little battle-axe. It seemed to mea
case of ecstasy or prophetic frenzy voluntarily produced. I
felt it would be a sorry way to leave the world to get
my head chopped by a mad savage, though that, perhaps,
would be preferable to hydrophobia or delirium tremens.
Sekwebu took a spear in his right hand, as if to pierce a
bit of leather, but in reality to plunge it into the man if he
offered violence to me. After my courage had been sufii-
ciently tested, I beckoned with the head to the civil head-
man to remove him; and he did so by drawing him aside.
This man pretended not to know what he was doing. I
would fain have felt his pulse, to ascertain whether the
violent trembling were not feigned, but had not much
inclination to go near the battle-axe again. There was,
however, a flow of perspiration, and the excitement con-
tinued fully half an hour, then gradually ceased. This
paroxysm is the direct opposite of hypnotism, and it is
singular that it has not been tried in Europe as well as
clairvoyance. This second batch of visitors took no pains
to conceal their contempt for our small party, saying to
each other, in a tone of triumph, “They are quite a god-
send !”’—literally, “God has apportioned them tous.” “They
are lost among the tribes!” “They have wandered in order
to be destroyed, and what can they do without shields
among so many?’ Some of them asked if there were no
other parties. Sekeletu had ordered my men not to take

346 CLOTHING DESPISED.

their shields, as in the case of my first company. We
were looked upon as unarmed, and an easy prey. We
prepared against a night-attack by discharging and re-
loading our guns, which were exactly the same in number
(five) as on the former occasion, as I allowed my late com-
panions to retain those which I purchased at Loanda. We
were not molested; but some of the enemy tried to lead us
toward the Bashukulompo, who are considered to be the
fiercest race in this quarter. As we knew our direction to
the confluence of the Kafue and Zambesi, we declined their
guidance, and the civil head-man of the evening before
then came along with us. Crowds of natives hovered
round us in the forest; but he ran forward and explained,
and we were not molested. That night we slept by a little
village under a low range of hills, which are called Chiza-
mena. The country here is more woody than on the high
lands we had left; but the trees are not in general large.

When we had passed the outskirting villages which alone
consider themselves in a state of war with the Makololo,
we found the Batoka, or Batonga, as they here call them-
selves, quite friendly. Great numbers of them came from
all the surrounding villages with presents of maize and
masuka, and expressed great joy at the first appearance of
a white man and harbinger of peace. The women clothe
themselves better than the Balonda, but the men go in puris
naturalibus. They walk about without the smallest sense
of shame. They have even lost the tradition of the “ fig-
leaf.” I asked a fine, large-bodied old man if he did not
think it would be better to adopt a little covering. He
looked with a pitying leer, and laughed with surprise at my
thinking him at all indecent: he evidently considered him-
self above such weak superstition. I told them that, on
my return, I should have my family with me, and no one
must come near us in that state. “What shall we put on?
we have no clothing.” It was considered a good joke
when I told them that, if they had nothing else, they must
put on a bunch of grass.

ari ye -

STRANGE MODE OF SALUTATION. 347

The farther we advanced the more we found the country
swarming with inhabitants. Great numbers came to see
the white man,—a sight they had never beheld before. They
always brought presents of maize and masuka. Their
mode of salutation is quite singular. They throw them-
selves on their backs on the ground, and, rolling from side
to side, slap the outside of their thighs as expressions of
thankfulness and welcome, uttering the words “Kina
bomba.” This method of salutation was to me very dis-
agreeable, and I never could get reconciled to it. I called
out, “Stop, stop! I don’t want that;” but they, imagining
I was dissatisfied, only tumbled about more furiously and
slapped their thighs with greater vigor. The men being
totally unclothed, this performance imparted to my mind
a painful sense of their extreme degradation. My own
Batoka were much more degraded than the Barotse, and
more reckless. We had to keep a strict watch, so as not
to be involved by their thieving from the inhabitants, in
whose country and power we were. We had also to watch
the use they made of their tongues, for some within hear-
ing of the villagers would say, “I broke all the pots of
that village,” or “I killed a man there.’ They were
eager to recount their soldier-deeds when they were in
company with the Makololo in former times as a conquer-
ing army. They were thus placing us in danger by their
remarks. I called them together, and spoke to them about
their folly, and gave them a pretty plain intimation that I
meant to insist upon as complete subordination as I had
secured in my former journey, as being necessary for the
safety of the party. Happily, it never was needful to
resort to any other measure for their obedience, as they all
believed that I would enforce it. .

December 6.—We passed the night near a series of villages.
Before we came to a stand under our tree, a man came
cunning to us with hands and arms firmly bound with
sords behind his back, entreating me to release him.
When I had dismounted, the head-man of the village

348 INTERVIEW WITH MONZE.

advanced, and I inquired the prisoner’s offence. He stated

that he had come from the Bashukulompo as a fugitive, and
he had given him a wife and garden and a supply of seed;

but, on refusing a demand for more, the prisoner had
threatened to kill him, and had been seen the night before
skulking about the village, apparently with that intention,

I declined interceding unless he would confess to his father-
in-law, and .promise amendment. He at first refused to

promise to abstain from violence, but afterward agreed.

The father-in-law then said that he would take him to the.
village and release him; but the prisoner cried out, bitterly,

“He will kill me there! don’t leave me, white man.” I
ordered a knife, and one of the villagers released him on
the spot. His arms were cut by the cords, and he was
quite lame from the blows he had received.

We spent Sunday, the 10th, at Monze’s village, who is
considered the chief of all the Batoka we have seen. He
lives near the hill Kisekise, whence we have a view of at
least thirty miles of open undulating country, covered with
short grass and having but few trees. These open lawns
would in any other land, as well as this, be termed pas-
coral; but the people have no cattle, and only a few goats
and fowls.

The chief Monze came to us on Sunday morning, wrapped
in a large cloth, and rolled himself about in* the dust,
screaming ‘Kina bomba,” as they all do. The sight of
ereat naked men wallowing on the ground, though intended
to do me honor, was always very painful: it made me feel
thankful that my lot had been cast in such different cir-
cumstances from that of so many of my fellow-men. One
of his wives accompanied him; she would have been comely
if her teeth had been spared: she had a little battle-axe in
her hand, and helped her husband to scream. She wag
much excited, for she had never seen a white'man before
We rather liked Monze, for he soon felt at home among us,
and kept up conversation during much of the day. One
head-man of a village after another arrived, and each of

FRIENDLY FEELINGS TOWARD EUROPEANS. 349

them supplied us liberally with maize, groundnuts, and
corn. Monze gave us a goat and a fowl, and appeared
highly satisfied with a present of some handkerchiefs I had
got in my supplies left at the island. Being of printed
cotton, they excited great admiration; and, when I puta
gaudy-colored one as a shawl about his child, he said that
he would send for all his people to make a dance about it.
In telling them that my object was to open up a path
whereby they might, by getting merchandise for ivory,
avoid the guilt of selling their children, I asked Mounze,
with about one hundred and fifty of his men, if they would
like a white man to live among them and teach them. All
expressed high satisfaction at the prospect of the white
man and his path: they would protect both him and his
property. I asked the question, because it would be of
great importance to have stations in this healthy region,
whither agents oppressed by sickness might retire, and
which would serve, moreover, as part of a chain of com-
munication between the interior and the coast. The
answer does not mean much more than what I know, by
other means, to be the case,—that a white man of good sense
would be welcome and safe in all these parts. By upright-
ness, and laying himself out for the good of the people, he
would be known all over the country as a benefactor of the
race. None desire Christian instruction, for of it they
nave no idea. But the people are now humbled by the
acourgings they have received, and seem to be in a favor-
able state for the reception of the gospel. The gradual
restoration of their former prosperity in cattle, simui-
taneously with instruction, would operate beneficially upon
their minds. The language is a dialect of the other negro
languages in the great valley; and, as many of the Batoka
living under the Makololo understand both it and the
Sichuana, migsionaries could soon acquire it through that
medium.

Monze had never been visited by any white man, but
had seen black native traders, who, lic said, came for ivory,

30

>
850 GRATITUDE OF RELEASED CAPTIVE.

not for slaves. He had heard of white men passing far to
the east of him to Cazembe,—referring, no doubt, to Pereira,
Lacerda, and others, who have visited that chief.

Monze came on Monday morning, and, on parting, pre-
sented us with a piece of a buffalo which had been killed
the day before by lions. We crossed the rivulet Makoe,
which runs westward into the Kafue, and went northward
in order to visit Semalembue, an influential chief there.
We slept at the village of Monze’s sister, who also passes
by the same name. Both he and his sister are feminine in
their appearance, but disfigured by the foolish custom of
knocking out the upper front teeth.

It is not often that jail-birds turn out well; but the first
person who appeared to welcome us at the village of
Monze’s sister was the prisoner we had released in the
way. He came with a handsome present of corn and
meal, and, after praising our kindness to the villagers who -
had assembled around us, asked them, “ What do you stand
gazing at? Don’t you know that they have mouths like
other people?” He then set off and brought large bundles
of grass and wood for our comfort, and a pot to cook our
food in.

December 12.—The morning presented the appearance of
a continuous rain from the north,—the first time we had
seen it set in from that quarter in such a southern latitude.
In the Bechuana country, continuous rains are always from
the northeast or east, while in Londa and Angola they are
from the north. At Pungo Andongo, for instance, the
whitewash is all removed from the north side of the houses.
It cleared up, however, about mid-day, and Monze’s sister
conducted us a mile or two upon the road. On parting,
she said that she had forwarded orders to a distant village
to send food to the point where we should sleep. In ex-
pressing her joy at the prospect of living in peace, she said
it would be so pleasant “to sleep without dreaming of any
one pursuing them with a spear.”

In our front we had ranges of hills called Chamai, covered

EFFECT OF RAINS. 851

with trees. We crossed the river Nackachinta, flowing
westward into the Kafue, and then passed over ridges of
rocks of the same mica schist which we found so abundant
in Golungo Alto: here they were surmounted by reddish
Soediilescrss and finely-laminated feldspathic grit with trap.

As we passed along, the people continued to supply us
with food in great phamiiisee: They had by some means
or other got a knowledge that I carried medicine, and,
somewhat to the disgust of my men, who wished to keep
it all to themselves, brought their sick children for cure.
Some of them I found had hooping-cough, which is one of
the few epidemics that range through this country.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE DESCENDS THE ZAMBESI RIVER TO ITS CON-
FLUENCE WITH THE LOANGWA.

13th—TueE country is becoming very beautiful, and fur-
rowed by deep valleys; the underlying rocks, being igneous,
have yielded fertile soil. There is great abundance of large
game. The buffaloes select open spots, and often eminences,
as standing-places through the day. We crossed the Mbai,
and found in its bed rocks of pink marble. Some little
hills near it are capped by marble of beautiful whiteness,
the underlying rock being igneous. Violent showers occur
frequently on the hills, and cause such sudden sweeping floods
in these rivulets that five of our men, who had gone to the
other side for firewood, were obliged to swim back. The
temperature of the air is lowered considerably by the daily
rains. Several times the thermometer at sunrise has been
as low as 68°, and 74° at sunset. Generally, however, it
stood at from 72° to 74° at sunrise, 90° to 96° at mid-day, and

3852 AN ELEPHANT SHOT.

80° to 84° at sunset. The sensation, however, as before
remarked, was not disagreeable.

14th.—We entered a most beautiful valley, abounding in
large game. Finding a buffalo lying down,’I went to
secure him for our food. Three balls did not kill him, and,
as he turned round as if for a charge, we ran for the shelter
of some rocks. Before we gained them, we found that
three elephants, probably attracted by the strange noise,
had cut off our retreat on that side: they, however, turned
short off, and allowed us to gain the rocks. We then saw
that the buffalo was moving off quite briskly, and, in order
not to be entirely balked, I tried a long shot at the last of
the elephants, and, to the great joy of my people, broke his
fore-leg. The young men soon brought him to a stand,
and one shot in the brain despatched him. I was right
glad to see the joy manifested at such an abundant supply
of meat.

On the following day, while my men were cutting up
the elephant, great numbers of the villagers came to enjoy
the feast. We were on the side of a fine green valley,
studded here and there with trees and cut by numerous
rivulets. I had retired from the noise, to take an observa-
tion among some rocks of laminated grit, when I beheld
an elephant and her calf at the end of the valley, about
two miles distant. The calf was rolling in the mud, and
the dam was standing fanning herself with her great ears.
As I looked at them through my glass, I saw a long string
of my own men appearing on the other side of them, and
Sekwebu came and told me that these men had gone off,
saying, “Our father will see to-day what sort of men he
has got.” I then went higher up the side of the valley, in
order to haye a distinct view of their mode of hunting.
The goodly beast, totally unconscious of the approach of
an enemy, stood for some time suckling her young one,
which seemed about two years old: they then went into a
pit containing mud, and smeared themselves all over with
it, the little one frisking about his dam, flapping his ears

Wiad: Z

with Javelins, Protectin

g her Young.

30*

‘ . 4
ae ps

ELEPHANT-HUNTING. 355

and tossing his trunk incessantly, in elephantine fashion.
She kept flapping her ears and wagging her tail, as if in
the height of enjoyment. Then began the piping of her
enemies, which was performed by blowing into a tube, or
the hands closed together, as boys do intoa key. They
call out to attract the animal’s attention :—

“¢Q chief! chief! we have come to kill you.

O chief! chief! many more will die besides you,” &e.
‘¢The gods have said it,’”” &. &e.

Both animals expanded their ears and listened, then left
their bath as the crowd rushed toward them. The little
one ran forward toward the end of the valley, but, seeing
the men there, returned to his dam. She placed herself on
the danger-side of her calf, and passed her proboscis over it
again and again, as if to assure it of safety. She frequently
looked back to the men, who kept up an incessant shouting,
singing, and piping; then looked at her young one and
ran after it, sometimes sideways, as if her feelings were
divided between anxiety to protect her offspring and desire
to revenge the temerity of her persecutors. The men kept
about a hundred yards in her rear, and some that distance
from her flanks, and continued thus until she was obliged
to cross a rivulet. The time spent in descending and get-
ting up the opposite bank allowed of their coming up to
the edge and discharging their spears at about twenty
yards’ distance. After the first discharge she appeared with
her sides red with blood, and, beginning to flee for her own
life, seemed to think no more of her young. I had pre-
viously sent off Sekwebu with orders to spare the calf. It
ran very fast, but neither young nor old ever enter into a
gallop: their quickest pace is only a sharp walk. Before
Sekwebu could reach them, the calf had taken refuge in
the water, and was killed. The pace of the dam gradually
became slower. She turned with a shriek of rage, and
made a furious charge back among the men. They
vanished at right angles to her course, or sideways, and,
as she ran straight on, she went through the whole party

856 ELEPHANT-HUNTING.

but came near no one except a man who wore a piece of
cloth on his shoulders. Bright clothing is always dangerous
in these cases. She charged three or four times, and, ex-
cept in the first instance, never went farther than one
hundred yards. She often stood after she had crossed a
rivulet, and faced the men, though she received fresh
spears. It was by this process of spearing and loss of
blood that she was killed; for at last, making a short
charge, she staggered round and sank down dead in a
kneeling posture. I did not see the whole hunt, having
been tempted away by both sun and moon appearing
unclouded. I turned from the spectacle of the destruction
of noble animals, which might be made so useful in Africa,
with a feeling of sickness; and it was not relieved by the |
recollection that the ivory was mine, though that was the
case. I regretted to see them killed, and more especially
the young one, the meat not being at all necessary at that
time; but it is right to add that I did not feel sick when
my own blood was up the day before. We ought, perhaps,
te judge those deeds more leniently in which we ourselves
have no temptation to engage. Had I not been previously
guilty of doing the very same thing, I might have prided
myself on superior humanity when I experienced the
nausea in viewing my men kill these two.

Passing the rivulet Losito, and through the ranges of
hills, we reached the residence of Semalembue on the 18th.
His village is situated at the bottom of ranges through
which the Kafue finds a passage, and close to the bank
of that river. The Kafue, sometimes called Kahowhe or
Bashukulompo River, is upward of two hundred yards wide
here, and full of hippopotami, the young of which may be
seen perched on the necks of their dams. At this point we
had reached about the same level as Linyanti.

Semalembue paid us a visit soon after our arrival, and’
said that he had often heard of me, and, now that he had
the pleasure of seeing me, he feared that I should sleep the
first night at his village hungry. This was considered the

SEMALEMBUE AND HIS PEOPLE. 357

nandsome way of introducing a present, for he then handed
five or six baskets of meal and maize, and an enormous one
of groundnuts. Next morning he gave me about twenty
baskets more cf meal. I could make but a poor return for
his kindness; but he accepted my apologies politely, saying
that he knew there were no goods in the country from
which I had come, and, in professing great joy at the
words of peace I spoke, he said, ‘‘ Now I shall cultivate
largely, in the hope of eating and sleeping in peace.” It
is noticeable that all whom we have yet met eagerly caught
up the idea of living in peace as the probable effect of the
gospel. They require no explanation of the existence of
the Deity. Selkwebu makes use of the term “ Reza,” and
they appear to understand at once. Like negroes in
general, they have a strong tendency to worship; and I
heard that Semalembue gets a good deal of ivory from the
surrounding tribes on pretence of having some supernatural
power. He transmits this to some other chiefs on the
Zambesi, and receives in return English cotton goods which
come from Mozambique by Babisa traders. My men here
began to sell their beads and other ornaments for cotton
cloth. Semalembue was accompanied by about forty peo-
ple, all large men. They have much wool on their heads,
which is sometimes drawn all together up to the crown
and tied there in a large tapering bunch. The forehead
and round by the ears is shaven close to the base of this
tuft. Others draw out the hair on one side and twist it
into little strings. The rest is taken over and hangs above
the ear, which gives the appearance of having a cap cocked
jauntily on the side of the head.

The mode of salutation is by clapping the hands. Various
parties of women came from the surrounding villages to
see the white man, but all seemed very much afraid. Their
fear, which I seldom could allay, made them, when ad-
dressed, clap their hands with increasing vigor. Sekwebu
was the only one of the Makololo who knew this part of
the country; and this was the region which to his rind

358 THE KAFUE.

was best adapted for the residence of a tribe. The natives
generally have a good idea of the nature of the soil and
pasturage, and Sekwebu expatiated with great eloquence on
the capabilities of this part for supplying the wants of the
Makololo. There is certainly abundance of room at pre-
sent in the country for thousands and thousands more of
population.

We passed near the Losito, a former encampment of
the Matebele, with whom Sekwebu had lived. At the
sight of the bones of the oxen they had devoured, and the
spot where savage dances had taken place, though all de-
serted now, the poor fellow burst out into a wild Matebele
song. He pointed out also a district, about two days and
a half west of Semalembue, where Sebituane had formerly
dwelt. There is a hot fountain on the hills there named
“ Nakalombo,” which may be seen at a distance emitting
steam. ‘There,’ said Sekwebu, “had your Molekane [Sebi-
tuane] been alive, he would have brought you to live with
him. You would be on the bank of the river; and, by
' taking canoes, you would at once sail down to the Zambesi
and visit the white people at the sea.”

The Kafue enters a narrow gorge close by the village of
Semalembue: as the hill on the north is called Bolengwe,
I apply that name to the gorge, (lat. 15° 48’ 19” S., long. 28°
22’ EK.) Semalembue said that he ought to see us over the
river; so he accompanied us to a pass about a mile south of
his village, and when we entered among the hills we found
the ford of the Kafue. On parting with Semalembue I
put on him a shirt, and he went away with it apparently
much delighted.

The ford was at least 250 yards broad, but rocky and
shallow. After crossing it in a canoe, we went along the
left bank, and were completely shut in by high hills.

Semalembue intended that we should go a little to the
northeast, and pass through the people called Babimpe, and
we saw some of that people, who invited us to come that
way on account of its being smoother; but, feeling anxious

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 859

to get back to the Zambesi again, we decided to cross the
hills toward its confluence with the Kafue. The distance,
which in a straight line is but small, occupied three days.
The precipitous nature of the sides of this mass of hills
knocked up the oxen and forced us to slaughter two, one
of which—a very large one, and ornamented with upward
of thirty pieces of its own skin detached and hanging
down—Sekeletu had wished us to take to the white people
as a specimen of his cattle. Wesaw many elephants among
the hills, and my men ran off and killed three. When we
came to the top of the outer range of the hills, we had a
glorious view. At a short distance below us we saw the
Kafue, wending away over a forest-clad plain to the con-
fiuence, and on the other side of the Zambesi, beyond that,
lay a long range of dark hills. <A line of fleecy clouds
appeared lying along the course of that river at their base.
The plain below us, at the left of the Kafue, had more large
game on it than anywhere else I had seen in Africa.
Hundreds of buffaloes and zebras grazed on the open spaces,
and there stood lordly elephants feeding majestically, .
nothing moving apparently but the proboscis. I wished
that I had been able to take a photograph of a scene so
seldom beheld, and which is destined, as guns increase, to
pass away from earth. When we descended, we found all
the animals remarkably tame. The elephants stood beneath
the trees, fanning themselves with their large ears, as if
they did not see us at 200 or 300 yards’ distance. The
number of animals was quite astonishing, and made me
think that here I could realize an image of that time when
Megatheria fed undisturbed in the primeval forests.

We tried to leave one morning, but the rain, coming on
afresh, brought us to a stand, and after waiting an hour,
wet to the skin, we were fain to retrace our steps to our
sheds. ‘These rains were from the east, and the clouds
might be seen on the hills exactly as the “Table-cloth” on
Table Mountain. This was the first wetting we had got
since we left Sesheke, for I had gained some experience in

360 IMPROVED HEALTH: THE REASON,

travelling. In Londa we braved the rain, and, as I despised
being carried in our frequent passage through running
water, I was pretty constantly drenched; but now, when
we saw a storm coming, we invariably halted. The men
soon pulled grass sufficient to make a little shelter for
themselves by placing it on a bush, and, having got my
camp-stool and umbrella, with a little grass under my feet,
I kept myself perfectly dry. We also lighted large fires,
and the men were not chilled by streams of water running
down their persons and abstracting the heat, as they would
have been had they been exposed to the rain. When it
was over they warmed themselves by the fires, and we
travelled on comfortably. The effect of this care was that
we had much less sickness than with a smaller party in
journeying to Loanda. Another improvement made from
my experience was avoiding an entire change of diet. In
going to Loanda I took little or no European food, in order
not to burden my men and make them lose spirit, but
trusted entirely to what might be got by the gun and the
liberality of the Balonda; but on this journey I took some
flour which had been left in the wagon, with some got on
the island, and baked my own bread all the way in an ex-
temporaneous oven made by an inverted pot. With these
precautions, aided, no doubt, by the greater healthiness _
of the district over which we passed, I enjoyed perfect
health.

When we left the Chipongo on the 50th, we passed among
the range of hills on our left, which are composed of mica
and clay slate. At the bottom we found a forest of large
silicified trees, all lying as if the elevation of the range had
made them fall away from it and toward the river. The
numbers of large game were quite astonishing. I never
saw elephants so tame as those near the Chiponga: they
stood close to our path without being the least afraid.
This is different from their conduct where they have been
accustomed to guns, for there they take alarm at the dis-
tance of a mile, and begin to run if a shot is fired even at

CHARGE OF AN ELEPHANT. 361

ajonger distance. My men killed another here, and re-
warded the villagers of the Chiponga for their liberality in
meal by loading them with flesh. We spent a night at a
baobab, which was hollow and would hold twenty men
inside. It had been used as a lodging-house by the Babisa.

As we approached nearer the Zambesi, the country became
covered with broad-leaved bushes, pretty thickly planted,
and we had several times to shout to elephants to get out
of our way. At an open space, a herd of buffaloes came
trotting up to look at our oxen; and it was only by shooting
one that I made them retreat. The meat is very much like
that of an ox, and this one was very fine. The only danger
we actually encountered was from a female elephant, with
three young ones of different sizes. Charging through the
centre of our extended line, and causing the men to throw
down their burdens in a great hurry, she received a spear
for her temerity. I never saw an elephant with more
than one calf before. We knew that we were near our
Zambesi again, even before the great river burst upon our
sight, by the numbers of waterfowl we met. I killed
four geese with two shots, and, had I followed the wishes
of my men, could have secured a meal of waterfowl for
the whole party. I never saw a river with so much animal
life around and in it, and, as the Barotse say, “Its fish and
fowl are always fat.” When our eyes were gladdened by a
view of its goodly broad waters, we found it very much
larger than it is even above the falls. One might try to
make his voice heard across it in vain. Its flow was more
rapid than near Sesheke, being often four and a half miles
an hour; and, what I never saw before, the water was dis-
colored and of a deep brownish red. In the great valley
the Leeambye never becomes of this color. The adjacent
country, so far north as is known, is all level, and the soil,
being generally covered with dense herbage, is not abraded ;
but on the eastern ridge the case is different: the grass is
short, and, the elevation being great, the soil is washed

down by the streams, and hence the discoloration which
21

862 THE ZAMBESI—ISLAND OF MENYE.

we now view. The same thing was observed on the western
ridge. We never saw discoloration till we reached the
Quango: that obtained its matter from the western slope
of the western ridge, just as this part of the Zambesi
receives its soil from the eastern slope of the eastern ridge.
It carried a considerable quantity of wreck of reeds, sticks,
and trees. Westruck upon the river about eight miles east
of the confluence with the Kafue, and thereby missed a
sight of that interesting point. The cloudiness of the
weather was such that but few observations could be made
for determining our position; so, pursuing our course, we
went down the left bank, and came opposite the island of
Menye makaba. The Zambesi contains numerous islands:
this was about a mile and a half or two miles long and up-
ward of a quarter of a mile broad. Besides human popu-
lation, it has a herd of buffaloes that never leave it. In
the distance they seemed to be upward of sixty. The
human and brute inhabitants understand each other; for
when the former think they ought to avenge the liberties
committed on their gardens, the leaders of the latter come
out boldly to give battle. They told us that the only time
in which they can thin them is when the river is full and
part of the island flooded. They then attack them from
their canoes. The comparatively small space to which
they have confined themselves shows how luxuriant the
vegetation of this region is; for were they in want of more
pasture, as buffaloes can swim well, and the distance from
this bank to the island is not much more than 200 yards,
they might easily remove hither. The opposite bank is
much more distant.

Ranges of hills appear now to run parallel with tho
Zambesi, and are about fifteen miles apart. Those on the
north approach nearest to the river. The inhabitants on
that side are the Batonga, those on the south bank are
the Banyai. The hills abound in buffaloes, and elephants
are numerous; and many are killed by the people on
both banks. They erect stages on high trees overhang:

DEVICES FOR KILLING GAME. 363

ing the paths by which the elephants come, and then use
a large spear with a handle nearly as thick as a man’s
wrist, and four or five feet long. When the animal
comes beneath they throw the spear, and if it enters be-
tween the ribs above, as the blade is at least twenty inches
long by two broad, the motion of the handle, as it is aided
by knocking against the trees, makes frightful gashes
within and soon causes death. They kill them also by
means of a spear inserted in a beam of wood, which being
suspended on a branch of a tree by a cord attached toa
latch fastened in the path and intended to be struck by
the animal’s foot, leads to the fall of the beam, and, the
spear being poisoned, causes death in a few hours.

We were detained by continuous rains several days at
this island. The clouds rested upon the tops of the hills as
they came from the eastward, and then poured down plen-
teous showers on the valleys below. As soon as we could
move, Tomba Nyama, the head-man of the island, volun-
teered the loan of a canoe to cross a small river, called
the Chongwe, which we found to be about fifty or sixty
yards broad and flooded. All this part of the country was
well known to Sekwebu; and he informed us that, when
he passed through it as a boy, the inhabitants possessed
abundance of cattle and there were no tsetse. The exist-
ence of the insect now shows that it may return in com-
pany with the larger game. The vegetation along thie
bank was exceedingly rank, and the bushes so tangled that
it was difficult to get on. The paths had been made by the
wild animals alone, for the general pathway of the people
is the river, in their canoes. We usually followed the foot-
paths of the game; and of these there was no lack. Buf-
faloes, zebras, pallahs, and waterbucks abound; and there
is also a great abundance of wild pigs, koodoos, and the
black antelope. We got one buffalo as he was rolling him-
self in a pool of mud. He had a large piece of skin torn
out of his flank, it was believed, by an alligator.

We were struck by the fact that, as soon as we came

364 AN ALBINO MURDERED BY HIS MOTHER.

between the ranges of hills which flank the Zambesi, the
rains felt warm. At sunrise the thermometer stood at from
82° to 86°; at mid-day in the coolest shade, namely, in my
little tent under a shady tree, at 96° to 98°; and at sunset
it is 86°. This is different from any thing we experienced ~
in the interior; for these rains always bring down the mer-
cury to 72° or even 68°. ‘There, too, we found a small,
black coleopterous insect, which stung like the mosquito
but injected less poison: it puts us in mind of that insect,
which does not exist in the high lands we had left.
January 6, 1856.—EHach village we passed furnished us
with a couple of men to take us on to the next. They
were useful in showing us the parts least covered with
jungle. When we came near a village, we saw men,
women, and children employed in weeding their gardens,
they being great agriculturists. Most of the men are
muscular, and have large ploughman-hands. Their color
is the same admixture—from very dark to light olive—
that we saw in Londa. Though all have thick lips and
flat noses, only the more degraded of the population pos-
sess the ugly negro physiognomy. They mark themselves
by a line of little raised cicatrices, each of which is a quar-
ter of an inch long: they extend from the tip of the nose
to the root of the hair on the forehead. It is remarkable
that I never met with an albino in crossing Africa,
though, from accounts published by the Portuguese, I was
led to expect that they were held in favor as doctors by
certain chiefs. I saw several in the south: one at Kuru-
man is a full-grown woman, and a man having this pecu-
liarity of skin was met with in the colony. Their bodies
are always blistered on exposure to the sun, as the skin
is more tender than that of the blacks. The Kuruman
woman lived some time at Kolobeng, and generally had on
her bosom and shoulders the remains of large blisters.
She was most anxious to be made black; but nitrate of
silver, taken internally, did not produce its usual: effect.
During the time I resided at Mabotsa, a woman came .v

“ TLOLO.”’ 265

the station with a fine boy, an albino. The futher had
ordered her to throw him away; but she clung to her
offspring for many years. He was remarkably intelligent
for his age. The pupil of the eye was of a pink color, and
the eye itself was unsteady in vision. The hair, or rather
wool, was yellow, and the features were those common
among the Bechuanas. After I left the place, the mother
is said to have become tired of living apart from the father,
who refused to have her while she retained the son. She
took him out one day and killed him close to the village of
Mabotsa, and nothing was done to her by the authorities.
From having met with no albinos in Londa, I suspect they
are there also put to death. We saw one dwarf only in
Londa, and brands on him showed he had once been a
slave; and there is one dwarf woman at Linyanti. The
general absence of deformed persons is partly owing to
their destruction in infancy, and partly to the mode of life
being a natural one so far as ventilation and food are con-
cerned. They use but few unwholesome mixtures as con-
diments, and, though their undress exposes them to the
vicissitudes of the temperature, it does not harbor vomites.
It was observed that, when smallpox and measles visited
the country, they were most severe on the half-castes who
were clothed. In several tribes, a child which is said to
“tlola” (transgress) is put to death. “Tlolo,” or trans-
gression, is ascribed to several curious cases. A child who
cut the upper front teeth before the under was always put
to death among the Bakaa, and, I believe, also among the
Bakwains. In some tribes, a case of twins renders one of
them liable to death; and an ox which, while lying in the
ven, beats the ground with its tail, is treated in the same
way. Itis thought to be calling death to visit the tribe.
When I was coming through Londa, my men carried a
great number of fowls, of a larger breed than any they
had at home. If one crowed before midnight, it had been
guilty of “tlolo,” and was killed. The men often carried

them sitting on their guns, and, if one began to crow ina
31*

366 IDEA OF FEMALE BEAUTY.

forest, the owner would give it a beating, by way of teach-
ing it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours.

The women here are in the habit of piercing the upper
lip and gradually enlarging the orifice until they can insert
a shell. The lip then appears drawn out beyond the per-
pendicular of the nose, and gives them a most ungainly
aspect. Sekwebu remarked, “'These women want to make
their mouths like those of ducks;” and, indeed, it does
appear as if they had the idea that female beauty of lip
had been attained by the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus alone.
This custom prevails throughout the country of the Maravi,
and:no one could see it without confessing that fashion had
never led women to a freak more mad. We had rains now
every day, and considerable cloudiness; but the sun often
burst through with scorching intensity. All call out against
it then, saying, “Oh, the sun! that is rain again.” It is
worth noticing that my companions never complained of
the heat while on the highlands; but when we descended
into the lowlands of Angola, and here also, they began to
fret on account of it. I myself felt an oppressive steami-
ness in the atmosphere which J had not experienced on
the higher lands.

As the game was abundant aud my party very large, I
had still to supply their wants with the gun. We slaugh-
tered the oxen only when unsuccessful in hunting. We
always entered into friendly relations with the head-men
of the different villages, and they presented grain and other
food freely. One man gave a basinful of rice,—the first
we met with in the country. It is never’ seen in the in-
terior. He said he knew it was “white man’s corn,” and,
when I wished to buy some more, he asked me to give him
aslave. This was the first symptom of the slave-trade on
this side of the country. ‘The last of these friendly head
men was named Mobala; and, having passed him in peace,
we had no anticipation of any thing else; but after a few
hours we reached Selole or Chilole, and foand that he not
only considered us enemies, but had actually sent an ex-

SELOLE’S HOSTILITY. 367

press te caise the tribe of Mburtma against us. All the
women <f Selole had fled, and the few people we met ex-
hibited tigns of terror. An armed party had come from
Mburums in obedience to the call; but the head-man of
the company, being Mburuma’s brother, suspecting that it
was a houx, came to our encampment and told us the whole.
When we explained our objects, he told us that Mburuma, he
had no doubt, would receive us well. The reason why Se-
lole acted in this foolish manner we afterward found to be
this: an Italian named Simoens, and nicknamed Siriatomba,
(don’t eat tobacco,) had married the daughter of a chief
called Sekokole, living north of Tete. He armed a party
of fifty slaves with guns, and, ascending the river in canoes
some distance beyond the island Meya makaba, attacked
several inhabited islands beyond, securing a large number
of prisoners and much ivory. On his return, the different
chiefs—at the instigation of his father-in-law, who also did
not wish him to set up as chief—united, attacked and dis-
persed the party of Simoens, and killed him while trying
to escape on foot. Selole imagined that I was another
Italian, or, as he expressed it, ‘‘Siriatomba risen from the
dead.” In his message to Mburuma he even said that
Mobala, and all thevillages beyond, were utterly destroyed
by our fire-arms; but the sight of Mobala himself, who had
come to the village of Selole, led the brother of Mburuma
to see at once that it was alla hoax. But for this the
foolish fellow Selole might have given us trouble.

We saw many of the liberated captives of this Italian
among the villages here, and Sekwebu found them to be
Matebele. The brother of Mburuma had a gun, which was
the first we had seen in coming eastward. Before we
reached Mburuma, my men went to attack a troop of ele-
phants, as they were much in need of meat. When the
troop began to run, one of them fell into a hole, and before
he could extricate himself an opportunity was afforded for
all the men to throw their spears. When he rose he was
like a huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty men

368 ELEPHANTS’ TENASITY OF LIFE.

had discharged more than one spear at him. As they had no
more, they sent for me to finish him. In order to put him
at once out of pain, I went to within twenty yards, there
being a bank between us which he could not readily climb.,
T rested the gun upon an ant-hill, so as to take a steady
aim; but, though I fired twelve two-ounce bullets (all I
had) into different parts, I could not kill him. As it was
becoming dark, I advised my men to let him stand, being
sure of finding him dead in the morning; but, though we
searched all the next day, and went more than ten miles,
we never saw him again. I mention this to young men
who may think that they will be able to hunt elephants
on foot by adopting the Ceylon practice of killing them
by one ball in the brain. I believe that in Africa the
practice of standing before an elephant, expecting to kill
him with one shot, would be certain death to the hunter ;
and I would add for the information of those who may
think that, because I met with a great abundance of game
here, they also might find rare sport, that the tsetse exists
all along both banks of the Zambesi, and there can be no
hunting by means of horses. Hunting on foot in this climate
is such excessively hard work that I feel certain the keenest
sportsman would very soon turn away from it in disgust.
I myself was rather glad, when furnished with the excuse
that I had no longer any balls, to hand over all the hunting
to my men, who had no more love for the sport than myself,
as they never engaged in it except when forced by hunger.

Some of them gave me a hint to melt down my plate by
asking if it were not lead. I had two pewter plates and a
piece of zinc, which I now melted into bullets. I also spent
the remainder of my handkerchiefs in buying spears for
them. My men frequently surrounded herds of buffaloes
and killed numbers of the calves. I, too, exerted myself
greatly; but, as I am now obliged to shoot with the left
arm, Iam a bad shot, and this, with the lightness of the
bullets, made me very unsuccessful. The more the hunger,
the less my success, invariably.

MR. OSWELL’S NARROW ESCAPE. 365

I may here add an adventure with an elephant of one
who has had more narrow escapes than any man living,
but whose modesty has always prevented him from publish-
ing any thing about himself. When we were on the banks of
the Zouga in 1850, Mr. Oswell pursued one of these animals
into the dense, thick, thorny bushes met with on the margin
of that river, and to which the elephant usually flees for
safety. He followed through a narrow pathway by lifting
up some of the branches and forcing his way through the
rest; but, when he had just got over this difficulty, he saw
the elephant, whose tail he had but got glimpses of before,
nowrushing toward him. There was then no time to lift up
branches; so he tried to force the horse through them. He
could not effect a passage; and, as there was but an instant
between the attempt and failure, the hunter tried to dis-
mount, but in doing this one foot was caught by a branch,
and the spur drawn along the animal’s flank; this made
him spring away and throw the rider on the ground with
his face to the elephant, which, being in full chase, still
went on. Mr. Oswell saw the huge fore-foot about to de-
scend on his legs, parted them, and drew in his breath as
if to resist the pressure of the other foot, which he expected
would next descend on his body. He saw the whole
length of the under part of the enormous brute pass over
him: the horse got away safely. I have heard of but one
other authentic instance in which an elephant went over a
man without injury, and, for any one who knows the nature
of the bush in which this occurred, the very thought of an
encounter in it with such a foe is appalling. As the thorns
are placed in pairs on opposite sides of the branches, and
these turn round on being pressed against, one pair brings
the other exactly into the position in which it must pierce
the intruder. They cut like knives. Horses dread this
bush extremely; indeed, most of them refuse to face its
thorns.

On reaching Mburuma’s village, his brother came to

mect us. We explained the reason of our delay, and he
7

370 MBURUMA’S VILLAGE AND PEOPLE.

told us that we were looked upon with alarm. He said
that Siriatomba had been killed near the village of Selole,
and hence that man’s fears. He added that the Italian had
come talking of peace, as we did, but had kidnapped chil-
dren and bought ivory with them, and that we were sup<
posed to be following the same calling. I pointed to my
men, and asked if any of these were slaves, and if we had
any children among them, and I think we satisfied him that
we were true men. Referring to our ill success in hunting
the day before, he said, “The man at whose village you
remained was in fault in allowing you to want meat, for he
had only to run across to Mburuma; he would have given
him a little meal, and, having sprinkled that on the ground
as an offering to the gods, you would have found your
elephant.” The chiefs in these parts take upon themselves
an office somewhat like the priesthood, and the peojile
imagine that they can propitiate the Deity through them.
In illustration of their ideas, it may be mentioned that,
when we were among the tribes west of Semalembue,
several of the people came forward and introduced them-
selves,—one as a hunter of elephants, another as a hunter
of hippopotami, a third as a digger of pitfalls,—apparently
wishing me to give them medicine for success in their
avocations, as well as to cure the diseases of those to
whom I was administering the drugs. I thought they at-
tributed supernatural power to them, for, like all Africans,
they have unbounded faith in the efficacy of charms;
but I took pains to let them know that they must pray
and trust to another power than mine for aid. We neve1
saw Mburuma himself, and the conduct of his people indi
cated very strong suspicions, though he gave us presents
of meal, maize, and native corn. His people never came
near us except in large bodies and fully armed. We had
to order them to place their bows, arrows, and spears at
a distance before entering our encampment. We did not,
however, care much for a little trouble now, as we hoped
that, if we could pass this time without much molestation

SUSPICIONS OF THE NATIVES. =i |

we might yet be able to return with ease, and without
meeting sour, suspicious looks.

Mburuma sent two men as guides to the Loangwa. These
men tried to bring us to a stand, at a distance of about six
miles from the village, by the notice, “‘Mburuma says you
are to sleep under that tree.” On declining to do this, we
were told that we must wait at a certain village for a sup-
ply of corn. As none appeared in an hour, I proceeded on
the march. It is not quite certain that their intentions
were hostile; but this seemed to disarrange their plans, and
one of them was soon observed running back to Mburuma.
They had first of all tried to separate our party by volun-
teering the loan of a canoe to convey Sekwebu and me,
together with our luggage, by way of the river, and, as it
was pressed upon us, I thought that this was their design.
The next attempt was to detain us in the pass; but, be-
traying no suspicion, we civilly declined to place ourselves
in their power in an unfavorable position. We afterward
heard that a party of Babisa traders, who came from the
northeast, bringing English goods from Mozambique, had
been plundered by this same people.

At the village of Ma Mburuma, (mother of Mburuma,) the
guides, who had again joined us, gave a favorable report,
and the women and children did not flee. Ma Mburuma
promised us canoes to cross the Loangwa in our front. It
was pleasant to see great numbers of men, women, and
boys come, without suspicion, to look at the books, watch,
looking-glass, revolver, &c. They are a strong, muscular
race, and both men and women are seen cultivating the
ground.

We were obliged to hurry along, for the oxen were bitten
daily by the tsetse, which, as I have before remarked, now
inhabits extensive tracts which once supported herds of
cattle that were swept off by Mpakane and other marau-
ders, whose devastations were well known to Sekwebu, for
he himself had been an actor in the scenes. When he told
me of them he always lowered his voice, in order that the |

S72 HOSTILE APPEARANCES.

guides might not hear that he had been one of their ene-
mies. But that we were looked upon with suspicion, on
account of having come in the footsteps of invaders, was
evident from our guides remarking to men in the gardeus
through which we passed, ‘‘They have words of peace—
all very fine; but lies only, as the Bazunga are great liars.”
They thought we did not understand them; but Sekwebu
knew every word perfectly; and, without paying any
ostensible attention to these complimentary remarks, we
always took care to explain ever afterward that we were
not Bazunga, but Makoa, (English.)

CHAPTER XXIX.
DR. LIVINGSTONE DESCENDS THE ZAMBESI TO CHICOVA.

14th. WE reached the confluence of the Loangwa and
the Zambesi, most thankful to God for his great mercies in
helping us thus far. Mburuma’s people had behaved so
suspiciously, that, though we had guides from him, we
were by no means sure that we should not be attacked
in crossing the Loangwa. We saw them here collecting
in large numbers, and, though professing friendship, they
kept at a distance from our camp. They refused to lend
us more canoes than two, though they have many. They
have no intercourse with Europeans except through the
Babisa. They tell us that this was formerly the residence
of the Bazunga, and maintain silence as to the cause of
their leaving it. I walked about some ruins I discovered,
built of stone, and found the remains of a church, and on
one side lay a broken bell, with the letters I. H. S. and a
cross, but no date. There were no inscriptions on stone,
and the people could not tell what the Bazunga called
their place. We found afterward it was Zumbo. ;

CROSSING THE LOANGWA. 373

I felt some turmoil of spirit in the evening at the pros.
pect of having all my efforts for the welfare of this great
region and its teeming population knocked on the head by’
savages to-morrow, who might be said to “know not what
they do.” It seemed such a pity that the important fact
of the existence of the two healthy ridges which I had dis-
covered should not become known in Christendom, for a
confirmation would thereby have been given to the idea
that Africa is not open to the gospel. But I read that
Jesus said, ‘‘ All power is given unto me in heaven and on
earth: go ye, therefore, and teach all nations; . . . and lo,
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” I took
this as His word of honor, and went out to take observa-
tions for latitude and longitude, which, I think, were very
successful. (The church: lat. 15° 387’ 22” S., long. 80°
32’ E.)

15th.—The natives of the surrounding country collected
around us this morning, all armed. The women and chil-
dren were sent away, and one of Mburuma’s wives, who
lives in the vicinity, was not allowed to approach, though
she had come from her village to pay me a visit. Only one
canoe was lent to us, though we saw two others tied to the
pank. The part we crossed was about a mile from the
confluence, and, as it was now flooded, it seemea upward
of half a mile in breadth. We passed all our goods first on
to an island in the middle, then the remaining cattle and
men; occupying the post of honor, I, as usual, was the
last to enter the canoe. A number of the inhabitants
stood armed all the time we were embarking. I showed
them my watch, lens, and other things to keep them
amused, until there only remained those who were to enter
the canoe with me. I thanked them for their kindness,
and wished them peace. After all, they may have been
influenced only by the intention to be ready in case 1
should play them some false trick, for they have reason to
be distrustful of the whites. The guides came over to bid

as adieu, and we sat under a mango-tree fifteen feet in cir
32

ait SITTATION OF ZUMBO.

cumference. We found them more communicative now
They said that the land on both sides belonged to the
Bazunga, and that they had left of old, on the approach of
Changamera, Ngaba, and Mpakane. Sekwebu was with
the last-named, but he maintained that they never came to
the confluence, though they carried off all the cattle of
Mburuma. The guides confirmed this by saying that the
Bazunga were not attacked, but fled in alarm on the
approach of the enemy. This mango-tree he knew by its
proper name, and we found seven others and several tama-
rinds, and were informed that the chief Mburuma sends
men annually to gather the fruit, but, like many Africans
whom I have known, has not had patience to propagate
more trees. I gave them some little presents for them-
selves, a handkerchief and a few beads; and they were
highly pleased with a cloth of red baize for Mburuma,
which Sekeletu had given me to purchase a canoe. We
were thankful to part good friends.

The situation of Zumbo was admirably well chosen as a
site for commerce. Looking backward, we see a mass of
high, dark mountains covered with trees; behind us rises
the fine high hill Mazanzwe, which stretches away north-
ward along the left bank of the Loangwa; to the 8.E. lies
an open country, with a small round hill in the distance
called Tofulo The merchants, as they sat beneath the
verandahs in front of their houses, had a magnificent view
of the two rivers at their confluence, of their church at
the angle, and of all the gardens which they had on both
sides of the rivers. In these they cultivated wheat with-
out irrigation, and, as the Portuguese assert, of a grain
twice the size of that at Tete. From the guides we learned
that the inhabitants had not imbibed much idea of Chris-
tianity, for they used the same term for the church-bell
which they did for a diviner’s drum. From this point the
merchants had water-communication in three directions
beyond, namely, from the Loangwa to the N.N.W., by vhe
Katue to the W., ard by the Zambesi to theS W. ‘Their

LACERDA’S VISIT TO CAZEMBE. 375

attention, however, was chiefly attracted to the N., or
Londa; and the principal articles of trade were ivory
and slaves. Private enterprise was always restrained, for,
the colonies of the Portuguese being strictly military, and
the pay of the commandants being very small, the officers
have always been obliged to engage in trade; and had they
not employed their power to draw the trade to themselves
by preventing private traders from making bargains be-
yond the villages, and only at regulated prices, they would
have had no trade, as they themselves were obliged to
remain always at their posts.

Several expeditions went to the north as far as to Ca-
zembe, and Dr. Lacerda, himself commandant of Tete,
went to that chief’s residence. Unfortunately, he was cut
off while there, and his papers, taken possession of by a
Jesuit who accompanied him, were lost to the world. This
Jesuit probably intended to act fairly and have them pub-
lished; but soon after his return he was called away by
death himself, and the papers were lost sight of. Dr. La-
cerda had a strong desire to open up communication with
Angola, which would have been of importance then, as
affording a speedier mode of communication with Portugal
than by the way of the Cape; but since the opening of the
overland passage to India a quicker transit is effected from
astern Africa to Lisbon by way of the Red Sea. Besides
Lacerda, Cazembe was visited by Pereira, who gave a_
glowing account of that chief’s power, which none of my
inquiries have confirmed. The people of Matiamvo stated
to me that Cazembe was a vassal of their chief; and, from
all the native visitors whom I have seen, he appears to be
exactly like Shinte and Katema, only a little more power-
ful. The term “Emperor,” which has been applied to him,
seems totally inappropriate. The statement of Pereira
that twenty negroes were slaughtered in a day was not
confirmed by any one else, though numbers may have been
killed on some particular occasion during the time of his
visit, for we find throughout all the country north of 20°,

376 A MAN TOSSED BY A BUFFALO.

which I consider to be real negro, the custom of slaughter.
ing victims to accompany the departed soul of a chief; and
human sacrifices are occasionally offered, and certain parts
of tne bodies are used as charms. It is on account of the
existence of such rites, with the similarity of the language,
and the fact that the names of rivers are repeated again
and again from north to south through all that region, tha:
I consider them to have been originally one family. The
last expedition to Cazembe was somewhat of the same
nature as the others, and failed in establishing a commerce
hecause the people of Cazembe, who had come to Tete to
invite the Portuguese to visit them, had not been allowed
to trade with whom they might. As it had not been free
trade there, Cazembe did not see why it should be free
trade at his town: he accordingly would not allow his
people to furnish the party with food except at his price ;
and the expedition, being half starved in consequence,
came away voting unanimously that Cazembe was a great
bore.

When we left the Loangwa, we thought we had got rid of
the hills; but there are some behind Mazanzwe, though five
or six miles off from the river. Tsetse and the hills had de-
stroyed two riding-oxen, and, when the little one that I now
rode knocked up, I was forced to march on foot. The bush
being very dense and high, we were going along among the
trees, when three buffaloes, which we had unconsciously

‘passed above the wind, thought that they were surrounded
by men, and dashed through our line. My ox set off ata
gallop, and when I could manage to glance back I saw one
of the men up in the air about five feet above a buffalo,
which was tearing along with a stream of blood running
down his flank. When I got back to the poor fellow, I
found that he had lighted on his face, and, though he had
been earried on the horns of the buffalo about twenty yards
before getting the final toss, the skin was not pierced, nor
was a bone broken. When the beasts appeared, he had
thrown down his load and stabbed one in the side. It

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CAFFRE WAR. 379

turned suddenly upon him, and, before he could use a tree
for defence, carried him off. We shampooed him well, and
then went on, and in about a week he was able to engage
in the hunt again.

On the morning of the 17th we were pleased to see a
person coming from the island of Shibanga with jacket and
hat on. He was quite black, but had come from the Portu-
guese settlement at Tete or Nyungwé; and now, for the
first time, we understood that the Portuguese settlement
was on the other bank of the river, and that they had been
fighting with the natives for the last two years. We had
thus got into the midst of a Caffre war, without any par-
ticular wish to be on either side. He advised us to cross
the river at once, as Mpende lived on this side. We had
been warned by the guides of Mburuma against him, for
they said that if we could get past Mpende we might reach
the white men, but that he was determined that no white
man should pass him. Wishing to follow this man’s advice,
we proposed to borrow his canoes; but, being afraid to
offend the lords of the river, he declined. The consequence
was, we were obliged to remain on the enemy’s side. The
next island belonged to a man named Zungo, a fine, frank
fellow, who brought us at once a present of corn, bound in
a peculiar way in grass. He freely accepted our apology
for having no present to give in return, as he knew
that there were no goods in the interior, and, besides,
sent forward a recommendation to his brother-in-law
Pangola.

18th.—Pangola visited us and presented us with food.
In few other countries would one hundred and fourteen
sturdy vagabonds be supported by the generosity of the
head-men and villagers and whatever they gave be pre-
sented with politeness. My men got pretty well supplied
individually, for they went into the villages and com-
menced dancing. The young women were especially
pleased with the new steps they had to show, though I
suspect many of them were invented for the occasion, and

4

380 APPROACHING MPENDE’S VILLAGE.

would say, “Dance for me, and I will grind corn for you.”
At every fresh instance of liberality, Sekwebu said, “ Did
not I tell you that these people had hearts, while we were
still at Linyanti?” All agreed that the character he had
given was true, and some remarked, “ Look! although we
have been so long away from home, not one of us has
become lean.” It was a fact that we had been all well
supplied either with meat by my gun or their own spears,
or food from the great generosity of the inhabitants.
Pangola promised to ferry us across the Zambesi, but
failed to fulfil his promise. He seemed to wish to avoid
offending his neighbor Mpende by aiding us to escape from
his hands} so we proceeded along the bank. Although we
were in doubt as to our reception by Mpende, I could not
help admiring the beautiful country as we passed along.
Finding no one willing to aid us in crossing the river, we
proceeded to the village of the chief Mpende. When we
came to Mpende’s village, he immediately sent to inquire
who we were, and then ordered the guides who had come
with us from the last village to go back and call their
masters. He sent no message to us whatever. We had
travelled very slowly up to this point, the tsetse-stricken
oxen being now unable to go two miles an hour. We
were also delayed by being obliged to stop at every village
and send notice of our approach to the head-man, who
came and received a little information and gave some food.
If we had passed on without taking any notice of them,
they would have considered it impolite, and we should
have appeared more as enemies than friends. I consoled
myself for the loss of time by the thought that these con-
versations tended to the opening of our future path.
23d.—This morning, at sunrise, a party of Mpende’s
people came close to our encampment, uttering strange cries
and waving some bright-red substance toward us. They
then lighted a fire with charms in it, and departed, utter
ing the same hideous screams as before. This was intended
to render us powerless, and probably also to frighten us

A FIGHT ANTICIPATED. 881

Ever since dawn, parties of armed men have been seen
collecting from all quarters, and numbers passed us while
it was yet dark. Had we moved down the river at once,
it would have been considered an indication of fear or
defiance, and so would a retreat. I therefore resolved to
wait, trusting to Him who has the hearts of all men in
his hands. They evidently intended to attack us, for no
friendly message was sent; and, when three of the Batoka
the night before entered the village to beg food, a man
went round about each of them, making a noise like a lion
The villagers then called upon them to do homage, and,
when they complied, the chief ordered some chaff to be
given them, as if it had been food. Othe: things also
showed unmistakable hostility. As we were now pretty
certain of a skirmish, I ordered an ox to be slaughtered,
as this is a means which Sebituane employed for inspiring
courage. I have no doubt that we should have been vic-
torious: indeed, my men, who were far better acquainted
with fighting than any of the people on the Zambesi, were
rejoicing in the prospect of securing captives to carry the
tusks for them. “We shall now,” said they, “ get both
vorn and clothes in plenty.” They were in a sad state,
poor fellows; for the rains we had encountered had made
their skin-clothing drop off piecemeal, and they were
looked upon with disgust by the well-fed and well-clothed
Zambesians. They were, however, vetcrans in maraud
ing; and the head-men, instead of being depressed by fear,
as the people of Mpende intended should be the case in
using their charms, hinted broadly to me that I ought to
allow them to keep Mpende’s wives. The roasting of meat
weut on fast and furious, and some of the young men said
to me, “You have seen us with elephants, but you don’t
know yet what we can do with men.” I believe that,
had Mpende struck, the first blow, he would soon have
found out that he never made a greater mistake in his
Ife.

His whole tribe was assembled at about the distance of

382 MPENDE’S FRIENDSHIP.

halfa mile As the country is covered with trees, we did
not see them; hut every now and then a few came about
us aS spies, and would answer no questions. I handed a
leg of the ox to two of these, and desired them to take it
to Mpende. After waiting a considerable time in suspense,
two old men made their appearance and said they had
come to inquire who I was. I replied, ‘I am a Lekoa,”
(an Englishman.) They said, “ We don’t know that tribe.
We suppose you are a Mozunga, the tribe with which we
have been fighting.” As I was not yet aware that the
term Mozunga was applied to a Portuguese, and thought
they meant half-castes, I showed them my hair and the
skin of my bosom, and asked if the Bazunga had hair and
skin like mine. As the Portuguese have the custom of
cutting the hair close, and are also somewhat darker than
we are, they answered, “No; we never saw skin so white
as that,” and added, “Ah! you must be one of that tribe
that loves [literally, has heart to] the black men.” I, of
course, gladly responded in the affirmative. They re-
turned to the village, and we afterward heard that there
had been a long discussion between Mpende and his coun-
cillors, and that one of the men with whom we had re-
mained to talk the day before had been our advocate. He
was named Sindese Oaléa. When we were passing his
village, after some conversation, he said to his people, “Is
that the man whom they wish to stop after he has passed
so many tribes? What can Mpende say to refusing him a
passage?” It was owing to this man, and the fact that L
belonged to the “friendly white tribe,” that Mpenae was
persuaded to allow us to pass. “When we knew the favor-
able decision of the council, I sent Sekwebu to speak about
the purchase of a canoe, as one of my men had become
very ill, and I wished to relieve his companions by taking
him in a canoe. Before Sekwebu could finish his story,
Mpende remarked, “That white man is truly one of our
friends. See how he lets me know his afflictions!’ Sel-
webu adroitly took advantage of this turn in the conversa

CROSSING THE ZAMBESI. 383

tion, and said, “Ah! if you only knew him as well as we
do who have lived with him, you would understand that
he highly values your friendship and that of Mburuma,
and, as he is a stranger, he trusts in you to direct him.”
He replied, ‘Well, he ought to cross to the other side
of the river, for this bank is hilly and rough, and the way
to Tete is longer on this than on the opposite bank.”
“ But who will take us across if you do not?” “Truly,”
replied Mpende, “I only wish you had come sooner to tell
me about him; but you shall cross” Mpende said fre-
quently he was sorry he had not known me sooner, but
that he had been prevented by his enchanter from coming
near me; and he lamented that the same person had kept
him from eating the meat which I had presented. He did
every thing he could afterward to aid us on our course,
and our departure was as different as possible from our
approach to his village. I was very much pleased to find
the English name spoken of with such great respect so
far from the coast, and most thankful that no collision
occurred to damage its influence.

24th.—Mpende sent two of his principal men to order the
people of a large island below to ferry usacross. The river
is very broad, and, though my men were well acquainted
with the management of canoes, we could not all cross over
before dark. It is 1200 yards from bank to bank, and be-
tween 700 and 800 of deep water, flowing at the rate of
3% miles per hour. We landed first on an island, then, to
prevent our friends playing false with us, hauled the
canoes up to our bivouac and slept in them. The next
morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety.

29th.—I was most sincerely thankful to find myself on
the south bank of the Zambesi; and, having nothing else. [
sent back one of my two spoons and a shirt as a thank-
offering to Mpende. ‘The different head-men along this
river act very much in concert, and if one refuses passage
they all do, uttering the sage remark, “ If so-and-so did not
lend his canoes, he must have had some good reason.” ‘The

584 BOROMA'S VILLAGE,

next island we came to was that of a man named Mozinkwa,
Here we were detained some days by continuous rains.

We were detained here so long that my tent became
again quite rotten. One of my men, after long sickness,
which I did not understand, died here. He was one of the
Batoka, and when unable to walk I had some difficulty in
making his companions carry him. They wished to leave
him to die when his case became hopeless. Another of
them deserted to Mozinkwa. He said that his motive for
doing so was that the Makololo had killed both his father
and mother, and, as he had neither wife nor child, there
was no reason why he should continue longer with them.
I did not object to his statements, but said if he should
change his mind he would be welcome to rejoin us, and
intimated to Mozinkwa that he must not be sold as a slave.

February 1—We met some native traders ; and, as many
of my men were now in a state of nudity, I bought some
American calico, marked “ Lawrence Mills, Lowell,” with
two small tusks, and distributed it among the most needy.
After leaving Mozinkwa’s, we came to the Zingesi, a sand-
rivulet in flood, (lat. 15° 38’ 34” S., long. 31° 1’ E.) It was
sixty or seventy yards wide, and waist deep. Like all these
sand-rivers, it is for the most part dry; but, by digging
down a few feet, water is to be found, which is percolating
along the bed on a stratum of clay.

February 4—We were much detained by rains, a heavy
shower without wind falling every morning about daybreak:
it often cleared up after that, admitting of our moving on a
few miles. A continuous rain of several hours then set in.

On the 6th we came to the village of Boroma, which is
situated among a number of others, each surrounded by
extensive patches of cultivation. On the opposite side of
the river we have a great cluster of conical hills, called
Chorichori. Boroma did not make his appearance, but sent
a substitute, who acted civilly. I sent Sekwebu in the
morning to state that we intended to move on: his mother
replied that, as she had expected that we should remain, no

°

A GARRULOUS GUIDE. 385

food was ready; but she senta basket of cornand afowl. As
an excuse why Boroma did not present himself, she said
that he was seized this morning by the Barimo,—which
probably meant that his lordship was drunk.

We marched along the river to a point opposite the hill
Pinkwe, (lat. 15° 39’ 11” S., long. 32° 5’ H.;) but the late
abundant rains now flooded the Zambesi again, and great
quantities of wreck appeared upon the stream.

This flood having filled the river, we found the numerous
rivulets which flow into it filled also, ana when going along
the Zambesi we lost so much time in passing up each little
stream till we could find a ford about waist deep, and then
returning to the bank, that I resolved to leave the river
altogether and strike away to the southeast. We accord-
ingly struck off when opposite the hill Pinkwe, and came
into a hard Mopane country.

This Chicova is not a kingdom, as has been stated, but a
level tract, a part of which is annually overflowed by the
Zambesi, and is well adapted for the cultivation of corn
It is said to be below the northern end of the hill Bungwe
I was very much pleased in discovering a small specimen
of such a precious mineral as coal. I saw no indication of
silver; and, if it ever was worked by the natives, it 1s re-
markable that they have entirely lost the knowledge of it,
and cannot distinguish between silver and tin. Our path
lay along the bed of the Nake for some distance, the banks
being covered with impenetrable thickets. The villages
are not numerous; but we went from one to the other, and
were treated kindly. Here they call themselves Bambiri,
though the general name of the whole nation is Banydai.
One of our guides was an inveterate talker, always stop-
ping and asking for pay, that he might go on with a merry
heart. I thought that he led us in the most difficult paths
mm order to make us feel his value, for, after passing through
one thicket after another, we always came into the bed
of the Nake again; and as that was full of coarse sand, and
the water only ankle deep, and as hot as a foot-bath from

Z 33

386 NYAMPUNGO, THE RAIN-CHARMER.

the powerfu) rays of the sun, we were all completely tired
out. He likewise gave us a bad character at every village
we passed, calling to them that they were to allow him to
lead us astray, as we were a bad set.. Sekwebu knew
every word he said, and, as he became intolerable, I dis-
missed him, giving him six feet of calico I had bought from
native traders, and telling him that his tongue was a
nuisance. It is in general best, when a scolding is neces-
sary, to give it in combination with a present, and then end
it by good wishes. This fellow went off smiling; and my
men remarked, “ His tongue is cured now.”

13th.—The head-man of these parts is named Nyampungo.
1 sent the last fragment of cloth we had, with a request
that we should be furnished with a guide to the next chief.

After a long conference with his council, the cloth was _

returned with a promise of compliance and a request for
some beads only. ‘This man is supposed to possess the
charm for rain, and other tribes send to him to beg it.
This shows that what we inferred before was correct,—that
less rain falls in this country than in Londa. Nyampungo
behaved in quite a gentlemanly manner, presented me
with some rice, and told my people to go among all the
villages and beg for themselves. An old man, father-in-law
of the chief, told me that he had seen books before, but
never knew what they meant. ‘They pray to departed
chiefs and relatives, but the idea of praying to God seemed
new, and they heard it with reverence. As this was an
intelligent old man, I asked him about the silver; but he
was as ignorant of it as the rest, and said, “ We never dug
silver, but we have washed for gold in the sands of the
rivers Mazoe and Luia, which unite in the Imenya.” I
think that this is quite conclusive on the question of no
silver having been dug by the natives of this district.
Nyampungo is afilicted with a kind of disease called Se
senda, which I imagine to be a species of leprosy common
in this quarter,—though they are a cleanly people. They
never had cattle. The chief’s father had always lived in

.

ELEPHANT-HUNT. 887

their present position, and, when I asked him why he did
not possess these useful animals, he said, “ Who would give
us the medicine to enable us to keep them?” I found out
_ the reason afterward in the prevalence of tsetse; but of
this he was ignorant, having supposed that he could not
keep cattle because he had no medicine.

CHAPTER XXX.
DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES TETE.

14th.— We left Nyampungo this morning. The path
wound up the Molinge, another sand-river which flows into
the Nake. When we got clear of the tangled jungle which
covers the banks of these rivulets, we entered the Mopane
country, where we could walk with comfort. When we
had gone on a few hours, my men espied an elephant, and
were soon in full pursuit. They were in want of meat,
having tasted nothing but grain for several days. The
desire for animal food made them all eager to slay him,
and, though an old bull, he was soon killed The people
of Nyampungo had never seen such desperadoes before.
One rushed up and hamstrung the beast, while still stand-
ing, by a blow with an axe. Some Banyai elephant-
hunters happened to be present when my men were fighting
with him. One of them took out his snuff-box and poured
out all its contents at the root of a tree, as an offering to
the Barimo for success. As soon as the animal fell, the
whole of my party engaged in a wild, savage dance round
the body, which quite frightened the Banyai, and he who
made the offering said to me, “I see you are travelling
w:th people. who don’t know how to pray: I therefore
offered the only thing I had in their behalf, and the ele-
phant soon fell.” One of Nyampungo’s men, who remained
with me, ran 4 little forward, when an opening in the trees

-

$88 GAME-LAWS—HYENAS.

gave us a view of the chase, and uttered loud prayers for
success in the combat. I admired the devout belief they
al. possessed in the actual existence of unseen beings, and
prayed that they might yet know that benignant One who
views us all as his own.- My own people, who are rather
a degraded lot, remarked to me, as I came up, “God gave
it tous. He said to the old beast, ‘Go up there: men are
come who will kill and eat you.’”” These remarks are quoted
to give the reader an idea of the native mode of expression.

As we were now in the country of stringent game-laws,
we were obliged to send all the way back to Nyampungo,
to give information to a certain person who had been left
there by the real owner of this district to watch over his
property, the owner himself-living near the Zambesi. The
side upon which the elephant fell had a short, broken tusk;
the upper one, which was ours, was large and thick. The
Banyai remarked on our good luck. The men sent to give
notice came back late in the afternoon of the following day.
They brought a basket of corn, a fowl, and a few strings
of handsome beads, as a sort of thank-offering for our
having killed it on their land, and said they had thanked
the Barimo besides for our success, adding, “There it is:
eat it and be glad.” Had we begun to cut it up before we
got this permission, we should have lost the whole. They
brought a large party to eat their half, and they divided it
with us in a friendly way. My men were delighted with
the feast, though, by lying unopened a whole day, the
carcass was pretty far gone. An astonishing number of
hyenas collected round and kept up a loud laughter for
two whole nights. Some of them do make a very good
imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the hyenas
were laughing at, as they usually give animals credit for a
share of intelligence. They said that they were laughing
because we could not take the whole, and that they would
have plenty to eat as well as we.

On coming to the part where the elephant was slain, we
passed through grass so tall that it reminded me of that in

INSECT-LIFE—BIRDS. 3889

the valley of Cassange. Insects are very numerous after
the rains commence. While waiting by the elephant, |
observed a great number of insects, like grains of fine sand,
moving on my boxes. On examination with a glass, four
species were apparent: one of green and gold preening its
wings, which glanced in the sun with metallic lustre;
another clear as crystal; a third of the color of vermilion ;
and a fourth black. These are probably some of those
which consume the seeds of every plant that grows.
Almost every kind has its own peculiar insect, and when
the rains are over very few seeds remain untouched. The
rankest poisons, as the kongwhane and euphorbia, are soon
devoured; the former has a scarlet insect; and even the fiery
bird’s-eye pepper, which will keep off many others from their
own seeds, is itself devoured by a maggot. I observed here,
what I had often seen before, that certain districts abound
in centipedes. Here they have light reddish bodies and
blue legs: great myriapedes are seen crawling everywhere.
Although they do no harm, they excite in man a feeling of
loathing. Perhaps our appearance produces a similar feel-
ing in the elephant and other large animals. Where they
have been much disturbed, they certainly look upon us with
great distrust, as the horrid biped that ruins their peace.
In the quietest parts of the forest there is heard a faint
bat distinct hum, which tells of insect joy. One may see
many whisking about in the clear sunshine in patches
among the green glancing leaves; but there are invisible
myriads working with never-tiring mandibles on leaves
and stalks and beneath the soil. They are all brimful of
enjoyment. Indeed, the universality of organic life may
be called a mantle of happy existence encircling the world,
and imparts the idea of its being caused by the conscious-
ness of our benignant Father’s smile on all the works of
his hands.

The birds of the tropics have been described as generally
wanting in power of song. I was decidedly of opinion

that this was not applicable to many parts in Londa,
33%

390 BIRDS—CATERPILLARS.

though birds there are remarkably scarce. Here the
chorus, or body of song, was not much smaller in volume
than it is in England. It was not so harmonious, and
sounded always as if the birds were singing in a foreign
tongue. Some resemble the lark, and, indeed, there are
several of that family; two have notes not unlike those of
the thrush. One brought the chafiinch to my mind, and
another the robin; but their songs are intermixed with
several curious abrupt notes unlike any thing English.
One utters deliberately “peek, pak, pok;’’? another has a
single note like a stroke on a violin-string. The mokwa
reza gives forth a screaming set of notes like our blackbird
when disturbed, then concludes with what the natives say
is “pula, pula,” (rain, rain,) but more like “weep, weep,
weep.” Then we have the loud cry of francolins, the
“pumpuru, pumpuru,” of turtle-doves, and the “chiken,
chiken, chik, churr, churr,” of the honey-guide. Occasion-
ally, near villages, we have a kind of mocking-bird, imi-
tating the calls of domestic fowls. These African birds
have not been wanting in song: they have only lacked
poets to sing their praises, which ours have had from the
time of Aristophanes downward. Ours have both a classic
and a modern interest to enhance their fame. In hot, dry
weather, or at mid-day when the sun is fierce, all are still:
let, however, a good shower fall, and all burst forth at once
into merry lays and loving courtship. The early mornings
and the cool evenings are their favorite times for singing.
There are comparatively few with gaudy plumage, being
totally unlike, in this respect, the birds of the Brazils.
The majority have decidedly a sober dress, though col-
lectors, having generally selected the gaudiest as the most
valuable, have conveyed the idea that the birds of tho
tropics for the most part possess gorgeous plumage.
15th.—Several of my men have been bitten by spiders
and other insects, but no effect except pain has followed.
A large caterpillar is frequently seen, called lezuntabuea.
lu is covered with long gray hairs, and, the body being

THE MOKORONGA. 391

dark, it resembles a porcupine in miniature, If one t uches
it, the hairs run into the pores of the skin, and remain
there, giving sharp pricks. There are others which have
a similar means of defence; and when the hand is drawn
across them, as in passing a bush on which they happen to
be, the contact resembles the stinging of nettles. From
the great number of caterpillars seen, we have a consider-
able variety of butterflies. One particular kind flies more
like a swallow than a butterfly. They are not remarkable
for the gaudiness of their colors.

In passing along, we crossed the hills Vungue or Mvung-
we, which we found to be composed of various eruptive
rocks. At one part we have breccia of altered marl or slate
in quartz, and various amygdaloids. It is curious to observe
the different forms which silicaassumes. We have it in clay-
stone porphyry here, no larger than turnip-seed, dotted
thickly over the matrix; or crystallized round the walls of
cavities once filled with air or other elastic fluid; or it may
appear in similar cavities as tufts of yellow asbestos, or as
red, yellow, or green crystals, or in lamine so arranged as to
appear like fossil wood. Vungue forms the watershed be-
tween those sand-rivulets which run to the N.E., and others
which flow southward, as the Kapopo, Ue, and Due, which
run into the Luia.

We found that many elephants had been feeding on the
fruit called mokoronga. This is a black-colored plum,
having purple juice. We all ate it in large quantities, as
we found it delicious. The only defect it has is the great
size of the seed in comparison with the pulp. This is the
chief fault of all uncultivated wild fruits. The moko-
ronga exists throughout this part of the country most
abundantly, and the natives eagerly devour it, as it is said
to be perfectly wholesome, or, as they express it, “It is
pure fat,” and fat is by them considered the best of food.
Though only a little larger than a cherry, we found that the
elephants had stood picking them off patiently by the hour.
We observed the footprints of a black rhinoceros (Rhina-

392 THE RHINOCEROS.

ceros bicornis, Linn.) and her calf. We saw other footprints
among the hills of Semalembue; but the black rhinoceros
is remarkably scarce in all the country north of the Zam-
besi. The white rhinoceros (Rhinoceros simus of Burchell,)
or Mohohu of the Bechuanas, is quite extinct here, and
will soon become unknown in the country to the south.
It feeds almost entirely on grasses, and is of a timid, un-
suspecting disposition: this renders it an easy prey, and
they are slaughtered without mercy on the introduction of
fire-arms. The black possesses a more savage nature, and,
like the ill-natured in general, is never found with an ounce
of fat in its body. From its greater fierceness and wariness,
it holds its place in a district much longer than its more
timid and better-conditioned neighbor. Mr. Oswell was
once stalking two of these beasts, and, as they came slowly
to him, he, knowing that there is but little chance of hitting
the small brain of this animal by a shot in the head, lay
expecting one of them to give his shoulder till he was
within a few yards. The hunter then thought that by
making a rush to his side he might succeed in escaping;
but the rhinoceros, too quick for that, turned upon him,
and, though he discharged his gun close to the animal’s
head, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensible
for some time, and, on recovering, found large wounds on
the thigh and body: I saw that on the former part still
open, and five inches long. The white, however, is not
always quite safe, for one, even after it was mortally
wounded, attacked Mr. Oswell’s horse, and thrust the
horn through to the saddle, tossing at the time both horse
and rider. I once saw a white rhinoceros give a buffalo,
which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in the chest,
but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get out
of the way. Four varieties of the rhinoceros are enume-
rated by naturalists, but my observation led me to conciude
that there are but two, and that the extra species have
been formed from differences in their sizes, ages, and the
direction of the horns; as if we should reckon the short-

HONEY AND WAX. 393

horned cattle a different species from the Alderneys or tho
Highland breed. I was led to this from having once seen
a black rhinoceros with a horn bent downward like that
of the kuabaoba, and also because the animals of the two
great varieties differ very much in appearance at different
stages of their growth. I find, however, that Dr. Smith,
the best judge in these matters, is quite decided as to the
propriety of the subdivision into three or four species. For
common readers it is sufficient to remember that there are
two well-defined species, that differ entirely in appearance
and food. The absence of both these rhinoceroses among
the reticulated rivers in the central valley may easily be
accounted for, they would be such an easy prey to the
natives in their canoes at the periods of inundation; but
one cannot so readily account for the total absence of the
giraffe and ostrich on the high open lands of the Batoka
north of the Zambesi, unless we give credence to the native
report which bounds the country still farther north by
another network of waters near Lake Shuia, and suppose
that it also prevented their progress southward. The Ba-
toka have no name for the giraffe or the ostrich in their lan-
guage; yet, as the former exists in considerable numbers
in the angle formed by the Leeambye and Chobe, they
may have come from the north along the western ridge.
The Chobe would seem to have been too narrow to act as
an obstacle to the giraffe, supposing it to have come into
that district from the south; but the broad river into
which that stream flows seems always to have presented
an impassable barrier to both the giraffe and the ostrich,
though they abound on its southern border, both in the
Kalahari Desert and the country of Mashona.

The honey-guides were very assiduous in their friendly
offices, and enabled my men to get a large quantity of
honey. But, though bees abound, the wax of these parts
forms no article of trade. In Londa it may be said to be
fully cared for, as you find hives placed upon trees in the
most lonesome forests. We often met strings of carriers

894 SLOW TRAVELLING.

Jaden with large blocks of this substance, each eighty or
a hundred pounds in weight, and pieces were offered to
us for sale at every village; but here we never saw a single
artificial hive. The bees were always found in the natural
cavities of mopane-trees. It is probable that the good
market for wax afforded to Angola by the churches of
Brazi! led to the gradual development of that branch of
commerce there. I saw even on the banks of the Quango as
much as sixpence paid for a pound. In many parts of the
Batoka country bees exist in vast numbers, and the tribute
due to Sekeletu is often paid in large jars of honey; but,
having no market nor use for the wax, it is thrown away.
This was the case also with ivory at the Lake Ngami at
the period of its discovery.

Though we are now approaching the Portuguese settle
ment, the country is still full of large game. My men
_ killed six buffalo-calves out of a herd we met. The abun-
dance of these animals, and also of antelopes, shows the in-
sufficiency of the bow and arrow to lessen their. numbers.
There are also a great many lions and hyenas, and there is
no check upon the increase of the former, for the people,
believing that the souls of their chiefs enter into them,
never attempt to kill them: they even believe that a chief
may metamorphose himself into a lion, kill any one he
chooses, and then return to the human form: therefore,
when they see one, they commence clapping their hands,
which is the usual mode of salutation here. The conse-
quence is that lions and hyenas are so abundant that we
see little huts made in the trees, indicating the places where
some of the inhabitants have slept when benighted in the
fields. As numbers of my men frequently left the line of
march in order to take out the korwes from their nests
or follow the honey-guides, they excited the astonishment
of our guides, who were constantly warning them of the
danger they thereby incurred from lions. Iwas often con-
siderably ahead of the main body of my men on this ac-
count, and was obliged to stop every hour or two; but, the

GRAPES. 398

sun being excessively hot by day, I was glad of the excuse
for resting. We could make no such prodigious strides as
officers in the Arctic regions are able to do. Ten or twelve
miles a day were a good march for both the men and my-
self; and it was not the length of the marches, but con-
tinuing day after day to perform the same distance, that
was so fatiguing. It was in this case much longer than ap-
pears on the map, because we kept out of the way of vil-
lages. I drank less than the natives when riding; but all my
clothing was now constantly damp from the moisture which
was imbibed in large quantities at every pond. One does
not stay on these occasions to prepare water with alum
or any thing else, but drinks any amount without fear. I
never felt the atmosphere so steamy as on the low-lying
lands of the Zambesi; and yet it was becoming cooler than
it was on the highlands.

- We crossed the rivulets Kapopo and Ue, now running but
usually dry. There are great numbers of wild grape-vines
growing in this quarter: indeed, they abound everywhere
along the banks of the Zambesi. In the Batoka country
there is a variety which yields a black grape of considerable
sweetness. The leaves are very large and harsh, as if capa-
ble of withstanding the rays of this hot sun; but the most
common kinds—one with a round leaf and a greenish
grape, and another with a leaf closely resembling that of
the cultivated varieties and with dark or purple fruit—-
have large seeds, which are strongly astringent and render
it a disagreeable fruit. The natives eat all the varieties; and
I tasted vinegar made by a Portuguese from these grapes.
Probably a country which yields the wild vines so very
abundantly might be a fit one for the cultivated species.
At this part of the journey so many of the vines had run
across the little footpath we followed that one had to
be constantly on the watch to avoid being tripped. The
ground was covered with rounded shingle, which was not
easily seen among the grass. Pedestrianism may be all
very well for those whose obesity requires much exercise ;

$96 THE UE—MONINA’S VILLAGE.

but for one who was becoming as thin as a lath, thioug.:
the constant perspiration caused by marching day after
day in the hot sun, the only good I saw in it was that it
gave an honest sort of a mana vivid idea of the tread-
mill.

Although the rains were not quite over, great numbers
of pools were drying up, and the ground was in many
parts covered with small green cryptogamous plants, which
gave it a mouldy appearance and astrong smell. As we
sometimes pushed aside the masses of rank vegetation.
which hung over our path, we felt a sort of hot blast on our
faces. Every thing looked unwholesome; but we had no
fever. The Ue flows between high banks of a soft red
sandstone streaked with white, and pieces of tufa. The
crumbling sandstone is evidently alluvial, and is cut into
twelve feet deep. In this region, too, we met with pot-
holes six feet deep and three or four in diameter. In some
cases they form convenient wells; in others they are full
of earth; and in others still the people have made them
into graves for their chiefs.

On the 20th we came to Monina’s village, (ile to the
sand-river Tangwe, latitude 16° 15’ 88” south, longitude
32° 32’ east.) ‘This man is very popular among the tribes,
on account of his liberality. Bordma, Nyampungo, Mo-
nina, Jira, Katolosa, (Monomotapa,) and Sasa, all acknow-
ledge the supremacy of one called Nyatéwe, who is re-
ported to decide all disputes respecting land.

When we told Monina that we had nothing to present
but some hoes, he replied that he was not in need of those
articles, and that he had absolute power over the country
in front, and if he prevented us from proceeding no one.
would say any thing to him. His little boy Borémo having
come to the encampment to look at us, I gave him a knife,
and he went off and brought a pint of honey for me. The
father came soon afterward, and I offered him a shirt. He
remarked to his councillors, “It is evident that this man
has moles for, if he had, his people would be buying

INSANITY AND DISAPPEARANCE OF MONAHIN. 397

provisions, but we don’t see them going about for that pur.
pose.” His council did not agree in this. They evidently
believed that we had goods but kept them hid, and we felt
it rather hard to be suspected of falsehood. It was pro-
bably at their suggestion that in the evening a war-dance
was got up about a hundred yards from our encampment.
as if to put us in fear and force us to bring forth presents.
Some of Monina’s young men had guns, but most were
armed with large bows, arrows, and spears. They beat
their drums furiously, and occasionally fired offa gun. As
this sort of dance is never got up unless there is an inten-
tion to attack, my men expected an assault. We sat and
looked at them for some time, and then, as it became dark,
lay down allready to give them a warm reception. Butan
hour or two after dark the dance ceased, and, as we then
saw no one approaching us, we went to sleep. During the
night, one of my head-men, Monahin, was seen to get up,
look toward the village, and say to one who was half
awake, ‘Don’t you hear what these people are saying?
Go and listen.” He then walked off in the opposite direc-
tion, and ‘never returned. We had no guard set, but every
one lay with his spear in his hand. The man to whom he
spoke appears to have been in a dreamy condition, for it
did not strike him that he ought to give the alarm. Next
morning I found to my sorrow that Monahin was gone,
and not a trace of him could be discovered. He had an
attack of pleuritis some weeks before, and had recovered,
but latterly complained a little of his head. 1 observed
him in good spirits on the way hither, and in crossing
some of the streams, as I was careful not to wet my feet,
he aided me, and several times joked at my becoming so
light. In the evening he sat beside my tent until it was
dark, and did not manifest any great alarm. It was pro-
bably either a sudden fit of insanity, or, having gon 2a little
way out from the camp, he may have been carried off by a
lion, as this part of the country is full of them. I iaeline to

the former opinion, because sudden insanity occurs when
34

898 - SAND-RIVER TANGWE.

there is any unusual strain upon their minds. Monahin was
in command of the Batoka of Mokwiné in my party, and he
was looked upon with great dislike by all that chief’s sub-
jects. The only difficulties I had with them arose in con-
sequence of being obliged to give orders through him.
They said Mokwine is reported to have been killed by tho
-Makololo, but Monahin is the individual whd put forth his
hand and slew him. When one of these people kills in
battle, he seems to have no compunction afterward; but
when he makes a foray on his own responsibility, and kills
aman of note, the common people make remarks to each
other, which are reported to him and bring the affair per-
petually to his remembrance. This iteration on the con-
science causes insanity, and, when one runs away in a wide
country like this, the fugitive is never heard of. Monahin
had lately become afraid of his own party from overhearing
their remarks, and said more than once to me, ‘They want
to kill me.” I believe if he ran to any village they would
take care of him. I felt his loss greatly, and spent three
days in searching for him. He was a sensible and most
obliging man. I sent in the morning to inform Monina of
this sad event, and he at once sent to all the gardens
around, desiring the people to look for him, and, should he
come near, to bring him home. He evidently sympathized
with us in our sorrow, and, afraid lest we might suspect
him, added, ‘‘We never catch nor kidnap people here. It
is not our custom. It is considered as guilt among all the
tribes.” I gave him credit for truthfulness, and he allowed
us to move on without further molestation.

After leaving his village, we marched in the bed of a
sand-river a quarter of a mile broad, called Tangwe.
Walking on this sand is as fatiguing as walking on snow.
The country is flat, and covered with low trees; but we see
high hills in the distance. A little to the south we have
those of the Lobole. This region is very much infested by
lions, and men never go any distance into the woods alone.
Having turned aside on one occasion at mid-day, and gone

THE ORDEAL MUAVI. 399

a short distance among grass a little taller than myself, an
animal sprang away from me which was certainly not an
antelope, but I could not distinguish whether it was a lion
orahyena. This abundance of carnivora made us lose alli
hope of Monahin. We saw footprints of many black rhi-
noceroses, buffalos, and zebras.

After a few hours we reached the village of Nyakoba.
Two men who accompanied us from Monina to Nyakoba’s
would not believe us when we said that we had no beads.
It is very trying to have one’s veracity doubted; but, on
opening the boxes, and showing them that all I had
was perfectly useless to them, they consented to receive
some beads off Sekwebu’s waist, and I promised to send
four yards of calico from Tete. As we came away from
Monina’s village, a witch-doctor, who had been sent for,
arrived, and all Monina’s wives went forth into the fields
that morning fasting. There they would be compelled
to drink an infusion of a plant named “goho,” which
is used as an ordeal. This ceremony is called “muavi,”
and is performed in this way. When a man suspects
that any of his wives has bewitched him, he sends
for the witch-doctor, and all the wives go forth into the
field and remain fasting till that person has made an
infusion of the plant. They all drink it, each one holding
up her hand to heaven in attestation of her innocency.
Those who vomit it are considered innocent, while those
whom it purges are pronounced guilty, and put to death by
burning. The innocent return to their homes, and slaughter
a cock as a thank-offering to their guardian spirits. The
practice of ordeal is common among all the negro nations
north of the Zambesi. This summary procedure excited
my surprise, for my intercourse with the natives here had
led me to believe that the women were held in so much
estimation that the men would not dare to get rid of them
thus. But the explanation I received was this. The
slightest imputation makes them eagerly desire the test;
they are conscious of being innocent, and have the fullest

400 WOMAN’S RIGHTS.

fuith in the muavi detecting the guilty alone: hence they
go willingly, and even eagerly, to drink it. When in An-
gola, a half-caste was pointed out to me who is one of the
most successful merchants in that country; and the mother
of this gentleman, who was perfectly free, went, of her
own accord, all the way from Ambaca to Cassange, to be
killed by the ordeal, her rich son making no objection.
The same custom prevails among the Barotse, Bashubia,
and Batoka, but with slight variations. The Barotse, for
instance, pour the medicine down the throat of a cock or
of a dog, and judge of the innocence or guilt of the person
accused according to the vomiting or purging of the
animal. I happened to mention to my own men the water-
test for witches formerly in use in Scotland: the supposed
witch, being bound hand and foot, was thrown into a pond:
if she floated, she was considered guilty, taken out, and
burned; but if she sank and was drowned, she was pro-
nounced innocent. The wisdom of my ancestors excited
as much wonder in their minds as their custom did in
mine.

The person whom Nyakoba appointed to be our guide,
having informed us of the decision, came and bargained
that his services should be rewarded with a hoe. I had
no objection to give it, and showed him the article: he
was delighted with it, and went off to show it to his wife.
He soon afterward returned, and said that, though he was
perfectly willing to go, his wife would not let him. I said,
“Then bring back the hoe;” but he replied, “I want it.”
“ Well, go with us, and you shall have it.” “But my wife -
won't let me.” Iremarked to my men, “ Did you ever
hear such a fool?” They answered, “Oh, that is the cus-
tom of these parts: the wives are the masters.” And
Sekwebu informed me that he had gone to this man’s
house, and heard him saying to his wife, ‘Do you think
that I would ever leave you?” then, turning to Sekwebu,
he asked, “Do you think I would leave this pretty
woman? Is she not pretty?’ Sekwebu had been making

WOMAN’S RIGHTS. 49]

inquiries among the people, and had found that the
women indeed possessed a great deal of influence. We
questioned the guide whom we finally got from Nya-
koba, an intelligent young man, who had much of the
Arab features, and found the statements confirmed.
When a young man takes a liking for a girl of another
village, and the parents have no objection to the match,
he is obliged to come and live at their village. He has
to perform certain services for the mother-in-law, such
as keeping her well supplied with firewood; and when
he comes into her presence he is obliged to sit with his
knees in a bent position, as putting out his feet toward
the old lady would give her great offence. If he becomes
tired of living in this state of vassalage, and wishes to re-
turn to his own family, he is obliged to leave all his chil-
dren behind: they belong to the wife. This is only a
more stringent enforcement of the law from which ema-
nates the practice which prevails so very extensively in
Africa, known to Europeans as “buying wives.” Such
virtually itis; but it does not appear quite in that light
to the actors. So many head of cattle or goats are given
to the parents of the girl “to give her up,” as it is termed,
—i.e. to forego all claim on her offspring and allow an
eutire transference of her and her seed into another family.
If nothing is given, the family from which she has come
can claim the children as part of itself: the payment is
made to sever this bond. In the case supposed, the young
man has not been able to advance any thing for that pur-
pose; and, from the temptations placed here before my
moan, I have no doubt that some prefer to have their
daughters married in that way, as it leads to the increase
of their own village. My men excited the admiration
of the Bambiri, who took them for a superior breed on
account of their bravery in elephant-hunting, and wished
to get them as sons-in-law on the conditions named; but
pone yielded to the temptation.

We were informed that there is a child belonging toa
2A 34%

49 THE WEATHER.

half-caste Portuguese in one of these tribes, and the father
had tried in vain to get him from the mother’s parents.
We saw several things to confirm the impression of the
higher position which women hold here; and, being anxious
to discover if I were not mistaken, when we came among
the Portuguese I inquired of them, and was told that they
had ascertained the same thing; and that, if they wished
a man to perform any service for them, he would reply,
“Well, I shall go and ask my wife.” If she consented, he
would go and perform his duty faithfully; but no amount
of coaxing or bribery would induce him to do it if she
refused. The Portuguese praised the appearance of the
Banyai; and they certainly are a fine race.

We got on better with Nyakoba than we expected. He
has been so much affected by the sesenda that he is quite
decrepit, and requires to be fed. I at once showed his
messenger that we had nothing whatever to give. Nya-
koba was offended with him for not believing me, and he
immediately sent a basket of maize and another of corn,
saying that he believed my statement, and would send
men with me to Tete who would not lead me to any other
village.

The birds here sing very sweetly, and I thought I heard
the canary, as in Londa. We had a heavy shower of rain;
and I observed that the thermometer sank 14° in one hour
afterward. From the beginning of February we expe-
rienced a sensible diminution of temperature. In January
the lowest was 75°, and that at sunrise; the average at
the same hour (sunrise) being 79°; at 3 P.m., 90°; and. at
sunset, 82°. In February it fell as low as 70° in the course
ot the night, and the average height was 88°. Only once did
it rise to 94°, and a thunder-storm followed this; yet the
sensation of heat was greater now than it had been at
much higher temperatures on more elevated lands.

We passed several villages by going roundabout ways
through the forest. We saw the remains of a lion that had
been killed by a buffalo, and the horns of a putokwane,

THE BANYAI. 403

(black antelope,) the finest I had ever seen, which had met
ts death by a lion. The drums, beating all night in ons
village near which we slept, showed that some person in it
had finished his course. On the occasion of the death of a
chief, a trader is liable to be robbed, for the people consider
themselves not amenable to law until a new one is elected.
We continued a very winding course, in order to avoid the
chief Katolosa, who is said to levy large sums upon those
who fall into his hands. One of our guides was a fine, tall
young man, the very image of Ben Habib the Arab. They
were carrying dried buffalo” 8 meat to ay market at Tete
as a private speculation.

A great many of the Banyai are of a light coffee-and-
milk color, and, indeed, this color is considered handsome
throughout the whole country, a fair complexion being as
much a test of beauty with them as with us. As they
draw out their hair into small cords a foot in length, and
entwine the inner bark of a certain tree round each sepa-
rate cord, and dye this substance of a reddish color, many
of them put me in mind of the ancient Egyptians. The
great mass of dressed hair which they possess reaches to
the shoulders, but when they intend to travel they draw it
up to a bunch and tie it on the top of the head. They are
cleanly in their habits.

As we did not come near human habitations, and could
only take short stages on account of the illness of one of
my men, I had an opportunity of observing the expedients
my party resorted to in order to supply their wants.
Large white edible mushrooms are found on the ant-hills,
and are very good. The mokuri, a tuber which abounds
in the Mopane country, they discovered by percussing the
grouud with stones; and another tuber, about the size of a
turnip, called “bonga,” is found in the same situations. It
does not determine to the joints like the mokuri, and in
winter has a sensible amount of salt in it. A fruit called
“ndongo” by the Makololo, “dongolo” by the Bambiri,
resembles in appearance a small plum, which becomes

404 PURSUED BY NATIVES.

black when ripe, and is good food, as the seeds are small.
Many trees are known by tradition, and one receives
curious bits of information in asking about different fruite
that are met with. A tree named “shekabakadzi” is su-
perior to all others for making fire by friction. As its
name implies, women may even readily make fire by it
when benighted.

We were tolerably successful in avoiding the villages,
and slept one night on the flanks of the hill Zimika, where
a great number of deep pot-holes afforded an abundant
supply of good rain-water. Here, for the first time, we
saw hills with bare, smooth, rocky tops, and we crossed
over broad dikes of gneiss and syenitic porphyry: the
directions in which they lay were N.and 8. As we were
now near to Tete, we were congratulating ourselves on
having avoided those who would only have plagued us;
but next morning some men saw us, and ran off to inform
the neighboring villages of our passing. A party imme-
diately pursued us, and, as they knew we were within cali
of Katolésa, (Monomotapa,) they threatened to send infor-
mation to that chief of our offence in passing through the
country without leave. We were obliged to give them two
small tusks; for, had they told Katolosa of our supposed
offence, we should in all probability have lost the whole.
We then went through a very rough, stony country with-
out any path. Being pretty well tired out in the evening
of the 2d of March, I remained at about eight miles’ distance
from Téte, Tétte, or Nyungwé. My men asked me to go
on: I felt too fatigued to proceed, but sent forward to the
commandant the letters of recommendation with which I
had been favored in Angola by the bishop and others, and
lay down to rest. Our food having been exhausted, my
men had been subsisting for some time on roots and honey.
About two o’clock in the morning of the 3d we were
aroused by two officers and a company of soldiers, who had
been sent with the materials for a civilized breakfast and a
“masheela” to bring me to Tete. (Commandant’s house:

GENEROSITY OF THE COMMANDANT. 405

lat. 16° 9’ 3’S., long. 33° 28’ E.) My companions thought
that we were captured by the armed men, and called me
in alarm. WhenI understood the errand on which they had
come, and nad partaxen ot a good breakfast, though I had
just before been too tired to sleep, all my fatigue vanished.
It was the most refreshing breakfast I ever partook of;
and I walked the last eight miles without the least feeling
of weariness, although the path was so rough that one of
the officers remarked to me, “This is enough to tear a
man’s life out of him.” The pleasure experienced in par-
taking of that breakfast was only equalled by the enjoy-
ment of Mr. Gabriel’s bed on my arrival at Loanda. It
was also enhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen
and the war was finished.

CHAPTER XXXI.
DR. LIVINGSTONE’S RESIDENCE AT TETE.

I was most kindly received by the commandant, Tito
Augusto d’ Araujo Sicard, who did every thing in his power
to restore me from my emaciated condition; and, as this
was still the unhealthy period at Kilimane, he advised me
to remain with him until the following month. He also
generously presented my men with abundant provisions of
millet; and, by giving them lodgings in a house of his own
until they could erect their own huts, he preserved them
from the bite of the tampans, here named Carapatos. We
had heard frightful accounts of this insect while among the
Banyai; and Major Sicard assured me that to strangers its
bite is more especially dangerous, as it sometimes causes
fatal fever It may please our homeopathic friends to hear
that, in curing the bite of the tampan, the natives admi-
nister one of the insects bruised in the medicine employed.

The village of Tete is built on a long slope down to the

406 TETE: ITS POPULATION

river, the fort being close to the water. The rock beneath
is gray sandstone, and has the appearance of being crushed
away from the river: the strata have thus a crumpled
form. The hollow between each crease is a street, the
houses being built upon the projecting fold. The rocks at
the top of the slope are much higher than the fort, and, of
course, completely command it. There is then a large
valley, and beyond that an oblong hill called Karueira.
There are about thirty European houses: the rest are
native, and of wattle and daub. A wall about ten feet
high is intended to enclose the village; but most of the
native inhabitants prefer to live on different spots outside.
There are about twelve hundred huts in all, which with
European households would give a population of about
four thousand five hundred souls. Only a small proportion
of these, however, live on the spot; the majority are en-
gaged in agricultural operations in the adjacent country.
Generally there are not more than two thousand people
resident, for, compared with what it was, Tete is now a
ruin. The number of Portuguese is very small; if we ex- .
clude the military, it is under twenty. Lately, however,
one hundred and five soldiers were sent from Portugal to
Senna, where in one year twenty-five were cut off by fever.
They were then removed to Tete; and here they enjoy
much better health, though, from the abundance of spirits
distilled from various plants, wild fruits, and grain, in
which pernicious beverage they largely indulge, besides
partaking chiefly of unwholesome native food, better health
could scarcely have been expected. The natives here un-
derstand the method of distillation by means of gun-barrels
and a succession of earthen pots filled with water to keep
them cool. The general report of the fever here is that,
while at Kilimane the fever is continuous, at Tete a man
recovers in about three days. The mildest remedies only
are used at first, and, if that period be passed, then the
more severe. .

The fort of Tete has been the salvation of the Portuguese

DECADENCE UF PORTUGUESE POWER. 407

power in this quarter. It is a small square building, with
a thatched apartment for the residence of the troops; and,
though there are but few guns, they are in a much better
state than those of any fort in the interior of Angola.
The eause of the decadence of the Portuguese power in
this region is simply this :—In former times, considerable
quantities of grain, as wheat, millet, and maize, were ex-
ported; also coffee, sugar, oil, and indigo, besides gold-dust
and ivory. The cultivation of grain was carried on by
means of slaves, of whom the Portuguese possessed a large
number. The gold-dust was procured by washing at various
points on the north, south, and west of Tete. A merchant
took all his slaves with him to the washings, carrying as
much calico and other goods as he could muster. On
arriving at the washing-place, he made a present to the
chief of the value of about a pound sterling. The slaves
were then divided into parties, each headed by a confiden-
tial servant, who not only had the supervision of his squad
while the washing went on, but bought dust from the inhabit-
ants and made a weekly return to his master. When several
masters united at one spot, it was called a “ Bara;” and
they then erected a temporary church, in which a priest
from one of the missions performed mass. Both chiefs
and people were favorable to these visits, because the
traders purchased grain for the sustenance of the slaves
with the goods they had brought. They continued at this
labor until the whole of the goods were expended; and by
this means about one hundred and thirty pounds of gold ~
were annually produced. Probably more than this was
actually obtained, but,as it was an article easily secreted,
this alone was submitted to the authorities for taxation. At
present the whole amount of gold obtained annually by
the Portuguese is from eight to ten pounds only. When
the slave-trade began, it seemed to many of the merchants
a more speedy mode of becoming rich to sell off the slaves
than to pursue the slow mode of gold-washing and agricul-
inure. and they continued to- export them until they had

408 TETE PLUNDERED AND BURNED.

neither hands to labor nor to fight for them. It was just
the story of the goose and the golden egg. The cotfee
and sugar plantations and gold-washings were abandoned,
because the labor had been exported to the Brazils. Many
of the Portuguese then followed their slaves, and the
Government was obliged to pass a law to prevent further
emigration, which, had it gone on, would have depopu-
lated the Portuguese possessions altogether. A clever
man of Asiatic (Goa) and Portuguese extraction, called
Nyaude, now built a stockade at the confluence of the
Luenya and Zambesi; and, when the commandant of Tete
sent an officer with his company to summon him to his
presence, Nyaude asked permission of the officer to dress
himself, which being granted, he went into an inner apart-
ment, and the officer ordered his men to pile their arms.
A drum of war began to beat a note which is well known
to the inhabitants. Some of the soldiers took the alarm
on hearing this note; but the officer, disregarding their
warning, was, with his whole party, in a few minutes dis-
armed and bound hand and foot. The commandant of
Tete then armed the whole body of slaves and marched
against the stockade of Nyaude; but when they came near
to it there was the Luenya still to cross. As they did not
effect this speedily, Nyaude despatched a strong party
under his son Bonga across the river below the stockade,
and up the left bank of the Zambesi until they came near
to Tete. They then attacked Tete, which was wholly un-
defended save by a few soldiers in the fort, plundered and
burned the whole town except the house of the command-
ant and a few others, with the church and fort. The
women and children fled into the church; and it is a re-
markable fact that none of the natives of this region will
ever attack a church. Having rendered Tete a ruin, Bonga
carried off all the cattle and plunder to his father. News
of this having been brought to the army before the stovk-
ade, a sudden panic dispersed the whole; and, as the fugi-
tives took roundabout ways in their flight, Katolosa, who

SEAMS OF COAL. 409

and hitherto pretended to be friendly with the Portuguese,
sent out his men to capture as many of them as they could.
They killed many for the sake of their arms. This is the
account which both natives and Portuguese give of the
uffair.

The merchants were unable to engage in trade, and com-
merce, which the slave-trade had rendered stagnant, was
now completely obstructed. The present commandant of
Tete, Major Sicard, having great influence among the
natives, from his good character, put a stop to the war
more than once by his mere presence on the spot. We
heard of him among the Banyai as a man with whom they
would never fight, because “he had a good heart.” Had
I come down to this coast instead of going to Loanda in
1855, I should have come among the belligerents while the
war was still raging, and should probably have been cut
off. My present approach was just at the conclusion of
the peace; and when the Portuguese authorities here
were informed, through the kind offices of Lord Clarendon
and Count de Lavradio, that I was expected to come this
way, they all declared that such was the existing state of
affairs that no European could possibly pass through the
tribes. Some natives at last came down the river to Tete
and said, alluding to the sextant and artificial horizon,
that “the Son of God had come,” and that he was “able
to take the Sun down from the heavens and place it under
his arm!’ Major Sicard then felt sure that this was the
man mentioned in Lord Clarendon’s despatch.

On mentioning to the commandant that I had discovered
a small seam of coal, he stated that the Portuguese were
already aware of nine such seams, and that five cf them
were on the opposite bank of the river. As soon as I had
cecovered from my fatigue I went to examine them. We
sroceeded in a boat to the mouth of the Lofubu or Revubu,
which is about two miles below Tete and on the opposite
yr northern bank. Ascending this about four miles against

» strong current of beautifully-clear water, we landed near
35

410 HOT SPRINGS.

a small cataract, and walked about two miles through very
fertile gardens to the seam, which we found to be in one
of the feeders of the Lofubu, called Muatize or Motize.
The seam is in the perpendicular bank, and dips into the
rivulet, or in a northerly direction. There is, first of all,
a seam ten inches in diameter, then some shale, below
which there is another seam, fifty-eight inches of which
are seen, and, as the bottom touches the water of the
Muatize, it may be more. This part of the seam is about
thirty yards long. There is then a fault. About one
hundred yards higher up the stream, black vesicular trap
is seen, penetrating in thin veins the clay shale of the
country, converting it into porcellanite, and partially
crystallizing the coal with which it came into contact.
On the right bank of the Lofubu there is another feeder
entering that river near its confluence with the Muatize,
which is called the Morongozi, in which there is another
and still larger bed of coal exposed. Farther up the Lo-
fubu there are other seams in the rivulets Inyavu and
Makare; also several spots in the Maravi country have
the coal cropping out. This has evidently been brought to
the surface by volcanic action at a later period than the
coal-formation.

I also went up the Zambesi, and visited a hot spring
called Nyamboroénda, situated in the bed of a small rivulet
named Nyaondo, which shows that igneous action is not
yet extinct. We landed at a small rivulet called Moko-
rozi, then went a mile or two to the eastward, where we
found a hot fountain at the bottom of a high hill. A litile
spring bubbles up on one side of the rivulet Nyaondo, and
a great quantity of acrid steam rises up from the ground
adjacent, about twelve feet square of which is so hot that
my companions could not stand on it with their bare feet.
There are several little holes from which the water
trickles; but the principal spring is in a hole a foot in
diameter and about the same in depth. Numbers of
bubbles are constantly rising. The steam feels acrid in

COAL-SEAMS. 411

the throat, but is not inflammable, as it did not burn when
I held a bunch of lighted grass over the bubbles. The
‘mercury rises to 158° when the thermometer is put into
the water in the hole; but after a few seconds it stands
steadily at 160°. Even when flowing over the stones the
water is too hot for the hand. Little fish frequently leap
out of the stream in the bed of which the fountain rises,
into the hot water, and get scalded to death. We saw a
frog which had performed the experiment and was now
cooked. The stones over which the water flows are in-
crusted with a white salt, and the water has a saline taste.
The ground has been dug out near the fountain by the
natives, in order to extract the salt it contains. It is
situated among rocks of syenitic porphyry in broad dikes,
and gneiss tilted on edge and having a strike to the N.H.
There are many specimens of half-formed pumice, with
greenstone and lava. Some of the sandstone strata are
dislocated by a hornblende rock and by basalt, the sand-
stone nearest to the basalt being converted into quartz.
The country around, as indeed all the district lying N.
and N.W. of Tete, is hilly, and, the hills being covered
with trees, the scenery is very picturesque. The soil of
the valleys is very fruitful and well cultivated. There
would not be much difficulty in working the coal. The
Lofubu is about sixty yards broad: it flows perennially,
and at its very lowest period, which is after September,
there is water about eighteen inches deep, which could be
navigated in flat-bottomed boats. At the time of my visit
it was full, and the current was very strong. If the small
cataract referred to were to be avoided, the land-carriage
beyond would only be about two miles. ‘The other seams
farther up the river may, after passing the cataract, be
approached more easily than that in the Muatize: as the
seam, however, dips down into the stream, no drainage
of the mine would be required, for if water were come to
it would run into the stream. I did not visit the others,
but I was informed that there are seams in the independent

412 WORKNEN’S WAGES.

native territory as well as in that of the Portugues: That
in the Nake is in the Banyai country; and, indeed, | have
no doubt but that the whole country between Zumbo and
Iupata is a coal-field of at least two and a half degrees
of latitude in breadth, having many faults, made during
the time of the igneous action. The gray sandstone rock,
having silicified trees lying on it, is of these dimensions.
The plantation in which the seam of coal exists would be
valued among the Portuguese at about 60 dollars, or £12;
but much more would probably be asked if a wealthy pur-
chaser appeared. They could not, however, raise the price
very much higher, because estates containing coal might
be had from the native owners at a much cheaper rate.
The wages of free laborers, when employed in such work
as goid-washing, agriculture, or digging coal, is two yards
of unbleached calico per day. They might be got to work
much cheaper if engaged by the moon, or for about sixteen
yards per month. For masons and carpenters even, the
ordinary rate is two yards per day. This is called one
braga. Tradesmen from Kilimane demand four bragas, or
eight yards, per day. English or American unbleached
calico is the only currency used. The carriage of goods
up the river to Tete adds about ten per cent. to their cost.
The usual conveyance is by means of very large canoes
and launches built at Senna.

The amount of merchandise brought up during the five
months of peace previous to my visit was of the value
of 30,000 dollars, or about £6000. The annual supply of
goods for trade is about £15,000,—being calico, thick
brass wire, beads, gunpowder, and guns. The quantity
ot the latter is, however, small, as the Government of
Mozambique made that article contraband after the com-
mencement of the war. Goods, when traded with in the
tribes around the Portuguese, produce a profit of only
about ten per cent., the articles traded in being ivory and
gold-dust. A little oil and wheat are exported, but nothing
else. Trade with the tribes beyond the exclusive ones is

TRADE—PRICES. 413

much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, £1 at
‘Tete, and £2 beyond the tribes in the vicinity of Tete:
these are a good price for a penful of gold-dust of the
value of £2. The plantations of coffee, which, previous to
the commencement of the slave-trade, yielded one material
for exportation, are now deserted, and it is difficult to find
a single tree. The indigo (Indigofera argentea, the common
wild indigo of Africa) is found growing everywhere, and
large quantities of the senna-plant* grow in the village
of Tete and other parts; but neither indigo nor senna is
collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance in
some parts farther down the river, is bought by the
Americans, it is said, to use as a dye-stuff. <A kind of
sarsaparilla, or a plant which is believed by the Portu-
guese to be such, is found from Londa to Senna, but has
never been exported.

The price of provisions is low, but very much higher
than previous to the commencement of the war. Two
yards of calico are demanded for six fowls: this is con-
sidered very dear, because before the war the same quan-
tity of calico was worth twenty-four fowls. Grain is sold
in little bags made from the leaves of the palmyra, like
those in which we receive sugar. They are called panjas;
and each panja weighs between thirty and forty pounds.
The panja of wheat at Tete is worth a dollar, or five shil-
lings; but the native grain may be obtained among the is-
lands below Lupata at the rate of three panjas for two yards
of calico. The highest articles of consumption are tea and
coffee, the tea being often as high as fifteen shillings a pound.
Food is cheaper down the river below Lupata, and previous
to the war the islands which stud the Zambesi were all in-
habited, and, the soil being exceedingly fertile, grain and
fowls could be got to any amount. The inhabitants disap-
peared before their enemies the Landeens, but are beginning

—_——.

* These appear to belong to Cassia acutifolia, or true senna of com-
maerce, found in various parts of Africa and India.—Dr. Hooker.
3o*

414 GOLD-WASHING.

to return since the peace. They have no cattle, the only
place where we found no tsetse being the district of Tete
itself; and the cattle in the possession of the Portuguese
are a mere remnant of what they formerly owned.

When visiting the hot fountain, I examined what were
formerly the gold-washings in the rivulet Mokoroze, which
is nearly on the 16th parallel of latitude. The banks are
covered with large groves of fine mango-trees, among which
the Portuguese lived while superintending the washing for
the precious metal. The process of washing is very labo-
rious and tedious. A quantity of sand is put into a wooden
bowl with water: a half-rotatory motion is given to the
dish, which causes the coarser particles of sand to collect
on one side of the bottom. These are carefully removed
with the hand, and the process of rotation renewed until
the whole of the sand is taken away and the gold alone
remains. It is found in very minute scales, and, unless I
had been assured to the contrary, I should have taken it to
be mica; for, knowing the gold to be of greater specific
gravity than the sand, I imagined that a stream of water
would remove the latter and leave the former; but here
the practice is to remove the whole of the sand by the
hand. This process was no doubt a profitable one to the
Portuguese, and it is probable that, with the improved plan
by means of mercury, the sands would be lucrative. I had
an opportunity of examining the gold-dust from different
parts to the east and northeast of Tete. There are six
well-known washing-places. These are called Mashinga,
Shindundo, Missala, Kapdta, Mano, and Jawa. From the
description of the rock I received, I suppose gold is found
both in clay shale and in quartz. At the range Mushinga
to the N.N.W. the rock is said to be so soft that the women
pound it into powder in wooden mortars previous to wash-
ing.

Round toward the westward, the old Portuguese indicate
a station which was near to Zumbo on the river Panyame.
and called Dambarari, near which much gold was found

EXTENT OF THE GOLD-REGION 415

Farther west lay the now unknown kingdom of Abttua,
which was formerly famous for the metal; and then, coming
round toward the east, we have the gold-washings of the
Mashona, or Baziztlu, and, farther east, that of Manica,
where gold is found much more abundantly than in any
other part, and which has been supposed by some to be the
Ophir of King Solomon. I saw the gold from this quarter
as large as grains of wheat, that found in the rivers which
run into the coal-field being in very minute scales. If we
pice one leg of the compasses at Tete, and extend the
other three and a half degrees, bringing it round from the
northeast of Tete by west, and then to the southeast, we
nearly touch or include all the known gold-producing coun-
try. As the gold on this circumference is found in coarser
grains than in the streams running toward the centre or
Tete, I imagine that the real gold-field lies round about the
coal-field; and, if I am right in the conjecture, then we
have coal encircled by a gold-field, and abundance of wood,
water, and provisions,—a combination not often met with
in the world. The inhabitants are not unfavorable to
~sashings conducted on the principle formerly mentioned.
At present they wash only when in want of a little calico.
They know the value of gold perfectly well; for they
bring it for sale in goose-quills, and demand twenty-four
yards of calico for one penful.

Major Sicard, the commandant, whose kindness to me
and my people was unbounded, presented a rosary made
of the gold of the country, the workmanship of a native
of Tete, to my little daughter,—also specimens of the gold-
dust of three different places, which, with the coal of
Muatize and Morongoze, are deposited in the Museum of
Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London.

All the cultivation is carried on with hoes in the native
manner, and considerable quantities of Holcus sorghum,
maize, Pennisetum typhoideum, or lotsa of the Balonda,
millet, rice, and wheat are raised, as also several kinds of
beans,—one of which, called ‘litloo”’ by the Bechuanas,

416 LIBERALITY OF COMMANDANT.

yields under ground, as well as the Arachis hypogea, or
yvroundnut; with cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons. The
wheat is sown in low-lying places which are annually
flooded by the Zambesi. When the waters retire, the
women drop a few grains in a hole made with a hoe, then
push back the soil with the foot. One weeding alone is
required before the grain comes to maturity. This simple
process represents all our sub-soil ploughing, liming, ma-
nuring, and harrowing, for in four months after planting a
good crop is ready for the sickle, and has been ict Owreiee
yield a hundred-fold. . It flourished still more at Zumbo.
No irrigation is required, because here there are gentle
rains, almost like mist, in winter, which go by the name
of ‘‘wheat-showers,’ and are unknown in the interior,
where no winter rain ever falls. The rains at Tete come
from the east, though the prevailing winds come from the
8.8.E. The finest portion of the flour does not make
bread nearly so white as the seconds, and here the boyaloa,
(pombe,) or native beer, is employed to mix with the flour
instead of yeast. It makes excellent bread. At Kilimane,
where the cocoanut-palm abounds, the toddy from it, called
“sura,” is used for the same purpose, and makes the bread
still lighter.

As it was necessary to leave most of my men at this
place, Major Sicard gave them a portion of land on which
to cultivate their own food, generously supplying them
with corn in the mean time. He also said that my young
men might go and hunt elephants in company with his
servants, and purchase goods with both the ivory and dried
meat, in order that they might have something to take with
them on their return to Sekeletu. The men were delighted
with his liberality, and soon sixty or seventy of them set
off to engage in this enterprise. There was no calico to be
had at this time in Tete, but the commandant handsomely
furnished my men with clothing. I was in a state of want
myself; and, though I pressed him to take payment m
ivory for both myself and men, he refused all recompeuse.

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 417

I shall ever remember his kindness with deep gratitude
He has written me, since my arrival in England, that my
men had killed four elephants in the course of two months
after my departure.

On the day of my arrival I was visited by all the gentle-
men of the village, both white and colored, including the
padre. Not one of them had any idea as to where the
source of the Zambesi lay. They sent for the best-travelled
natives; but none of them knew the river even as far as
Kansala. The father of one of the rebels who had been
fighting against them had been a great traveller to the
southwest, and had even heard of our visit to Lake Ngami;
but he was equally ignorant with all the others that the
Zambesi flowed in the centre of the country. They had,
however, more knowledge of the country to the north of
Tete than I had. One man, who had gone to Cazembe
with Major Monteiro, stated that he had seen the Luaputra
or Loapula flowing past the town of that chieftain into the
Luaméji or Leeambye, but imagined that it found its way,
somehow or other, into Angola. The fact that sometimes
rivers were seen to flow like this toward the centre of the
country led geographers to the supposition that Inner
Africa was composed of elevated sandy plains, into which
rivers ran and were lost. One of the gentlemen present,
Senhor Candido, had visited a lake forty-five days to the
N.N.W. of Tete, which is probably the Lake Maravi of
geographers, as in going thither they pass through the
people of that name. The inhabitants of its southern coast
are named Shiva, those on the north, Mujao; and they call
the lake Nyanja or Nyanje, which simply means a large
water, or bed of a large river. A high mountain stands
in the middle of it, called Murémbo or Murombola, which
is inhabited by people who have much cattle. He stated
that he crossed the Nyanja at a narrow part, and was
thirty-six hours in the passage. The canoes were punted
the whole way, and, if we take the rate about two miles

per hour, it may be sixty or seventy miles in breadth The
2B

418 THE SHIRE—EARTHQUAKES.

country all round was composed of level plains covered
with grass, and, indeed, in going thither they travelled
seven or eight days without wood, and cooked their food
with grass and stalks of native corn alone. The people
sold their cattle at a very cheap rate. From the southern
extremity of the lake two rivers issue forth: one, named
after itself, the Nyanja, which passes into the sea on the
east coast under another name; and the Shire, which flows
into the Zambesi a little below Senna. The Shire is named
Shirwa at its point of departure from the lake, and Senhor
Candido was informed, when there, that the lake was sim-
ply an expansion of the river Nyanja, which comes from
the north and encircles the mountain Murombo, the mean-
ing of which is junction or union, in reference to the water
having parted at its northern extremity and united again
at its southern. The Shire flows through a low, fiat,
marshy country, but abounding in population, and they
are said to be brave. The Portuguese are unable to navi-
gate the Shire up to the Lake Nyanja, because of the great
abundance of a water-plant which requires no soil, and
which they name “alfacinya” (Pistia stratiotes) from its
resemblance to a lettuce. This completely obstructs the
progress of canoes. In confirmation of this, | may state ~
wat, When I passed the mouth of the Shire, great quanti-
ties of this same plant were floating from it into the Zam-
besi, and many parts of the banks below were covered
with the dead plants.

Senhor Candido stated that slight earthquakes have hap-
pened several times in the country of the Maravi, and at
no great distance from Tete. The motion seems to come
from the eastward and never to have lasted more than a
few seconds. They are named in the Maravi tongue
“shiwo,” and in that of the people of Tete “shitakotéko,”
or “shivering.” This agrees exactly with what has taken
place in the coast of Mozambique,—a few slight shocks of
short duration, and all appearing to come from the east.
At Senna, too, a single shock has been felt several times,

KINDNESS OF PORTUGUESE 419

which shook the doors and windows and made the glasses
fngle. Both Tete and Senna have hot springs in their
vicinity, but the shocks seemed to come, aot from them,
but from the east, and proceed to the west. They are pro-
bably connected with the active volcanoes in the island of
Bourbon.

Having waited a month for the commencement of the
healthy season at Kilimane, I would have started at tke
beginning of April, but tarried a few days, in order that the
moon might make her appearance and enable me to take
lunar observations on my way down the river. A sudden
change of temperature happening on the 4th, simultane-
ously with the appearance of the new moon, the command-
ant and myself, with nearly every person in the house,
were laid up with a severe attack of fever. I soon re-
covered by the use of my wonted remedies; but Major
Sicard and his little boy were confined much longer.
There was a general fall of 4° of temperature from the
middle of March, 84° at 9 a.m., and 87° at 9 p.m.,—the
greatest heat being 90° at mid-day, and the lowest 81° at:
sunrise. It afforded me pleasure to attend the invalids in
their sickness,—though I was unable to show a tithe of the
gratitude I felt for the commandant’s increasing kindness.

The commandant provided for the journey most abun-
dantly, and gave orders to Lieutenant Miranda that I
should not be allowed to pay for any thing all the way to
the coast, and sent messages to his friends Senhors Ferrao,
Isidore, Asevedo, and Nunes, to treat me as they would
himself. From every one of these gentlemen I am happy
to acknowledge that I received most disinterested kind-
ness, and I ought to speak well forever of Portuguese hos-
pitality. Ihave noted each little act of civility received,
because, somehow or other, we have come to hold the Por-
tuguese character in rather a low estimation. This may
have arisen partly from the pertinacity with which some
of them have pursued the slave-trade, and partly from the
contrast which they now offer to their illustrious ancestors,

420 THE REBEL BONGA.

—the foremost navigators of the world. If my specification
of their kindnesses will tend to engender a more respectful
feeling to the nation, I shall consider myself well rewarded.
We had three large canoes in the company which had lately
come up with goods from Senna. They are made very
large and strong, much larger than any we ever saw in the
interior, and might strike with great force against a rock
and not be broken. The men sit at the stern when pad-
dling, and there is usually a little shed made over a part of
the canoe to shade the passengers from thesun. The boat
in which I went was furnished with such a covering; so 1
sat quite comfortably.

CHAPTER XXXII.

DR. LIVINGSTONE REACHES THE EAST COAST AND RETURNS
TO ENGLAND.

WE left Tete at noon on the 22d, and in the afternoon
arrived at the garden of Senhor A. Manoel de Gomez, son-
in-law and nephew of Bonga. The Commandant of Tete
had sent a letter to the rebel Bonga, stating that he ought
to treat me kindly, and he had deputed his son-in-law to
be my host. Bonga is not at all equal to his father Ny-
aude, who was a man of great ability. He is also in bad
odor with the Portuguese, because he receives all runaway
slaves and criminals. He-does not trust the Portuguese,
and is reported to be excessively superstitious. I found
his son-in-law, Manoel, extremely friendly, and able to con-
verse in a very intelligent manner. He was in his garden
when we arrived, but soon dressed himself respectably
and gave us a good tea and dinner. After a breakfast of
tea, roasted eggs, and biscuits next morning, he presented
six fowls and three goats as provision for the journey.

6

WAR-DRUM AT SHIRAMBA. 421

When we parted from him, we passed the stockade of
Bonga at the confluence of the Luenya, but did not go
near it, as he is said to be very suspicious. The Portuguese
advised me not to take any observation, as the instruments
might awaken fears in Bonga’s mind, but Manoel said L
might do so if I wished: his garden, however, being above
the confluence, could not avail as a geographical point
There are some good houses in the stockade. The trees of
which it is composed seemed to me to be living, and could
not be burned. It was strange to see a stockade menacing
the whole commerce of the river in a situation where the
guns of a vessel would have full play on it; but it is a
formidable affair for those who have only muskets. On
one occasion, when Nyaude was attacked by Kisaka, they
fought for weeks; and, though Nyaude was reduced to
cutting up his copper anklets for balls, his enemies were
not able to enter the stockade.

We sailed on quickly with the current of the river, and
found that it spread out to more than two miles in breadth:
it is, however, full of islands, which are generally covered
with reeds, and which previous to the war were inhabited
and yielded vast quantities of grain. We usually landed
to cook breakfast, and then went on quickly.

Next day we landed at Shiramba for breakfast, having
sailed eight and a half hours from Lupata. This was once
the residence of a Portuguese brigadier, who spent large
sums of money in embellishing his house and gardens:
these we found in entire ruin, as his half-caste son had
destroyed all, and then rebelled against the Portuguese,
but with less success than either Nyaude or Kisaka, for he
had been seized and sent a prisoner to Mozambique a short
time before our visit. All the southern shore has been
ravaged by the Caffres, who are here named Landeens;
and most of the inhabitants who remain acknowledge the
authority of Bonga and not of the Portuguese. When at
breakfast, the people of Shiramba commenced beating the
drum of war. Lieutenant Miranda, who was well ac-

36

429, SENNA: ITS RUINOUS STATE.

quainted with the customs of the country, immediately
started to his feet and got all the soldiers of our party
under arms: he then demanded of the natives why the
drum was beaten while we were there. They gave an
evasive reply; and, as they employ this means of collect-
ing their neighbors when they intend to rob canoes, our
watchfulness may have prevented their proceeding further.

We spent the night of the 26th on the island called
Nkuesi, opposite a remarkable saddle-shaped mountain,
and found that we were just on the seventeenth parallel
of latitude. The sail down the river was very fine; the
temperature becoming low, it was pleasant to the feelings ;
but, the shores being flat and far from us, the scenery was
uninteresting. We breakfasted on the 27th at Pita, and
found some half-caste Portuguese had established them-
selves there, after fleeing from the opposite bank to escape
Kisaka’s people, who were now ravaging all the Maganja
country. On the afternoon of the 27th we arrived at
Senna. (Commandant Isidore’s house, three hundred
yards 8.W. of the mud-fort on the banks of the river:
lat. 17° 27' 1” S., long. 35° 10’ H.) We found Senna to be
twenty-three and a half hours’ sail from Tete.

I thought the state of Tete quite lamentable; but that of
Senna was ten times worse. At Tete there is some life:
here every thing is in a state of stagnation and ruin. The
fort, built of sun-dried bricks, has the grass growing over
the walls, which have been patched in some places by
paling. The Landeens visit the village periodically and
levy fines upon the inhabitants, as they consider the Por-
tuguese a conquered tribe, and very rarely does a native
come to trade. Senhor Isidore, the commandant, a man
of considerable energy, had proposed to surround the whole
village with palisades as a protection against the Landeens,
and the villagers were to begin this work the day after I
left. It was sad to look at the ruin manifest in every
building; but the half-castes appear to be in league with
the rebels and Landeens; for when any attempt is made —

BOAT-BUILDING. 423

by the Portuguese to coerce the enemy or defend them-
selves, information is conveyed at once to the Landeen
camp, and, though the commandant prohibits the payment
of tribute to the Landeens, on their approach the half-
castes eagerly ransom themselves.

The village of Senna stands on the right bank of the
Zambesi. There are many reedy islands in front of it,
and there is much bush in the country adjacent. The soil
is fertile; but the village, being in a state of ruin, and
having several pools of stagnant water, is very unhealthy.

The most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the
aegroes of Senhor Isidore building boats after the Huropean
model, without any one to superintend their operations.
They had been instructed by a European master, but now
go into the forest and cut down the motondo-trees, lay
down the keel, fit in the ribs, and make very neat boats
and launches, valued at from £20 to £100. Senhor Isidore
had some of them instructed also in carpentry at Rio
Janeiro, and they constructed for him the handsomest
house in Kilimane, the woodwork being all of country
trees, some of which are capable of a fine polish, anu very
durable.

On the 9th of May sixteen of my men were employed to
carry Government goods in canoes up to Tete. They were
much pleased at getting this work. On the 11th the whole
of the inhabitants of Senna, with the commandant, accom-
panied us to the boats. A venerable old man, son of a
judge, said they were in much sorrow on account of the
miserable state of decay into which they had sunk, and of
the insolent conduct of the people of Kisaka now in the
village. We were abundantly supplied with provisions by
the commandant and Senhor Ferrao, and sailed pleasantly
down the broad river. About thirty miles below Senna
we passed the mouth of the river Zangwe on our right,
which farther up goes by the name of Pungwe; and about
five miles farther on our left, close to the end of a low
range into which Morumbala merges, we crossed the

424 EFFECTS OF FEVER.

mouth of the Shire, which seemed to be about two hundred
yards broad.

A few miles beyond the Shire we left the hills entirely,
and sailed between extensive flats. The banks seen in the
distance are covered with trees. We slept on a large in-
habited island, and then came to the entrance of the river
Mutu, (latitude 18° 3’ 87’S., longitude 35° 46’ E. :) the point
of departure is called Mazaro, or ‘mouth of the Mutu.”

I was seized by a severe tertian fever at Mazaro, but
went along the right bank of the Mutu to the N.N.E. and
E. for about fifteen miles. We then found that it was made
navigable by a river called the Pangazi, which comes into
it from the north.

My fever became excessively severe in consequence of
travelling in the hot sun, and the long grass blocking uj:
the narrow path so as to exclude the air. The pulse beat
with amazing force, and felt as if thumping against the
crown of the head. The stomach and spleen swelled enor
mously,—giving me, for the first time, an appearance which
I had been disposed to laugh at among the Portuguese.
At Interra we met Senhor Asevedo, a man who is well
known by all who ever visited Kilimane, and who was pre-
sented with a gold chronometer watch by the Admiralty
for his attentions to Hnglish officers. He immediately
tendered his large sailing-launch, which had a house in the
stern. This was greatly in my favor, for it anchored in
the middle of the stream, and gave me some rest from the
mosquitos, which in the whole of the delta are something
frightful. Sailing comfortably in this commodious launch
along the river of Kilimane, we reached that village (lati-
tude 17° 53’ 8” S., longitude 36° 40’ EH.) on the 20th of
May, 1856, which wanted only a few days of being four
years since I started from Cape Town. Here I was re-
ceived into, the house of Colonel Galdina José Nunes, one
of the best men in the country. I had been three years
without hearing from my family,—letters having been
frequently sent, but somehow or other, with but a single

THE AUTHOR’S OBLIGATIONS. 425

exception, they never reached me. I received, however, a
letter from Admiral Trotter, conveying information of their
welfare, and some newspapers, which were a treat indeed.
Her majesty’s brig the ‘‘ Frolic” had called to inquire for
me in the November previous, and Captain Nolluth, of
that ship, had most considerately left a case of wine; and
his surgeon, Dr. James Walsh, divining what I should need
most, left an ounce of quinine. These gifts made my heart
overflow. I had not tasted any liquor whatever during the
time I had been in Africa; but, when reduced in Angola to
extreme weakness, I found much benefit from a little wine,
and took from Loanda one bottle of brandy in my medi-
cine-chest, intending to use it if it were again required ;
but the boy who carried it whirled the box upside-down
and smashed the bottle, so that I cannot give my testimony
either in favor of or against the brandy.

But my joy on reaching the east coast was sadly embit-
tered by the news that Commander MacLune, of H.M.
brigantine “ Dart,” on coming in to Kilimane to pick me
up, had, with Lieutenant Woodruffe and five men, been lost
on the bar. I never felt more poignant sorrow. It seemed
as if it would have been easier for me to have died for them
than that they should all be cut off from the joys of life in
generously attempting to render me a service. I woull
aere acknowledge my deep obligations to the Earl of Cla-
cendon, to the admiral at the Cape, and others, for the kind
mterest they manifested in my safety : even the inquiries
made were very much to my advantage. I also refer with
feelings of gratitude to the Governor of Mozambique for
offering mea passage in the schooner “Zambesi,” belonging
to that province; and I shall never forget the generous
hospitality of Colonel Nunes and his nephew, with whom
I remained. One of the discoveries I have made is that
there are vast numbers of good people in the world; and
{ do most devoutly tender my unfeigned thanks to that
Gracious One who mercifully watched over me in every

36%

426 THE AUTHOR’S OBJECTS.

position and influenced the hearts of both black and white
to regard me with favor.

If the reader has accompanied me thus far, he may per-
haps be disposed to take an interest in the objects I pro-
pose to myself should God mercifully grant me the honor
of doing- something more for Africa. As the highlands
on the borders of the central basin are comparatively
healthy, the first object seems to be to secure a permanent
path thither, in order that Europeans may pass as quickly
as possible through the unhealthy region near the coast.
The river has not been surveyed, but at the time I came
down there was abundance of water for a large vessel; and
this continues to be the case during four or five months of
each year. The months of low water still admit of naviga-
tion by launches, and would permit small vessels equal to
the Thames steamers to ply with ease in the deep channel.
If a steamer were sent to examine the Zambesi, I would
recommend one of the lightest draught, and the months of
May, June, and July for passing through the delta; and
this not so much for fear of want of water as the danger
of being grounded on a sand or mud bank and the health
of the crew being endangered by the delay.

In the months referred to, no obstruction would be in-
curred in the channel below Tete. Twenty or thirty miles
above that point we have a small rapid, of which I regret
my inability to speak, as (mentioned already) I did not
visit it. But, taking the distance below this point, we have,
in round numbers, three hundred miles of navigable river.
Above this rapid we have another reach of three hundred
miles, with sand, but no mud-banks in it, which brings us
to the foot of the eastern ridge. Let it not, however, be
thought that a vessel by going thither would return laden
with ivory and gold-dust. "The Portuguese of Tete pick up
all the merchandise of the tribes in their vicinity; and,
though I came out by traversing the people with whom the
Portuguese had been at war, it does not follow that it will
be perfectly safe for others to go in whose goods may be a

THE AUTHOR’S OBJECTS. 427

stronger temptation to cupidity than any thing I possessed.
When we get beyond the hostile population mentioned, we
reach a very different race. On the latter my chief hopes
at present rest. All of them, however, are willing and
anxious to engage in trade, and, while eager for this, none
have ever been encouraged to cultivate the raw materials
of commerce. Their country is well adapted for cotton;
and I venture to entertain the hope that by distributing
seeds of better kinds than that which is found indigenous,
and stimulating the natives to cultivate it by affording
them the certainty of a market for all they may produce,
we may engender a feeling of mutual dependence between
them and ourselves. I have a twofold object in view, and
believe that, by guiding our missionary labors so as to
benefit our own country, we shall thereby more effectually
and permanently benefit the heathen. Seven years were
spent at Kolobeng in instructing my friends there; but, the
country being incapable of raising materials for exportation,
when the Boers made their murderous attack and scattered
the tribe for a season, none sympathized except a few
Christian friends. Had the people of Kolobeng been in
the habit of raising the raw materials of English commerce,
the outrage would have been felt in England; or, what is
more likely to have been the case, the people would have
raised themselves in the scale by barter, and have become,
hike the Basutos of Moshesh and people of Kuruman, pos-
sessed of fire-arms, and the Boers would never have made
the attack at all. We ought to encourage the Africans to
cultivate for our markets, as the most effectual means, next
to the gospel, of their elevation.

It is in the hope of working out this idea that I propose
the formation of stations on the Zambesi beyond the Por-
tuguese territory but having communication through them
with the coast. .A chain of stations admitting of easy and
speedy intercourse, such as might be formed along the flank
of the eastern ridge, would be in a favorable position for
carrying out the objects in view. The London Missionary

428 ARRANGEMENTS ON LEAVING AFRICA.

Society has resolved to have a station among the Makololo
on the north bank, and another on the south among the
Matebele. The Church—Wesléeyan, Baptist, and that most
energetic body, the Free Church—could each find desirable
locations among the Batoka and adjacent tribes. The
country is so extensive there is no fear of clashing. All
classes of Christians find that sectarian rancor soon dies
out when they are working together among and for the
real heathen. Only let the healthy locality be searched
for and fixed upon, and then there will be free scope to
work in the same cause in various directions, without that
loss of men which the system of missions on the unhealthy
coast entails. While respectfully submitting the plan to
these influential societies, I can positively state that, when
fairly in the interior, there is perfect security for life and
property among a people who will at least listen and
reason.

Eight of my men begged to be allowed to come as far
as Kilimane, and, thinking that they would there see the
ocean, I consented to their coming, though the food was so
scarce in consequence of a dearth that they were compelled
to suffer some hunger. They would fain have come far-
ther; for when Sekeletu parted with them his orders were
that none of them should turn until they had reached Ma
Robert and brought her back with them. On my explain-
ing the difficulty of crossing the sea, he said, ‘“‘ Wherever
you lead, they must follow.” As I did not know well how
I should get home myself, I advised them to go back to
Tete, where food was abundant, and there await my return.
I bought a quantity of calico and brass wire with ten of
the smaller tusks which we had in our charge, and sent
the former back as clothing to those who remained at Tete.
As there were still twenty tusks left, I deposited them
with Colonel Nunes, that, in the event of any thing hap-
pening to prevent my return, the impression might not be
produced in the country that I had made away with Seke-
letu’s ivory. I instructed Colonel Nunes, in case of my.

THE AUTHOR’S POSITION. 429

death, to sell the tusks and deliver the proceeds to my
men; but I intended, if my life should be prolonged, to
purchase the goods ordered by Sekeletu in England with
my Own money, and pay myself on my return out of the
price of the ivory. This I explained to the men fully, and
they, understanding the matter, replied, “ Nay, father, you
will not die; you will return to take us back to Sekeletu.”
They promised to wait till I came back; and, on my part,
J assured them that nothing but death would prevent my
return. This I said, though while waiting at Kilimane a
letter came from the Directors of the London Missionary
Society stating that “they were restricted in their power
of aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread
of the gospel, and that the financial circumstances of the
society were not such as to afford any ground of hope that
it would be in a position, within any definite period, to
enter upon untried, remote, and difficult fields of labor.”
This has been explained since as an effusion caused by tem-
porary financial depression; but, feeling perfect confidence
in my Makololo friends, 1 was determined to return and
trust to their generosity. The old love of independence,
which I had so strongly before joining the society, again
returned. It was roused by a mistaken view of what this
letter meant; for the directors, immediately on my reach-
ing home, saw the great importance of the opening, and
entered with enlightened zeal on the work of sending the
gospel into the new field. It is to be hoped that their con-
stituents will not only enable them to begin, but to carry
out their plans, and that no material depression will ever
again be permitted, nor appearances of spasmodic benevo-
Jence recur. While I hope to continue the same cordial
co-operation and friendship which have always character-
ized our intercourse, various reasons induce me to withdraw
from pecuniary dependence on any society. J have done
something for the heathen; but for an aged mother, who has
still more sacred claims than they, I have been able to do
nothing, and a continuance of the connection would bea

430 VILLAGE OF KILIMANE.

perpetuation of my inability to make any provision for her
declining years. In addition to “clergyman’s sore throat,”
which partially disabled me from the work, my father’s
death imposed new obligations; and, a fresh source of in-
come having been opened to me without my asking, I had
no hesitation in accepting what would enable me to fulfil
my duty to my aged parent as well as to the heathen.

The village of Kilimane stands on a great mud-bank,
and is surrounded by extensive swamps and rice-grounds.
The banks of the river are lined with mangrove-bushes,
the roots of which, and the slimy banks on which they
grow, are alternately exposed to the tide and sun. The
houses are well built of brick and lime, the latter from
Mozambique. If one digs down two or three feet in any
part of the site of the village, he comes to water: hence
the walls built on this mud-bank gradually subside; pieces
are sometimes sawn off the doors below, because the walls
in which they are fixed have descended into the ground, so
as to leave the floors higher than the bottom of the doors.
It is almost needless to say that Kilimane is very un-
healthy. A man of plethoric temperament is sure to get
fever, and concerning a stout person one may hear the
remark, “Ah, he will not live long; he is sure to die.”

After waiting about six weeks at this unhealthy spot,
in which, however, by the kind attentions of Colonel
Nunes and his nephew, I partially recovered from my ter-
tian, H.M. brig “Frolic” arrived off Kilimane. As the
village is twelve miles from the bar, and the weather was .
rough, she was at anchor ten days before we knew of her
presence about seven miles from the entrance to the port.
She brought abundant supplies for all my need, and £150
to pay my passage home, from my kind friend Mr. Thomp-
son, the Society’s agent at the Cape. The admiral at the
Cape kindly sent an offer of a passage to the Mauritius,
which I thankfully accepted. Sekwebu and one attendant
alone remained with me now. He was very intelligent, and
had been of the greatest service to me: indeed, but for his

ROUGH PASSAGE TO THE “FROLIC.” 431

good sense, tact, and command of the language of the
tribes through which we passed, I believe we should
scarcely have succeeded in reaching the coast. I naturally
felt grateful to him; and as his chief wished all my com-
panions to go to England with me, and would probably be
disappointed if none went, I thought it would be beneticial
for him to see the effects of civilization and report them to
his countrymen. I wished also to make some return for his
very important services. Others had petitioned to, come,
but I explained the danger of a change of climate and food,
and with difficulty restrained them. The only one who
now remained begged so hard to come on board ship that I
greatly regretted that the expense prevented my acceding
to his wish to visit England. I said to him, “You will die
if you go to such a cold country as mine.” “That is
nothing,” he reiterated; ‘‘let me die at your feet.”

When we parted from our friends at Kilimane, the sea
on the bar was frightful even to the seamen. This was the
first time Sekwebu had seen the sea. Captain Peyton had
sent two boats in case of accident. The waves were so high
that, when the cutter was in one trough and we in the
pinnace in another, her mast was hid. We then mounted
to the crest of the wave, rushed down the slope, and
struck the water again with a blow which felt as if she
had struck the bottom. Boats must be singularly well con-
structed to be able to stand these shocks. Three breakers
swept over us. The men lift up their oars, and a wave
comes sweeping over all, giving the impression that the
boat is going down; but she only goes beneath the top of
the wave, comes out on the other side, and swings down
the slope, and a man bales out the water with a bucket.
Poor Sekwebu looked at me when these terrible seas broke
over, and said, “Is this the way you go? Is this the way
you go?” Ismiled and said, “Yes; don’t you see it is?”
and tried to encourage him. He was well acquainted with
canoes, but never had seen aught like this. When wo
reached the ship,—a fine, large brig of sixteen guns anda

432 INSANITY OF SEKWEBU.

crew of one hundred and thirty,—she was rolling so that
we could see a part of her bottom. It was quite impossi-
ble for landsmen to catch the ropes and climb up; so a
chair was sent down, and we were hoisted in as ladies
usually are, and received so hearty an English welcome
from Captain Peyton and all on board that I felt myself at
once at home inevery thing except my own mother-tongue.
I seemed to know the language perfectly, but the words I
wanted would not come at my call. When I left England
I had no intention of returning, and directed my attention
earnestly to the languages of Africa, paying none to
English composition. With the exception of a short in-
terval in Angola, [had been three and a half years without
speaking English, and this, with thirteen years of previous
partial disuse of my native tongue, made me feel sadly at
a loss on board the “ Frolic.”

We left Kilimane on the 12th of July, and reached the
Mauritius on the 12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was
picking up English, and becoming a favorite with both men
and officers. Heseemed a little bewildered, every thing on
board a man-of-war being so new and strange; but he re-
marked to me several times, “‘ Your countrymen are very
agreeable,’ and, “What a strange country this is!—all water
together!’ He also said that he now understood why I
used the sextant. When we reached the Mauritius a
steamer came out to tow us into the harbor. The constant
strain on his untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax,
for during the night he became insane. I thought at first
that he was intoxicated. He had descended into a boat,
and, when I attempted to go down and bring him into the
ship, he ran to the stern and said, “No! no! it is enough
that I die alone. You must not perish; if you come, I
shall throw myself into the water.” Perceiving that his
mind was affected, I said, ““Now, Sekwebu, we are going
to Ma Robert.” This struck a chord in his bosom, and he
said, ““Oh, yes! where is she, and where is Robert?’ and
he seemed to recover The officers proposed to secure him

DEATH OF SEKWEBU—VOYAGE HOME. 433

by putting him in irons; but, being a gentleman in his own
country, I objected, knowing that the insane often retain
an impression of ill-treatment, and I could not bear to have
it said in Sekeletu’s country that I had chained one of his
principal men as they had seen slaves treated. I tried to get
him on shore by day, but he refused. In the evening a fresh
accession of insanity occurred: he tried to spear one of the
crew, then leaped overboard, and, though he could swim
well, pulled himself down hand under hand by the chain-
cable. We never found the body of poor Sekwebu.

At the Mauritius I was most hospitably received by
Major-General C. M. Hay, and he generously constrained
me to remain with him till, by the influence of the good
climate and quiet English comfort, I got rid of an enlarged
spleen from African fever. In November I came up the Red
Sea, escaped the danger of shipwreck through the admirable
management of Captain Powell, of the Peninsular and
Oriental Steam-Company’s ship “Candia,” and on the
12th of December was once more in dear old England.
The Company most liberally refunded my passage-money.
I have not mentioned half the favors bestowed ; but I may
just add that no one has cause for more abundant grati-
tude to his fellow-men and to his Maker than I have; and
may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that I
may be more humbly devoted to the service of the Author
of all our mercies!

2C 87

HISTORICAL NOTICES OF DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA,

In the time of Herodotus, and long afterward, the ge-
neral opinion was that Africa did not extend so far south
as the equatorial line. There existed, however,.a tradition
that Africa had been circumnavigated by the Pheenicians
about six centuries before the Christian era; but, if the
southern promontory of Africa had really been reached,
it is difficult to conceive how so erroneous an impression
could have prevailed as to the extent of the continent. It
is, therefore, most probable that such a voyage had never
succeeded; and, indeed, the circumstances under which it
was prosecuted, according to the accounts which have come
down to us, only add an additional feature of improbability
to the story. Turning to modern times, we find, at the
commencement of the fifteenth century, that Huropeans
were only acquainted with that portion of the western
coast of Africa which extends from the Straits of Gibraltar
to Cape Nun,—a line of coast not exceeding six hundred
miles in length. The Portuguese had the honor of extend-
ing this limited acquaintance with the outline of the African
continent. Their zeal for discovery in this direction became
truly a national passion, and the sovereigns and princes of
Portugal prosecuted this object with singular enthusiasm.
By the year 1471 the Portuguese navigators had advanced
23° south of the Line. In 1484, Diego Cam reached 22°
south latitude. The next navigator, Bartholomew Diaz,
was commanded to pursue his course southward until he
should reach the extremity of Africa; and to him belongs
the honor of discovering the Cape of Good Hope, the name
given to it at the time by the King of Portugal, though
Diaz had named it Cabo Tormentoso, (the Cape of Tem-
pests.) The Cape of Good Hope was at first frequently
called the Lion of the Sea, and also tho Head of Aftica
In 1497, Vasco de Gama set forth with the intention of
reathing India by sailing round the Cape of Good Hone

434

SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY. 435

After doubling the Cape, he pursued his course along the
eastern coast of Africa, and then stretched across the ocean
to India. The Portuguese had now ascertained the general
outline of Africa and the position of many of the principal
rivers and headlands. With the exception of a portion of
the coast from the Straits of Bab el Mandeb to Mukdeesha,
situated in 3° north latitude, the whole of the coast had
been traced by the Portuguese, and their zeal and enthu-
siasm, which had at one period been treated with ridicule,
were at length triumphantly rewarded, about four years
before Columbus had achieved his great discovery, which,
with that of Vasco de Gama, amply repaid a century of
speculative enterprise. This interesting combination of
events had a sensible effect upon the general mind of
Europe. The Portuguese soon formed settlements in
Africa, and began to acquire a knowledge of the interior
of the country. They were followed by the French, and
afterward by the English and the Dutch.

It is chiefly within the last fifty years that discoveries
in the interior of Africa have been perseveringly and sys-
tematically prosecuted. In 1788, a society was established
in London with the design of encouraging men of enter-
prise to explore the African continent. John Ledyard,
an American, was the first person selected by the African
Association for this task; and he set out in 1788 with the
intention of traversing the widest part of the continent
from east to west, in the supposed latitude of the river
Niger. Unfortunately, he was seized at Cairo with a
fever, of which he died. He possessed few scientific ac-
quirements; but his vigor and powers of endurance, mental
and bodily, his indifference to pain, hardship, and fatigue,
would have rendered him an admirable geographical pio-
neer. “I have known,” he said, shortly before leaving
England for the last time, “hunger and nakedness to tho
utmost extremity of human suffering: I have known what
it is to have food given as charity to a madman, and have
at times been obliged to shelter myself under the miseries

436 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY.

of that character to avoid a heavier calamity. My dis
tresses have been greater than I have ever owned, or eve1
will own, to any man. Such evils are terrible to bear; but
they never yet had the power to turn me from my purpose.”
Such was the indomitable energy of this man, the first of
a long list of victims in the cause of African discovery.
Mr. Lucas, who was despatched by the Association to sup-
ply the place of Ledyard, was compelled to return home
in consequence of several of the countries through which
he would have to pass being engaged in hostilities. In
1790, Major Houghton, an officer who was acquainted with
the customs of the Moors and Negroes, proceeded to Africa
under the auspices of the Association, and had made con-
siderable progress in the interior, when, after having been
treacherously plundered and left in the Desert, where he
endured severe privations, he reached Jarra, and died there
in September, 1791, it being strongly suspected that he was
murdered. The next individual on whom the Association
fixed was Mungo Park, who proceeded to the river Gambia
in 1795 and thence set out into the interior. The great
object accomplished during his journey was that of suc-
cessfully exploring the banks of the Niger, which had pre-
viously been considered identical with the river Senegal.
In 1804, Park set out upon his second journey, which was
undertaken at the expense of the Government. The plan
of former travellers had been to accompany the caravans
from one part of the country to another; but in this ex-
pedition Park required a party of thirty-six Europeans,
six of whom were to be seamen and the remainder soldiers,
it being his intention, on reaching the Niger, to build two
vessels, and to follow with his party the course of the river.
If the Congo and the Niger were the same stream, as was
then supposed, he anticipated little difficulty in his enter-
prise; but if, as was also maintained, the Niger terminated
in swamps and morasses, many hardships and dangers were
expected in their subsequent progress. Park at length
reached the Niger, accompanied only by seven of his party,

SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY 437

all of whom were in a state of great weakness from the
effects of the climate. They built one vessel, and, on the
17th of November, 1805, were ready to embark on the
river, previous to which Park sent despatches to England.
His party was now reduced to five, his brother-in-law having
died a few days before. Park’s spirit, however, remained
undaunted. ‘Though all the Europeans who are with me
should die,” said he, in his last letters to England, “and
though I myself were half dead, I would still persevere;
and, if I could not succeed in the object of my journey, I
would at least die in the Niger.” He embarked, therefore,
with the intention of sailing down the river to its mouth,
wherever that might be; but, after passing Timbuctoo and
several other cities, he was killed in the Niger, at a place
called Boussa, a short distance below Yaouri. No part of
his journal after he left Sansanding has ever been recovered.

In 1797, the African Association had engaged Mr. Horne-
mann, a German, who left Cairo in September, 1798, with
the intention of carrying into effect the objects of the As-
sociation by proceeding as far southward and westward as
he could get. In his last despatches he expressed himself
confident in being able to succeed in reaching a greater
distance into the interior than any other European traveller;
but, after reaching Bornou, no certain intelligence was ever
afterward heard concerning him. Mr. Hornemann learned
many particulars which had not before been known in
Europe respecting the countries to the east of Timbuctoo.
Mr. Nicholls, who was next engaged, arrived in the Gulf
of Benin in November, 1804, and died soon afterward of
the fever of the country. Another German, Boentzen, was
next sent to Africa. He had bestowed extraordinary pains
in making himself acquainted with the prevailing language,
and, throwing off his costume, proceeded in the character
of a Mussulman, but unhappily was murdered by his guides
on his way to Soudan. The next traveller sent out by the
Association was Burckhardt, a Swiss. He spent several

years in acquiring a knowledge of the language and customs
37*

438 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY.

of the people he intended to visit, and, like Mr. Boentzen,
assumed the characteristics of a Mussulman. He died at
Cairo in 1817, his travels having been chiefly confined to
the Abyssinian countries.

In 1816, an expedition was sent out by the Government,
under the command of Captain Tuckey, to the river Congo,
under the idea, in which Park coincided, that it and the
Niger were the same river. Captain Tuckey ascended the
Congo for about two hundred and eighty miles. At the
same time, Major Peddie, and, after his death, Captain
Campbell, proceeded from the mouth of the river Senegal
as far as Kakundy. In 1817, Mr. Bowdich explored the
countries adjoining Cape Coast Castle. In 1820, Mr. Jack-
son communicated an interesting account of the territories
of Timbuctoo and Houssa, from details which he had col-
lected from a Mussulman merchant. In 1819 and in 1821,
the expeditions of Messrs. Ritchie and Lyon, and of Major
Laing, showed the strong and general interest on the sub-
ject of African geography. In 1822, the important expedi-
tion under Major Denham and Lieut. Clapperton set forth.
After crossing the Desert, the travellers reached the great
inland sea or lake called the Tchad, the coasts of which to
the west and south were examined by Major Denham.
This lake, from four hundred to six hundred feet above the
level of the sea, is one of the most remarkable features in
the physical geography of Africa. Lieut. Clapperton, in
the mean time, proceeded through the kingdom of Bornou
and the country of the Fellatahs to Sockatoo, situated on a
stream supposed to run into the Niger. A great mass of
information respecting the countries eastward of Timbuctoo
was the result of his expedition. As to the course of the
Niger, very little intelligence was obtained which could be
depended upon: the natives stated that it flowed into the
sea at Funda, though what place on the coast was meant
still remained a conjecture. Soon after his return to Eng-
land, Clapperton was sent out by the Government to con-
duct a new expedition, and was directed to proceed to the

SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY 459

scene of his former adventures. Having reached the Niger
at Boussa, where Park was killed, he passed through various
countries, and reached Sockatoo, where he died; and Lan-
der, his friend and servant, commenced his return to Eng-
land with Clapperton’s journals and papers. Major I.aing,
meanwhile, had visited Timbuctoo, and transmitted home
accounts of this famous city, where he spent some weeks ;
but on his return he was murdered, and his papers have
never been recovered. We have not space to allude to the
many well-executed expeditions which have proceeded
from Cape Town for the purpose of exploring South
Africa, but have confined ourselves to those exertions which
had for their object the elucidation of the question concern
ing the course and termination of the Niger, and were con-
sequently directed to Central Africa.

The termination of the Niger had long been one of the
most interesting problems in African geography, and we
have now reached the period when, on this point, facts
were substituted for conjecture and hypothesis. The river
had first been seen by Park, near Sego, the capital of Bam-
barra. It was called by the natives the Joliba, or “Great
Water ;’ and Park described it as “flowing slowly to the

-eastward.” He followed the course of the river for about
three hundred miles, and was told that a journey of ten
days would bring him to its source. At Sockatoo, Lieut.
Clapperton found that it was called the Quorra, by which
name it is known in the most recent maps, it having re-
ceived the name of the Niger, in the first instance, from its
supposed identity with the Nigir of the ancients. The
want of information concerning the course and termination
of this mysterious river, until determined by actually pro-
ceeding down its channel to the sea, was, as may be sup-
posed, a fruitfol source of speculation among geographers.
By some it was supposed to flow into the Nile; others
imagined that a great central lake received its waters.
Major Rennel, an authority of great weight, came to the
conclusion that, after passing Timbuctoo, the Niger flowed

440 SKETCH OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY.

a thousand miles in an easterly direction, and terminated
in a lake or swamp; others supported the opinion that its ©
waters were lost in the arid sands of the Desert; while the
Congo was said by many to be its outlet. Major Laing, by
ascertaining the source of the Niger to be not more than
sixteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, proved that
it could not flow into the Nile; and Denham and Clappet-
ton demonstrated that it did not, as had been supposed,
discharge itself into the Lake of Bornou.

Richard and John Lander, in 1830, under the auspices
of the British Government, solved the long-disputed problem
of the course of the Niger by sailing down on its waters
from Boussa to the ocean, where it was found to terminate
in what was called the Nun, or First Brass River, from the
negro town of Brass situated on its banks.

An expedition under the auspices of the British Govern.
ment, and headed by Dr. Henry Barth, attended by Dr.
Overberg and Mr. James Richardson, was sent out in 1849
to prosecute discoveries in Northern Central Africa. Theix
travels and researches into the history and present state of
the interior tribes were continued till 1855, and their results
have recently been published by Dr. Barth. Dr. Overberg
died in 1854, and was buried on the shores of Lake Tchad
or Tsad. Mr. Richardson also fell a victim to the climate
before the close of the expedition.

Dr. Barth visited the countries of Bornou, Kanem, Man-
dara, Bagirmi, and others previously explored by Denham
and Clapperton, and carried his researches much farther,
reaching the eighth degree of north latitude. His volumes
contain much curious and minute information.

As Dr. Livingstone’s researches reach only the eighth
degree of north latitude, there still remains an immense
region of Interior Africa, sixteen degrees broad, open to
future explorers.

THE END.

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