{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1039/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1039","id":"gutenberg_1039","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1039","summary":null,"tags":["Africa","Category: Biographies","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Missions -- South Africa","South Africa","South Africa -- Description and travel"],"text":"Produced by Alan. R. Light and David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nMISSIONARY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA.\n\nAlso called, Travels and Researches in South Africa;\n\nor, Journeys and Researches in South Africa.\n\nBy David Livingstone\n\n[British (Scot) Missionary and Explorer--1813-1873.]\n\n\n\n   [NOTE by the Project Gutenberg Contributor of this file:\n\n   This etext was prepared by Alan. R. Light To assure a high quality text,\n   the original was typed in (manually) twice and electronically compared.\n   Italicized words or phrases are CAPITALIZED.\n\n   David Livingstone was born in Scotland, received his medical degree from\n   the University of Glasgow, and was sent to South Africa by the London\n   Missionary Society. Circumstances led him to try to meet the material\n   needs as well as the spiritual needs of the people he went to, and while\n   promoting trade and trying to end slavery, he became the first European\n   to cross the continent of Africa, which story is related in this book.\n   Two appendixes have been added to this etext, one of which is simply\n   notes on the minor changes made to make this etext more readable, (old\n   vs. new forms of words, names, etc.); the other is a review from the\n   February, 1858 edition of Harper's Magazine, which is included both for\n   those readers who want to see a brief synopsis, and more importantly to\n   give an example of how Livingstone's accomplishments were seen in\n   his own time. The unnamed reviewer was by no means as enlightened as\n   Livingstone, yet he was not entirely in the dark, either.\n\n   The casual reader, who may not be familiar with the historical period,\n   should note that a few things that Livingstone wrote, which might be\n   seen as racist by today's standards, was not considered so in his\n   own time. Livingstone simply uses the terms and the science of his\n   day--these were no doubt flawed, as is also seen elsewhere, in his\n   references to malaria, for example. Which all goes to show that it was\n   the science of the day which was flawed, and not so much Livingstone.\n\n   I will also add that the Rev. Livingstone has a fine sense of humour,\n   which I hope the reader will enjoy. His description of a Makololo dance\n   is classic.\n\n   Lastly, I will note that what I love most about Livingstone's\n   descriptions is not only that he was not polluted by the racism of his\n   day, but that he was not polluted by the anti-racism of our own. He\n   states things as he sees them, and notes that the Africans are, like all\n   other men, a curious mixture of good and evil. This, to me, demonstrates\n   his good faith better than any other description could. You see, David\n   Livingstone does not write about Africa as a missionary, nor as an\n   explorer, nor yet as a scientist, but as a man meeting fellow men. I\n   hope you will enjoy his writings as much as I did.\n\n   Alan R. Light\n\n   Monroe, N.C., 1997.]\n\n\n\n\n\nMISSIONARY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA;\n\nIncluding a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of\nAfrica, and a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda on the West\nCoast; Thence Across the Continent, Down the River Zambesi, to the\nEastern Ocean.\n\nBy David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L., Fellow of the Faculty of Physicians\nand Surgeons, Glasgow; Corresponding Member of the Geographical and\nStatistical Society of New York; Gold Medalist and Corresponding Member\nof the Royal Geographical Societies of London and Paris F.S.A., Etc.,\nEtc.\n\n\n\n\n\nDedication.\n\n\n\nTo\n\nSIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON,\n\nPresident Royal Geographical Society, F.R.S., V.P.G.S.,\n\nCorr. Inst. of France, and Member of the Academies of St. Petersburg,\n\nBerlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Brussels, Etc.,\n\n\nThis Work\n\nis affectionately offered as a Token of Gratitude for the kind interest\nhe has always taken in the Author's pursuits and welfare; and to express\nadmiration of his eminent scientific attainments, nowhere more strongly\nevidenced than by the striking hypothesis respecting the physical\nconformation of the African continent, promulgated in his Presidential\nAddress to the Royal Geographic Society in 1852, and verified three\nyears afterward by the Author of these Travels.\n\nDAVID LIVINGSTONE. London, Oct., 1857.\n\n\n\n\n\nPreface.\n\nWhen honored with a special meeting of welcome by the Royal Geographical\nSociety a few days after my arrival in London in December last, Sir\nRoderick Murchison, the President, invited me to give the world a\nnarrative of my travels; and at a similar meeting of the Directors of\nthe London Missionary Society I publicly stated my intention of sending\na book to the press, instead of making many of those public appearances\nwhich were urged upon me. The preparation of this narrative* has\ntaken much longer time than, from my inexperience in authorship, I had\nanticipated.\n\n   * Several attempts having been made to impose upon the public,\n   as mine, spurious narratives of my travels, I beg to tender my\n   thanks to the editors of the 'Times' and of the 'Athenaeum'\n   for aiding to expose them, and to the booksellers of London\n   for refusing to SUBSCRIBE for any copies.\n\nGreater smoothness of diction and a saving of time might have been\nsecured by the employment of a person accustomed to compilation; but my\njournals having been kept for my own private purposes, no one else\ncould have made use of them, or have entered with intelligence into the\ncircumstances in which I was placed in Africa, far from any European\ncompanion. Those who have never carried a book through the press\ncan form no idea of the amount of toil it involves. The process has\nincreased my respect for authors and authoresses a thousand-fold.\n\nI can not refrain from referring, with sentiments of admiration\nand gratitude, to my friend Thomas Maclear, Esq., the accomplished\nAstronomer Royal at the Cape. I shall never cease to remember his\ninstructions and help with real gratitude. The intercourse I had the\nprivilege to enjoy at the Observatory enabled me to form an idea of the\nalmost infinite variety of acquirements necessary to form a true and\ngreat astronomer, and I was led to the conviction that it will be long\nbefore the world becomes overstocked with accomplished members of that\nprofession. Let them be always honored according to their deserts; and\nlong may Maclear, Herschel, Airy, and others live to make known the\nwonders and glory of creation, and to aid in rendering the pathway of\nthe world safe to mariners, and the dark places of the earth open to\nChristians!\n\nI beg to offer my hearty thanks to my friend Sir Roderick Murchison,\nand also to Dr. Norton Shaw, the secretary of the Royal Geographical\nSociety, for aiding my researches by every means in their power.\n\nHis faithful majesty Don Pedro V., having kindly sent out orders to\nsupport my late companions until my return, relieved my mind of anxiety\non their account. But for this act of liberality, I should certainly\nhave been compelled to leave England in May last; and it has afforded me\nthe pleasure of traveling over, in imagination, every scene again,\nand recalling the feelings which actuated me at the time. I have much\npleasure in acknowledging my deep obligations to the hospitality and\nkindness of the Portuguese on many occasions.\n\nI have not entered into the early labors, trials, and successes of the\nmissionaries who preceded me in the Bechuana country, because that has\nbeen done by the much abler pen of my father-in-law, Rev. Robert Moffat,\nof Kuruman, who has been an energetic and devoted actor in the scene for\nupward of forty years. A slight sketch only is given of my own attempts,\nand the chief part of the book is taken up with a detail of the efforts\nmade to open up a new field north of the Bechuana country to the\nsympathies of Christendom. The prospects there disclosed are fairer than\nI anticipated, and the capabilities of the new region lead me to hope\nthat by the production of the raw materials of our manufactures, African\nand English interests will become more closely linked than heretofore,\nthat both countries will be eventually benefited, and that the cause of\nfreedom throughout the world will in some measure be promoted.\n\nDr. Hooker, of Kew, has had the kindness to name and classify for me,\nas far as possible, some of the new botanical specimens which I brought\nover; Dr. Andrew Smith (himself an African traveler) has aided me in\nthe zoology; and Captain Need has laid open for my use his portfolio\nof African sketches, for all which acts of liberality my thanks are\ndeservedly due, as well as to my brother, who has rendered me willing\naid as an amanuensis.\n\nAlthough I can not profess to be a draughtsman, I brought home with me\na few rough diagram-sketches, from one of which the view of the Falls of\nthe Zambesi has been prepared by a more experienced artist.\n\nOctober, 1857.\n\n\n\n\n\nContents.\n\n\n   Introduction. Personal Sketch--Highland Ancestors--Family\n   Traditions--Grandfather removes to the Lowlands--Parents--\n   Early Labors and Efforts--Evening School--Love of Reading--\n   Religious Impressions--Medical Education--Youthful Travels--\n   Geology--Mental Discipline--Study in Glasgow--London\n   Missionary Society--Native Village--Medical Diploma--\n   Theological Studies--Departure for Africa--No Claim to\n   Literary Accomplishments.\n\n   Chapter 1. The Bakwain Country--Study of the Language--Native\n   Ideas regarding Comets--Mabotsa Station--A Lion Encounter--\n   Virus of the Teeth of Lions--Names of the Bechuana Tribes--\n   Sechele--His Ancestors--Obtains the Chieftainship--His\n   Marriage and Government--The Kotla--First public Religious\n   Services--Sechele's Questions--He Learns to Read--Novel mode\n   for Converting his Tribe--Surprise at their Indifference--\n   Polygamy--Baptism of Sechele--Opposition of the Natives--\n   Purchase Land at Chonuane--Relations with the People--Their\n   Intelligence--Prolonged Drought--Consequent Trials--Rain-\n   medicine--God's Word blamed--Native Reasoning--Rain-maker--\n   Dispute between Rain Doctor and Medical Doctor--The Hunting\n   Hopo--Salt or animal Food a necessary of Life--Duties of a\n   Missionary.\n\n   Chapter 2. The Boers--Their Treatment of the Natives--Seizure\n   of native Children for Slaves--English Traders--Alarm of the\n   Boers--Native Espionage--The Tale of the Cannon--The Boers\n   threaten Sechele--In violation of Treaty, they stop English\n   Traders and expel Missionaries--They attack the Bakwains--\n   Their Mode of Fighting--The Natives killed and the School-\n   children carried into Slavery--Destruction of English\n   Property--African Housebuilding and Housekeeping--Mode of\n   Spending the Day--Scarcity of Food--Locusts--Edible Frogs--\n   Scavenger Beetle--Continued Hostility of the Boers--The\n   Journey north--Preparations--Fellow-travelers--The Kalahari\n   Desert--Vegetation--Watermelons--The Inhabitants--The Bushmen-\n  -Their nomad Mode of Life--Appearance--The Bakalahari--Their\n   Love for Agriculture and for domestic Animals--Timid\n   Character--Mode of obtaining Water--Female Water-suckers--The\n   Desert--Water hidden.\n\n   Chapter 3. Departure from Kolobeng, 1st June, 1849--\n   Companions--Our Route--Abundance of Grass--Serotli, a Fountain\n   in the Desert--Mode of digging Wells--The Eland--Animals of\n   the Desert--The Hyaena--The Chief Sekomi--Dangers--The\n   wandering Guide--Cross Purposes--Slow Progress--Want of Water--\n   Capture of a Bushwoman--The Salt-pan at Nchokotsa--The\n   Mirage--Reach the River Zouga--The Quakers of Africa--\n   Discovery of Lake Ngami, 1st August, 1849--Its Extent--Small\n   Depth of Water--Position as the Reservoir of a great River\n   System--The Bamangwato and their Chief--Desire to visit\n   Sebituane, the Chief of the Makololo--Refusal of Lechulatebe\n   to furnish us with Guides--Resolve to return to the Cape--The\n   Banks of the Zouga--Pitfalls--Trees of the District--\n   Elephants--New Species of Antelope--Fish in the Zouga.\n\n   Chapter 4. Leave Kolobeng again for the Country of Sebituane--\n   Reach the Zouga--The Tsetse--A Party of Englishmen--Death of\n   Mr. Rider--Obtain Guides--Children fall sick with Fever--\n   Relinquish the Attempt to reach Sebituane--Mr. Oswell's\n   Elephant-hunting--Return to Kolobeng--Make a third Start\n   thence--Reach Nchokotsa--Salt-pans--\"Links\", or Springs--\n   Bushmen--Our Guide Shobo--The Banajoa--An ugly Chief--The\n   Tsetse--Bite fatal to domestic Animals, but harmless to wild\n   Animals and Man--Operation of the Poison--Losses caused by it--\n   The Makololo--Our Meeting with Sebituane--Sketch of his\n   Career--His Courage and Conquests--Manoeuvres of the Batoka--\n   He outwits them--His Wars with the Matebele--Predictions of a\n   native Prophet--Successes of the Makololo--Renewed Attacks of\n   the Matebele--The Island of Loyelo--Defeat of the Matebele--\n   Sebituane's Policy--His Kindness to Strangers and to the Poor--\n   His sudden Illness and Death--Succeeded by his Daughter--Her\n   Friendliness to us--Discovery, in June, 1851, of the Zambesi\n   flowing in the Centre of the Continent--Its Size--The Mambari--\n   The Slave-trade--Determine to send Family to England--Return\n   to the Cape in April, 1852--Safe Transit through the Caffre\n   Country during Hostilities--Need of a \"Special Correspondent\"\n   --Kindness of the London Missionary Society--Assistance\n   afforded by the Astronomer Royal at the Cape.\n\n   Chapter 5. Start in June, 1852, on the last and longest\n   Journey from Cape Town--Companions--Wagon-traveling--Physical\n   Divisions of Africa--The Eastern, Central, and Western Zones--\n   The Kalahari Desert--Its Vegetation--Increasing Value of the\n   Interior for Colonization--Our Route--Dutch Boers--Their\n   Habits--Sterile Appearance of the District--Failure of Grass--\n   Succeeded by other Plants--Vines--Animals--The Boers as\n   Farmers--Migration of Springbucks--Wariness of Animals--The\n   Orange River--Territory of the Griquas and Bechuanas--The\n   Griquas--The Chief Waterboer--His wise and energetic\n   Government--His Fidelity--Ill-considered Measures of the\n   Colonial Government in regard to Supplies of Gunpowder--\n   Success of the Missionaries among the Griquas and Bechuanas--\n   Manifest Improvement of the native Character--Dress of the\n   Natives--A full-dress Costume--A Native's Description of the\n   Natives--Articles of Commerce in the Country of the Bechuanas--\n   Their Unwillingness to learn, and Readiness to criticise.\n\n   Chapter 6. Kuruman--Its fine Fountain--Vegetation of the\n   District--Remains of ancient Forests--Vegetable Poison--The\n   Bible translated by Mr. Moffat--Capabilities of the Language--\n   Christianity among the Natives--The Missionaries should extend\n   their Labors more beyond the Cape Colony--Model Christians--\n   Disgraceful Attack of the Boers on the Bakwains--Letter from\n   Sechele--Details of the Attack--Numbers of School-children\n   carried away into Slavery--Destruction of House and Property\n   at Kolobeng--The Boers vow Vengeance against me--Consequent\n   Difficulty of getting Servants to accompany me on my Journey--\n   Start in November, 1852--Meet Sechele on his way to England to\n   obtain Redress from the Queen--He is unable to proceed beyond\n   the Cape--Meet Mr. Macabe on his Return from Lake Ngami--The\n   hot Wind of the Desert--Electric State of the Atmosphere--\n   Flock of Swifts--Reach Litubaruba--The Cave Lepelole--\n   Superstitions regarding it--Impoverished State of the\n   Bakwains--Retaliation on the Boers--Slavery--Attachment of the\n   Bechuanas to Children--Hydrophobia unknown--Diseases of the\n   Bakwains few in number--Yearly Epidemics--Hasty Burials--\n   Ophthalmia--Native Doctors--Knowledge of Surgery at a very low\n   Ebb--Little Attendance given to Women at their Confinements--\n   The \"Child Medicine\"--Salubrity of the Climate well adapted\n   for Invalids suffering from pulmonary Complaints.\n\n   Chapter 7. Departure from the Country of the Bakwains--Large\n   black Ant--Land Tortoises--Diseases of wild Animals--Habits of\n   old Lions--Cowardice of the Lion--Its Dread of a Snare--Major\n   Vardon's Note--The Roar of the Lion resembles the Cry of the\n   Ostrich--Seldom attacks full-grown Animals--Buffaloes and\n   Lions--Mice--Serpents--Treading on one--Venomous and harmless\n   Varieties--Fascination--Sekomi's Ideas of Honesty--Ceremony of\n   the Sechu for Boys--The Boyale for young Women--Bamangwato\n   Hills--The Unicorn's Pass--The Country beyond--Grain--Scarcity\n   of Water--Honorable Conduct of English Gentlemen--Gordon\n   Cumming's hunting Adventures--A Word of Advice for young\n   Sportsmen--Bushwomen drawing Water--Ostrich--Silly Habit--\n   Paces--Eggs--Food.\n\n   Chapter 8. Effects of Missionary Efforts--Belief in the Deity--\n   Ideas of the Bakwains on Religion--Departure from their\n   Country--Salt-pans--Sour Curd--Nchokotsa--Bitter Waters--\n   Thirst suffered by the wild Animals--Wanton Cruelty in\n   Hunting--Ntwetwe--Mowana-trees--Their extraordinary Vitality--\n   The Mopane-tree--The Morala--The Bushmen--Their Superstitions--\n   Elephant-hunting--Superiority of civilized over barbarous\n   Sportsmen--The Chief Kaisa--His Fear of Responsibility--Beauty\n   of the Country at Unku--The Mohonono Bush--Severe Labor in\n   cutting our Way--Party seized with Fever--Escape of our\n   Cattle--Bakwain Mode of recapturing them--Vagaries of sick\n   Servants--Discovery of grape-bearing Vines--An Ant-eater--\n   Difficulty of passing through the Forest--Sickness of my\n   Companion--The Bushmen--Their Mode of destroying Lions--\n   Poisons--The solitary Hill--A picturesque Valley--Beauty of\n   the Country--Arrive at the Sanshureh River--The flooded\n   Prairies--A pontooning Expedition--A night Bivouac--The Chobe--\n   Arrive at the Village of Moremi--Surprise of the Makololo at\n   our sudden Appearance--Cross the Chobe on our way to Linyanti.\n\n   Chapter 9. Reception at Linyanti--The court Herald--Sekeletu\n   obtains the Chieftainship from his Sister--Mpepe's Plot--\n   Slave-trading Mambari--Their sudden Flight--Sekeletu narrowly\n   escapes Assassination--Execution of Mpepe--The Courts of Law--\n   Mode of trying Offenses--Sekeletu's Reason for not learning to\n   read the Bible--The Disposition made of the Wives of a\n   deceased Chief--Makololo Women--They work but little--Employ\n   Serfs--Their Drink, Dress, and Ornaments--Public Religious\n   Services in the Kotla--Unfavorable Associations of the place--\n   Native Doctors--Proposals to teach the Makololo to read--\n   Sekeletu's Present--Reason for accepting it--Trading in Ivory--\n   Accidental Fire--Presents for Sekeletu--Two Breeds of native\n   Cattle--Ornamenting the Cattle--The Women and the Looking-\n   glass--Mode of preparing the Skins of Oxen for Mantles and for\n   Shields--Throwing the Spear.\n\n   Chapter 10. The Fever--Its Symptoms--Remedies of the native\n   Doctors--Hospitality of Sekeletu and his People--One of their\n   Reasons for Polygamy--They cultivate largely--The Makalaka or\n   subject Tribes--Sebituane's Policy respecting them--Their\n   Affection for him--Products of the Soil--Instrument of\n   Culture--The Tribute--Distributed by the Chief--A warlike\n   Demonstration--Lechulatebe's Provocations--The Makololo\n   determine to punish him--The Bechuanas--Meaning of the Term--\n   Three Divisions of the great Family of South Africans.\n\n   Chapter 11. Departure from Linyanti for Sesheke--Level\n   Country--Ant-hills--Wild Date-trees--Appearance of our\n   Attendants on the March--The Chief's Guard--They attempt to\n   ride on Ox-back--Vast Herds of the new Antelopes, Leches, and\n   Nakongs--The native way of hunting them--Reception at the\n   Villages--Presents of Beer and Milk--Eating with the Hand--The\n   Chief provides the Oxen for Slaughter--Social Mode of Eating--\n   The Sugar-cane--Sekeletu's novel Test of Character--\n   Cleanliness of Makololo Huts--Their Construction and\n   Appearance--The Beds--Cross the Leeambye--Aspect of this part\n   of the Country--The small Antelope Tianyane unknown in the\n   South--Hunting on foot--An Eland.\n\n   Chapter 12. Procure Canoes and ascend the Leeambye--Beautiful\n   Islands--Winter Landscape--Industry and Skill of the Banyeti--\n   Rapids--Falls of Gonye--Tradition--Annual Inundations--\n   Fertility of the great Barotse Valley--Execution of two\n   Conspirators--The Slave-dealer's Stockade--Naliele, the\n   Capital, built on an artificial Mound--Santuru, a great\n   Hunter--The Barotse Method of commemorating any remarkable\n   Event--Better Treatment of Women--More religious Feeling--\n   Belief in a future State, and in the Existence of spiritual\n   Beings--Gardens--Fish, Fruit, and Game--Proceed to the Limits\n   of the Barotse Country--Sekeletu provides Rowers and a Herald--\n   The River and Vicinity--Hippopotamus-hunters--No healthy\n   Location--Determine to go to Loanda--Buffaloes, Elands, and\n   Lions above Libonta--Interview with the Mambari--Two Arabs\n   from Zanzibar--Their Opinion of the Portuguese and the English\n   --Reach the Town of Ma-Sekeletu--Joy of the People at the\n   first Visit of their Chief--Return to Sesheke--Heathenism.\n\n   Chapter 13. Preliminary Arrangements for the Journey--A Picho--\n   Twenty-seven Men appointed to accompany me to the West--\n   Eagerness of the Makololo for direct Trade with the Coast--\n   Effects of Fever--A Makololo Question--The lost Journal--\n   Reflections--The Outfit for the Journey--11th November, 1853,\n   leave Linyanti, and embark on the Chobe--Dangerous\n   Hippopotami--Banks of Chobe--Trees--The Course of the River--\n   The Island Mparia at the Confluence of the Chobe and the\n   Leeambye--Anecdote--Ascend the Leeambye--A Makalaka Mother\n   defies the Authority of the Makololo Head Man at Sesheke--\n   Punishment of Thieves--Observance of the new Moon--Public\n   Addresses at Sesheke--Attention of the People--Results--\n   Proceed up the River--The Fruit which yields 'Nux vomica'--\n   Other Fruits--The Rapids--Birds--Fish--Hippopotami and their\n   Young.\n\n   Chapter 14. Increasing Beauty of the Country--Mode of spending\n   the Day--The People and the Falls of Gonye--A Makololo Foray--\n   A second prevented, and Captives delivered up--Politeness and\n   Liberality of the People--The Rains--Present of Oxen--The\n   fugitive Barotse--Sekobinyane's Misgovernment--Bee-eaters and\n   other Birds--Fresh-water Sponges--Current--Death from a Lion's\n   Bite at Libonta--Continued Kindness--Arrangements for spending\n   the Night during the Journey--Cooking and Washing--Abundance\n   of animal Life--Different Species of Birds--Water-fowl--\n   Egyptian Geese--Alligators--Narrow Escape of one of my Men--\n   Superstitious Feelings respecting the Alligator--Large Game--\n   The most vulnerable Spot--Gun Medicine--A Sunday--Birds of\n   Song--Depravity; its Treatment--Wild Fruits--Green Pigeons--\n   Shoals of Fish--Hippopotami.\n\n   Chapter 15. Message to Masiko, the Barotse Chief, regarding\n   the Captives--Navigation of the Leeambye--Capabilities of this\n   District--The Leeba--Flowers and Bees--Buffalo-hunt--Field for\n   a Botanist--Young Alligators; their savage Nature--Suspicion\n   of the Balonda--Sekelenke's Present--A Man and his two Wives--\n   Hunters--Message from Manenko, a female Chief--Mambari\n   Traders--A Dream--Sheakondo and his People--Teeth-filing--\n   Desire for Butter--Interview with Nyamoana, another female\n   Chief--Court Etiquette--Hair versus Wool--Increase of\n   Superstition--Arrival of Manenko; her Appearance and Husband--\n   Mode of Salutation--Anklets--Embassy, with a Present from\n   Masiko--Roast Beef--Manioc--Magic Lantern--Manenko an\n   accomplished Scold:  compels us to wait--Unsuccessful Zebra-\n   hunt.\n\n   Chapter 16. Nyamoana's Present--Charms--Manenko's pedestrian\n   Powers--An Idol--Balonda Arms--Rain--Hunger--Palisades--Dense\n   Forests--Artificial Beehives--Mushrooms--Villagers lend the\n   Roofs of their Houses--Divination and Idols--Manenko's Whims--\n   A night Alarm--Shinte's Messengers and Present--The proper\n   Way to approach a Village--A Merman--Enter Shinte's Town:  its\n   Appearance--Meet two half-caste Slave-traders--The Makololo\n   scorn them--The Balonda real Negroes--Grand Reception from\n   Shinte--His Kotla--Ceremony of Introduction--The Orators--\n   Women--Musicians and Musical Instruments--A disagreeable\n   Request--Private Interviews with Shinte--Give him an Ox--\n   Fertility of Soil--Manenko's new Hut--Conversation with\n   Shinte--Kolimbota's Proposal--Balonda's Punctiliousness--\n   Selling Children--Kidnapping--Shinte's Offer of a Slave--Magic\n   Lantern--Alarm of Women--Delay--Sambanza returns intoxicated--\n   The last and greatest Proof of Shinte's Friendship.\n\n   Chapter 17. Leave Shinte--Manioc Gardens--Mode of preparing\n   the poisonous kind--Its general Use--Presents of Food--\n   Punctiliousness of the Balonda--Their Idols and Superstition--\n   Dress of the Balonda--Villages beyond Lonaje--Cazembe--Our\n   Guides and the Makololo--Night Rains--Inquiries for English\n   cotton Goods--Intemese's Fiction--Visit from an old Man--\n   Theft--Industry of our Guide--Loss of Pontoon--Plains covered\n   with Water--Affection of the Balonda for their Mothers--A\n   Night on an Island--The Grass on the Plains--Source of the\n   Rivers--Loan of the Roofs of Huts--A Halt--Fertility of the\n   Country through which the Lokalueje flows--Omnivorous Fish--\n   Natives' Mode of catching them--The Village of a Half-brother\n   of Katema, his Speech and Present--Our Guide's Perversity--\n   Mozenkwa's pleasant Home and Family--Clear Water of the\n   flooded Rivers--A Messenger from Katema--Quendende's Village:\n   his Kindness--Crop of Wool--Meet People from the Town of\n   Matiamvo--Fireside Talk--Matiamvo's Character and Conduct--\n   Presentation at Katema's Court: his Present, good Sense, and\n   Appearance--Interview on the following Day--Cattle--A Feast\n   and a Makololo Dance--Arrest of a Fugitive--Dignified old\n   Courtier--Katema's lax Government--Cold Wind from the North--\n   Canaries and other singing Birds--Spiders, their Nests and\n   Webs--Lake Dilolo--Tradition--Sagacity of Ants.\n\n   Chapter 18. The Watershed between the northern and southern\n   Rivers--A deep Valley--Rustic Bridge--Fountains on the Slopes\n   of the Valleys--Village of Kabinje--Good Effects of the Belief\n   in the Power of Charms--Demand for Gunpowder and English\n   Calico--The Kasai--Vexatious Trick--Want of Food--No Game--\n   Katende's unreasonable Demand--A grave Offense--Toll-bridge\n   Keeper--Greedy Guides--Flooded Valleys--Swim the Nyuana Loke--\n   Prompt Kindness of my Men--Makololo Remarks on the rich\n   uncultivated Valleys--Difference in the Color of Africans--\n   Reach a Village of the Chiboque--The Head Man's impudent\n   Message--Surrounds our Encampment with his Warriors--The\n   Pretense--Their Demand--Prospect of a Fight--Way in which it\n   was averted--Change our Path--Summer--Fever--Beehives and the\n   Honey-guide--Instinct of Trees--Climbers--The Ox Sinbad--\n   Absence of Thorns in the Forests--Plant peculiar to a forsaken\n   Garden--Bad Guides--Insubordination suppressed--Beset by\n   Enemies--A Robber Party--More Troubles--Detained by Ionga\n   Panza--His Village--Annoyed by Bangala Traders--My Men\n   discouraged--Their Determination and Precaution.\n\n   Chapter 19. Guides prepaid--Bark Canoes--Deserted by Guides--\n   Mistakes respecting the Coanza--Feelings of freed Slaves--\n   Gardens and Villages--Native Traders--A Grave--Valley of the\n   Quango--Bamboo--White Larvae used as Food--Bashinje Insolence--\n   A posing Question--The Chief Sansawe--His Hostility--Pass him\n   safely--The River Quango--Chief's mode of dressing his Hair--\n   Opposition--Opportune Aid by Cypriano--His generous\n   Hospitality--Ability of Half-castes to read and write--Books\n   and Images--Marauding Party burned in the Grass--Arrive at\n   Cassange--A good Supper--Kindness of Captain Neves--\n   Portuguese Curiosity and Questions--Anniversary of the\n   Resurrection--No Prejudice against Color--Country around\n   Cassange--Sell Sekeletu's Ivory--Makololo's Surprise at the\n   high Price obtained--Proposal to return Home, and Reasons--\n   Soldier-guide--Hill Kasala--Tala Mungongo, Village of--\n   Civility of Basongo--True Negroes--A Field of Wheat--Carriers--\n   Sleeping-places--Fever--Enter District of Ambaca--Good Fruits\n   of Jesuit Teaching--The 'Tampan'; its Bite--Universal\n   Hospitality of the Portuguese--A Tale of the Mambari--\n   Exhilarating Effects of Highland Scenery--District of Golungo\n   Alto--Want of good Roads--Fertility--Forests of gigantic\n   Timber--Native Carpenters--Coffee Estate--Sterility of Country\n   near the Coast--Mosquitoes--Fears of the Makololo--Welcome by\n   Mr. Gabriel to Loanda.\n\n   Chapter 20. Continued Sickness--Kindness of the Bishop of\n   Angola and her Majesty's Officers--Mr. Gabriel's unwearied\n   Hospitality--Serious Deportment of the Makololo--They visit\n   Ships of War--Politeness of the Officers and Men--The Makololo\n   attend Mass in the Cathedral--Their Remarks--Find Employment\n   in collecting Firewood and unloading Coal--Their superior\n   Judgment respecting Goods--Beneficial Influence of the Bishop\n   of Angola--The City of St. Paul de Loanda--The Harbor--Custom-\n   house--No English Merchants--Sincerity of the Portuguese\n   Government in suppressing the Slave-trade--Convict Soldiers--\n   Presents from Bishop and Merchants for Sekeletu--Outfit--Leave\n   Loanda 20th September, 1854--Accompanied by Mr. Gabriel as far\n   as Icollo i Bengo--Sugar Manufactory--Geology of this part of\n   the Country--Women spinning Cotton--Its Price--Native Weavers--\n   Market-places--Cazengo; its Coffee Plantations--South\n   American Trees--Ruins of Iron Foundry--Native Miners--The\n   Banks of the Lucalla--Cottages with Stages--Tobacco-plants--\n   Town of Massangano--Sugar and Rice--Superior District for\n   Cotton--Portuguese Merchants and foreign Enterprise--Ruins--\n   The Fort and its ancient Guns--Former Importance of\n   Massangano--Fires--The Tribe Kisama--Peculiar Variety of\n   Domestic Fowl--Coffee Plantations--Return to Golungo Alto--\n   Self-complacency of the Makololo--Fever--Jaundice--Insanity.\n\n   Chapter 21. Visit a deserted Convent--Favorable Report of\n   Jesuits and their Teaching--Gradations of native Society--\n   Punishment of Thieves--Palm-toddy; its baneful Effects--\n   Freemasons--Marriages and Funerals--Litigation--Mr. Canto's\n   Illness--Bad Behavior of his Slaves--An Entertainment--Ideas\n   on Free Labor--Loss of American Cotton-seed--Abundance of\n   Cotton in the country--Sickness of Sekeletu's Horse--Eclipse\n   of the Sun--Insects which distill Water--Experiments with\n   them--Proceed to Ambaca--Sickly Season--Office of Commandant--\n   Punishment of official Delinquents--Present from Mr. Schut of\n   Loanda--Visit Pungo Andongo--Its good Pasturage, Grain, Fruit,\n   etc.--The Fort and columnar Rocks--The Queen of Jinga--\n   Salubrity of Pungo Andongo--Price of a Slave--A Merchant-\n   prince--His Hospitality--Hear of the Loss of my Papers in\n   \"Forerunner\"--Narrow Escape from an Alligator--Ancient Burial-\n   places--Neglect of Agriculture in Angola--Manioc the staple\n   Product--Its Cheapness--Sickness--Friendly Visit from a\n   colored Priest--The Prince of Congo--No Priests in the\n   Interior of Angola.\n\n   Chapter 22. Leave Pungo Andongo--Extent of Portuguese Power--\n   Meet Traders and Carriers--Red Ants; their fierce Attack;\n   Usefulness; Numbers--Descend the Heights of Tala Mungongo--\n   Fruit-trees in the Valley of Cassange--Edible Muscle--Birds--\n   Cassange Village--Quinine and Cathory--Sickness of Captain\n   Neves' Infant--A Diviner thrashed--Death of the Child--\n   Mourning--Loss of Life from the Ordeal--Wide-spread\n   Superstitions--The Chieftainship--Charms--Receive Copies of\n   the \"Times\"--Trading Pombeiros--Present for Matiamvo--Fever\n   after westerly Winds--Capabilities of Angola for producing the\n   raw Materials of English Manufacture--Trading Parties with\n   Ivory--More Fever--A Hyaena's Choice--Makololo Opinion of the\n   Portuguese--Cypriano's Debt--A Funeral--Dread of disembodied\n   Spirits--Beautiful Morning Scenes--Crossing the Quango--\n   Ambakistas called \"The Jews of Angola\"--Fashions of the\n   Bashinje--Approach the Village of Sansawe--His Idea of\n   Dignity--The Pombeiros' Present--Long Detention--A Blow on the\n   Beard--Attacked in a Forest--Sudden Conversion of a fighting\n   Chief to Peace Principles by means of a Revolver--No Blood\n   shed in consequence--Rate of Traveling--Slave Women--Way of\n   addressing Slaves--Their thievish Propensities--Feeders of the\n   Congo or Zaire--Obliged to refuse Presents--Cross the Loajima--\n   Appearance of People; Hair Fashions.\n\n   Chapter 23. Make a Detour southward--Peculiarities of the\n   Inhabitants--Scarcity of Animals--Forests--Geological\n   Structure of the Country--Abundance and Cheapness of Food near\n   the Chihombo--A Slave lost--The Makololo Opinion of\n   Slaveholders--Funeral Obsequies in Cabango--Send a Sketch of\n   the Country to Mr. Gabriel--Native Information respecting the\n   Kasai and Quango--The Trade with Luba--Drainage of Londa--\n   Report of Matiamvo's Country and Government--Senhor Faria's\n   Present to a Chief--The Balonda Mode of spending Time--\n   Faithless Guide--Makololo lament the Ignorance of the Balonda--\n   Eagerness of the Villagers for Trade--Civility of a Female\n   Chief--The Chief Bango and his People--Refuse to eat Beef--\n   Ambition of Africans to have a Village--Winters in the\n   Interior--Spring at Kolobeng--White Ants:  \"Never could desire\n   to eat any thing better\"--Young Herbage and Animals--Valley of\n   the Loembwe--The white Man a Hobgoblin--Specimen of\n   Quarreling--Eager Desire for Calico--Want of Clothing at\n   Kawawa's--Funeral Observances--Agreeable Intercourse with\n   Kawawa--His impudent Demand--Unpleasant Parting--Kawawa tries\n   to prevent our crossing the River Kasai--Stratagem.\n\n   Chapter 24. Level Plains--Vultures and other Birds--Diversity\n   of Color in Flowers of the same Species--The Sundew--Twenty-\n   seventh Attack of Fever--A River which flows in opposite\n   Directions--Lake Dilolo the Watershed between the Atlantic and\n   Indian Oceans--Position of Rocks--Sir Roderick Murchison's\n   Explanation--Characteristics of the Rainy Season in connection\n   with the Floods of the Zambesi and the Nile--Probable Reason\n   of Difference in Amount of Rain South and North of the\n   Equator--Arab Reports of Region east of Londa--Probable\n   Watershed of the Zambesi and the Nile--Lake Dilolo--Reach\n   Katema's Town:  his renewed Hospitality; desire to appear like\n   a White Man; ludicrous Departure--Jackdaws--Ford southern\n   Branch of Lake Dilolo--Small Fish--Project for a Makololo\n   Village near the Confluence of the Leeba and the Leeambye--\n   Hearty Welcome from Shinte--Kolimbota's Wound--Plant-seeds and\n   Fruit-trees brought from Angola--Masiko and Limboa's Quarrel--\n   Nyamoana now a Widow--Purchase Canoes and descend the Leeba--\n   Herds of wild Animals on its Banks--Unsuccessful Buffalo-\n   hunt--Frogs--Sinbad and the Tsetse--Dispatch a Message to\n   Manenko--Arrival of her Husband Sambanza--The Ceremony called\n   Kasendi--Unexpected Fee for performing a surgical Operation--\n   Social Condition of the Tribes--Desertion of Mboenga--\n   Stratagem of Mambowe Hunters--Water-turtles--Charged by a\n   Buffalo--Reception from the People of Libonta--Explain the\n   Causes of our long Delay--Pitsane's Speech--Thanksgiving\n   Services--Appearance of my \"Braves\"--Wonderful Kindness of the\n   People.\n\n   Chapter 25. Colony of Birds called Linkololo--The Village of\n   Chitlane--Murder of Mpololo's Daughter--Execution of the\n   Murderer and his Wife--My Companions find that their Wives\n   have married other Husbands--Sunday--A Party from Masiko--\n   Freedom of Speech--Canoe struck by a Hippopotamus--Gonye--\n   Appearance of Trees at the end of Winter--Murky Atmosphere--\n   Surprising Amount of organic Life--Hornets--The Packages\n   forwarded by Mr. Moffat--Makololo Suspicions and Reply to the\n   Matebele who brought them--Convey the Goods to an Island and\n   build a Hut over them--Ascertain that Sir R. Murchison had\n   recognized the true Form of African Continent--Arrival at\n   Linyanti--A grand Picho--Shrewd Inquiry--Sekeletu in his\n   Uniform--A Trading-party sent to Loanda with Ivory--Mr.\n   Gabriel's Kindness to them--Difficulties in Trading--Two\n   Makololo Forays during our Absence--Report of the Country to\n   the N.E.--Death of influential Men--The Makololo desire to be\n   nearer the Market--Opinions upon a Change of Residence--\n   Climate of Barotse Valley--Diseases--Author's Fevers not a\n   fair Criterion in the Matter--The Interior an inviting Field\n   for the Philanthropist--Consultations about a Path to the East\n   Coast--Decide on descending North Bank of Zambesi--Wait for\n   the Rainy Season--Native way of spending Time during the\n   period of greatest Heat--Favorable Opening for Missionary\n   Enterprise--Ben Habib wishes to marry--A Maiden's Choice--\n   Sekeletu's Hospitality--Sulphureted Hydrogen and Malaria--\n   Conversations with Makololo--Their moral Character and\n   Conduct--Sekeletu wishes to purchase a Sugar-mill, etc.--The\n   Donkeys--Influence among the Natives--\"Food fit for a Chief\"--\n   Parting Words of Mamire--Motibe's Excuses.\n\n   Chapter 26. Departure from Linyanti--A Thunder-storm--An Act\n   of genuine Kindness--Fitted out a second time by the Makololo--\n   Sail down the Leeambye--Sekote's Kotla and human Skulls; his\n   Grave adorned with Elephants' Tusks--Victoria Falls--Native\n   Names--Columns of Vapor--Gigantic Crack--Wear of the Rocks--\n   Shrines of the Barimo--\"The Pestle of the Gods\"--Second Visit\n   to the Falls--Island Garden--Store-house Island--Native\n   Diviners--A European Diviner--Makololo Foray--Marauder to be\n   fined--Mambari--Makololo wish to stop Mambari Slave-trading--\n   Part with Sekeletu--Night Traveling--River Lekone--Ancient\n   fresh-water Lakes--Formation of Lake Ngami--Native Traditions--\n   Drainage of the Great Valley--Native Reports of the Country\n   to the North--Maps--Moyara's Village--Savage Customs of the\n   Batoka--A Chain of Trading Stations--Remedy against Tsetse--\n   \"The Well of Joy\"--First Traces of Trade with Europeans--\n   Knocking out the front Teeth--Facetious Explanation--\n   Degradation of the Batoka--Description of the Traveling Party--\n   Cross the Unguesi--Geological Formation--Ruins of a large\n   Town--Productions of the Soil similar to those in Angola--\n   Abundance of Fruit.\n\n   Chapter 27. Low Hills--Black Soldier-Ants; their Cannibalism--\n   The Plasterer and its Chloroform--White Ants; their\n   Usefulness--Mutokwane-smoking; its Effects--Border Territory--\n   Healthy Table-lands--Geological Formation--Cicadae--Trees--\n   Flowers--River Kalomo--Physical Conformation of Country--\n   Ridges, sanatoria--A wounded Buffalo assisted--Buffalo-bird--\n   Rhinoceros-bird--Leaders of Herds--The Honey-guide--The White\n   Mountain--Mozuma River--Sebituane's old Home--Hostile Village--\n   Prophetic Phrensy--Food of the Elephant--Ant-hills--Friendly\n   Batoka--Clothing despised--Method of Salutation--Wild Fruits--\n   The Captive released--Longings for Peace--Pingola's Conquests--\n   The Village of Monze--Aspect of the Country--Visit from the\n   Chief Monze and his Wife--Central healthy Locations--Friendly\n   Feelings of the People in reference to a white Resident--\n   Fertility of the Soil--Bashukulompo Mode of dressing their\n   Hair--Gratitude of the Prisoner we released--Kindness and\n   Remarks of Monze's Sister--Dip of the Rocks--Vegetation--\n   Generosity of the Inhabitants--Their Anxiety for Medicine--\n   Hooping-cough--Birds and Rain.\n\n   Chapter 28. Beautiful Valley--Buffalo--My young Men kill two\n   Elephants--The Hunt--Mode of measuring Height of live\n   Elephants--Wild Animals smaller here than in the South, though\n   their Food is more abundant--The Elephant a dainty Feeder--\n   Semalembue--His Presents--Joy in prospect of living in Peace--\n   Trade--His People's way of wearing their Hair--Their Mode of\n   Salutation--Old Encampment--Sebituane's former Residence--Ford\n   of Kafue--Hippopotami--Hills and Villages--Geological\n   Formation--Prodigious Quantities of large Game--Their\n   Tameness--Rains--Less Sickness than in the Journey to Loanda--\n   Reason--Charge from an Elephant--Vast Amount of animal Life on\n   the Zambesi--Water of River discolored--An Island with\n   Buffaloes and Men on it--Native Devices for killing Game--\n   Tsetse now in Country--Agricultural Industry--An Albino\n   murdered by his Mother--\"Guilty of Tlolo\"--Women who make\n   their Mouths \"like those of Ducks\"--First Symptom of the\n   Slave-trade on this side--Selole's Hostility--An armed Party\n   hoaxed--An Italian Marauder slain--Elephant's Tenacity of\n   Life--A Word to young Sportsmen--Mr. Oswell's Adventure with\n   an Elephant; narrow Escape--Mburuma's Village--Suspicious\n   Conduct of his People--Guides attempt to detain us--The\n   Village and People of Ma Mburuma--Character our Guides give of\n   us.\n\n   Chapter 29. Confluence of Loangwa and Zambesi--Hostile\n   Appearances--Ruins of a Church--Turmoil of Spirit--Cross the\n   River--Friendly Parting--Ruins of stone Houses--The Situation\n   of Zumbo for Commerce--Pleasant Gardens--Dr. Lacerda's Visit\n   to Cazembe--Pereira's Statement--Unsuccessful Attempt to\n   establish Trade with the People of Cazembe--One of my Men\n   tossed by a Buffalo--Meet a Man with Jacket and Hat on--Hear\n   of the Portuguese and native War--Holms and Terraces on the\n   Banks of a River--Dancing for Corn--Beautiful Country--\n   Mpende's Hostility--Incantations--A Fight anticipated--Courage\n   and Remarks of my Men--Visit from two old Councilors of\n   Mpende--Their Opinion of the English--Mpende concludes not to\n   fight us--His subsequent Friendship--Aids us to cross the\n   River--The Country--Sweet Potatoes--Bakwain Theory of Rain\n   confirmed--Thunder without Clouds--Desertion of one of my Men--\n   Other Natives' Ideas of the English--Dalama (gold)--\n   Inhabitants dislike Slave-buyers--Meet native Traders with\n   American Calico--Game-laws--Elephant Medicine--Salt from the\n   Sand--Fertility of Soil--Spotted Hyaena--Liberality and\n   Politeness of the People--Presents--A stingy white Trader--\n   Natives' Remarks about him--Effect on their Minds--Rain and\n   Wind now from an opposite Direction--Scarcity of Fuel--Trees\n   for Boat-building--Boroma--Freshets--Leave the River--Chicova,\n   its Geological Features--Small Rapid near Tete--Loquacious\n   Guide--Nyampungo, the Rain-charmer--An old Man--No Silver--\n   Gold-washing--No Cattle.\n\n   Chapter 30. An Elephant-hunt--Offering and Prayers to the\n   Barimo for Success--Native Mode of Expression--Working of\n   Game-laws--A Feast--Laughing Hyaenas--Numerous Insects--\n   Curious Notes of Birds of Song--Caterpillars--Butterflies--\n   Silica--The Fruit Makoronga and Elephants--Rhinoceros\n   Adventure--Korwe Bird--Its Nest--A real Confinement--Honey and\n   Beeswax--Superstitious Reverence for the Lion--Slow Traveling--\n   Grapes--The Ue--Monina's Village--Native Names--Government of\n   the Banyai--Electing a Chief--Youths instructed in \"Bonyai\"--\n   Suspected of Falsehood--War-dance--Insanity and Disappearance\n   of Monahin--Fruitless Search--Monina's Sympathy--The Sand-\n   river Tangwe--The Ordeal Muavi: its Victims--An unreasonable\n   Man--\"Woman's Rights\"--Presents--Temperance--A winding Course\n   to shun Villages--Banyai Complexion and Hair--Mushrooms--The\n   Tubers, Mokuri--The Tree Shekabakadzi--Face of the Country--\n   Pot-holes--Pursued by a Party of Natives--Unpleasant Threat--\n   Aroused by a Company of Soldiers--A civilized Breakfast--\n   Arrival at Tete.\n\n   Chapter 31. Kind Reception from the Commandant--His Generosity\n   to my Men--The Village of Tete--The Population--Distilled\n   Spirits--The Fort--Cause of the Decadence of Portuguese Power--\n   Former Trade--Slaves employed in Gold-washing--Slave-trade\n   drained the Country of Laborers--The Rebel Nyaude's Stockade--\n   He burns Tete--Kisaka's Revolt and Ravages--Extensive Field of\n   Sugar-cane--The Commandant's good Reputation among the\n   Natives--Providential Guidance--Seams of Coal--A hot Spring--\n   Picturesque Country--Water-carriage to the Coal-fields--\n   Workmen's Wages--Exports--Price of Provisions--Visit Gold-\n   washings--The Process of obtaining the precious Metal--Coal\n   within a Gold-field--Present from Major Sicard--Natives raise\n   Wheat, etc.--Liberality of the Commandant--Geographical\n   Information from Senhor Candido--Earthquakes--Native Ideas of\n   a Supreme Being--Also of the Immortality and Transmigration of\n   Souls--Fondness for Display at Funerals--Trade Restrictions--\n   Former Jesuit Establishment--State of Religion and Education\n   at Tete--Inundation of the Zambesi--Cotton cultivated--The\n   fibrous Plants Conge and Buaze--Detained by Fever--The\n   Kumbanzo Bark--Native Medicines--Iron, its Quality--Hear of\n   Famine at Kilimane--Death of a Portuguese Lady--The Funeral--\n   Disinterested Kindness of the Portuguese.\n\n   Chapter 32. Leave Tete and proceed down the River--Pass the\n   Stockade of Bonga--Gorge of Lupata--\"Spine of the World\"--\n   Width of River--Islands--War Drum at Shiramba--Canoe\n   Navigation--Reach Senna--Its ruinous State--Landeens levy\n   Fines upon the Inhabitants--Cowardice of native Militia--State\n   of the Revenue--No direct Trade with Portugal--Attempts to\n   revive the Trade of Eastern Africa--Country round Senna--\n   Gorongozo, a Jesuit Station--Manica, the best Gold Region in\n   Eastern Africa--Boat-building at Senna--Our Departure--Capture\n   of a Rebel Stockade--Plants Alfacinya and Njefu at the\n   Confluence of the Shire--Landeen Opinion of the Whites--\n   Mazaro, the point reached by Captain Parker--His Opinion\n   respecting the Navigation of the River from this to the Ocean--\n   Lieutenant Hoskins' Remarks on the same subject--Fever, its\n   Effects--Kindly received into the House of Colonel Nunes at\n   Kilimane--Forethought of Captain Nolloth and Dr. Walsh--Joy\n   imbittered--Deep Obligations to the Earl of Clarendon, etc.--\n   On developing Resources of the Interior--Desirableness of\n   Missionary Societies selecting healthy Stations--Arrangements\n   on leaving my Men--Retrospect--Probable Influence of the\n   Discoveries on Slavery--Supply of Cotton, Sugar, etc., by Free\n   Labor--Commercial Stations--Development of the Resources of\n   Africa a Work of Time--Site of Kilimane--Unhealthiness--Death\n   of a shipwrecked Crew from Fever--The Captain saved by\n   Quinine--Arrival of H. M. Brig \"Frolic\"--Anxiety of one of my\n   Men to go to England--Rough Passage in the Boats to the Ship--\n   Sekwebu's Alarm--Sail for Mauritius--Sekwebu on board; he\n   becomes insane; drowns himself--Kindness of Major-General C.\n   M. Hay--Escape Shipwreck--Reach Home.\n\n   Appendix.--Latitudes and Longitudes of Positions.\n\n   Appendix.--Book Review in Harper's New Monthly Magazine,\n   February, 1858.\n\n   Appendix.--Notes to etext.\n\n--------------------------------------------------\n\nMissionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.\n\n--------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction.\n\n\nPersonal Sketch--Highland Ancestors--Family Traditions--Grandfather\nremoves to the Lowlands--Parents--Early Labors and Efforts\n--Evening School--Love of Reading--Religious Impressions--Medical\nEducation--Youthful Travels--Geology--Mental Discipline--Study\nin Glasgow--London Missionary Society--Native Village--Medical\nDiploma--Theological Studies--Departure for Africa--No Claim to Literary\nAccomplishments.\n\n\n\nMy own inclination would lead me to say as little as possible about\nmyself; but several friends, in whose judgment I have confidence, have\nsuggested that, as the reader likes to know something about the author,\na short account of his origin and early life would lend additional\ninterest to this book. Such is my excuse for the following egotism; and,\nif an apology be necessary for giving a genealogy, I find it in the fact\nthat it is not very long, and contains only one incident of which I have\nreason to be proud.\n\nOur great-grandfather fell at the battle of Culloden, fighting for the\nold line of kings; and our grandfather was a small farmer in Ulva,\nwhere my father was born. It is one of that cluster of the Hebrides thus\nalluded to by Walter Scott:\n\n   \"And Ulva dark, and Colonsay,\n   And all the group of islets gay\n   That guard famed Staffa round.\"*\n\n   * Lord of the Isles, canto 4.\n\nOur grandfather was intimately acquainted with all the traditionary\nlegends which that great writer has since made use of in the \"Tales of a\nGrandfather\" and other works. As a boy I remember listening to him with\ndelight, for his memory was stored with a never-ending stock of stories,\nmany of which were wonderfully like those I have since heard while\nsitting by the African evening fires. Our grandmother, too, used to\nsing Gaelic songs, some of which, as she believed, had been composed by\ncaptive islanders languishing hopelessly among the Turks.\n\nGrandfather could give particulars of the lives of his ancestors for\nsix generations of the family before him; and the only point of the\ntradition I feel proud of is this: One of these poor hardy islanders\nwas renowned in the district for great wisdom and prudence; and it is\nrelated that, when he was on his death-bed, he called all his children\naround him and said, \"Now, in my lifetime, I have searched most\ncarefully through all the traditions I could find of our family, and\nI never could discover that there was a dishonest man among our\nforefathers. If, therefore, any of you or any of your children should\ntake to dishonest ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood: it\ndoes not belong to you. I leave this precept with you: Be honest.\" If,\ntherefore, in the following pages I fall into any errors, I hope they\nwill be dealt with as honest mistakes, and not as indicating that I have\nforgotten our ancient motto. This event took place at a time when the\nHighlanders, according to Macaulay, were much like the Cape Caffres,\nand any one, it was said, could escape punishment for cattle-stealing by\npresenting a share of the plunder to his chieftain. Our ancestors were\nRoman Catholics; they were made Protestants by the laird coming round\nwith a man having a yellow staff, which would seem to have attracted\nmore attention than his teaching, for the new religion went long\nafterward, perhaps it does so still, by the name of \"the religion of the\nyellow stick\".\n\nFinding his farm in Ulva insufficient to support a numerous family, my\ngrandfather removed to Blantyre Works, a large cotton manufactory on\nthe beautiful Clyde, above Glasgow; and his sons, having had the best\neducation the Hebrides afforded, were gladly received as clerks by\nthe proprietors, Monteith and Co. He himself, highly esteemed for his\nunflinching honesty, was employed in the conveyance of large sums of\nmoney from Glasgow to the works, and in old age was, according to the\ncustom of that company, pensioned off, so as to spend his declining\nyears in ease and comfort.\n\nOur uncles all entered his majesty's service during the last French\nwar, either as soldiers or sailors; but my father remained at home, and,\nthough too conscientious ever to become rich as a small tea-dealer, by\nhis kindliness of manner and winning ways he made the heart-strings\nof his children twine around him as firmly as if he had possessed, and\ncould have bestowed upon them, every worldly advantage. He reared\nhis children in connection with the Kirk of Scotland--a religious\nestablishment which has been an incalculable blessing to that\ncountry--but he afterward left it, and during the last twenty years of\nhis life held the office of deacon of an independent church in Hamilton,\nand deserved my lasting gratitude and homage for presenting me, from\nmy infancy, with a continuously consistent pious example, such as that\nideal of which is so beautifully and truthfully portrayed in Burns's\n\"Cottar's Saturday Night\". He died in February, 1856, in peaceful hope\nof that mercy which we all expect through the death of our Lord and\nSavior. I was at the time on my way below Zumbo, expecting no greater\npleasure in this country than sitting by our cottage fire and telling\nhim my travels. I revere his memory.\n\nThe earliest recollection of my mother recalls a picture so often seen\namong the Scottish poor--that of the anxious housewife striving to\nmake both ends meet. At the age of ten I was put into the factory as a\n\"piecer\", to aid by my earnings in lessening her anxiety. With a part of\nmy first week's wages I purchased Ruddiman's \"Rudiments of Latin\",\nand pursued the study of that language for many years afterward, with\nunabated ardor, at an evening school, which met between the hours of\neight and ten. The dictionary part of my labors was followed up till\ntwelve o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by jumping up\nand snatching the books out of my hands. I had to be back in the\nfactory by six in the morning, and continue my work, with intervals for\nbreakfast and dinner, till eight o'clock at night. I read in this way\nmany of the classical authors, and knew Virgil and Horace better at\nsixteen than I do now. Our schoolmaster--happily still alive--was\nsupported in part by the company; he was attentive and kind, and so\nmoderate in his charges that all who wished for education might have\nobtained it. Many availed themselves of the privilege; and some of my\nschoolfellows now rank in positions far above what they appeared ever\nlikely to come to when in the village school. If such a system were\nestablished in England, it would prove a never-ending blessing to the\npoor.\n\nIn reading, every thing that I could lay my hands on was devoured except\nnovels. Scientific works and books of travels were my especial delight;\nthough my father, believing, with many of his time who ought to have\nknown better, that the former were inimical to religion, would have\npreferred to have seen me poring over the \"Cloud of Witnesses\", or\nBoston's \"Fourfold State\". Our difference of opinion reached the point\nof open rebellion on my part, and his last application of the rod was\non my refusal to peruse Wilberforce's \"Practical Christianity\". This\ndislike to dry doctrinal reading, and to religious reading of every\nsort, continued for years afterward; but having lighted on those\nadmirable works of Dr. Thomas Dick, \"The Philosophy of Religion\" and\n\"The Philosophy of a Future State\", it was gratifying to find my own\nideas, that religion and science are not hostile, but friendly to each\nother, fully proved and enforced.\n\nGreat pains had been taken by my parents to instill the doctrines of\nChristianity into my mind, and I had no difficulty in understanding the\ntheory of our free salvation by the atonement of our Savior, but it was\nonly about this time that I really began to feel the necessity and value\nof a personal application of the provisions of that atonement to my own\ncase. The change was like what may be supposed would take place were it\npossible to cure a case of \"color blindness\". The perfect freeness with\nwhich the pardon of all our guilt is offered in God's book drew forth\nfeelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with his blood, and\na sense of deep obligation to Him for his mercy has influenced, in some\nsmall measure, my conduct ever since. But I shall not again refer to\nthe inner spiritual life which I believe then began, nor do I intend to\nspecify with any prominence the evangelistic labors to which the love of\nChrist has since impelled me. This book will speak, not so much of what\nhas been done, as of what still remains to be performed, before the\nGospel can be said to be preached to all nations.\n\nIn the glow of love which Christianity inspires, I soon resolved to\ndevote my life to the alleviation of human misery. Turning this idea\nover in my mind, I felt that to be a pioneer of Christianity in China\nmight lead to the material benefit of some portions of that immense\nempire; and therefore set myself to obtain a medical education, in order\nto be qualified for that enterprise.\n\nIn recognizing the plants pointed out in my first medical book, that\nextraordinary old work on astrological medicine, Culpeper's \"Herbal\",\nI had the guidance of a book on the plants of Lanarkshire, by Patrick.\nLimited as my time was, I found opportunities to scour the whole\ncountry-side, \"collecting simples\". Deep and anxious were my studies on\nthe still deeper and more perplexing profundities of astrology, and I\nbelieve I got as far into that abyss of phantasies as my author said he\ndared to lead me. It seemed perilous ground to tread on farther, for the\ndark hint seemed to my youthful mind to loom toward \"selling soul and\nbody to the devil\", as the price of the unfathomable knowledge of the\nstars. These excursions, often in company with brothers, one now in\nCanada, and the other a clergyman in the United States, gratified my\nintense love of nature; and though we generally returned so unmercifully\nhungry and fatigued that the embryo parson shed tears, yet we\ndiscovered, to us, so many new and interesting things, that he was\nalways as eager to join us next time as he was the last.\n\nOn one of these exploring tours we entered a limestone quarry--long\nbefore geology was so popular as it is now. It is impossible to describe\nthe delight and wonder with which I began to collect the shells found\nin the carboniferous limestone which crops out in High Blantyre and\nCambuslang. A quarry-man, seeing a little boy so engaged, looked with\nthat pitying eye which the benevolent assume when viewing the insane.\nAddressing him with, \"How ever did these shells come into these rocks?\"\n\"When God made the rocks, he made the shells in them,\" was the damping\nreply. What a deal of trouble geologists might have saved themselves by\nadopting the Turk-like philosophy of this Scotchman!\n\nMy reading while at work was carried on by placing the book on a portion\nof the spinning-jenny, so that I could catch sentence after sentence as\nI passed at my work; I thus kept up a pretty constant study undisturbed\nby the roar of the machinery. To this part of my education I owe my\npresent power of completely abstracting the mind from surrounding\nnoises, so as to read and write with perfect comfort amid the play\nof children or near the dancing and songs of savages. The toil of\ncotton-spinning, to which I was promoted in my nineteenth year, was\nexcessively severe on a slim, loose-jointed lad, but it was well paid\nfor; and it enabled me to support myself while attending medical and\nGreek classes in Glasgow in winter, as also the divinity lectures of Dr.\nWardlaw, by working with my hands in summer. I never received a farthing\nof aid from any one, and should have accomplished my project of going to\nChina as a medical missionary, in the course of time, by my own efforts,\nhad not some friends advised my joining the London Missionary Society\non account of its perfectly unsectarian character. It \"sends neither\nEpiscopacy, nor Presbyterianism, nor Independency, but the Gospel of\nChrist to the heathen.\" This exactly agreed with my ideas of what a\nmissionary society ought to do; but it was not without a pang that I\noffered myself, for it was not quite agreeable to one accustomed to work\nhis own way to become in a measure dependent on others; and I would not\nhave been much put about though my offer had been rejected.\n\nLooking back now on that life of toil, I can not but feel thankful\nthat it formed such a material part of my early education; and, were\nit possible, I should like to begin life over again in the same lowly\nstyle, and to pass through the same hardy training.\n\nTime and travel have not effaced the feelings of respect I imbibed for\nthe humble inhabitants of my native village. For morality, honesty,\nand intelligence, they were, in general, good specimens of the Scottish\npoor. In a population of more than two thousand souls, we had, of\ncourse, a variety of character. In addition to the common run of men,\nthere were some characters of sterling worth and ability, who exerted\na most beneficial influence on the children and youth of the place by\nimparting gratuitous religious instruction.* Much intelligent interest\nwas felt by the villagers in all public questions, and they furnished a\nproof that the possession of the means of education did not render them\nan unsafe portion of the population. They felt kindly toward each other,\nand much respected those of the neighboring gentry who, like the late\nLord Douglas, placed some confidence in their sense of honor. Through\nthe kindness of that nobleman, the poorest among us could stroll at\npleasure over the ancient domains of Bothwell, and other spots hallowed\nby the venerable associations of which our school-books and local\ntraditions made us well aware; and few of us could view the dear\nmemorials of the past without feeling that these carefully kept\nmonuments were our own. The masses of the working-people of Scotland\nhave read history, and are no revolutionary levelers. They rejoice in\nthe memories of \"Wallace and Bruce and a' the lave,\" who are still much\nrevered as the former champions of freedom. And while foreigners imagine\nthat we want the spirit only to overturn capitalists and aristocracy, we\nare content to respect our laws till we can change them, and hate those\nstupid revolutions which might sweep away time-honored institutions,\ndear alike to rich and poor.\n\n   * The reader will pardon my mentioning the names of two of\n   these most worthy men--David Hogg, who addressed me on his\n   death-bed with the words, \"Now, lad, make religion the every-\n   day business of your life, and not a thing of fits and starts;\n   for if you do not, temptation and other things will get the\n   better of you;\" and Thomas Burke, an old Forty-second\n   Peninsula soldier, who has been incessant and never weary in\n   good works for about forty years. I was delighted to find him\n   still alive; men like these are an honor to their country and\n   profession.\n\nHaving finished the medical curriculum and presented a thesis on a\nsubject which required the use of the stethoscope for its diagnosis, I\nunwittingly procured for myself an examination rather more severe\nand prolonged than usual among examining bodies. The reason was, that\nbetween me and the examiners a slight difference of opinion existed as\nto whether this instrument could do what was asserted. The wiser\nplan would have been to have had no opinion of my own. However, I was\nadmitted a Licentiate of Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. It was\nwith unfeigned delight I became a member of a profession which is\npre-eminently devoted to practical benevolence, and which with unwearied\nenergy pursues from age to age its endeavors to lessen human woe.\n\nBut though now qualified for my original plan, the opium war was then\nraging, and it was deemed inexpedient for me to proceed to China. I had\nfondly hoped to have gained access to that then closed empire by means\nof the healing art; but there being no prospect of an early peace with\nthe Chinese, and as another inviting field was opening out through the\nlabors of Mr. Moffat, I was induced to turn my thoughts to Africa; and\nafter a more extended course of theological training in England than\nI had enjoyed in Glasgow, I embarked for Africa in 1840, and, after a\nvoyage of three months, reached Cape Town. Spending but a short time\nthere, I started for the interior by going round to Algoa Bay, and soon\nproceeded inland, and have spent the following sixteen years of my\nlife, namely, from 1840 to 1856, in medical and missionary labors there\nwithout cost to the inhabitants.\n\nAs to those literary qualifications which are acquired by habits of\nwriting, and which are so important to an author, my African life has\nnot only not been favorable to the growth of such accomplishments, but\nquite the reverse; it has made composition irksome and laborious. I\nthink I would rather cross the African continent again than undertake to\nwrite another book. It is far easier to travel than to write about it.\nI intended on going to Africa to continue my studies; but as I could not\nbrook the idea of simply entering into other men's labors made ready to\nmy hands, I entailed on myself, in addition to teaching, manual labor\nin building and other handicraft work, which made me generally as much\nexhausted and unfit for study in the evenings as ever I had been when\na cotton-spinner. The want of time for self-improvement was the only\nsource of regret that I experienced during my African career. The\nreader, remembering this, will make allowances for the mere gropings for\nlight of a student who has the vanity to think himself \"not yet too old\nto learn\". More precise information on several subjects has necessarily\nbeen omitted in a popular work like the present; but I hope to give such\ndetails to the scientific reader through some other channel.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 1.\n\nThe Bakwain Country--Study of the Language--Native Ideas regarding\nComets--Mabotsa Station--A Lion Encounter--Virus of the Teeth of\nLions--Names of the Bechuana Tribes--Sechele--His Ancestors--Obtains\nthe Chieftainship--His Marriage and Government--The Kotla--First public\nReligious Services--Sechele's Questions--He Learns to Read--Novel\nmode for Converting his Tribe--Surprise at their Indifference--\nPolygamy--Baptism of Sechele--Opposition of the Natives--Purchase Land\nat Chonuane--Relations with the People--Their Intelligence--Prolonged\nDrought--Consequent Trials--Rain-medicine--God's Word blamed--Native\nReasoning--Rain-maker--Dispute between Rain Doctor and Medical\nDoctor--The Hunting Hopo--Salt or animal Food a necessary of\nLife--Duties of a Missionary.\n\n\n\nThe general instructions I received from the Directors of the London\nMissionary Society led me, as soon as I reached Kuruman or Lattakoo,\nthen, as it is now, their farthest inland station from the Cape, to turn\nmy attention to the north. Without waiting longer at Kuruman than was\nnecessary to recruit the oxen, which were pretty well tired by the long\njourney from Algoa Bay, I proceeded, in company with another missionary,\nto the Bakuena or Bakwain country, and found Sechele, with his tribe,\nlocated at Shokuane. We shortly after retraced our steps to Kuruman; but\nas the objects in view were by no means to be attained by a temporary\nexcursion of this sort, I determined to make a fresh start into the\ninterior as soon as possible. Accordingly, after resting three months at\nKuruman, which is a kind of head station in the country, I returned to\na spot about fifteen miles south of Shokuane, called Lepelole (now\nLitubaruba). Here, in order to obtain an accurate knowledge of the\nlanguage, I cut myself off from all European society for about six\nmonths, and gained by this ordeal an insight into the habits, ways of\nthinking, laws, and language of that section of the Bechuanas called\nBakwains, which has proved of incalculable advantage in my intercourse\nwith them ever since.\n\nIn this second journey to Lepelole--so called from a cavern of that\nname--I began preparations for a settlement, by making a canal to\nirrigate gardens, from a stream then flowing copiously, but now quite\ndry. When these preparations were well advanced, I went northward to\nvisit the Bakaa and Bamangwato, and the Makalaka, living between 22\nDegrees and 23 Degrees south latitude. The Bakaa Mountains had been\nvisited before by a trader, who, with his people, all perished from\nfever. In going round the northern part of these basaltic hills near\nLetloche I was only ten days distant from the lower part of the Zouga,\nwhich passed by the same name as Lake Ngami;* and I might then (in 1842)\nhave discovered that lake, had discovery alone been my object. Most part\nof this journey beyond Shokuane was performed on foot, in consequence\nof the draught oxen having become sick. Some of my companions who had\nrecently joined us, and did not know that I understood a little of their\nspeech, were overheard by me discussing my appearance and powers: \"He\nis not strong; he is quite slim, and only appears stout because he puts\nhimself into those bags (trowsers); he will soon knock up.\" This caused\nmy Highland blood to rise, and made me despise the fatigue of keeping\nthem all at the top of their speed for days together, and until I heard\nthem expressing proper opinions of my pedestrian powers.\n\n   * Several words in the African languages begin with the ringing sound\n   heard in the end of the word \"comING\".  If the reader puts an 'i'\n   to the beginning of the name of the lake, as Ingami,\n   and then sounds the 'i' as little as possible, he will have\n   the correct pronunciation.  The Spanish n [ny] is employed\n   to denote this sound, and Ngami is spelt nyami--naka means a tusk,\n   nyaka a doctor.  Every vowel is sounded in all native words,\n   and the emphasis in pronunciation is put upon the penultimate.\n\nReturning to Kuruman, in order to bring my luggage to our proposed\nsettlement, I was followed by the news that the tribe of Bakwains,\nwho had shown themselves so friendly toward me, had been driven from\nLepelole by the Barolongs, so that my prospects for the time of forming\na settlement there were at an end. One of those periodical outbreaks\nof war, which seem to have occurred from time immemorial, for the\npossession of cattle, had burst forth in the land, and had so changed\nthe relations of the tribes to each other, that I was obliged to set out\nanew to look for a suitable locality for a mission station.\n\nIn going north again, a comet blazed on our sight, exciting the\nwonder of every tribe we visited. That of 1816 had been followed by an\nirruption of the Matebele, the most cruel enemies the Bechuanas ever\nknew, and this they thought might portend something as bad, or it might\nonly foreshadow the death of some great chief. On this subject of comets\nI knew little more than they did themselves, but I had that confidence\nin a kind, overruling Providence, which makes such a difference between\nChristians and both the ancient and modern heathen.\n\nAs some of the Bamangwato people had accompanied me to Kuruman, I was\nobliged to restore them and their goods to their chief Sekomi. This made\na journey to the residence of that chief again necessary, and, for the\nfirst time, I performed a distance of some hundred miles on ox-back.\n\nReturning toward Kuruman, I selected the beautiful valley of Mabotsa\n(lat. 25d 14' south, long. 26d 30'?) as the site of a missionary\nstation, and thither I removed in 1843. Here an occurrence took place\nconcerning which I have frequently been questioned in England, and\nwhich, but for the importunities of friends, I meant to have kept in\nstore to tell my children when in my dotage. The Bakatla of the village\nMabotsa were much troubled by lions, which leaped into the cattle-pens\nby night, and destroyed their cows. They even attacked the herds in open\nday. This was so unusual an occurrence that the people believed that\nthey were bewitched--\"given,\" as they said, \"into the power of the lions\nby a neighboring tribe.\" They went once to attack the animals, but,\nbeing rather a cowardly people compared to Bechuanas in general on such\noccasions, they returned without killing any.\n\nIt is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others\ntake the hint and leave that part of the country. So, the next time the\nherds were attacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them\nto rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders.\nWe found the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length,\nand covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they\ngradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. Being down\nbelow on the plain with a native schoolmaster, named Mebalwe, a most\nexcellent man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within\nthe now closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, and\nthe ball struck the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at\nthe spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; then\nleaping away, broke through the opening circle and escaped unhurt. The\nmen were afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in\nwitchcraft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in\nit; but we were afraid to fire lest we should strike the men, and they\nallowed the beasts to burst through also. If the Bakatla had acted\naccording to the custom of the country, they would have speared the\nlions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill\none of the lions, we bent our footsteps toward the village; in going\nround the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on\na piece of rock as before, but this time he had a little bush in front.\nBeing about thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through the\nbush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out, \"He is\nshot, he is shot!\" Others cried, \"He has been shot by another man too;\nlet us go to him!\" I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw\nthe lion's tail erected in anger behind the bush, and, turning to the\npeople, said, \"Stop a little, till I load again.\" When in the act of\nramming down the bullets, I heard a shout. Starting, and looking half\nround, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon\na little height; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to\nthe ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook\nme as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to\nthat which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat.\nIt caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor\nfeeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening.\nIt was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform\ndescribe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This\nsingular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake\nannihilated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the\nbeast. This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed\nby the carnivora; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent\nCreator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself\nof the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes\ndirected to Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten\nor fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels; the\nlion immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another\nman, whose life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a\nbuffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He\nleft Mebalwe and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment the\nbullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole\nwas the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysms of\ndying rage. In order to take out the charm from him, the Bakatla on the\nfollowing day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was declared\nto be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the\nbone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper part of my\narm.\n\nA wound from this animal's tooth resembles a gun-shot wound; it is\ngenerally followed by a great deal of sloughing and discharge, and pains\nare felt in the part periodically ever afterward. I had on a tartan\njacket on the occasion, and I believe that it wiped off all the virus\nfrom the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this\naffray have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have escaped\nwith only the inconvenience of a false joint in my limb. The man whose\nshoulder was wounded showed me his wound actually burst forth afresh on\nthe same month of the following year. This curious point deserves the\nattention of inquirers.\n\nThe different Bechuana tribes are named after certain animals, showing\nprobably that in former times they were addicted to animal-worship like\nthe ancient Egyptians. The term Bakatla means \"they of the monkey\";\nBakuena, \"they of the alligator\"; Batlapi, \"they of the fish\": each\ntribe having a superstitious dread of the animal after which it is\ncalled. They also use the word \"bina\", to dance, in reference to the\ncustom of thus naming themselves, so that, when you wish to ascertain\nwhat tribe they belong to, you say, \"What do you dance?\" It would seem\nas if that had been a part of the worship of old. A tribe never eats the\nanimal which is its namesake, using the term \"ila\", hate or dread, in\nreference to killing it. We find traces of many ancient tribes in the\ncountry in individual members of those now extinct, as the Batau, \"they\nof the lion\"; the Banoga, \"they of the serpent\"; though no such tribes\nnow exist. The use of the personal pronoun they, Ba-Ma, Wa, Va or Ova,\nAm-Ki, &c., prevails very extensively in the names of tribes in Africa.\nA single individual is indicated by the terms Mo or Le. Thus Mokwain is\na single person of the Bakwain tribe, and Lekoa is a single white man or\nEnglishman--Makoa being Englishmen.\n\nI attached myself to the tribe called Bakuena or Bakwains, the chief of\nwhich, named Sechele, was then living with his people at a place called\nShokuane. I was from the first struck by his intelligence, and by\nthe marked manner in which we both felt drawn to each other. As this\nremarkable man has not only embraced Christianity, but expounds its\ndoctrines to his people, I will here give a brief sketch of his career.\n\nHis great-grandfather Mochoasele was a great traveler, and the first\nthat ever told the Bakwains of the existence of white men. In his\nfather's lifetime two white travelers, whom I suppose to have been Dr.\nCowan and Captain Donovan, passed through the country (in 1808), and,\ndescending the River Limpopo, were, with their party, all cut off by\nfever. The rain-makers there, fearing lest their wagons might drive away\nthe rain, ordered them to be thrown into the river. This is the true\naccount of the end of that expedition, as related to me by the son of\nthe chief at whose village they perished. He remembered, when a boy,\neating part of one of the horses, and said it tasted like zebra's flesh.\nThus they were not killed by the Bangwaketse, as reported, for they\npassed the Bakwains all well. The Bakwains were then rich in cattle; and\nas one of the many evidences of the desiccation of the country, streams\nare pointed out where thousands and thousands of cattle formerly drank,\nbut in which water now never flows, and where a single herd could not\nfind fluid for its support.\n\nWhen Sechele was still a boy, his father, also called Mochoasele, was\nmurdered by his own people for taking to himself the wives of his\nrich under-chiefs. The children being spared, their friends invited\nSebituane, the chief of the Makololo, who was then in those parts, to\nreinstate them in the chieftainship. Sebituane surrounded the town\nof the Bakwains by night; and just as it began to dawn, his herald\nproclaimed in a loud voice that he had come to revenge the death of\nMochoasele. This was followed by Sebituane's people beating loudly on\ntheir shields all round the town. The panic was tremendous, and the rush\nlike that from a theatre on fire, while the Makololo used their javelins\non the terrified Bakwains with a dexterity which they alone can employ.\nSebituane had given orders to his men to spare the sons of the chief;\nand one of them, meeting Sechele, put him in ward by giving him such a\nblow on the head with a club as to render him insensible. The usurper\nwas put to death; and Sechele, reinstated in his chieftainship, felt\nmuch attached to Sebituane. The circumstances here noticed ultimately\nled me, as will be seen by-and-by, into the new, well-watered country to\nwhich this same Sebituane had preceded me by many years.\n\nSechele married the daughters of three of his under-chiefs, who had, on\naccount of their blood relationship, stood by him in his adversity. This\nis one of the modes adopted for cementing the allegiance of a tribe. The\ngovernment is patriarchal, each man being, by virtue of paternity, chief\nof his own children. They build their huts around his, and the greater\nthe number of children, the more his importance increases. Hence\nchildren are esteemed one of the greatest blessings, and are always\ntreated kindly. Near the centre of each circle of huts there is a spot\ncalled a \"kotla\", with a fireplace; here they work, eat, or sit and\ngossip over the news of the day. A poor man attaches himself to the\nkotla of a rich one, and is considered a child of the latter. An\nunder-chief has a number of these circles around his; and the collection\nof kotlas around the great one in the middle of the whole, that of the\nprincipal chief, constitutes the town. The circle of huts immediately\naround the kotla of the chief is composed of the huts of his wives and\nthose of his blood relations. He attaches the under-chiefs to himself\nand his government by marrying, as Sechele did, their daughters, or\ninducing his brothers to do so. They are fond of the relationship to\ngreat families. If you meet a party of strangers, and the head man's\nrelationship to some uncle of a certain chief is not at once proclaimed\nby his attendants, you may hear him whispering, \"Tell him who I am.\"\nThis usually involves a counting on the fingers of a part of his\ngenealogical tree, and ends in the important announcement that the head\nof the party is half-cousin to some well-known ruler.\n\nSechele was thus seated in his chieftainship when I made his\nacquaintance. On the first occasion in which I ever attempted to hold\na public religious service, he remarked that it was the custom of his\nnation, when any new subject was brought before them, to put questions\non it; and he begged me to allow him to do the same in this case. On\nexpressing my entire willingness to answer his questions, he inquired if\nmy forefathers knew of a future judgment. I replied in the affirmative,\nand began to describe the scene of the \"great white throne, and Him who\nshall sit on it, from whose face the heaven and earth shall flee away,\"\n&c. He said, \"You startle me: these words make all my bones to shake; I\nhave no more strength in me; but my forefathers were living at the same\ntime yours were, and how is it that they did not send them word about\nthese terrible things sooner? They all passed away into darkness\nwithout knowing whither they were going.\" I got out of the difficulty\nby explaining the geographical barriers in the North, and the gradual\nspread of knowledge from the South, to which we first had access by\nmeans of ships; and I expressed my belief that, as Christ had said,\nthe whole world would yet be enlightened by the Gospel. Pointing to the\ngreat Kalahari desert, he said, \"You never can cross that country to the\ntribes beyond; it is utterly impossible even for us black men, except in\ncertain seasons, when more than the usual supply of rain falls, and\nan extraordinary growth of watermelons follows. Even we who know the\ncountry would certainly perish without them.\" Reasserting my belief\nin the words of Christ, we parted; and it will be seen farther on that\nSechele himself assisted me in crossing that desert which had previously\nproved an insurmountable barrier to so many adventurers.\n\nAs soon as he had an opportunity of learning, he set himself to read\nwith such close application that, from being comparatively thin, the\neffect of having been fond of the chase, he became quite corpulent from\nwant of exercise. Mr. Oswell gave him his first lesson in figures, and\nhe acquired the alphabet on the first day of my residence at Chonuane.\nHe was by no means an ordinary specimen of the people, for I never went\ninto the town but I was pressed to hear him read some chapters of the\nBible. Isaiah was a great favorite with him; and he was wont to use the\nsame phrase nearly which the professor of Greek at Glasgow, Sir D.\nK. Sandford, once used respecting the Apostle Paul, when reading his\nspeeches in the Acts: \"He was a fine fellow, that Paul!\" \"He was a fine\nman, that Isaiah; he knew how to speak.\" Sechele invariably offered me\nsomething to eat on every occasion of my visiting him.\n\nSeeing me anxious that his people should believe the words of Christ, he\nonce said, \"Do you imagine these people will ever believe by your merely\ntalking to them? I can make them do nothing except by thrashing them;\nand if you like, I shall call my head men, and with our litupa (whips of\nrhinoceros hide) we will soon make them all believe together.\" The idea\nof using entreaty and persuasion to subjects to become Christians--whose\nopinion on no other matter would he condescend to ask--was especially\nsurprising to him. He considered that they ought only to be too happy to\nembrace Christianity at his command. During the space of two years and\na half he continued to profess to his people his full conviction of the\ntruth of Christianity; and in all discussions on the subject he took\nthat side, acting at the same time in an upright manner in all the\nrelations of life. He felt the difficulties of his situation long before\nI did, and often said, \"Oh, I wish you had come to this country before\nI became entangled in the meshes of our customs!\" In fact, he could not\nget rid of his superfluous wives, without appearing to be ungrateful to\ntheir parents, who had done so much for him in his adversity.\n\nIn the hope that others would be induced to join him in his attachment\nto Christianity, he asked me to begin family worship with him in\nhis house. I did so; and by-and-by was surprised to hear how well he\nconducted the prayer in his own simple and beautiful style, for he was\nquite a master of his own language. At this time we were suffering from\nthe effects of a drought, which will be described further on, and none\nexcept his family, whom he ordered to attend, came near his meeting.\n\"In former times,\" said he, \"when a chief was fond of hunting, all\nhis people got dogs, and became fond of hunting too. If he was fond of\ndancing or music, all showed a liking to these amusements too. If the\nchief loved beer, they all rejoiced in strong drink. But in this case\nit is different. I love the Word of God, and not one of my brethren will\njoin me.\" One reason why we had no volunteer hypocrites was the hunger\nfrom drought, which was associated in their minds with the presence of\nChristian instruction; and hypocrisy is not prone to profess a creed\nwhich seems to insure an empty stomach.\n\nSechele continued to make a consistent profession for about three years;\nand perceiving at last some of the difficulties of his case, and also\nfeeling compassion for the poor women, who were by far the best of our\nscholars, I had no desire that he should be in any hurry to make a\nfull profession by baptism, and putting away all his wives but one. His\nprincipal wife, too, was about the most unlikely subject in the tribe\never to become any thing else than an out-and-out greasy disciple of\nthe old school. She has since become greatly altered, I hear, for the\nbetter; but again and again have I seen Sechele send her out of church\nto put her gown on, and away she would go with her lips shot out, the\nvery picture of unutterable disgust at his new-fangled notions.\n\nWhen he at last applied for baptism, I simply asked him how he, having\nthe Bible in his hand, and able to read it, thought he ought to act. He\nwent home, gave each of his superfluous wives new clothing, and all his\nown goods, which they had been accustomed to keep in their huts for him,\nand sent them to their parents with an intimation that he had no fault\nto find with them, but that in parting with them he wished to follow\nthe will of God. On the day on which he and his children were baptized,\ngreat numbers came to see the ceremony. Some thought, from a stupid\ncalumny circulated by enemies to Christianity in the south, that the\nconverts would be made to drink an infusion of \"dead men's brains\",\nand were astonished to find that water only was used at baptism. Seeing\nseveral of the old men actually in tears during the service, I asked\nthem afterward the cause of their weeping; they were crying to see their\nfather, as the Scotch remark over a case of suicide, \"SO FAR LEFT TO\nHIMSELF\". They seemed to think that I had thrown the glamour over him,\nand that he had become mine. Here commenced an opposition which we had\nnot previously experienced. All the friends of the divorced wives became\nthe opponents of our religion. The attendance at school and church\ndiminished to very few besides the chief's own family. They all treated\nus still with respectful kindness, but to Sechele himself they said\nthings which, as he often remarked, had they ventured on in former\ntimes, would have cost them their lives. It was trying, after all we had\ndone, to see our labors so little appreciated; but we had sown the good\nseed, and have no doubt but it will yet spring up, though we may not\nlive to see the fruits.\n\nLeaving this sketch of the chief, I proceed to give an equally rapid one\nof our dealing with his people, the Bakena, or Bakwains. A small piece\nof land, sufficient for a garden, was purchased when we first went to\nlive with them, though that was scarcely necessary in a country where\nthe idea of buying land was quite new. It was expected that a request\nfor a suitable spot would have been made, and that we should have\nproceeded to occupy it as any other member of the tribe would. But we\nexplained to them that we wished to avoid any cause of future dispute\nwhen land had become more valuable; or when a foolish chief began to\nreign, and we had erected large or expensive buildings, he might wish\nto claim the whole. These reasons were considered satisfactory. About 5\nPounds worth of goods were given for a piece of land, and an arrangement\nwas come to that a similar piece should be allotted to any other\nmissionary, at any other place to which the tribe might remove. The\nparticulars of the sale sounded strangely in the ears of the tribe, but\nwere nevertheless readily agreed to.\n\nIn our relations with this people we were simply strangers exercising\nno authority or control whatever. Our influence depended entirely on\npersuasion; and having taught them by kind conversation as well as by\npublic instruction, I expected them to do what their own sense of right\nand wrong dictated. We never wished them to do right merely because it\nwould be pleasing to us, nor thought ourselves to blame when they did\nwrong, although we were quite aware of the absurd idea to that effect.\nWe saw that our teaching did good to the general mind of the people by\nbringing new and better motives into play. Five instances are positively\nknown to me in which, by our influence on public opinion, war was\nprevented; and where, in individual cases, we failed, the people did\nno worse than they did before we came into the country. In general they\nwere slow, like all the African people hereafter to be described, in\ncoming to a decision on religious subjects; but in questions affecting\ntheir worldly affairs they were keenly alive to their own interests.\nThey might be called stupid in matters which had not come within the\nsphere of their observation, but in other things they showed more\nintelligence than is to be met with in our own uneducated peasantry.\nThey are remarkably accurate in their knowledge of cattle, sheep, and\ngoats, knowing exactly the kind of pasturage suited to each; and\nthey select with great judgment the varieties of soil best suited to\ndifferent kinds of grain. They are also familiar with the habits of wild\nanimals, and in general are well up in the maxims which embody their\nideas of political wisdom.\n\nThe place where we first settled with the Bakwains is called Chonuane,\nand it happened to be visited, during the first year of our residence\nthere, by one of those droughts which occur from time to time in even\nthe most favored districts of Africa.\n\nThe belief in the gift or power of RAIN-MAKING is one of the most\ndeeply-rooted articles of faith in this country. The chief Sechele was\nhimself a noted rain-doctor, and believed in it implicitly. He has often\nassured me that he found it more difficult to give up his faith in that\nthan in any thing else which Christianity required him to abjure. I\npointed out to him that the only feasible way of watering the gardens\nwas to select some good, never-failing river, make a canal, and irrigate\nthe adjacent lands. This suggestion was immediately adopted, and soon\nthe whole tribe was on the move to the Kolobeng, a stream about forty\nmiles distant. The experiment succeeded admirably during the first\nyear. The Bakwains made the canal and dam in exchange for my labor in\nassisting to build a square house for their chief. They also built their\nown school under my superintendence. Our house at the River Kolobeng,\nwhich gave a name to the settlement, was the third which I had reared\nwith my own hands. A native smith taught me to weld iron; and having\nimproved by scraps of information in that line from Mr. Moffat, and also\nin carpentering and gardening, I was becoming handy at almost any trade,\nbesides doctoring and preaching; and as my wife could make candles,\nsoap, and clothes, we came nearly up to what may be considered as\nindispensable in the accomplishments of a missionary family in Central\nAfrica, namely, the husband to be a jack-of-all-trades without doors,\nand the wife a maid-of-all-work within. But in our second year again no\nrain fell. In the third the same extraordinary drought followed. Indeed,\nnot ten inches of water fell during these two years, and the Kolobeng\nran dry; so many fish were killed that the hyaenas from the whole\ncountry round collected to the feast, and were unable to finish the\nputrid masses. A large old alligator, which had never been known to\ncommit any depredations, was found left high and dry in the mud among\nthe victims. The fourth year was equally unpropitious, the fall of rain\nbeing insufficient to bring the grain to maturity. Nothing could be more\ntrying. We dug down in the bed of the river deeper and deeper as the\nwater receded, striving to get a little to keep the fruit-trees alive\nfor better times, but in vain. Needles lying out of doors for months did\nnot rust; and a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, used in a galvanic\nbattery, parted with all its water to the air, instead of imbibing more\nfrom it, as it would have done in England. The leaves of indigenous\ntrees were all drooping, soft, and shriveled, though not dead; and those\nof the mimosae were closed at midday, the same as they are at night.\nIn the midst of this dreary drought, it was wonderful to see those tiny\ncreatures, the ants, running about with their accustomed vivacity. I put\nthe bulb of a thermometer three inches under the soil, in the sun, at\nmidday, and found the mercury to stand at 132 Deg. to 134 Deg.; and if\ncertain kinds of beetles were placed on the surface, they ran about\na few seconds and expired. But this broiling heat only augmented the\nactivity of the long-legged black ants: they never tire; their organs of\nmotion seem endowed with the same power as is ascribed by physiologists\nto the muscles of the human heart, by which that part of the frame never\nbecomes fatigued, and which may be imparted to all our bodily organs in\nthat higher sphere to which we fondly hope to rise. Where do these\nants get their moisture? Our house was built on a hard ferruginous\nconglomerate, in order to be out of the way of the white ant, but they\ncame in despite the precaution; and not only were they, in this sultry\nweather, able individually to moisten soil to the consistency of mortar\nfor the formation of galleries, which, in their way of working, is done\nby night (so that they are screened from the observation of birds by day\nin passing and repassing toward any vegetable matter they may wish to\ndevour), but, when their inner chambers were laid open, these were also\nsurprisingly humid. Yet there was no dew, and, the house being placed on\na rock, they could have no subterranean passage to the bed of the river,\nwhich ran about three hundred yards below the hill. Can it be that they\nhave the power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable\nfood by vital force so as to form water?*\n\n   * When we come to Angola, I shall describe an insect there\n   which distills several pints of water every night.\n\nRain, however, would not fall. The Bakwains believed that I had bound\nSechele with some magic spell, and I received deputations, in the\nevenings, of the old counselors, entreating me to allow him to make only\na few showers: \"The corn will die if you refuse, and we shall become\nscattered. Only let him make rain this once, and we shall all, men,\nwomen, and children, come to the school, and sing and pray as long as\nyou please.\" It was in vain to protest that I wished Sechele to act just\naccording to his own ideas of what was right, as he found the law laid\ndown in the Bible, and it was distressing to appear hard-hearted to\nthem. The clouds often collected promisingly over us, and rolling\nthunder seemed to portend refreshing showers, but next morning the\nsun would rise in a clear, cloudless sky; indeed, even these lowering\nappearances were less frequent by far than days of sunshine are in\nLondon.\n\nThe natives, finding it irksome to sit and wait helplessly until God\ngives them rain from heaven, entertain the more comfortable idea that\nthey can help themselves by a variety of preparations, such as\ncharcoal made of burned bats, inspissated renal deposit of the mountain\ncony--'Hyrax capensis'--(which, by the way, is used, in the form of\npills, as a good antispasmodic, under the name of \"stone-sweat\"*), the\ninternal parts of different animals--as jackals' livers, baboons' and\nlions' hearts, and hairy calculi from the bowels of old cows--serpents'\nskins and vertebrae, and every kind of tuber, bulb, root, and plant\nto be found in the country. Although you disbelieve their efficacy\nin charming the clouds to pour out their refreshing treasures, yet,\nconscious that civility is useful every where, you kindly state that\nyou think they are mistaken as to their power. The rain-doctor selects a\nparticular bulbous root, pounds it, and administers a cold infusion to\na sheep, which in five minutes afterward expires in convulsions. Part of\nthe same bulb is converted into smoke, and ascends toward the sky;\nrain follows in a day or two. The inference is obvious. Were we as much\nharassed by droughts, the logic would be irresistible in England in\n1857.\n\n   * The name arises from its being always voided on one spot,\n   in the manner practiced by others of the rhinocerontine family;\n   and, by the action of the sun, it becomes a black, pitchy substance.\n\nAs the Bakwains believed that there must be some connection between\nthe presence of \"God's Word\" in their town and these successive and\ndistressing droughts, they looked with no good will at the church bell,\nbut still they invariably treated us with kindness and respect. I am not\naware of ever having had an enemy in the tribe. The only avowed cause of\ndislike was expressed by a very influential and sensible man, the uncle\nof Sechele. \"We like you as well as if you had been born among us; you\nare the only white man we can become familiar with (thoaela); but we\nwish you to give up that everlasting preaching and praying; we can not\nbecome familiar with that at all. You see we never get rain, while those\ntribes who never pray as we do obtain abundance.\" This was a fact; and\nwe often saw it raining on the hills ten miles off, while it would not\nlook at us \"even with one eye\". If the Prince of the power of the air\nhad no hand in scorching us up, I fear I often gave him the credit of\ndoing so.\n\nAs for the rain-makers, they carried the sympathies of the people along\nwith them, and not without reason. With the following arguments they\nwere all acquainted, and in order to understand their force, we must\nplace ourselves in their position, and believe, as they do, that all\nmedicines act by a mysterious charm. The term for cure may be translated\n\"charm\" ('alaha').\n\nMEDICAL DOCTOR. Hail, friend! How very many medicines you have about you\nthis morning! Why, you have every medicine in the country here.\n\nRAIN DOCTOR. Very true, my friend; and I ought; for the whole country\nneeds the rain which I am making.\n\nM. D. So you really believe that you can command the clouds? I think\nthat can be done by God alone.\n\nR. D. We both believe the very same thing. It is God that makes the\nrain, but I pray to him by means of these medicines, and, the rain\ncoming, of course it is then mine. It was I who made it for the Bakwains\nfor many years, when they were at Shokuane; through my wisdom, too,\ntheir women became fat and shining. Ask them; they will tell you the\nsame as I do.\n\nM. D. But we are distinctly told in the parting words of our Savior that\nwe can pray to God acceptably in his name alone, and not by means of\nmedicines.\n\nR. D. Truly! but God told us differently. He made black men first, and\ndid not love us as he did the white men. He made you beautiful, and gave\nyou clothing, and guns, and gunpowder, and horses, and wagons, and many\nother things about which we know nothing. But toward us he had no heart.\nHe gave us nothing except the assegai, and cattle, and rain-making; and\nhe did not give us hearts like yours. We never love each other. Other\ntribes place medicines about our country to prevent the rain, so that we\nmay be dispersed by hunger, and go to them, and augment their power. We\nmust dissolve their charms by our medicines. God has given us one little\nthing, which you know nothing of. He has given us the knowledge of\ncertain medicines by which we can make rain. WE do not despise those\nthings which you possess, though we are ignorant of them. We don't\nunderstand your book, yet we don't despise it. YOU ought not to despise\nour little knowledge, though you are ignorant of it.\n\nM. D. I don't despise what I am ignorant of; I only think you are\nmistaken in saying that you have medicines which can influence the rain\nat all.\n\nR. D. That's just the way people speak when they talk on a subject of\nwhich they have no knowledge. When we first opened our eyes, we found\nour forefathers making rain, and we follow in their footsteps. You, who\nsend to Kuruman for corn, and irrigate your garden, may do without rain;\nWE can not manage in that way. If we had no rain, the cattle would have\nno pasture, the cows give no milk, our children become lean and die, our\nwives run away to other tribes who do make rain and have corn, and the\nwhole tribe become dispersed and lost; our fire would go out.\n\nM. D. I quite agree with you as to the value of the rain; but you can\nnot charm the clouds by medicines. You wait till you see the clouds\ncome, then you use your medicines, and take the credit which belongs to\nGod only.\n\nR. D. I use my medicines, and you employ yours; we are both doctors, and\ndoctors are not deceivers. You give a patient medicine. Sometimes God is\npleased to heal him by means of your medicine; sometimes not--he dies.\nWhen he is cured, you take the credit of what God does. I do the same.\nSometimes God grants us rain, sometimes not. When he does, we take the\ncredit of the charm. When a patient dies, you don't give up trust in\nyour medicine, neither do I when rain fails. If you wish me to leave off\nmy medicines, why continue your own?\n\nM. D. I give medicine to living creatures within my reach, and can see\nthe effects, though no cure follows; you pretend to charm the clouds,\nwhich are so far above us that your medicines never reach them. The\nclouds usually lie in one direction, and your smoke goes in another. God\nalone can command the clouds. Only try and wait patiently; God will give\nus rain without your medicines.\n\nR. D. Mahala-ma-kapa-a-a!! Well, I always thought white men were wise\ntill this morning. Who ever thought of making trial of starvation? Is\ndeath pleasant, then?\n\nM. D. Could you make it rain on one spot and not on another?\n\nR. D. I wouldn't think of trying. I like to see the whole country green,\nand all the people glad; the women clapping their hands, and giving me\ntheir ornaments for thankfulness, and lullilooing for joy.\n\nM. D. I think you deceive both them and yourself.\n\nR. D. Well, then, there is a pair of us (meaning both are rogues).\n\nThe above is only a specimen of their way of reasoning, in which, when\nthe language is well understood, they are perceived to be remarkably\nacute. These arguments are generally known, and I never succeeded in\nconvincing a single individual of their fallacy, though I tried to do\nso in every way I could think of. Their faith in medicines as charms is\nunbounded. The general effect of argument is to produce the impression\nthat you are not anxious for rain at all; and it is very undesirable\nto allow the idea to spread that you do not take a generous interest\nin their welfare. An angry opponent of rain-making in a tribe would be\nlooked upon as were some Greek merchants in England during the Russian\nwar.\n\nThe conduct of the people during this long-continued drought was\nremarkably good. The women parted with most of their ornaments to\npurchase corn from more fortunate tribes. The children scoured the\ncountry in search of the numerous bulbs and roots which can sustain\nlife, and the men engaged in hunting. Very great numbers of the large\ngame, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, tsessebes, kamas or hartebeests,\nkokongs or gnus, pallahs, rhinoceroses, etc., congregated at some\nfountains near Kolobeng, and the trap called \"hopo\" was constructed,\nin the lands adjacent, for their destruction. The hopo consists of two\nhedges in the form of the letter V, which are very high and thick near\nthe angle. Instead of the hedges being joined there, they are made to\nform a lane of about fifty yards in length, at the extremity of which\na pit is formed, six or eight feet deep, and about twelve or fifteen in\nbreadth and length. Trunks of trees are laid across the margins of the\npit, and more especially over that nearest the lane where the animals\nare expected to leap in, and over that farthest from the lane where it\nis supposed they will attempt to escape after they are in. The trees\nform an overlapping border, and render escape almost impossible. The\nwhole is carefully decked with short green rushes, making the pit like\na concealed pitfall. As the hedges are frequently about a mile long, and\nabout as much apart at their extremities, a tribe making a circle three\nor four miles round the country adjacent to the opening, and gradually\nclosing up, are almost sure to inclose a large body of game. Driving it\nup with shouts to the narrow part of the hopo, men secreted there throw\ntheir javelins into the affrighted herds, and on the animals rush to the\nopening presented at the converging hedges, and into the pit, till that\nis full of a living mass. Some escape by running over the others, as\na Smithfield market-dog does over the sheep's backs. It is a frightful\nscene. The men, wild with excitement, spear the lovely animals with mad\ndelight; others of the poor creatures, borne down by the weight of their\ndead and dying companions, every now and then make the whole mass heave\nin their smothering agonies.\n\nThe Bakwains often killed between sixty and seventy head of large game\nat the different hopos in a single week; and as every one, both rich and\npoor, partook of the prey, the meat counteracted the bad effects of an\nexclusively vegetable diet. When the poor, who had no salt, were forced\nto live entirely on roots, they were often troubled with indigestion.\nSuch cases we had frequent opportunities of seeing at other times, for,\nthe district being destitute of salt, the rich alone could afford to\nbuy it. The native doctors, aware of the cause of the malady, usually\nprescribed some of that ingredient with their medicines. The doctors\nthemselves had none, so the poor resorted to us for aid. We took the\nhint, and henceforth cured the disease by giving a teaspoonful of salt,\nminus the other remedies. Either milk or meat had the same effect,\nthough not so rapidly as salt. Long afterward, when I was myself\ndeprived of salt for four months, at two distinct periods, I felt no\ndesire for that condiment, but I was plagued by very great longing for\nthe above articles of food. This continued as long as I was confined\nto an exclusively vegetable diet, and when I procured a meal of flesh,\nthough boiled in perfectly fresh rain-water, it tasted as pleasantly\nsaltish as if slightly impregnated with the condiment. Milk or meat,\nobtained in however small quantities, removed entirely the excessive\nlonging and dreaming about roasted ribs of fat oxen, and bowls of cool\nthick milk gurgling forth from the big-bellied calabashes; and I could\nthen understand the thankfulness to Mrs. L. often expressed by poor\nBakwain women, in the interesting condition, for a very little of\neither.\n\nIn addition to other adverse influences, the general uncertainty, though\nnot absolute want of food, and the necessity of frequent absence for the\npurpose of either hunting game or collecting roots and fruits, proved\na serious barrier to the progress of the people in knowledge. Our own\neducation in England is carried on at the comfortable breakfast and\ndinner table, and by the cosy fire, as well as in the church and school.\nFew English people with stomachs painfully empty would be decorous at\nchurch any more than they are when these organs are overcharged. Ragged\nschools would have been a failure had not the teachers wisely provided\nfood for the body as well as food for the mind; and not only must we\nshow a friendly interest in the bodily comfort of the objects of our\nsympathy as a Christian duty, but we can no more hope for healthy\nfeelings among the poor, either at home or abroad, without feeding them\ninto them, than we can hope to see an ordinary working-bee reared into a\nqueen-mother by the ordinary food of the hive.\n\nSending the Gospel to the heathen must, if this view be correct, include\nmuch more than is implied in the usual picture of a missionary, namely,\na man going about with a Bible under his arm. The promotion of commerce\nought to be specially attended to, as this, more speedily than any thing\nelse, demolishes that sense of isolation which heathenism engenders,\nand makes the tribes feel themselves mutually dependent on, and mutually\nbeneficial to each other. With a view to this, the missionaries at\nKuruman got permission from the government for a trader to reside at\nthe station, and a considerable trade has been the result; the trader\nhimself has become rich enough to retire with a competence. Those laws\nwhich still prevent free commercial intercourse among the civilized\nnations seem to be nothing else but the remains of our own heathenism.\nMy observations on this subject make me extremely desirous to promote\nthe preparation of the raw materials of European manufactures in Africa,\nfor by that means we may not only put a stop to the slave-trade, but\nintroduce the negro family into the body corporate of nations, no one\nmember of which can suffer without the others suffering with it. Success\nin this, in both Eastern and Western Africa, would lead, in the course\nof time, to a much larger diffusion of the blessings of civilization\nthan efforts exclusively spiritual and educational confined to any one\nsmall tribe. These, however, it would of course be extremely desirable\nto carry on at the same time at large central and healthy stations, for\nneither civilization nor Christianity can be promoted alone. In fact,\nthey are inseparable.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 2.\n\nThe Boers--Their Treatment of the Natives--Seizure of native Children\nfor Slaves--English Traders--Alarm of the Boers--Native Espionage--The\nTale of the Cannon--The Boers threaten Sechele--In violation of Treaty,\nthey stop English Traders and expel Missionaries--They attack\nthe Bakwains--Their Mode of Fighting--The Natives killed and\nthe School-children carried into Slavery--Destruction of English\nProperty--African Housebuilding and Housekeeping--Mode of Spending\nthe Day--Scarcity of Food--Locusts--Edible Frogs--Scavenger\nBeetle--Continued Hostility of the Boers--The Journey\nnorth--Preparations--Fellow-travelers--The Kalahari Desert--\nVegetation--Watermelons--The Inhabitants--The Bushmen--Their nomad Mode\nof Life--Appearance--The Bakalahari--Their Love for Agriculture and\nfor domestic Animals--Timid Character--Mode of obtaining Water--Female\nWater-suckers--The Desert--Water hidden.\n\n\n\nAnother adverse influence with which the mission had to contend was\nthe vicinity of the Boers of the Cashan Mountains, otherwise named\n\"Magaliesberg\". These are not to be counfounded with the Cape colonists,\nwho sometimes pass by the name. The word Boer simply means \"farmer\", and\nis not synonymous with our word boor. Indeed, to the Boers generally\nthe latter term would be quite inappropriate, for they are a sober,\nindustrious, and most hospitable body of peasantry. Those, however, who\nhave fled from English law on various pretexts, and have been joined\nby English deserters and every other variety of bad character in their\ndistant localities, are unfortunately of a very different stamp. The\ngreat objection many of the Boers had, and still have, to English law,\nis that it makes no distinction between black men and white. They\nfelt aggrieved by their supposed losses in the emancipation of their\nHottentot slaves, and determined to erect themselves into a republic, in\nwhich they might pursue, without molestation, the \"proper treatment of\nthe blacks\". It is almost needless to add that the \"proper treatment\"\nhas always contained in it the essential element of slavery, namely,\ncompulsory unpaid labor.\n\nOne section of this body, under the late Mr. Hendrick Potgeiter,\npenetrated the interior as far as the Cashan Mountains, whence a Zulu\nor Caffre chief, named Mosilikatze, had been expelled by the well-known\nCaffre Dingaan; and a glad welcome was given them by the Bechuana\ntribes, who had just escaped the hard sway of that cruel chieftain. They\ncame with the prestige of white men and deliverers; but the Bechuanas\nsoon found, as they expressed it, \"that Mosilikatze was cruel to his\nenemies, and kind to those he conquered; but that the Boers destroyed\ntheir enemies, and made slaves of their friends.\" The tribes who still\nretain the semblance of independence are forced to perform all the labor\nof the fields, such as manuring the land, weeding, reaping, building,\nmaking dams and canals, and at the same time to support themselves.\nI have myself been an eye-witness of Boers coming to a village, and,\naccording to their usual custom, demanding twenty or thirty women to\nweed their gardens, and have seen these women proceed to the scene of\nunrequited toil, carrying their own food on their heads, their children\non their backs, and instruments of labor on their shoulders. Nor have\nthe Boers any wish to conceal the meanness of thus employing unpaid\nlabor; on the contrary, every one of them, from Mr. Potgeiter and Mr.\nGert Krieger, the commandants, downward, lauded his own humanity and\njustice in making such an equitable regulation. \"We make the people work\nfor us, in consideration of allowing them to live in our country.\"\n\nI can appeal to the Commandant Krieger if the foregoing is not a fair\nand impartial statement of the views of himself and his people. I am\nsensible of no mental bias toward or against these Boers; and during the\nseveral journeys I made to the poor enslaved tribes, I never avoided\nthe whites, but tried to cure and did administer remedies to their sick,\nwithout money and without price. It is due to them to state that I was\ninvariably treated with respect; but it is most unfortunate that\nthey should have been left by their own Church for so many years to\ndeteriorate and become as degraded as the blacks, whom the stupid\nprejudice against color leads them to detest.\n\nThis new species of slavery which they have adopted serves to supply the\nlack of field-labor only. The demand for domestic servants must be met\nby forays on tribes which have good supplies of cattle. The Portuguese\ncan quote instances in which blacks become so degraded by the love of\nstrong drink as actually to sell themselves; but never in any one case,\nwithin the memory of man, has a Bechuana chief sold any of his people,\nor a Bechuana man his child. Hence the necessity for a foray to seize\nchildren. And those individual Boers who would not engage in it for the\nsake of slaves can seldom resist the two-fold plea of a well-told\nstory of an intended uprising of the devoted tribe, and the prospect of\nhandsome pay in the division of the captured cattle besides.\n\nIt is difficult for a person in a civilized country to conceive that\nany body of men possessing the common attributes of humanity (and these\nBoers are by no means destitute of the better feelings of our nature)\nshould with one accord set out, after loading their own wives and\nchildren with caresses, and proceed to shoot down in cold blood men\nand women, of a different color, it is true, but possessed of domestic\nfeelings and affections equal to their own. I saw and conversed with\nchildren in the houses of Boers who had, by their own and their masters'\naccount, been captured, and in several instances I traced the parents\nof these unfortunates, though the plan approved by the long-headed among\nthe burghers is to take children so young that they soon forget their\nparents and their native language also. It was long before I could give\ncredit to the tales of bloodshed told by native witnesses, and had I\nreceived no other testimony but theirs I should probably have continued\nskeptical to this day as to the truth of the accounts; but when I found\nthe Boers themselves, some bewailing and denouncing, others glorying in\nthe bloody scenes in which they had been themselves the actors, I was\ncompelled to admit the validity of the testimony, and try to account for\nthe cruel anomaly. They are all traditionally religious, tracing their\ndescent from some of the best men (Huguenots and Dutch) the world ever\nsaw. Hence they claim to themselves the title of \"Christians\", and all\nthe colored race are \"black property\" or \"creatures\". They being the\nchosen people of God, the heathen are given to them for an inheritance,\nand they are the rod of divine vengeance on the heathen, as were the\nJews of old. Living in the midst of a native population much larger than\nthemselves, and at fountains removed many miles from each other, they\nfeel somewhat in the same insecure position as do the Americans in\nthe Southern States. The first question put by them to strangers is\nrespecting peace; and when they receive reports from disaffected or\nenvious natives against any tribe, the case assumes all the appearance\nand proportions of a regular insurrection. Severe measures then appear\nto the most mildly disposed among them as imperatively called for, and,\nhowever bloody the massacre that follows, no qualms of conscience ensue:\nit is a dire necessity for the sake of peace. Indeed, the late Mr.\nHendrick Potgeiter most devoutly believed himself to be the great\npeacemaker of the country.\n\nBut how is it that the natives, being so vastly superior in numbers to\nthe Boers, do not rise and annihilate them? The people among whom they\nlive are Bechuanas, not Caffres, though no one would ever learn that\ndistinction from a Boer; and history does not contain one single\ninstance in which the Bechuanas, even those of them who possess\nfire-arms, have attacked either the Boers or the English. If there is\nsuch an instance, I am certain it is not generally known, either beyond\nor in the Cape Colony. They have defended themselves when attacked, as\nin the case of Sechele, but have never engaged in offensive war with\nEuropeans. We have a very different tale to tell of the Caffres, and the\ndifference has always been so evident to these border Boers that, ever\nsince those \"magnificent savages\"* obtained possession of fire-arms, not\none Boer has ever attempted to settle in Caffreland, or even face them\nas an enemy in the field. The Boers have generally manifested a marked\nantipathy to any thing but \"long-shot\" warfare, and, sidling away in\ntheir emigrations toward the more effeminate Bechuanas, have left their\nquarrels with the Caffres to be settled by the English, and their wars\nto be paid for by English gold.\n\n   * The \"United Service Journal\" so styles them.\n\nThe Bakwains at Kolobeng had the spectacle of various tribes enslaved\nbefore their eyes--the Bakatla, the Batlokua, the Bahukeng, the\nBamosetla, and two other tribes of Bakwains were all groaning under\nthe oppression of unrequited labor. This would not have been felt as so\ngreat an evil but that the young men of those tribes, anxious to obtain\ncattle, the only means of rising to respectability and importance among\ntheir own people, were in the habit of sallying forth, like our Irish\nand Highland reapers, to procure work in the Cape Colony. After laboring\nthere three or four years, in building stone dikes and dams for the\nDutch farmers, they were well content if at the end of that time they\ncould return with as many cows. On presenting one to their chief, they\nranked as respectable men in the tribe ever afterward. These volunteers\nwere highly esteemed among the Dutch, under the name of Mantatees. They\nwere paid at the rate of one shilling a day and a large loaf of bread\nbetween six of them. Numbers of them, who had formerly seen me about\ntwelve hundred miles inland from the Cape, recognized me with the loud\nlaughter of joy when I was passing them at their work in the Roggefelt\nand Bokkefelt, within a few days of Cape Town. I conversed with them and\nwith elders of the Dutch Church, for whom they were working, and found\nthat the system was thoroughly satisfactory to both parties. I do not\nbelieve that there is one Boer, in the Cashan or Magaliesberg country,\nwho would deny that a law was made, in consequence of this labor passing\nto the colony, to deprive these laborers of their hardly-earned cattle,\nfor the very cogent reason that, \"if they want to work, let them work\nfor us their masters,\" though boasting that in their case it would not\nbe paid for. I can never cease to be most unfeignedly thankful that I\nwas not born in a land of slaves. No one can understand the effect of\nthe unutterable meanness of the slave-system on the minds of those\nwho, but for the strange obliquity which prevents them from feeling the\ndegradation of not being gentlemen enough to pay for services rendered,\nwould be equal in virtue to ourselves. Fraud becomes as natural to them\nas \"paying one's way\" is to the rest of mankind.\n\nWherever a missionary lives, traders are sure to come; they are mutually\ndependent, and each aids in the work of the other; but experience shows\nthat the two employments can not very well be combined in the same\nperson. Such a combination would not be morally wrong, for nothing would\nbe more fair, and apostolical too, than that the man who devotes\nhis time to the spiritual welfare of a people should derive temporal\nadvantage from upright commerce, which traders, who aim exclusively at\ntheir own enrichment, modestly imagine ought to be left to them. But,\nthough it is right for missionaries to trade, the present system of\nmissions renders it inexpedient to spend time in so doing. No missionary\nwith whom I ever came in contact, traded; and while the traders, whom\nwe introduced and rendered secure in the country, waxed rich, the\nmissionaries have invariably remained poor, and have died so. The\nJesuits, in Africa at least, were wiser in their generation than we;\ntheirs were large, influential communities, proceeding on the system of\nturning the abilities of every brother into that channel in which he\nwas most likely to excel; one, fond of natural history, was allowed to\nfollow his bent; another, fond of literature, found leisure to pursue\nhis studies; and he who was great in barter was sent in search of ivory\nand gold-dust; so that while in the course of performing the religious\nacts of his mission to distant tribes, he found the means of aiding\neffectually the brethren whom he had left in the central settlement.* We\nProtestants, with the comfortable conviction of superiority, have sent\nout missionaries with a bare subsistence only, and are unsparing in our\nlaudations of some for not being worldly-minded whom our niggardliness\nmade to live as did the prodigal son. I do not speak of myself, nor need\nI to do so, but for that very reason I feel at liberty to interpose a\nword in behalf of others. I have before my mind at this moment facts and\ninstances which warrant my putting the case in this way: The command to\n\"go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature\" must be\nobeyed by Christians either personally or by substitute. Now it is quite\npossible to find men whose love for the heathen and devotion to the work\nwill make them ready to go forth on the terms \"bare subsistence\", but\nwhat can be thought of the justice, to say nothing of the generosity,\nof Christians and churches who not only work their substitutes at the\nlowest terms, but regard what they give as charity! The matter is the\nmore grave in respect to the Protestant missionary, who may have a wife\nand family. The fact is, there are many cases in which it is right,\nvirtuous, and praiseworthy for a man to sacrifice every thing for a\ngreat object, but in which it would be very wrong for others, interested\nin the object as much as he, to suffer or accept the sacrifice, if they\ncan prevent it.\n\n   * The Dutch clergy, too, are not wanting in worldly wisdom. A\n   fountain is bought, and the lands which it can irrigate\n   parceled out and let to villagers.  As they increase in\n   numbers, the rents rise and the church becomes rich.  With 200\n   Pounds per annum in addition from government, the salary\n   amounts to 400 or 500 Pounds a year. The clergymen then preach\n   abstinence from politics as a Christian duty. It is quite\n   clear that, with 400 Pounds a year, but little else except\n   pure spirituality is required.\n\nEnglish traders sold those articles which the Boers most dread, namely,\narms and ammunition; and when the number of guns amounted to five, so\nmuch alarm was excited among our neighbors that an expedition of several\nhundred Boers was seriously planned to deprive the Bakwains of their\nguns. Knowing that the latter would rather have fled to the Kalahari\nDesert than deliver up their weapons and become slaves, I proceeded to\nthe commandant, Mr. Gert Krieger, and, representing the evils of any\nsuch expedition, prevailed upon him to defer it; but that point being\ngranted, the Boer wished to gain another, which was that I should act as\na spy over the Bakwains.\n\nI explained the impossibility of my complying with his wish, even though\nmy principles as an Englishman had not stood in the way, by referring to\nan instance in which Sechele had gone with his whole force to punish\nan under-chief without my knowledge. This man, whose name was Kake,\nrebelled, and was led on in his rebellion by his father-in-law, who\nhad been regicide in the case of Sechele's father. Several of those who\nremained faithful to that chief were maltreated by Kake while passing\nto the Desert in search of skins. We had just come to live with the\nBakwains when this happened, and Sechele consulted me. I advised mild\nmeasures, but the messengers he sent to Kake were taunted with the\nwords, \"He only pretends to wish to follow the advice of the teacher:\nSechele is a coward; let him come and fight if he dare.\" The next\ntime the offense was repeated, Sechele told me he was going to hunt\nelephants; and as I knew the system of espionage which prevails among\nall the tribes, I never made inquiries that would convey the opinion\nthat I distrusted them. I gave credit to his statement. He asked\nthe loan of a black-metal pot to cook with, as theirs of pottery are\nbrittle. I gave it and a handful of salt, and desired him to send back\ntwo tit-bits, the proboscis and fore-foot of the elephant. He set off,\nand I heard nothing more until we saw the Bakwains carrying home their\nwounded, and heard some of the women uttering the loud wail of sorrow\nfor the dead, and others pealing forth the clear scream of victory. It\nwas then clear that Sechele had attacked and driven away the rebel.\n\nMentioning this to the commandant in proof of the impossibility of\ngranting his request, I had soon an example how quickly a story can grow\namong idle people. The five guns were, within one month, multiplied into\na tale of five hundred, and the cooking-pot, now in a museum at Cape\nTown, was magnified into a cannon; \"I had myself confessed to the loan.\"\nWhere the five hundred guns came from, it was easy to divine; for,\nknowing that I used a sextant, my connection with government was a\nthing of course; and, as I must know all her majesty's counsels, I was\nquestioned on the subject of the indistinct rumors which had reached\nthem of Lord Rosse's telescope. \"What right has your government to\nset up that large glass at the Cape to look after us behind the Cashan\nMountains?\"\n\nMany of the Boers visited us afterward at Kolobeng, some for medical\nadvice, and others to trade in those very articles which their own laws\nand policy forbid. When I happened to stumble upon any of them in the\ntown, with his muskets and powder displayed, he would begin an apology,\non the ground that he was a poor man, etc., which I always cut short by\nfrankly saying that I had nothing to do with either the Boers or their\nlaws. Many attempts were made during these visits to elicit the truth\nabout the guns and cannon; and ignorant of the system of espionage which\nprevails, eager inquiries were made by them among those who could jabber\na little Dutch. It is noticeable that the system of espionage is as well\ndeveloped among the savage tribes as in Austria or Russia. It is a proof\nof barbarism. Every man in a tribe feels himself bound to tell the\nchief every thing that comes to his knowledge, and, when questioned by\na stranger, either gives answers which exhibit the utmost stupidity, or\nsuch as he knows will be agreeable to his chief. I believe that in this\nway have arisen tales of their inability to count more than ten, as\nwas asserted of the Bechuanas about the very time when Sechele's father\ncounted out one thousand head of cattle as a beginning of the stock of\nhis young son.\n\nIn the present case, Sechele, knowing every question put to his people,\nasked me how they ought to answer. My reply was, \"Tell the truth.\" Every\none then declared that no cannon existed there; and our friends, judging\nthe answer by what they themselves would in the circumstances have\nsaid, were confirmed in the opinion that the Bakwains actually possessed\nartillery. This was in some degree beneficial to us, inasmuch as fear\nprevented any foray in our direction for eight years. During that time\nno winter passed without one or two tribes in the East country being\nplundered of both cattle and children by the Boers. The plan pursued\nis the following: one or two friendly tribes are forced to accompany a\nparty of mounted Boers, and these expeditions can be got up only in the\nwinter, when horses may be used without danger of being lost by disease.\nWhen they reach the tribe to be attacked, the friendly natives are\nranged in front, to form, as they say, \"a shield\"; the Boers then coolly\nfire over their heads till the devoted people flee and leave cattle,\nwives, and children to the captors. This was done in nine cases during\nmy residence in the interior, and on no occasion was a drop of Boer's\nblood shed. News of these deeds spread quickly among the Bakwains, and\nletters were repeatedly sent by the Boers to Sechele, ordering him to\ncome and surrender himself as their vassal, and stop English traders\nfrom proceeding into the country with fire-arms for sale. But the\ndiscovery of Lake Ngami, hereafter to be described, made the traders\ncome in five-fold greater numbers, and Sechele replied, \"I was made an\nindependent chief and placed here by God, and not by you. I was never\nconquered by Mosilikatze, as those tribes whom you rule over; and the\nEnglish are my friends. I get every thing I wish from them. I can not\nhinder them from going where they like.\" Those who are old enough to\nremember the threatened invasion of our own island may understand the\neffect which the constant danger of a Boerish invasion had on the\nminds of the Bakwains; but no others can conceive how worrying were the\nmessages and threats from the endless self-constituted authorities of\nthe Magaliesberg Boers; and when to all this harassing annoyance was\nadded the scarcity produced by the drought, we could not wonder at,\nthough we felt sorry for, their indisposition to receive instruction.\n\nThe myth of the black pot assumed serious proportions. I attempted to\nbenefit the tribes among the Boers of Magaliesberg by placing native\nteachers at different points. \"You must teach the blacks,\" said Mr.\nHendrick Potgeiter, the commandant in chief, \"that they are not equal\nto us.\" Other Boers told me, \"I might as well teach the baboons on the\nrocks as the Africans,\" but declined the test which I proposed, namely,\nto examine whether they or my native attendants could read best. Two of\ntheir clergymen came to baptize the children of the Boers; so, supposing\nthese good men would assist me in overcoming the repugnance of their\nflock to the education of the blacks, I called on them; but my visit\nended in a 'ruse' practiced by the Boerish commandant, whereby I was\nled, by professions of the greatest friendship, to retire to Kolobeng,\nwhile a letter passed me by another way to the other missionaries in\nthe south, demanding my instant recall \"for lending a cannon to their\nenemies.\" The colonial government was also gravely informed that the\nstory was true, and I came to be looked upon as a most suspicious\ncharacter in consequence.\n\nThese notices of the Boers are not intended to produce a sneer at their\nignorance, but to excite the compassion of their friends. They are\nperpetually talking about their laws; but practically theirs is only the\nlaw of the strongest. The Bechuanas could never understand the changes\nwhich took place in their commandants. \"Why, one can never know who is\nthe chief among these Boers. Like the Bushmen, they have no king--they\nmust be the Bushmen of the English.\" The idea that any tribe of men\ncould be so senseless as not to have an hereditary chief was so absurd\nto these people, that, in order not to appear equally stupid, I was\nobliged to tell them that we English were so anxious to preserve the\nroyal blood, that we had made a young lady our chief. This seemed to\nthem a most convincing proof of our sound sense. We shall see farther on\nthe confidence my account of our queen inspired.\n\nThe Boers, encouraged by the accession of Mr. Pretorius, determined at\nlast to put a stop to English traders going past Kolobeng, by dispersing\nthe tribe of Bakwains, and expelling all the missionaries. Sir George\nCathcart proclaimed the independence of the Boers, the best thing that\ncould have been done had they been between us and the Caffres. A treaty\nwas entered into with these Boers; an article for the free passage of\nEnglishmen to the country beyond, and also another, that no slavery\nshould be allowed in the independent territory, were duly inserted, as\nexpressive of the views of her majesty's government at home. \"But what\nabout the missionaries?\" inquired the Boers. \"YOU MAY DO AS YOU PLEASE\nWITH THEM,\" is said to have been the answer of the \"Commissioner\". This\nremark, if uttered at all, was probably made in joke: designing men,\nhowever, circulated it, and caused the general belief in its accuracy\nwhich now prevails all over the country, and doubtless led to the\ndestruction of three mission stations immediately after. The Boers, four\nhundred in number, were sent by the late Mr. Pretorius to attack the\nBakwains in 1852. Boasting that the English had given up all the blacks\ninto their power, and had agreed to aid them in their subjugation by\npreventing all supplies of ammunition from coming into the Bechuana\ncountry, they assaulted the Bakwains, and, besides killing a\nconsiderable number of adults, carried off two hundred of our school\nchildren into slavery. The natives under Sechele defended themselves\ntill the approach of night enabled them to flee to the mountains; and\nhaving in that defense killed a number of the enemy, the very first\never slain in this country by Bechuanas, I received the credit of having\ntaught the tribe to kill Boers! My house, which had stood perfectly\nsecure for years under the protection of the natives, was plundered in\nrevenge. English gentlemen, who had come in the footsteps of Mr. Cumming\nto hunt in the country beyond, and had deposited large quantities of\nstores in the same keeping, and upward of eighty head of cattle as\nrelays for the return journeys, were robbed of all, and, when they came\nback to Kolobeng, found the skeletons of the guardians strewed all over\nthe place. The books of a good library--my solace in our solitude--were\nnot taken away, but handfuls of the leaves were torn out and scattered\nover the place. My stock of medicines was smashed; and all our furniture\nand clothing carried off and sold at public auction to pay the expenses\nof the foray.\n\nI do not mention these things by way of making a pitiful wail over my\nlosses, nor in order to excite commiseration; for, though I do feel\nsorry for the loss of lexicons, dictionaries, &c., which had been the\ncompanions of my boyhood, yet, after all, the plundering only set me\nentirely free for my expedition to the north, and I have never since had\na moment's concern for any thing I left behind. The Boers resolved to\nshut up the interior, and I determined to open the country, and we shall\nsee who have been most successful in resolution, they or I.\n\nA short sketch of African housekeeping may not prove uninteresting to\nthe reader. The entire absence of shops led us to make every thing we\nneeded from the raw materials. You want bricks to build a house, and\nmust forthwith proceed to the field, cut down a tree, and saw it into\nplanks to make the brick-moulds; the materials for doors and windows,\ntoo, are standing in the forest; and, if you want to be respected by\nthe natives, a house of decent dimensions, costing an immense amount of\nmanual labor, must be built. The people can not assist you much; for,\nthough most willing to labor for wages, the Bakwains have a curious\ninability to make or put things square: like all Bechuanas, their\ndwellings are made round. In the case of three large houses, erected by\nmyself at different times, every brick and stick had to be put square by\nmy own right hand.\n\nHaving got the meal ground, the wife proceeds to make it into bread; an\nextempore oven is often constructed by scooping out a large hole in an\nanthill, and using a slab of stone for a door. Another plan, which might\nbe adopted by the Australians to produce something better than their\n\"dampers\", is to make a good fire on a level piece of ground, and,\nwhen the ground is thoroughly heated, place the dough in a small,\nshort-handled frying-pan, or simply on the hot ashes; invert any sort of\nmetal pot over it, draw the ashes around, and then make a small fire\non the top. Dough, mixed with a little leaven from a former baking, and\nallowed to stand an hour or two in the sun, will by this process become\nexcellent bread.\n\nWe made our own butter, a jar serving as a churn; and our own candles\nby means of moulds; and soap was procured from the ashes of the plant\nsalsola, or from wood-ashes, which in Africa contain so little alkaline\nmatter that the boiling of successive leys has to be continued for\na month or six weeks before the fat is saponified. There is not much\nhardship in being almost entirely dependent on ourselves; there is\nsomething of the feeling which must have animated Alexander Selkirk on\nseeing conveniences springing up before him from his own ingenuity; and\nmarried life is all the sweeter when so many comforts emanate directly\nfrom the thrifty striving housewife's hands.\n\nTo some it may appear quite a romantic mode of life; it is one of active\nbenevolence, such as the good may enjoy at home. Take a single day as\na sample of the whole. We rose early, because, however hot the day may\nhave been, the evening, night, and morning at Kolobeng were deliciously\nrefreshing; cool is not the word, where you have neither an increase of\ncold nor heat to desire, and where you can sit out till midnight with no\nfear of coughs or rheumatism. After family worship and breakfast between\nsix and seven, we went to keep school for all who would attend--men,\nwomen, and children being all invited. School over at eleven o'clock,\nwhile the missionary's wife was occupied in domestic matters, the\nmissionary himself had some manual labor as a smith, carpenter, or\ngardener, according to whatever was needed for ourselves or for the\npeople; if for the latter, they worked for us in the garden, or at some\nother employment; skilled labor was thus exchanged for the unskilled.\nAfter dinner and an hour's rest, the wife attended her infant-school,\nwhich the young, who were left by their parents entirely to their own\ncaprice, liked amazingly, and generally mustered a hundred strong; or\nshe varied that with a sewing-school, having classes of girls to learn\nthe art; this, too, was equally well relished. During the day every\noperation must be superintended, and both husband and wife must labor\ntill the sun declines. After sunset the husband went into the town to\nconverse with any one willing to do so, sometimes on general subjects,\nat other times on religion. On three nights of the week, as soon as the\nmilking of the cows was over and it had become dark, we had a public\nreligious service, and one of instruction on secular subjects, aided\nby pictures and specimens. These services were diversified by attending\nupon the sick and prescribing for them, giving food, and otherwise\nassisting the poor and wretched. We tried to gain their affections by\nattending to the wants of the body. The smallest acts of friendship, an\nobliging word and civil look, are, as St. Xavier thought, no despicable\npart of the missionary armor. Nor ought the good opinion of the most\nabject to be uncared for, when politeness may secure it. Their good\nword in the aggregate forms a reputation which may be well employed\nin procuring favor for the Gospel. Show kind attention to the reckless\nopponents of Christianity on the bed of sickness and pain, and they\nnever can become your personal enemies. Here, if any where, love begets\nlove.\n\nWhen at Kolobeng, during the droughts we were entirely dependent on\nKuruman for supplies of corn. Once we were reduced to living on bran,\nto convert which into fine meal we had to grind it three times over. We\nwere much in want of animal food, which seems to be a greater necessary\nof life there than vegetarians would imagine. Being alone, we could\nnot divide the butcher-meat of a slaughtered animal with a prospect\nof getting a return with regularity. Sechele had, by right of\nchieftainship, the breast of every animal slaughtered either at home or\nabroad, and he most obligingly sent us a liberal share during the whole\nperiod of our sojourn. But these supplies were necessarily so irregular\nthat we were sometimes fain to accept a dish of locusts. These are quite\na blessing in the country, so much so that the RAIN-DOCTORS sometimes\npromised to bring them by their incantations. The locusts are strongly\nvegetable in taste, the flavor varying with the plants on which they\nfeed. There is a physiological reason why locusts and honey should be\neaten together. Some are roasted and pounded into meal, which, eaten\nwith a little salt, is palatable. It will keep thus for months. Boiled,\nthey are disagreeable; but when they are roasted I should much prefer\nlocusts to shrimps, though I would avoid both if possible.\n\nIn traveling we sometimes suffered considerably from scarcity of meat,\nthough not from absolute want of food. This was felt more especially by\nmy children; and the natives, to show their sympathy, often gave them\na large kind of caterpillar, which they seemed to relish; these insects\ncould not be unwholesome, for the natives devoured them in large\nquantities themselves.\n\nAnother article of which our children partook with eagerness was a very\nlarge frog, called \"Matlametlo\".*\n\n   * The Pyxicephalus adspersus of Dr. Smith.\n   Length of head and body, 5-1/2 inches;\n   fore legs, 3 inches;\n   hind legs, 6 inches.\n   Width of head posteriorly, 3 inches;\n   of body, 4-1/2 inches.\n\nThese enormous frogs, which, when cooked, look like chickens, are\nsupposed by the natives to fall down from thunder-clouds, because after\na heavy thunder-shower the pools, which are filled and retain water a\nfew days, become instantly alive with this loud-croaking, pugnacious\ngame. This phenomenon takes place in the driest parts of the desert, and\nin places where, to an ordinary observer, there is not a sign of life.\nHaving been once benighted in a district of the Kalahari where there\nwas no prospect of getting water for our cattle for a day or two, I\nwas surprised to hear in the fine still evening the croaking of frogs.\nWalking out until I was certain that the musicians were between me\nand our fire, I found that they could be merry on nothing else but\na prospect of rain. From the Bushmen I afterward learned that the\nmatlametlo makes a hole at the root of certain bushes, and there\nensconces himself during the months of drought. As he seldom emerges, a\nlarge variety of spider takes advantage of the hole, and makes its\nweb across the orifice. He is thus furnished with a window and screen\ngratis; and no one but a Bushman would think of searching beneath\na spider's web for a frog. They completely eluded my search on the\noccasion referred to; and as they rush forth into the hollows filled by\nthe thunder-shower when the rain is actually falling, and the Bechuanas\nare cowering under their skin garments, the sudden chorus struck up\nsimultaneously from all sides seems to indicate a descent from the\nclouds.\n\nThe presence of these matlametlo in the desert in a time of drought was\nrather a disappointment, for I had been accustomed to suppose that the\nnote was always emitted by them when they were chin-deep in water. Their\nmusic was always regarded in other spots as the most pleasant sound that\nmet the ear after crossing portions of the thirsty desert; and I could\nfully appreciate the sympathy for these animals shown by Aesop, himself\nan African, in his fable of the \"Boys and the Frogs\".\n\nIt is remarkable that attempts have not been made to any extent to\ndomesticate some of the noble and useful creatures of Africa in England.\nThe eland, which is the most magnificent of all antelopes, would\ngrace the parks of our nobility more than deer. This animal, from the\nexcellence of its flesh, would be appropriate to our own country; and as\nthere is also a splendid esculent frog nearly as large as a chicken, it\nwould no doubt tend to perpetuate the present alliance if we made a gift\nof that to France.\n\nThe scavenger beetle is one of the most useful of all insects, as it\neffectually answers the object indicated by the name. Where they abound,\nas at Kuruman, the villages are sweet and clean, for no sooner are\nanimal excretions dropped than, attracted by the scent, the scavengers\nare heard coming booming up the wind. They roll away the droppings of\ncattle at once, in round pieces often as large as billiard-balls; and\nwhen they reach a place proper by its softness for the deposit of their\neggs and the safety of their young, they dig the soil out from beneath\nthe ball till they have quite let it down and covered it: they then lay\ntheir eggs within the mass. While the larvae are growing, they devour\nthe inside of the ball before coming above ground to begin the world for\nthemselves. The beetles with their gigantic balls look like Atlas with\nthe world on his back; only they go backward, and, with their heads\ndown, push with the hind legs, as if a boy should roll a snow-ball with\nhis legs while standing on his head. As we recommend the eland to John\nBull, and the gigantic frog to France, we can confidently recommend this\nbeetle to the dirty Italian towns and our own Sanitary Commissioners.\n\nIn trying to benefit the tribes living under the Boers of the Cashan\nMountains, I twice performed a journey of about three hundred miles to\nthe eastward of Kolobeng. Sechele had become so obnoxious to the Boers\nthat, though anxious to accompany me in my journey, he dared not\ntrust himself among them. This did not arise from the crime of\ncattle-stealing; for that crime, so common among the Caffres, was never\ncharged against his tribe, nor, indeed, against any Bechuana tribe. It\nis, in fact, unknown in the country, except during actual warfare. His\nindependence and love of the English were his only faults. In my last\njourney there, of about two hundred miles, on parting at the River\nMarikwe he gave me two servants, \"to be,\" as he said, \"his arms to serve\nme,\" and expressed regret that he could not come himself. \"Suppose we\nwent north,\" I said, \"would you come?\" He then told me the story\nof Sebituane having saved his life, and expatiated on the far-famed\ngenerosity of that really great man. This was the first time I had\nthought of crossing the Desert to Lake Ngami.\n\nThe conduct of the Boers, who, as will be remembered, had sent a letter\ndesigned to procure my removal out of the country, and their well-known\nsettled policy which I have already described, became more fully\ndeveloped on this than on any former occasion. When I spoke to Mr.\nHendrick Potgeiter of the danger of hindering the Gospel of Christ among\nthese poor savages, he became greatly excited, and called one of his\nfollowers to answer me. He threatened to attack any tribe that might\nreceive a native teacher, yet he promised to use his influence to\nprevent those under him from throwing obstacles in our way. I could\nperceive plainly that nothing more could be done in that direction, so I\ncommenced collecting all the information I could about the desert, with\nthe intention of crossing it, if possible. Sekomi, the chief of the\nBamangwato, was acquainted with a route which he kept carefully to\nhimself, because the Lake country abounded in ivory, and he drew large\nquantities thence periodically at but small cost to himself.\n\nSechele, who valued highly every thing European, and was always fully\nalive to his own interest, was naturally anxious to get a share of that\ninviting field. He was most anxious to visit Sebituane too, partly,\nperhaps, from a wish to show off his new acquirements, but chiefly, I\nbelieve, from having very exalted ideas of the benefits he would derive\nfrom the liberality of that renowned chieftain. In age and family\nSechele is the elder and superior of Sekomi; for when the original\ntribe broke up into Bamangwato, Bangwaketse, and Bakwains, the Bakwains\nretained the hereditary chieftainship; so their chief, Sechele,\npossesses certain advantages over Sekomi, the chief of the Bamangwato.\nIf the two were traveling or hunting together, Sechele would take, by\nright, the heads of the game shot by Sekomi.\n\nThere are several vestiges, besides, of very ancient partitions and\nlordships of tribes. The elder brother of Sechele's father, becoming\nblind, gave over the chieftainship to Sechele's father. The descendants\nof this man pay no tribute to Sechele, though he is the actual ruler,\nand superior to the head of that family; and Sechele, while in every\nother respect supreme, calls him Kosi, or Chief. The other tribes will\nnot begin to eat the early pumpkins of a new crop until they hear that\nthe Bahurutse have \"bitten it\", and there is a public ceremony on the\noccasion--the son of the chief being the first to taste of the new\nharvest.\n\nSechele, by my advice, sent men to Sekomi, asking leave for me to pass\nalong his path, accompanying the request with the present of an ox.\nSekomi's mother, who possesses great influence over him, refused\npermission, because she had not been propitiated. This produced a\nfresh message; and the most honorable man in the Bakwain tribe, next to\nSechele, was sent with an ox for both Sekomi and his mother. This, too,\nwas met by refusal. It was said, \"The Matebele, the mortal enemies of\nthe Bechuanas, are in the direction of the lake, and, should they kill\nthe white man, we shall incur great blame from all his nation.\"\n\nThe exact position of the Lake Ngami had, for half a century at least,\nbeen correctly pointed out by the natives, who had visited it when rains\nwere more copious in the Desert than in more recent times, and many\nattempts had been made to reach it by passing through the Desert in the\ndirection indicated; but it was found impossible, even for Griquas,\nwho, having some Bushman blood in them, may be supposed more capable of\nenduring thirst than Europeans. It was clear, then, that our only chance\nof success was by going round, instead of through, the Desert. The best\ntime for the attempt would have been about the end of the rainy season,\nin March or April, for then we should have been likely to meet with\npools of rain-water, which always dry up during the rainless winter. I\ncommunicated my intention to an African traveler, Colonel Steele, then\naid-de-camp to the Marquis of Tweedale at Madras, and he made it known\nto two other gentlemen, whose friendship we had gained during their\nAfrican travel, namely, Major Vardon and Mr. Oswell. All of these\ngentlemen were so enamored with African hunting and African discovery\nthat the two former must have envied the latter his good fortune in\nbeing able to leave India to undertake afresh the pleasures and pains of\ndesert life. I believe Mr. Oswell came from his high position at a very\nconsiderable pecuniary sacrifice, and with no other end in view but to\nextend the boundaries of geographical knowledge. Before I knew of his\ncoming, I had arranged that the payment for the guides furnished by\nSechele should be the loan of my wagon, to bring back whatever ivory he\nmight obtain from the chief at the lake. When, at last, Mr. Oswell came,\nbringing Mr. Murray with him, he undertook to defray the entire expenses\nof the guides, and fully executed his generous intention.\n\nSechele himself would have come with us, but, fearing that the\nmuch-talked-of assault of the Boers might take place during our absence,\nand blame be attached to me for taking him away, I dissuaded him against\nit by saying that he knew Mr. Oswell \"would be as determined as himself\nto get through the Desert.\"\n\nBefore narrating the incidents of this journey, I may give some account\nof the great Kalahari Desert, in order that the reader may understand in\nsome degree the nature of the difficulties we had to encounter.\n\nThe space from the Orange River in the south, lat. 29 Degrees, to Lake\nNgami in the north, and from about 24 Degrees east long. to near the\nwest coast, has been called a desert simply because it contains no\nrunning water, and very little water in wells. It is by no means\ndestitute of vegetation and inhabitants, for it is covered with grass\nand a great variety of creeping plants; besides which there are\nlarge patches of bushes, and even trees. It is remarkably flat, but\ninteresected in different parts by the beds of ancient rivers; and\nprodigious herds of certain antelopes, which require little or no water,\nroam over the trackless plains. The inhabitants, Bushmen and Bakalahari,\nprey on the game and on the countless rodentia and small species of\nthe feline race which subsist on these. In general, the soil is\nlight-colored soft sand, nearly pure silica. The beds of the ancient\nrivers contain much alluvial soil; and as that is baked hard by the\nburning sun, rain-water stands in pools in some of them for several\nmonths in the year.\n\nThe quantity of grass which grows on this remarkable region is\nastonishing, even to those who are familiar with India. It usually rises\nin tufts with bare spaces between, or the intervals are occupied by\ncreeping plants, which, having their roots buried far beneath the soil,\nfeel little the effects of the scorching sun. The number of these which\nhave tuberous roots is very great; and their structure is intended to\nsupply nutriment and moisture, when, during the long droughts, they\ncan be obtained nowhere else. Here we have an example of a plant, not\ngenerally tuber-bearing, becoming so under circumstances where that\nappendage is necessary to act as a reservoir for preserving its life;\nand the same thing occurs in Angola to a species of grape-bearing vine,\nwhich is so furnished for the same purpose. The plant to which I\nat present refer is one of the cucurbitaceae, which bears a small,\nscarlet-colored, eatable cucumber. Another plant, named Leroshua, is\na blessing to the inhabitants of the Desert. We see a small plant with\nlinear leaves, and a stalk not thicker than a crow's quill; on digging\ndown a foot or eighteen inches beneath, we come to a tuber, often as\nlarge as the head of a young child; when the rind is removed, we find it\nto be a mass of cellular tissue, filled with fluid much like that in a\nyoung turnip. Owing to the depth beneath the soil at which it is found,\nit is generally deliciously cool and refreshing. Another kind, named\nMokuri, is seen in other parts of the country, where long-continued\nheat parches the soil. This plant is an herbaceous creeper, and deposits\nunder ground a number of tubers, some as large as a man's head, at spots\nin a circle a yard or more, horizontally, from the stem. The natives\nstrike the ground on the circumference of the circle with stones, till,\nby hearing a difference of sound, they know the water-bearing tuber to\nbe beneath. They then dig down a foot or so, and find it.\n\nBut the most surprising plant of the Desert is the \"Kengwe or Keme\"\n('Cucumis caffer'), the watermelon. In years when more than the usual\nquantity of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are literally covered\nwith these melons; this was the case annually when the fall of rain was\ngreater than it is now, and the Bakwains sent trading parties every year\nto the lake. It happens commonly once every ten or eleven years, and\nfor the last three times its occurrence has coincided with an\nextraordinarily wet season. Then animals of every sort and name,\nincluding man, rejoice in the rich supply. The elephant, true lord of\nthe forest, revels in this fruit, and so do the different species of\nrhinoceros, although naturally so diverse in their choice of pasture.\nThe various kinds of antelopes feed on them with equal avidity, and\nlions, hyaenas, jackals, and mice, all seem to know and appreciate the\ncommon blessing. These melons are not, however, all of them eatable;\nsome are sweet, and others so bitter that the whole are named by the\nBoers the \"bitter watermelon\". The natives select them by striking\none melon after another with a hatchet, and applying the tongue to the\ngashes. They thus readily distinguish between the bitter and sweet.\nThe bitter are deleterious, but the sweet are quite wholesome. This\npeculiarity of one species of plant bearing both sweet and bitter fruits\noccurs also in a red, eatable cucumber, often met with in the country.\nIt is about four inches long, and about an inch and a half in diameter.\nIt is of a bright scarlet color when ripe. Many are bitter, others quite\nsweet. Even melons in a garden may be made bitter by a few bitter kengwe\nin the vicinity. The bees convey the pollen from one to the other.\n\nThe human inhabitants of this tract of country consist of Bushmen and\nBakalahari. The former are probably the aborigines of the southern\nportion of the continent, the latter the remnants of the first\nemigration of Bechuanas. The Bushmen live in the Desert from choice, the\nBakalahari from compulsion, and both possess an intense love of liberty.\nThe Bushmen are exceptions in language, race, habits, and appearance.\nThey are the only real nomads in the country; they never cultivate\nthe soil, nor rear any domestic animal save wretched dogs. They are so\nintimately acquainted with the habits of the game that they follow them\nin their migrations, and prey upon them from place to place, and thus\nprove as complete a check upon their inordinate increase as the other\ncarnivora. The chief subsistence of the Bushmen is the flesh of game,\nbut that is eked out by what the women collect of roots and beans, and\nfruits of the Desert. Those who inhabit the hot sandy plains of the\nDesert possess generally thin, wiry forms, capable of great exertion and\nof severe privations. Many are of low stature, though not dwarfish;\nthe specimens brought to Europe have been selected, like costermongers'\ndogs, on account of their extreme ugliness; consequently, English\nideas of the whole tribe are formed in the same way as if the ugliest\nspecimens of the English were exhibited in Africa as characteristic of\nthe entire British nation. That they are like baboons is in some degree\ntrue, just as these and other simiae are in some points frightfully\nhuman.\n\nThe Bakalahari are traditionally reported to be the oldest of the\nBechuana tribes, and they are said to have possessed enormous herds of\nthe large horned cattle mentioned by Bruce, until they were despoiled\nof them and driven into the Desert by a fresh migration of their own\nnation. Living ever since on the same plains with the Bushmen, subjected\nto the same influences of climate, enduring the same thirst, and\nsubsisting on similar food for centuries, they seem to supply a standing\nproof that locality is not always sufficient of itself to account for\ndifference in races. The Bakalahari retain in undying vigor the Bechuana\nlove for agriculture and domestic animals. They hoe their gardens\nannually, though often all they can hope for is a supply of melons and\npumpkins. And they carefully rear small herds of goats, though I have\nseen them lift water for them out of small wells with a bit of ostrich\negg-shell, or by spoonfuls. They generally attach themselves to\ninfluential men in the different Bechuana tribes living adjacent to\ntheir desert home, in order to obtain supplies of spears, knives,\ntobacco, and dogs, in exchange for the skins of the animals they may\nkill. These are small carnivora of the feline species, including two\nspecies of jackal, the dark and the golden; the former, \"motlose\"\n('Megalotis capensis' or 'Cape fennec'), has the warmest fur the country\nyields; the latter, \"pukuye\" ('Canis mesomelas' and 'C. aureus'), is\nvery handsome when made into the skin mantle called kaross. Next in\nvalue follow the \"tsipa\" or small ocelot ('Felis nigripes'), the \"tuane\"\nor lynx, the wild cat, the spotted cat, and other small animals. Great\nnumbers of 'puti' ('duiker') and 'puruhuru' ('steinbuck') skins are got\ntoo, besides those of lions, leopards, panthers, and hyaenas. During the\ntime I was in the Bechuana country, between twenty and thirty thousand\nskins were made up into karosses; part of them were worn by the\ninhabitants, and part sold to traders: many, I believe, find their way\nto China. The Bakwains bought tobacco from the eastern tribes, then\npurchased skins with it from the Bakalahari, tanned them, and sewed them\ninto karosses, then went south to purchase heifer-calves with them, cows\nbeing the highest form of riches known, as I have often noticed from\ntheir asking \"if Queen Victoria had many cows.\" The compact they\nenter into is mutually beneficial, but injustice and wrong are often\nperpetrated by one tribe of Bechuanas going among the Bakalahari of\nanother tribe, and compelling them to deliver up the skins which they\nmay be keeping for their friends. They are a timid race, and in bodily\ndevelopment often resemble the aborigines of Australia. They have thin\nlegs and arms, and large, protruding abdomens, caused by the coarse,\nindigestible food they eat. Their children's eyes lack lustre. I never\nsaw them at play. A few Bechuanas may go into a village of Bakalahari,\nand domineer over the whole with impunity; but when these same\nadventurers meet the Bushmen, they are fain to change their manners\nto fawning sycophancy; they know that, if the request for tobacco is\nrefused, these free sons of the Desert may settle the point as to its\npossession by a poisoned arrow.\n\nThe dread of visits from Bechuanas of strange tribes causes the\nBakalahari to choose their residences far from water; and they not\nunfrequently hide their supplies by filling the pits with sand and\nmaking a fire over the spot. When they wish to draw water for use, the\nwomen come with twenty or thirty of their water-vessels in a bag or net\non their backs. These water-vessels consist of ostrich egg-shells, with\na hole in the end of each, such as would admit one's finger. The women\ntie a bunch of grass to one end of a reed about two feet long, and\ninsert it in a hole dug as deep as the arm will reach; then ram down\nthe wet sand firmly round it. Applying the mouth to the free end of\nthe reed, they form a vacuum in the grass beneath, in which the water\ncollects, and in a short time rises into the mouth. An egg-shell is\nplaced on the ground alongside the reed, some inches below the mouth of\nthe sucker. A straw guides the water into the hole of the vessel, as\nshe draws mouthful after mouthful from below. The water is made to pass\nalong the outside, not through the straw. If any one will attempt to\nsquirt water into a bottle placed some distance below his mouth, he will\nsoon perceive the wisdom of the Bushwoman's contrivance for giving the\nstream direction by means of a straw. The whole stock of water is thus\npassed through the woman's mouth as a pump, and, when taken home,\nis carefully buried. I have come into villages where, had we acted a\ndomineering part, and rummaged every hut, we should have found nothing;\nbut by sitting down quietly, and waiting with patience until the\nvillagers were led to form a favorable opinion of us, a woman would\nbring out a shellful of the precious fluid from I know not where.\n\nThe so-called Desert, it may be observed, is by no means a useless\ntract of country. Besides supporting multitudes of both small and large\nanimals, it sends something to the market of the world, and has proved\na refuge to many a fugitive tribe--to the Bakalahari first, and to the\nother Bechuanas in turn--as their lands were overrun by the tribe of\ntrue Caffres, called Matebele. The Bakwains, the Bangwaketze, and the\nBamangwato all fled thither; and the Matebele marauders, who came from\nthe well-watered east, perished by hundreds in their attempts to follow\nthem. One of the Bangwaketze chiefs, more wily than the rest, sent false\nguides to lead them on a track where, for hundreds of miles, not a drop\nof water could be found, and they perished in consequence. Many Bakwains\nperished too. Their old men, who could have told us ancient stories,\nperished in these flights. An intelligent Mokwain related to me how the\nBushmen effectually balked a party of his tribe which lighted on their\nvillage in a state of burning thirst. Believing, as he said, that\nnothing human could subsist without water, they demanded some, but were\ncoolly told by these Bushmen that they had none, and never drank any.\nExpecting to find them out, they resolved to watch them night and day.\nThey persevered for some days, thinking that at last the water must\ncome forth; but, notwithstanding their watchfulness, kept alive by most\ntormenting thirst, the Bakwains were compelled to exclaim, \"Yak! yak!\nthese are not men; let us go.\" Probably the Bushmen had been subsisting\non a store hidden under ground, which had eluded the vigilance of their\nvisitors.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 3.\n\nDeparture from Kolobeng, 1st June, 1849--Companions--Our Route--\nAbundance of Grass--Serotli, a Fountain in the Desert--Mode of\ndigging Wells--The Eland--Animals of the Desert--The Hyaena--The\nChief Sekomi--Dangers--The wandering Guide--Cross Purposes--Slow\nProgress--Want of Water--Capture of a Bushwoman--The Salt-pan\nat Nchokotsa--The Mirage--Reach the River Zouga--The Quakers of\nAfrica--Discovery of Lake Ngami, 1st August, 1849--Its Extent--Small\nDepth of Water--Position as the Reservoir of a great River System--The\nBamangwato and their Chief--Desire to visit Sebituane, the Chief of the\nMakololo--Refusal of Lechulatebe to furnish us with Guides--Resolve\nto return to the Cape--The Banks of the Zouga--Pitfalls--Trees of the\nDistrict--Elephants--New Species of Antelope--Fish in the Zouga.\n\n\n\nSuch was the desert which we were now preparing to cross--a region\nformerly of terror to the Bechuanas from the numbers of serpents which\ninfested it and fed on the different kinds of mice, and from the intense\nthirst which these people often endured when their water-vessels were\ninsufficient for the distances to be traveled over before reaching the\nwells.\n\nJust before the arrival of my companions, a party of the people of the\nlake came to Kolobeng, stating that they were sent by Lechulatebe,\nthe chief, to ask me to visit that country. They brought such flaming\naccounts of the quantities of ivory to be found there (cattle-pens\nmade of elephants' tusks of enormous size, &c.), that the guides of the\nBakwains were quite as eager to succeed in reaching the lake as any one\nof us could desire. This was fortunate, as we knew the way the strangers\nhad come was impassable for wagons.\n\nMessrs. Oswell and Murray came at the end of May, and we all made a\nfair start for the unknown region on the 1st of June, 1849. Proceeding\nnorthward, and passing through a range of tree-covered hills to\nShokuane, formerly the residence of the Bakwains, we soon after entered\non the high road to the Bamangwato, which lies generally in the bed of\nan ancient river or wady that must formerly have flowed N. to S. The\nadjacent country is perfectly flat, but covered with open forest and\nbush, with abundance of grass; the trees generally are a kind of acacia\ncalled \"Monato\", which appears a little to the south of this region, and\nis common as far as Angola. A large caterpillar, called \"Nato\", feeds by\nnight on the leaves of these trees, and comes down by day to bury itself\nat the root in the sand, in order to escape the piercing rays of the\nsun. The people dig for it there, and are fond of it when roasted, on\naccount of its pleasant vegetable taste. When about to pass into the\nchrysalis state, it buries itself in the soil, and is sometimes\nsought for as food even then. If left undisturbed, it comes forth as a\nbeautiful butterfly: the transmutation was sometimes employed by me with\ngood effect when speaking with the natives, as an illustration of our\nown great change and resurrection.\n\nThe soil is sandy, and there are here and there indications that at\nspots which now afford no water whatever there were formerly wells and\ncattle stations.\n\nBoatlanama, our next station, is a lovely spot in the otherwise dry\nregion. The wells from which we had to lift out the water for our cattle\nare deep, but they were well filled. A few villages of Bakalahari were\nfound near them, and great numbers of pallahs, springbucks, Guinea-fowl,\nand small monkeys.\n\nLopepe came next. This place afforded another proof of the desiccation\nof the country. The first time I passed it, Lopepe was a large pool with\na stream flowing out of it to the south; now it was with difficulty we\ncould get our cattle watered by digging down in the bottom of a well.\n\nAt Mashue--where we found a never-failing supply of pure water in a\nsandstone rocky hollow--we left the road to the Bamangwato hills, and\nstruck away to the north into the Desert. Having watered the cattle at\na well called Lobotani, about N.W. of Bamangwato, we next proceeded to\na real Kalahari fountain, called Serotli. The country around is covered\nwith bushes and trees of a kind of leguminosae, with lilac flowers. The\nsoil is soft white sand, very trying to the strength of the oxen, as\nthe wheels sink into it over the felloes and drag heavily. At Serotli we\nfound only a few hollows like those made by the buffalo and rhinoceros\nwhen they roll themselves in the mud. In a corner of one of these there\nappeared water, which would have been quickly lapped up by our dogs, had\nwe not driven them away. And yet this was all the apparent supply for\nsome eighty oxen, twenty horses, and about a score of men. Our guide,\nRamotobi, who had spent his youth in the Desert, declared that, though\nappearances were against us, there was plenty of water at hand. We\nhad our misgivings, for the spades were soon produced; but our guides,\ndespising such new-fangled aid, began in good earnest to scrape out the\nsand with their hands. The only water we had any promise of for the next\nseventy miles--that is, for a journey of three days with the wagons--was\nto be got here. By the aid of both spades and fingers two of the holes\nwere cleared out, so as to form pits six feet deep and about as many\nbroad. Our guides were especially earnest in their injunctions to us not\nto break through the hard stratum of sand at the bottom, because they\nknew, if it were broken through, \"the water would go away.\" They are\nquite correct, for the water seems to lie on this flooring of incipient\nsandstone. The value of the advice was proved in the case of an\nEnglishman whose wits were none of the brightest, who, disregarding\nit, dug through the sandy stratum in the wells at Mohotluani: the water\nimmediately flowed away downward, and the well became useless. When\nwe came to the stratum, we found that the water flowed in on all sides\nclose to the line where the soft sand came in contact with it. Allowing\nit to collect, we had enough for the horses that evening; but as there\nwas not sufficient for the oxen, we sent them back to Lobotani, where,\nafter thirsting four full days (ninety-six hours), they got a good\nsupply. The horses were kept by us as necessary to procure game for the\nsustenance of our numerous party. Next morning we found the water\nhad flowed in faster than at first, as it invariably does in these\nreservoirs, owing to the passages widening by the flow. Large quantities\nof the sand come into the well with the water, and in the course of a\nfew days the supply, which may be equal to the wants of a few men\nonly, becomes sufficient for oxen as well. In these sucking-places the\nBakalahari get their supplies; and as they are generally in the hollows\nof ancient river-beds, they are probably the deposits from rains\ngravitating thither; in some cases they may be the actual fountains,\nwhich, though formerly supplying the river's flow, now no longer rise to\nthe surface.\n\nHere, though the water was perfectly inaccessible to elands, large\nnumbers of these fine animals fed around us; and, when killed, they\nwere not only in good condition, but their stomachs actually contained\nconsiderable quantities of water.\n\nI examined carefully the whole alimentary canal, in order to see if\nthere were any peculiarity which might account for the fact that this\nanimal can subsist for months together without drinking, but found\nnothing. Other animals, such as the duiker ('Cephalopus mergens')\nor puti (of the Bechuanas), the steinbuck ('Tragulus rupestris') or\npuruhuru, the gemsbuck ('Oryx capensis') or kukama, and the porcupine\n('Hystrix cristata'), are all able to subsist without water for many\nmonths at a time by living on bulbs and tubers containing moisture. They\nhave sharp-pointed hoofs well adapted for digging, and there is little\ndifficulty in comprehending their mode of subsistence. Some animals,\non the other hand, are never seen but in the vicinity of water. The\npresence of the rhinoceros, of the buffalo and gnu ('Catoblepas gnu'),\nof the giraffe, the zebra, and pallah ('Antilope melampus'), is always\na certain indication of water being within a distance of seven or\neight miles; but one may see hundreds of elands ('Boselaphus oreas'),\ngemsbuck, the tolo or koodoo ('Strepsiceros capensis'), also springbucks\n('Gazella euchore') and ostriches, without being warranted thereby in\ninferring the presence of water within thirty or forty miles. Indeed,\nthe sleek, fat condition of the eland in such circumstances would not\nremove the apprehension of perishing by thirst from the mind of even a\nnative. I believe, however, that these animals can subsist only where\nthere is some moisture in the vegetation on which they feed; for in one\nyear of unusual drought we saw herds of elands and flocks of ostriches\ncrowding to the Zouga from the Desert, and very many of the latter were\nkilled in pitfalls on the banks. As long as there is any sap in the\npasturage they seldom need water. But should a traveler see the \"spoor\"\nof a rhinoceros, or buffalo, or zebra, he would at once follow it up,\nwell assured that before he had gone many miles he would certainly reach\nwater.\n\nIn the evening of our second day at Serotli, a hyaena, appearing\nsuddenly among the grass, succeeded in raising a panic among our cattle.\nThis false mode of attack is the plan which this cowardly animal always\nadopts. His courage resembles closely that of a turkey-cock. He will\nbite, if an animal is running away; but if the animal stand still, so\ndoes he. Seventeen of our draught oxen ran away, and in their flight\nwent right into the hands of Sekomi, whom, from his being unfriendly to\nour success, we had no particular wish to see. Cattle-stealing, such as\nin the circumstances might have occurred in Caffraria, is here unknown;\nso Sekomi sent back our oxen, and a message strongly dissuading us\nagainst attempting the Desert. \"Where are you going? You will be killed\nby the sun and thirst, and then all the white men will blame me for not\nsaving you.\" This was backed by a private message from his mother. \"Why\ndo you pass me? I always made the people collect to hear the word that\nyou have got. What guilt have I, that you pass without looking at me?\"\nWe replied by assuring the messengers that the white men would attribute\nour deaths to our own stupidity and \"hard-headedness\" (tlogo, e thata),\n\"as we did not intend to allow our companions and guides to return till\nthey had put us into our graves.\" We sent a handsome present to Sekomi,\nand a promise that, if he allowed the Bakalahari to keep the wells open\nfor us, we would repeat the gift on our return.\n\nAfter exhausting all his eloquence in fruitless attempts to persuade us\nto return, the under-chief, who headed the party of Sekomi's messengers,\ninquired, \"Who is taking them?\" Looking round, he exclaimed, with a face\nexpressive of the most unfeigned disgust, \"It is Ramotobi!\" Our guide\nbelonged to Sekomi's tribe, but had fled to Sechele; as fugitives in\nthis country are always well received, and may even afterward visit the\ntribe from which they had escaped, Ramotobi was in no danger, though\ndoing that which he knew to be directly opposed to the interests of his\nown chief and tribe.\n\nAll around Serotli the country is perfectly flat, and composed of\nsoft white sand. There is a peculiar glare of bright sunlight from a\ncloudless sky over the whole scene; and one clump of trees and bushes,\nwith open spaces between, looks so exactly like another, that if you\nleave the wells, and walk a quarter of a mile in any direction, it is\ndifficult to return. Oswell and Murray went out on one occasion to get\nan eland, and were accompanied by one of the Bakalahari. The perfect\nsameness of the country caused even this son of the Desert to lose his\nway; a most puzzling conversation forthwith ensued between them and\ntheir guide. One of the most common phrases of the people is \"Kia\nitumela\", I thank you, or I am pleased; and the gentlemen were both\nquite familiar with it, and with the word \"metse\", water. But there is a\nword very similar in sound, \"Kia timela\", I am wandering; its perfect\nis \"Ki timetse\", I have wandered. The party had been roaming about,\nperfectly lost, till the sun went down; and, through their mistaking the\nverb \"wander\" for \"to be pleased\", and \"water\", the colloquy went on at\nintervals during the whole bitterly cold night in somewhat the following\nstyle:\n\n\"Where are the wagons?\"\n\nREAL ANSWER. \"I don't know. I have wandered. I never wandered before. I\nam quite lost.\"\n\nSUPPOSED ANSWER. \"I don't know. I want water. I am glad, I am quite\npleased. I am thankful to you.\"\n\n\"Take us to the wagons, and you will get plenty of water.\"\n\nREAL ANSWER (looking vacantly around). \"How did I wander? Perhaps the\nwell is there, perhaps not. I don't know. I have wandered.\"\n\nSUPPOSED ANSWER. \"Something about thanks; he says he is pleased, and\nmentions water again.\" The guide's vacant stare while trying to remember\nis thought to indicate mental imbecility, and the repeated thanks were\nsupposed to indicate a wish to deprecate their wrath.\n\n\"Well, Livingstone HAS played us a pretty trick, giving us in charge of\nan idiot. Catch us trusting him again. What can this fellow mean by his\nthanks and talk about water? Oh, you born fool! take us to the wagons,\nand you will get both meat and water. Wouldn't a thrashing bring him to\nhis senses again?\" \"No, no, for then he will run away, and we shall be\nworse off than we are now.\"\n\nThe hunters regained the wagons next day by their own sagacity, which\nbecomes wonderfully quickened by a sojourn in the Desert; and we enjoyed\na hearty laugh on the explanation of their midnight colloquies. Frequent\nmistakes of this kind occur. A man may tell his interpreter to say that\nhe is a member of the family of the chief of the white men; \"YES, YOU\nSPEAK LIKE A CHIEF,\" is the reply, meaning, as they explain it, that a\nchief may talk nonsense without any one daring to contradict him.\nThey probably have ascertained, from that same interpreter, that this\nrelative of the white chief is very poor, having scarcely any thing in\nhis wagon.\n\nI sometimes felt annoyed at the low estimation in which some of my\nhunting friends were held; for, believing that the chase is eminently\nconducive to the formation of a brave and noble character, and that the\ncontest with wild beasts is well adapted for fostering that coolness\nin emergencies, and active presence of mind, which we all admire, I\nwas naturally anxious that a higher estimate of my countrymen should be\nformed in the native mind. \"Have these hunters, who come so far and\nwork so hard, no meat at home?\"--\"Why, these men are rich, and could\nslaughter oxen every day of their lives.\"--\"And yet they come here, and\nendure so much thirst for the sake of this dry meat, none of which is\nequal to beef?\"--\"Yes, it is for the sake of play besides\" (the idea of\nsport not being in the language). This produces a laugh, as much as to\nsay, \"Ah! you know better;\" or, \"Your friends are fools.\" When they can\nget a man to kill large quantities of game for them, whatever HE may\nthink of himself or of his achievements, THEY pride themselves in having\nadroitly turned to good account the folly of an itinerant butcher.\n\nThe water having at last flowed into the wells we had dug in sufficient\nquantity to allow a good drink to all our cattle, we departed from\nSerotli in the afternoon; but as the sun, even in winter, which it now\nwas, is always very powerful by day, the wagons were dragged but slowly\nthrough the deep, heavy sand, and we advanced only six miles before\nsunset. We could only travel in the mornings and evenings, as a single\nday in the hot sun and heavy sand would have knocked up the oxen. Next\nday we passed Pepacheu (white tufa), a hollow lined with tufa, in which\nwater sometimes stands, but it was now dry; and at night our trocheamer*\nshowed that we had made but twenty-five miles from Serotli.\n\n   * This is an instrument which, when fastened on the wagon-wheel,\n   records the number of revolutions made.  By multiplying this number\n   by the circumference of the wheel, the actual distance traveled over\n   is at once ascertained.\n\nRamotobi was angry at the slowness of our progress, and told us that,\nas the next water was three days in front, if we traveled so slowly we\nshould never get there at all. The utmost endeavors of the servants,\ncracking their whips, screaming and beating, got only nineteen miles out\nof the poor beasts. We had thus proceeded forty-four miles from Serotli;\nand the oxen were more exhausted by the soft nature of the country, and\nthe thirst, than if they had traveled double the distance over a hard\nroad containing supplies of water: we had, as far as we could judge,\nstill thirty miles more of the same dry work before us. At this season\nthe grass becomes so dry as to crumble to powder in the hands; so\nthe poor beasts stood wearily chewing, without taking a single fresh\nmouthful, and lowing painfully at the smell of water in our vessels in\nthe wagons. We were all determined to succeed; so we endeavored to save\nthe horses by sending them forward with the guide, as a means of making\na desperate effort in case the oxen should fail. Murray went forward\nwith them, while Oswell and I remained to bring the wagons on their\ntrail as far as the cattle could drag them, intending then to send the\noxen forward too.\n\nThe horses walked quickly away from us; but, on the morning of the third\nday, when we imagined the steeds must be near the water, we discovered\nthem just alongside the wagons. The guide, having come across the fresh\nfootprints of some Bushmen who had gone in an opposite direction to that\nwhich we wished to go, turned aside to follow them. An antelope had been\nensnared in one of the Bushmen's pitfalls. Murray followed Ramotobi most\ntrustingly along the Bushmen's spoor, though that led them away from\nthe water we were in search of; witnessed the operation of slaughtering,\nskinning, and cutting up the antelope; and then, after a hard day's\ntoil, found himself close upon the wagons! The knowledge still retained\nby Ramotobi of the trackless waste of scrub, through which we were now\npassing, seemed admirable. For sixty or seventy miles beyond Serotli,\none clump of bushes and trees seemed exactly like another; but, as we\nwalked together this morning, he remarked, \"When we come to that hollow\nwe shall light upon the highway of Sekomi; and beyond that again\nlies the River Mokoko;\" which, though we passed along it, I could not\nperceive to be a river-bed at all.\n\nAfter breakfast, some of the men, who had gone forward on a little path\nwith some footprints of water-loving animals upon it, returned with the\njoyful tidings of \"metse\", water, exhibiting the mud on their knees in\nconfirmation of the news being true. It does one's heart good to see the\nthirsty oxen rush into a pool of delicious rain-water, as this was. In\nthey dash until the water is deep enough to be nearly level with their\nthroat, and then they stand drawing slowly in the long, refreshing\nmouthfuls, until their formerly collapsed sides distend as if they would\nburst. So much do they imbibe, that a sudden jerk, when they come out on\nthe bank, makes some of the water run out again from their mouths; but,\nas they have been days without food too, they very soon commence to\ngraze, and of grass there is always abundance every where. This pool was\ncalled Mathuluani; and thankful we were to have obtained so welcome a\nsupply of water.\n\nAfter giving the cattle a rest at this spot, we proceeded down the dry\nbed of the River Mokoko. The name refers to the water-bearing stratum\nbefore alluded to; and in this ancient bed it bears enough of water\nto admit of permanent wells in several parts of it. We had now the\nassurance from Ramotobi that we should suffer no more from thirst. Twice\nwe found rain-water in the Mokoko before we reached Mokokonyani, where\nthe water, generally below ground elsewhere, comes to the surface in a\nbed of tufa. The adjacent country is all covered with low, thorny scrub,\nwith grass, and here and there clumps of the \"wait-a-bit thorn\", or\n'Acacia detinens'. At Lotlakani (a little reed), another spring three\nmiles farther down, we met with the first Palmyra trees which we had\nseen in South Africa; they were twenty-six in number.\n\nThe ancient Mokoko must have been joined by other rivers below this, for\nit becomes very broad, and spreads out into a large lake, of which the\nlake we were now in search of formed but a very small part. We observed\nthat, wherever an ant-eater had made his hole, shells were thrown out\nwith the earth, identical with those now alive in the lake.\n\nWhen we left the Mokoko, Ramotobi seemed, for the first time, to be at a\nloss as to which direction to take. He had passed only once away to the\nwest of the Mokoko, the scenes of his boyhood. Mr. Oswell, while riding\nin front of the wagons, happened to spy a Bushwoman running away in a\nbent position, in order to escape observation. Thinking it to be a\nlion, he galloped up to her. She thought herself captured, and began to\ndeliver up her poor little property, consisting of a few traps made of\ncords; but, when I explained that we only wanted water, and would pay\nher if she led us to it, she consented to conduct us to a spring. It was\nthen late in the afternoon, but she walked briskly before our horses for\neight miles, and showed us the water of Nchokotsa. After leading us to\nthe water, she wished to go away home, if indeed she had any--she had\nfled from a party of her countrymen, and was now living far from all\nothers with her husband--but as it was now dark, we wished her to\nremain. As she believed herself still a captive, we thought she might\nslip away by night; so, in order that she should not go away with the\nimpression that we were dishonest, we gave her a piece of meat and a\ngood large bunch of beads; at the sight of the latter she burst into a\nmerry laugh, and remained without suspicion.\n\nAt Nchokotsa we came upon the first of a great number of salt-pans,\ncovered with an efflorescence of lime, probably the nitrate. A thick\nbelt of mopane-trees (a 'Bauhinia') hides this salt-pan, which is twenty\nmiles in circumference, entirely from the view of a person coming from\nthe southeast; and, at the time the pan burst upon our view, the setting\nsun was casting a beautiful blue haze over the white incrustations,\nmaking the whole look exactly like a lake. Oswell threw his hat up\nin the air at the sight, and shouted out a huzza which made the poor\nBushwoman and the Bakwains think him mad. I was a little behind him, and\nwas as completely deceived by it as he; but, as we had agreed to allow\neach other to behold the lake at the same instant, I felt a little\nchagrined that he had, unintentionally, got the first glance. We had\nno idea that the long-looked-for lake was still more than three hundred\nmiles distant. One reason of our mistake was, that the River Zouga was\noften spoken of by the same name as the lake, viz., Noka ea Batletli\n(\"River of the Batletli\").\n\nThe mirage on these salinas was marvelous. It is never, I believe,\nseen in perfection, except over such saline incrustations. Here not a\nparticle of imagination was necessary for realizing the exact picture\nof large collections of water; the waves danced along above, and the\nshadows of the trees were vividly reflected beneath the surface in such\nan admirable manner, that the loose cattle, whose thirst had not been\nslaked sufficiently by the very brackish water of Nchokotsa, with the\nhorses, dogs, and even the Hottentots ran off toward the deceitful\npools. A herd of zebras in the mirage looked so exactly like elephants\nthat Oswell began to saddle a horse in order to hunt them; but a sort\nof break in the haze dispelled the illusion. Looking to the west and\nnorthwest from Nchokotsa, we could see columns of black smoke, exactly\nlike those from a steam-engine, rising to the clouds, and were assured\nthat these arose from the burning reeds of the Noka ea Batletli.\n\nOn the 4th of July we went forward on horseback toward what we supposed\nto be the lake, and again and again did we seem to see it; but at last\nwe came to the veritable water of the Zouga, and found it to be a river\nrunning to the N.E. A village of Bakurutse lay on the opposite bank;\nthese live among Batletli, a tribe having a click in their language, and\nwho were found by Sebituane to possess large herds of the great horned\ncattle. They seem allied to the Hottentot family. Mr. Oswell, in\ntrying to cross the river, got his horse bogged in the swampy bank. Two\nBakwains and I managed to get over by wading beside a fishing-weir. The\npeople were friendly, and informed us that this water came out of the\nNgami. This news gladdened all our hearts, for we now felt certain of\nreaching our goal. We might, they said, be a moon on the way; but we had\nthe River Zouga at our feet, and by following it we should at last reach\nthe broad water.\n\nNext day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly with every one,\ntwo of the Bamangwato, who had been sent on before us by Sekomi to drive\naway all the Bushmen and Bakalahari from our path, so that they should\nnot assist or guide us, came and sat down by our fire. We had seen their\nfootsteps fresh in the way, and they had watched our slow movements\nforward, and wondered to see how we, without any Bushmen, found our way\nto the waters. This was the first time they had seen Ramotobi. \"You have\nreached the river now,\" said they; and we, quite disposed to laugh at\nhaving won the game, felt no ill-will to any one. They seemed to feel\nno enmity to us either; but, after an apparently friendly conversation,\nproceeded to fulfill to the last the instructions of their chief.\nAscending the Zouga in our front, they circulated the report that our\nobject was to plunder all the tribes living on the river and lake; but\nwhen they had got half way up the river, the principal man sickened of\nfever, turned back some distance, and died. His death had a good effect,\nfor the villagers connected it with the injury he was attempting to do\nto us. They all saw through Sekomi's reasons for wishing us to fail in\nour attempt; and though they came to us at first armed, kind and fair\ntreatment soon produced perfect confidence.\n\nWhen we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river about ninety-six\nmiles from the point where we first struck it, and understood that we\nwere still a considerable distance from the Ngami, we left all the oxen\nand wagons, except Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team,\nat Ngabisane, in the hope that they would be recruited for the home\njourney, while we made a push for the lake. The Bechuana chief of the\nLake region, who had sent men to Sechele, now sent orders to all the\npeople on the river to assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba,\nwhose language clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes\nin the north. They call themselves Bayeiye, i.e., men; but the Bechuanas\ncall them Bakoba, which contains somewhat of the idea of slaves. They\nhave never been known to fight, and, indeed, have a tradition that their\nforefathers, in their first essays at war, made their bows of the Palma\nChristi, and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether. They\nhave invariably submitted to the rule of every horde which has overrun\nthe countries adjacent to the rivers on which they specially love to\ndwell. They are thus the Quakers of the body politic in Africa.\n\nA long time after the period of our visit, the chief of the Lake,\nthinking to make soldiers of them, took the trouble to furnish them\nwith shields. \"Ah! we never had these before; that is the reason we have\nalways succumbed. Now we will fight.\" But a marauding party came from\nthe Makololo, and our \"Friends\" at once paddled quickly, night and day,\ndown the Zouga, never daring to look behind them till they reached the\nend of the river, at the point where we first saw it.\n\nThe canoes of these inland sailors are truly primitive craft: they are\nhollowed out of the trunks of single trees by means of iron adzes; and\nif the tree has a bend, so has the canoe. I liked the frank and manly\nbearing of these men, and, instead of sitting in the wagon, preferred a\nseat in one of the canoes. I found they regarded their rude vessels\nas the Arab does his camel. They have always fires in them, and prefer\nsleeping in them while on a journey to spending the night on shore. \"On\nland you have lions,\" say they, \"serpents, hyaenas, and your enemies;\nbut in your canoe, behind a bank of reed, nothing can harm you.\" Their\nsubmissive disposition leads to their villages being frequently visited\nby hungry strangers. We had a pot on the fire in the canoe by the way,\nand when we drew near the villages devoured the contents. When fully\nsatisfied ourselves, I found we could all look upon any intruders with\nperfect complacency, and show the pot in proof of having devoured the\nlast morsel.\n\nWhile ascending in this way the beautifully-wooded river, we came to a\nlarge stream flowing into it. This was the River Tamunak'le. I inquired\nwhence it came. \"Oh, from a country full of rivers--so many no one\ncan tell their number--and full of large trees.\" This was the first\nconfirmation of statements I had heard from the Bakwains who had\nbeen with Sebituane, that the country beyond was not \"the large sandy\nplateau\" of the philosophers. The prospect of a highway capable of being\ntraversed by boats to an entirely unexplored and very populous region,\ngrew from that time forward stronger and stronger in my mind; so much so\nthat, when we actually came to the lake, this idea occupied such a large\nportion of my mental vision that the actual discovery seemed of but\nlittle importance. I find I wrote, when the emotions caused by the\nmagnificent prospects of the new country were first awakened in my\nbreast, that they \"might subject me to the charge of enthusiasm, a\ncharge which I wished I deserved, as nothing good or great had ever been\naccomplished in the world without it.\"*\n\n   * Letters published by the Royal Geographical Society.\n   Read 11th February and 8th April, 1850.\n\nTwelve days after our departure from the wagons at Ngabisane we came to\nthe northeast end of Lake Ngami; and on the 1st of August, 1849, we\nwent down together to the broad part, and, for the first time, this\nfine-looking sheet of water was beheld by Europeans. The direction of\nthe lake seemed to be N.N.E. and S.S.W. by compass. The southern portion\nis said to bend round to the west, and to receive the Teoughe from the\nnorth at its northwest extremity. We could detect no horizon where we\nstood looking S.S.W., nor could we form any idea of the extent of the\nlake, except from the reports of the inhabitants of the district; and,\nas they professed to go round it in three days, allowing twenty-five\nmiles a day would make it seventy-five, or less than seventy\ngeographical miles in circumference. Other guesses have been made since\nas to its circumference, ranging between seventy and one hundred miles.\nIt is shallow, for I subsequently saw a native punting his canoe over\nseven or eight miles of the northeast end; it can never, therefore,\nbe of much value as a commercial highway. In fact, during the months\npreceding the annual supply of water from the north, the lake is so\nshallow that it is with difficulty cattle can approach the water through\nthe boggy, reedy banks. These are low on all sides, but on the west\nthere is a space devoid of trees, showing that the waters have retired\nthence at no very ancient date. This is another of the proofs of\ndesiccation met with so abundantly throughout the whole country. A\nnumber of dead trees lie on this space, some of them imbedded in the\nmud, right in the water. We were informed by the Bayeiye, who live on\nthe lake, that when the annual inundation begins, not only trees of\ngreat size, but antelopes, as the springbuck and tsessebe ('Acronotus\nlunata'), are swept down by its rushing waters; the trees are gradually\ndriven by the winds to the opposite side, and become imbedded in mud.\n\nThe water of the lake is perfectly fresh when full, but brackish when\nlow; and that coming down the Tamunak'le we found to be so clear, cold,\nand soft, the higher we ascended, that the idea of melting snow was\nsuggested to our minds. We found this region, with regard to that from\nwhich we had come, to be clearly a hollow, the lowest point being\nLake Kumadau; the point of the ebullition of water, as shown by one of\nNewman's barometric thermometers, was only between 207-1/2 Deg. and 206\nDeg., giving an elevation of not much more than two thousand feet above\nthe level of the sea. We had descended above two thousand feet in coming\nto it from Kolobeng. It is the southern and lowest part of the great\nriver system beyond, in which large tracts of country are inundated\nannually by tropical rains, hereafter to be described. A little of that\nwater, which in the countries farther north produces inundation, comes\nas far south as 20d 20', the latitude of the upper end of the lake,\nand instead of flooding the country, falls into the lake as into a\nreservoir. It begins to flow down the Embarrah, which divides into the\nrivers Tzo and Teoughe. The Tzo divides into the Tamunak'le and Mababe;\nthe Tamunak'le discharges itself into the Zouga, and the Teoughe into\nthe lake. The flow begins either in March or April, and the descending\nwaters find the channels of all these rivers dried out, except in\ncertain pools in their beds, which have long dry spaces between them.\nThe lake itself is very low. The Zouga is but a prolongation of the\nTamunak'le, and an arm of the lake reaches up to the point where the\none ends and the other begins. The last is narrow and shallow, while the\nZouga is broad and deep. The narrow arm of the lake, which on the map\nlooks like a continuation of the Zouga, has never been observed to flow\neither way. It is as stagnant as the lake itself.\n\nThe Teoughe and Tamunak'le, being essentially the same river, and\nreceiving their supplies from the same source (the Embarrah or Varra),\ncan never outrun each other. If either could, or if the Teoughe could\nfill the lake--a thing which has never happened in modern times--then\nthis little arm would prove a convenient escapement to prevent\ninundation. If the lake ever becomes lower than the bed of the Zouga, a\nlittle of the water of the Tamunak'le might flow into it instead of down\nthe Zouga; we should then have the phenomenon of a river flowing two\nways; but this has never been observed to take place here, and it is\ndoubtful if it ever can occur in this locality. The Zouga is broad and\ndeep when it leaves the Tamunak'le, but becomes gradually narrower as\nyou descend about two hundred miles; there it flows into Kumadau, a\nsmall lake about three or four miles broad and twelve long. The water,\nwhich higher up begins to flow in April, does not make much progress in\nfilling this lake till the end of June. In September the rivers cease\nto flow. When the supply has been more than usually abundant, a little\nwater flows beyond Kumadau, in the bed first seen by us on the 4th of\nJuly; if the quantity were larger, it might go further in the dry rocky\nbed of the Zouga, since seen still further to the east. The water\nsupply of this part of the river system, as will be more fully explained\nfurther on, takes place in channels prepared for a much more copious\nflow. It resembles a deserted Eastern garden, where all the embankments\nand canals for irrigation can be traced, but where, the main dam and\nsluices having been allowed to get out of repair, only a small portion\ncan be laid under water. In the case of the Zouga the channel is\nperfect, but water enough to fill the whole channel never comes down;\nand before it finds its way much beyond Kumadau, the upper supply ceases\nto run and the rest becomes evaporated. The higher parts of its bed even\nare much broader and more capacious than the lower toward Kumadau. The\nwater is not absorbed so much as lost in filling up an empty channel,\nfrom which it is to be removed by the air and sun. There is, I am\nconvinced, no such thing in the country as a river running into sand and\nbecoming lost. The phenomenon, so convenient for geographers, haunted\nmy fancy for years; but I have failed in discovering any thing except a\nmost insignificant approach to it.\n\nMy chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebituane, the great\nchief of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two hundred miles\nbeyond. We had now come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called\nBatauana. Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebituane\nhad conquered his father Moremi, and Lechulatebe received part of his\neducation while a captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible\nman, ransomed him; and, having collected a number of families together,\nabdicated the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe had\njust come into power, he imagined that the proper way of showing his\nabilities was to act directly contrary to every thing that his uncle\nadvised. When we came, the uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely,\ntherefore the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought to\nhave been an ox. So I proposed to my companions to loose the animal\nand let him go, as a hint to his master. They, however, did not wish to\ninsult him. I, being more of a native, and familiar with their customs,\nknew that this shabby present was an insult to us. We wished to purchase\nsome goats or oxen; Lechulatebe offered us elephants' tusks. \"No, we can\nnot eat these; we want something to fill our stomachs.\" \"Neither can I;\nbut I hear you white men are all very fond of these bones, so I offer\nthem; I want to put the goats into my own stomach.\" A trader, who\naccompanied us, was then purchasing ivory at the rate of ten good large\ntusks for a musket worth thirteen shillings. They were called \"bones\";\nand I myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been left to rot\nwith the other bones where the elephant fell. The Batauana never had\na chance of a market before; but, in less than two years after our\ndiscovery, not a man of them could be found who was not keenly alive to\nthe great value of the article.\n\nOn the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to Lechulatebe for\nguides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that chief, he objected,\nfearing lest other white men should go thither also, and give Sebituane\nguns; whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession of\nfire-arms would give him such a superiority that Sebituane would be\nafraid of him. It was in vain to explain that I would inculcate peace\nbetween them--that Sebituane had been a father to him and Sechele, and\nwas as anxious to see me as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He offered to\ngive me as much ivory as I needed without going to that chief; but when\nI refused to take any, he unwillingly consented to give me guides. Next\nday, however, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, with the horses\nonly, we received a senseless refusal; and like Sekomi, who had thrown\nobstacles in our way, he sent men to the Bayeiye with orders to refuse\nus a passage across the river. Trying hard to form a raft at a narrow\npart, I worked many hours in the water; but the dry wood was so\nworm-eaten it would not bear the weight of a single person. I was not\nthen aware of the number of alligators which exist in the Zouga, and\nnever think of my labor in the water without feeling thankful that I\nescaped their jaws. The season was now far advanced; and as Mr. Oswell,\nwith his wonted generous feelings, volunteered, on the spot, to go\ndown to the Cape and bring up a boat, we resolved to make our way south\nagain.\n\nComing down the Zouga, we had now time to look at its banks. These are\nvery beautiful, resembling closely many parts of the River Clyde above\nGlasgow. The formation is soft calcareous tufa, such as forms the bottom\nof all this basin. The banks are perpendicular on the side to which\nthe water swings, and sloping and grassy on the other. The slopes are\nselected for the pitfalls designed by the Bayeiye to entrap the animals\nas they come to drink. These are about seven or eight feet deep, three\nor four feet wide at the mouth, and gradually decrease till they are\nonly about a foot wide at the bottom. The mouth is an oblong square (the\nonly square thing made by the Bechuanas, for every thing else is round),\nand the long diameter at the surface is about equal to the depth. The\ndecreasing width toward the bottom is intended to make the animal wedge\nhimself more firmly in by his weight and struggles. The pitfalls are\nusually in pairs, with a wall a foot thick left uncut between the ends\nof each, so that if the beast, when it feels its fore legs descending,\nshould try to save itself from going in altogether by striding the hind\nlegs, he would spring forward and leap into the second with a force\nwhich insures the fall of his whole body into the trap. They are covered\nwith great care. All the excavated earth is removed to a distance, so as\nnot to excite suspicion in the minds of the animals. Reeds and grass are\nlaid across the top; above this the sand is thrown, and watered so as to\nappear exactly like the rest of the spot. Some of our party plumped into\nthese pitfalls more than once, even when in search of them, in order to\nopen them to prevent the loss of our cattle. If an ox sees a hole, he\ncarefully avoids it; and old elephants have been known to precede the\nherd and whisk off the coverings of the pitfalls on each side all the\nway down to the water. We have known instances in which the old among\nthese sagacious animals have actually lifted the young out of the trap.\n\nThe trees which adorn the banks are magnificent. Two enormous baobabs\n('Adansonia digitata'), or mowanas, grow near its confluence with the\nlake where we took the observations for the latitude (20d 20' S.). We\nwere unable to ascertain the longitude of the lake, as our watches were\nuseless; it may be between 22 Deg. and 23 Deg. E. The largest of the two\nbaobabs was 76 feet in girth. The palmyra appears here and there among\ntrees not met with in the south. The mokuchong, or moshoma, bears an\nedible fruit of indifferent quality, but the tree itself would be a fine\nspecimen of arboreal beauty in any part of the world. The trunk is often\nconverted into canoes. The motsouri, which bears a pink plum containing\na pleasant acid juice, resembles an orange-tree in its dark evergreen\nfoliage, and a cypress in its form. It was now winter-time, and we saw\nnothing of the flora. The plants and bushes were dry; but wild indigo\nabounded, as indeed it does over large tracts of Africa. It is called\nmohetolo, or the \"changer\", by the boys, who dye their ornaments of\nstraw with the juice. There are two kinds of cotton in the country, and\nthe Mashona, who convert it into cloth, dye it blue with this plant.\n\nWe found the elephants in prodigious numbers on the southern bank. They\ncome to drink by night, and after having slaked their thirst--in doing\nwhich they throw large quantities of water over themselves, and are\nheard, while enjoying the refreshment, screaming with delight--they\nevince their horror of pitfalls by setting off in a straight line to the\ndesert, and never diverge till they are eight or ten miles off. They are\nsmaller here than in the countries farther south. At the Limpopo,\nfor instance, they are upward of twelve feet high; here, only eleven:\nfarther north we shall find them nine feet only. The koodoo, or tolo,\nseemed smaller, too, than those we had been accustomed to see. We\nsaw specimens of the kuabaoba, or straight-horned rhinoceros ('R.\nOswellii'), which is a variety of the white ('R. simus'); and we found\nthat, from the horn being projected downward, it did not obstruct the\nline of vision, so that this species is able to be much more wary than\nits neighbors.\n\nWe discovered an entirely new species of antelope, called leche or\nlechwi. It is a beautiful water-antelope of a light brownish-yellow\ncolor. Its horns--exactly like those of the 'Aigoceros ellipsiprimnus',\nthe waterbuck, or tumogo, of the Bechuanas--rise from the head with\na slight bend backward, then curve forward at the points. The chest,\nbelly, and orbits are nearly white, the front of the legs and ankles\ndeep brown. From the horns, along the nape to the withers, the male has\na small mane of the same yellowish color with the rest of the skin, and\nthe tail has a tuft of black hair. It is never found a mile from water;\nislets in marshes and rivers are its favorite haunts, and it is quite\nunknown except in the central humid basin of Africa. Having a good deal\nof curiosity, it presents a noble appearance as it stands gazing, with\nhead erect, at the approaching stranger. When it resolves to decamp, it\nlowers its head, and lays its horns down to a level with the withers;\nit then begins with a waddling trot, which ends in its galloping and\nspringing over bushes like the pallahs. It invariably runs to the water,\nand crosses it by a succession of bounds, each of which appears to be\nfrom the bottom. We thought the flesh good at first, but soon got tired\nof it.\n\nGreat shoals of excellent fish come down annually with the access of\nwaters. The mullet ('Mugil Africanus') is the most abundant. They are\ncaught in nets.\n\nThe 'Glanis siluris', a large, broad-headed fish, without scales, and\nbarbed--called by the natives \"mosala\"--attains an enormous size and\nfatness. They are caught so large that when a man carries one over his\nshoulder the tail reaches the ground. It is a vegetable feeder, and in\nmany of its habits resembles the eel. Like most lophoid fishes, it has\nthe power of retaining a large quantity of water in a part of its great\nhead, so that it can leave the river, and even be buried in the mud of\ndried-up pools, without being destroyed. Another fish closely resembling\nthis, and named 'Clarias capensis' by Dr. Smith, is widely diffused\nthroughout the interior, and often leaves the rivers for the sake of\nfeeding in pools. As these dry up, large numbers of them are entrapped\nby the people. A water-snake, yellow-spotted and dark brown, is often\nseen swimming along with its head above the water: it is quite harmless,\nand is relished as food by the Bayeiye.\n\nThey mention ten kinds of fish in their river; and, in their songs of\npraise to the Zouga, say, \"The messenger sent in haste is always forced\nto spend the night on the way by the abundance of food you place before\nhim.\" The Bayeiye live much on fish, which is quite an abomination to\nthe Bechuanas of the south; and they catch them in large numbers by\nmeans of nets made of the fine, strong fibres of the hibiscus, which\ngrows abundantly in all moist places. Their float-ropes are made of\nthe ife, or, as it is now called, the 'Sanseviere Angolensis', a\nflag-looking plant, having a very strong fibre, that abounds from\nKolobeng to Angola; and the floats themselves are pieces of a\nwater-plant containing valves at each joint, which retain the air in\ncells about an inch long. The mode of knotting the nets is identical\nwith our own.\n\nThey also spear the fish with javelins having a light handle, which\nreadily floats on the surface. They show great dexterity in harpooning\nthe hippopotamus; and, the barbed blade of the spear being attached to\na rope made of the young leaves of the palmyra, the animal can not\nrid himself of the canoe, attached to him in whale fashion, except by\nsmashing it, which he not unfrequently does by his teeth or by a stroke\nof his hind foot.\n\nOn returning to the Bakurutse, we found that their canoes for fishing\nwere simply large bundles of reeds tied together. Such a canoe would\nbe a ready extemporaneous pontoon for crossing any river that had reedy\nbanks.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 4.\n\nLeave Kolobeng again for the Country of Sebituane--Reach the Zouga--\nThe Tsetse--A Party of Englishmen--Death of Mr. Rider--Obtain\nGuides--Children fall sick with Fever--Relinquish the Attempt to reach\nSebituane--Mr. Oswell's Elephant-hunting--Return to Kolobeng--Make\na third Start thence--Reach Nchokotsa--Salt-pans--\"Links\", or\nSprings--Bushmen--Our Guide Shobo--The Banajoa--An ugly Chief--The\nTsetse--Bite fatal to domestic Animals, but harmless to wild Animals\nand Man--Operation of the Poison--Losses caused by it--The Makololo--\nOur Meeting with Sebituane--Sketch of his Career--His Courage and\nConquests--Manoeuvres of the Batoka--He outwits them--His Wars with\nthe Matebele--Predictions of a native Prophet--Successes of the\nMakololo--Renewed Attacks of the Matebele--The Island of Loyelo--Defeat\nof the Matebele--Sebituane's Policy--His Kindness to Strangers and to\nthe Poor--His sudden Illness and Death--Succeeded by his Daughter--Her\nFriendliness to us--Discovery, in June, 1851, of the Zambesi flowing\nin the Centre of the Continent--Its Size--The Mambari--The\nSlave-trade--Determine to send Family to England--Return to the Cape\nin April, 1852--Safe Transit through the Caffre Country during\nHostilities--Need of a \"Special Correspondent\"--Kindness of the London\nMissionary Society--Assistance afforded by the Astronomer Royal at the\nCape.\n\n\n\nHaving returned to Kolobeng, I remained there till April, 1850, and then\nleft in company with Mrs. Livingstone, our three children, and the chief\nSechele--who had now bought a wagon of his own--in order to go across\nthe Zouga at its lower end, with the intention of proceeding up the\nnorthern bank till we gained the Tamunak'le, and of then ascending that\nriver to visit Sebituane in the north. Sekomi had given orders to fill\nup the wells which we had dug with so much labor at Serotli, so we took\nthe more eastern route through the Bamangwato town and by Letloche. That\nchief asked why I had avoided him in our former journeys. I replied that\nmy reason was that I knew he did not wish me to go to the lake, and I\ndid not want to quarrel with him. \"Well,\" he said, \"you beat me then,\nand I am content.\"\n\nParting with Sechele at the ford, as he was eager to visit Lechulatebe,\nwe went along the northern woody bank of the Zouga with great labor,\nhaving to cut down very many trees to allow the wagons to pass. Our\nlosses by oxen falling into pitfalls were very heavy. The Bayeiye kindly\nopened the pits when they knew of our approach; but when that was not\nthe case, we could blame no one on finding an established custom of the\ncountry inimical to our interests. On approaching the confluence of the\nTamunak'le we were informed that the fly called tsetse* abounded on its\nbanks. This was a barrier we never expected to meet; and, as it might\nhave brought our wagons to a complete stand-still in a wilderness, where\nno supplies for the children could be obtained, we were reluctantly\ncompelled to recross the Zouga.\n\n   * 'Glossina morsitans', the first specimens of which were\n   brought to England in 1848 by my friend Major Vardon, from the\n   banks of the Limpopo.\n\nFrom the Bayeiye we learned that a party of Englishmen, who had come to\nthe lake in search of ivory, were all laid low by fever, so we traveled\nhastily down about sixty miles to render what aid was in our power.\nWe were grieved to find, as we came near, that Mr. Alfred Rider, an\nenterprising young artist who had come to make sketches of this country\nand of the lake immediately after its discovery, had died of fever\nbefore our arrival; but by the aid of medicines and such comforts as\ncould be made by the only English lady who ever visited the lake, the\nothers happily recovered. The unfinished drawing of Lake Ngami was made\nby Mr. Rider just before his death, and has been kindly lent for this\nwork by his bereaved mother.\n\nSechele used all his powers of eloquence with Lechulatebe to induce him\nto furnish guides that I might be able to visit Sebituane on ox-back,\nwhile Mrs. Livingstone and the children remained at Lake Ngami. He\nyielded at last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the gift of\nLieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the greatest value, both\non account of the donor and the impossibility of my replacing it.\nLechulatebe fell violently in love with it, and offered whatever\nnumber of elephants' tusks I might ask for it. I too was enamored with\nSebituane; and as he promised in addition that he would furnish Mrs.\nLivingstone with meat all the time of my absence, his arguments made me\npart with the gun. Though he had no ivory at the time to pay me, I felt\nthe piece would be well spent on those terms, and delivered it to him.\nAll being ready for our departure, I took Mrs. Livingstone about six\nmiles from the town, that she might have a peep at the broad part of the\nlake. Next morning we had other work to do than part, for our little boy\nand girl were seized with fever. On the day following, all our servants\nwere down too with the same complaint. As nothing is better in these\ncases than change of place, I was forced to give up the hope of seeing\nSebituane that year; so, leaving my gun as part payment for guides next\nyear, we started for the pure air of the Desert.\n\nSome mistake had happened in the arrangement with Mr. Oswell, for we met\nhim on the Zouga on our return, and he devoted the rest of this season\nto elephant-hunting, at which the natives universally declare he is the\ngreatest adept that ever came into the country. He hunted without dogs.\nIt is remarkable that this lordly animal is so completely harassed by\nthe presence of a few yelping curs as to be quite incapable of attending\nto man. He makes awkward attempts to crush them by falling on his knees;\nand sometimes places his forehead against a tree ten inches in diameter;\nglancing on one side of the tree and then on the other, he pushes it\ndown before him, as if he thought thereby to catch his enemies. The only\ndanger the huntsman has to apprehend is the dogs running toward him, and\nthereby leading the elephant to their master. Mr. Oswell has been known\nto kill four large old male elephants a day. The value of the ivory in\nthese cases would be one hundred guineas. We had reason to be proud of\nhis success, for the inhabitants conceived from it a very high idea of\nEnglish courage; and when they wished to flatter me would say, \"If you\nwere not a missionary you would just be like Oswell; you would not hunt\nwith dogs either.\" When, in 1852, we came to the Cape, my black coat\neleven years out of fashion, and without a penny of salary to draw,\nwe found that Mr. Oswell had most generously ordered an outfit for the\nhalf-naked children, which cost about 200 Pounds, and presented it to\nus, saying he thought Mrs. Livingstone had a right to the game of her\nown preserves.\n\nFoiled in this second attempt to reach Sebituane, we returned again to\nKolobeng, whither we were soon followed by a number of messengers from\nthat chief himself. When he heard of our attempts to visit him, he\ndispatched three detachments of his men with thirteen brown cows to\nLechulatebe, thirteen white cows to Sekomi, and thirteen black cows to\nSechele, with a request to each to assist the white men to reach him.\nTheir policy, however, was to keep him out of view, and act as his\nagents in purchasing with his ivory the goods he wanted. This is\nthoroughly African; and that continent being without friths and arms\nof the sea, the tribes in the centre have always been debarred from\nEuropean intercourse by its universal prevalence among all the people\naround the coasts.\n\nBefore setting out on our third journey to Sebituane, it was necessary\nto visit Kuruman; and Sechele, eager, for the sake of the commission\nthereon, to get the ivory of that chief into his own hands, allowed all\nthe messengers to leave before our return. Sekomi, however, was more\nthan usually gracious, and even furnished us with a guide, but no one\nknew the path beyond Nchokotsa which we intended to follow. When we\nreached that point, we found that the main spring of the gun of another\nof his men, who was well acquainted with the Bushmen, through whose\ncountry we should pass, had opportunely broken. I never undertook\nto mend a gun with greater zest than this; for, under promise of his\nguidance, we went to the north instead of westward. All the other guides\nwere most liberally rewarded by Mr. Oswell.\n\nWe passed quickly over a hard country, which is perfectly flat. A little\nsoil lying on calcareous tufa, over a tract of several hundreds of\nmiles, supports a vegetation of fine sweet short grass, and mopane and\nbaobab trees. On several parts of this we found large salt-pans, one\nof which, Ntwetwe, is fifteen miles broad and one hundred long. The\nlatitude might have been taken on its horizon as well as upon the sea.\n\nAlthough these curious spots seem perfectly level, all those in this\ndirection have a gentle slope to the northeast: thither the rain-water,\nwhich sometimes covers them, gently gravitates. This, it may be\nrecollected, is the direction of the Zouga. The salt dissolved in\nthe water has by this means all been transferred to one pan in that\ndirection, named Chuantsa; on it we see a cake of salt and lime an inch\nand a half thick. All the others have an efflorescence of lime and one\nof the nitrates only, and some are covered thickly with shells. These\nshells are identical with those of the mollusca of Lake Ngami and the\nZouga. There are three varieties, spiral, univalve, and bivalve.\n\nIn every salt-pan in the country there is a spring of water on one side.\nI can remember no exception to this rule. The water of these springs is\nbrackish, and contains the nitrate of soda. In one instance there are\ntwo springs, and one more saltish than the other. If this supply came\nfrom beds of rock salt the water would not be drinkable, as it generally\nis, and in some instances, where the salt contained in the pan in which\nthese springs appear has been removed by human agency, no fresh deposit\noccurs. It is therefore probable that these deposits of salt are the\nremains of the very slightly brackish lakes of antiquity, large portions\nof which must have been dried out in the general desiccation. We see an\ninstance in Lake Ngami, which, when low, becomes brackish, and this view\nseems supported by the fact that the largest quantities of salt have\nbeen found in the deepest hollows or lowest valleys, which have no\noutlet or outgoing gorge; and a fountain, about thirty miles south of\nthe Bamangwato--the temperature of which is upward of 100 Deg.--while\nstrongly impregnated with pure salt, being on a flat part of the\ncountry, is accompanied by no deposit.\n\nWhen these deposits occur in a flat tufaceous country like the present,\na large space is devoid of vegetation, on account of the nitrates\ndissolving the tufa, and keeping it in a state unfavorable to the growth\nof plants.\n\nWe found a great number of wells in this tufa. A place called\nMatlomagan-yana, or the \"Links\", is quite a chain of these never-failing\nsprings. As they occasionally become full in seasons when no rain\nfalls, and resemble somewhat in this respect the rivers we have already\nmentioned, it is probable they receive some water by percolation from\nthe river system in the country beyond. Among these links we found many\nfamilies of Bushmen; and, unlike those on the plains of the Kalahari,\nwho are generally of short stature and light yellow color, these were\ntall, strapping fellows, of dark complexion. Heat alone does not produce\nblackness of skin, but heat with moisture seems to insure the deepest\nhue.\n\nOne of these Bushmen, named Shobo, consented to be our guide over the\nwaste between these springs and the country of Sebituane. Shobo gave us\nno hope of water in less than a month. Providentially, however, we came\nsooner than we expected to some supplies of rain-water in a chain of\npools. It is impossible to convey an idea of the dreary scene on which\nwe entered after leaving this spot: the only vegetation was a low scrub\nin deep sand; not a bird or insect enlivened the landscape. It was,\nwithout exception, the most uninviting prospect I ever beheld; and,\nto make matters worse, our guide Shobo wandered on the second day. We\ncoaxed him on at night, but he went to all points of the compass on the\ntrails of elephants which had been here in the rainy season, and then\nwould sit down in the path, and in his broken Sichuana say, \"No water,\nall country only; Shobo sleeps; he breaks down; country only;\" and then\ncoolly curl himself up and go to sleep. The oxen were terribly fatigued\nand thirsty; and on the morning of the fourth day, Shobo, after\nprofessing ignorance of every thing, vanished altogether. We went on in\nthe direction in which we last saw him, and about eleven o'clock began\nto see birds; then the trail of a rhinoceros. At this we unyoked the\noxen, and they, apparently knowing the sign, rushed along to find the\nwater in the River Mahabe, which comes from the Tamunak'le, and lay to\nthe west of us. The supply of water in the wagons had been wasted by one\nof our servants, and by the afternoon only a small portion remained for\nthe children. This was a bitterly anxious night; and next morning the\nless there was of water, the more thirsty the little rogues became. The\nidea of their perishing before our eyes was terrible. It would almost\nhave been a relief to me to have been reproached with being the entire\ncause of the catastrophe; but not one syllable of upbraiding was uttered\nby their mother, though the tearful eye told the agony within. In the\nafternoon of the fifth day, to our inexpressible relief, some of the men\nreturned with a supply of that fluid of which we had never before felt\nthe true value.\n\nThe cattle, in rushing along to the water in the Mahabe, probably\ncrossed a small patch of trees containing tsetse, an insect which was\nshortly to become a perfect pest to us. Shobo had found his way to the\nBayeiye, and appeared, when we came up to the river, at the head of a\nparty; and, as he wished to show his importance before his friends, he\nwalked up boldly and commanded our whole cavalcade to stop, and to bring\nforth fire and tobacco, while he coolly sat down and smoked his pipe. It\nwas such an inimitably natural way of showing off, that we all stopped\nto admire the acting, and, though he had left us previously in the\nlurch, we all liked Shobo, a fine specimen of that wonderful people, the\nBushmen.\n\nNext day we came to a village of Banajoa, a tribe which extends far to\nthe eastward. They were living on the borders of a marsh in which the\nMahabe terminates. They had lost their crop of corn ('Holcus sorghum'),\nand now subsisted almost entirely on the root called \"tsitla\", a kind of\naroidoea, which contains a very large quantity of sweet-tasted starch.\nWhen dried, pounded into meal, and allowed to ferment, it forms a not\nunpleasant article of food. The women shave all the hair off their\nheads, and seem darker than the Bechuanas. Their huts were built on\npoles, and a fire is made beneath by night, in order that the smoke may\ndrive away the mosquitoes, which abound on the Mababe and Tamunak'le\nmore than in any other part of the country. The head man of this\nvillage, Majane, seemed a little wanting in ability, but had had wit\nenough to promote a younger member of the family to the office. This\nperson, the most like the ugly negro of the tobacconists' shops I ever\nsaw, was called Moroa Majane, or son of Majane, and proved an active\nguide across the River Sonta, and to the banks of the Chobe, in the\ncountry of Sebituane. We had come through another tsetse district\nby night, and at once passed our cattle over to the northern bank to\npreserve them from its ravages.\n\nA few remarks on the Tsetse, or 'Glossina morsitans', may here be\nappropriate. It is not much larger than the common house-fly, and is\nnearly of the same brown color as the common honey-bee; the after part\nof the body has three or four yellow bars across it; the wings project\nbeyond this part considerably, and it is remarkably alert, avoiding\nmost dexterously all attempts to capture it with the hand at common\ntemperatures; in the cool of the mornings and evenings it is less agile.\nIts peculiar buzz when once heard can never be forgotten by the traveler\nwhose means of locomotion are domestic animals; for it is well known\nthat the bite of this poisonous insect is certain death to the ox,\nhorse, and dog. In this journey, though we were not aware of any great\nnumber having at any time lighted on our cattle, we lost forty-three\nfine oxen by its bite. We watched the animals carefully, and believe\nthat not a score of flies were ever upon them.\n\nA most remarkable feature in the bite of the tsetse is its perfect\nharmlessness in man and wild animals, and even calves, so long as they\ncontinue to suck the cows. We never experienced the slightest injury\nfrom them ourselves, personally, although we lived two months in their\nHABITAT, which was in this case as sharply defined as in many others,\nfor the south bank of the Chobe was infested by them, and the northern\nbank, where our cattle were placed, only fifty yards distant, contained\nnot a single specimen. This was the more remarkable, as we often saw\nnatives carrying over raw meat to the opposite bank with many tsetse\nsettled upon it.\n\nThe poison does not seem to be injected by a sting, or by ova placed\nbeneath the skin; for, when one is allowed to feed freely on the hand,\nit is seen to insert the middle prong of three portions, into which the\nproboscis divides, somewhat deeply into the true skin; it then draws it\nout a little way, and it assumes a crimson color as the mandibles come\ninto brisk operation. The previously shrunken belly swells out, and,\nif left undisturbed, the fly quietly departs when it is full. A slight\nitching irritation follows, but not more than in the bite of a mosquito.\nIn the ox this same bite produces no more immediate effects than in man.\nIt does not startle him as the gad-fly does; but a few days afterward\nthe following symptoms supervene: the eye and nose begin to run, the\ncoat stares as if the animal were cold, a swelling appears under the\njaw, and sometimes at the navel; and, though the animal continues to\ngraze, emaciation commences, accompanied with a peculiar flaccidity\nof the muscles, and this proceeds unchecked until, perhaps months\nafterward, purging comes on, and the animal, no longer able to graze,\nperishes in a state of extreme exhaustion. Those which are in good\ncondition often perish soon after the bite is inflicted with staggering\nand blindness, as if the brain were affected by it. Sudden changes of\ntemperature produced by falls of rain seem to hasten the progress of the\ncomplaint; but, in general, the emaciation goes on uninterruptedly for\nmonths, and, do what we will, the poor animals perish miserably.\n\nWhen opened, the cellular tissue on the surface of the body beneath the\nskin is seen to be injected with air, as if a quantity of soap-bubbles\nwere scattered over it, or a dishonest, awkward butcher had been trying\nto make it look fat. The fat is of a greenish-yellow color and of an\noily consistence. All the muscles are flabby, and the heart often so\nsoft that the fingers may be made to meet through it. The lungs and\nliver partake of the disease. The stomach and bowels are pale and empty,\nand the gall-bladder is distended with bile.\n\nThese symptoms seem to indicate what is probably the case, a poison in\nthe blood, the germ of which enters when the proboscis is inserted to\ndraw blood. The poison-germ, contained in a bulb at the root of\nthe proboscis, seems capable, although very minute in quantity, of\nreproducing itself, for the blood after death by tsetse is very small\nin quantity, and scarcely stains the hands in dissection. I shall\nhave by-and-by to mention another insect, which by the same operation\nproduces in the human subject both vomiting and purging.\n\nThe mule, ass, and goat enjoy the same immunity from the tsetse as man\nand the game. Many large tribes on the Zambesi can keep no domestic\nanimals except the goat, in consequence of the scourge existing in their\ncountry. Our children were frequently bitten, yet suffered no harm; and\nwe saw around us numbers of zebras, buffaloes, pigs, pallahs and other\nantelopes, feeding quietly in the very habitat of the tsetse, yet as\nundisturbed by its bite as oxen are when they first receive the fatal\npoison. There is not so much difference in the natures of the horse\nand zebra, the buffalo and ox, the sheep and antelope, as to afford\nany satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon. Is a man not as much\na domestic animal as a dog? The curious feature in the case, that dogs\nperish though fed on milk, whereas the calves escape so long as they\ncontinue sucking, made us imagine that the mischief might be produced by\nsome plant in the locality, and not by tsetse; but Major Vardon, of the\nMadras Army, settled that point by riding a horse up to a small hill\ninfested by the insect without allowing him time to graze, and, though\nhe only remained long enough to take a view of the country and catch\nsome specimens of tsetse on the animal, in ten days afterward the horse\nwas dead.\n\nThe well-known disgust which the tsetse shows to animal excreta, as\nexhibited when a village is placed in its habitat, has been observed and\nturned to account by some of the doctors. They mix droppings of animals,\nhuman milk, and some medicines together, and smear the animals that are\nabout to pass through a tsetse district; but this, though it proves a\npreventive at the time, is not permanent. There is no cure yet known for\nthe disease. A careless herdsman allowing a large number of cattle to\nwander into a tsetse district loses all except the calves; and Sebituane\nonce lost nearly the entire cattle of his tribe, very many thousands,\nby unwittingly coming under its influence. Inoculation does not insure\nimmunity, as animals which have been slightly bitten in one year may\nperish by a greater number of bites in the next; but it is probable that\nwith the increase of guns the game will perish, as has happened in\nthe south, and the tsetse, deprived of food, may become extinct\nsimultaneously with the larger animals.\n\nThe Makololo whom we met on the Chobe were delighted to see us; and as\ntheir chief Sebituane was about twenty miles down the river, Mr. Oswell\nand I proceeded in canoes to his temporary residence. He had come from\nthe Barotse town of Naliele down to Sesheke as soon as he heard of white\nmen being in search of him, and now came one hundred miles more to\nbid us welcome into his country. He was upon an island, with all his\nprincipal men around him, and engaged in singing when we arrived. It\nwas more like church music than the sing-song ee ee ee, ae ae ae, of\nthe Bechuanas of the south, and they continued the tune for some\nseconds after we approached. We informed him of the difficulties we had\nencountered, and how glad we were that they were all at an end by at\nlast reaching his presence. He signified his own joy, and added, \"Your\ncattle are all bitten by the tsetse, and will certainly die; but never\nmind, I have oxen, and will give you as many as you need.\" We, in our\nignorance, then thought that as so few tsetse had bitten them no great\nmischief would follow. He then presented us with an ox and a jar of\nhoney as food, and handed us over to the care of Mahale, who had headed\nthe party to Kolobeng, and would now fain appropriate to himself the\nwhole credit of our coming. Prepared skins of oxen, as soft as cloth,\nwere given to cover us through the night; and, as nothing could be\nreturned to this chief, Mahale became the owner of them. Long before it\nwas day Sebituane came, and sitting down by the fire, which was\nlighted for our benefit behind the hedge where we lay, he narrated the\ndifficulties he had himself experienced, when a young man, in crossing\nthat same desert which we had mastered long afterward. As he has been\nmost remarkable in his career, and was unquestionably the greatest man\nin all that country, a short sketch of his life may prove interesting to\nthe reader.\n\nSebituane was about forty-five years of age; of a tall and wiry form,\nan olive or coffee-and-milk color, and slightly bald; in manner cool\nand collected, and more frank in his answers than any other chief I ever\nmet. He was the greatest warrior ever heard of beyond the colony; for,\nunlike Mosilikatse, Dingaan, and others, he always led his men\ninto battle himself. When he saw the enemy, he felt the edge of his\nbattle-axe, and said, \"Aha! it is sharp, and whoever turns his back on\nthe enemy will feel its edge.\" So fleet of foot was he, that all his\npeople knew there was no escape for the coward, as any such would be\ncut down without mercy. In some instances of skulking he allowed the\nindividual to return home; then calling him, he would say, \"Ah! you\nprefer dying at home to dying in the field, do you? You shall have your\ndesire.\" This was the signal for his immediate execution.\n\nHe came from the country near the sources of the Likwa and Namagari\nrivers in the south, so we met him eight hundred or nine hundred miles\nfrom his birth-place. He was not the son of a chief, though related\nclosely to the reigning family of the Basutu; and when, in an attack by\nSikonyele, the tribe was driven out of one part, Sebituane was one in\nthat immense horde of savages driven back by the Griquas from Kuruman in\n1824.* He then fled to the north with an insignificant party of men and\ncattle. At Melita the Bangwaketse collected the Bakwains, Bakatla, and\nBahurutse, to \"eat them up\". Placing his men in front, and the women\nbehind the cattle, he routed the whole of his enemies at one blow.\nHaving thus conquered Makabe, the chief of the Bangwaketse, he took\nimmediate possession of his town and all his goods.\n\n   * See an account of this affair in Moffat's \"Missionary\n   Enterprise in Africa\".\n\nSebituane subsequently settled at the place called Litubaruba, where\nSechele now dwells, and his people suffered severely in one of those\nunrecorded attacks by white men, in which murder is committed and\nmaterials laid up in the conscience for a future judgment.\n\nA great variety of fortune followed him in the northern part of the\nBechuana country; twice he lost all his cattle by the attacks of the\nMatabele, but always kept his people together, and retook more than he\nlost. He then crossed the Desert by nearly the same path that we did.\nHe had captured a guide, and, as it was necessary to travel by night in\norder to reach water, the guide took advantage of this and gave him the\nslip. After marching till morning, and going as they thought right,\nthey found themselves on the trail of the day before. Many of his\ncattle burst away from him in the phrensy of thirst, and rushed back\nto Serotli, then a large piece of water, and to Mashue and Lopepe, the\nhabitations of their original owners. He stocked himself again among the\nBatletli, on Lake Kumadau, whose herds were of the large-horned species\nof cattle.* Conquering all around the lake, he heard of white men living\nat the west coast; and, haunted by what seems to have been the dream\nof his whole life, a desire to have intercourse with the white man, he\npassed away to the southwest, into the parts opened up lately by Messrs.\nGalton and Andersson. There, suffering intensely from thirst, he and\nhis party came to a small well. He decided that the men, not the cattle,\nshould drink it, the former being of most value, as they could fight\nfor more should these be lost. In the morning they found the cattle had\nescaped to the Damaras.\n\n   * We found the Batauana in possession of this breed when we\n   discovered Lake Ngami.  One of these horns, brought to England\n   by Major Vardon, will hold no less than twenty-one imperial\n   pints of water; and a pair, brought by Mr. Oswell, and now in\n   the possession of Colonel Steele, measures from tip to tip\n   eight and a half feet.\n\nReturning to the north poorer than he started, he ascended the Teoughe\nto the hill Sorila, and crossed over a swampy country to the eastward.\nPursuing his course onward to the low-lying basin of the Leeambye, he\nsaw that it presented no attraction to a pastoral tribe like his, so\nhe moved down that river among the Bashubia and Batoka, who were\nthen living in all their glory. His narrative resembled closely the\n\"Commentaries of Caesar\", and the history of the British in India. He\nwas always forced to attack the different tribes, and to this day his\nmen justify every step he took as perfectly just and right. The\nBatoka lived on large islands in the Leeambye or Zambesi, and, feeling\nperfectly secure in their fastnesses, often allured fugitive or\nwandering tribes on to uninhabited islets on pretense of ferrying them\nacross, and there left them to perish for the sake of their goods.\nSekomi, the chief of the Bamangwato, was, when a child, in danger of\nmeeting this fate; but a man still living had compassion on him, and\nenabled his mother to escape with him by night. The river is so large\nthat the sharpest eye can not tell the difference between an island and\nthe bend of the opposite bank; but Sebituane, with his usual foresight,\nrequested the island chief who ferried him across to take his seat in\nthe canoe with him, and detained him by his side till all his people\nand cattle were safely landed. The whole Batoka country was then densely\npeopled, and they had a curious taste for ornamenting their villages\nwith the skulls of strangers. When Sebituane appeared near the great\nfalls, an immense army collected to make trophies of the Makololo\nskulls; but, instead of succeeding in this, they gave him a good excuse\nfor conquering them, and capturing so many cattle that his people were\nquite incapable of taking any note of the sheep and goats. He overran\nall the high lands toward the Kafue, and settled in what is called a\npastoral country, of gently undulating plains, covered with short grass\nand but little forest. The Makololo have never lost their love for this\nfine, healthy region.\n\nBut the Matebele, a Caffre or Zulu tribe, under Mosilikatse, crossed\nthe Zambesi, and, attacking Sebituane in this choice spot, captured\nhis cattle and women. Rallying his men, he followed and recaptured the\nwhole. A fresh attack was also repulsed, and Sebituane thought of going\nfarther down the Zambesi, to the country of the white men. He had an\nidea, whence imbibed I never could learn, that if he had a cannon he\nmight live in peace. He had led a life of war, yet no one apparently\ndesired peace more than he did. A prophet induced him to turn his\nface again to the westward. This man, by name Tlapane, was called a\n\"senoga\"--one who holds intercourse with the gods. He probably had\na touch of insanity, for he was in the habit of retiring no one knew\nwhither, but perhaps into some cave, to remain in a hypnotic or mesmeric\nstate until the moon was full. Then, returning to the tribe quite\nemaciated, he excited himself, as others do who pretend to the prophetic\nAFFLATUS, until he was in a state of ecstasy. These pretended prophets\ncommence their operations by violent action of the voluntary muscles.\nStamping, leaping, and shouting in a peculiarly violent manner, or\nbeating the ground with a club, they induce a kind of fit, and while\nin it pretend that their utterances are unknown to themselves. Tlapane,\npointing eastward, said, \"There, Sebituane, I behold a fire: shun it;\nit is a fire which may scorch thee. The gods say, go not thither.\"\nThen, turning to the west, he said, \"I see a city and a nation of black\nmen--men of the water; their cattle are red; thine own tribe, Sebituane,\nis perishing, and will be all consumed; thou wilt govern black men,\nand, when thy warriors have captured red cattle, let not the owners be\nkilled; they are thy future tribe--they are thy city; let them be spared\nto cause thee to build. And thou, Ramosinii, thy village will perish\nutterly. If Mokari removes from that village he will perish first, and\nthou, Ramosinii, wilt be the last to die.\" Concerning himself he added,\n\"The gods have caused other men to drink water, but to me they have\ngiven bitter water of the chukuru (rhinoceros). They call me away\nmyself. I can not stay much longer.\"\n\nThis vaticination, which loses much in the translation, I have given\nrather fully, as it shows an observant mind. The policy recommended was\nwise, and the deaths of the \"senoga\" and of the two men he had named,\nadded to the destruction of their village, having all happened soon\nafter, it is not wonderful that Sebituane followed implicitly the\nwarning voice. The fire pointed to was evidently the Portuguese\nfire-arms, of which he must have heard. The black men referred to were\nthe Barotse, or, as they term themselves, Baloiana; and Sebituane spared\ntheir chiefs, even though they attacked him first. He had ascended the\nBarotse valley, but was pursued by the Matebele, as Mosilikatse never\ncould forgive his former defeats. They came up the river in a very large\nbody. Sebituane placed some goats on one of the large islands of the\nZambesi as a bait to the warriors, and some men in canoes to co-operate\nin the manoeuvre. When they were all ferried over to the island, the\ncanoes were removed, and the Matebele found themselves completely in a\ntrap, being perfectly unable to swim. They subsisted for some time on\nthe roots of grass after the goats were eaten, but gradually became so\nemaciated that, when the Makololo landed, they had only to perform the\npart of executioners on the adults, and to adopt the rest into their own\ntribe. Afterward Mosilikatse was goaded on by his warriors to revenge\nthis loss; so he sent an immense army, carrying canoes with them, in\norder that no such mishap might occur again. Sebituane had by this time\nincorporated the Barotse, and taught his young men to manage canoes; so\nhe went from island to island, and watched the Matebele on the main land\nso closely that they could not use their canoes to cross the river any\nwhere without parting their forces. At last all the Makololo and their\ncattle were collected on the island of Loyelo, and lay all around,\nkeeping watch night and day over the enemy. After some time spent in\nthis way, Sebituane went in a canoe toward them, and, addressing them by\nan interpreter, asked why they wished to kill him; he had never attacked\nthem, never harmed their chief: \"Au!\" he continued, \"the guilt is on\nyour side.\" The Matebele made no reply; but the Makololo next day saw\nthe canoes they had carried so far lying smashed, and the owners gone.\nThey returned toward their own country, and fever, famine, and\nthe Batoka completed their destruction; only five men returned to\nMosilikatse.\n\nSebituane had now not only conquered all the black tribes over an\nimmense tract of country, but had made himself dreaded even by the\nterrible Mosilikatse. He never could trust this ferocious chief,\nhowever; and, as the Batoka on the islands had been guilty of ferrying\nhis enemies across the Zambesi, he made a rapid descent upon them,\nand swept them all out of their island fastnesses. He thus unwittingly\nperformed a good service to the country by completely breaking down the\nold system which prevented trade from penetrating into the great central\nvalley. Of the chiefs who escaped, he said, \"They love Mosilikatse, let\nthem live with him: the Zambesi is my line of defense;\" and men were\nplaced all along it as sentinels. When he heard of our wish to visit\nhim, he did all he could to assist our approach. Sechele, Sekomi, and\nLechulatebe owed their lives to his clemency; and the latter might have\npaid dearly for his obstructiveness. Sebituane knew every thing that\nhappened in the country, for he had the art of gaining the affections\nboth of his own people and of strangers. When a party of poor men came\nto his town to sell their hoes or skins, no matter how ungainly they\nmight be, he soon knew them all. A company of these indigent strangers,\nsitting far apart from the Makololo gentlemen around the chief, would be\nsurprised to see him come alone to them, and, sitting down, inquire if\nthey were hungry. He would order an attendant to bring meal, milk, and\nhoney, and, mixing them in their sight, in order to remove any suspicion\nfrom their minds, make them feast, perhaps for the first time in their\nlives, on a lordly dish. Delighted beyond measure with his affability\nand liberality, they felt their hearts warm toward him, and gave him\nall the information in their power; and as he never allowed a party of\nstrangers to go away without giving every one of them, servants and all,\na present, his praises were sounded far and wide. \"He has a heart! he is\nwise!\" were the usual expressions we heard before we saw him.\n\nHe was much pleased with the proof of confidence we had shown in\nbringing our children, and promised to take us to see his country, so\nthat we might choose a part in which to locate ourselves. Our plan was,\nthat I should remain in the pursuit of my objects as a missionary, while\nMr. Oswell explored the Zambesi to the east. Poor Sebituane, however,\njust after realizing what he had so long ardently desired, fell sick of\ninflammation of the lungs, which originated in and extended from an old\nwound got at Melita. I saw his danger, but, being a stranger, I feared\nto treat him medically, lest, in the event of his death, I should be\nblamed by his people. I mentioned this to one of his doctors, who said,\n\"Your fear is prudent and wise; this people would blame you.\" He had\nbeen cured of this complaint, during the year before, by the Barotse\nmaking a large number of free incisions in the chest. The Makololo\ndoctors, on the other hand, now scarcely cut the skin. On the Sunday\nafternoon in which he died, when our usual religious service was over, I\nvisited him with my little boy Robert. \"Come near,\" said Sebituane, \"and\nsee if I am any longer a man. I am done.\" He was thus sensible of the\ndangerous nature of his disease, so I ventured to assent, and added a\nsingle sentence regarding hope after death. \"Why do you speak of death?\"\nsaid one of a relay of fresh doctors; \"Sebituane will never die.\" If I\nhad persisted, the impression would have been produced that by speaking\nabout it I wished him to die. After sitting with him some time, and\ncommending him to the mercy of God, I rose to depart, when the dying\nchieftain, raising himself up a little from his prone position, called\na servant, and said, \"Take Robert to Maunku (one of his wives), and tell\nher to give him some milk.\" These were the last words of Sebituane.\n\nWe were not informed of his death until the next day. The burial of a\nBechuana chief takes place in his cattle-pen, and all the cattle are\ndriven for an hour or two around and over the grave, so that it may be\nquite obliterated. We went and spoke to the people, advising them to\nkeep together and support the heir. They took this kindly; and in turn\ntold us not to be alarmed, for they would not think of ascribing the\ndeath of their chief to us; that Sebituane had just gone the way of his\nfathers; and though the father had gone, he had left children, and they\nhoped that we would be as friendly to his children as we intended to\nhave been to himself.\n\nHe was decidedly the best specimen of a native chief I ever met. I\nnever felt so much grieved by the loss of a black man before; and it was\nimpossible not to follow him in thought into the world of which he had\njust heard before he was called away, and to realize somewhat of the\nfeelings of those who pray for the dead. The deep, dark question of what\nis to become of such as he, must, however, be left where we find it,\nbelieving that, assuredly, the \"Judge of all the earth will do right.\"\n\nAt Sebituane's death the chieftainship devolved, as her father intended,\non a daughter named Ma-mochisane. He had promised to show us his country\nand to select a suitable locality for our residence. We had now to look\nto the daughter, who was living twelve days to the north, at Naliele.\nWe were obliged, therefore, to remain until a message came from her;\nand when it did, she gave us perfect liberty to visit any part of the\ncountry we chose. Mr. Oswell and I then proceeded one hundred and thirty\nmiles to the northeast, to Sesheke; and in the end of June, 1851, we\nwere rewarded by the discovery of the Zambesi, in the centre of the\ncontinent. This was a most important point, for that river was not\npreviously known to exist there at all. The Portuguese maps all\nrepresent it as rising far to the east of where we now were; and if\never any thing like a chain of trading stations had existed across\nthe country between the latitudes 12 Deg. and 18 Deg. south, this\nmagnificent portion of the river must have been known before. We saw it\nat the end of the dry season, at the time when the river is about at its\nlowest, and yet there was a breadth of from three hundred to six hundred\nyards of deep flowing water. Mr. Oswell said he had never seen such a\nfine river, even in India. At the period of its annual inundation it\nrises fully twenty feet in perpendicular height, and floods fifteen or\ntwenty miles of lands adjacent to its banks.\n\nThe country over which we had traveled from the Chobe was perfectly\nflat, except where there were large ant-hills, or the remains of former\nones, which had left mounds a few feet high. These are generally covered\nwith wild date-trees and palmyras, and in some parts there are forests\nof mimosae and mopane. Occasionally the country between the Chobe and\nZambesi is flooded, and there are large patches of swamps lying near the\nChobe or on its banks. The Makololo were living among these swamps for\nthe sake of the protection the deep reedy rivers afforded them against\ntheir enemies.\n\nNow, in reference to a suitable locality for a settlement for myself,\nI could not conscientiously ask them to abandon their defenses for my\nconvenience alone. The healthy districts were defenseless, and the safe\nlocalities were so deleterious to human life, that the original Basutos\nhad nearly all been cut off by the fever; I therefore feared to subject\nmy family to the scourge.\n\nAs we were the very first white men the inhabitants had ever seen, we\nwere visited by prodigious numbers. Among the first who came to see us\nwas a gentleman who appeared in a gaudy dressing-gown of printed calico.\nMany of the Makololo, besides, had garments of blue, green, and red\nbaize, and also of printed cottons; on inquiry, we learned that these\nhad been purchased, in exchange for boys, from a tribe called Mambari,\nwhich is situated near Bihe. This tribe began the slave-trade with\nSebituane only in 1850, and but for the unwillingness of Lechulatebe\nto allow us to pass, we should have been with Sebituane in time to have\nprevented it from commencing at all. The Mambari visited in ancient\ntimes the chief of the Barotse, whom Sebituane conquered, and he refused\nto allow any one to sell a child. They never came back again till 1850;\nand as they had a number of old Portuguese guns marked \"Legitimo\nde Braga\", which Sebituane thought would be excellent in any future\ninvasion of Matebele, he offered to purchase them with cattle or ivory,\nbut the Mambari refused every thing except boys about fourteen years of\nage. The Makololo declare they never heard of people being bought and\nsold till then, and disliked it, but the desire to possess the guns\nprevailed, and eight old guns were exchanged for as many boys; these\nwere not their own children, but captives of the black races they had\nconquered. I have never known in Africa an instance of a parent selling\nhis own offspring. The Makololo were afterward incited to make a foray\nagainst some tribes to the eastward; the Mambari bargaining to use their\nguns in the attack for the captives they might take, and the Makololo\nwere to have all the cattle. They went off with at least two hundred\nslaves that year. During this foray the Makololo met some Arabs from\nZanzibar, who presented them with three English muskets, and in return\nreceived about thirty of their captives.\n\nIn talking with my companions over these matters, the idea was suggested\nthat, if the slave-market were supplied with articles of European\nmanufacture by legitimate commerce, the trade in slaves would become\nimpossible. It seemed more feasible to give the goods, for which the\npeople now part with their servants, in exchange for ivory and other\nproducts of the country, and thus prevent the trade at the beginning,\nthan to try to put a stop to it at any of the subsequent steps. This\ncould only be effected by establishing a highway from the coast into the\ncentre of the country.\n\nAs there was no hope of the Boers allowing the peaceable instruction\nof the natives at Kolobeng, I at once resolved to save my family from\nexposure to this unhealthy region by sending them to England, and\nto return alone, with a view to exploring the country in search of a\nhealthy district that might prove a centre of civilization, and open up\nthe interior by a path to either the east or west coast. This resolution\nled me down to the Cape in April, 1852, being the first time during\neleven years that I had visited the scenes of civilization. Our route\nto Cape Town led us to pass through the centre of the colony during\nthe twentieth month of a Caffre war; and if those who periodically pay\nenormous sums for these inglorious affairs wish to know how our little\nunprotected party could quietly travel through the heart of the colony\nto the capital with as little sense or sign of danger as if we had been\nin England, they must engage a \"'Times' Special Correspondent\" for\nthe next outbreak to explain where the money goes, and who have been\nbenefited by the blood and treasure expended.\n\nHaving placed my family on board a homeward-bound ship, and promised\nto rejoin them in two years, we parted, for, as it subsequently proved,\nnearly five years. The Directors of the London Missionary Society\nsignified their cordial approval of my project by leaving the matter\nentirely to my own discretion; and I have much pleasure in acknowledging\nmy obligations to the gentlemen composing that body for always acting in\nan enlightened spirit, and with as much liberality as their constitution\nwould allow.\n\nI have the like pleasure in confessing my thankfulness to the Astronomer\nRoyal at the Cape, Thomas Maclear, Esq., for enabling me to recall\nthe little astronomical knowledge which constant manual labor and the\nengrossing nature of missionary duties had effaced from my memory,\nand in adding much that I did not know before. The promise he made on\nparting, that he would examine and correct all my observations, had\nmore effect in making me persevere in overcoming the difficulties of an\nunassisted solitary observer than any thing else; so whatever credit may\nbe attached to the geographical positions laid down in my route must\nbe attributed to the voluntary aid of the excellent and laborious\nastronomer of the Cape observatory.\n\nHaving given the reader as rapid a sketch as possible of events which\nattracted notice between 1840 and 1852, I now proceed to narrate the\nincidents of the last and longest journey of all, performed in 1852-6.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 5.\n\nStart in June, 1852, on the last and longest Journey from Cape Town--\nCompanions--Wagon-traveling--Physical Divisions of Africa--The\nEastern, Central, and Western Zones--The Kalahari Desert--Its\nVegetation--Increasing Value of the Interior for Colonization--\nOur Route--Dutch Boers--Their Habits--Sterile Appearance of\nthe District--Failure of Grass--Succeeded by other Plants--\nVines--Animals--The Boers as Farmers--Migration of Springbucks--\nWariness of Animals--The Orange River--Territory of the Griquas and\nBechuanas--The Griquas--The Chief Waterboer--His wise and energetic\nGovernment--His Fidelity--Ill-considered Measures of the Colonial\nGovernment in regard to Supplies of Gunpowder--Success of the\nMissionaries among the Griquas and Bechuanas--Manifest Improvement of\nthe native Character--Dress of the Natives--A full-dress Costume--A\nNative's Description of the Natives--Articles of Commerce in the\nCountry of the Bechuanas--Their Unwillingness to learn, and Readiness\nto criticise.\n\n\n\nHaving sent my family home to England, I started in the beginning of\nJune, 1852, on my last journey from Cape Town. This journey extended\nfrom the southern extremity of the continent to St. Paul de Loando, the\ncapital of Angola, on the west coast, and thence across South Central\nAfrica in an oblique direction to Kilimane (Quilimane) in Eastern\nAfrica. I proceeded in the usual conveyance of the country, the heavy,\nlumbering Cape wagon drawn by ten oxen, and was accompanied by two\nChristian Bechuanas from Kuruman--than whom I never saw better servants\nany where--by two Bakwain men, and two young girls, who, having come as\nnurses with our children to the Cape, were returning to their home at\nKolobeng. Wagon-traveling in Africa has been so often described that\nI need say no more than that it is a prolonged system of picnicking,\nexcellent for the health, and agreeable to those who are not\nover-fastidious about trifles, and who delight in being in the open air.\n\nOur route to the north lay near the centre of the cone-shaped mass of\nland which constitutes the promontory of the Cape. If we suppose this\ncone to be divided into three zones or longitudinal bands, we find each\npresenting distinct peculiarities of climate, physical appearance and\npopulation. These are more marked beyond than within the colony. At\nsome points one district seems to be continued in and to merge into the\nother, but the general dissimilarity warrants the division, as an aid to\nmemory. The eastern zone is often furnished with mountains, well wooded\nwith evergreen succulent trees, on which neither fire nor droughts can\nhave the smallest effect ('Strelitzia', 'Zamia horrida', 'Portulacaria\nafra', 'Schotia speciosa', 'Euphorbias', and 'Aloes arborescens');\nand its seaboard gorges are clad with gigantic timber. It is also\ncomparatively well watered with streams and flowing rivers. The annual\nsupply of rain is considerable, and the inhabitants (Caffres or Zulus)\nare tall, muscular, and well made; they are shrewd, energetic, and\nbrave; altogether they merit the character given them by military\nauthorities, of being \"magnificent savages\". Their splendid physical\ndevelopment and form of skull show that, but for the black skin and\nwoolly hair, they would take rank among the foremost Europeans.\n\nThe next division, that which embraces the centre of the continent,\ncan scarcely be called hilly, for what hills there are are very low.\nIt consists for the most part of extensive, slightly undulating plains.\nThere are no lofty mountains, but few springs, and still fewer flowing\nstreams. Rain is far from abundant, and droughts may be expected every\nfew years. Without artificial irrigation no European grain can be\nraised, and the inhabitants (Bechuanas), though evidently of the same\nstock, originally, with those already mentioned, and closely resembling\nthem in being an agricultural as well as a pastoral people, are a\ncomparatively timid race, and inferior to the Caffres in physical\ndevelopment.\n\nThe western division is still more level than the middle one, being\nrugged only near the coast. It includes the great plain called\nthe Kalahari Desert, which is remarkable for little water and very\nconsiderable vegetation.\n\nThe reason, probably, why so little rain falls on this extensive\nplain is that the prevailing winds of most of the interior country\nare easterly, with a little southing. The moisture taken up by the\natmosphere from the Indian Ocean is deposited on the eastern hilly\nslope; and when the moving mass of air reaches its greatest elevation,\nit is then on the verge of the great valley, or, as in the case of\nthe Kalahari, the great heated inland plains; there, meeting with the\nrarefied air of that hot, dry surface, the ascending heat gives it\ngreater capacity for retaining all its remaining humidity, and few\nshowers can be given to the middle and western lands in consequence of\nthe increased hygrometric power.\n\nThis is the same phenomenon, on a gigantic scale, as that which takes\nplace on Table Mountain, at the Cape, in what is called the spreading of\nthe \"table-cloth\". The southeast wind causes a mass of air, equal to\nthe diameter of the mountain, suddenly to ascend at least three thousand\nfeet; the dilatation produced by altitude, with its attendant cold,\ncauses the immediate formation of a cloud on the summit; the water in\nthe atmosphere becomes visible; successive masses of gliding-up and\npassing-over air cause the continual formation of clouds, but the top of\nthe vapory mass, or \"table-cloth\", is level, and seemingly motionless;\non the lee side, however, the thick volumes of vapor curl over and\ndescend, but when they reach the point below, where greater density and\nhigher temperature impart enlarged capacity for carrying water, they\nentirely disappear.\n\nNow if, instead of a hollow on the lee side of Table Mountain, we had\nan elevated heated plain, the clouds which curl over that side, and\ndisappear as they do at present when a \"southeaster\" is blowing, might\ndeposit some moisture on the windward ascent and top; but the heat would\nthen impart the increased capacity the air now receives at the lower\nlevel in its descent to leeward, and, instead of an extended country\nwith a flora of the 'Disa grandiflora', 'gladiolus', 'rushes', and\n'lichens', which now appear on Table Mountain, we should have only the\nhardy vegetation of the Kalahari.\n\nWhy there should be so much vegetation on the Kalahari may be explained\nby the geological formation of the country. There is a rim or fringe of\nancient rocks round a great central valley, which, dipping inward, form\na basin, the bottom of which is composed of the oldest silurian rocks.\nThis basin has been burst through and filled up in many parts by\neruptive traps and breccias, which often bear in their substances\nangular fragments of the more ancient rocks, as shown in the fossils\nthey contain. Now, though large areas have been so dislocated that but\nlittle trace of the original valley formation appears, it is highly\nprobable that the basin shape prevails over large tracts of the country;\nand as the strata on the slopes, where most of the rain falls, dip in\ntoward the centre, they probably guide water beneath the plains but\nill supplied with moisture from the clouds. The phenomenon of stagnant\nfountains becoming by a new and deeper outlet never-failing streams may\nbe confirmatory of the view that water is conveyed from the sides of the\ncountry into the bottom of the central valley; and it is not beyond\nthe bounds of possibility that the wonderful river system in the north,\nwhich, if native information be correct, causes a considerable increase\nof water in the springs called Matlomagan-yana (the Links), extends its\nfertilizing influence beneath the plains of the Kalahari.\n\nThe peculiar formation of the country may explain why there is such\na difference in the vegetation between the 20th and 30th parallels of\nlatitude in South Africa and the same latitudes in Central Australia.\nThe want of vegetation is as true of some parts too in the centre of\nSouth America as of Australia; and the cause of the difference holds out\na probability for the success of artesian wells in extensive tracts of\nAfrica now unpeopled solely on account of the want of surface water.\nWe may be allowed to speculate a little at least on the fact of much\ngreater vegetation, which, from whatever source it comes, presents for\nSouth Africa prospects of future greatness which we can not hope for\nin Central Australia. As the interior districts of the Cape Colony\nare daily becoming of higher value, offering to honest industry a fair\nremuneration for capital, and having a climate unequaled in salubrity\nfor consumptive patients, I should unhesitatingly recommend any farmer\nat all afraid of that complaint in his family to try this colony. With\nthe means of education already possessed, and the onward and upward\nmovement of the Cape population, he need entertain no apprehensions of\nhis family sinking into barbarism.\n\nThe route we at this time followed ran along the middle, or skirted the\nwestern zone before alluded to, until we reached the latitude of Lake\nNgami, where a totally different country begins. While in the colony,\nwe passed through districts inhabited by the descendants of Dutch and\nFrench refugees who had fled from religious persecution. Those living\nnear the capital differ but little from the middle classes in\nEnglish counties, and are distinguished by public spirit and general\nintelligence; while those situated far from the centres of civilization\nare less informed, but are a body of frugal, industrious, and hospitable\npeasantry. A most efficient system of public instruction was established\nin the time of Governor Sir George Napier, on a plan drawn up in a great\nmeasure by that accomplished philosopher, Sir John Herschel. The system\nhad to contend with less sectarian rancor than elsewhere; indeed, until\nquite recently, that spirit, except in a mild form, was unknown.\n\nThe population here described ought not to be confounded with some\nBoers who fled from British rule on account of the emancipation of their\nHottentot slaves, and perhaps never would have been so had not every now\nand then some Rip Van Winkle started forth at the Cape to justify in the\npublic prints the deeds of blood and slave-hunting in the far interior.\nIt is therefore not to be wondered at if the whole race is confounded\nand held in low estimation by those who do not know the real composition\nof the Cape community.\n\nPopulation among the Boers increases rapidly; they marry soon, are\nseldom sterile, and continue to have children late. I once met a worthy\nmatron whose husband thought it right to imitate the conduct of Abraham\nwhile Sarah was barren; she evidently agreed in the propriety of the\nmeasure, for she was pleased to hear the children by a mother of what\nhas been thought an inferior race address her as their mother. Orphans\nare never allowed to remain long destitute; and instances are frequent\nin which a tender-hearted farmer has adopted a fatherless child, and\nwhen it came of age portioned it as his own.\n\nTwo centuries of the South African climate have not had much effect upon\nthe physical condition of the Boers. They are a shade darker, or\nrather ruddier, than Europeans, and are never cadaverous-looking, as\ndescendants of Europeans are said to be elsewhere. There is a tendency\nto the development of steatopyga, so characteristic of Arabs and other\nAfrican tribes; and it is probable that the interior Boers in another\ncentury will become in color what the learned imagine our progenitors,\nAdam and Eve, to have been.\n\nThe parts of the colony through which we passed were of sterile aspect;\nand, as the present winter had been preceded by a severe drought,\nmany farmers had lost two thirds of their stock. The landscape was\nuninviting; the hills, destitute of trees, were of a dark brown color,\nand the scanty vegetation on the plains made me feel that they deserved\nthe name of Desert more than the Kalahari. When first taken possession\nof, these parts are said to have been covered with a coating of grass,\nbut that has disappeared with the antelopes which fed upon it, and\na crop of mesembryanthemums and crassulas occupies its place. It is\ncurious to observe how, in nature, organizations the most dissimilar\nare mutually dependent on each other for their perpetuation. Here the\noriginal grasses were dependent for dissemination on the grass-feeding\nanimals, which scattered the seeds. When, by the death of the antelopes,\nno fresh sowing was made, the African droughts proved too much for\nthis form of vegetation. But even this contingency was foreseen by\nthe Omniscient One; for, as we may now observe in the Kalahari Desert,\nanother family of plants, the mesembryanthemums, stood ready to\nneutralize the aridity which must otherwise have followed. This family\nof plants possesses seed-vessels which remain firmly shut on their\ncontents while the soil is hot and dry, and thus preserve the vegetative\npower intact during the highest heat of the torrid sun; but when rain\nfalls, the seed-vessel opens and sheds its contents just when there is\nthe greatest probability of their vegetating. In other plants heat and\ndrought cause the seed-vessels to burst and shed their charge.\n\nOne of this family is edible ('Mesembryanthemum edule'); another\npossesses a tuberous root, which may be eaten raw; and all are furnished\nwith thick, fleshy leaves, having pores capable of imbibing and\nretaining moisture from a very dry atmosphere and soil, so that, if\na leaf is broken during a period of the greatest drought, it shows\nabundant circulating sap. The plants of this family are found much\nfarther north, but the great abundance of the grasses prevents them from\nmaking any show. There, however, they stand ready to fill up any gap\nwhich may occur in the present prevailing vegetation; and should the\ngrasses disappear, animal life would not necessarily be destroyed,\nbecause a reserve supply, equivalent to a fresh act of creative power,\nhas been provided.\n\nOne of this family, 'M. turbiniforme', is so colored as to blend in well\nwith the hue of the soil and stones around it; and a 'gryllus' of the\nsame color feeds on it. In the case of the insect, the peculiar color\nis given as compensation for the deficiency of the powers of motion to\nenable it to elude the notice of birds. The continuation of the species\nis here the end in view. In the case of the plant the same device is\nadopted for a sort of double end, viz., perpetuation of the plant by\nhiding it from animals, with the view that ultimately its extensive\nappearance will sustain that race.\n\nAs this new vegetation is better adapted for sheep and goats in a dry\ncountry than grass, the Boers supplant the latter by imitating the\nprocess by which graminivorous antelopes have so abundantly disseminated\nthe seed of grasses. A few wagon-loads of mesembryanthemum plants, in\nseed, are brought to a farm covered with a scanty crop of coarse grass,\nand placed on a spot to which the sheep have access in the evenings. As\nthey eat a little every night, the seeds are dropped over the grazing\ngrounds in this simple way, with a regularity which could not be matched\nexcept at the cost of an immense amount of labor. The place becomes in\nthe course of a few years a sheep-farm, as these animals thrive on such\nherbage. As already mentioned, some plants of this family are furnished\nwith an additional contrivance for withstanding droughts, viz.,\noblong tubers, which, buried deep enough beneath the soil for complete\nprotection from the scorching sun, serve as reservoirs of sap and\nnutriment during those rainless periods which recur perpetually in even\nthe most favored spots of Africa. I have adverted to this peculiarity\nas often seen in the vegetation of the Desert; and, though rather out of\nplace, it may be well--while noticing a clever imitation of one\nprocess in nature by the Cape farmers--to suggest another for their\nconsideration. The country beyond south lat. 18 Deg. abounds in three\nvarieties of grape-bearing vines, and one of these is furnished with\noblong tubers every three or four inches along the horizontal root.\nThey resemble closely those of the asparagus. This increase of power to\nwithstand the effects of climate might prove of value in the more arid\nparts of the Cape colony, grapes being well known to be an excellent\nrestorative in the debility produced by heat: by ingrafting, or by some\nof those curious manipulations which we read of in books on gardening, a\nvariety might be secured better adapted to the country than the foreign\nvines at present cultivated. The Americans find that some of their\nnative vines yield wines superior to those made from the very best\nimported vines from France and Portugal. What a boon a vine of the sort\ncontemplated would have been to a Rhenish missionary I met at a part in\nthe west of the colony called Ebenezer, whose children had never seen\nflowers, though old enough to talk about them!\n\nThe slow pace at which we wound our way through the colony made almost\nany subject interesting. The attention is attracted to the names\nof different places, because they indicate the former existence of\nbuffaloes, elands, and elephants, which are now to be found only\nhundreds of miles beyond. A few blesbucks ('Antilope pygarga'), gnus,\nbluebucks ('A. cerulea'), steinbucks, and the ostrich ('Struthio\ncamelus'), continue, like the Bushmen, to maintain a precarious\nexistence when all the rest are gone. The elephant, the most sagacious,\nflees the sound of fire-arms first; the gnu and ostrich, the most wary\nand the most stupid, last. The first emigrants found the Hottentots in\npossession of prodigious herds of fine cattle, but no horses, asses, or\ncamels. The original cattle, which may still be seen in some parts of\nthe frontier, must have been brought south from the north-northeast,\nfor from this point the natives universally ascribe their original\nmigration. They brought cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs; why not the\nhorse, the delight of savage hordes? Horses thrive well in the Cape\nColony when imported. Naturalists point out certain mountain ranges\nas limiting the habitat of certain classes of animals; but there is\nno Cordillera in Africa to answer that purpose, there being no visible\nbarrier between the northeastern Arabs and the Hottentot tribes to\nprevent the different hordes, as they felt their way southward, from\nindulging their taste for the possession of this noble animal.\n\nI am here led to notice an invisible barrier, more insurmountable than\nmountain ranges, but which is not opposed to the southern progress of\ncattle, goats, and sheep. The tsetse would prove a barrier only until\nits well-defined habitat was known, but the disease passing under the\nterm of horse-sickness (peripneumonia) exists in such virulence over\nnearly seven degrees of latitude that no precaution would be sufficient\nto save these animals. The horse is so liable to this disease, that only\nby great care in stabling can he be kept any where between 20 Deg.\nand 27 Deg. S. during the time between December and April. The winter,\nbeginning in the latter month, is the only period in which Englishmen\ncan hunt on horseback, and they are in danger of losing all their studs\nsome months before December. To this disease the horse is especially\nexposed, and it is almost always fatal. One attack, however, seems to\nsecure immunity from a second. Cattle, too, are subject to it, but only\nat intervals of a few, sometimes many years; but it never makes a clean\nsweep of the whole cattle of a village, as it would do of a troop of\nfifty horses. This barrier, then, seems to explain the absence of the\nhorse among the Hottentots, though it is not opposed to the southern\nmigration of cattle, sheep, and goats.\n\nWhen the flesh of animals that have died of this disease is eaten, it\ncauses a malignant carbuncle, which, when it appears over any important\norgan, proves rapidly fatal. It is more especially dangerous over the\npit of the stomach. The effects of the poison have been experienced\nby missionaries who had eaten properly cooked food, the flesh of sheep\nreally but not visibly affected by the disease. The virus in the flesh\nof the animal is destroyed neither by boiling nor roasting. This fact,\nof which we have had innumerable examples, shows the superiority of\nexperiments on a large scale to those of acute and able physiologists\nand chemists in the laboratory, for a well known physician of Paris,\nafter careful investigation, considered that the virus in such cases was\ncompletely neutralized by boiling.\n\nThis disease attacks wild animals too. During our residence at Chonuan\ngreat numbers of tolos, or koodoos, were attracted to the gardens of the\nBakwains, abandoned at the usual period of harvest because there was no\nprospect of the corn ('Holcus sorghum') bearing that year. The koodoo is\nremarkably fond of the green stalks of this kind of millet. Free feeding\nproduced that state of fatness favorable for the development of this\ndisease, and no fewer than twenty-five died on the hill opposite our\nhouse. Great numbers of gnus and zebras perished from the same cause,\nbut the mortality produced no sensible diminution in the numbers of the\ngame, any more than the deaths of many of the Bakwains who persisted,\nin spite of every remonstrance, in eating the dead meat, caused any\nsensible decrease in the strength of the tribe.\n\nThe farms of the Boers consist generally of a small patch of cultivated\nland in the midst of some miles of pasturage. They are thus less an\nagricultural than a pastoral people. Each farm must have its fountain;\nand where no such supply of water exists, the government lands are\nunsalable. An acre in England is thus generally more valuable than a\nsquare mile in Africa. But the country is prosperous, and capable of\ngreat improvement. The industry of the Boers augurs well for the future\nformation of dams and tanks, and for the greater fruitfulness that would\ncertainly follow.\n\nAs cattle and sheep farmers the colonists are very successful. Larger\nand larger quantities of wool are produced annually, and the value of\ncolonial farms increases year by year. But the system requires that\nwith the increase of the population there should be an extension of\nterritory. Wide as the country is, and thinly inhabited, the farmers\nfeel it to be too limited, and they are gradually spreading to the\nnorth. This movement proves prejudicial to the country behind, for\nlabor, which would be directed to the improvement of the colony, is\nwithdrawn and expended in a mode of life little adapted to the exercise\nof industrial habits. That, however, does not much concern the rest of\nmankind. Nor does it seem much of an evil for men who cultivate the soil\nto claim a right to appropriate lands for tillage which other men only\nhunt over, provided some compensation for the loss of sustenance be\nawarded. The original idea of a title seems to have been that \"subduing\"\nor cultivating gave that right. But this rather Chartist principle must\nbe received with limitations, for its recognition in England would lead\nto the seizure of all our broad ancestral acres by those who are\nwilling to cultivate them. And, in the case under consideration, the\nencroachments lead at once to less land being put under the plow than\nis subjected to the native hoe, for it is a fact that the Basutos and\nZulus, or Caffres of Natal, cultivate largely, and undersell our farmers\nwherever they have a fair field and no favor.\n\nBefore we came to the Orange River we saw the last portion of a\nmigration of springbucks ('Gazella euchore', or tsepe). They come from\nthe great Kalahari Desert, and, when first seen after crossing the\ncolonial boundary, are said often to exceed forty thousand in number. I\ncan not give an estimate of their numbers, for they appear spread over\na vast expanse of country, and make a quivering motion as they feed, and\nmove, and toss their graceful horns. They feed chiefly on grass; and as\nthey come from the north about the time when the grass most abounds,\nit can not be want of food that prompts the movement. Nor is it want of\nwater, for this antelope is one of the most abstemious in that respect.\nTheir nature prompts them to seek as their favorite haunts level plains\nwith short grass, where they may be able to watch the approach of an\nenemy. The Bakalahari take advantage of this feeling, and burn off large\npatches of grass, not only to attract the game by the new crop when it\ncomes up, but also to form bare spots for the springbuck to range over.\n\nIt is not the springbuck alone that manifests this feeling. When oxen\nare taken into a country of high grass, they are much more ready to be\nstartled; their sense of danger is increased by the increased power\nof concealment afforded to an enemy by such cover, and they will often\nstart off in terror at the ill-defined outlines of each other. The\nspringbuck, possessing this feeling in an intense degree, and being\neminently gregarious, becomes uneasy as the grass of the Kalahari\nbecomes tall. The vegetation being more sparse in the more arid south,\nnaturally induces the different herds to turn in that direction. As they\nadvance and increase in numbers, the pasturage becomes more scarce; it\nis still more so the further they go, until they are at last obliged, in\norder to obtain the means of subsistence, to cross the Orange River, and\nbecome the pest of the sheep-farmer in a country which contains scarcely\nany of their favorite grassy food. If they light on a field of wheat\nin their way, an army of locusts could not make a cleaner sweep of the\nwhole than they will do. It is questionable whether they ever return, as\nthey have never been seen as a returning body. Many perish from want of\nfood, the country to which they have migrated being unable to support\nthem; the rest become scattered over the colony; and in such a\nwide country there is no lack of room for all. It is probable that,\nnotwithstanding the continued destruction by fire-arms, they will\ncontinue long to hold their place.\n\nOn crossing the Orange River we come into independent territory\ninhabited by Griquas and Bechuanas. By Griquas is meant any mixed race\nsprung from natives and Europeans. Those in question were of Dutch\nextraction, through association with Hottentot and Bushwomen.\nHalf-castes of the first generation consider themselves superior to\nthose of the second, and all possess in some degree the characteristics\nof both parents. They were governed for many years by an elected chief,\nnamed Waterboer, who, by treaty, received a small sum per annum from\nthe colonial government for the support of schools in his country, and\nproved a most efficient guard of our northwest boundary. Cattle-stealing\nwas totally unknown during the whole period of this able chief's\nreign; and he actually drove back, single-handed, a formidable force of\nmarauding Mantatees that threatened to invade the colony.* But for that\nbrave Christian man, Waterboer, there is every human probability that\nthe northwest would have given the colonists as much trouble as the\neastern frontier; for large numbers among the original Griquas had\nas little scruple about robbing farmers of cattle as the Caffres are\nreputed to have. On the election of Waterboer to the chieftainship,\nhe distinctly declared THAT NO MARAUDING SHOULD BE ALLOWED. As the\ngovernment of none of these tribes is despotic, some of his principal\nmen, in spite of this declaration, plundered some villages of Corannas\nliving to the south of the Orange River. He immediately seized six of\nthe ringleaders, and, though the step put his own position in jeopardy,\nhe summoned his council, tried, condemned, and publicly executed the\nwhole six. This produced an insurrection, and the insurgents twice\nattacked his capital, Griqua Town, with the intention of deposing him;\nbut he bravely defeated both attempts, and from that day forth, during\nhis long reign of thirty years, not a single plundering expedition ever\nleft his territory. Having witnessed the deleterious effects of the\nintroduction of ardent spirits among his people, he, with characteristic\nenergy, decreed that any Boer or Griqua bringing brandy into the country\nshould have his property in ardent spirits confiscated and poured out on\nthe ground. The Griqua chiefs living farther east were unable to carry\nthis law into effect as he did, hence the greater facility with which\nBoers in that direction got the Griquas to part with their farms.\n\n   * For an account of this, see Moffat's \"Scenes and Labors in\n   South Africa\".\n\nTen years after he was firmly established in power he entered into a\ntreaty with the colonial government, and during the twenty years which\nfollowed not a single charge was ever brought against either him or\nhis people; on the contrary, his faithful adherence to the stipulated\nprovisions elicited numerous expressions of approbation from successive\ngovernments. A late governor, however, of whom it is impossible to speak\nwithout respect, in a paroxysm of generalship which might have been\ngood, had it not been totally inappropriate to the case, set about\nconciliating a band of rebellious British subjects (Boers), who murdered\nthe Honorable Captain Murray, by proclaiming their independence while\nstill in open rebellion, and not only abrogated the treaty with the\nGriquas, but engaged to stop the long-accustomed supplies of gunpowder\nfor the defense of the frontier, and even to prevent them from\npurchasing it for their own defense by lawful trade.\n\nIf it had been necessary to prevent supplies of ammunition from finding\ntheir way into the country, as it probably was, one might imagine that\nthe exception should not have been made in favor of either Boers or\nCaffres, our openly-avowed enemies; but, nevertheless, the exception was\nmade, and is still continued in favor of the Boers, while the Bechuanas\nand Griquas, our constant friends, are debarred from obtaining a\nsingle ounce for either defense or trade; indeed, such was the state of\nignorance as to the relation of the border tribes with the English, even\nat Cape Town, that the magistrates, though willing to aid my researches,\nwere sorely afraid to allow me to purchase more than ten pounds of\ngunpowder, lest the Bechuanas should take it from me by force. As it\nturned out, I actually left more than that quantity for upward of two\nyears in an open box in my wagon at Linyanti.\n\nThe lamented Sir George Cathcart, apparently unconscious of what he was\ndoing, entered into a treaty with the Transvaal Boers, in which articles\nwere introduced for the free passage of English traders to the north,\nand for the entire prohibition of slavery in the free state. Then passed\nthe \"gunpowder ordinance\", by which the Bechuanas, whom alone the Boers\ndare attempt to enslave, were rendered quite defenseless. The Boers\nnever attempt to fight with Caffres, nor to settle in Caffreland. We\nstill continue to observe the treaty. The Boers never did, and\nnever intended to abide by its provisions; for, immediately on the\nproclamation of their independence, a slave-hunt was undertaken against\nthe Bechuanas of Sechele by four hundred Boers, under Mr. Peit Scholz,\nand the plan was adopted which had been cherished in their hearts\never since the emancipation of the Hottentots. Thus, from unfortunate\nignorance of the country he had to govern, an able and sagacious\ngovernor adopted a policy proper and wise had it been in front of our\nenemies, but altogether inappropriate for our friends against whom it\nhas been applied. Such an error could not have been committed by a man\nof local knowledge and experience, such as that noble of colonial birth,\nSir Andries Stockenstrom; and such instances of confounding friend and\nfoe, in the innocent belief of thereby promoting colonial interests,\nwill probably lead the Cape community, the chief part of which by no\nmeans feels its interest to lie in the degradation of the native tribes,\nto assert the right of choosing their own governors. This, with colonial\nrepresentation in the Imperial Parliament, in addition to the local\nself-government already so liberally conceded, would undoubtedly secure\nthe perpetual union of the colony to the English crown.\n\nMany hundreds of both Griquas and Bechuanas have become Christians and\npartially civilized through the teaching of English missionaries. My\nfirst impressions of the progress made were that the accounts of the\neffects of the Gospel among them had been too highly colored. I expected\na higher degree of Christian simplicity and purity than exists either\namong them or among ourselves. I was not anxious for a deeper insight\nin detecting shams than others, but I expected character, such as\nwe imagine the primitive disciples had--and was disappointed.* When,\nhowever, I passed on to the true heathen in the countries beyond the\nsphere of missionary influence, and could compare the people there with\nthe Christian natives, I came to the conclusion that, if the question\nwere examined in the most rigidly severe or scientific way, the change\neffected by the missionary movement would be considered unquestionably\ngreat.\n\n   * The popular notion, however, of the primitive Church is\n   perhaps not very accurate.  Those societies especially which\n   consisted of converted Gentiles--men who had been accustomed\n   to the vices and immoralities of heathenism--were certainly\n   any thing but pure.  In spite of their conversion, some of\n   them carried the stains and vestiges of their former state\n   with them when they passed from the temple to the church.  If\n   the instructed and civilized Greek did not all at once rise\n   out of his former self, and understand and realize the high\n   ideal of his new faith, we should be careful, in judging of\n   the work of missionaries among savage tribes, not to apply to\n   their converts tests and standards of too great severity. If\n   the scoffing Lucian's account of the impostor Peregrinus may\n   be believed, we find a church probably planted by the apostles\n   manifesting less intelligence even than modern missionary\n   churches.  Peregrinus, a notoriously wicked man, was elected\n   to the chief place among them, while Romish priests, backed by\n   the power of France, could not find a place at all in the\n   mission churches of Tahiti and Madagascar.\n\nWe can not fairly compare these poor people with ourselves, who have an\natmosphere of Christianity and enlightened public opinion, the growth of\ncenturies, around us, to influence our deportment; but let any one\nfrom the natural and proper point of view behold the public morality of\nGriqua Town, Kuruman, Likatlong, and other villages, and remember what\neven London was a century ago, and he must confess that the Christian\nmode of treating aborigines is incomparably the best.\n\nThe Griquas and Bechuanas were in former times clad much like the\nCaffres, if such a word may be used where there is scarcely any clothing\nat all. A bunch of leather strings about eighteen inches long hung from\nthe lady's waist in front, and a prepared skin of a sheep or antelope\ncovered the shoulders, leaving the breast and abdomen bare: the men wore\na patch of skin, about the size of the crown of one's hat, which barely\nserved for the purposes of decency, and a mantle exactly like that\nof the women. To assist in protecting the pores of the skin from the\ninfluence of the sun by day and of the cold by night, all smeared\nthemselves with a mixture of fat and ochre; the head was anointed with\npounded blue mica schist mixed with fat; and the fine particles of\nshining mica, falling on the body and on strings of beads and brass\nrings, were considered as highly ornamental, and fit for the most\nfastidious dandy. Now these same people come to church in decent though\npoor clothing, and behave with a decorum certainly superior to what\nseems to have been the case in the time of Mr. Samuel Pepys in London.\nSunday is well observed, and, even in localities where no missionary\nlives, religious meetings are regularly held, and children and adults\ntaught to read by the more advanced of their own fellow-countrymen; and\nno one is allowed to make a profession of faith by baptism unless he\nknows how to read, and understands the nature of the Christian religion.\n\nThe Bechuana Mission has been so far successful that, when coming from\nthe interior, we always felt, on reaching Kuruman, that we had returned\nto civilized life. But I would not give any one to understand by this\nthat they are model Christians--we can not claim to be model Christians\nourselves--or even in any degree superior to the members of our country\nchurches. They are more stingy and greedy than the poor at home; but in\nmany respects the two are exactly alike. On asking an intelligent chief\nwhat he thought of them, he replied, \"You white men have no idea of how\nwicked we are; we know each other better than you; some feign belief to\ningratiate themselves with the missionaries; some profess Christianity\nbecause they like the new system, which gives so much more importance to\nthe poor, and desire that the old system may pass away; and the rest--a\npretty large number--profess because they are really true believers.\"\nThis testimony may be considered as very nearly correct.\n\nThere is not much prospect of this country ever producing much of the\nmaterials of commerce except wool. At present the chief articles of\ntrade are karosses or mantles--the skins of which they are composed come\nfrom the Desert; next to them, ivory, the quantity of which can not\nnow be great, inasmuch as the means of shooting elephants is sedulously\ndebarred entrance into the country. A few skins and horns, and some\ncattle, make up the remainder of the exports. English goods, sugar, tea,\nand coffee are the articles received in exchange. All the natives\nof these parts soon become remarkably fond of coffee. The acme of\nrespectability among the Bechuanas is the possession of cattle and\na wagon. It is remarkable that, though these latter require frequent\nrepairs, none of the Bechuanas have ever learned to mend them. Forges\nand tools have been at their service, and teachers willing to aid them,\nbut, beyond putting together a camp-stool, no effort has ever been made\nto acquire a knowledge of the trades. They observe most carefully a\nmissionary at work until they understand whether a tire is well welded\nor not, and then pronounce upon its merits with great emphasis, but\nthere their ambition rests satisfied. It is the same peculiarity among\nourselves which leads us in other matters, such as book-making, to\nattain the excellence of fault-finding without the wit to indite a page.\nIt was in vain I tried to indoctrinate the Bechuanas with the idea\nthat criticism did not imply any superiority over the workman, or even\nequality with him.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 6.\n\nKuruman--Its fine Fountain--Vegetation of the District--Remains\nof ancient Forests--Vegetable Poison--The Bible translated by\nMr. Moffat--Capabilities of the Language--Christianity among the\nNatives--The Missionaries should extend their Labors more beyond the\nCape Colony--Model Christians--Disgraceful Attack of the Boers on\nthe Bakwains--Letter from Sechele--Details of the Attack--Numbers of\nSchool-children carried away into Slavery--Destruction of House and\nProperty at Kolobeng--The Boers vow Vengeance against me--Consequent\nDifficulty of getting Servants to accompany me on my Journey--Start in\nNovember, 1852--Meet Sechele on his way to England to obtain Redress\nfrom the Queen--He is unable to proceed beyond the Cape--Meet Mr.\nMacabe on his Return from Lake Ngami--The hot Wind of the\nDesert--Electric State of the Atmosphere--Flock of Swifts--Reach\nLitubaruba--The Cave Lepelole--Superstitions regarding it--Impoverished\nState of the Bakwains--Retaliation on the Boers--Slavery--Attachment\nof the Bechuanas to Children--Hydrophobia unknown--Diseases of\nthe Bakwains few in number--Yearly Epidemics--Hasty\nBurials--Ophthalmia--Native Doctors--Knowledge of Surgery at a very low\nEbb--Little Attendance given to Women at their Confinements--The \"Child\nMedicine\"--Salubrity of the Climate well adapted for Invalids suffering\nfrom pulmonary Complaints.\n\n\n\nThe permanence of the station called Kuruman depends entirely on the\nfine ever-flowing fountain of that name. It comes from beneath the\ntrap-rock, of which I shall have to speak when describing the geology of\nthe entire country; and as it usually issues at a temperature of 72 Deg.\nFahr., it probably comes from the old silurian schists, which formed the\nbottom of the great primeval valley of the continent. I could not detect\nany diminution in the flow of this gushing fountain during my residence\nin the country; but when Mr. Moffat first attempted a settlement here,\nthirty-five years ago, he made a dam six or seven miles below the\npresent one, and led out the stream for irrigation, where not a drop of\nthe fountain-water ever now flows. Other parts, fourteen miles below the\nKuruman gardens, are pointed out as having contained, within the memory\nof people now living, hippopotami, and pools sufficient to drown both\nmen and cattle. This failure of water must be chiefly ascribed to the\ngeneral desiccation of the country, but partly also to the amount of\nirrigation carried on along both banks of the stream at the mission\nstation. This latter circumstance would have more weight were it not\ncoincident with the failure of fountains over a wide extent of country.\n\nWithout at present entering minutely into this feature of the climate,\nit may be remarked that the Kuruman district presents evidence of\nthis dry southern region having, at no very distant date, been as well\nwatered as the country north of Lake Ngami is now. Ancient river-beds\nand water-courses abound, and the very eyes of fountains long since\ndried up may be seen, in which the flow of centuries has worn these\norifices from a slit to an oval form, having on their sides the tufa\nso abundantly deposited from these primitive waters; and just where the\nsplashings, made when the stream fell on the rock below, may be supposed\nto have reached and evaporated, the same phenomenon appears. Many of\nthese failing fountains no longer flow, because the brink over which\nthey ran is now too high, or because the elevation of the western side\nof the country lifts the land away from the water supply below; but let\na cutting be made from a lower level than the brink, and through it to\na part below the surface of the water, and water flows perennially.\nSeveral of these ancient fountains have been resuscitated by the\nBechuanas near Kuruman, who occasionally show their feelings of\nself-esteem by laboring for months at deep cuttings, which, having\nonce begun, they feel bound in honor to persevere in, though told by a\nmissionary that they can never force water to run up hill.\n\nIt is interesting to observe the industry of many Boers in this region\nin making long and deep canals from lower levels up to spots destitute\nof the slightest indication of water existing beneath except a few\nrushes and a peculiar kind of coarse, reddish-colored grass growing in a\nhollow, which anciently must have been the eye of a fountain, but is now\nfilled up with soft tufa. In other instances, the indication of water\nbelow consists of the rushes growing on a long, sandy ridge a foot or\ntwo in height instead of in a furrow. A deep transverse cutting made\nthrough the higher part of this is rewarded by a stream of running\nwater. The reason why the ground covering this water is higher than the\nrest of the locality is that the winds carry quantities of fine dust and\nsand about the country, and hedges, bushes, and trees cause its deposit.\nThe rushes in this case perform the part of the hedges, and the moisture\nrising as dew by night fixes the sand securely among the roots, and a\nheight, instead of a hollow, is the result. While on this subject it may\nbe added that there is no perennial fountain in this part of the\ncountry except those that come from beneath the quartzose trap, which\nconstitutes the \"filling up\" of the ancient valley; and as the water\nsupply seems to rest on the old silurian schists which form its bottom,\nit is highly probable that Artesian wells would in several places\nperform the part which these deep cuttings now do.\n\nThe aspect of this part of the country during most of the year is of a\nlight yellow color; for some months during the rainy season it is of a\npleasant green mixed with yellow. Ranges of hills appear in the west,\nbut east of them we find hundreds of miles of grass-covered plains.\nLarge patches of these flats are covered with white calcareous tufa\nresting on perfectly horizontal strata of trap. There the vegetation\nconsists of fine grass growing in tufts among low bushes of the\n\"wait-a-bit\" thorn ('Acacia detinens'), with its annoying fish-hook-like\nspines. Where these rocks do not appear on the surface, the soil\nconsists of yellow sand and tall, coarse grasses, growing among\nberry-yielding bushes, named moretloa ('Grewia flava') and mohatla\n('Tarchonanthus'), which has enough of aromatic resinous matter to burn\nbrightly, though perfectly green. In more sheltered spots we come\non clumps of the white-thorned mimosa ('Acacia horrida', also 'A.\natomiphylla'), and great abundance of wild sage ('Salvia Africana'), and\nvarious leguminosae, ixias, and large-flowering bulbs: the 'Amaryllis\ntoxicaria' and 'A. Brunsvigia multiflora' (the former a poisonous bulb)\nyield in the decayed lamellae a soft, silky down, a good material for\nstuffing mattresses.\n\nIn some few parts of the country the remains of ancient forests of wild\nolive-trees ('Olea similis') and of the camel-thorn ('Acacia giraffe')\nare still to be met with; but when these are leveled in the proximity of\na Bechuana village, no young trees spring up to take their places. This\nis not because the wood has a growth so slow as not to be appreciable\nin its increase during the short period that it can be observed by man,\nwhich might be supposed from its being so excessively hard; for having\nmeasured a young tree of this species growing in the corner of Mr.\nMoffat's garden near the water, I found that it increased at the rate\nof a quarter of an inch in diameter annually during a number of years.\nMoreover, the larger specimens, which now find few or no successors, if\nthey had more rain in their youth, can not be above two or three hundred\nyears old.\n\nIt is probable that this is the tree of which the Ark of the Covenant\nand the Tabernacle were constructed, as it is reported to be found where\nthe Israelites were at the time these were made. It is an imperishable\nwood, while that usually pointed out as the \"shittim\" (or 'Acacia\nnilotica') soon decays and wants beauty.\n\nIn association with it we always observe a curious plant, named\nngotuane, which bears such a profusion of fine yellow strong-scented\nflowers as quite to perfume the air. This plant forms a remarkable\nexception to the general rule, that nearly all the plants in the dry\nparts of Africa are scentless, or emit only a disagreeable odor. It,\nmoreover, contains an active poison; a French gentleman, having imbibed\na mouthful or two of an infusion of its flowers as tea, found himself\nrendered nearly powerless. Vinegar has the peculiar property of\nrendering this poison perfectly inert, whether in or out of the body.\nWhen mixed with vinegar, the poison may be drunk with safety, while, if\nonly tasted by itself, it causes a burning sensation in the throat.\nThis gentleman described the action of the vinegar, when he was nearly\ndeprived of power by the poison imbibed, to have been as if electricity\nhad run along his nerves as soon as he had taken a single glassful.\nThe cure was instantaneous and complete. I had always to regret want of\nopportunity for investigating this remarkable and yet controllable agent\non the nervous system. Its usual proximity to camel-thorn-trees may be\naccounted for by the PROBABILITY that the giraffe, which feeds on this\ntree, MAY make use of the plant as a medicine.\n\nDuring the period of my visit at Kuruman, Mr. Moffat, who has been a\nmissionary in Africa during upward of forty years, and is well known by\nhis interesting work, \"Scenes and Labors in South Africa\", was busily\nengaged in carrying through the press, with which his station is\nfurnished, the Bible in the language of the Bechuanas, which is called\nSichuana. This has been a work of immense labor; and as he was the first\nto reduce their speech to a written form, and has had his attention\ndirected to the study for at least thirty years, he may be supposed to\nbe better adapted for the task than any man living. Some idea of the\ncopiousness of the language may be formed from the fact that even he\nnever spends a week at his work without discovering new words; the\nphenomenon, therefore, of any man who, after a few months' or years'\nstudy of a native tongue, cackles forth a torrent of vocables, may well\nbe wondered at, if it is meant to convey instruction. In my own case,\nthough I have had as much intercourse with the purest idiom as most\nEnglishmen, and have studied the language carefully, yet I can never\nutter an important statement without doing so very slowly, and repeating\nit too, lest the foreign accent, which is distinctly perceptible in all\nEuropeans, should render the sense unintelligible. In this I follow the\nexample of the Bechuana orators, who, on important matters, always speak\nslowly, deliberately, and with reiteration. The capabilities of this\nlanguage may be inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch is fully\nexpressed in Mr. Moffat's translation in fewer words than in the Greek\nSeptuagint, and in a very considerably smaller number than in our\nown English version. The language is, however, so simple in its\nconstruction, that its copiousness by no means requires the explanation\nthat the people have fallen from a former state of civilization and\nculture. Language seems to be an attribute of the human mind and\nthought; and the inflections, various as they are in the most barbarous\ntongues, as that of the Bushmen, are probably only proofs of the\nrace being human, and endowed with the power of thinking; the fuller\ndevelopment of language taking place as the improvement of our other\nfaculties goes on. It is fortunate that the translation of the Bible has\nbeen effected before the language became adulterated with half-uttered\nforeign words, and while those who have heard the eloquence of the\nnative assemblies are still living; for the young, who are brought up\nin our schools, know less of the language than the missionaries; and\nEuropeans born in the country, while possessed of the idiom perfectly,\nif not otherwise educated, can not be referred to for explanation of any\nuncommon word. A person who acted as interpreter to Sir George Cathcart\nactually told his excellency that the language of the Basutos was not\ncapable of expressing the substance of a chief's diplomatic paper, while\nevery one acquainted with Moshesh, the chief who sent it, well knows\nthat he could in his own tongue have expressed it without study all over\nagain in three or four different ways. The interpreter could scarcely\nhave done as much in English.\n\nThis language both rich and poor speak correctly; there is no vulgar\nstyle; but children have a 'patois' of their own, using many words in\ntheir play which men would scorn to repeat. The Bamapela have adopted\na click into their dialect, and a large infusion of the ringing \"ny\",\nwhich seems to have been for the purpose of preventing others from\nunderstanding them.\n\nThe fact of the complete translation of the Bible at a station seven\nhundred miles inland from the Cape naturally suggests the question\nwhether it is likely to be permanently useful, and whether Christianity,\nas planted by modern missions, is likely to retain its vitality without\nconstant supplies of foreign teaching? It would certainly be no cause\nfor congratulation if the Bechuana Bible seemed at all likely to meet\nthe fate of Elliot's Choctaw version, a specimen of which may be seen in\nthe library of one of the American colleges--as God's word in a language\nwhich no living tongue can articulate, nor living mortal understand; but\na better destiny seems in store for this, for the Sichuana language has\nbeen introduced into the new country beyond Lake Ngami. There it is the\ncourt language, and will take a stranger any where through a district\nlarger than France. The Bechuanas, moreover, in all probability possess\nthat imperishability which forms so remarkable a feature in the entire\nAfrican race.\n\nWhen converts are made from heathenism by modern missionaries, it\nbecomes an interesting question whether their faith possesses\nthe elements of permanence, or is only an exotic too tender for\nself-propagation when the fostering care of the foreign cultivators\nis withdrawn. If neither habits of self-reliance are cultivated, nor\nopportunities given for the exercise of that virtue, the most promising\nconverts are apt to become like spoiled children. In Madagascar, a few\nChristians were left with nothing but the Bible in their hands; and\nthough exposed to persecution, and even death itself, as the penalty of\nadherence to their profession, they increased ten-fold in numbers, and\nare, if possible, more decided believers now than they were when, by\nan edict of the queen of that island, the missionaries ceased their\nteaching.\n\nIn South Africa such an experiment could not be made, for such a variety\nof Christian sects have followed the footsteps of the London Missionary\nSociety's successful career, that converts of one denomination, if left\nto their own resources, are eagerly adopted by another, and are thus\nmore likely to become spoiled than trained to the manly Christian\nvirtues.\n\nAnother element of weakness in this part of the missionary field is the\nfact of the missionary societies considering the Cape Colony itself as\na proper sphere for their peculiar operations. In addition to a\nwell-organized and efficient Dutch Reformed Established Church, and\nschools for secular instruction, maintained by government, in every\nvillage of any extent in the colony, we have a number of other sects,\nas the Wesleyans, Episcopalians, Moravians, all piously laboring at the\nsame good work. Now it is deeply to be regretted that so much honest\nzeal should be so lavishly expended in a district wherein there is so\nlittle scope for success. When we hear an agent of one sect urging his\nfriends at home to aid him quickly to occupy some unimportant nook,\nbecause, if it is not speedily laid hold of, he will \"not have room for\nthe sole of his foot,\" one can not help longing that both he and his\nfriends would direct their noble aspirations to the millions of untaught\nheathen in the regions beyond, and no longer continue to convert the\nextremity of the continent into, as it were, a dam of benevolence.\n\nI would earnestly recommend all young missionaries to go at once to the\nreal heathen, and never to be content with what has been made ready\nto their hands by men of greater enterprise. The idea of making model\nChristians of the young need not be entertained by any one who is\nsecretly convinced, as most men who know their own hearts are, that he\nis not a model Christian himself. The Israelitish slaves brought out of\nEgypt by Moses were not converted and elevated in one generation, though\nunder the direct teaching of God himself. Notwithstanding the numbers of\nmiracles he wrought, a generation had to be cut off because of\nunbelief. Our own elevation, also, has been the work of centuries, and,\nremembering this, we should not indulge in overwrought expectations as\nto the elevation which those who have inherited the degradation of ages\nmay attain in our day. The principle might even be adopted by missionary\nsocieties, that one ordinary missionary's lifetime of teaching should\nbe considered an ample supply of foreign teaching for any tribe in a\nthinly-peopled country, for some never will receive the Gospel at all,\nwhile in other parts, when Christianity is once planted, the work is\nsure to go on. A missionary is soon known to be supported by his friends\nat home; and though the salary is but a bare subsistence, to Africans\nit seems an enormous sum; and, being unable to appreciate the motives\nby which he is actuated, they consider themselves entitled to various\nservices at his hands, and defrauded if these are not duly rendered.\nThis feeling is all the stronger when a young man, instead of going\nboldly to the real heathen, settles down in a comfortable house and\ngarden prepared by those into whose labors he has entered. A remedy for\nthis evil might be found in appropriating the houses and gardens raised\nby the missionaries' hands to their own families. It is ridiculous\nto call such places as Kuruman, for instance, \"Missionary Society's\nproperty\". This beautiful station was made what it is, not by English\nmoney, but by the sweat and toil of fathers whose children have,\nnotwithstanding, no place on earth which they can call a home. The\nSociety's operations may be transferred to the north, and then the\nstrong-built mission premises become the home of a Boer, and the stately\nstone church his cattle-pen. This place has been what the monasteries\nof Europe are said to have been when pure. The monks did not disdain to\nhold the plow. They introduced fruit-trees, flowers, and vegetables, in\naddition to teaching and emancipating the serfs. Their monasteries were\nmission stations, which resembled ours in being dispensaries for the\nsick, almshouses for the poor, and nurseries of learning. Can we learn\nnothing from them in their prosperity as the schools of Europe, and see\nnaught in their history but the pollution and laziness of their decay?\nCan our wise men tell us why the former mission stations (primitive\nmonasteries) were self-supporting, rich, and flourishing as pioneers of\ncivilization and agriculture, from which we even now reap benefits, and\nmodern mission stations are mere pauper establishments, without that\npermanence or ability to be self-supporting which they possessed?\n\nProtestant missionaries of every denomination in South Africa all agree\nin one point, that no mere profession of Christianity is sufficient\nto entitle the converts to the Christian name. They are all anxious to\nplace the Bible in the hands of the natives, and, with ability to\nread that, there can be little doubt as to the future. We believe\nChristianity to be divine, and equal to all it has to perform; then let\nthe good seed be widely sown, and, no matter to what sect the converts\nmay belong, the harvest will be glorious. Let nothing that I have\nsaid be interpreted as indicative of feelings inimical to any body\nof Christians, for I never, as a missionary, felt myself to be either\nPresbyterian, Episcopalian, or Independent, or called upon in any way\nto love one denomination less than another. My earnest desire is, that\nthose who really have the best interests of the heathen at heart should\ngo to them; and assuredly, in Africa at least, self-denying labors among\nreal heathen will not fail to be appreciated. Christians have never yet\ndealt fairly by the heathen and been disappointed.\n\nWhen Sechele understood that we could no longer remain with him\nat Kolobeng, he sent his children to Mr. Moffat, at Kuruman, for\ninstruction in all the knowledge of the white men. Mr. Moffat very\nliberally received at once an accession of five to his family, with\ntheir attendants.\n\nHaving been detained at Kuruman about a fortnight by the breaking of a\nwagon-wheel, I was thus providentially prevented from being present\nat the attack of the Boers on the Bakwains, news of which was brought,\nabout the end of that time, by Masebele, the wife of Sechele. She had\nherself been hidden in a cleft of a rock, over which a number of Boers\nwere firing. Her infant began to cry, and, terrified lest this should\nattract the attention of the men, the muzzles of whose guns appeared at\nevery discharge over her head, she took off her armlets as playthings\nto quiet the child. She brought Mr. Moffat a letter, which tells its own\ntale. Nearly literally translated it was as follows:\n\n\n\"Friend of my heart's love, and of all the confidence of my heart, I\nam Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, who attacked me, though I had no\nguilt with them. They demanded that I should be in their kingdom, and\nI refused. They demanded that I should prevent the English and Griquas\nfrom passing (northward). I replied, These are my friends, and I can\nprevent no one (of them). They came on Saturday, and I besought them not\nto fight on Sunday, and they assented. They began on Monday morning at\ntwilight, and fired with all their might, and burned the town with fire,\nand scattered us. They killed sixty of my people, and captured women,\nand children, and men. And the mother of Baleriling (a former wife of\nSechele) they also took prisoner. They took all the cattle and all the\ngoods of the Bakwains; and the house of Livingstone they plundered,\ntaking away all his goods. The number of wagons they had was\neighty-five, and a cannon; and after they had stolen my own wagon and\nthat of Macabe, then the number of their wagons (counting the cannon\nas one) was eighty-eight. All the goods of the hunters (certain English\ngentlemen hunting and exploring in the north) were burned in the town;\nand of the Boers were killed twenty-eight. Yes, my beloved friend, now\nmy wife goes to see the children, and Kobus Hae will convey her to you.\nI am, SECHELE, The Son of Mochoasele.\"\n\n\nThis statement is in exact accordance with the account given by\nthe native teacher Mebalwe, and also that sent by some of the Boers\nthemselves to the public colonial papers. The crime of cattle-stealing,\nof which we hear so much near Caffreland, was never alleged against\nthese people, and, if a single case had occurred when I was in the\ncountry, I must have heard of it, and would at once say so. But the only\ncrime imputed in the papers was that \"Sechele was getting too saucy.\"\nThe demand made for his subjection and service in preventing the English\ntraders passing to the north was kept out of view.\n\nVery soon after Pretorius had sent the marauding party against Kolobeng,\nhe was called away to the tribunal of infinite justice. His policy is\njustified by the Boers generally from the instructions given to the\nJewish warriors in Deuteronomy 20:10-14. Hence, when he died, the\nobituary notice ended with \"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.\" I\nwish he had not \"forbidden us to preach unto the Gentiles that they may\nbe saved.\"\n\nThe report of this outrage on the Bakwains, coupled with denunciations\nagainst myself for having, as it was alleged, taught them to kill Boers,\nproduced such a panic in the country, that I could not engage a single\nservant to accompany me to the north. I have already alluded to their\nmode of warfare, and in all previous Boerish forays the killing had all\nbeen on one side; now, however, that a tribe where an Englishman had\nlived had begun to shed THEIR blood as well, it was considered the\nstrongest presumptive evidence against me. Loud vows of vengeance were\nuttered against my head, and threats of instant pursuit by a large party\non horseback, should I dare to go into or beyond their country; and as\nthese were coupled with the declaration that the English government\nhad given over the whole of the native tribes to their rule, and would\nassist in their entire subjection by preventing fire-arms and ammunition\nfrom entering the country, except for the use of the Boers, it was not\nto be wondered at that I was detained for months at Kuruman from sheer\ninability to get wagon-drivers. The English name, from being honored and\nrespected all over the country, had become somewhat more than suspected;\nand as the policy of depriving those friendly tribes of the means of\ndefense was represented by the Boers as proof positive of the wish of\nthe English that they should be subjugated, the conduct of a government\nwhich these tribes always thought the paragon of justice and friendship\nwas rendered totally incomprehensible to them; they could neither defend\nthemselves against their enemies, nor shoot the animals in the produce\nof which we wished them to trade.\n\nAt last I found three servants willing to risk a journey to the north;\nand a man of color named George Fleming, who had generously been\nassisted by Mr. H. E. Rutherford, a mercantile gentleman of Cape Town,\nto endeavor to establish a trade with the Makololo, had also managed\nto get a similar number; we accordingly left Kuruman on the 20th of\nNovember, and proceeded on our journey. Our servants were the worst\npossible specimens of those who imbibe the vices without the virtues of\nEuropeans, but we had no choice, and were glad to get away on any terms.\n\nWhen we reached Motito, forty miles off, we met Sechele on his way, as\nhe said, \"to the Queen of England.\" Two of his own children, and their\nmother, a former wife, were among the captives seized by the Boers; and\nbeing strongly imbued with the then very prevalent notion of England's\njustice and generosity, he thought that in consequence of the violated\ntreaty he had a fair case to lay before her majesty. He employed all his\neloquence and powers of persuasion to induce me to accompany him, but I\nexcused myself on the ground that my arrangements were already made\nfor exploring the north. On explaining the difficulties of the way,\nand endeavoring to dissuade him from the attempt, on account of the\nknowledge I possessed of the governor's policy, he put the pointed\nquestion, \"Will the queen not listen to me, supposing I should reach\nher?\" I replied, \"I believe she would listen, but the difficulty is\nto get to her.\" \"Well, I shall reach her,\" expressed his final\ndetermination. Others explained the difficulties more fully, but nothing\ncould shake his resolution. When he reached Bloemfontein he found the\nEnglish army just returning from a battle with the Basutos, in which\nboth parties claimed the victory, and both were glad that a second\nengagement was not tried. Our officers invited Sechele to dine with\nthem, heard his story, and collected a handsome sum of money to enable\nhim to pursue his journey to England. The commander refrained from\nnoticing him, as a single word in favor of the restoration of the\nchildren of Sechele would have been a virtual confession of the failure\nof his own policy at the very outset. Sechele proceeded as far as the\nCape; but his resources being there expended, he was obliged to return\nto his own country, one thousand miles distant, without accomplishing\nthe object of his journey.\n\nOn his return he adopted a mode of punishment which he had seen in the\ncolony, namely, making criminals work on the public roads. And he has\nsince, I am informed, made himself the missionary to his own people.\nHe is tall, rather corpulent, and has more of the negro feature than\ncommon, but has large eyes. He is very dark, and his people swear by\n\"Black Sechele\". He has great intelligence, reads well, and is a fluent\nspeaker. Great numbers of the tribes formerly living under the Boers\nhave taken refuge under his sway, and he is now greater in power than he\nwas before the attack on Kolobeng.\n\nHaving parted with Sechele, we skirted along the Kalahari Desert, and\nsometimes within its borders, giving the Boers a wide berth. A\nlarger fall of rain than usual had occurred in 1852, and that was the\ncompletion of a cycle of eleven or twelve years, at which the same\nphenomenon is reported to have happened on three occasions. An unusually\nlarge crop of melons had appeared in consequence. We had the pleasure\nof meeting with Mr. J. Macabe returning from Lake Ngami, which he had\nsucceeded in reaching by going right across the Desert from a point\na little to the south of Kolobeng. The accounts of the abundance of\nwatermelons were amply confirmed by this energetic traveler; for, having\nthese in vast quantities, his cattle subsisted on the fluid contained in\nthem for a period of no less than twenty-one days; and when at last\nthey reached a supply of water, they did not seem to care much about it.\nComing to the lake from the southeast, he crossed the Teoughe, and went\nround the northern part of it, and is the only European traveler who had\nactually seen it all. His estimate of the extent of the lake is higher\nthan that given by Mr. Oswell and myself, or from about ninety to one\nhundred miles in circumference. Before the lake was discovered, Macabe\nwrote a letter in one of the Cape papers recommending a certain route\nas likely to lead to it. The Transvaal Boers fined him 500 dollars for\nwriting about \"ouze felt\", OUR country, and imprisoned him, too, till\nthe fine was paid. I now learned from his own lips that the public\nreport of this is true. Mr. Macabe's companion, Mahar, was mistaken by a\ntribe of Barolongs for a Boer, and shot as he approached their village.\nWhen Macabe came up and explained that he was an Englishman, they\nexpressed the utmost regret, and helped to bury him. This was the first\ncase in recent times of an Englishman being slain by the Bechuanas.\nWe afterward heard that there had been some fighting between these\nBarolongs and the Boers, and that there had been capturing of cattle on\nboth sides. If this was true, I can only say that it was the first time\nthat I ever heard of cattle being taken by Bechuanas. This was a Caffre\nwar in stage the second; the third stage in the development is when both\nsides are equally well armed and afraid of each other; the fourth, when\nthe English take up a quarrel not their own, and the Boers slip out of\nthe fray.\n\nTwo other English gentlemen crossed and recrossed the Desert about the\nsame time, and nearly in the same direction. On returning, one of them,\nCaptain Shelley, while riding forward on horseback, lost himself, and\nwas obliged to find his way alone to Kuruman, some hundreds of miles\ndistant. Reaching that station shirtless, and as brown as a Griqua,\nhe was taken for one by Mrs. Moffat, and was received by her with a\nsalutation in Dutch, that being the language spoken by this people.\nHis sufferings must have been far more severe than any we endured. The\nresult of the exertions of both Shelley and Macabe is to prove that\nthe general view of the Desert always given by the natives has been\nsubstantially correct.\n\nOccasionally, during the very dry seasons which succeed our winter and\nprecede our rains, a hot wind blows over the Desert from north to south.\nIt feels somewhat as if it came from an oven, and seldom blows longer at\na time than three days. It resembles in its effects the harmattan of the\nnorth of Africa, and at the time the missionaries first settled in the\ncountry, thirty-five years ago, it came loaded with fine reddish-colored\nsand. Though no longer accompanied by sand, it is so devoid of moisture\nas to cause the wood of the best seasoned English boxes and furniture to\nshrink, so that every wooden article not made in the country is warped.\nThe verls of ramrods made in England are loosened, and on returning to\nEurope fasten again. This wind is in such an electric state that a bunch\nof ostrich feathers held a few seconds against it becomes as strongly\ncharged as if attached to a powerful electrical machine, and clasps the\nadvancing hand with a sharp crackling sound.\n\nWhen this hot wind is blowing, and even at other times, the peculiarly\nstrong electrical state of the atmosphere causes the movement of a\nnative in his kaross to produce therein a stream of small sparks. The\nfirst time I noticed this appearance was while a chief was traveling\nwith me in my wagon. Seeing part of the fur of his mantle, which was\nexposed to slight friction by the movement of the wagon, assume quite\na luminous appearance, I rubbed it smartly with the hand, and found it\nreadily gave out bright sparks, accompanied with distinct cracks. \"Don't\nyou see this?\" said I. \"The white men did not show us this,\" he replied;\n\"we had it long before white men came into the country, we and our\nforefathers of old.\" Unfortunately, I never inquired the name which they\ngave to this appearance, but I have no doubt there is one for it in the\nlanguage. Otto von Guerrike is said, by Baron Humboldt, to have been the\nfirst that ever observed this effect in Europe, but the phenomenon had\nbeen familiar to the Bechuanas for ages. Nothing came of that, however,\nfor they viewed the sight as if with the eyes of an ox. The human mind\nhas remained here as stagnant to the present day, in reference to the\nphysical operations of the universe, as it once did in England. No\nscience has been developed, and few questions are ever discussed except\nthose which have an intimate connection with the wants of the stomach.\n\nVery large flocks of swifts ('Cypselus apus') were observed flying over\nthe plains north of Kuruman. I counted a stream of them, which, by the\ntime it took to pass toward the reeds of that valley, must have numbered\nupward of four thousand. Only a few of these birds breed at any time in\nthis country. I have often observed them, and noticed that there was no\nappearance of their having paired; there was no chasing of each other,\nnor any playing together. There are several other birds which continue\nin flocks, and move about like wandering gipsies, even during the\nbreeding season, which in this country happens in the intervals between\nthe cold and hot seasons, cold acting somewhat in the same way here\nas the genial warmth of spring does in Europe. Are these the migratory\nbirds of Europe, which return there to breed and rear their young?\n\nOn the 31st of December, 1852, we reached the town of Sechele, called,\nfrom the part of the range on which it is situated, Litubaruba. Near\nthe village there exists a cave named Lepelole; it is an interesting\nevidence of the former existence of a gushing fountain. No one dared to\nenter the Lohaheng, or cave, for it was the common belief that it was\nthe habitation of the Deity. As we never had a holiday from January to\nDecember, and our Sundays were the periods of our greatest exertions in\nteaching, I projected an excursion into the cave on a week-day to see\nthe god of the Bakwains. The old men said that every one who went in\nremained there forever, adding, \"If the teacher is so mad as to kill\nhimself, let him do so alone, we shall not be to blame.\" The declaration\nof Sechele, that he would follow where I led, produced the greatest\nconsternation. It is curious that in all their pretended dreams or\nvisions of their god he has always a crooked leg, like the Egyptian\nThau. Supposing that those who were reported to have perished in this\ncave had fallen over some precipice, we went well provided with lights,\nladder, lines, &c.; but it turned out to be only an open cave, with\nan entrance about ten feet square, which contracts into two water-worn\nbranches, ending in round orifices through which the water once flowed.\nThe only inhabitants it seems ever to have had were baboons. I left\nat the end of the upper branch one of Father Mathew's leaden teetotal\ntickets.\n\nI never saw the Bakwains looking so haggard and lean as at this time.\nMost of their cattle had been swept away by the Boers, together with\nabout eighty fine draught oxen; and much provision left with them by\ntwo officers, Captains Codrington and Webb, to serve for their return\njourney south, had been carried off also. On their return these officers\nfound the skeletons of the Bakwains where they expected to find their\nown goods. All the corn, clothing, and furniture of the people, too,\nhad been consumed in the flames which the Boers had forced the subject\ntribes to apply to the town during the fight, so that its inhabitants\nwere now literally starving.\n\nSechele had given orders to his people not to commit any act of revenge\npending his visit to the Queen of England; but some of the young men\nventured to go to meet a party of Boers returning from hunting, and,\nas the Boers became terrified and ran off, they brought their wagons to\nLitubaruba. This seems to have given the main body of Boers an idea that\nthe Bakwains meant to begin a guerrilla war upon them. This \"Caffre war\"\nwas, however, only in embryo, and not near that stage of development in\nwhich the natives have found out that the hide-and-seek system is the\nmost successful.\n\nThe Boers, in alarm, sent four of their number to ask for peace! I,\nbeing present, heard the condition: \"Sechele's children must be restored\nto him.\" I never saw men so completely and unconsciously in a trap as\nthese four Boers were. Strong parties of armed Bakwains occupied every\npass in the hills and gorges around; and had they not promised much more\nthan they intended, or did perform, that day would have been their last.\nThe commandant Scholz had appropriated the children of Sechele to be his\nown domestic slaves. I was present when one little boy, Khari, son of\nSechele, was returned to his mother; the child had been allowed to\nroll into the fire, and there were three large unbound open sores on\ndifferent parts of his body. His mother and the women received him with\na flood of silent tears.\n\nSlavery is said to be mild and tender-hearted in some places. The Boers\nassert that they are the best of masters, and that, if the English had\npossessed the Hottentot slaves, they would have received much worse\ntreatment than they did: what that would have been it is difficult to\nimagine. I took down the names of some scores of boys and girls, many of\nwhom I knew as our scholars; but I could not comfort the weeping mothers\nby any hope of their ever returning from slavery.\n\nThe Bechuanas are universally much attached to children. A little child\ntoddling near a party of men while they are eating is sure to get\na handful of the food. This love of children may arise, in a great\nmeasure, from the patriarchal system under which they dwell. Every\nlittle stranger forms an increase of property to the whole community,\nand is duly reported to the chief--boys being more welcome than girls.\nThe parents take the name of the child, and often address their children\nas Ma (mother), or Ra (father). Our eldest boy being named Robert, Mrs.\nLivingstone was, after his birth, always addressed as Ma-Robert, instead\nof Mary, her Christian name.\n\nI have examined several cases in which a grandmother has taken upon\nherself to suckle a grandchild. Masina of Kuruman had no children after\nthe birth of her daughter Sina, and had no milk after Sina was weaned,\nan event which usually is deferred till the child is two or three years\nold. Sina married when she was seventeen or eighteen, and had twins;\nMasina, after at least fifteen years' interval since she had suckled\na child, took possession of one of them, applied it to her breast, and\nmilk flowed, so that she was able to nurse the child entirely. Masina\nwas at this time at least forty years of age. I have witnessed several\nother cases analogous to this. A grandmother of forty, or even less,\nfor they become withered at an early age, when left at home with a young\nchild, applies it to her own shriveled breast, and milk soon follows.\nIn some cases, as that of Ma-bogosing, the chief wife of Mahure, who was\nabout thirty-five years of age, the child was not entirely dependent on\nthe grandmother's breast, as the mother suckled it too. I had witnessed\nthe production of milk so frequently by the simple application of the\nlips of the child, that I was not therefore surprised when told by\nthe Portuguese in Eastern Africa of a native doctor who, by applying\na poultice of the pounded larvae of hornets to the breast of a woman,\naided by the attempts of the child, could bring back the milk. Is it not\npossible that the story in the \"Cloud of Witnesses\" of a man, during the\ntime of persecution in Scotland, putting his child to his own breast,\nand finding, to the astonishment of the whole country, that milk\nfollowed the act, may have been literally true? It was regarded and is\nquoted as a miracle; but the feelings of the father toward the child of\na murdered mother must have been as nearly as possible analogous to the\nmaternal feeling; and, as anatomists declare the structure of both\nmale and female breasts to be identical, there is nothing physically\nimpossible in the alleged result. The illustrious Baron Humboldt quotes\nan instance of the male breast yielding milk; and, though I am not\nconscious of being over-credulous, the strange instances I have examined\nin the opposite sex make me believe that there is no error in that\nphilosopher's statement.\n\nThe Boers know from experience that adult captives may as well be\nleft alone, for escape is so easy in a wild country that no\nfugitive-slave-law can come into operation; they therefore adopt the\nsystem of seizing only the youngest children, in order that these may\nforget their parents and remain in perpetual bondage. I have seen mere\ninfants in their houses repeatedly. This fact was formerly denied; and\nthe only thing which was wanting to make the previous denial of the\npractice of slavery and slave-hunting by the Transvaal Boers no longer\nnecessary was the declaration of their independence.\n\nIn conversation with some of my friends here I learned that Maleke, a\nchief of the Bakwains, who formerly lived on the hill Litubaruba, had\nbeen killed by the bite of a mad dog. My curiosity was strongly excited\nby this statement, as rabies is so rare in this country. I never heard\nof another case, and could not satisfy myself that even this was real\nhydrophobia. While I was at Mabotsa, some dogs became affected by a\ndisease which led them to run about in an incoherent state; but I doubt\nwhether it was any thing but an affection of the brain. No individual\nor animal got the complaint by inoculation from the animals' teeth;\nand from all that I could hear, the prevailing idea of hydrophobia not\nexisting within the tropics seems to be quite correct.\n\nThe diseases known among the Bakwains are remarkably few. There is\nno consumption nor scrofula, and insanity and hydrocephalus are rare.\nCancer and cholera are quite unknown. Small-pox and measles passed\nthrough the country about twenty years ago, and committed great ravages;\nbut, though the former has since broken out on the coast repeatedly,\nneither disease has since traveled inland. For small-pox, the natives\nemployed, in some parts, inoculation in the forehead with some animal\ndeposit; in other parts, they employed the matter of the small-pox\nitself; and in one village they seem to have selected a virulent case\nfor the matter used in the operation, for nearly all the village was\nswept off by the disease in a malignant confluent form. Where the idea\ncame from I can not conceive. It was practiced by the Bakwains at a\ntime when they had no intercourse, direct or indirect, with the southern\nmissionaries. They all adopt readily the use of vaccine virus when it is\nbrought within their reach.\n\nA certain loathsome disease, which decimates the North American Indians,\nand threatens extirpation to the South Sea Islanders, dies out in the\ninterior of Africa without the aid of medicine; and the Bangwaketse, who\nbrought it from the west coast, lost it when they came into their own\nland southwest of Kolobeng. It seems incapable of permanence in any form\nin persons of pure African blood any where in the centre of the country.\nIn persons of mixed blood it is otherwise; and the virulence of the\nsecondary symptoms seemed to be, in all the cases that came under my\ncare, in exact proportion to the greater or less amount of European\nblood in the patient. Among the Corannas and Griquas of mixed breed it\nproduces the same ravages as in Europe; among half-blood Portuguese it\nis equally frightful in its inroads on the system; but in the pure Negro\nof the central parts it is quite incapable of permanence. Among the\nBarotse I found a disease called manassah, which closely resembles that\nof the 'foeda mulier' of history.\n\nEqually unknown is stone in the bladder and gravel. I never met with a\ncase, though the waters are often so strongly impregnated with sulphate\nof lime that kettles quickly become incrusted internally with the salt;\nand some of my patients, who were troubled with indigestion, believed\nthat their stomachs had got into the same condition. This freedom from\ncalculi would appear to be remarkable in the negro race, even in the\nUnited States; for seldom indeed have the most famed lithotomists there\never operated on a negro.\n\nThe diseases most prevalent are the following: pneumonia, produced\nby sudden changes of temperature, and other inflammations, as of the\nbowels, stomach, and pleura; rheumatism; disease of the heart--but these\nbecome rare as the people adopt the European dress--various forms of\nindigestion and ophthalmia; hooping-cough comes frequently; and every\nyear the period preceding the rains is marked by some sort of epidemic.\nSometimes it is general ophthalmia, resembling closely the Egyptian. In\nanother year it is a kind of diarrhoea, which nothing will cure until\nthere is a fall of rain, and any thing acts as a charm after that.\nOne year the epidemic period was marked by a disease which looked like\npneumonia, but had the peculiar symptom strongly developed of great pain\nin the seventh cervical process. Many persons died of it, after being\nin a comatose state for many hours or days before their decease. No\ninspection of the body being ever allowed by these people, and the place\nof sepulture being carefully concealed, I had to rest satisfied with\nconjecture. Frequently the Bakwains buried their dead in the huts where\nthey died, for fear lest the witches (Baloi) should disinter their\nfriends, and use some part of the body in their fiendish arts. Scarcely\nis the breath out of the body when the unfortunate patient is hurried\naway to be buried. An ant-eater's hole is often selected, in order to\nsave the trouble of digging a grave. On two occasions while I was there\nthis hasty burial was followed by the return home of the men, who had\nbeen buried alive, to their affrighted relatives. They had recovered,\nwhile in their graves, from prolonged swoons.\n\nIn ophthalmia the doctors cup on the temples, and apply to the eyes the\npungent smoke of certain roots, the patient, at the same time, taking\nstrong draughts of it up his nostrils. We found the solution of nitrate\nof silver, two or three grains to the ounce of rain-water, answer\nthe same end so much more effectually, that every morning numbers\nof patients crowded round our house for the collyrium. It is a good\npreventive of an acute attack when poured into the eyes as soon as\nthe pain begins, and might prove valuable for travelers. Cupping is\nperformed with the horn of a goat or antelope, having a little hole\npierced in the small end. In some cases a small piece of wax is\nattached, and a temporary hole made through it to the horn. When the\nair is well withdrawn, and kept out by touching the orifice, at every\ninspiration, with the point of the tongue, the wax is at last pressed\ntogether with the teeth, and the little hole in it closed up, leaving a\nvacuum within the horn for the blood to flow from the already scarified\nparts. The edges of the horn applied to the surface are wetted, and\ncupping is well performed, though the doctor occasionally, by separating\nthe fibrine from the blood in a basin of water by his side, and\nexhibiting it, pretends that he has extracted something more than blood.\nHe can thus explain the rationale of the cure by his own art, and the\nocular demonstration given is well appreciated.\n\nThose doctors who have inherited their profession as an heirloom\nfrom their fathers and grandfathers generally possess some valuable\nknowledge, the result of long and close observation; but if a man can\nnot say that the medical art is in his family, he may be considered\na quack. With the regular practitioners I always remained on the best\nterms, by refraining from appearing to doubt their skill in the presence\nof their patients. Any explanation in private was thankfully received\nby them, and wrong treatment changed into something more reasonable with\ncordial good-will, if no one but the doctor and myself were present at\nthe conversation. English medicines were eagerly asked for and accepted\nby all; and we always found medical knowledge an important aid in\nconvincing the people that we were really anxious for their welfare.\nWe can not accuse them of ingratitude; in fact, we shall remember the\nkindness of the Bakwains to us as long as we live.\n\nThe surgical knowledge of the native doctors is rather at a low ebb. No\none ever attempted to remove a tumor except by external applications.\nThose with which the natives are chiefly troubled are fatty and fibrous\ntumors; and as they all have the 'vis medicatrix naturae' in remarkable\nactivity, I safely removed an immense number. In illustration of their\nwant of surgical knowledge may be mentioned the case of a man who had a\ntumor as large as a child's head. This was situated on the nape of his\nneck, and prevented his walking straight. He applied to his chief, and\nhe got some famous strange doctor from the East Coast to cure him. He\nand his assistants attempted to dissolve it by kindling on it a little\nfire made of a few small pieces of medicinal roots. I removed it for\nhim, and he always walked with his head much more erect than he needed\nto do ever afterward. Both men and women submit to an operation without\nwincing, or any of that shouting which caused young students to faint in\nthe operating theatre before the introduction of chloroform. The women\npride themselves on their ability to bear pain. A mother will address\nher little girl, from whose foot a thorn is to be extracted, with, \"Now,\nma, you are a woman; a woman does not cry.\" A man scorns to shed tears.\nWhen we were passing one of the deep wells in the Kalahari, a boy,\nthe son of an aged father, had been drowned in it while playing on its\nbrink. When all hope was gone, the father uttered an exceedingly great\nand bitter cry. It was sorrow without hope. This was the only instance I\never met with of a man weeping in this country.\n\nTheir ideas on obstetrics are equally unscientific, and a medical man\ngoing near a woman at her confinement appeared to them more out of place\nthan a female medical student appears to us in a dissecting-room. A case\nof twins, however, happening, and the ointment of all the doctors of\nthe town proving utterly insufficient to effect the relief which a few\nseconds of English art afforded, the prejudice vanished at once. As it\nwould have been out of the question for me to have entered upon this\nbranch of the profession--as indeed it would be inexpedient for any\nmedical man to devote himself exclusively, in a thinly-peopled country,\nto the practice of medicine--I thereafter reserved myself for the\ndifficult cases only, and had the satisfaction of often conferring great\nbenefits on poor women in their hour of sorrow. The poor creatures are\noften placed in a little hut built for the purpose, and are left without\nany assistance whatever, and the numbers of umbilical herniae which are\nmet with in consequence is very great. The women suffer less at their\nconfinement than is the case in civilized countries; perhaps from their\ntreating it, not as a disease, but as an operation of nature, requiring\nno change of diet except a feast of meat and abundance of fresh air. The\nhusband on these occasions is bound to slaughter for his lady an ox, or\ngoat, or sheep, according to his means.\n\nMy knowledge in the above line procured for me great fame in a\ndepartment in which I could lay no claim to merit. A woman came a\ndistance of one hundred miles for relief in a complaint which seemed to\nhave baffled the native doctors; a complete cure was the result. Some\ntwelve months after she returned to her husband, she bore a son. Her\nhusband having previously reproached her for being barren, she sent me a\nhandsome present, and proclaimed all over the country that I possessed\na medicine for the cure of sterility. The consequence was, that I was\nteased with applications from husbands and wives from all parts of the\ncountry. Some came upward of two hundred miles to purchase the great\nboon, and it was in vain for me to explain that I had only cured the\ndisease of the other case. The more I denied, the higher their offers\nrose; they would give any money for the \"child medicine\"; and it was\nreally heart-rending to hear the earnest entreaty, and see the tearful\neye, which spoke the intense desire for offspring: \"I am getting old;\nyou see gray hairs here and there on my head, and I have no child; you\nknow how Bechuana husbands cast their old wives away; what can I do? I\nhave no child to bring water to me when I am sick,\" etc.\n\nThe whole of the country adjacent to the Desert, from Kuruman to\nKolobeng, or Litubaruba, and beyond up to the latitude of Lake Ngami, is\nremarkable for its great salubrity of climate. Not only the natives, but\nEuropeans whose constitutions have been impaired by an Indian climate,\nfind the tract of country indicated both healthy and restorative. The\nhealth and longevity of the missionaries have always been fair, though\nmission-work is not very conducive to either elsewhere. Cases have been\nknown in which patients have come from the coast with complaints closely\nresembling, if they were not actually, those of consumption; and they\nhave recovered by the influence of the climate alone. It must always be\nborne in mind that the climate near the coast, from which we received\nsuch very favorable reports of the health of the British troops, is\nactually inferior for persons suffering from pulmonary complaints to\nthat of any part not subjected to the influence of sea-air. I have\nnever seen the beneficial effects of the inland climate on persons of\nshattered constitutions, nor heard their high praises of the benefit\nthey have derived from traveling, without wishing that its bracing\neffects should become more extensively known in England. No one who\nhas visited the region I have above mentioned fails to remember with\npleasure the wild, healthful gipsy life of wagon-traveling.\n\nA considerable proportion of animal diet seems requisite here.\nIndependent of the want of salt, we required meat in as large\nquantity daily as we do in England, and no bad effects, in the way of\nbiliousness, followed the free use of flesh, as in other hot climates. A\nvegetable diet causes acidity and heartburn.\n\nMr. Oswell thought this climate much superior to that of Peru, as far as\npleasure is concerned; the want of instruments unfortunately prevented\nmy obtaining accurate scientific data for the medical world on this\nsubject; and were it not for the great expense of such a trip, I should\nhave no hesitation in recommending the borders of the Kalahari Desert as\nadmirably suited for all patients having pulmonary complaints. It is\nthe complete antipodes to our cold, damp, English climate. The winter\nis perfectly dry; and as not a drop of rain falls during that period,\nnamely, from the beginning of May to the end of August, damp and cold\nare never combined. However hot the day may have been at Kolobeng--and\nthe thermometer sometimes rose, previous to a fall of rain, up to 96\nDeg. in the coolest part of our house--yet the atmosphere never has that\nsteamy feeling nor those debilitating effects so well known in India\nand on the coast of Africa itself. In the evenings the air becomes\ndeliciously cool, and a pleasant refreshing night follows the hottest\nday. The greatest heat ever felt is not so oppressive as it is when\nthere is much humidity in the air; and the great evaporation consequent\non a fall of rain makes the rainy season the most agreeable for\ntraveling. Nothing can exceed the balmy feeling of the evenings and\nmornings during the whole year. You wish for an increase neither of\ncold nor heat; and you can sit out of doors till midnight without ever\nthinking of colds or rheumatism; or you may sleep out at night, looking\nup to the moon till you fall asleep, without a thought or sign of\nmoon-blindness. Indeed, during many months there is scarcely any dew.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 7.\n\nDeparture from the Country of the Bakwains--Large black Ant--Land\nTortoises--Diseases of wild Animals--Habits of old Lions--Cowardice of\nthe Lion--Its Dread of a Snare--Major Vardon's Note--The Roar of\nthe Lion resembles the Cry of the Ostrich--Seldom attacks full-grown\nAnimals--Buffaloes and Lions--Mice--Serpents--Treading on\none--Venomous and harmless Varieties--Fascination--Sekomi's Ideas\nof Honesty--Ceremony of the Sechu for Boys--The Boyale for\nyoung Women--Bamangwato Hills--The Unicorn's Pass--The Country\nbeyond--Grain--Scarcity of Water--Honorable Conduct of English\nGentlemen--Gordon Cumming's hunting Adventures--A Word of Advice\nfor young Sportsmen--Bushwomen drawing Water--Ostrich--Silly\nHabit--Paces--Eggs--Food.\n\n\n\nHaving remained five days with the wretched Bakwains, seeing the effects\nof war, of which only a very inadequate idea can ever be formed by those\nwho have not been eye-witnesses of its miseries, we prepared to depart\non the 15th of January, 1853. Several dogs, in better condition by far\nthan any of the people, had taken up their residence at the water. No\none would own them; there they had remained, and, coming on the trail\nof the people, long after their departure from the scene of conflict, it\nwas plain they had\n\n\"Held o'er the dead their carnival.\"\n\nHence the disgust with which they were viewed.\n\nOn our way from Khopong, along the ancient river-bed which forms the\npathway to Boatlanama, I found a species of cactus, being the third I\nhave seen in the country, namely, one in the colony with a bright red\nflower, one at Lake Ngami, the flower of which was liver-colored, and\nthe present one, flower unknown. That the plant is uncommon may be\ninferred from the fact that the Bakwains find so much difficulty in\nrecognizing the plant again after having once seen it, that they believe\nit has the power of changing its locality.\n\nOn the 21st of January we reached the wells of Boatlanama, and found\nthem for the first time empty. Lopepe, which I had formerly seen a\nstream running from a large reedy pool, was also dry. The hot salt\nspring of Serinane, east of Lopepe, being undrinkable, we pushed on to\nMashue for its delicious waters. In traveling through this country, the\nolfactory nerves are frequently excited by a strong disagreeable odor.\nThis is caused by a large jet-black ant named \"Leshonya\". It is nearly\nan inch in length, and emits a pungent smell when alarmed, in the same\nmanner as the skunk. The scent must be as volatile as ether, for, on\nirritating the insect with a stick six feet long, the odor is instantly\nperceptible.\n\nOccasionally we lighted upon land tortoises, which, with their unlaid\neggs, make a very agreeable dish. We saw many of their trails leading\nto the salt fountain; they must have come great distances for this\nhealth-giving article. In lieu thereof they often devour wood-ashes. It\nis wonderful how this reptile holds its place in the country. When seen,\nit never escapes. The young are taken for the sake of their shells;\nthese are made into boxes, which, filled with sweet-smelling roots, the\nwomen hang around their persons. When older it is used as food, and the\nshell converted into a rude basin to hold food or water. It owes its\ncontinuance neither to speed nor cunning. Its color, yellow and dark\nbrown, is well adapted, by its similarity to the surrounding grass\nand brushwood, to render it indistinguishable; and, though it makes an\nawkward attempt to run on the approach of man, its trust is in its bony\ncovering, from which even the teeth of a hyaena glance off foiled. When\nthis long-lived creature is about to deposit her eggs, she lets herself\ninto the ground by throwing the earth up round her shell, until only\nthe top is visible; then covering up the eggs, she leaves them until the\nrains begin to fall and the fresh herbage appears; the young ones then\ncome out, their shells still quite soft, and, unattended by their dam,\nbegin the world for themselves. Their food is tender grass and a plant\nnamed thotona, and they frequently resort to heaps of ashes and places\ncontaining efflorescence of the nitrates for the salts these contain.\n\nInquiries among the Bushmen and Bakalahari, who are intimately\nacquainted with the habits of the game, lead to the belief that many\ndiseases prevail among wild animals. I have seen the kokong or gnu, kama\nor hartebeest, the tsessebe, kukama, and the giraffe, so mangy as to be\nuneatable even by the natives. Reference has already been made to the\nperipneumonia which cuts off horses, tolos or koodoos. Great numbers\nalso of zebras are found dead with masses of foam at the nostrils,\nexactly as occurs in the common \"horse-sickness\". The production of the\nmalignant carbuncle called kuatsi, or selonda, by the flesh when eaten,\nis another proof of the disease of the tame and wild being identical.\nI once found a buffalo blind from ophthalmia standing by the fountain\nOtse; when he attempted to run he lifted up his feet in the manner\npeculiar to blind animals. The rhinoceros has often worms on the\nconjunction of his eyes; but these are not the cause of the dimness of\nvision which will make him charge past a man who has wounded him, if\nhe stands perfectly still, in the belief that his enemy is a tree.\nIt probably arises from the horn being in the line of vision, for the\nvariety named kuabaoba, which has a straight horn directed downward away\nfrom that line, possesses acute eyesight, and is much more wary.\n\nAll the wild animals are subject to intestinal worms besides. I have\nobserved bunches of a tape-like thread and short worms of enlarged sizes\nin the rhinoceros. The zebra and elephants are seldom without them, and\na thread-worm may often be seen under the peritoneum of these animals.\nShort red larvae, which convey a stinging sensation to the hand, are\nseen clustering round the orifice of the windpipe (trachea) of this\nanimal at the back of the throat; others are seen in the frontal sinus\nof antelopes; and curious flat, leech-like worms, with black eyes, are\nfound in the stomachs of leches. The zebra, giraffe, eland, and kukama\nhave been seen mere skeletons from decay of their teeth as well as from\ndisease.\n\nThe carnivora, too, become diseased and mangy; lions become lean and\nperish miserably by reason of the decay of the teeth. When a lion\nbecomes too old to catch game, he frequently takes to killing goats in\nthe villages; a woman or child happening to go out at night falls a prey\ntoo; and as this is his only source of subsistence now, he continues it.\nFrom this circumstance has arisen the idea that the lion, when he has\nonce tasted human flesh, loves it better than any other. A man-eater is\ninvariably an old lion; and when he overcomes his fear of man so far as\nto come to villages for goats, the people remark, \"His teeth are worn,\nhe will soon kill men.\" They at once acknowledge the necessity of\ninstant action, and turn out to kill him. When living far away from\npopulation, or when, as is the case in some parts, he entertains a\nwholesome dread of the Bushmen and Bakalahari, as soon as either disease\nor old age overtakes him, he begins to catch mice and other small\nrodents, and even to eat grass; the natives, observing undigested\nvegetable matter in his droppings, follow up his trail in the certainty\nof finding him scarcely able to move under some tree, and dispatch him\nwithout difficulty. The grass may have been eaten as medicine, as is\nobserved in dogs.\n\nThat the fear of man often remains excessively strong in the carnivora\nis proved from well-authenticated cases in which the lioness, in the\nvicinity of towns where the large game had been unexpectedly driven\naway by fire-arms, has been known to assuage the paroxysms of hunger by\ndevouring her own young. It must be added, that, though the effluvium\nwhich is left by the footsteps of man is in general sufficient to induce\nlions to avoid a village, there are exceptions; so many came about our\nhalf-deserted houses at Chonuane while we were in the act of removing\nto Kolobeng, that the natives who remained with Mrs. Livingstone were\nterrified to stir out of doors in the evenings. Bitches, also, have been\nknown to be guilty of the horridly unnatural act of eating their\nown young, probably from the great desire for animal food, which is\nexperienced by the inhabitants as well.\n\nWhen a lion is met in the daytime, a circumstance by no means unfrequent\nto travelers in these parts, if preconceived notions do not lead them\nto expect something very \"noble\" or \"majestic\", they will see merely an\nanimal somewhat larger than the biggest dog they ever saw, and partaking\nvery strongly of the canine features; the face is not much like the\nusual drawings of a lion, the nose being prolonged like a dog's; not\nexactly such as our painters make it--though they might learn better at\nthe Zoological Gardens--their ideas of majesty being usually shown by\nmaking their lions' faces like old women in nightcaps. When encountered\nin the daytime, the lion stands a second or two, gazing, then turns\nslowly round, and walks as slowly away for a dozen paces, looking over\nhis shoulder; then begins to trot, and, when he thinks himself out of\nsight, bounds off like a greyhound. By day there is not, as a rule, the\nsmallest danger of lions which are not molested attacking man, nor\neven on a clear moonlight night, except when they possess the breeding\nstorgh* (natural affection); this makes them brave almost any danger;\nand if a man happens to cross to the windward of them, both lion and\nlioness will rush at him, in the manner of a bitch with whelps. This\ndoes not often happen, as I only became aware of two or three instances\nof it. In one case a man, passing where the wind blew from him to the\nanimals, was bitten before he could climb a tree; and occasionally a man\non horseback has been caught by the leg under the same circumstances. So\ngeneral, however, is the sense of security on moonlight nights, that we\nseldom tied up our oxen, but let them lie loose by the wagons; while on\na dark, rainy night, if a lion is in the neighborhood, he is almost sure\nto venture to kill an ox. His approach is always stealthy, except when\nwounded; and any appearance of a trap is enough to cause him to refrain\nfrom making the last spring. This seems characteristic of the feline\nspecies; when a goat is picketed in India for the purpose of enabling\nthe huntsmen to shoot a tiger by night, if on a plain, he would whip off\nthe animal so quickly by a stroke of the paw that no one could take aim;\nto obviate this, a small pit is dug, and the goat is picketed to a stake\nin the bottom; a small stone is tied in the ear of the goat, which makes\nhim cry the whole night. When the tiger sees the appearance of a trap,\nhe walks round and round the pit, and allows the hunter, who is lying in\nwait, to have a fair shot.\n\n   * (Greek) sigma-tau-omicron-rho-gamma-eta.\n\nWhen a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight of an animal\nmay make him commence stalking it. In one case a man, while stealthily\ncrawling towards a rhinoceros, happened to glance behind him, and found\nto his horror a lion STALKING HIM; he only escaped by springing up a\ntree like a cat. At Lopepe a lioness sprang on the after quarter of Mr.\nOswell's horse, and when we came up to him we found the marks of the\nclaws on the horse, and a scratch on Mr. O.'s hand. The horse, on\nfeeling the lion on him, sprang away, and the rider, caught by a\nwait-a-bit thorn, was brought to the ground and rendered insensible.\nHis dogs saved him. Another English gentleman (Captain Codrington) was\nsurprised in the same way, though not hunting the lion at the time,\nbut turning round he shot him dead in the neck. By accident a horse\nbelonging to Codrington ran away, but was stopped by the bridle catching\na stump; there he remained a prisoner two days, and when found the whole\nspace around was marked by the footprints of lions. They had evidently\nbeen afraid to attack the haltered horse from fear that it was a trap.\nTwo lions came up by night to within three yards of oxen tied to a\nwagon, and a sheep tied to a tree, and stood roaring, but afraid to make\na spring. On another occasion one of our party was lying sound asleep\nand unconscious of danger between two natives behind a bush at Mashue;\nthe fire was nearly out at their feet in consequence of all being\ncompletely tired out by the fatigues of the previous day; a lion came up\nto within three yards of the fire, and there commenced roaring instead\nof making a spring: the fact of their riding-ox being tied to the bush\nwas the only reason the lion had for not following his instinct, and\nmaking a meal of flesh. He then stood on a knoll three hundred yards\ndistant, and roared all night, and continued his growling as the party\nmoved off by daylight next morning.\n\nNothing that I ever learned of the lion would lead me to attribute to\nit either the ferocious or noble character ascribed to it elsewhere. It\npossesses none of the nobility of the Newfoundland or St. Bernard dogs.\nWith respect to its great strength there can be no doubt. The immense\nmasses of muscle around its jaws, shoulders, and forearms proclaim\ntremendous force. They would seem, however, to be inferior in power to\nthose of the Indian tiger. Most of those feats of strength that I have\nseen performed by lions, such as the taking away of an ox, were not\ncarrying, but dragging or trailing the carcass along the ground: they\nhave sprung on some occasions on to the hind-quarters of a horse, but no\none has ever seen them on the withers of a giraffe. They do not mount on\nthe hind-quarters of an eland even, but try to tear him down with their\nclaws. Messrs. Oswell and Vardon once saw three lions endeavoring to\ndrag down a buffalo, and they were unable to do so for a time, though he\nwas then mortally wounded by a two-ounce ball.*\n\n   * This singular encounter, in the words of an eye-witness,\n   happened as follows:\n\n   \"My South African Journal is now before me, and I have got\n   hold of the account of the lion and buffalo affair; here it\n   is: '15th September, 1846.  Oswell and I were riding this\n   afternoon along the banks of the Limpopo, when a waterbuck\n   started in front of us. I dismounted, and was following it\n   through the jungle, when three buffaloes got up, and, after\n   going a little distance, stood still, and the nearest bull\n   turned round and looked at me. A ball from the two-ouncer\n   crashed into his shoulder, and they all three made off.\n   Oswell and I followed as soon as I had reloaded, and when we\n   were in sight of the buffalo, and gaining on him at every\n   stride, three lions leaped on the unfortunate brute; he\n   bellowed most lustily as he kept up a kind of running fight,\n   but he was, of course, soon overpowered and pulled down. We\n   had a fine view of the struggle, and saw the lions on their\n   hind legs tearing away with teeth and claws in most ferocious\n   style.  We crept up within thirty yards, and, kneeling down,\n   blazed away at the lions. My rifle was a single barrel, and I\n   had no spare gun. One lion fell dead almost ON the buffalo; he\n   had merely time to turn toward us, seize a bush with his\n   teeth, and drop dead with the stick in his jaws.  The second\n   made off immediately; and the third raised his head, coolly\n   looked round for a moment, then went on tearing and biting at\n   the carcass as hard as ever. We retired a short distance to\n   load, then again advanced and fired. The lion made off, but a\n   ball that he received OUGHT to have stopped him, as it went\n   clean through his shoulder-blade.  He was followed up and\n   killed, after having charged several times.  Both lions were\n   males. It is not often that one BAGS a brace of lions and a\n   bull buffalo in about ten minutes.  It was an exciting\n   adventure, and I shall never forget it.'\n\n   \"Such, my dear Livingstone, is the plain unvarnished account.\n   The buffalo had, of course, gone close to where the lions were\n   lying down for the day; and they, seeing him lame and\n   bleeding, thought the opportunity too good a one to be lost.\n\n   \"Ever yours, Frank Vardon.\"\n\nIn general the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the flank near\nthe hind leg, or by the throat below the jaw. It is questionable whether\nhe ever attempts to seize an animal by the withers. The flank is the\nmost common point of attack, and that is the part he begins to feast\non first. The natives and lions are very similar in their tastes in the\nselection of tit-bits: an eland may be seen disemboweled by a lion so\ncompletely that he scarcely seems cut up at all. The bowels and fatty\nparts form a full meal for even the largest lion. The jackal comes\nsniffing about, and sometimes suffers for his temerity by a stroke from\nthe lion's paw laying him dead. When gorged, the lion falls fast asleep,\nand is then easily dispatched. Hunting a lion with dogs involves very\nlittle danger as compared with hunting the Indian tiger, because the\ndogs bring him out of cover and make him stand at bay, giving the hunter\nplenty of time for a good deliberate shot.\n\nWhere game is abundant, there you may expect lions in proportionately\nlarge numbers. They are never seen in herds, but six or eight, probably\none family, occasionally hunt together. One is in much more danger of\nbeing run over when walking in the streets of London, than he is of\nbeing devoured by lions in Africa, unless engaged in hunting the animal.\nIndeed, nothing that I have seen or heard about lions would constitute a\nbarrier in the way of men of ordinary courage and enterprise.\n\nThe same feeling which has induced the modern painter to caricature the\nlion, has led the sentimentalist to consider the lion's roar the most\nterrific of all earthly sounds. We hear of the \"majestic roar of the\nking of beasts.\" It is, indeed, well calculated to inspire fear if\nyou hear it in combination with the tremendously loud thunder of that\ncountry, on a night so pitchy dark that every flash of the intensely\nvivid lightning leaves you with the impression of stone-blindness, while\nthe rain pours down so fast that your fire goes out, leaving you without\nthe protection of even a tree, or the chance of your gun going off.\nBut when you are in a comfortable house or wagon, the case is very\ndifferent, and you hear the roar of the lion without any awe or alarm.\nThe silly ostrich makes a noise as loud, yet he never was feared by man.\nTo talk of the majestic roar of the lion is mere majestic twaddle. On\nmy mentioning this fact some years ago, the assertion was doubted, so I\nhave been careful ever since to inquire the opinions of Europeans, who\nhave heard both, if they could detect any difference between the roar\nof a lion and that of an ostrich; the invariable answer was, that they\ncould not when the animal was at any distance. The natives assert that\nthey can detect a variation between the commencement of the noise of\neach. There is, it must be admitted, considerable difference between\nthe singing noise of a lion when full, and his deep, gruff growl when\nhungry. In general the lion's voice seems to come deeper from the chest\nthan that of the ostrich, but to this day I can distinguish between them\nwith certainty only by knowing that the ostrich roars by day and the\nlion by night.\n\nThe African lion is of a tawny color, like that of some mastiffs. The\nmane in the male is large, and gives the idea of great power. In some\nlions the ends of the hair of the mane are black; these go by the name\nof black-maned lions, though as a whole all look of the yellow tawny\ncolor. At the time of the discovery of the lake, Messrs. Oswell and\nWilson shot two specimens of another variety. One was an old lion, whose\nteeth were mere stumps, and his claws worn quite blunt; the other was\nfull grown, in the prime of life, with white, perfect teeth; both were\nentirely destitute of mane. The lions in the country near the lake give\ntongue less than those further south. We scarcely ever heard them roar\nat all.\n\nThe lion has other checks on inordinate increase besides man. He seldom\nattacks full-grown animals; but frequently, when a buffalo calf is\ncaught by him, the cow rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often\nkills him. One we found was killed thus; and on the Leeambye another,\nwhich died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of having received his\ndeath-blow from a buffalo. It is questionable if a single lion ever\nattacks a full-grown buffalo. The amount of roaring heard at night, on\noccasions when a buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are always\nmore than one lion engaged in the onslaught.\n\nOn the plain, south of Sebituane's ford, a herd of buffaloes kept a\nnumber of lions from their young by the males turning their heads to\nthe enemy. The young and the cows were in the rear. One toss from a bull\nwould kill the strongest lion that ever breathed. I have been informed\nthat in one part of India even the tame buffaloes feel their superiority\nto some wild animals, for they have been seen to chase a tiger up the\nhills, bellowing as if they enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any\nelephants except the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn\nby them; every living thing retires before the lordly elephant, yet a\nfull-grown one would be an easier prey than the rhinoceros; the lion\nrushes off at the mere sight of this latter beast.\n\nIn the country adjacent to Mashue great numbers of different kinds of\nmice exist. The ground is often so undermined with their burrows that\nthe foot sinks in at every step. Little haycocks, about two feet high,\nand rather more than that in breadth, are made by one variety of these\nlittle creatures. The same thing is done in regions annually covered\nwith snow for obvious purposes, but it is difficult here to divine the\nreason of the haymaking in the climate of Africa.*\n\n   * 'Euryotis unisulcatus' (F. Cuvier), 'Mus pumelio' (Spar.),\n   and 'Mus lehocla' (Smith), all possess this habit in a greater\n   or less degree.  The first-named may be seen escaping danger\n   with its young hanging to the after-part of its body.\n\nWherever mice abound, serpents may be expected, for the one preys on\nthe other. A cat in a house is therefore a good preventive against\nthe entrance of these noxious reptiles. Occasionally, however,\nnotwithstanding every precaution, they do find their way in, but even\nthe most venomous sorts bite only when put in bodily fear themselves, or\nwhen trodden upon, or when the sexes come together. I once found a coil\nof serpents' skins, made by a number of them twisting together in the\nmanner described by the Druids of old. When in the country, one feels\nnothing of that alarm and loathing which we may experience when sitting\nin a comfortable English room reading about them; yet they are nasty\nthings, and we seem to have an instinctive feeling against them. In\nmaking the door for our Mabotsa house, I happened to leave a small\nhole at the corner below. Early one morning a man came to call for some\narticle I had promised. I at once went to the door, and, it being dark,\ntrod on a serpent. The moment I felt the cold scaly skin twine round a\npart of my leg, my latent instinct was roused, and I jumped up higher\nthan I ever did before or hope to do again, shaking the reptile off\nin the leap. I probably trod on it near the head, and so prevented it\nbiting me, but did not stop to examine.\n\nSome of the serpents are particularly venomous. One was killed at\nKolobeng of a dark brown, nearly black color, 8 feet 3 inches long. This\nspecies (picakholu) is so copiously supplied with poison that, when a\nnumber of dogs attack it, the first bitten dies almost instantaneously,\nthe second in about five minutes, the third in an hour or so, while\nthe fourth may live several hours. In a cattle-pen it produces great\nmischief in the same way. The one we killed at Kolobeng continued to\ndistill clear poison from the fangs for hours after its head was cut\noff. This was probably that which passes by the name of the \"spitting\nserpent\", which is believed to be able to eject its poison into the eyes\nwhen the wind favors its forcible expiration. They all require water,\nand come long distances to the Zouga, and other rivers and pools, in\nsearch of it. We have another dangerous serpent, the puff adder, and\nseveral vipers. One, named by the inhabitants \"Noga-put-sane\", or\nserpent of a kid, utters a cry by night exactly like the bleating of\nthat animal. I heard one at a spot where no kid could possibly have\nbeen. It is supposed by the natives to lure travelers to itself by this\nbleating. Several varieties, when alarmed, emit a peculiar odor, by\nwhich the people become aware of their presence in a house. We have\nalso the cobra ('Naia haje', Smith) of several colors or varieties. When\nannoyed, they raise their heads up about a foot from the ground, and\nflatten the neck in a threatening manner, darting out the tongue and\nretracting it with great velocity, while their fixed glassy eyes\nglare as if in anger. There are also various species of the genus\n'Dendrophis', as the 'Bucephalus viridis', or green tree-climber. They\nclimb trees in search of birds and eggs, and are soon discovered by all\nthe birds in the neighborhood collecting and sounding an alarm.* Their\nfangs are formed not so much for injecting poison on external objects\nas for keeping in any animal or bird of which they have got hold. In\nthe case of the 'Dasypeltis inornatus' (Smith), the teeth are small, and\nfavorable for the passage of thin-shelled eggs without breaking. The egg\nis taken in unbroken till it is within the gullet, or about two inches\nbehind the head. The gular teeth placed there break the shell without\nspilling the contents, as would be the case if the front teeth were\nlarge. The shell is then ejected. Others appear to be harmless, and even\nedible. Of the latter sort is the large python, metse pallah, or tari.\nThe largest specimens of this are about 15 or 20 feet in length. They\nare perfectly harmless, and live on small animals, chiefly the rodentia;\noccasionally the steinbuck and pallah fall victims, and are sucked into\nits comparatively small mouth in boa-constrictor fashion. One we shot\nwas 11 feet 10 inches long, and as thick as a man's leg. When shot\nthrough the spine, it was capable of lifting itself up about five feet\nhigh, and opened its mouth in a threatening manner, but the poor thing\nwas more inclined to crawl away. The flesh is much relished by the\nBakalahari and Bushmen. They carry away each his portion, like logs of\nwood, over their shoulders.\n\n   * \"As this snake, 'Bucephalus Capensis', in our opinion, is\n   not provided with a poisonous fluid to instill into wounds\n   which these fangs may inflict, they must consequently be\n   intended for a purpose different to those which exist in\n   poisonous reptiles.  Their use seems to be to offer obstacles\n   to the retrogression of animals, such as birds, etc., while\n   they are only partially within the mouth; and from the\n   circumstance of these fangs being directed backward, and not\n   admitting of being raised so as to form an angle with the edge\n   of the jaw, they are well fitted to act as powerful holders\n   when once they penetrate the skin and soft parts of the prey\n   which their possessors may be in the act of swallowing.\n   Without such fangs escapes would be common; with such they are\n   rare.\n\n   \"The natives of South Africa regard the 'Bucephalus Capensis'\n   as poisonous; but in their opinion we can not concur, as we\n   have not been able to discover the existence of any glands\n   manifestly organized for the secretion of poison.  The fangs\n   are inclosed in a soft, pulpy sheath, the inner surface of\n   which is commonly coated with a thin glairy secretion. This\n   secretion possibly may have something acrid and irritating in\n   its qualities, which may, when it enters a wound, cause pain\n   and even swelling, but nothing of greater importance.\n\n   \"The 'Bucephalus Capensis' is generally found on trees, to\n   which it resorts for the purpose of catching birds, upon which\n   it delights to feed. The presence of a specimen in a tree is\n   generally soon discovered by the birds of the neighborhood,\n   who collect around it and fly to and fro, uttering the most\n   piercing cries, until some one, more terror-struck than the\n   rest, actually scans its lips, and, almost without resistance,\n   becomes a meal for its enemy.  During such a proceeding the\n   snake is generally observed with its head raised about ten or\n   twelve inches above the branch round which its body and tail\n   are entwined, with its mouth open and its neck inflated, as if\n   anxiously endeavoring to increase the terror which it would\n   almost appear it was aware would sooner or later bring within\n   its grasp some one of the feathered group.\n\n   \"Whatever may be said in ridicule of fascination, it is\n   nevertheless true that birds, and even quadrupeds, are, under\n   certain circumstances, unable to retire from the presence of\n   certain of their enemies; and, what is even more\n   extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to advance from\n   a situation of actual safety into one of the most imminent\n   danger.  This I have often seen exemplified in the case of\n   birds and snakes; and I have heard of instances equally\n   curious, in which antelopes and other quadrupeds have been so\n   bewildered by the sudden appearance of crocodiles, and by the\n   grimaces and contortions they practiced, as to be unable to\n   fly or even move from the spot toward which they were\n   approaching to seize them.\"--Dr. Andrew Smith's \"Reptilia\".\n\n   In addition to these interesting statements of the most able\n   naturalist from whom I have taken this note, it may be added\n   that fire exercises a fascinating effect on some kinds of\n   toads.  They may be seen rushing into it in the evenings\n   without ever starting back on feeling pain. Contact with the\n   hot embers rather increases the energy with which they strive\n   to gain the hottest parts, and they never cease their\n   struggles for the centre even when their juices are\n   coagulating and their limbs stiffening in the roasting heat.\n   Various insects, also, are thus fascinated; but the scorpions\n   may be seen coming away from the fire in fierce disgust, and\n   they are so irritated as to inflict at that time their most\n   painful stings.\n\nSome of the Bayeiye we met at Sebituane's Ford pretended to be\nunaffected by the bite of serpents, and showed the feat of lacerating\ntheir arms with the teeth of such as are unfurnished with the\npoison-fangs. They also swallow the poison, by way of gaining notoriety;\nbut Dr. Andrew Smith put the sincerity of such persons to the test by\noffering them the fangs of a really poisonous variety, and found they\nshrank from the experiment.\n\nWhen we reached the Bamangwato, the chief, Sekomi, was particularly\nfriendly, collected all his people to the religious services we held,\nand explained his reasons for compelling some Englishmen to pay him a\nhorse. \"They would not sell him any powder, though they had plenty; so\nhe compelled them to give it and the horse for nothing. He would not\ndeny the extortion to me; that would be 'boherehere' (swindling).\" He\nthus thought extortion better than swindling. I could not detect any\ndifference in the morality of the two transactions, but Sekomi's ideas\nof honesty are the lowest I have met with in any Bechuana chief, and\nthis instance is mentioned as the only approach to demanding payment for\nleave to pass that I have met with in the south. In all other cases the\ndifficulty has been to get a chief to give us men to show the way,\nand the payment has only been for guides. Englishmen have always very\nproperly avoided giving that idea to the native mind which we shall\nhereafter find prove troublesome, that payment ought to be made for\npassage through a country.\n\nAll the Bechuana and Caffre tribes south of the Zambesi practice\ncircumcision ('boguera'), but the rites observed are carefully\nconcealed. The initiated alone can approach, but in this town I was\nonce a spectator of the second part of the ceremony of the circumcision,\ncalled \"sechu\". Just at the dawn of day, a row of boys of nearly\nfourteen years of age stood naked in the kotla, each having a pair of\nsandals as a shield on his hands. Facing them stood the men of the\ntown in a similar state of nudity, all armed with long thin wands, of a\ntough, strong, supple bush called moretloa ('Grewia flava'), and engaged\nin a dance named \"koha\", in which questions are put to the boys, as\n\"Will you guard the chief well?\" \"Will you herd the cattle well?\" and,\nwhile the latter give an affirmative response, the men rush forward to\nthem, and each aims a full-weight blow at the back of one of the boys.\nShielding himself with the sandals above his head, he causes the supple\nwand to descend and bend into his back, and every stroke inflicted thus\nmakes the blood squirt out of a wound a foot or eighteen inches long. At\nthe end of the dance, the boys' backs are seamed with wounds and weals,\nthe scars of which remain through life. This is intended to harden\nthe young soldiers, and prepare them for the rank of men. After this\nceremony, and after killing a rhinoceros, they may marry a wife.\n\nIn the \"koha\" the same respect is shown to age as in many other of their\ncustoms. A younger man, rushing from the ranks to exercise his wand on\nthe backs of the youths, may be himself the object of chastisement by\nthe older, and, on the occasion referred to, Sekomi received a severe\ncut on the leg from one of his gray-haired people. On my joking with\nsome of the young men on their want of courage, notwithstanding all the\nbeatings of which they bore marks, and hinting that our soldiers were\nbrave without suffering so much, one rose up and said, \"Ask him if, when\nhe and I were compelled by a lion to stop and make a fire, I did not lie\ndown and sleep as well as himself.\" In other parts a challenge to try\na race would have been given, and you may frequently see grown men\nadopting that means of testing superiority, like so many children.\n\nThe sechu is practiced by three tribes only. Boguera is observed by all\nthe Bechuanas and Caffres, but not by the negro tribes beyond 20 Deg.\nsouth. The \"boguera\" is a civil rather than a religious rite. All the\nboys of an age between ten and fourteen or fifteen are selected to be\nthe companions for life of one of the sons of the chief. They are taken\nout to some retired spot in the forest, and huts are erected for their\naccommodation; the old men go out and teach them to dance, initiating\nthem, at the same time, into all the mysteries of African politics and\ngovernment. Each one is expected to compose an oration in praise of\nhimself, called a \"leina\" or name, and to be able to repeat it with\nsufficient fluency. A good deal of beating is required to bring them\nup to the required excellency in different matters, so that, when\nthey return from the close seclusion in which they are kept, they have\ngenerally a number of scars to show on their backs. These bands or\nregiments, named mepato in the plural and mopato in the singular,\nreceive particular appellations; as, the Matsatsi--the suns; the\nMabusa--the rulers; equivalent to our Coldstreams or Enniskillens; and,\nthough living in different parts of the town, they turn out at the call,\nand act under the chief's son as their commander. They recognize a sort\nof equality and partial communism ever afterward, and address each other\nby the title of molekane or comrade. In cases of offence against their\nrules, as eating alone when any of their comrades are within call, or in\ncases of cowardice or dereliction of duty, they may strike one another,\nor any member of a younger mopato, but never any one of an older band;\nand when three or four companies have been made, the oldest no longer\ntakes the field in time of war, but remains as a guard over the women\nand children. When a fugitive comes to a tribe, he is directed to the\nmopato analogous to that to which in his own tribe he belongs, and does\nduty as a member. No one of the natives knows how old he is. If asked\nhis age, he answers by putting another question, \"Does a man remember\nwhen he was born?\" Age is reckoned by the number of mepato they have\nseen pass through the formulae of admission. When they see four or five\nmepato younger than themselves, they are no longer obliged to bear arms.\nThe oldest individual I ever met boasted he had seen eleven sets of boys\nsubmit to the boguera. Supposing him to have been fifteen when he saw\nhis own, and fresh bands were added every six or seven years, he must\nhave been about forty when he saw the fifth, and may have attained\nseventy-five or eighty years, which is no great age; but it seemed so to\nthem, for he had now doubled the age for superannuation among them.\nIt is an ingenious plan for attaching the members of the tribe to the\nchief's family, and for imparting a discipline which renders the tribe\neasy of command. On their return to the town from attendance on the\nceremonies of initiation, a prize is given to the lad who can run\nfastest, the article being placed where all may see the winner run up\nto snatch it. They are then considered men (banona, viri), and can sit\namong the elders in the kotla. Formerly they were only boys (basimane,\npueri). The first missionaries set their faces against the boguera, on\naccount of its connection with heathenism, and the fact that the youths\nlearned much evil, and became disobedient to their parents. From\nthe general success of these men, it is perhaps better that younger\nmissionaries should tread in their footsteps; for so much evil may\nresult from breaking down the authority on which, to those who can not\nread, the whole system of our influence appears to rest, that innovators\nought to be made to propose their new measures as the Locrians did new\nlaws--with ropes around their necks.\n\nProbably the \"boguera\" was only a sanitary and political measure; and\nthere being no continuous chain of tribes practicing the rite between\nthe Arabs and the Bechuanas, or Caffres, and as it is not a religious\nceremony, it can scarcely be traced, as is often done, to a Mohammedan\nsource.\n\nA somewhat analogous ceremony (boyale) takes place for young women, and\nthe protegees appear abroad drilled under the surveillance of an old\nlady to the carrying of water. They are clad during the whole time in a\ndress composed of ropes made of alternate pumpkin-seeds and bits of reed\nstrung together, and wound round the body in a figure-of-eight fashion.\nThey are inured in this way to bear fatigue, and carry large pots of\nwater under the guidance of the stern old hag. They have often scars\nfrom bits of burning charcoal having been applied to the forearm, which\nmust have been done to test their power of bearing pain.\n\nThe Bamangwato hills are part of the range called Bakaa. The Bakaa\ntribe, however, removed to Kolobeng, and is now joined to that of\nSechele. The range stands about 700 or 800 feet above the plains, and\nis composed of great masses of black basalt. It is probably part of\nthe latest series of volcanic rocks in South Africa. At the eastern end\nthese hills have curious fungoid or cup-shaped hollows, of a size\nwhich suggests the idea of craters. Within these are masses of the rock\ncrystallized in the columnar form of this formation. The tops of the\ncolumns are quite distinct, of the hexagonal form, like the bottom of\nthe cells of a honeycomb, but they are not parted from each other as in\nthe Cave of Fingal. In many parts the lava-streams may be recognized,\nfor there the rock is rent and split in every direction, but no soil is\nyet found in the interstices. When we were sitting in the evening, after\na hot day, it was quite common to hear these masses of basalt split and\nfall among each other with the peculiar ringing sound which makes people\nbelieve that this rock contains much iron. Several large masses, in\nsplitting thus by the cold acting suddenly on parts expanded by the heat\nof the day, have slipped down the sides of the hills, and, impinging\nagainst each other, have formed cavities in which the Bakaa took refuge\nagainst their enemies. The numerous chinks and crannies left by these\nhuge fragments made it quite impossible for their enemies to smoke them\nout, as was done by the Boers to the people of Mankopane.\n\nThis mass of basalt, about six miles long, has tilted up the rocks on\nboth the east and west; these upheaved rocks are the ancient silurian\nschists which formed the bottom of the great primaeval valley, and, like\nall the recent volcanic rocks of this country, have a hot fountain in\ntheir vicinity, namely, that of Serinane.\n\nIn passing through these hills on our way north we enter a pass named\nManakalongwe, or Unicorn's Pass. The unicorn here is a large edible\ncaterpillar, with an erect, horn-like tail. The pass was also called\nPorapora (or gurgling of water), from a stream having run through it.\nThe scene must have been very different in former times from what it is\nnow. This is part of the River Mahalapi, which so-called river scarcely\nmerits the name, any more than the meadows of Edinburgh deserve the\ntitle of North Loch. These hills are the last we shall see for months.\nThe country beyond consisted of large patches of trap-covered tufa,\nhaving little soil or vegetation except tufts of grass and wait-a-bit\nthorns, in the midst of extensive sandy, grass-covered plains. These\nyellow-colored, grassy plains, with moretloa and mahatla bushes, form\nquite a characteristic feature of the country. The yellow or dun-color\nprevails during a great part of the year. The Bakwain hills are an\nexception to the usual flat surface, for they are covered with green\ntrees to their tops, and the valleys are often of the most lovely green.\nThe trees are larger too, and even the plains of the Bakwain country\ncontain trees instead of bushes. If you look north from the hills we are\nnow leaving, the country partakes of this latter character. It appears\nas if it were a flat covered with a forest of ordinary-sized trees from\n20 to 30 feet high, but when you travel over it they are not so closely\nplanted but that a wagon with care may be guided among them. The grass\ngrows in tufts of the size of one's hat, with bare soft sand between.\nNowhere here have we an approach to English lawns, or the pleasing\nappearance of English greensward.\n\nIn no part of this country could European grain be cultivated without\nirrigation. The natives all cultivate the dourrha or holcus sorghum,\nmaize, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and different kinds of beans; and\nthey are entirely dependent for the growth of these on rains. Their\ninstrument of culture is the hoe, and the chief labor falls on the\nfemale portion of the community. In this respect the Bechuanas closely\nresemble the Caffres. The men engage in hunting, milk the cows, and\nhave the entire control of the cattle; they prepare the skins, make the\nclothing, and in many respects may be considered a nation of tailors.\n\nWhen at Sekomi's we generally have heard his praises sounded by a\nman who rises at break of day, and utters at the top of his voice the\noration which that ruler is said to have composed at his boguera. This\nrepetition of his \"leina\", or oration, is so pleasing to a chief, that\nhe generally sends a handsome present to the man who does it.\n\nJANUARY 28TH. Passing on to Letloche, about twenty miles beyond the\nBamangwato, we found a fine supply of water. This is a point of so much\ninterest in that country that the first question we ask of passers\nby is, \"Have you had water?\" the first inquiry a native puts to a\nfellow-countryman is, \"Where is the rain?\" and, though they are by\nno means an untruthful nation, the answer generally is, \"I don't\nknow--there is none--we are killed with hunger and by the sun.\" If news\nis asked for, they commence with, \"There is no news: I heard some lies\nonly,\" and then tell all they know.\n\nThis spot was Mr. Gordon Cumming's furthest station north. Our house\nat Kolobeng having been quite in the hunting-country, rhinoceros and\nbuffaloes several times rushed past, and I was able to shoot the latter\ntwice from our own door. We were favored by visits from this famous\nhunter during each of the five years of his warfare with wild animals.\nMany English gentlemen following the same pursuits paid their guides and\nassistants so punctually that in making arrangements for them we had to\nbe careful that four did not go where two only were wanted: they knew so\nwell that an Englishman would pay that they depended implicitly on\nhis word of honor, and not only would they go and hunt for five or six\nmonths in the north, enduring all the hardships of that trying mode\nof life, with little else but meat of game to subsist on, but they\nwillingly went seven hundred or eight hundred miles to Graham's Town,\nreceiving for wages only a musket worth fifteen shillings.\n\nNo one ever deceived them except one man; and as I believed that he was\nafflicted with a slight degree of the insanity of greediness, I upheld\nthe honor of the English name by paying his debts. As the guides of Mr.\nCumming were furnished through my influence, and usually got some strict\ncharges as to their behavior before parting, looking upon me in the\nlight of a father, they always came to give me an account of their\nservice, and told most of those hunting adventures which have since been\ngiven to the world, before we had the pleasure of hearing our friend\nrelate them himself by our own fireside. I had thus a tolerably good\nopportunity of testing their accuracy, and I have no hesitation in\nsaying that for those who love that sort of thing Mr. Cumming's book\nconveys a truthful idea of South African hunting. Some things in it\nrequire explanation, but the numbers of animals said to have been met\nwith and killed are by no means improbable, considering the amount of\nlarge game then in the country. Two other gentlemen hunting in the same\nregion destroyed in one season no fewer than seventy-eight rhinoceroses\nalone. Sportsmen, however, would not now find an equal number, for as\nguns are introduced among the tribes all these fine animals melt away\nlike snow in spring. In the more remote districts, where fire-arms have\nnot yet been introduced, with the single exception of the rhinoceros,\nthe game is to be found in numbers much greater than Mr. Cumming ever\nsaw. The tsetse is, however, an insuperable barrier to hunting with\nhorses there, and Europeans can do nothing on foot. The step of the\nelephant when charging the hunter, though apparently not quick, is so\nlong that the pace equals the speed of a good horse at a canter. A young\nsportsman, no matter how great among pheasants, foxes, and hounds, would\ndo well to pause before resolving to brave fever for the excitement\nof risking such a terrific charge; the scream or trumpeting of this\nenormous brute when infuriated is more like what the shriek of a French\nsteam-whistle would be to a man standing on the dangerous part of\na rail-road than any other earthly sound: a horse unused to it will\nsometimes stand shivering instead of taking his rider out of danger. It\nhas happened often that the poor animal's legs do their duty so badly\nthat he falls and causes his rider to be trodden into a mummy; or,\nlosing his presence of mind, the rider may allow the horse to dash under\na tree and crack his cranium against a branch. As one charge from\nan elephant has made embryo Nimrods bid a final adieu to the chase,\nincipient Gordon Cummings might try their nerves by standing on railways\ntill the engines were within a few yards of them. Hunting elephants on\nfoot would be not less dangerous,* unless the Ceylon mode of killing\nthem by one shot could be followed: it has never been tried in Africa.\n\n   * Since writing the above statement, it has received\n   confirmation in the reported death of Mr. Wahlberg while\n   hunting elephants on foot at Lake Ngami.\n\nAdvancing to some wells beyond Letloche, at a spot named Kanne, we\nfound them carefully hedged round by the people of a Bakalahari village\nsituated near the spot. We had then sixty miles of country in front\nwithout water, and very distressing for the oxen, as it is generally\ndeep soft sand. There is one sucking-place, around which were\ncongregated great numbers of Bushwomen with their egg-shells and reeds.\nMathuluane now contained no water, and Motlatsa only a small supply, so\nwe sent the oxen across the country to the deep well Nkauane, and half\nwere lost on the way. When found at last they had been five whole days\nwithout water. Very large numbers of elands were met with as usual,\nthough they seldom can get a sip of drink. Many of the plains here have\nlarge expanses of grass without trees, but you seldom see a treeless\nhorizon. The ostrich is generally seen quietly feeding on some spot\nwhere no one can approach him without being detected by his wary eye. As\nthe wagon moves along far to the windward he thinks it is intending to\ncircumvent him, so he rushes up a mile or so from the leeward, and so\nnear to the front oxen that one sometimes gets a shot at the silly bird.\nWhen he begins to run all the game in sight follow his example. I have\nseen this folly taken advantage of when he was feeding quietly in a\nvalley open at both ends. A number of men would commence running, as\nif to cut off his retreat from the end through which the wind came; and\nalthough he had the whole country hundreds of miles before him by going\nto the other end, on he madly rushed to get past the men, and so was\nspeared. He never swerves from the course he once adopts, but only\nincreases his speed.\n\nWhen the ostrich is feeding his pace is from twenty to twenty-two\ninches; when walking, but not feeding, it is twenty-six inches; and\nwhen terrified, as in the case noticed, it is from eleven and a half to\nthirteen and even fourteen feet in length. Only in one case was I at all\nsatisfied of being able to count the rate of speed by a stop-watch, and,\nif I am not mistaken, there were thirty in ten seconds; generally\none's eye can no more follow the legs than it can the spokes of a\ncarriage-wheel in rapid motion. If we take the above number, and twelve\nfeet stride as the average pace, we have a speed of twenty-six miles an\nhour. It can not be very much above that, and is therefore slower than\na railway locomotive. They are sometimes shot by the horseman making a\ncross cut to their undeviating course, but few Englishmen ever succeed\nin killing them.\n\nThe ostrich begins to lay her eggs before she has fixed on a spot for a\nnest, which is only a hollow a few inches deep in the sand, and about a\nyard in diameter. Solitary eggs, named by the Bechuanas \"lesetla\", are\nthus found lying forsaken all over the country, and become a prey to the\njackal. She seems averse to risking a spot for a nest, and often lays\nher eggs in that of another ostrich, so that as many as forty-five\nhave been found in one nest. Some eggs contain small concretions of the\nmatter which forms the shell, as occurs also in the egg of the common\nfowl: this has given rise to the idea of stones in the eggs. Both male\nand female assist in the incubations; but the numbers of females being\nalways greatest, it is probable that cases occur in which the females\nhave the entire charge. Several eggs lie out of the nest, and are\nthought to be intended as food for the first of the newly-hatched brood\ntill the rest come out and enable the whole to start in quest of food.\nI have several times seen newly-hatched young in charge of the cock,\nwho made a very good attempt at appearing lame in the plover fashion,\nin order to draw off the attention of pursuers. The young squat down\nand remain immovable when too small to run far, but attain a wonderful\ndegree of speed when about the size of common fowls. It can not be\nasserted that ostriches are polygamous, though they often appear to\nbe so. When caught they are easily tamed, but are of no use in their\ndomesticated state.\n\nThe egg is possessed of very great vital power. One kept in a room\nduring more than three months, in a temperature about 60 Deg., when\nbroken was found to have a partially-developed live chick in it. The\nBushmen carefully avoid touching the eggs, or leaving marks of human\nfeet near them, when they find a nest. They go up the wind to the\nspot, and with a long stick remove some of them occasionally, and, by\npreventing any suspicion, keep the hen laying on for months, as we do\nwith fowls. The eggs have a strong, disagreeable flavor, which only the\nkeen appetite of the Desert can reconcile one to. The Hottentots use\ntheir trowsers to carry home the twenty or twenty-five eggs usually\nfound in a nest; and it has happened that an Englishman, intending to\nimitate this knowing dodge, comes to the wagons with blistered legs,\nand, after great toil, finds all the eggs uneatable, from having been\nsome time sat upon. Our countrymen invariably do best when they continue\nto think, speak, and act in their own proper character.\n\nThe food of the ostrich consists of pods and seeds of different kinds\nof leguminous plants, with leaves of various plants; and, as these are\noften hard and dry, he picks up a great quantity of pebbles, many of\nwhich are as large as marbles. He picks up also some small bulbs, and\noccasionally a wild melon to afford moisture, for one was found with a\nmelon which had choked him by sticking in his throat. It requires the\nutmost address of the Bushmen, crawling for miles on their stomachs, to\nstalk them successfully; yet the quantity of feathers collected annually\nshows that the numbers slain must be considerable, as each bird has\nonly a few in the wings and tail. The male bird is of a jet black\nglossy color, with the single exception of the white feathers, which\nare objects of trade. Nothing can be finer than the adaptation of those\nflossy feathers for the climate of the Kalahari, where these birds\nabound; for they afford a perfect shade to the body, with free\nventilation beneath them. The hen ostrich is of a dark brownish-gray\ncolor, and so are the half-grown cocks.\n\nThe organs of vision in this bird are placed so high that he can detect\nan enemy at a great distance, but the lion sometimes kills him. The\nflesh is white and coarse, though, when in good condition, it resembles\nin some degree that of a tough turkey. It seeks safety in flight; but\nwhen pursued by dogs it may be seen to turn upon them and inflict a\nkick, which is vigorously applied, and sometimes breaks the dog's back.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 8.\n\nEffects of Missionary Efforts--Belief in the Deity--Ideas of the\nBakwains on Religion--Departure from their Country--Salt-pans--Sour\nCurd--Nchokotsa--Bitter Waters--Thirst suffered by the wild\nAnimals--Wanton Cruelty in Hunting--Ntwetwe--Mowana-trees--Their\nextraordinary Vitality--The Mopane-tree--The Morala--The Bushmen--Their\nSuperstitions--Elephant-hunting--Superiority of civilized\nover barbarous Sportsmen--The Chief Kaisa--His Fear of\nResponsibility--Beauty of the Country at Unku--The Mohonono Bush--Severe\nLabor in cutting our Way--Party seized with Fever--Escape of our\nCattle--Bakwain Mode of recapturing them--Vagaries of sick Servants--\nDiscovery of grape-bearing Vines--An Ant-eater--Difficulty of passing\nthrough the Forest--Sickness of my Companion--The Bushmen--Their\nMode of destroying Lions--Poisons--The solitary Hill--A picturesque\nValley--Beauty of the Country--Arrive at the Sanshureh River--The\nflooded Prairies--A pontooning Expedition--A night Bivouac--The Chobe--\nArrive at the Village of Moremi--Surprise of the Makololo at our sudden\nAppearance--Cross the Chobe on our way to Linyanti.\n\n\n\nThe Bakalahari, who live at Motlatsa wells, have always been very\nfriendly to us, and listen attentively to instruction conveyed to them\nin their own tongue. It is, however, difficult to give an idea to a\nEuropean of the little effect teaching produces, because no one can\nrealize the degradation to which their minds have been sunk by centuries\nof barbarism and hard struggling for the necessaries of life: like most\nothers, they listen with respect and attention, but, when we kneel down\nand address an unseen Being, the position and the act often appear\nto them so ridiculous that they can not refrain from bursting into\nuncontrollable laughter. After a few services they get over this\ntendency. I was once present when a missionary attempted to sing among a\nwild heathen tribe of Bechuanas, who had no music in their composition;\nthe effect on the risible faculties of the audience was such that the\ntears actually ran down their cheeks. Nearly all their thoughts are\ndirected to the supply of their bodily wants, and this has been the case\nwith the race for ages. If asked, then, what effect the preaching of the\nGospel has at the commencement on such individuals, I am unable to tell,\nexcept that some have confessed long afterward that they then first\nbegan to pray in secret. Of the effects of a long-continued course of\ninstruction there can be no reasonable doubt, as mere nominal belief\nhas never been considered sufficient proof of conversion by any body of\nmissionaries; and, after the change which has been brought about by this\nagency, we have good reason to hope well for the future--those I have\nmyself witnessed behaving in the manner described, when kindly treated\nin sickness often utter imploring words to Jesus, and I believe\nsometimes really do pray to him in their afflictions. As that great\nRedeemer of the guilty seeks to save all he can, we may hope that they\nfind mercy through His blood, though little able to appreciate the\nsacrifice He made. The indirect and scarcely appreciable blessings of\nChristian missionaries going about doing good are thus probably not so\ndespicable as some might imagine; there is no necessity for beginning to\ntell even the most degraded of these people of the existence of a God\nor of a future state, the facts being universally admitted. Every thing\nthat can not be accounted for by common causes is ascribed to the Deity,\nas creation, sudden death, etc. \"How curiously God made these things!\"\nis a common expression; as is also, \"He was not killed by disease, he\nwas killed by God.\" And, when speaking of the departed--though there\nis naught in the physical appearance of the dead to justify the\nexpression--they say, \"He has gone to the gods,\" the phrase being\nidentical with \"abiit ad plures\".\n\nOn questioning intelligent men among the Bakwains as to their former\nknowledge of good and evil, of God and the future state, they have\nscouted the idea of any of them ever having been without a tolerably\nclear conception on all these subjects. Respecting their sense of right\nand wrong, they profess that nothing we indicate as sin ever appeared to\nthem as otherwise, except the statement that it was wrong to have more\nwives than one; and they declare that they spoke in the same way of the\ndirect influence exercised by God in giving rain in answer to prayers\nof the rain-makers, and in granting deliverances in times of danger, as\nthey do now, before they ever heard of white men. The want, however,\nof any form of public worship, or of idols, or of formal prayers or\nsacrifice, make both Caffres and Bechuanas appear as among the most\ngodless races of mortals known any where. But, though they all possess a\ndistinct knowledge of a deity and of a future state, they show so little\nreverence, and feel so little connection with either, that it is\nnot surprising that some have supposed them entirely ignorant on the\nsubject. At Lotlakani we met an old Bushman who at first seemed to have\nno conception of morality whatever; when his heart was warmed by our\npresents of meat, he sat by the fire relating his early adventures:\namong these was killing five other Bushmen. \"Two,\" said he, counting on\nhis fingers, \"were females, one a male, and the other two calves.\" \"What\na villain you are, to boast of killing women and children of your own\nnation! what will God say when you appear before him?\" \"He will say,\"\nreplied he, \"that I was a very clever fellow.\" This man now appeared to\nme as without any conscience, and, of course, responsibility; but, on\ntrying to enlighten him by further conversation, I discovered that,\nthough he was employing the word that is used among the Bakwains when\nspeaking of the Deity, he had only the idea of a chief, and was all\nthe while referring to Sekomi, while his victims were a party of rebel\nBushmen against whom he had been sent. If I had known the name of God\nin the Bushman tongue the mistake could scarcely have occurred. It must,\nhowever, be recollected, while reflecting on the degradation of the\nnatives of South Africa, that the farther north, the more distinct do\nthe native ideas on religious subjects become, and I have not had any\nintercourse with either Caffres or Bushmen in their own tongues.\n\nLeaving Motlatsa on the 8th of February, 1853, we passed down the\nMokoko, which, in the memory of persons now living, was a flowing\nstream. We ourselves once saw a heavy thunder-shower make it assume\nits ancient appearance of running to the north. Between Lotlakani and\nNchokotsa we passed the small well named Orapa; and another called\nThutsa lay a little to our right--its water is salt and purgative;\nthe salt-pan Chuantsa, having a cake of salt one inch and a half in\nthickness, is about ten miles to the northeast of Orapa. This deposit\ncontains a bitter salt in addition, probably the nitrate of lime; the\nnatives, in order to render it palatable and wholesome, mix the salt\nwith the juice of a gummy plant, then place it in the sand and bake it\nby making a fire over it; the lime then becomes insoluble and tasteless.\n\nThe Bamangwato keep large flocks of sheep and goats at various spots on\nthis side of the Desert. They thrive wonderfully well wherever salt\nand bushes are to be found. The milk of goats does not coagulate with\nfacility, like that of cows, on account of its richness; but the natives\nhave discovered that the infusion of the fruit of a solanaceous plant,\nToluane, quickly produces the effect. The Bechuanas put their milk into\nsacks made of untanned hide, with the hair taken off. Hung in the sun,\nit soon coagulates; the whey is then drawn off by a plug at the bottom,\nand fresh milk added, until the sack is full of a thick, sour curd,\nwhich, when one becomes used to it, is delicious. The rich mix this\nin the porridge into which they convert their meal, and, as it is thus\nrendered nutritious and strength-giving, an expression of scorn is\nsometimes heard respecting the poor or weak, to the effect that \"they\nare water-porridge men.\" It occupies the place of our roast beef.\n\nAt Nchokotsa, the rainy season having this year been delayed beyond the\nusual time, we found during the day the thermometer stand at 96 Deg.\nin the coolest possible shade. This height at Kolobeng always portended\nrain at hand. At Kuruman, when it rises above 84 Deg., the same\nphenomenon may be considered near; while farther north it rises above\n100 Deg. before the cooling influence of the evaporation from rain may\nbe expected. Here the bulb of the thermometer, placed two inches beneath\nthe soil, stood at 128 Deg. All around Nchokotsa the country looked\nparched, and the glare from the white efflorescence which covers the\nextensive pans on all sides was most distressing to the eyes. The water\nof Nchokotsa was bitter, and presented indications not to be mistaken\nof having passed through animal systems before. All these waters contain\nnitrates, which stimulate the kidneys and increase the thirst. The fresh\nadditions of water required in cooking meat, each imparting its own\nportion of salt, make one grumble at the cook for putting too much\nseasoning in, while in fact he has put in none at all, except that\ncontained in the water. Of bitter, bad, disgusting waters I have drunk\nnot a few nauseous draughts; you may try alum, vitriol, boiling, etc.,\netc., to convince yourself that you are not more stupid than travelers\nyou will meet at home, but the ammonia and other salts are there still;\nand the only remedy is to get away as quickly as possible to the north.\n\nWe dug out several wells; and as we had on each occasion to wait till\nthe water flowed in again, and then allow our cattle to feed a day or\ntwo and slake their thirst thoroughly, as far as that could be done,\nbefore starting, our progress was but slow. At Koobe there was such a\nmass of mud in the pond, worked up by the wallowing rhinoceros to the\nconsistency of mortar, that only by great labor could we get a space\ncleared at one side for the water to ooze through and collect in for the\noxen. Should the rhinoceros come back, a single roll in the great mass\nwe had thrown on one side would have rendered all our labor vain. It was\ntherefore necessary for us to guard the spot at night. On these great\nflats all around we saw in the white sultry glare herds of zebras, gnus,\nand occasionally buffaloes, standing for days, looking wistfully toward\nthe wells for a share of the nasty water. It is mere wanton cruelty to\ntake advantage of the necessities of these poor animals, and shoot them\ndown one after another, without intending to make the smallest use of\neither the flesh, skins, or horns. In shooting by night, animals are\nmore frequently wounded than killed; the flowing life-stream increases\nthe thirst, so that in desperation they come slowly up to drink in spite\nof the danger, \"I must drink, though I die.\" The ostrich, even when not\nwounded, can not, with all his wariness, resist the excessive desire to\nslake his burning thirst. It is Bushman-like practice to take advantage\nof its piteous necessities, for most of the feathers they obtain\nare procured in this way; but they eat the flesh, and are so far\njustifiable.\n\nI could not order my men to do what I would not do myself, but, though I\ntried to justify myself on the plea of necessity, I could not adopt this\nmode of hunting. If your object is to secure the best specimens for\na museum, it may be allowable, and even deserving of commendation, as\nevincing a desire to kill only those really wanted; but if, as has been\npracticed by some Griquas and others who came into the country after Mr.\nCumming, and fired away indiscriminately, great numbers of animals are\nwounded and allowed to perish miserably, or are killed on the spot\nand left to be preyed on by vultures and hyenas, and all for the sole\npurpose of making a \"bag\", then I take it to be evident that such\nsportsmen are pretty far gone in the hunting form of insanity.\n\nMy men shot a black rhinoceros in this way, and I felt glad to get away\nfrom the only place in which I ever had any share in night-hunting.\nWe passed over the immense pan Ntwetwe, on which the latitude could\nbe taken as at sea. Great tracts of this part of the country are of\ncalcareous tufa, with only a thin coating of soil; numbers of \"baobab\"\nand \"mopane\" trees abound all over this hard, smooth surface. About\ntwo miles beyond the northern bank of the pan we unyoked under a fine\nspecimen of the baobab, here called, in the language of Bechuanas,\nMowana; it consisted of six branches united into one trunk. At three\nfeet from the ground it was eighty-five feet in circumference.\n\nThese mowana-trees are the most wonderful examples of vitality in the\ncountry; it was therefore with surprise that we came upon a dead one\nat Tlomtla, a few miles beyond this spot. It is the same as those which\nAdamson and others believed, from specimens seen in Western Africa,\nto have been alive before the flood. Arguing with a peculiar mental\nidiosyncracy resembling color-blindness, common among the French of the\ntime, these savans came to the conclusion that \"therefore there never\nwas any flood at all.\" I would back a true mowana against a dozen\nfloods, provided you do not boil it in hot sea-water; but I can not\nbelieve that any of those now alive had a chance of being subjected to\nthe experiment of even the Noachian deluge. The natives make a strong\ncord from the fibres contained in the pounded bark. The whole of the\ntrunk, as high as they can reach, is consequently often quite denuded of\nits covering, which in the case of almost any other tree would cause its\ndeath, but this has no effect on the mowana except to make it throw out\na new bark, which is done in the way of granulation. This stripping of\nthe bark is repeated frequently, so that it is common to see the lower\nfive or six feet an inch or two less in diameter than the parts above;\neven portions of the bark which have broken in the process of being\ntaken off, but remain separated from the parts below, though still\nconnected with the tree above, continue to grow, and resemble closely\nmarks made in the necks of the cattle of the island of Mull and of\nCaffre oxen, where a piece of skin is detached and allowed to hang down.\nNo external injury, not even a fire, can destroy this tree from without;\nnor can any injury be done from within, as it is quite common to find it\nhollow; and I have seen one in which twenty or thirty men could lie down\nand sleep as in a hut. Nor does cutting down exterminate it, for I saw\ninstances in Angola in which it continued to grow in length after it\nwas lying on the ground. Those trees called exogenous grow by means\nof successive layers on the outside. The inside may be dead, or even\nremoved altogether, without affecting the life of the tree. This is the\ncase with most of the trees of our climate. The other class is called\nendogenous, and increases by layers applied to the inside; and when\nthe hollow there is full, the growth is stopped--the tree must die.\nAny injury is felt most severely by the first class on the bark; by the\nsecond on the inside; while the inside of the exogenous may be removed,\nand the outside of the endogenous may be cut, without stopping the\ngrowth in the least. The mowana possesses the powers of both. The reason\nis that each of the laminae possesses its own independent vitality; in\nfact, the baobab is rather a gigantic bulb run up to seed than a tree.\nEach of eighty-four concentric rings had, in the case mentioned, grown\nan inch after the tree had been blown over. The roots, which may often\nbe observed extending along the surface of the ground forty or fifty\nyards from the trunk, also retain their vitality after the tree is laid\nlow; and the Portuguese now know that the best way to treat them is to\nlet them alone, for they occupy much more room when cut down than when\ngrowing.\n\nThe wood is so spongy and soft that an axe can be struck in so far with\na good blow that there is great difficulty in pulling it out again.\nIn the dead mowana mentioned the concentric rings were well seen. The\naverage for a foot at three different places was eighty-one and a half\nof these rings. Each of the laminae can be seen to be composed of two,\nthree, or four layers of ligneous tubes; but supposing each ring the\ngrowth of one year, and the semidiameter of a mowana of one hundred feet\nin circumference about seventeen feet, if the central point were in the\ncentre of the tree, then its age would lack some centuries of being as\nold as the Christian era (1400). Though it possesses amazing vitality,\nit is difficult to believe that this great baby-looking bulb or tree is\nas old as the Pyramids.\n\nThe mopane-tree ('bauhinia') is remarkable for the little shade its\nleaves afford. They fold together and stand nearly perpendicular during\nthe heat of the day, so that only the shadow of their edges comes to\nthe ground. On these leaves the small larvae of a winged insect appear\ncovered over with a sweet, gummy substance. The people collect this\nin great quantities, and use it as food;* and the lopane--large\ncaterpillars three inches long, which feed on the leaves, and are seen\nstrung together--share the same fate.\n\n   * I am favored with Mr. Westwood's remarks on this insect as\n   follows:\n\n   \"Taylor Institution, Oxford, July 9, 1857.\n\n   \"The insect (and its secretion) on the leaves of the bauhinia,\n   and which is eaten by the Africans, proves to be a species of\n   Psylla, a genus of small, very active Homoptera, of which we\n   have one very common species in the box; but our species,\n   Psylla buxi, emits its secretion in the shape of very long,\n   white, cotton-like filaments. But there is a species in New\n   Holland, found on the leaves of the Eucalyptus, which emits a\n   secretion very similar to that of Dr. Livingstone's species.\n   This Australian secretion (and its insect originator) is known\n   by the name of wo-me-la, and, like Dr. Livingstone's, it is\n   scraped off the leaves and eaten by the aborigines as a\n   saccharine dainty.  The insects found beneath the secretion,\n   brought home by Dr. Livingstone, are in the pupa state, being\n   flattened, with large scales at the sides of the body,\n   inclosing the future wings of the insect. The body is pale\n   yellowish-colored, with dark-brown spots. It will be\n   impossible to describe the species technically until we\n   receive the perfect insect.  The secretion itself is flat and\n   circular, apparently deposited in concentric rings, gradually\n   increasing in size till the patches are about a quarter or a\n   third of an inch in diameter.\n\n   Jno. O. Westwood.\"\n\nIn passing along we see every where the power of vegetation in breaking\nup the outer crust of tufa. A mopane-tree, growing in a small chink, as\nit increases in size rends and lifts up large fragments of the rock\nall around it, subjecting them to the disintegrating influence of the\natmosphere. The wood is hard, and of a fine red color, and is named\niron-wood by the Portuguese. The inhabitants, observing that the\nmopane is more frequently struck by lightning than other trees,\ncaution travelers never to seek its shade when a thunder-storm is\nnear--\"Lightning hates it;\" while another tree, the \"Morala\", which has\nthree spines opposite each other on the branches, and has never been\nknown to be touched by lightning, is esteemed, even as far as Angola, a\nprotection against the electric fluid. Branches of it may be seen placed\non the houses of the Portuguese for the same purpose. The natives,\nmoreover, believe that a man is thoroughly protected from an enraged\nelephant if he can get into the shade of this tree. There may not be\nmuch in this, but there is frequently some foundation of truth in their\nobservations.\n\nAt Rapesh we came among our old friends the Bushmen, under Horoye. This\nman, Horoye, a good specimen of that tribe, and his son Mokantsa and\nothers, were at least six feet high, and of a darker color than the\nBushmen of the south. They have always plenty of food and water; and as\nthey frequent the Zouga as often as the game in company with which they\nlive, their life is very different from that of the inhabitants of the\nthirsty plains of the Kalahari. The animal they refrain from eating is\nthe goat, which fact, taken in connection with the superstitious dread\nwhich exists in every tribe toward a particular animal, is significant\nof their feelings to the only animals they could have domesticated in\ntheir desert home. They are a merry laughing set, and do not tell lies\nwantonly. They have in their superstitious rites more appearance of\nworship than the Bechuanas; and at a Bushman's grave we once came to on\nthe Zouga, the observances showed distinctly that they regarded the\ndead as still in another state of being; for they addressed him, and\nrequested him not to be offended even though they wished still to remain\na little while longer in this world.\n\nThose among whom we now were kill many elephants, and when the moon is\nfull choose that time for the chase, on account of its coolness. Hunting\nthis animal is the best test of courage this country affords. The\nBushmen choose the moment succeeding a charge, when the elephant is out\nof breath, to run in and give him a stab with their long-bladed spears.\nIn this case the uncivilized have the advantage over us, but I believe\nthat with half their training Englishmen would beat the Bushmen. Our\npresent form of civilization does not necessarily produce effeminacy,\nthough it unquestionably increases the beauty, courage, and physical\npowers of the race. When at Kolobeng I took notes of the different\nnumbers of elephants killed in the course of the season by the various\nparties which went past our dwelling, in order to form an idea of the\nprobable annual destruction of this noble animal. There were parties of\nGriquas, Bechuanas, Boers, and Englishmen. All were eager to distinguish\nthemselves, and success depended mainly on the courage which leads the\nhuntsman to go close to the animal, and not waste the force of his shot\non the air. It was noticeable that the average for the natives was under\none per man, for the Griquas one per man, for the Boers two, and for\nthe English officers twenty each. This was the more remarkable, as the\nGriquas, Boers, and Bechuanas employed both dogs and natives to assist\nthem, while the English hunters generally had no assistance from either.\nThey approached to within thirty yards of the animal, while the others\nstood at a distance of a hundred yards, or even more, and of course\nspent all the force of their bullets on the air. One elephant was found\nby Mr. Oswell with quite a crowd of bullets in his side, all evidently\nfired in this style, and they had not gone near the vital parts.\n\nIt would thus appear that our more barbarous neighbors do not possess\nhalf the courage of the civilized sportsman. And it is probable that in\nthis respect, as well as in physical development, we are superior to our\nancestors. The coats of mail and greaves of the Knights of Malta, and\nthe armor from the Tower exhibited at the Eglinton tournament, may be\nconsidered decisive as to the greater size attained by modern civilized\nmen.\n\nAt Maila we spent a Sunday with Kaisa, the head man of a village of\nMashona, who had fled from the iron sway of Mosilikatse, whose country\nlies east of this. I wished him to take charge of a packet of letters\nfor England, to be forwarded when, as is the custom of the Bamangwato,\nthe Bechuanas come hither in search of skins and food among the Bushmen;\nbut he could not be made to comprehend that there was no danger in the\nconsignment. He feared the responsibility and guilt if any thing should\nhappen to them; so I had to bid adieu to all hope of letting my family\nhear of my welfare till I should reach the west coast.\n\nAt Unku we came into a tract of country which had been visited by\nrefreshing showers long before, and every spot was covered with grass\nrun up to seed, and the flowers of the forest were in full bloom.\nInstead of the dreary prospect around Koobe and Nchokotsa, we had here a\ndelightful scene, all the ponds full of water, and the birds twittering\njoyfully. As the game can now obtain water every where, they become very\nshy, and can not be found in their accustomed haunts.\n\n1ST MARCH. The thermometer in the shade generally stood at 98 Degrees\nfrom 1 to 3 P.M., but it sank as low as 65 Deg. by night, so that the\nheat was by no means exhausting. At the surface of the ground, in the\nsun, the thermometer marked 125 Deg., and three inches below it 138 Deg.\nThe hand can not be held on the ground, and even the horny soles of the\nfeet of the natives must be protected by sandals of hide; yet the ants\nwere busy working on it. The water in the ponds was as high as 100 Deg.;\nbut as water does not conduct heat readily downward, deliciously cool\nwater may be obtained by any one walking into the middle and lifting up\nthe water from the bottom to the surface with his hands.\n\nProceeding to the north, from Kama-kama, we entered into dense Mohonono\nbush, which required the constant application of the axe by three of our\nparty for two days. This bush has fine silvery leaves, and the bark has\na sweet taste. The elephant, with his usual delicacy of taste, feeds\nmuch on it. On emerging into the plains beyond, we found a number of\nBushmen, who afterward proved very serviceable. The rains had been\ncopious, but now great numbers of pools were drying up. Lotus-plants\nabounded in them, and a low, sweet-scented plant covered their banks.\nBreezes came occasionally to us from these drying-up pools, but the\npleasant odor they carried caused sneezing in both myself and people;\nand on the 10th of March (when in lat. 19d 16' 11\" S., long. 24d 24' E.)\nwe were brought to a stand by four of the party being seized with fever.\nI had seen this disease before, but did not at once recognize it as the\nAfrican fever; I imagined it was only a bilious attack, arising from\nfull feeding on flesh, for, the large game having been very abundant, we\nalways had a good supply; but instead of the first sufferers recovering\nsoon, every man of our party was in a few days laid low, except a\nBakwain and myself. He managed the oxen, while I attended to the wants\nof the patients, and went out occasionally with the Bushmen to get a\nzebra or buffalo, so as to induce them to remain with us.\n\nHere for the first time I had leisure to follow the instructions of my\nkind teacher, Mr. Maclear, and calculated several longitudes from lunar\ndistances. The hearty manner in which that eminent astronomer and frank,\nfriendly man had promised to aid me in calculating and verifying my\nwork, conduced more than any thing else to inspire me with perseverance\nin making astronomical observations throughout the journey.\n\nThe grass here was so tall that the oxen became uneasy, and one night\nthe sight of a hyaena made them rush away into the forest to the east\nof us. On rising on the morning of the 19th, I found that my Bakwain\nlad had run away with them. This I have often seen with persons of this\ntribe, even when the cattle are startled by a lion. Away go the young\nmen in company with them, and dash through bush and brake for miles,\ntill they think the panic is a little subsided; they then commence\nwhistling to the cattle in the manner they do when milking the cows:\nhaving calmed them, they remain as a guard till the morning. The men\ngenerally return with their shins well peeled by the thorns. Each\ncomrade of the Mopato would expect his fellow to act thus, without\nlooking for any other reward than the brief praise of the chief. Our\nlad, Kibopechoe, had gone after the oxen, but had lost them in the rush\nthrough the flat, trackless forest. He remained on their trail all the\nnext day and all the next night. On Sunday morning, as I was setting off\nin search of him, I found him near the wagon. He had found the oxen late\nin the afternoon of Saturday, and had been obliged to stand by them all\nnight. It was wonderful how he managed without a compass, and in such\na country, to find his way home at all, bringing about forty oxen with\nhim.\n\nThe Bechuanas will keep on the sick-list as long as they feel any\nweakness; so I at last began to be anxious that they should make\na little exertion to get forward on our way. One of them, however,\nhappening to move a hundred yards from the wagon, fell down, and,\nbeing unobserved, remained the whole night in the pouring rain totally\ninsensible; another was subjected to frequent swooning; but, making beds\nin the wagons for these our worst cases, with the help of the Bakwain\nand the Bushmen, we moved slowly on. We had to nurse the sick like\nchildren; and, like children recovering from illness, the better they\nbecame the more impudent they grew. This was seen in the peremptory\norders they would give with their now piping voices. Nothing that we did\npleased them; and the laughter with which I received their ebullitions,\nthough it was only the real expression of gladness at their recovery,\nand amusement at the ridiculous part they acted, only increased their\nchagrin. The want of power in the man who guided the two front oxen, or,\nas he was called, the \"leader\", caused us to be entangled with trees,\nboth standing and fallen, and the labor of cutting them down was even\nmore severe than ordinary; but, notwithstanding an immense amount of\ntoil, my health continued good.\n\nWe wished to avoid the tsetse of our former path, so kept a course on\nthe magnetic meridian from Lurilopepe. The necessity of making a new\npath much increased our toil. We were, however, rewarded in lat. 18\nDegrees with a sight we had not enjoyed the year before, namely, large\npatches of grape-bearing vines. There they stood before my eyes; but the\nsight was so entirely unexpected that I stood some time gazing at the\nclusters of grapes with which they were loaded, with no more thought of\nplucking than if I had been beholding them in a dream. The Bushmen know\nand eat them; but they are not well flavored on account of the great\nastringency of the seeds, which are in shape and size like split peas.\nThe elephants are fond of the fruit, plant, and root alike. I here found\nan insect which preys on ants; it is about an inch and a quarter long,\nas thick as a crow-quill, and covered with black hair. It puts its head\ninto a little hole in the ground, and quivers its tail rapidly; the ants\ncome near to see it, and it snaps up each as he comes within the range\nof the forceps on its tail. As its head is beneath the ground, it\nbecomes a question how it can guide its tail to the ants. It is probably\na new species of ant-lion ('Myrmeleon formicaleo'), great numbers of\nwhich, both in the larvae and complete state, are met with. The ground\nunder every tree is dotted over with their ingenious pitfalls, and the\nperfect insect, the form of which most persons are familiar with in the\ndragon-fly, may be seen using its tail in the same active manner as\nthis insect did. Two may be often seen joined in their flight, the\none holding on by the tail-forceps to the neck of the other. On first\nobserving this imperfect insect, I imagined the forceps were on its\nhead; but when the insect moved, their true position was seen.\n\nThe forest, through which we were slowly toiling, daily became more\ndense, and we were kept almost constantly at work with the axe; there\nwas much more leafiness in the trees here than farther south. The leaves\nare chiefly of the pinnate and bi-pinnate forms, and are exceedingly\nbeautiful when seen against the sky; a great variety of the\npapilionaceous family grow in this part of the country.\n\nFleming had until this time always assisted to drive his own wagon, but\nabout the end of March he knocked up, as well as his people. As I could\nnot drive two wagons, I shared with him the remaining water, half a\ncaskful, and went on, with the intention of coming back for him as\nsoon as we should reach the next pool. Heavy rain now commenced; I was\nemployed the whole day in cutting down trees, and every stroke of the\naxe brought down a thick shower on my back, which in the hard work was\nvery refreshing, as the water found its way down into my shoes. In the\nevening we met some Bushmen, who volunteered to show us a pool; and\nhaving unyoked, I walked some miles in search of it. As it became dark\nthey showed their politeness--a quality which is by no means confined\nentirely to the civilized--by walking in front, breaking the branches\nwhich hung across the path, and pointing out the fallen trees. On\nreturning to the wagon, we found that being left alone had brought out\nsome of Fleming's energy, for he had managed to come up.\n\nAs the water in this pond dried up, we were soon obliged to move again.\nOne of the Bushmen took out his dice, and, after throwing them, said\nthat God told him to go home. He threw again in order to show me the\ncommand, but the opposite result followed; so he remained and was\nuseful, for we lost the oxen again by a lion driving them off to a very\ngreat distance. The lions here are not often heard. They seem to have\na wholesome dread of the Bushmen, who, when they observe evidence of a\nlion's having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly that\nhis slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a poisoned arrow from a\ndistance of only a few feet, while his companion simultaneously throws\nhis skin cloak on the beast's head. The sudden surprise makes the lion\nlose his presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest confusion\nand terror. Our friends here showed me the poison which they use on\nthese occasions. It is the entrails of a caterpillar called N'gwa, half\nan inch long. They squeeze out these, and place them all around the\nbottom of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. They are\nvery careful in cleaning their nails after working with it, as a small\nportion introduced into a scratch acts like morbid matter in dissection\nwounds. The agony is so great that the person cuts himself, calls for\nhis mother's breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood\nagain, or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The effects\non the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moaning in distress, and\nbecomes furious, biting the trees and ground in rage.\n\nAs the Bushmen have the reputation of curing the wounds of this poison,\nI asked how this was effected. They said that they administer the\ncaterpillar itself in combination with fat; they also rub fat into the\nwound, saying that \"the N'gwa wants fat, and, when it does not find\nit in the body, kills the man: we give it what it wants, and it is\ncontent:\" a reason which will commend itself to the enlightened among\nourselves.\n\nThe poison more generally employed is the milky juice of the tree\nEuphorbia ('E. arborescens'). This is particularly obnoxious to the\nequine race. When a quantity is mixed with the water of a pond a whole\nherd of zebras will fall dead from the effects of the poison before they\nhave moved away two miles. It does not, however, kill oxen or men. On\nthem it acts as a drastic purgative only. This substance is used all\nover the country, though in some places the venom of serpents and a\ncertain bulb, 'Amaryllis toxicaria', are added, in order to increase the\nvirulence.\n\nFather Pedro, a Jesuit, who lived at Zumbo, made a balsam, containing a\nnumber of plants and CASTOR OIL, as a remedy for poisoned arrow-wounds.\nIt is probable that he derived his knowledge from the natives as I\ndid, and that the reputed efficacy of the balsam is owing to its fatty\nconstituent.\n\nIn cases of the bites of serpents a small key ought to be pressed\ndown firmly on the wound, the orifice of the key being applied to the\npuncture, until a cupping-glass can be got from one of the natives. A\nwatch-key pressed firmly on the point stung by a scorpion extracts the\npoison, and a mixture of fat or oil and ipecacuanha relieves the pain.\n\nThe Bushmen of these districts are generally fine, well-made men, and\nare nearly independent of every one. We observed them to be fond of\na root somewhat like a kidney potato, and the kernel of a nut, which\nFleming thought was a kind of betel; the tree is a fine, large-spreading\none, and the leaves palmate. From the quantities of berries and the\nabundance of game in these parts, the Bushmen can scarcely ever be\nbadly off for food. As I could, without much difficulty, keep them well\nsupplied with meat, and wished them to remain, I proposed that they\nshould bring their wives to get a share, but they remarked that the\nwomen could always take care of themselves.\n\nNone of the men of our party had died, but two seemed unlikely to\nrecover; and Kibopechoe, my willing Mokwain, at last became troubled\nwith boils, and then got all the symptoms of fever. As he lay down, the\nothers began to move about, and complained of weakness only. Believing\nthat frequent change of place was conducive to their recovery, we moved\nalong as much as we could, and came to the hill N'gwa (lat. 18d 27' 20\"\nS., long. 24d 13' 36\" E.). This being the only hill we had seen since\nleaving Bamangwato, we felt inclined to take off our hats to it. It\nis three or four hundred feet high, and covered with trees. Its\ngeographical position is pretty accurately laid down from occultation\nand other observations. I may mention that the valley on its northern\nside, named Kandehy or Kandehai, is as picturesque a spot as is to be\nseen in this part of Africa. The open glade, surrounded by forest trees\nof various hues, had a little stream meandering in the centre. A herd\nof reddish-colored antelopes (pallahs) stood on one side, near a\nlarge baobab, looking at us, and ready to run up the hill; while gnus,\ntsessebes, and zebras gazed in astonishment at the intruders. Some fed\ncarelessly, and others put on the peculiar air of displeasure which\nthese animals sometimes assume before they resolve on flight. A large\nwhite rhinoceros came along the bottom of the valley with his slow\nsauntering gait without noticing us; he looked as if he meant to indulge\nin a mud bath. Several buffaloes, with their dark visages, stood under\nthe trees on the side opposite to the pallahs. It being Sunday, all was\npeace, and, from the circumstances in which our party was placed, we\ncould not but reflect on that second stage of our existence which we\nhope will lead us into scenes of perfect beauty. If pardoned in that\nfree way the Bible promises, death will be a glorious thing; but to be\nconsigned to wait for the Judgment-day, with nothing else to ponder on\nbut sins we would rather forget, is a cheerless prospect.\n\nOur Bushmen wished to leave us, and, as there was no use in trying to\nthwart these independent gentlemen, I paid them, and allowed them to go.\nThe payment, however, acted as a charm on some strangers who happened to\nbe present, and induced them to volunteer their aid.\n\nThe game hereabouts is very tame. Koodoos and giraffes stood gazing\nat me as a strange apparition when I went out with the Bushmen. On one\noccasion a lion came at daybreak, and went round and round the oxen. I\ncould only get a glimpse of him occasionally from the wagon-box; but,\nthough barely thirty yards off, I could not get a shot. He then began to\nroar at the top of his voice; but the oxen continuing to stand still, he\nwas so disgusted that he went off, and continued to use his voice for a\nlong time in the distance. I could not see that he had a mane; if he\nhad not, then even the maneless variety can use their tongues. We heard\nothers also roar; and, when they found they could not frighten the oxen,\nthey became equally angry. This we could observe in their tones.\n\nAs we went north the country became very lovely; many new trees\nappeared; the grass was green, and often higher than the wagons; the\nvines festooned the trees, among which appeared the real banian ('Ficus\nIndica'), with its drop-shoots, and the wild date and palmyra, and\nseveral other trees which were new to me; the hollows contained large\npatches of water. Next came water-courses, now resembling small rivers,\ntwenty yards broad and four feet deep. The further we went, the broader\nand deeper these became; their bottoms contained great numbers of deep\nholes, made by elephants wading in them; in these the oxen floundered\ndesperately, so that our wagon-pole broke, compelling us to work up to\nthe breast in water for three hours and a half; yet I suffered no harm.\n\nWe at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an impassable barrier,\nso we drew up under a magnificent baobab-tree, (lat. 18d 4' 27\" S.,\nlong. 24d 6' 20\" E.), and resolved to explore the river for a ford. The\ngreat quantity of water we had passed through was part of the annual\ninundation of the Chobe; and this, which appeared a large, deep river,\nfilled in many parts with reeds, and having hippopotami in it, is only\none of the branches by which it sends its superabundant water to the\nsoutheast. From the hill N'gwa a ridge of higher land runs to the\nnortheast, and bounds its course in that direction. We, being ignorant\nof this, were in the valley, and the only gap in the whole country\ndestitute of tsetse. In company with the Bushmen I explored all the\nbanks of the Sanshureh to the west till we came into tsetse on that\nside. We waded a long way among the reeds in water breast deep, but\nalways found a broad, deep space free from vegetation and unfordable. A\npeculiar kind of lichen, which grows on the surface of the soil, becomes\ndetached and floats on the water, giving out a very disagreeable odor,\nlike sulphureted hydrogen, in some of these stagnant waters.\n\nWe made so many attempts to get over the Sanshureh, both to the west and\neast of the wagon, in the hope of reaching some of the Makololo on the\nChobe, that my Bushmen friends became quite tired of the work. By means\nof presents I got them to remain some days; but at last they slipped\naway by night, and I was fain to take one of the strongest of my still\nweak companions and cross the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains\nCodrington and Webb. We each carried some provisions and a blanket, and\npenetrated about twenty miles to the westward, in the hope of striking\nthe Chobe. It was much nearer to us in a northerly direction, but this\nwe did not then know. The plain, over which we splashed the whole of\nthe first day, was covered with water ankle deep, and thick grass which\nreached above the knees. In the evening we came to an immense wall\nof reeds, six or eight feet high, without any opening admitting of a\npassage. When we tried to enter, the water always became so deep that we\nwere fain to desist. We concluded that we had come to the banks of the\nriver we were in search of, so we directed our course to some trees\nwhich appeared in the south, in order to get a bed and a view of the\nadjacent locality. Having shot a leche, and made a glorious fire, we\ngot a good cup of tea and had a comfortable night. While collecting\nwood that evening, I found a bird's nest consisting of live leaves sewn\ntogether with threads of the spider's web. Nothing could exceed the\nairiness of this pretty contrivance; the threads had been pushed through\nsmall punctures and thickened to resemble a knot. I unfortunately\nlost it. This was the second nest I had seen resembling that of the\ntailor-bird of India.\n\nNext morning, by climbing the highest trees, we could see a fine large\nsheet of water, but surrounded on all sides by the same impenetrable\nbelt of reeds. This is the broad part of the River Chobe, and is called\nZabesa. Two tree-covered islands seemed to be much nearer to the water\nthan the shore on which we were, so we made an attempt to get to them\nfirst. It was not the reeds alone we had to pass through; a peculiar\nserrated grass, which at certain angles cut the hands like a razor, was\nmingled with the reed, and the climbing convolvulus, with stalks which\nfelt as strong as whipcord, bound the mass together. We felt like\npigmies in it, and often the only way we could get on was by both of us\nleaning against a part and bending it down till we could stand upon\nit. The perspiration streamed off our bodies, and as the sun rose high,\nthere being no ventilation among the reeds, the heat was stifling, and\nthe water, which was up to the knees, felt agreeably refreshing. After\nsome hours' toil we reached one of the islands. Here we met an old\nfriend, the bramble-bush. My strong moleskins were quite worn through\nat the knees, and the leather trowsers of my companion were torn and his\nlegs bleeding. Tearing my handkerchief in two, I tied the pieces round\nmy knees, and then encountered another difficulty. We were still forty\nor fifty yards from the clear water, but now we were opposed by great\nmasses of papyrus, which are like palms in miniature, eight or ten feet\nhigh, and an inch and a half in diameter. These were laced together by\ntwining convolvulus, so strongly that the weight of both of us could not\nmake way into the clear water. At last we fortunately found a passage\nprepared by a hippopotamus. Eager as soon as we reached the island to\nlook along the vista to clear water, I stepped in and found it took me\nat once up to the neck.\n\nReturning nearly worn out, we proceeded up the bank of the Chobe till we\ncame to the point of departure of the branch Sanshureh; we then went in\nthe opposite direction, or down the Chobe, though from the highest trees\nwe could see nothing but one vast expanse of reed, with here and there\na tree on the islands. This was a hard day's work; and when we came to a\ndeserted Bayeiye hut on an ant-hill, not a bit of wood or any thing\nelse could be got for a fire except the grass and sticks of the dwelling\nitself. I dreaded the \"Tampans\", so common in all old huts; but\noutside of it we had thousands of mosquitoes, and cold dew began to be\ndeposited, so we were fain to crawl beneath its shelter.\n\nWe were close to the reeds, and could listen to the strange sounds which\nare often heard there. By day I had seen water-snakes putting up their\nheads and swimming about. There were great numbers of otters ('Lutra\ninunguis', F. Cuvier), which have made little spoors all over the plains\nin search of the fishes, among the tall grass of these flooded prairies;\ncurious birds, too, jerked and wriggled among these reedy masses, and we\nheard human-like voices and unearthly sounds, with splash, guggle,\njupp, as if rare fun were going on in their uncouth haunts. At one\ntime something came near us, making a splashing like that of a canoe or\nhippopotamus; thinking it to be the Makololo, we got up, listened, and\nshouted; then discharged a gun several times; but the noise continued\nwithout intermission for an hour. After a damp, cold night we set to,\nearly in the morning, at our work of exploring again, but left the\npontoon in order to lighten our labor. The ant-hills are here very high,\nsome thirty feet, and of a base so broad that trees grow on them; while\nthe lands, annually flooded, bear nothing but grass. From one of these\nant-hills we discovered an inlet to the Chobe; and, having gone back for\nthe pontoon, we launched ourselves on a deep river, here from eighty to\none hundred yards wide. I gave my companion strict injunctions to stick\nby the pontoon in case a hippopotamus should look at us; nor was this\ncaution unnecessary, for one came up at our side and made a desperate\nplunge off. We had passed over him. The wave he made caused the pontoon\nto glide quickly away from him.\n\nWe paddled on from midday till sunset. There was nothing but a wall of\nreed on each bank, and we saw every prospect of spending a supperless\nnight in our float; but just as the short twilight of these parts was\ncommencing, we perceived on the north bank the village of Moremi, one of\nthe Makololo, whose acquaintance I had made on our former visit, and\nwho was now located on the island Mahonta (lat. 17d 58' S., long. 24d 6'\nE.). The villagers looked as we may suppose people do who see a ghost,\nand in their figurative way of speaking said, \"He has dropped among\nus from the clouds, yet came riding on the back of a hippopotamus! We\nMakololo thought no one could cross the Chobe without our knowledge, but\nhere he drops among us like a bird.\"\n\nNext day we returned in canoes across the flooded lands, and found that,\nin our absence, the men had allowed the cattle to wander into a very\nsmall patch of wood to the west containing the tsetse; this carelessness\ncost me ten fine large oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the\nhead men of the Makololo came down from Linyanti, with a large party\nof Barotse, to take us across the river. This they did in fine style,\nswimming and diving among the oxen more like alligators than men, and\ntaking the wagons to pieces and carrying them across on a number of\ncanoes lashed together. We were now among friends; so going about thirty\nmiles to the north, in order to avoid the still flooded lands on the\nnorth of the Chobe, we turned westward toward Linyanti (lat. 18d 17' 20\"\nS., long. 23d 50' 9\" E.), where we arrived on the 23d of May, 1853. This\nis the capital town of the Makololo, and only a short distance from our\nwagon-stand of 1851 (lat. 18d 20' S., long. 23d 50' E.).\n\n\n\n\nChapter 9.\n\nReception at Linyanti--The court Herald--Sekeletu obtains the\nChieftainship from his Sister--Mpepe's Plot--Slave-trading Mambari\n--Their sudden Flight--Sekeletu narrowly escapes Assassination--\nExecution of Mpepe--The Courts of Law--Mode of trying Offenses--\nSekeletu's Reason for not learning to read the Bible--The Disposition\nmade of the Wives of a deceased Chief--Makololo Women--They work\nbut little--Employ Serfs--Their Drink, Dress, and Ornaments--Public\nReligious Services in the Kotla--Unfavorable Associations of\nthe place--Native Doctors--Proposals to teach the Makololo to\nread--Sekeletu's Present--Reason for accepting it--Trading in\nIvory--Accidental Fire--Presents for Sekeletu--Two Breeds of native\nCattle--Ornamenting the Cattle--The Women and the Looking-glass--Mode\nof preparing the Skins of Oxen for Mantles and for Shields--Throwing\nthe Spear.\n\n\n\nThe whole population of Linyanti, numbering between six and seven\nthousand souls, turned out en masse to see the wagons in motion. They\nhad never witnessed the phenomenon before, we having on the former\noccasion departed by night. Sekeletu, now in power, received us in what\nis considered royal style, setting before us a great number of pots of\nboyaloa, the beer of the country. These were brought by women, and each\nbearer takes a good draught of the beer when she sets it down, by way of\n\"tasting\", to show that there is no poison.\n\nThe court herald, an old man who occupied the post also in Sebituane's\ntime, stood up, and after some antics, such as leaping, and shouting at\nthe top of his voice, roared out some adulatory sentences, as, \"Don't I\nsee the white man? Don't I see the comrade of Sebituane? Don't I see the\nfather of Sekeletu?\"--\"We want sleep.\"--\"Give your son sleep, my lord,\"\netc., etc. The perquisites of this man are the heads of all the cattle\nslaughtered by the chief, and he even takes a share of the tribute\nbefore it is distributed and taken out of the kotla. He is expected to\nutter all the proclamations, call assemblies, keep the kotla clean, and\nthe fire burning every evening, and when a person is executed in public\nhe drags away the body.\n\nI found Sekeletu a young man of eighteen years of age, of that dark\nyellow or coffee-and-milk color, of which the Makololo are so proud,\nbecause it distinguishes them considerably from the black tribes on\nthe rivers. He is about five feet seven in height, and neither so\ngood looking nor of so much ability as his father was, but is equally\nfriendly to the English. Sebituane installed his daughter Mamochisane\ninto the chieftainship long before his death, but, with all his\nacuteness, the idea of her having a husband who should not be her lord\ndid not seem to enter his mind. He wished to make her his successor,\nprobably in imitation of some of the negro tribes with whom he had come\ninto contact; but, being of the Bechuana race, he could not look upon\nthe husband except as the woman's lord; so he told her all the men\nwere hers--she might take any one, but ought to keep none. In fact, he\nthought she might do with the men what he could do with the women; but\nthese men had other wives; and, according to a saying in the country,\n\"the tongues of women can not be governed,\" they made her miserable by\ntheir remarks. One man whom she chose was even called her wife, and\nher son the child of Mamochisane's wife; but the arrangement was so\ndistasteful to Mamochisane herself that, as soon as Sebituane died, she\nsaid she never would consent to govern the Makololo so long as she had a\nbrother living. Sekeletu, being afraid of another member of the family,\nMpepe, who had pretensions to the chieftainship, urged his sister\nstrongly to remain as she had always been, and allow him to support her\nauthority by leading the Makololo when they went forth to war. Three\ndays were spent in public discussion on the point. Mpepe insinuated that\nSekeletu was not the lawful son of Sebituane, on account of his\nmother having been the wife of another chief before her marriage with\nSebituane; Mamochisane, however, upheld Sekeletu's claims, and at last\nstood up in the assembly and addressed him with a womanly gush of tears:\n\"I have been a chief only because my father wished it. I always would\nhave preferred to be married and have a family like other women. You,\nSekeletu, must be chief, and build up your father's house.\" This was a\ndeath-blow to the hopes of Mpepe.\n\nAs it will enable the reader to understand the social and political\nrelations of these people, I will add a few more particulars respecting\nMpepe. Sebituane, having no son to take the leadership of the \"Mopato\"\nof the age of his daughter, chose him, as the nearest male relative, to\noccupy that post; and presuming from Mpepe's connection with his family\nthat he would attend to his interests and relieve him from care, he\nhanded his cattle over to his custody. Mpepe removed to the chief\ntown, \"Naliele\", and took such effectual charge of all the cattle that\nSebituane saw he could only set matters on their former footing by the\nsevere measure of Mpepe's execution. Being unwilling to do this, and\nfearing the enchantments which, by means of a number of Barotse doctors,\nMpepe now used in a hut built for the purpose, and longing for peaceful\nretirement after thirty years' fighting, he heard with pleasure of our\narrival at the lake, and came down as far as Sesheke to meet us. He had\nan idea, picked up from some of the numerous strangers who visited him,\nthat white men had a \"pot (a cannon) in their towns which would burn up\nany attacking party;\" and he thought if he could only get this he would\nbe able to \"sleep\" the remainder of his days in peace. This he hoped to\nobtain from the white men. Hence the cry of the herald, \"Give us sleep.\"\nIt is remarkable how anxious for peace those who have been fighting all\ntheir lives appear to be.\n\nWhen Sekeletu was installed in the chieftainship, he felt his position\nrather insecure, for it was believed that the incantations of Mpepe had\nan intimate connection with Sebituane's death. Indeed, the latter had\nsaid to his son, \"That hut of incantation will prove fatal to either you\nor me.\"\n\nWhen the Mambari, in 1850, took home a favorable report of this new\nmarket to the west, a number of half-caste Portuguese slave-traders\nwere induced to come in 1853; and one, who resembled closely a real\nPortuguese, came to Linyanti while I was there. This man had no\nmerchandise, and pretended to have come in order to inquire \"what sort\nof goods were necessary for the market.\" He seemed much disconcerted by\nmy presence there. Sekeletu presented him with an elephant's tusk and\nan ox; and when he had departed about fifty miles to the westward,\nhe carried off an entire village of the Bakalahari belonging to the\nMakololo. He had a number of armed slaves with him; and as all the\nvillagers--men, women, and children--were removed, and the fact was\nunknown until a considerable time afterward, it is not certain whether\nhis object was obtained by violence or by fair promises. In either case,\nslavery must have been the portion of these poor people. He was carried\nin a hammock, slung between two poles, which appearing to be a bag, the\nMakololo named him \"Father of the Bag\".\n\nMpepe favored these slave-traders, and they, as is usual with them,\nfounded all their hopes of influence on his successful rebellion. My\narrival on the scene was felt to be so much weight in the scale against\ntheir interests. A large party of Mambari had come to Linyanti when I\nwas floundering on the prairies south of the Chobe. As the news of my\nbeing in the neighborhood reached them their countenances fell; and when\nsome Makololo, who had assisted us to cross the river, returned\nwith hats which I had given them, the Mambari betook themselves to\nprecipitate flight. It is usual for visitors to ask formal permission\nbefore attempting to leave a chief, but the sight of the hats made the\nMambari pack up at once. The Makololo inquired the cause of the hurry,\nand were told that, if I found them there, I should take all their\nslaves and goods from them; and, though assured by Sekeletu that I was\nnot a robber, but a man of peace, they fled by night, while I was still\nsixty miles off. They went to the north, where, under the protection of\nMpepe, they had erected a stockade of considerable size. There, several\nhalf-caste slave-traders, under the leadership of a native Portuguese,\ncarried on their traffic, without reference to the chief into whose\ncountry they had unceremoniously introduced themselves; while Mpepe,\nfeeding them with the cattle of Sekeletu, formed a plan of raising\nhimself, by means of their fire-arms, to be the head of the Makololo.\nThe usual course which the slave-traders adopt is to take a part in the\npolitical affairs of each tribe, and, siding with the strongest,\nget well paid by captures made from the weaker party. Long secret\nconferences were held by the slave-traders and Mpepe, and it was deemed\nadvisable for him to strike the first blow; so he provided himself with\na small battle-axe, with the intention of cutting Sekeletu down the\nfirst time they met.\n\nMy object being first of all to examine the country for a healthy\nlocality, before attempting to make a path to either the East or West\nCoast, I proposed to Sekeletu the plan of ascending the great river\nwhich we had discovered in 1851. He volunteered to accompany me,\nand, when we got about sixty miles away, on the road to Sesheke, we\nencountered Mpepe. The Makololo, though possessing abundance of cattle,\nhad never attempted to ride oxen until I advised it in 1851. The\nBechuanas generally were in the same condition, until Europeans\ncame among them and imparted the idea of riding. All their journeys\npreviously were performed on foot. Sekeletu and his companions were\nmounted on oxen, though, having neither saddle nor bridle, they were\nperpetually falling off. Mpepe, armed with his little axe, came along\na path parallel to, but a quarter of a mile distant from, that of our\nparty, and, when he saw Sekeletu, he ran with all his might toward us;\nbut Sekeletu, being on his guard, galloped off to an adjacent village.\nHe then withdrew somewhere till all our party came up. Mpepe had given\nhis own party to understand that he would cut down Sekeletu, either on\ntheir first meeting, or at the breaking up of their first conference.\nThe former intention having been thus frustrated, he then determined to\neffect his purpose after their first interview. I happened to sit down\nbetween the two in the hut where they met. Being tired with riding\nall day in the sun, I soon asked Sekeletu where I should sleep, and he\nreplied, \"Come, I will show you.\" As we rose together, I unconsciously\ncovered Sekeletu's body with mine, and saved him from the blow of the\nassassin. I knew nothing of the plot, but remarked that all Mpepe's\nmen kept hold of their arms, even after we had sat down--a thing quite\nunusual in the presence of a chief; and when Sekeletu showed me the hut\nin which I was to spend the night, he said to me, \"That man wishes\nto kill me.\" I afterward learned that some of Mpepe's attendants had\ndivulged the secret; and, bearing in mind his father's instructions,\nSekeletu put Mpepe to death that night. It was managed so quietly, that,\nalthough I was sleeping within a few yards of the scene, I knew nothing\nof it till the next day. Nokuane went to the fire, at which Mpepe sat,\nwith a handful of snuff, as if he were about to sit down and regale\nhimself therewith. Mpepe said to him, \"Nsepisa\" (cause me to take a\npinch); and, as he held out his hand, Nokuane caught hold of it, while\nanother man seized the other hand, and, leading him out a mile, speared\nhim. This is the common mode of executing criminals. They are not\nallowed to speak; though on one occasion a man, feeling his wrist held\ntoo tightly, said, \"Hold me gently, can't you? you will soon be led out\nin the same way yourselves.\" Mpepe's men fled to the Barotse, and,\nit being unadvisable for us to go thither during the commotion which\nfollowed on Mpepe's death, we returned to Linyanti.\n\nThe foregoing may be considered as a characteristic specimen of their\nmode of dealing with grave political offenses. In common cases there\nis a greater show of deliberation. The complainant asks the man against\nwhom he means to lodge his complaint to come with him to the chief. This\nis never refused. When both are in the kotla, the complainant stands\nup and states the whole case before the chief and the people usually\nassembled there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this, to\nrecollect if he has forgotten any thing. The witnesses to whom he has\nreferred then rise up and tell all they themselves have seen or heard,\nbut not any thing that they have heard from others. The defendant, after\nallowing some minutes to elapse so that he may not interrupt any of the\nopposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around him, and, in the\nmost quiet, deliberate way he can assume--yawning, blowing his nose,\netc.--begins to explain the affair, denying the charge, or admitting\nit, as the case may be. Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the\ncomplainant utters a sentence of dissent; the accused turns quietly to\nhim, and says, \"Be silent: I sat still while you were speaking; can't\nyou do the same? Do you want to have it all to yourself?\" And as the\naudience acquiesce in this bantering, and enforce silence, he goes on\ntill he has finished all he wishes to say in his defense. If he has\nany witnesses to the truth of the facts of his defense, they give their\nevidence. No oath is administered; but occasionally, when a statement is\nquestioned, a man will say, \"By my father,\" or \"By the chief, it is\nso.\" Their truthfulness among each other is quite remarkable; but their\nsystem of government is such that Europeans are not in a position to\nrealize it readily. A poor man will say, in his defense against a\nrich one, \"I am astonished to hear a man so great as he make a false\naccusation;\" as if the offense of falsehood were felt to be one against\nthe society which the individual referred to had the greatest interest\nin upholding.\n\nIf the case is one of no importance, the chief decides it at once; if\nfrivolous, he may give the complainant a scolding, and put a stop to the\ncase in the middle of the complaint, or he may allow it to go on without\npaying any attention to it whatever. Family quarrels are often treated\nin this way, and then a man may be seen stating his case with great\nfluency, and not a soul listening to him. But if it is a case between\ninfluential men, or brought on by under-chiefs, then the greatest\ndecorum prevails. If the chief does not see his way clearly to a\ndecision, he remains silent; the elders then rise one by one and give\ntheir opinions, often in the way of advice rather than as decisions;\nand when the chief finds the general sentiment agreeing in one view, he\ndelivers his judgment accordingly. He alone speaks sitting; all others\nstand.\n\nNo one refuses to acquiesce in the decision of the chief, as he has the\npower of life and death in his hands, and can enforce the law to\nthat extent if he chooses; but grumbling is allowed, and, when marked\nfavoritism is shown to any relative of the chief, the people generally\nare not so astonished at the partiality as we would be in England.\n\nThis system was found as well developed among the Makololo as among\nthe Bakwains, or even better, and is no foreign importation. When at\nCassange, my men had a slight quarrel among themselves, and came to me,\nas to their chief, for judgment. This had occurred several times before,\nso without a thought I went out of the Portuguese merchant's house in\nwhich I was a guest, sat down, and heard the complaint and defense in\nthe usual way. When I had given my decision in the common admonitory\nform, they went off apparently satisfied. Several Portuguese, who had\nbeen viewing the proceedings with great interest, complimented me on the\nsuccess of my teaching them how to act in litigation; but I could not\ntake any credit to myself for the system which I had found ready-made to\nmy hands.\n\nSoon after our arrival at Linyanti, Sekeletu took me aside, and pressed\nme to mention those things I liked best and hoped to get from him. Any\nthing, either in or out of his town, should be freely given if I would\nonly mention it. I explained to him that my object was to elevate him\nand his people to be Christians; but he replied he did not wish to learn\nto read the Book, for he was afraid \"it might change his heart, and make\nhim content with only one wife, like Sechele.\" It was of little use to\nurge that the change of heart implied a contentment with one wife equal\nto his present complacency in polygamy. Such a preference after the\nchange of mind could not now be understood by him any more than the\nreal, unmistakable pleasure of religious services can by those who have\nnot experienced what is known by the term the \"new heart\". I assured him\nthat nothing was expected but by his own voluntary decision. \"No, no;\nhe wanted always to have five wives at least.\" I liked the frankness of\nSekeletu, for nothing is so wearying to the spirit as talking to those\nwho agree with every thing advanced.\n\nSekeletu, according to the system of the Bechuanas, became possessor of\nhis father's wives, and adopted two of them; the children by these women\nare, however, in these cases, termed brothers. When an elder brother\ndies, the same thing occurs in respect of his wives; the brother next in\nage takes them, as among the Jews, and the children that may be born\nof those women he calls brothers also. He thus raises up seed to his\ndeparted relative. An uncle of Sekeletu, being a younger brother of\nSebituane, got that chieftain's head-wife or queen: there is always\none who enjoys this title. Her hut is called the great house, and her\nchildren inherit the chieftainship. If she dies, a new wife is selected\nfor the same position, and enjoys the same privileges, though she may\nhappen to be a much younger woman than the rest.\n\nThe majority of the wives of Sebituane were given to influential\nunder-chiefs; and, in reference to their early casting off the widow's\nweeds, a song was sung, the tenor of which was that the men alone felt\nthe loss of their father Sebituane, the women were so soon supplied with\nnew husbands that their hearts had not time to become sore with grief.\n\nThe women complain because the proportions between the sexes are so\nchanged now that they are not valued as they deserve. The majority of\nthe real Makololo have been cut off by fever. Those who remain are\na mere fragment of the people who came to the north with Sebituane.\nMigrating from a very healthy climate in the south, they were more\nsubject to the febrile diseases of the valley in which we found them\nthan the black tribes they conquered. In comparison with the Barotse,\nBatoka, and Banyeti, the Makololo have a sickly hue. They are of a light\nbrownish-yellow color, while the tribes referred to are very dark, with\na slight tinge of olive. The whole of the colored tribes consider that\nbeauty and fairness are associated, and women long for children of light\ncolor so much, that they sometimes chew the bark of a certain tree in\nhopes of producing that effect. To my eye the dark color is much more\nagreeable than the tawny hue of the half-caste, which that of the\nMakololo ladies closely resembles. The women generally escaped the\nfever, but they are less fruitful than formerly, and, to their complaint\nof being undervalued on account of the disproportion of the sexes, they\nnow add their regrets at the want of children, of whom they are all\nexcessively fond.\n\nThe Makololo women work but little. Indeed, the families of that nation\nare spread over the country, one or two only in each village, as\nthe lords of the land. They all have lordship over great numbers of\nsubjected tribes, who pass by the general name Makalaka, and who are\nforced to render certain services, and to aid in tilling the soil; but\neach has his own land under cultivation, and otherwise lives nearly\nindependent. They are proud to be called Makololo, but the other term\nis often used in reproach, as betokening inferiority. This species of\nservitude may be termed serfdom, as it has to be rendered in consequence\nof subjection by force of arms, but it is necessarily very mild. It is\nso easy for any one who is unkindly treated to make his escape to\nother tribes, that the Makololo are compelled to treat them, to a great\nextent, rather as children than slaves. Some masters, who fail from\ndefect of temper or disposition to secure the affections of the\nconquered people, frequently find themselves left without a single\nservant, in consequence of the absence and impossibility of enforcing\na fugitive-slave law, and the readiness with which those who are\nthemselves subjected assist the fugitives across the rivers in canoes.\nThe Makololo ladies are liberal in their presents of milk and other\nfood, and seldom require to labor, except in the way of beautifying\ntheir own huts and court-yards. They drink large quantities of boyaloa\nor o-alo, the buza of the Arabs, which, being made of the grain called\nholcus sorghum or \"durasaifi\", in a minute state of subdivision, is\nvery nutritious, and gives that plumpness of form which is considered\nbeautiful. They dislike being seen at their potations by persons of the\nopposite sex. They cut their woolly hair quite short, and delight in\nhaving the whole person shining with butter. Their dress is a kilt\nreaching to the knees; its material is ox-hide, made as soft as cloth.\nIt is not ungraceful. A soft skin mantle is thrown across the shoulders\nwhen the lady is unemployed, but when engaged in any sort of labor\nshe throws this aside, and works in the kilt alone. The ornaments most\ncoveted are large brass anklets as thick as the little finger, and\narmlets of both brass and ivory, the latter often an inch broad. The\nrings are so heavy that the ankles are often blistered by the weight\npressing down; but it is the fashion, and is borne as magnanimously as\ntight lacing and tight shoes among ourselves. Strings of beads are hung\naround the neck, and the fashionable colors being light green and pink,\na trader could get almost any thing he chose for beads of these colors.\n\nAt our public religious services in the kotla, the Makololo women always\nbehaved with decorum from the first, except at the conclusion of\nthe prayer. When all knelt down, many of those who had children, in\nfollowing the example of the rest, bent over their little ones; the\nchildren, in terror of being crushed to death, set up a simultaneous\nyell, which so tickled the whole assembly there was often a subdued\ntitter, to be turned into a hearty laugh as soon as they heard Amen.\nThis was not so difficult to overcome in them as similar peccadilloes\nwere in the case of the women farther south. Long after we had settled\nat Mabotsa, when preaching on the most solemn subjects, a woman might be\nobserved to look round, and, seeing a neighbor seated on her dress, give\nher a hunch with the elbow to make her move off; the other would return\nit with interest, and perhaps the remark, \"Take the nasty thing away,\nwill you?\" Then three or four would begin to hustle the first offenders,\nand the men to swear at them all, by way of enforcing silence.\n\nGreat numbers of little trifling things like these occur, and would\nnot be worth the mention but that one can not form a correct idea of\nmissionary work except by examination of the minutiae. At the risk\nof appearing frivolous to some, I shall continue to descend to mere\ntrifles.\n\nThe numbers who attended at the summons of the herald, who acted as\nbeadle, were often from five to seven hundred. The service consisted of\nreading a small portion of the Bible and giving an explanatory address,\nusually short enough to prevent weariness or want of attention. So long\nas we continue to hold services in the kotla, the associations of the\nplace are unfavorable to solemnity; hence it is always desirable to have\na place of worship as soon as possible; and it is of importance, too,\nto treat such place with reverence, as an aid to secure that serious\nattention which religious subjects demand. This will appear more evident\nwhen it is recollected that, in the very spot where we had been engaged\nin acts of devotion, half an hour after a dance would be got up; and\nthese habits can not be at first opposed without the appearance of\nassuming too much authority over them. It is always unwise to hurt\ntheir feelings of independence. Much greater influence will be gained by\nstudying how you may induce them to act aright, with the impression\nthat they are doing it of their own free will. Our services having\nnecessarily been all in the open air, where it is most difficult to\naddress large bodies of people, prevented my recovering so entirely from\nthe effects of clergyman's sore throat as I expected, when my uvula was\nexcised at the Cape.\n\nTo give an idea of the routine followed for months together, on other\ndays as well as on Sundays, I may advert to my habit of treating the\nsick for complaints which seemed to surmount the skill of their own\ndoctors. I refrained from going to any one unless his own doctor wished\nit, or had given up the case. This led to my having a selection of\nthe severer cases only, and prevented the doctors being offended at my\ntaking their practice out of their hands. When attacked by fever myself,\nand wishing to ascertain what their practices were, I could safely\nintrust myself in their hands on account of their well-known friendly\nfeelings.\n\nThe plan of showing kindness to the natives in their bodily ailments\nsecures their friendship; this is not the case to the same degree in\nold missions, where the people have learned to look upon relief as a\nright--a state of things which sometimes happens among ourselves at\nhome. Medical aid is therefore most valuable in young missions, though\nat all stages it is an extremely valuable adjunct to other operations.\n\nI proposed to teach the Makololo to read, but, for the reasons\nmentioned, Sekeletu at first declined; after some weeks, however,\nMotibe, his father-in-law, and some others, determined to brave the\nmysterious book. To all who have not acquired it, the knowledge of\nletters is quite unfathomable; there is naught like it within the\ncompass of their observation; and we have no comparison with any thing\nexcept pictures, to aid them in comprehending the idea of signs of\nwords. It seems to them supernatural that we see in a book things\ntaking place, or having occurred at a distance. No amount of explanation\nconveys the idea unless they learn to read. Machinery is equally\ninexplicable, and money nearly as much so until they see it in actual\nuse. They are familiar with barter alone; and in the centre of the\ncountry, where gold is totally unknown, if a button and sovereign were\nleft to their choice, they would prefer the former on account of its\nhaving an eye.\n\nIn beginning to learn, Motibe seemed to himself in the position of the\ndoctor, who was obliged to drink his potion before the patient, to\nshow that it contained nothing detrimental; after he had mastered the\nalphabet, and reported the thing so far safe, Sekeletu and his young\ncompanions came forward to try for themselves. He must have resolved to\nwatch the effects of the book against his views on polygamy, and abstain\nwhenever he perceived any tendency, in reading it, toward enforcing him\nto put his wives away. A number of men learned the alphabet in a short\ntime and were set to teach others, but before much progress could be\nmade I was on my way to Loanda.\n\nAs I had declined to name any thing as a present from Sekeletu, except a\ncanoe to take me up the river, he brought ten fine elephants' tusks and\nlaid them down beside my wagon. He would take no denial, though I told\nhim I should prefer to see him trading with Fleming, a man of color from\nthe West Indies, who had come for the purpose. I had, during the eleven\nyears of my previous course, invariably abstained from taking presents\nof ivory, from an idea that a religious instructor degraded himself by\naccepting gifts from those whose spiritual welfare he professed to seek.\nMy precedence of all traders in the line of discovery put me often in\nthe way of very handsome offers, but I always advised the donors to sell\ntheir ivory to traders, who would be sure to follow, and when at some\nfuture time they had become rich by barter, they might remember me or my\nchildren. When Lake Ngami was discovered I might have refused permission\nto a trader who accompanied us; but when he applied for leave to form\npart of our company, knowing that Mr. Oswell would no more trade than\nmyself, and that the people of the lake would be disappointed if they\ncould not dispose of their ivory, I willingly granted a sanction,\nwithout which his people would not at that time have ventured so far.\nThis was surely preferring the interest of another to my own. The return\nI got for this was a notice in one of the Cape papers that this \"man was\nthe true discoverer of the lake!\"\n\nThe conclusion I had come to was, that it is quite lawful, though\nperhaps not expedient, for missionaries to trade; but barter is the only\nmeans by which a missionary in the interior can pay his way, as money\nhas no value. In all the journeys I had previously undertaken for wider\ndiffusion of the Gospel, the extra expenses were defrayed from my salary\nof 100 Pounds per annum. This sum is sufficient to enable a missionary\nto live in the interior of South Africa, supposing he has a garden\ncapable of yielding corn and vegetables; but should he not, and still\nconsider that six or eight months can not lawfully be spent simply\nin getting goods at a lower price than they can be had from itinerant\ntraders, the sum mentioned is barely sufficient for the poorest fare\nand plainest apparel. As we never felt ourselves justified in making\njourneys to the colony for the sake of securing bargains, the most\nfrugal living was necessary to enable us to be a little charitable to\nothers; but when to this were added extra traveling expenses, the wants\nof an increasing family, and liberal gifts to chiefs, it was difficult\nto make both ends meet. The pleasure of missionary labor would be\nenhanced if one could devote his life to the heathen, without drawing\na salary from a society at all. The luxury of doing good from one's own\nprivate resources, without appearing to either natives or Europeans\nto be making a gain of it, is far preferable, and an object worthy\nthe ambition of the rich. But few men of fortune, however, now devote\nthemselves to Christian missions, as of old. Presents were always given\nto the chiefs whom we visited, and nothing accepted in return; but when\nSebituane (in 1851) offered some ivory, I took it, and was able by its\nsale to present his son with a number of really useful articles of a\nhigher value than I had ever been able to give before to any chief. In\ndoing this, of course, I appeared to trade, but, feeling I had a right\nto do so, I felt perfectly easy in my mind; and, as I still held the\nview of the inexpediency of combining the two professions, I was glad of\nthe proposal of one of the most honorable merchants of Cape Town, Mr. H.\nE. Rutherford, that he should risk a sum of money in Fleming's hands for\nthe purpose of attempting to develop a trade with the Makololo. It was\nto this man I suggested Sekeletu should sell the tusks which he had\npresented for my acceptance, but the chief refused to take them back\nfrom me. The goods which Fleming had brought were ill adapted for the\nuse of the natives, but he got a pretty good load of ivory in exchange;\nand though it was his first attempt at trading, and the distance\ntraveled over made the expenses enormous, he was not a loser by the\ntrip. Other traders followed, who demanded 90 lbs. of ivory for a\nmusket. The Makololo, knowing nothing of steelyards, but supposing that\nthey were meant to cheat them, declined to trade except by exchanging\none bull and one cow elephant's tusk for each gun. This would average\n70 lbs. of ivory, which sells at the Cape for 5s. per pound, for a\nsecond-hand musket worth 10s. I, being sixty miles distant, did not\nwitness this attempt at barter, but, anxious to enable my countrymen to\ndrive a brisk trade, told the Makololo to sell my ten tusks on their own\naccount for whatever they would bring. Seventy tusks were for sale,\nbut, the parties not understanding each other's talk, no trade was\nestablished; and when I passed the spot some time afterward, I found\nthat the whole of that ivory had been destroyed by an accidental fire,\nwhich broke out in the village when all the people were absent. Success\nin trade is as much dependent on knowledge of the language as success in\ntraveling.\n\nI had brought with me as presents an improved breed of goats, fowls, and\na pair of cats. A superior bull was bought, also as a gift to Sekeletu,\nbut I was compelled to leave it on account of its having become\nfoot-sore. As the Makololo are very fond of improving the breed of their\ndomestic animals, they were much pleased with my selection. I endeavored\nto bring the bull, in performance of a promise made to Sebituane before\nhe died. Admiring a calf which we had with us, he proposed to give me a\ncow for it, which in the native estimation was offering three times its\nvalue. I presented it to him at once, and promised to bring him another\nand a better one. Sekeletu was much gratified by my attempt to keep my\nword given to his father.\n\nThey have two breeds of cattle among them. One, called the Batoka,\nbecause captured from that tribe, is of diminutive size, but very\nbeautiful, and closely resembles the short-horns of our own country.\nThe little pair presented by the King of Portugal to H.R.H. the prince\nconsort, is of this breed. They are very tame, and remarkably playful;\nthey may be seen lying on their sides by the fires in the evening; and,\nwhen the herd goes out, the herdsman often precedes them, and has only\nto commence capering to set them all a gamboling. The meat is superior\nto that of the large animal. The other, or Barotse ox, is much larger,\nand comes from the fertile Barotse Valley. They stand high on their\nlegs, often nearly six feet at the withers; and they have large horns.\nThose of one of a similar breed that we brought from the lake measured\nfrom tip to tip eight and a half feet.\n\nThe Makololo are in the habit of shaving off a little from one side of\nthe horns of these animals when still growing, in order to make them\ncurve in that direction and assume fantastic shapes. The stranger the\ncurvature, the more handsome the ox is considered to be, and the longer\nthis ornament of the cattle-pen is spared to beautify the herd. This is\na very ancient custom in Africa, for the tributary tribes of Ethiopia\nare seen, on some of the most ancient Egyptian monuments, bringing\ncontorted-horned cattle into Egypt.\n\nAll are remarkably fond of their cattle, and spend much time in\nornamenting and adorning them. Some are branded all over with a hot\nknife, so as to cause a permanent discoloration of the hair, in lines\nlike the bands on the hide of a zebra. Pieces of skin two or three\ninches long and broad are detached, and allowed to heal in a dependent\nposition around the head--a strange style of ornament; indeed, it is\ndifficult to conceive in what their notion of beauty consists. The\nwomen have somewhat the same ideas with ourselves of what constitutes\ncomeliness. They came frequently and asked for the looking-glass; and\nthe remarks they made--while I was engaged in reading, and apparently\nnot attending to them--on first seeing themselves therein, were\namusingly ridiculous. \"Is that me?\" \"What a big mouth I have!\" \"My ears\nare as big as pumpkin-leaves.\" \"I have no chin at all.\" Or, \"I would\nhave been pretty, but am spoiled by these high cheek-bones.\" \"See how\nmy head shoots up in the middle!\" laughing vociferously all the time\nat their own jokes. They readily perceive any defect in each other, and\ngive nicknames accordingly. One man came alone to have a quiet gaze at\nhis own features once, when he thought I was asleep; after twisting his\nmouth about in various directions, he remarked to himself, \"People say I\nam ugly, and how very ugly I am indeed!\"\n\nThe Makololo use all the skins of their oxen for making either mantles\nor shields. For the former, the hide is stretched out by means of pegs,\nand dried. Ten or a dozen men then collect round it with small adzes,\nwhich, when sharpened with an iron bodkin, are capable of shaving off\nthe substance of the skin on the fleshy side until it is quite thin;\nwhen sufficiently thin, a quantity of brain is smeared over it, and\nsome thick milk. Then an instrument made of a number of iron spikes tied\nround a piece of wood, so that the points only project beyond it, is\napplied to it in a carding fashion, until the fibres of the bulk of it\nare quite loose. Milk or butter is applied to it again, and it forms a\ngarment nearly as soft as cloth.\n\nThe shields are made of hides partially dried in the sun, and then\nbeaten with hammers until they are stiff and dry. Two broad belts of a\ndifferently-colored skin are sewed into them longitudinally, and sticks\ninserted to make them rigid and not liable to bend easily. The shield is\na great protection in their way of fighting with spears, but they\nalso trust largely to their agility in springing aside from the coming\njavelin. The shield assists when so many spears are thrown that it is\nimpossible not to receive some of them. Their spears are light javelins;\nand, judging from what I have seen them do in elephant-hunting, I\nbelieve, when they have room to make a run and discharge them with the\naid of the jerk of stopping, they can throw them between forty and fifty\nyards. They give them an upward direction in the discharge, so that\nthey come down on the object with accelerated force. I saw a man who\nin battle had received one in the shin; the excitement of the moment\nprevented his feeling any pain; but, when the battle was over, the blade\nwas found to have split the bone, and become so impacted in the cleft\nthat no force could extract it. It was necessary to take an axe and\npress the split bone asunder before the weapon could be taken out.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 10.\n\nThe Fever--Its Symptoms--Remedies of the native Doctors--Hospitality\nof Sekeletu and his People--One of their Reasons for Polygamy--They\ncultivate largely--The Makalaka or subject Tribes--Sebituane's\nPolicy respecting them--Their Affection for him--Products of the\nSoil--Instrument of Culture--The Tribute--Distributed by the Chief--A\nwarlike Demonstration--Lechulatebe's Provocations--The Makololo\ndetermine to punish him--The Bechuanas--Meaning of the Term--Three\nDivisions of the great Family of South Africans.\n\n\n\nOn the 30th of May I was seized with fever for the first time. We\nreached the town of Linyanti on the 23d; and as my habits were\nsuddenly changed from great exertion to comparative inactivity, at\nthe commencement of the cold season I suffered from a severe attack of\nstoppage of the secretions, closely resembling a common cold. Warm baths\nand drinks relieved me, and I had no idea but that I was now recovering\nfrom the effects of a chill, got by leaving the warm wagon in the\nevening in order to conduct family worship at my people's fire. But on\nthe 2d of June a relapse showed to the Makololo, who knew the complaint,\nthat my indisposition was no other than the fever, with which I have\nsince made a more intimate acquaintance. Cold east winds prevail at this\ntime; and as they come over the extensive flats inundated by the Chobe,\nas well as many other districts where pools of rain-water are now drying\nup, they may be supposed to be loaded with malaria and watery vapor, and\nmany cases of fever follow. The usual symptoms of stopped secretion\nare manifested--shivering and a feeling of coldness, though the skin\nis quite hot to the touch of another. The heat in the axilla, over the\nheart and region of the stomach, was in my case 100 Deg.; but along the\nspine and at the nape of the neck 103 Deg. The internal processes were\nall, with the exception of the kidneys and liver, stopped; the latter,\nin its efforts to free the blood of noxious particles, often secretes\nenormous quantities of bile. There were pains along the spine, and\nfrontal headache. Anxious to ascertain whether the natives possessed\nthe knowledge of any remedy of which we were ignorant, I requested the\nassistance of one of Sekeletu's doctors. He put some roots into a pot\nwith water, and, when it was boiling, placed it on a spot beneath a\nblanket thrown around both me and it. This produced no immediate effect;\nhe then got a small bundle of different kinds of medicinal woods, and,\nburning them in a potsherd nearly to ashes, used the smoke and hot vapor\narising from them as an auxiliary to the other in causing diaphoresis.\nI fondly hoped that they had a more potent remedy than our own medicines\nafford; but after being stewed in their vapor-baths, smoked like a red\nherring over green twigs, and charmed 'secundem artem', I concluded that\nI could cure the fever more quickly than they can. If we employ a wet\nsheet and a mild aperient in combination with quinine, in addition to\nthe native remedies, they are an important aid in curing the fever, as\nthey seem to have the same stimulating effects on the alimentary\ncanal as these means have on the external surface. Purgatives, general\nbleedings, or indeed any violent remedies, are injurious; and the\nappearance of a herpetic eruption near the mouth is regarded as an\nevidence that no internal organ is in danger. There is a good deal in\nnot \"giving in\" to this disease. He who is low-spirited, and apt to\ndespond at every attack, will die sooner than the man who is not of such\na melancholic nature.\n\nThe Makololo had made a garden and planted maize for me, that, as they\nremarked when I was parting with them to proceed to the Cape, I might\nhave food to eat when I returned, as well as other people. The maize was\nnow pounded by the women into fine meal. This they do in large wooden\nmortars, the counterpart of which may be seen depicted on the Egyptian\nmonuments.* Sekeletu added to this good supply of meal ten or twelve\njars of honey, each of which contained about two gallons. Liberal\nsupplies of ground-nuts ('Arachis hypogoea') were also furnished every\ntime the tributary tribes brought their dues to Linyanti, and an ox was\ngiven for slaughter every week or two. Sekeletu also appropriated\ntwo cows to be milked for us every morning and evening. This was in\naccordance with the acknowledged rule throughout this country, that the\nchief should feed all strangers who come on any special business to\nhim and take up their abode in his kotla. A present is usually given in\nreturn for the hospitality, but, except in cases where their aboriginal\ncustoms have been modified, nothing would be asked. Europeans spoil the\nfeeling that hospitality is the sacred duty of the chiefs by what in\nother circumstances is laudable conduct. No sooner do they arrive than\nthey offer to purchase food, and, instead of waiting till a meal is\nprepared for them in the evening, cook for themselves, and then often\ndecline even to partake of that which has been made ready for their use.\nA present is also given, and before long the natives come to expect a\ngift without having offered any equivalent.\n\n   * Unfortunately, the illustration shown with this paragraph\n   cannot be shown in this ASCII file.  It has the following\n   caption: 'Egyptian Pestle and Mortar, Sieves, Corn Vessels,\n   and Kilt, identical with those in use by the Makololo and\n   Makalaka.--From Sir G. Wilkinson's \"Ancient Egyptians\".'--A.\n   L., 1997.\n\nStrangers frequently have acquaintances among the under-chiefs, to whose\nestablishments they turn aside, and are treated on the same principle\nthat others are when they are the guests of the chief. So generally is\nthe duty admitted, that one of the most cogent arguments for polygamy is\nthat a respectable man with only one wife could not entertain strangers\nas he ought. This reason has especial weight where the women are the\nchief cultivators of the soil, and have the control over the corn, as\nat Kolobeng. The poor, however, who have no friends, often suffer much\nhunger, and the very kind attention Sebituane lavished on all such was\none of the reasons of his great popularity in the country.\n\nThe Makololo cultivate a large extent of land around their villages.\nThose of them who are real Basutos still retain the habits of that\ntribe, and may be seen going out with their wives with their hoes in\nhand--a state of things never witnessed at Kolobeng, or among any other\nBechuana or Caffre tribe. The great chief Moshesh affords an example to\nhis people annually by not only taking the hoe in hand, but working hard\nwith it on certain public occasions. His Basutos are of the same family\nwith the Makololo to whom I refer. The younger Makololo, who have been\naccustomed from their infancy to lord it over the conquered Makalaka,\nhave unfortunately no desire to imitate the agricultural tastes of their\nfathers, and expect their subjects to perform all the manual labor. They\nare the aristocracy of the country, and once possessed almost unlimited\npower over their vassals. Their privileges were, however, much abridged\nby Sebituane himself.\n\nI have already mentioned that the tribes which Sebituane subjected in\nthis great country pass by the general name of Makalaka. The Makololo\nwere composed of a great number of other tribes, as well as of these\ncentral negroes. The nucleus of the whole were Basuto, who came with\nSebituane from a comparatively cold and hilly region in the south. When\nhe conquered various tribes of the Bechuanas, as Bakwains, Bangwaketze,\nBamangwato, Batauana, etc., he incorporated the young of these tribes\ninto his own. Great mortality by fever having taken place in the\noriginal stock, he wisely adopted the same plan of absorption on a\nlarge scale with the Makalaka. So we found him with even the sons of the\nchiefs of the Barotse closely attached to his person; and they say to\nthis day, if any thing else but natural death had assailed their father,\nevery one of them would have laid down his life in his defense. One\nreason for their strong affection was their emancipation by the decree\nof Sebituane, \"all are children of the chief.\"\n\nThe Makalaka cultivate the 'Holcus sorghum', or dura, as the principal\ngrain, with maize, two kinds of beans, ground-nuts ('Arachis hypogoea'),\npumpkins, watermelons, and cucumbers. They depend for success entirely\nupon rain. Those who live in the Barotse valley cultivate in addition\nthe sugar-cane, sweet potato, and manioc ('Jatropha manihot'). The\nclimate there, however, is warmer than at Linyanti, and the Makalaka\nincrease the fertility of their gardens by rude attempts at artificial\nirrigation.\n\nThe instrument of culture over all this region is a hoe, the iron of\nwhich the Batoka and Banyeti obtain from the ore by smelting. The amount\nof iron which they produce annually may be understood when it is known\nthat most of the hoes in use at Linyanti are the tribute imposed on the\nsmiths of those subject tribes.\n\nSekeletu receives tribute from a great number of tribes in corn or\ndura, ground-nuts, hoes, spears, honey, canoes, paddles, wooden vessels,\ntobacco, mutokuane ('Cannabis sativa'), various wild fruits (dried),\nprepared skins, and ivory. When these articles are brought into the\nkotla, Sekeletu has the honor of dividing them among the loungers who\nusually congregate there. A small portion only is reserved for himself.\nThe ivory belongs nominally to him too, but this is simply a way of\nmaking a fair distribution of the profits. The chief sells it only with\nthe approbation of his counselors, and the proceeds are distributed in\nopen day among the people as before. He has the choice of every thing;\nbut if he is not more liberal to others than to himself, he loses in\npopularity. I have known instances in this and other tribes in which\nindividuals aggrieved, because they had been overlooked, fled to\nother chiefs. One discontented person, having fled to Lechulatebe, was\nencouraged to go to a village of the Bapalleng, on the River Cho or Tso,\nand abstracted the tribute of ivory thence which ought to have come to\nSekeletu. This theft enraged the whole of the Makololo, because they all\nfelt it to be a personal loss. Some of Lechulatebe's people having come\non a visit to Linyanti, a demonstration was made, in which about five\nhundred Makololo, armed, went through a mimic fight; the principal\nwarriors pointed their spears toward the lake where Lechulatebe lives,\nand every thrust in that direction was answered by all with the shout,\n\"Ho-o!\" while every stab on the ground drew out a simultaneous \"Huzz!\"\nOn these occasions all capable of bearing arms, even the old, must turn\nout at the call. In the time of Sebituane, any one remaining in his\nhouse was searched for and killed without mercy.\n\nThis offense of Lechulatebe was aggravated by repetition, and by a song\nsung in his town accompanying the dances, which manifested joy at the\ndeath of Sebituane. He had enjoined his people to live in peace with\nthose at the lake, and Sekeletu felt disposed to follow his advice; but\nLechulatebe had now got possession of fire-arms, and considered himself\nmore than a match for the Makololo. His father had been dispossessed of\nmany cattle by Sebituane, and, as forgiveness is not considered among\nthe virtues by the heathen, Lechulatebe thought he had a right to\nrecover what he could. As I had a good deal of influence with the\nMakololo, I persuaded them that, before they could have peace, they must\nresolve to give the same blessing to others, and they never could do\nthat without forgiving and forgetting ancient feuds. It is hard to make\nthem feel that shedding of human blood is a great crime; they must be\nconscious that it is wrong, but, having been accustomed to bloodshed\nfrom infancy, they are remarkably callous to the enormity of the crime\nof destroying human life.\n\nI sent a message at the same time to Lechulatebe advising him to give\nup the course he had adopted, and especially the song; because, though\nSebituane was dead, the arms with which he had fought were still alive\nand strong.\n\nSekeletu, in order to follow up his father's instructions and promote\npeace, sent ten cows to Lechulatebe to be exchanged for sheep; these\nanimals thrive well in a bushy country like that around the lake, but\nwill scarcely live in the flat prairies between the net-work of waters\nnorth of the Chobe. The men who took the cows carried a number of hoes\nto purchase goats besides. Lechulatebe took the cows and sent back an\nequal number of sheep. Now, according to the relative value of sheep and\ncows in these parts, he ought to have sent sixty or seventy.\n\nOne of the men who had hoes was trying to purchase in a village without\nformal leave from Lechulatebe; this chief punished him by making him sit\nsome hours on the broiling hot sand (at least 130 Deg.). This farther\noffense put a stop to amicable relations between the two tribes\naltogether. It was a case in which a very small tribe, commanded by\na weak and foolish chief, had got possession of fire-arms, and felt\nconscious of ability to cope with a numerous and warlike race. Such\ncases are the only ones in which the possession of fire-arms does evil.\nThe universal effect of the diffusion of the more potent instruments of\nwarfare in Africa is the same as among ourselves. Fire-arms render wars\nless frequent and less bloody. It is indeed exceedingly rare to hear of\ntwo tribes having guns going to war with each other; and, as nearly all\nthe feuds, in the south at least, have been about cattle, the risk which\nmust be incurred from long shots generally proves a preventive to the\nforay.\n\nThe Makololo were prevailed upon to keep the peace during my residence\nwith them, but it was easy to perceive that public opinion was against\nsparing a tribe of Bechuanas for whom the Makololo entertained the most\nsovereign contempt. The young men would remark, \"Lechulatebe is herding\nour cows for us; let us only go, we shall 'lift' the price of them in\nsheep,\" etc.\n\nAs the Makololo are the most northerly of the Bechuanas, we may glance\nback at this family of Africans before entering on the branch of the\nnegro family which the Makololo distinguish by the term Makalaka. The\nname Bechuana seems derived from the word Chuana--alike, or equal--with\nthe personal pronoun Ba (they) prefixed, and therefore means fellows\nor equals. Some have supposed the name to have arisen from a mistake of\nsome traveler, who, on asking individuals of this nation concerning the\ntribes living beyond them, received the answer, Bachuana, \"they (are)\nalike\"; meaning, \"They are the same as we are\"; and that this nameless\ntraveler, who never wrote a word about them, managed to ingraft his\nmistake as a generic term on a nation extending from the Orange River to\n18 Deg. south latitude.*\n\n   * The Makololo have conquered the country as far as 14 Deg.\n   south, but it is still peopled chiefly by the black tribes\n   named Makalaka.\n\nAs the name was found in use among those who had no intercourse with\nEuropeans, before we can receive the above explanation we must believe\nthat the unknown traveler knew the language sufficiently well to ask a\nquestion, but not to understand the answer. We may add, that the way in\nwhich they still continue to use the word seems to require no fanciful\ninterpretation. When addressed with any degree of scorn, they reply, \"We\nare Bachuana, or equals--we are not inferior to any of our nation,\"\nin exactly the same sense as Irishmen or Scotchmen, in the same\ncircumstances, would reply, \"We are Britons,\" or \"We are Englishmen.\"\nMost other tribes are known by the terms applied to them by strangers\nonly, as the Caffres, Hottentots, and Bushmen. The Bechuanas alone use\nthe term to themselves as a generic one for the whole nation. They have\nmanaged, also, to give a comprehensive name to the whites, viz., Makoa,\nthough they can not explain the derivation of it any more than of their\nown. It seems to mean \"handsome\", from the manner in which they use\nit to indicate beauty; but there is a word so very like it meaning\n\"infirm\", or \"weak\", that Burchell's conjecture is probably the right\none. \"The different Hottentot tribes were known by names terminating in\n'kua', which means 'man', and the Bechuanas simply added the prefix\nMa, denoting a nation.\" They themselves were first known as Briquas, or\n\"goat-men\". The language of the Bechuanas is termed Sichuana; that of\nthe whites (or Makoa) is called Sekoa.\n\nThe Makololo, or Basuto, have carried their powers of generalization\nstill farther, and arranged the other parts of the same great family\nof South Africans into three divisions: 1st. The Matebele, or\nMakonkobi--the Caffre family living on the eastern side of the country;\n2d. The Bakoni, or Basuto; and, 3d. The Bakalahari, or Bechuanas, living\nin the central parts, which includes all those tribes living in or\nadjacent to the great Kalahari Desert.\n\n1st. The Caffres are divided by themselves into various subdivisions, as\nAmakosa, Amapanda, and other well-known titles. They consider the name\nCaffre as an insulting epithet.\n\nThe Zulus of Natal belong to the same family, and they are as famed\nfor their honesty as their brethren who live adjacent to our colonial\nfrontier are renowned for cattle-lifting. The Recorder of Natal declared\nof them that history does not present another instance in which so\nmuch security for life and property has been enjoyed, as has been\nexperienced, during the whole period of English occupation, by ten\nthousand colonists, in the midst of one hundred thousand Zulus.\n\nThe Matebele of Mosilikatse, living a short distance south of the\nZambesi, and other tribes living a little south of Tete and Senna,\nare members of this same family. They are not known beyond the Zambesi\nRiver. This was the limit of the Bechuana progress north too, until\nSebituane pushed his conquests farther.\n\n2d. The Bakoni and Basuto division contains, in the south, all those\ntribes which acknowledge Moshesh as their paramount chief. Among them\nwe find the Batau, the Baputi, Makolokue, etc., and some mountaineers on\nthe range Maluti, who are believed, by those who have carefully sifted\nthe evidence, to have been at one time guilty of cannibalism. This\nhas been doubted, but their songs admit the fact to this day, and they\nascribe their having left off the odious practice of entrapping human\nprey to Moshesh having given them cattle. They are called Marimo and\nMayabathu, men-eaters, by the rest of the Basuto, who have various\nsubdivisions, as Makatla, Bamakakana, Matlapatlapa, etc.\n\nThe Bakoni farther north than the Basuto are the Batlou, Baperi, Bapo,\nand another tribe of Bakuena, Bamosetla, Bamapela or Balaka, Babiriri,\nBapiri, Bahukeng, Batlokua, Baakhahela, etc., etc.; the whole of which\ntribes are favored with abundance of rain, and, being much attached\nto agriculture, raise very large quantities of grain. It is on their\nindustry that the more distant Boers revel in slothful abundance, and\nfollow their slave-hunting and cattle-stealing propensities quite beyond\nthe range of English influence and law. The Basuto under Moshesh are\nequally fond of cultivating the soil. The chief labor of hoeing, driving\naway birds, reaping, and winnowing, falls to the willing arms of the\nhard-working women; but as the men, as well as their wives, as already\nstated, always work, many have followed the advice of the missionaries,\nand now use plows and oxen instead of the hoe.\n\n3d. The Bakalahari, or western branch of the Bechuana family, consists\nof Barolong, Bahurutse, Bakuena, Bangwaketse, Bakaa, Bamangwato,\nBakurutse, Batauana, Bamatlaro, and Batlapi. Among the last the success\nof missionaries has been greatest. They were an insignificant and filthy\npeople when first discovered; but, being nearest to the colony, they\nhave had opportunities of trading; and the long-continued peace they\nhave enjoyed, through the influence of religious teaching, has enabled\nthem to amass great numbers of cattle. The young, however, who do\nnot realize their former degradation, often consider their present\nsuperiority over the less-favored tribes in the interior to be entirely\nowing to their own greater wisdom and more intellectual development.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 11.\n\nDeparture from Linyanti for Sesheke--Level Country--Ant-hills--Wild\nDate-trees--Appearance of our Attendants on the March--The Chief's\nGuard--They attempt to ride on Ox-back--Vast Herds of the\nnew Antelopes, Leches, and Nakongs--The native way of hunting\nthem--Reception at the Villages--Presents of Beer and Milk--Eating with\nthe Hand--The Chief provides the Oxen for Slaughter--Social Mode\nof Eating--The Sugar-cane--Sekeletu's novel Test of Character--\nCleanliness of Makololo Huts--Their Construction and Appearance--The\nBeds--Cross the Leeambye--Aspect of this part of the Country--The small\nAntelope Tianyane unknown in the South--Hunting on foot--An Eland.\n\n\n\nHaving waited a month at Linyanti (lat. 18d 17' 20\" S., long. 23d 50'\n9\" E.), we again departed, for the purpose of ascending the river from\nSesheke (lat. 17d 31' 38\" S., long. 25d 13' E.). To the Barotse country,\nthe capital of which is Nariele or Naliele (lat. 15d 24' 17\" S., long.\n23d 5' 54\" E.), I went in company with Sekeletu and about one hundred\nand sixty attendants. We had most of the young men with us, and many of\nthe under-chiefs besides. The country between Linyanti and Sesheke\nis perfectly flat, except patches elevated only a few feet above\nthe surrounding level. There are also many mounds where the gigantic\nant-hills of the country have been situated or still appear: these\nmounds are evidently the work of the termites. No one who has not\nseen their gigantic structures can fancy the industry of these little\nlaborers; they seem to impart fertility to the soil which has once\npassed through their mouths, for the Makololo find the sides of\nant-hills the choice spots for rearing early maize, tobacco, or any\nthing on which they wish to bestow especial care. In the parts through\nwhich we passed the mounds are generally covered with masses of wild\ndate-trees; the fruit is small, and no tree is allowed to stand long,\nfor, having abundance of food, the Makololo have no inclination to\npreserve wild fruit-trees; accordingly, when a date shoots up to seed,\nas soon as the fruit is ripe they cut down the tree rather than be at\nthe trouble of climbing it. The other parts of the more elevated land\nhave the camel-thorn ('Acacia giraffae'), white-thorned mimosa ('Acacia\nhorrida'), and baobabs. In sandy spots there are palmyras somewhat\nsimilar to the Indian, but with a smaller seed. The soil on all the flat\nparts is a rich, dark, tenacious loam, known as the \"cotton-ground\" in\nIndia; it is covered with a dense matting of coarse grass, common on\nall damp spots in this country. We had the Chobe on our right, with its\nscores of miles of reed occupying the horizon there. It was pleasant to\nlook back on the long-extended line of our attendants, as it twisted and\nbent according to the curves of the footpath, or in and out behind the\nmounds, the ostrich feathers of the men waving in the wind. Some had the\nwhite ends of ox-tails on their heads, Hussar fashion, and others great\nbunches of black ostrich feathers, or caps made of lions' manes. Some\nwore red tunics, or various-colored prints which the chief had bought\nfrom Fleming; the common men carried burdens; the gentlemen walked with\na small club of rhinoceros-horn in their hands, and had servants to\ncarry their shields; while the \"Machaka\", battle-axe men, carried their\nown, and were liable at any time to be sent off a hundred miles on an\nerrand, and expected to run all the way.\n\nSekeletu is always accompanied by his own Mopato, a number of young men\nof his own age. When he sits down they crowd around him; those who\nare nearest eat out of the same dish, for the Makololo chiefs pride\nthemselves on eating with their people. He eats a little, then beckons\nhis neighbors to partake. When they have done so, he perhaps beckons\nto some one at a distance to take a share; that person starts forward,\nseizes the pot, and removes it to his own companions. The comrades of\nSekeletu, wishing to imitate him in riding on my old horse, leaped\non the backs of a number of half-broken Batoka oxen as they ran, but,\nhaving neither saddle nor bridle, the number of tumbles they met with\nwas a source of much amusement to the rest. Troops of leches, or, as\nthey are here called, \"lechwes\", appeared feeding quite heedlessly\nall over the flats; they exist here in prodigious herds, although the\nnumbers of them and of the \"nakong\" that are killed annually must be\nenormous. Both are water antelopes, and, when the lands we now tread\nupon are flooded, they betake themselves to the mounds I have alluded\nto. The Makalaka, who are most expert in the management of their small,\nthin, light canoes, come gently toward them; the men stand upright in\nthe canoe, though it is not more than fifteen or eighteen inches wide\nand about fifteen feet long; their paddles, ten feet in height, are of\na kind of wood called molompi, very light, yet as elastic as ash. With\nthese they either punt or paddle, according to the shallowness or depth\nof the water. When they perceive the antelopes beginning to move they\nincrease their speed, and pursue them with great velocity. They make the\nwater dash away from the gunwale, and, though the leche goes off by a\nsuccession of prodigious bounds, its feet appearing to touch the bottom\nat each spring, they manage to spear great numbers of them.\n\nThe nakong often shares a similar fate. This is a new species, rather\nsmaller than the leche, and in shape has more of paunchiness than any\nantelope I ever saw. Its gait closely resembles the gallop of a dog\nwhen tired. The hair is long and rather sparse, so that it is never\nsleek-looking. It is of a grayish-brown color, and has horns twisted\nin the manner of a koodoo, but much smaller, and with a double ridge\nwinding round each of them.\n\nIts habitat is the marsh and the muddy bogs; the great length of its\nfoot between the point of the toe and supplemental hoofs enables it to\nmake a print about a foot in length; it feeds by night, and lies hid\namong the reeds and rushes by day; when pursued, it dashes into sedgy\nplaces containing water, and immerses the whole body, leaving only the\npoint of the nose and ends of the horns exposed. The hunters burn\nlarge patches of reed in order to drive the nakong out of his lair;\noccasionally the ends of the horns project above the water; but when it\nsees itself surrounded by enemies in canoes, it will rather allow\nits horns to be scorched in the burning reed than come forth from its\nhiding-place.\n\nWhen we arrived at any village the women all turned out to lulliloo\ntheir chief. Their shrill voices, to which they give a tremulous sound\nby a quick motion of the tongue, peal forth, \"Great lion!\" \"Great\nchief!\" \"Sleep, my lord!\" etc. The men utter similar salutations; and\nSekeletu receives all with becoming indifference. After a few minutes'\nconversation and telling the news, the head man of the village, who is\nalmost always a Makololo, rises, and brings forth a number of large pots\nof beer. Calabashes, being used as drinking-cups, are handed round, and\nas many as can partake of the beverage do so, grasping the vessels so\neagerly that they are in danger of being broken.\n\nThey bring forth also large pots and bowls of thick milk; some contain\nsix or eight gallons; and each of these, as well as of the beer, is\ngiven to a particular person, who has the power to divide it with\nwhom he pleases. The head man of any section of the tribe is generally\nselected for this office. Spoons not being generally in fashion, the\nmilk is conveyed to the mouth with the hand. I often presented my\nfriends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe how their habit\nof hand-eating prevailed, though they were delighted with the spoons.\nThey lifted out a little with the utensil, then put it on the left hand,\nand ate it out of that.\n\nAs the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the chief is\nexpected to feed all who accompany him, he either selects an ox or\ntwo of his own from the numerous cattle stations that he possesses at\ndifferent spots all over the country, or is presented by the head men of\nthe villages he visits with as many as he needs by way of tribute. The\nanimals are killed by a thrust from a small javelin in the region of\nthe heart, the wound being purposely small in order to avoid any loss\nof blood, which, with the internal parts, are the perquisites of the\nmen who perform the work of the butcher; hence all are eager to render\nservice in that line. Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and\ndistributing an animal. Among the Makololo the hump and ribs belong to\nthe chief; among the Bakwains the breast is his perquisite. After the\noxen are cut up, the different joints are placed before Sekeletu, and he\napportions them among the gentlemen of the party. The whole is rapidly\ndivided by their attendants, cut into long strips, and so many of these\nare thrown into the fires at once that they are nearly put out. Half\nbroiled and burning hot, the meat is quickly handed round; every one\ngets a mouthful, but no one except the chief has time to masticate. It\nis not the enjoyment of eating they aim at, but to get as much of the\nfood into the stomach as possible during the short time the others are\ncramming as well as themselves, for no one can eat more than a mouthful\nafter the others have finished. They are eminently gregarious in their\neating; and, as they despise any one who eats alone, I always poured out\ntwo cups of coffee at my own meals, so that the chief, or some one of\nthe principal men, might partake along with me. They all soon become\nvery fond of coffee; and, indeed, some of the tribes attribute greater\nfecundity to the daily use of this beverage. They were all well\nacquainted with the sugar-cane, as they cultivate it in the Barotse\ncountry, but knew nothing of the method of extracting the sugar from it.\nThey use the cane only for chewing. Sekeletu, relishing the sweet coffee\nand biscuits, of which I then had a store, said \"he knew my heart loved\nhim by finding his own heart warming to my food.\" He had been visited\nduring my absence at the Cape by some traders and Griquas, and \"their\ncoffee did not taste half so nice as mine, because they loved his ivory\nand not himself.\" This was certainly an original mode of discerning\ncharacter.\n\nSekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to sleep. The\nMakololo huts are generally clean, while those of the Makalaka are\ninfested with vermin. The cleanliness of the former is owing to the\nhabit of frequently smearing the floors with a plaster composed of\ncowdung and earth. If we slept in the tent in some villages, the mice\nran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or hungry prowling dogs\nwould eat our shoes and leave only the soles. When they were guilty of\nthis and other misdemeanors, we got the loan of a hut. The best sort\nof Makololo huts consist of three circular walls, with small holes as\ndoors, each similar to that in a dog-house; and it is necessary to bend\ndown the body to get in, even when on all-fours. The roof is formed of\nreeds or straight sticks, in shape like a Chinaman's hat, bound firmly\ntogether with circular bands, which are lashed with the strong inner\nbark of the mimosa-tree. When all prepared except the thatch, it is\nlifted on to the circular wall, the rim resting on a circle of poles,\nbetween each of which the third wall is built. The roof is thatched with\nfine grass, and sewed with the same material as the lashings; and, as\nit projects far beyond the walls, and reaches within four feet of the\nground, the shade is the best to be found in the country. These huts are\nvery cool in the hottest day, but are close and deficient in ventilation\nby night.\n\nThe bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with twine; the hip-bone\nsoon becomes sore on the hard flat surface, as we are not allowed to\nmake a hole in the floor to receive the prominent part called trochanter\nby anatomists, as we do when sleeping on grass or sand.\n\nOur course at this time led us to a part above Sesheke, called\nKatonga, where there is a village belonging to a Bashubia man named\nSekhosi--latitude 17d 29' 13\", longitude 24d 33'. The river here is\nsomewhat broader than at Sesheke, and certainly not less than six\nhundred yards. It flows somewhat slowly in the first part of its eastern\ncourse. When the canoes came from Sekhosi to take us over, one of the\ncomrades of Sebituane rose, and, looking to Sekeletu, called out, \"The\nelders of a host always take the lead in an attack.\" This was understood\nat once; and Sekeletu, with all the young men, were obliged to give the\nelders the precedence, and remain on the southern bank and see that all\nwent orderly into the canoes. It took a considerable time to ferry over\nthe whole of our large party, as, even with quick paddling, from six to\neight minutes were spent in the mere passage from bank to bank.\n\nSeveral days were spent in collecting canoes from different villages on\nthe river, which we now learned is called by the whole of the Barotse\nthe Liambai or Leeambye. This we could not ascertain on our first visit,\nand, consequently, called the river after the town \"Sesheke\". This term\nSesheke means \"white sand-banks\", many of which exist at this part.\nThere is another village in the valley of the Barotse likewise called\nSesheke, and for the same reason; but the term Leeambye means \"the\nlarge river\", or the river PAR EXCELLENCE. Luambeji, Luambesi, Ambezi,\nOjimbesi, and Zambesi, etc., are names applied to it at different\nparts of its course, according to the dialect spoken, and all possess a\nsimilar signification, and express the native idea of this magnificent\nstream being the main drain of the country.\n\nIn order to assist in the support of our large party, and at the same\ntime to see the adjacent country, I went several times, during our stay,\nto the north of the village for game. The country is covered with clumps\nof beautiful trees, among which fine open glades stretch away in every\ndirection; when the river is in flood these are inundated, but the\ntree-covered elevated spots are much more numerous here than in the\ncountry between the Chobe and the Leeambye. The soil is dark loam, as it\nis every where on spots reached by the inundation, while among the trees\nit is sandy, and not covered so densely with grass as elsewhere. A sandy\nridge covered with trees, running parallel to, and about eight miles\nfrom the river, is the limit of the inundation on the north; there are\nlarge tracts of this sandy forest in that direction, till you come to\nother districts of alluvial soil and fewer trees. The latter soil is\nalways found in the vicinity of rivers which either now overflow their\nbanks annually, or formerly did so. The people enjoy rain in sufficient\nquantity to raise very large supplies of grain and ground-nuts.\n\nThis district contains great numbers of a small antelope named Tianyane,\nunknown in the south. It stands about eighteen inches high, is very\ngraceful in its movements, and utters a cry of alarm not unlike that of\nthe domestic fowl; it is of a brownish-red color on the sides and back,\nwith the belly and lower part of the tail white; it is very timid, but\nthe maternal affection that the little thing bears to its young will\noften induce it to offer battle even to a man approaching it. When the\nyoung one is too tender to run about with the dam, she puts one foot\non the prominence about the seventh cervical vertebra, or withers; the\ninstinct of the young enables it to understand that it is now required\nto kneel down, and to remain quite still till it hears the bleating of\nits dam. If you see an otherwise gregarious she-antelope separated from\nthe herd, and going alone any where, you may be sure she has laid her\nlittle one to sleep in some cozy spot. The color of the hair in the\nyoung is better adapted for assimilating it with the ground than that of\nthe older animals, which do not need to be screened from the observation\nof birds of prey. I observed the Arabs at Aden, when making their camels\nkneel down, press the thumb on the withers in exactly the same way the\nantelopes do with their young; probably they have been led to the custom\nby seeing this plan adopted by the gazelle of the Desert.\n\nGreat numbers of buffaloes, zebras, tsessebes, tahaetsi, and eland, or\npohu, grazed undisturbed on these plains, so that very little exertion\nwas required to secure a fair supply of meat for the party during the\nnecessary delay. Hunting on foot, as all those who have engaged in it in\nthis country will at once admit, is very hard work indeed. The heat of\nthe sun by day is so great, even in winter, as it now was, that, had\nthere been any one on whom I could have thrown the task, he would have\nbeen most welcome to all the sport the toil is supposed to impart. But\nthe Makololo shot so badly, that, in order to save my powder, I was\nobliged to go myself.\n\nWe shot a beautiful cow-eland, standing in the shade of a fine tree. It\nwas evident that she had lately had her calf killed by a lion, for there\nwere five long deep scratches on both sides of her hind-quarters, as\nif she had run to the rescue of her calf, and the lion, leaving it, had\nattacked herself, but was unable to pull her down. When lying on the\nground, the milk flowing from the large udder showed that she must have\nbeen seeking the shade, from the distress its non-removal in the natural\nmanner caused. She was a beautiful creature, and Lebeole, a Makololo\ngentleman who accompanied me, speaking in reference to its size and\nbeauty, said, \"Jesus ought to have given us these instead of cattle.\" It\nwas a new, undescribed variety of this splendid antelope. It was marked\nwith narrow white bands across the body, exactly like those of the\nkoodoo, and had a black patch of more than a handbreadth on the outer\nside of the fore-arm.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 12.\n\nProcure Canoes and ascend the Leeambye--Beautiful Islands--Winter\nLandscape--Industry and Skill of the Banyeti--Rapids--Falls of\nGonye--Tradition--Annual Inundations--Fertility of the great\nBarotse Valley--Execution of two Conspirators--The Slave-dealer's\nStockade--Naliele, the Capital, built on an artificial Mound--Santuru,\na great Hunter--The Barotse Method of commemorating any remarkable\nEvent--Better Treatment of Women--More religious Feeling--Belief in a\nfuture State, and in the Existence of spiritual Beings--Gardens--Fish,\nFruit, and Game--Proceed to the Limits of the Barotse Country--\nSekeletu provides Rowers and a Herald--The River and Vicinity--\nHippopotamus-hunters--No healthy Location--Determine to go to Loanda--\nBuffaloes, Elands, and Lions above Libonta--Interview with the Mambari--\nTwo Arabs from Zanzibar--Their Opinion of the Portuguese and the English\n--Reach the Town of Ma-Sekeletu--Joy of the People at the first Visit of\ntheir Chief--Return to Sesheke--Heathenism.\n\n\n\nHaving at last procured a sufficient number of canoes, we began to\nascend the river. I had the choice of the whole fleet, and selected the\nbest, though not the largest; it was thirty-four feet long by twenty\ninches wide. I had six paddlers, and the larger canoe of Sekeletu had\nten. They stand upright, and keep the stroke with great precision,\nthough they change from side to side as the course demands. The men at\nthe head and stern are selected from the strongest and most expert of\nthe whole. The canoes, being flat bottomed, can go into very shallow\nwater; and whenever the men can feel the bottom they use the paddles,\nwhich are about eight feet long, as poles to punt with. Our fleet\nconsisted of thirty-three canoes, and about one hundred and sixty men.\nIt was beautiful to see them skimming along so quickly, and keeping\nthe time so well. On land the Makalaka fear the Makololo; on water\nthe Makololo fear them, and can not prevent them from racing with\neach other, dashing along at the top of their speed, and placing\ntheir masters' lives in danger. In the event of a capsize, many of the\nMakololo would sink like stones. A case of this kind happened on the\nfirst day of our voyage up. The wind, blowing generally from the east,\nraises very large waves on the Leeambye. An old doctor of the Makololo\nhad his canoe filled by one of these waves, and, being unable to swim,\nwas lost. The Barotse who were in the canoe with him saved themselves\nby swimming, and were afraid of being punished with death in the evening\nfor not saving the doctor as well. Had he been a man of more influence,\nthey certainly would have suffered death.\n\nWe proceeded rapidly up the river, and I felt the pleasure of looking\non lands which had never been seen by a European before. The river is,\nindeed, a magnificent one, often more than a mile broad, and adorned\nwith many islands of from three to five miles in length. Both islands\nand banks are covered with forest, and most of the trees on the brink of\nthe water send down roots from their branches like the banian, or 'Ficus\nIndica'. The islands at a little distance seem great rounded masses of\nsylvan vegetation reclining on the bosom of the glorious stream. The\nbeauty of the scenery of some of the islands is greatly increased by the\ndate-palm, with its gracefully curved fronds and refreshing light green\ncolor, near the bottom of the picture, and the lofty palmyra towering\nfar above, and casting its feathery foliage against a cloudless sky. It\nbeing winter, we had the strange coloring on the banks which many parts\nof African landscape assume. The country adjacent to the river is rocky\nand undulating, abounding in elephants and all other large game, except\nleches and nakongs, which seem generally to avoid stony ground. The soil\nis of a reddish color, and very fertile, as is attested by the great\nquantity of grain raised annually by the Banyeti. A great many villages\nof this poor and very industrious people are situated on both banks of\nthe river: they are expert hunters of the hippopotami and other animals,\nand very proficient in the manufacture of articles of wood and iron. The\nwhole of this part of the country being infested with the tsetse, they\nare unable to rear domestic animals. This may have led to their skill\nin handicraft works. Some make large wooden vessels with very neat lids,\nand wooden bowls of all sizes; and since the idea of sitting on stools\nhas entered the Makololo mind, they have shown great taste in the\ndifferent forms given to the legs of these pieces of furniture.\n\nOther Banyeti, or Manyeti, as they are called, make neat and strong\nbaskets of the split roots of a certain tree, while others excel in\npottery and iron. I can not find that they have ever been warlike.\nIndeed, the wars in the centre of the country, where no slave-trade\nexisted, have seldom been about any thing else but cattle. So well known\nis this, that several tribes refuse to keep cattle because they tempt\ntheir enemies to come and steal. Nevertheless, they have no objection to\neat them when offered, and their country admits of being well stocked.\nI have heard of but one war having occurred from another cause. Three\nbrothers, Barolongs, fought for the possession of a woman who was\nconsidered worth a battle, and the tribe has remained permanently\ndivided ever since.\n\nFrom the bend up to the north, called Katima-molelo (I quenched fire),\nthe bed of the river is rocky, and the stream runs fast, forming a\nsuccession of rapids and cataracts, which prevent continuous navigation\nwhen the water is low. The rapids are not visible when the river is\nfull, but the cataracts of Nambwe, Bombwe, and Kale must always be\ndangerous. The fall at each of these is between four and six feet. But\nthe falls of Gonye present a much more serious obstacle. There we were\nobliged to take the canoes out of the water, and carry them more than\na mile by land. The fall is about thirty feet. The main body of water,\nwhich comes over the ledge of rock when the river is low, is collected\ninto a space seventy or eighty yards wide before it takes the leap, and,\na mass of rock being thrust forward against the roaring torrent, a loud\nsound is produced. Tradition reports the destruction in this place of\ntwo hippopotamus-hunters, who, over-eager in the pursuit of a wounded\nanimal, were, with their intended prey, drawn down into the frightful\ngulf. There is also a tradition of a man, evidently of a superior mind,\nwho left his own countrymen, the Barotse, and came down the river, took\nadvantage of the falls, and led out a portion of the water there for\nirrigation. Such minds must have arisen from time to time in these\nregions, as well as in our own country, but, ignorant of the use of\nletters, they have left no memorial behind them. We dug out some of an\ninferior kind of potato ('Sisinyane') from his garden, for when once\nplanted it never dies out. This root is bitter and waxy, though it\nis cultivated. It was not in flower, so I can not say whether it is a\nsolanaceous plant or not. One never expects to find a grave nor a stone\nof remembrance set up in Africa; the very rocks are illiterate, they\ncontain so few fossils. Those here are of reddish variegated, hardened\nsandstone, with madrepore holes in it. This, and broad horizontal strata\nof trap, sometimes a hundred miles in extent, and each layer having an\ninch or so of black silicious matter on it, as if it had floated there\nwhile in a state of fusion, form a great part of the bottom of the\ncentral valley. These rocks, in the southern part of the country\nespecially, are often covered with twelve or fifteen feet of soft\ncalcareous tufa. At Bombwe we have the same trap, with radiated zeolite,\nprobably mesotype, and it again appears at the confluence of the Chobe,\nfarther down.\n\nAs we passed up the river, the different villages of Banyeti turned out\nto present Sekeletu with food and skins, as their tribute. One large\nvillage is placed at Gonye, the inhabitants of which are required to\nassist the Makololo to carry their canoes past the falls. The tsetse\nhere lighted on us even in the middle of the stream. This we crossed\nrepeatedly, in order to make short cuts at bends of the river. The\ncourse is, however, remarkably straight among the rocks; and here the\nriver is shallow, on account of the great breadth of surface which it\ncovers. When we came to about 16d 16' S. latitude, the high wooded banks\nseemed to leave the river, and no more tsetse appeared. Viewed from\nthe flat, reedy basin in which the river then flowed, the banks seemed\nprolonged into ridges, of the same wooded character, two or three\nhundred feet high, and stretched away to the N.N.E. and N.N.W. until\nthey were twenty or thirty miles apart. The intervening space, nearly\none hundred miles in length, with the Leeambye winding gently near the\nmiddle, is the true Barotse valley. It bears a close resemblance to the\nvalley of the Nile, and is inundated annually, not by rains, but by the\nLeeambye, exactly as Lower Egypt is flooded by the Nile. The villages\nof the Barotse are built on mounds, some of which are said to have\nbeen raised artificially by Santuru, a former chief of the Barotse, and\nduring the inundation the whole valley assumes the appearance of a large\nlake, with the villages on the mounds like islands, just as occurs in\nEgypt with the villages of the Egyptians. Some portion of the waters of\ninundation comes from the northwest, where great floodings also occur,\nbut more comes from the north and northeast, descending the bed of the\nLeeambye itself. There are but few trees in this valley: those which\nstand on the mounds were nearly all transplanted by Santuru for shade.\nThe soil is extremely fertile, and the people are never in want of\ngrain, for, by taking advantage of the moisture of the inundation, they\ncan take two crops a year. The Barotse are strongly attached to this\nfertile valley; they say, \"Here hunger is not known.\" There are so many\nthings besides corn which a man can find in it for food, that it is no\nwonder they desert from Linyanti to return to this place.\n\nThe great valley is not put to a tithe of the use it might be. It is\ncovered with coarse succulent grasses, which afford ample pasturage for\nlarge herds of cattle; these thrive wonderfully, and give milk copiously\nto their owners. When the valley is flooded, the cattle are compelled to\nleave it and go to the higher lands, where they fall off in condition;\ntheir return is a time of joy.\n\nIt is impossible to say whether this valley, which contains so much\nmoisture, would raise wheat as the valley of the Nile does. It is\nprobably too rich, and would make corn run entirely to straw, for one\nspecies of grass was observed twelve feet high, with a stem as thick as\na man's thumb. At present the pasturage is never eaten off, though the\nMakololo possess immense herds of cattle.\n\nThere are no large towns, the mounds on which the towns and villages are\nbuilt being all small, and the people require to live apart on account\nof their cattle.\n\nThis visit was the first Sekeletu had made to these parts since he\nattained the chieftainship. Those who had taken part with Mpepe were\nconsequently in great terror. When we came to the town of Mpepe's\nfather, as he and another man had counseled Mamochisane to put Sekeletu\nto death and marry Mpepe, the two were led forth and tossed into the\nriver. Nokuane was again one of the executioners. When I remonstrated\nagainst human blood being shed in the offhand way in which they were\nproceeding, the counselors justified their acts by the evidence given by\nMamochisane, and calmly added, \"You see we are still Boers; we are not\nyet taught.\"\n\nMpepe had given full permission to the Mambari slave-dealers to trade\nin all the Batoka and Bashukulompo villages to the east of this. He had\ngiven them cattle, ivory, and children, and had received in return\na large blunderbuss to be mounted as a cannon. When the slight\ncircumstance of my having covered the body of the chief with my own\nderanged the whole conspiracy, the Mambari, in their stockade, were\nplaced in very awkward circumstances. It was proposed to attack them and\ndrive them out of the country at once; but, dreading a commencement of\nhostilities, I urged the difficulties of that course, and showed that\na stockade defended by perhaps forty muskets would be a very serious\naffair. \"Hunger is strong enough for that,\" said an under-chief; \"a very\ngreat fellow is he.\" They thought of attacking them by starvation. As\nthe chief sufferers in case of such an attack would have been the poor\nslaves chained in gangs, I interceded for them, and the result of an\nintercession of which they were ignorant was that they were allowed to\ndepart in peace.\n\nNaliele, the capital of the Barotse, is built on a mound which was\nconstructed artificially by Santuru, and was his store-house for grain.\nHis own capital stood about five hundred yards to the south of that, in\nwhat is now the bed of the river. All that remains of the largest mound\nin the valley are a few cubic yards of earth, to erect which cost the\nwhole of the people of Santuru the labor of many years. The same thing\nhas happened to another ancient site of a town, Linangelo, also on the\nleft bank. It would seem, therefore, that the river in this part of the\nvalley must be wearing eastward. No great rise of the river is required\nto submerge the whole valley; a rise of ten feet above the present\nlow-water mark would reach the highest point it ever attains, as seen in\nthe markings of the bank on which stood Santuru's ancient capital,\nand two or three feet more would deluge all the villages. This never\nhappens, though the water sometimes comes so near the foundations of\nthe huts that the people can not move outside the walls of reeds which\nencircle their villages. When the river is compressed among the high\nrocky banks near Gonye, it rises sixty feet.\n\nThe influence of the partial obstruction it meets with there is seen\nin the more winding course of the river north of 16 Deg.; and when the\nswell gets past Katima-molelo, it spreads out on the lands on both banks\ntoward Sesheke.\n\nSanturu, at whose ancient granary we are staying, was a great hunter,\nand very fond of taming wild animals. His people, aware of his taste,\nbrought to him every young antelope they could catch, and, among other\nthings, two young hippopotami. These animals gamboled in the river\nby day, but never failed to remember to come up to Naliele for their\nsuppers of milk and meal. They were the wonder of the country, till a\nstranger, happening to come to visit Santuru, saw them reclining in the\nsun, and speared one of them on the supposition that it was wild. The\nsame unlucky accident happened to one of the cats I had brought to\nSekeletu. A stranger, seeing an animal he had never viewed before,\nkilled it, and brought the trophy to the chief, thinking that he had\nmade a very remarkable discovery; we thereby lost the breed of cats, of\nwhich, from the swarms of mice, we stood in great need.\n\nOn making inquiries to ascertain whether Santuru, the Moloiana, had ever\nbeen visited by white men, I could find no vestige of any such visit;*\nthere is no evidence of any of Santuru's people having ever seen a white\nman before the arrival of Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. The people\nhave, it is true, no written records; but any remarkable event here is\ncommemorated in names, as was observed by Park to be the case in the\ncountries he traversed. The year of our arrival is dignified by the name\nof the year when the white men came, or of Sebituane's death; but they\nprefer the former, as they avoid, if possible, any direct reference to\nthe departed. After my wife's first visit, great numbers of children\nwere named Ma-Robert, or mother of Robert, her eldest child; others were\nnamed Gun, Horse, Wagon, Monare, Jesus, etc.; but though our names, and\nthose of the native Portuguese who came in 1853, were adopted, there is\nnot a trace of any thing of the sort having happened previously among\nthe Barotse: the visit of a white man is such a remarkable event, that,\nhad any taken place during the last three hundred years, there must have\nremained some tradition of it.\n\n   * The Barotse call themselves the Baloiana or little Baloi, as\n   if they had been an offset from Loi, or Lui, as it is often\n   spelt. As Lui had been visited by Portuguese, but its position\n   not well ascertained, my inquiries referred to the identity of\n   Naliele with Lui.  On asking the head man of the Mambari\n   party, named Porto, whether he had ever heard of Naliele being\n   visited previously, he replied in the negative, and stated\n   that he \"had himself attempted to come from Bihe three times,\n   but had always been prevented by the tribe called Ganguellas.\"\n   He nearly succeeded in 1852, but was driven back.  He now (in\n   1853) attempted to go eastward from Naliele, but came back to\n   the Barotse on being unable to go beyond Kainko's village,\n   which is situated on the Bashukulompo River, and eight days\n   distant.  The whole party was anxious to secure a reward\n   believed to be promised by the Portuguese government. Their\n   want of success confirmed my impression that I ought to go\n   westward. Porto kindly offered to aid me, if I would go with\n   him to Bihe; but when I declined, he preceded me to Loanda,\n   and was publishing his Journal when I arrived at that city.\n   Ben Habib told me that Porto had sent letters to Mozambique by\n   the Arab, Ben Chombo, whom I knew; and he has since asserted,\n   in Portugal, that he himself went to Mozambique as well as his\n   letters!\n\nBut Santuru was once visited by the Mambari, and a distinct recollection\nof that visit is retained. They came to purchase slaves, and both\nSanturu and his head men refused them permission to buy any of the\npeople. The Makololo quoted this precedent when speaking of the Mambari,\nand said that they, as the present masters of the country, had as good\na right to expel them as Santuru. The Mambari reside near Bihe, under\nan Ambonda chief named Kangombe. They profess to use the slaves for\ndomestic purposes alone.\n\nSome of these Mambari visited us while at Naliele. They are of the\nAmbonda family, which inhabits the country southeast of Angola, and\nspeak the Bunda dialect, which is of the same family of languages with\nthe Barotse, Bayeiye, etc., or those black tribes comprehended under the\ngeneral term Makalaka. They plait their hair in three-fold cords, and\nlay them carefully down around the sides of the head. They are quite as\ndark as the Barotse, but have among them a number of half-castes, with\ntheir peculiar yellow sickly hue. On inquiring why they had fled on my\napproach to Linyanti, they let me know that they had a vivid idea of the\ncustoms of English cruisers on the coast. They showed also their habits\nin their own country by digging up and eating, even here where\nlarge game abounds, the mice and moles which infest the country. The\nhalf-castes, or native Portuguese, could all read and write, and the\nhead of the party, if not a real Portuguese, had European hair, and,\ninfluenced probably by the letter of recommendation which I held from\nthe Chevalier Duprat, his most faithful majesty's Arbitrator in the\nBritish and Portuguese Mixed Commission at Cape Town, was evidently\nanxious to show me all the kindness in his power. These persons I feel\nassured were the first individuals of Portuguese blood who ever saw the\nZambesi in the centre of the country, and they had reached it two years\nafter our discovery in 1851.\n\nThe town or mound of Santuru's mother was shown to me; this was the\nfirst symptom of an altered state of feeling with regard to the female\nsex that I had observed. There are few or no cases of women being\nelevated to the headships of towns further south. The Barotse also\nshowed some relics of their chief, which evinced a greater amount of the\nreligious feeling than I had ever known displayed among Bechuanas. His\nmore recent capital, Lilonda, built, too, on an artificial mound,\nis covered with different kinds of trees, transplanted when young by\nhimself. They form a grove on the end of the mound, in which are to be\nseen various instruments of iron just in the state he left them. One\nlooks like the guard of a basket-hilted sword; another has an upright\nstem of the metal, on which are placed branches worked at the ends into\nminiature axes, hoes, and spears; on these he was accustomed to present\nofferings, according as he desired favors to be conferred in undertaking\nhewing, agriculture, or fighting. The people still living there, in\ncharge of these articles, were supported by presents from the chief; and\nthe Makololo sometimes follow the example. This was the nearest approach\nto a priesthood I met. When I asked them to part with one of these\nrelics, they replied, \"Oh no, he refuses.\" \"Who refuses?\" \"Santuru,\" was\ntheir reply, showing their belief in a future state of existence. After\nexplaining to them, as I always did when opportunity offered, the nature\nof true worship, and praying with them in the simple form which needs no\noffering from the worshiper except that of the heart, and planting some\nfruit-tree seeds in the grove, we departed.\n\nAnother incident, which occurred at the confluence of the Leeba and\nLeeambye, may be mentioned here, as showing a more vivid perception of\nthe existence of spiritual beings, and greater proneness to worship than\namong the Bechuanas. Having taken lunar observations in the morning,\nI was waiting for a meridian altitude of the sun for the latitude; my\nchief boatman was sitting by, in order to pack up the instruments\nas soon as I had finished; there was a large halo, about 20 Deg. in\ndiameter, round the sun; thinking that the humidity of the atmosphere,\nwhich this indicated, might betoken rain, I asked him if his experience\ndid not lead him to the same view. \"Oh no,\" replied he; \"it is the\nBarimo (gods or departed spirits), who have called a picho; don't you\nsee they have the Lord (sun) in the centre?\"\n\nWhile still at Naliele I walked out to Katongo (lat. 15d 16' 33\"), on\nthe ridge which bounds the valley of the Barotse in that direction, and\nfound it covered with trees. It is only the commencement of the lands\nwhich are never inundated; their gentle rise from the dead level of the\nvalley much resembles the edge of the Desert in the valley of the Nile.\nBut here the Banyeti have fine gardens, and raise great quantities of\nmaize, millet, and native corn ('Holcus sorghum'), of large grain and\nbeautifully white. They grow, also, yams, sugar-cane, the Egyptian\narum, sweet potato ('Convolulus batata'), two kinds of manioc or cassava\n('Jatropha manihot' and 'J. utilissima', a variety containing scarcely\nany poison), besides pumpkins, melons, beans, and ground-nuts. These,\nwith plenty of fish in the river, its branches and lagoons, wild fruits\nand water-fowl, always make the people refer to the Barotse as the land\nof plenty. The scene from the ridge, on looking back, was beautiful. One\ncan not see the western side of the valley in a cloudy day, such as\nthat was when we visited the stockade, but we could see the great river\nglancing out at different points, and fine large herds of cattle quietly\ngrazing on the green succulent herbage, among numbers of cattle-stations\nand villages which are dotted over the landscape. Leches in hundreds\nfed securely beside them, for they have learned only to keep out of\nbow-shot, or two hundred yards. When guns come into a country the\nanimals soon learn their longer range, and begin to run at a distance of\nfive hundred yards.\n\nI imagined the slight elevation (Katongo) might be healthy, but was\ninformed that no part of this region is exempt from fever. When\nthe waters begin to retire from this valley, such masses of decayed\nvegetation and mud are exposed to the torrid sun that even the natives\nsuffer severely from attacks of fever. The grass is so rank in its\ngrowth that one can not see the black alluvial soil of the bottom of\nthis periodical lake. Even when the grass falls down in winter, or is\n\"laid\" by its own weight, one is obliged to lift the feet so high, to\navoid being tripped up by it, as to make walking excessively fatiguing.\nYoung leches are hidden beneath it by their dams; and the Makololo youth\ncomplain of being unable to run in the Barotse land on this account.\nThere was evidently no healthy spot in this quarter; and the current of\nthe river being about four and a half miles per hour (one hundred yards\nin sixty seconds), I imagined we might find what we needed in the higher\nlands, from which the river seemed to come. I resolved, therefore, to\ngo to the utmost limits of the Barotse country before coming to a final\nconclusion. Katongo was the best place we had seen; but, in order to\naccomplish a complete examination, I left Sekeletu at Naliele, and\nascended the river. He furnished me with men, besides my rowers, and\namong the rest a herald, that I might enter his villages in what is\nconsidered a dignified manner. This, it was supposed, would be effected\nby the herald shouting out at the top of his voice, \"Here comes the\nlord; the great lion;\" the latter phrase being \"tau e tona\", which, in\nhis imperfect way of pronunciation, became \"Sau e tona\", and so like\n\"the great sow\" that I could not receive the honor with becoming\ngravity, and had to entreat him, much to the annoyance of my party, to\nbe silent.\n\nIn our ascent we visited a number of Makololo villages, and were always\nreceived with a hearty welcome, as messengers to them of peace, which\nthey term \"sleep\". They behave well in public meetings, even on the\nfirst occasion of attendance, probably from the habit of commanding the\nMakalaka, crowds of whom swarm in every village, and whom the Makololo\nwomen seem to consider as especially under their charge.\n\nThe river presents the same appearance of low banks without trees as\nwe have remarked it had after we came to 16d 16', until we arrive at\nLibonta (14d 59' S. lat.). Twenty miles beyond that, we find forest down\nto the water's edge, and tsetse. Here I might have turned back, as no\nlocality can be inhabited by Europeans where that scourge exists; but\nhearing that we were not far from the confluence of the River of Londa\nor Lunda, named Leeba or Loiba, and the chiefs of that country being\nreported to be friendly to strangers, and therefore likely to be of use\nto me on my return from the west coast, I still pushed on to latitude\n14d 11' 3\" S. There the Leeambye assumes the name Kabompo, and seems to\nbe coming from the east. It is a fine large river, about three hundred\nyards wide, and the Leeba two hundred and fifty. The Loeti, a branch of\nwhich is called Langebongo, comes from W.N.W., through a level grassy\nplain named Mango; it is about one hundred yards wide, and enters the\nLeeambye from the west; the waters of the Loeti are of a light color,\nand those of the Leeba of a dark mossy hue. After the Loeti joins\nthe Leeambye the different colored waters flow side by side for some\ndistance unmixed.\n\nBefore reaching the Loeti we came to a number of people from the Lobale\nregion, hunting hippopotami. They fled precipitately as soon as they saw\nthe Makololo, leaving their canoes and all their utensils and clothing.\nMy own Makalaka, who were accustomed to plunder wherever they went,\nrushed after them like furies, totally regardless of my shouting. As\nthis proceeding would have destroyed my character entirely at Lobale, I\ntook my stand on a commanding position as they returned, and forced them\nto lay down all the plunder on a sand-bank, and leave it there for its\nlawful owners.\n\nIt was now quite evident that no healthy location could be obtained in\nwhich the Makololo would be allowed to live in peace. I had thus a fair\nexcuse, if I had chosen to avail myself of it, of coming home and saying\nthat the \"door was shut\", because the Lord's time had not yet come. But\nbelieving that it was my duty to devote some portion of my life to these\n(to me at least) very confiding and affectionate Makololo, I resolved\nto follow out the second part of my plan, though I had failed in\naccomplishing the first. The Leeba seemed to come from the N. and by\nW., or N.N.W.; so, having an old Portuguese map, which pointed out the\nCoanza as rising from the middle of the continent in 9 Deg. S. lat., I\nthought it probable that, when we had ascended the Leeba (from 14d 11')\ntwo or three degrees, we should then be within one hundred and twenty\nmiles of the Coanza, and find no difficulty in following it down to the\ncoast near Loanda. This was the logical deduction; but, as is the\ncase with many a plausible theory, one of the premises was decidedly\ndefective. The Coanza, as we afterward found, does not come from any\nwhere near the centre of the country.\n\nThe numbers of large game above Libonta are prodigious, and they proved\nremarkably tame. Eighty-one buffaloes defiled in slow procession before\nour fire one evening, within gunshot; and herds of splendid elands stood\nby day, without fear, at two hundred yards distance. They were all of\nthe striped variety, and with their forearm markings, large dewlaps,\nand sleek skins, were a beautiful sight to see. The lions here roar much\nmore than in the country near the lake, Zouga, and Chobe. One evening\nwe had a good opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the animal can\nmake in that line. We had made our beds on a large sand-bank, and could\nbe easily seen from all sides. A lion on the opposite shore amused\nhimself for hours by roaring as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual\nin such cases, his mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate.\nThe river was too broad for a ball to reach him, so we let him enjoy\nhimself, certain that he durst not have been guilty of the impertinence\nin the Bushman country. Wherever the game abounds, these animals exist\nin proportionate numbers. Here they were very frequently seen, and two\nof the largest I ever saw seemed about as tall as common donkeys; but\nthe mane made their bodies appear rather larger.\n\nA party of Arabs from Zanzibar were in the country at this time.\nSekeletu had gone from Naliele to the town of his mother before we\narrived from the north, but left an ox for our use, and instructions for\nus to follow him thither. We came down a branch of the Leeambye called\nMarile, which departs from the main river in latitude 15d 15' 43\" S.,\nand is a fine deep stream about sixty yards wide. It makes the whole of\nthe country around Naliele an island. When sleeping at a village in the\nsame latitude as Naliele town, two of the Arabs mentioned made their\nappearance. They were quite as dark as the Makololo, but, having\ntheir heads shaved, I could not compare their hair with that of the\ninhabitants of the country. When we were about to leave they came to bid\nadieu, but I asked them to stay and help us to eat our ox. As they had\nscruples about eating an animal not blooded in their own way, I gained\ntheir good-will by saying I was quite of their opinion as to getting\nquit of the blood, and gave them two legs of an animal slaughtered by\nthemselves. They professed the greatest detestation of the Portuguese,\n\"because they eat pigs;\" and disliked the English, \"because they thrash\nthem for selling slaves.\" I was silent about pork; though, had they seen\nme at a hippopotamus two days afterward, they would have set me down as\nbeing as much a heretic as any of that nation; but I ventured to tell\nthem that I agreed with the English, that it was better to let the\nchildren grow up and comfort their mothers when they became old, than to\ncarry them away and sell them across the sea. This they never attempt\nto justify; \"they want them only to cultivate the land, and take care\nof them as their children.\" It is the same old story, justifying a\nmonstrous wrong on pretense of taking care of those degraded portions of\nhumanity which can not take care of themselves; doing evil that good may\ncome.\n\nThese Arabs, or Moors, could read and write their own language readily;\nand, when speaking about our Savior, I admired the boldness with which\nthey informed me \"that Christ was a very good prophet, but Mohammed was\nfar greater.\" And with respect to their loathing of pork, it may have\nsome foundation in their nature; for I have known Bechuanas, who had\nno prejudice against the wild animal, and ate the tame without scruple,\nyet, unconscious of any cause of disgust, vomit it again. The Bechuanas\nsouth of the lake have a prejudice against eating fish, and allege a\ndisgust to eating any thing like a serpent. This may arise from the\nremnants of serpent-worship floating in their minds, as, in addition\nto this horror of eating such animals, they sometimes render a sort\nof obeisance to living serpents by clapping their hands to them, and\nrefusing to destroy the reptiles; but in the case of the hog they are\nconscious of no superstitious feeling.\n\nHaving parted with our Arab friends, we proceeded down the Marile till\nwe re-entered the Leeambye, and went to the town of Ma-Sekeletu (mother\nof Sekeletu), opposite the island of Loyela. Sekeletu had always\nsupplied me most liberally with food, and, as soon as I arrived,\npresented me with a pot of boiled meat, while his mother handed me a\nlarge jar of butter, of which they make great quantities for the purpose\nof anointing their bodies. He had himself sometimes felt the benefit of\nmy way of putting aside a quantity of the meat after a meal, and had\nnow followed my example by ordering some to be kept for me. According\nto their habits, every particle of an ox is devoured at one meal; and as\nthe chief can not, without a deviation from their customs, eat alone, he\nis often compelled to suffer severely from hunger before another meal is\nready. We henceforth always worked into each other's hands by saving a\nlittle for each other; and when some of the sticklers for use and custom\ngrumbled, I advised them to eat like men, and not like vultures.\n\nAs this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this part of his\ndominions, it was to many a season of great joy. The head men of each\nvillage presented oxen, milk, and beer, more than the horde which\naccompanied him could devour, though their abilities in that line are\nsomething wonderful. The people usually show their joy and work off\ntheir excitement in dances and songs. The dance consists of the men\nstanding nearly naked in a circle, with clubs or small battle-axes in\ntheir hands, and each roaring at the loudest pitch of his voice, while\nthey simultaneously lift one leg, stamp heavily twice with it, then lift\nthe other and give one stamp with that; this is the only movement\nin common. The arms and head are often thrown about also in every\ndirection; and all this time the roaring is kept up with the utmost\npossible vigor; the continued stamping makes a cloud of dust ascend, and\nthey leave a deep ring in the ground where they stood. If the scene were\nwitnessed in a lunatic asylum it would be nothing out of the way,\nand quite appropriate even, as a means of letting off the excessive\nexcitement of the brain; but here gray-headed men joined in the\nperformance with as much zest as others whose youth might be an excuse\nfor making the perspiration stream off their bodies with the exertion.\nMotibe asked what I thought of the Makololo dance. I replied, \"It is\nvery hard work, and brings but small profit.\" \"It is,\" replied he, \"but\nit is very nice, and Sekeletu will give us an ox for dancing for him.\"\nHe usually does slaughter an ox for the dancers when the work is over.\n\nThe women stand by, clapping their hands, and occasionally one advances\ninto the circle, composed of a hundred men, makes a few movements,\nand then retires. As I never tried it, and am unable to enter into\nthe spirit of the thing, I can not recommend the Makololo polka to the\ndancing world, but I have the authority of no less a person than Motibe,\nSekeletu's father-in-law, for saying \"it is very nice.\" They often asked\nif white people ever danced. I thought of the disease called St. Vitus's\ndance, but could not say that all our dancers were affected by it, and\ngave an answer which, I ought to be ashamed to own, did not raise some\nof our young countrywomen in the estimation of the Makololo.\n\nAs Sekeletu had been waiting for me at his mother's, we left the town\nas soon as I arrived, and proceeded down the river. Our speed with the\nstream was very great, for in one day we went from Litofe to Gonye,\na distance of forty-four miles of latitude; and if we add to this the\nwindings of the river, in longitude the distance will not be much less\nthan sixty geographical miles. At this rate we soon reached Sesheke, and\nthen the town of Linyanti.\n\nI had been, during a nine weeks' tour, in closer contact with heathenism\nthan I had ever been before; and though all, including the chief, were\nas kind and attentive to me as possible, and there was no want of\nfood (oxen being slaughtered daily, sometimes ten at a time, more than\nsufficient for the wants of all), yet to endure the dancing, roaring,\nand singing, the jesting, anecdotes, grumbling, quarreling, and\nmurdering of these children of nature, seemed more like a severe penance\nthan any thing I had before met with in the course of my missionary\nduties. I took thence a more intense disgust at heathenism than I had\nbefore, and formed a greatly elevated opinion of the latent effects of\nmissions in the south, among tribes which are reported to have been\nas savage as the Makololo. The indirect benefits which, to a casual\nobserver, lie beneath the surface and are inappreciable, in reference\nto the probable wide diffusion of Christianity at some future time, are\nworth all the money and labor that have been expended to produce them.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 13.\n\nPreliminary Arrangements for the Journey--A Picho--Twenty-seven Men\nappointed to accompany me to the West--Eagerness of the Makololo for\ndirect Trade with the Coast--Effects of Fever--A Makololo Question--The\nlost Journal--Reflections--The Outfit for the Journey--11th\nNovember, 1853, leave Linyanti, and embark on the Chobe--Dangerous\nHippopotami--Banks of Chobe--Trees--The Course of the River--The\nIsland Mparia at the Confluence of the Chobe and the Leeambye--\nAnecdote--Ascend the Leeambye--A Makalaka Mother defies the Authority of\nthe Makololo Head Man at Sesheke--Punishment of Thieves--Observance\nof the new Moon--Public Addresses at Sesheke--Attention of the\nPeople--Results--Proceed up the River--The Fruit which yields 'Nux\nvomica'--Other Fruits--The Rapids--Birds--Fish--Hippopotami and their\nYoung.\n\n\n\nLinyanti, SEPTEMBER, 1853. The object proposed to the Makololo seemed so\ndesirable that it was resolved to proceed with it as soon as the cooling\ninfluence of the rains should be felt in November. The longitude and\nlatitude of Linyanti (lat. 18d 17' 20\" S., long. 23d 50' 9\" E.) showed\nthat St. Philip de Benguela was much nearer to us than Loanda; and I\nmight have easily made arrangements with the Mambari to allow me to\naccompany them as far as Bihe, which is on the road to that port; but it\nis so undesirable to travel in a path once trodden by slave-traders that\nI preferred to find out another line of march.\n\nAccordingly, men were sent at my suggestion to examine all the country\nto the west, to see if any belt of country free from tsetse could be\nfound to afford us an outlet. The search was fruitless. The town\nand district of Linyanti are surrounded by forests infested by this\npoisonous insect, except at a few points, as that by which we entered\nat Sanshureh and another at Sesheke. But the lands both east and west of\nthe Barotse valley are free from this insect plague. There, however, the\nslave-trade had defiled the path, and no one ought to follow in its wake\nunless well armed. The Mambari had informed me that many English lived\nat Loanda, so I prepared to go thither. The prospect of meeting with\ncountrymen seemed to overbalance the toils of the longer march.\n\nA \"picho\" was called to deliberate on the steps proposed. In these\nassemblies great freedom of speech is allowed; and on this occasion one\nof the old diviners said, \"Where is he taking you to? This white man is\nthrowing you away. Your garments already smell of blood.\" It is curious\nto observe how much identity of character appears all over the world.\nThis man was a noted croaker. He always dreamed something dreadful in\nevery expedition, and was certain that an eclipse or comet betokened\nthe propriety of flight. But Sebituane formerly set his visions down to\ncowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed at him now. The general voice was\nin my favor; so a band of twenty-seven were appointed to accompany me to\nthe west. These men were not hired, but sent to enable me to accomplish\nan object as much desired by the chief and most of his people as by me.\nThey were eager to obtain free and profitable trade with white men. The\nprices which the Cape merchants could give, after defraying the great\nexpenses of a long journey hither, being very small, made it scarce\nworth while for the natives to collect produce for that market; and the\nMambari, giving only a few bits of print and baize for elephants' tusks\nworth more pounds than they gave yards of cloth, had produced the belief\nthat trade with them was throwing ivory away. The desire of the Makololo\nfor direct trade with the sea-coast coincided exactly with my own\nconviction that no permanent elevation of a people can be effected\nwithout commerce. Neither could there be a permanent mission here,\nunless the missionaries should descend to the level of the Makololo, for\neven at Kolobeng we found that traders demanded three or four times the\nprice of the articles we needed, and expected us to be grateful to them\nbesides for letting us have them at all.\n\nThe three men whom I had brought from Kuruman had frequent relapses of\nthe fever; so, finding that instead of serving me I had to wait on them,\nI decided that they should return to the south with Fleming as soon\nas he had finished his trading. I was then entirely dependent on my\ntwenty-seven men, whom I might name Zambesians, for there were two\nMakololo only, while the rest consisted of Barotse, Batoka, Bashubia,\nand two of the Ambonda.\n\nThe fever had caused considerable weakness in my own frame, and a\nstrange giddiness when I looked up suddenly to any celestial object, for\nevery thing seemed to rush to the left, and if I did not catch hold of\nsome object, I fell heavily on the ground: something resembling a gush\nof bile along the duct from the liver caused the same fit to occur at\nnight, whenever I turned suddenly round.\n\nThe Makololo now put the question, \"In the event of your death, will\nnot the white people blame us for having allowed you to go away into\nan unhealthy, unknown country of enemies?\" I replied that none of my\nfriends would blame them, because I would leave a book with Sekeletu, to\nbe sent to Mr. Moffat in case I did not return, which would explain to\nhim all that had happened until the time of my departure. The book was\na volume of my Journal; and, as I was detained longer than I expected at\nLoanda, this book, with a letter, was delivered by Sekeletu to a trader,\nand I have been unable to trace it. I regret this now, as it contained\nvaluable notes on the habits of wild animals, and the request was made\nin the letter to convey the volume to my family. The prospect of passing\naway from this fair and beautiful world thus came before me in a pretty\nplain, matter-of-fact form, and it did seem a serious thing to leave\nwife and children--to break up all connection with earth, and enter on\nan untried state of existence; and I find myself in my journal pondering\nover that fearful migration which lands us in eternity, wondering\nwhether an angel will soothe the fluttering soul, sadly flurried as it\nmust be on entering the spirit world, and hoping that Jesus might\nspeak but one word of peace, for that would establish in the bosom an\neverlasting calm. But as I had always believed that, if we serve God\nat all, it ought to be done in a manly way, I wrote to my brother,\ncommending our little girl to his care, as I was determined to \"succeed\nor perish\" in the attempt to open up this part of Africa. The Boers, by\ntaking possession of all my goods, had saved me the trouble of making\na will; and, considering the light heart now left in my bosom, and some\nfaint efforts to perform the duty of Christian forgiveness, I felt that\nit was better to be the plundered party than one of the plunderers.\n\nWhen I committed the wagon and remaining goods to the care of the\nMakololo, they took all the articles except one box into their huts;\nand two warriors, Ponuane and Mahale, brought forward each a fine heifer\ncalf. After performing a number of warlike evolutions, they asked the\nchief to witness the agreement made between them, that whoever of the\ntwo should kill a Matebele warrior first, in defense of the wagon,\nshould possess both the calves.\n\nI had three muskets for my people, a rifle and double-barreled\nsmooth-bore for myself; and, having seen such great abundance of game in\nmy visit to the Leeba, I imagined that I could easily supply the wants\nof my party. Wishing also to avoid the discouragement which would\nnaturally be felt on meeting any obstacles if my companions were obliged\nto carry heavy loads, I took only a few biscuits, a few pounds of tea\nand sugar, and about twenty of coffee, which, as the Arabs find, though\nused without either milk or sugar, is a most refreshing beverage after\nfatigue or exposure to the sun. We carried one small tin canister, about\nfifteen inches square, filled with spare shirting, trowsers, and shoes,\nto be used when we reached civilized life, and others in a bag, which\nwere expected to wear out on the way; another of the same size for\nmedicines; and a third for books, my stock being a Nautical Almanac,\nThomson's Logarithm Tables, and a Bible; a fourth box contained a magic\nlantern, which we found of much use. The sextant and artificial horizon,\nthermometer, and compasses were carried apart. My ammunition was\ndistributed in portions through the whole luggage, so that, if an\naccident should befall one part, we could still have others to fall back\nupon. Our chief hopes for food were upon that; but in case of failure,\nI took about 20 lbs. of beads, worth 40s., which still remained of the\nstock I brought from Cape Town, a small gipsy tent, just sufficient to\nsleep in, a sheep-skin mantle as a blanket, and a horse-rug as a bed. As\nI had always found that the art of successful travel consisted in taking\nas few \"impedimenta\" as possible, and not forgetting to carry my wits\nabout me, the outfit was rather spare, and intended to be still more\nso when we should come to leave the canoes. Some would consider it\ninjudicious to adopt this plan, but I had a secret conviction that if\nI did not succeed, it would not be for want of the \"knick-knacks\"\nadvertised as indispensable for travelers, but from want of \"pluck\",\nor because a large array of baggage excited the cupidity of the tribes\nthrough whose country we wished to pass.\n\nThe instruments I carried, though few, were the best of their kind.\nA sextant, by the famed makers Troughton and Sims, of Fleet Street;\na chronometer watch, with a stop to the seconds hand--an admirable\ncontrivance for enabling a person to take the exact time of\nobservations: it was constructed by Dent, of the Strand (61), for\nthe Royal Geographical Society, and selected for the service by the\nPresident, Admiral Smythe, to whose judgment and kindness I am in this\nand other matters deeply indebted. It was pronounced by Mr. Maclear to\nequal most chronometers in performance. For these excellent instruments\nI have much pleasure in recording my obligations to my good friend\nColonel Steele, and at the same time to Mr. Maclear for much of my\nability to use them. Besides these, I had a thermometer by Dollond; a\ncompass from the Cape Observatory, and a small pocket one in addition; a\ngood small telescope with a stand capable of being screwed into a tree.\n\n11TH OF NOVEMBER, 1853. Left the town of Linyanti, accompanied by\nSekeletu and his principal men, to embark on the Chobe. The chief came\nto the river in order to see that all was right at parting. We crossed\nfive branches of the Chobe before reaching the main stream: this\nramification must be the reason why it appeared so small to Mr. Oswell\nand myself in 1851. When all the departing branches re-enter, it is\na large, deep river. The spot of embarkation was the identical island\nwhere we met Sebituane, first known as the island of Maunku, one of\nhis wives. The chief lent me his own canoe, and, as it was broader than\nusual, I could turn about in it with ease.\n\nThe Chobe is much infested by hippopotami, and, as certain elderly\nmales are expelled the herd, they become soured in their temper, and so\nmisanthropic as to attack every canoe that passes near them. The herd\nis never dangerous, except when a canoe passes into the midst of it\nwhen all are asleep, and some of them may strike the canoe in terror. To\navoid this, it is generally recommended to travel by day near the bank,\nand by night in the middle of the stream. As a rule, these animals\nflee the approach of man. The \"solitaires\", however, frequent certain\nlocalities well known to the inhabitants on the banks, and, like the\nrogue elephants, are extremely dangerous. We came, at this time, to a\ncanoe which had been smashed to pieces by a blow from the hind foot of\none of them. I was informed by my men that, in the event of a similar\nassault being made upon ours, the proper way was to dive to the\nbottom of the river, and hold on there for a few seconds, because the\nhippopotamus, after breaking a canoe, always looks for the people on\nthe surface, and, if he sees none, he soon moves off. I have seen\nsome frightful gashes made on the legs of the people who have had the\nmisfortune to be attacked, and were unable to dive. This animal uses his\nteeth as an offensive weapon, though he is quite a herbivorous feeder.\nOne of these \"bachelors\", living near the confluence, actually came out\nof his lair, and, putting his head down, ran after some of our men who\nwere passing with very considerable speed.\n\nThe part of the river called Zabesa, or Zabenza, is spread out like a\nlittle lake, surrounded on all sides by dense masses of tall reeds. The\nriver below that is always one hundred or one hundred and twenty yards\nbroad, deep, and never dries up so much as to become fordable. At\ncertain parts, where the partial absence of reeds affords a view of the\nopposite banks, the Makololo have placed villages of observation against\ntheir enemies the Matebele. We visited all these in succession, and\nfound here, as every where in the Makololo country, orders had preceded\nus, \"that Nake (nyake means doctor) must not be allowed to become\nhungry.\"\n\nThe banks of the Chobe, like those of the Zouga, are of soft calcareous\ntufa, and the river has cut out for itself a deep, perpendicular-sided\nbed. Where the banks are high, as at the spot where the wagons stood in\n1851, they are covered with magnificent trees, the habitat of tsetse,\nand the retreat of various antelopes, wild hogs, zebras, buffaloes, and\nelephants.\n\nAmong the trees may be observed some species of the 'Ficus Indica',\nlight-green colored acacias, the splendid motsintsela, and evergreen\ncypress-shaped motsouri. The fruit of the last-named was ripe, and the\nvillagers presented many dishes of its beautiful pink-colored plums;\nthey are used chiefly to form a pleasant acid drink. The motsintsela is\na very lofty tree, yielding a wood of which good canoes are made;\nthe fruit is nutritious and good, but, like many wild fruits of this\ncountry, the fleshy parts require to be enlarged by cultivation: it is\nnearly all stone.\n\nThe course of the river we found to be extremely tortuous; so much so,\nindeed, as to carry us to all points of the compass every dozen miles.\nSome of us walked from a bend at the village of Moremi to another nearly\ndue east of that point, in six hours, while the canoes, going at more\nthan double our speed, took twelve to accomplish the voyage between the\nsame two places. And though the river is from thirteen to fifteen feet\nin depth at its lowest ebb, and broad enough to allow a steamer to ply\nupon it, the suddenness of the bendings would prevent navigation;\nbut, should the country ever become civilized, the Chobe would be a\nconvenient natural canal. We spent forty-two and a half hours, paddling\nat the rate of five miles an hour, in coming from Linyanti to the\nconfluence; there we found a dike of amygdaloid lying across the\nLeeambye.\n\nThis amygdaloid with analami and mesotype contains crystals, which\nthe water gradually dissolves, leaving the rock with a worm-eaten\nappearance. It is curious to observe that the water flowing over certain\nrocks, as in this instance, imbibes an appreciable, though necessarily\nmost minute, portion of the minerals they contain. The water of the\nChobe up to this point is of a dark mossy hue, but here it suddenly\nassumes a lighter tint; and wherever this light color shows a greater\namount of mineral, there are not mosquitoes enough to cause serious\nannoyance to any except persons of very irritable temperaments.\n\nThe large island called Mparia stands at the confluence. This is\ncomposed of trap (zeolite, probably mesotype) of a younger age than the\ndeep stratum of tufa in which the Chobe has formed its bed, for, at\nthe point where they come together, the tufa has been transformed into\nsaccharoid limestone.\n\nThe actual point of confluence of these two rivers, the Chobe and the\nLeeambye, is ill defined, on account of each dividing into several\nbranches as they inosculate; but when the whole body of water collects\ninto one bed, it is a goodly sight for one who has spent many years\nin the thirsty south. Standing on one bank, even the keen eye of the\nnatives can not detect whether two large islands, a few miles east of\nthe junction, are main land or not. During a flight in former years,\nwhen the present chief Sekomi was a child in his mother's arms, the\nBamangwato men were separated from their women, and inveigled on to\none of these islands by the Makalaka chief of Mparia, on pretense of\nferrying them across the Leeambye. They were left to perish after seeing\ntheir wives taken prisoners by these cruel lords of the Leeambye, and\nSekomi owed his life to the compassion of one of the Bayeiye, who,\npitying the young chieftain, enabled his mother to make her escape by\nnight.\n\nAfter spending one night at the Makololo village on Mparia, we left the\nChobe, and, turning round, began to ascend the Leeambye; on the 19th of\nNovember we again reached the town of Sesheke. It stands on the north\nbank of the river, and contains a large population of Makalaka, under\nMoriantsane, brother-in-law of Sebituane. There are parties of various\ntribes here, assembled under their respective head men, but a few\nMakololo rule over all. Their sway, though essentially despotic, is\nconsiderably modified by certain customs and laws. One of the Makalaka\nhad speared an ox belonging to one of the Makololo, and, being unable to\nextract the spear, was thereby discovered to be the perpetrator of the\ndeed. His object had been to get a share of the meat, as Moriantsane is\nknown to be liberal with any food that comes into his hands. The culprit\nwas bound hand and foot, and placed in the sun to force him to pay a\nfine, but he continued to deny his guilt. His mother, believing in\nthe innocence of her son, now came forward, with her hoe in hand, and,\nthreatening to cut down any one who should dare to interfere, untied the\ncords with which he had been bound and took him home. This open defiance\nof authority was not resented by Moriantsane, but referred to Sekeletu\nat Linyanti.\n\nThe following circumstance, which happened here when I was present\nwith Sekeletu, shows that the simple mode of punishment, by forcing a\ncriminal to work out a fine, did not strike the Makololo mind until now.\n\nA stranger having visited Sesheke for the purpose of barter, was robbed\nby one of the Makalaka of most of his goods. The thief, when caught,\nconfessed the theft, and that he had given the articles to a person who\nhad removed to a distance. The Makololo were much enraged at the idea of\ntheir good name being compromised by this treatment of a stranger. Their\ncustomary mode of punishing a crime which causes much indignation is to\nthrow the criminal into the river; but, as this would not restore\nthe lost property, they were sorely puzzled how to act. The case was\nreferred to me, and I solved the difficulty by paying for the loss\nmyself, and sentencing the thief to work out an equivalent with his hoe\nin a garden. This system was immediately introduced, and thieves are\nnow sentenced to raise an amount of corn proportioned to their offenses.\nAmong the Bakwains, a woman who had stolen from the garden of another\nwas obliged to part with her own entirely: it became the property of her\nwhose field was injured by the crime.\n\nThere is no stated day of rest in any part of this country, except the\nday after the appearance of the new moon, and the people then refrain\nonly from going to their gardens. A curious custom, not to be found\namong the Bechuanas, prevails among the black tribes beyond them. They\nwatch most eagerly for the first glimpse of the new moon, and, when they\nperceive the faint outline after the sun has set deep in the west, they\nutter a loud shout of \"Kua!\" and vociferate prayers to it. My men, for\ninstance, called out, \"Let our journey with the white man be prosperous!\nLet our enemies perish, and the children of Nake become rich! May he\nhave plenty of meat on this journey!\" etc., etc.\n\nI gave many public addresses to the people of Sesheke under the\noutspreading camel-thorn-tree, which serves as a shade to the kotla on\nthe high bank of the river. It was pleasant to see the long lines of\nmen, women, and children winding along from different quarters of the\ntown, each party following behind their respective head men. They often\namounted to between five and six hundred souls, and required an exertion\nof voice which brought back the complaint for which I had got the uvula\nexcised at the Cape. They were always very attentive; and Moriantsane,\nin order, as he thought, to please me, on one occasion rose up in the\nmiddle of the discourse, and hurled his staff at the heads of some young\nfellows whom he saw working with a skin instead of listening. My hearers\nsometimes put very sensible questions on the subjects brought before\nthem; at other times they introduced the most frivolous nonsense\nimmediately after hearing the most solemn truths. Some begin to pray to\nJesus in secret as soon as they hear of the white man's God, with but\nlittle idea of what they are about; and no doubt are heard by Him who,\nlike a father, pitieth his children. Others, waking by night, recollect\nwhat has been said about the future world so clearly that they tell\nnext day what a fright they got by it, and resolve not to listen to the\nteaching again; and not a few keep to the determination not to believe,\nas certain villagers in the south, who put all their cocks to death\nbecause they crowed the words, \"Tlang lo rapeleng\"--\"Come along to\nprayers\".\n\nOn recovering partially from a severe attack of fever which remained\nupon me ever since our passing the village of Moremi on the Chobe, we\nmade ready for our departure up the river by sending messages before\nus to the villages to prepare food. We took four elephants' tusks,\nbelonging to Sekeletu, with us, as a means of testing the difference of\nprices between the Portuguese, whom we expected to reach, and the white\ntraders from the south. Moriantsane supplied us well with honey, milk,\nand meal. The rains were just commencing in this district; but, though\nshowers sufficient to lay the dust had fallen, they had no influence\nwhatever on the amount of water in the river, yet never was there less\nin any part than three hundred yards of a deep flowing stream.\n\nOur progress up the river was rather slow; this was caused by waiting\nopposite different villages for supplies of food. We might have done\nwith much less than we got; but my Makololo man, Pitsane, knew of the\ngenerous orders of Sekeletu, and was not at all disposed to allow them\nto remain a dead letter. The villages of the Banyeti contributed large\nquantities of mosibe, a bright red bean yielded by a large tree. The\npulp inclosing the seed is not much thicker than a red wafer, and is\nthe portion used. It requires the addition of honey to render it at all\npalatable.\n\nTo these were added great numbers of the fruit which yields a variety of\nthe nux vomica, from which we derive that virulent poison strychnia. The\npulp between the nuts is the part eaten, and it is of a pleasant juicy\nnature, having a sweet acidulous taste. The fruit itself resembles a\nlarge yellow orange, but the rind is hard, and, with the pips and bark,\ncontains much of the deadly poison. They evince their noxious qualities\nby an intensely bitter taste. The nuts, swallowed inadvertently, cause\nconsiderable pain, but not death; and to avoid this inconvenience, the\npeople dry the pulp before the fire, in order to be able the more easily\nto get rid of the noxious seeds.\n\nA much better fruit, called mobola, was also presented to us. This\nbears, around a pretty large stone, as much of the fleshy part as the\ncommon date, and it is stripped off the seeds and preserved in bags in\na similar manner to that fruit. Besides sweetness, the mobola has the\nflavor of strawberries, with a touch of nauseousness. We carried some of\nthem, dried as provisions, more than a hundred miles from this spot.\n\nThe next fruit, named mamosho (mother of morning), is the most delicious\nof all. It is about the size of a walnut, and, unlike most of the other\nuncultivated fruits, has a seed no larger than that of a date. The\nfleshy part is juicy, and somewhat like the cashew-apple, with a\npleasant acidity added. Fruits similar to those which are here found\non trees are found on the plains of the Kalahari, growing on mere\nherbaceous plants. There are several other examples of a similar nature.\nShrubs, well known as such in the south, assume the rank of trees as\nwe go to the north; and the change is quite gradual as our latitude\ndecreases, the gradations being herbaceous plants, shrubs, bushes,\nsmall, then large trees. But it is questionable if, in the cases of\nmamosho, mobola, and mawa, the tree and shrub are identical, though the\nfruits so closely resemble each other; for I found both the dwarf and\ntree in the same latitude. There is also a difference in the leaves, and\nthey bear at different seasons.\n\nThe banks of the river were at this time appearing to greater advantage\nthan before. Many trees were putting on their fresh green leaves, though\nthey had got no rain, their lighter green contrasting beautifully with\nthe dark motsouri, or moyela, now covered with pink plums as large\nas cherries. The rapids, having comparatively little water in them,\nrendered our passage difficult. The canoes must never be allowed to come\nbroadside on to the stream, for, being flat-bottomed, they would, in\nthat case, be at once capsized, and every thing in them be lost. The men\nwork admirably, and are always in good humor; they leap into the water\nwithout the least hesitation, to save the canoe from being caught by\neddies or dashed against the rocks. Many parts were now quite shallow,\nand it required great address and power in balancing themselves to keep\nthe vessel free from rocks, which lay just beneath the surface. We might\nhave got deeper water in the middle, but the boatmen always keep near\nthe banks, on account of danger from the hippopotami. But, though we\nmight have had deeper water farther out, I believe that no part of the\nrapids is very deep. The river is spread out more than a mile, and\nthe water flows rapidly over the rocky bottom. The portions only three\nhundred yards wide are very deep, and contain large volumes of flowing\nwater in narrow compass, which, when spread over the much larger surface\nat the rapids, must be shallow. Still, remembering that this was the end\nof the dry season, when such rivers as the Orange do not even contain a\nfifth part of the water of the Chobe, the difference between the rivers\nof the north and south must be sufficiently obvious.\n\nThe rapids are caused by rocks of dark brown trap, or of hardened\nsandstone, stretching across the stream. In some places they form miles\nof flat rocky bottom, with islets covered with trees. At the cataracts\nnoted in the map, the fall is from four to six feet, and, in guiding up\nthe canoe, the stem goes under the water, and takes in a quantity before\nit can attain the higher level. We lost many of our biscuits in the\nascent through this.\n\nThese rocks are covered with a small, hard aquatic plant, which, when\nthe surface is exposed, becomes dry and crisp, crackling under the foot\nas if it contained much stony matter in its tissue. It probably assists\nin disintegrating the rocks; for, in parts so high as not to be much\nexposed to the action of the water or the influence of the plant, the\nrocks are covered with a thin black glaze.\n\nIn passing along under the overhanging trees of the banks, we often\nsaw the pretty turtle-doves sitting peacefully on their nests above the\nroaring torrent. An ibis* had perched her home on the end of a stump.\nHer loud, harsh scream of \"Wa-wa-wa\", and the piping of the fish-hawk,\nare sounds which can never be forgotten by any one who has sailed on\nthe rivers north of 20 Deg. south. If we step on shore, the 'Charadrius\ncaruncula', a species of plover, a most plaguy sort of \"public-spirited\nindividual\", follows you, flying overhead, and is most persevering in\nits attempts to give fair warning to all the animals within hearing to\nflee from the approaching danger. The alarm-note, \"tinc-tinc-tinc\", of\nanother variety of the same family ('Pluvianus armatus' of Burchell) has\nso much of a metallic ring, that this bird is called \"setula-tsipi\", or\nhammering-iron. It is furnished with a sharp spur on its shoulder, much\nlike that on the heel of a cock, but scarcely half an inch in length.\nConscious of power, it may be seen chasing the white-necked raven with\ngreat fury, and making even that comparatively large bird call out\nfrom fear. It is this bird which is famed for its friendship with the\ncrocodile of the Nile by the name 'siksak', and which Mr. St. John\nactually saw performing the part of toothpicker to the ugly reptile.\nThey are frequently seen on the sand-banks with the alligator, and, to\none passing by, often appear as if on that reptile's back; but I never\nhad the good fortune to witness the operation described not only by\nSt. John and Geoffrey St. Hilaire, but also by Herodotus. However, that\nwhich none of these authors knew my head boatman, Mashauana, stopped the\ncanoe to tell us, namely, that a water-turtle which, in trying to ascend\na steep bank to lay her eggs, had toppled on her back, thus enabling us\nto capture her, was an infallible omen of good luck for our journey.\n\n   * The 'Hagidash', Latham; or 'Tantalus capensis' of Lich.\n\nAmong the forest-trees which line the banks of the rocky parts of the\nLeeambye several new birds were observed. Some are musical, and the\nsongs are pleasant in contrast with the harsh voice of the little green,\nyellow-shouldered parrots of the country. There are also great numbers\nof jet-black weavers, with yellowish-brown band on the shoulders.\n\nHere we saw, for the first time, a pretty little bird, colored dark\nblue, except the wings and tail, which were of a chocolate hue. From the\ntail two feathers are prolonged beyond the rest six inches. Also,\nlittle birds colored white and black, of great vivacity, and always in\ncompanies of six or eight together, and various others. From want of\nbooks of reference, I could not decide whether they were actually new to\nscience.\n\nFrancolins and Guinea-fowl abound along the banks; and on every dead\ntree and piece of rock may be seen one or two species of the web-footed\n'Plotus', darter, or snake-bird. They sit most of the day sunning\nthemselves over the stream, sometimes standing erect with their wings\noutstretched; occasionally they may be seen engaged in fishing by\ndiving, and, as they swim about, their bodies are so much submerged that\nhardly any thing appears above the water but their necks. The chief time\nof feeding is by night, and, as the sun declines, they may be seen in\nflocks flying from their roosting-places to the fishing-grounds. This is\na most difficult bird to catch when disabled. It is thoroughly expert\nin diving--goes down so adroitly and comes up again in the most unlikely\nplaces, that the people, though most skillful in the management of the\ncanoes, can rarely secure them. The rump of the darter is remarkably\nprolonged, and capable of being bent, so as to act both as a rudder in\nswimming, and as a lever to lift the bird high enough out of the water\nto give free scope to its wings. It can rise at will from the water by\nmeans of this appendage.\n\nThe fine fish-hawk, with white head and neck, and reddish-chocolate\ncolored body, may also frequently be seen perched on the trees, and fish\nare often found dead which have fallen victims to its talons. One most\nfrequently seen in this condition is itself a destroyer of fish. It is\na stout-bodied fish, about fifteen or eighteen inches long, of a light\nyellow color, and gayly ornamented with stripes and spots. It has a\nmost imposing array of sharp, conical teeth outside the lips--objects\nof dread to the fisherman, for it can use them effectually. One which\nwe picked up dead had killed itself by swallowing another fish, which,\nthough too large for its stomach and throat, could not be disgorged.\n\nThis fish-hawk generally kills more prey than it can devour. It eats a\nportion of the back of the fish, and leaves the rest for the Barotse,\nwho often had a race across the river when they saw an abandoned morsel\nlying on the opposite sand-banks. The hawk is, however, not always so\ngenerous, for, as I myself was a witness on the Zouga, it sometimes\nplunders the purse of the pelican. Soaring over head, and seeing this\nlarge, stupid bird fishing beneath, it watches till a fine fish is safe\nin the pelican's pouch; then descending, not very quickly, but with\nconsiderable noise of wing, the pelican looks up to see what is the\nmatter, and, as the hawk comes near, he supposes that he is about to\nbe killed, and roars out \"Murder!\" The opening of his mouth enables the\nhawk to whisk the fish out of the pouch, upon which the pelican does not\nfly away, but commences fishing again, the fright having probably made\nhim forget he had any thing in his purse.\n\nA fish called mosheba, about the size of a minnow, often skims along the\nsurface for several yards, in order to get out of the way of the canoe.\nIt uses the pectoral fins, as the flying-fish do, but never makes a\nclean flight. It is rather a succession of hops along the surface, made\nby the aid of the side fins. It never becomes large.\n\nNumbers of iguanos (mpulu) sit sunning themselves on overhanging\nbranches of the trees, and splash into the water as we approach. They\nare highly esteemed as an article of food, the flesh being tender and\ngelatinous. The chief boatman, who occupies the stem, has in consequence\na light javelin always at hand to spear them if they are not quickly out\nof sight. These, and large alligators gliding in from the banks with\na heavy plunge as we come round a sudden bend of the stream, were the\noccurrences of every hour as we sped up the river.\n\nThe rapids in the part of the river between Katima-molelo and Nameta\nare relieved by several reaches of still, deep water, fifteen or twenty\nmiles long. In these very large herds of hippopotami are seen, and\nthe deep furrows they make, in ascending the banks to graze during the\nnights, are every where apparent. They are guided back to the water by\nthe scent, but a long continued pouring rain makes it impossible for\nthem to perceive, by that means, in which direction the river lies, and\nthey are found bewildered on the land. The hunters take advantage of\ntheir helplessness on these occasions to kill them.\n\nIt is impossible to judge of the numbers in a herd, for they are almost\nalways hidden beneath the waters; but as they require to come up every\nfew minutes to breathe, when there is a constant succession of heads\nthrown up, then the herd is supposed to be large. They love a still\nreach of the stream, as in the more rapid parts of the channel they are\nfloated down so quickly that much exertion is necessary to regain the\ndistance lost by frequently swimming up again: such constant exertion\ndisturbs them in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy,\nyawning state, and, though their eyes are open, they take little notice\nof things at a distance. The males utter a loud succession of snorting\ngrunts, which may be heard a mile off. The canoe in which I was, in\npassing over a wounded one, elicited a distinct grunting, though the\nanimal lay entirely under water.\n\nThe young, when very little, take their stand on the neck of the\ndam, and the small head, rising above the large, comes soonest to the\nsurface. The dam, knowing the more urgent need of her calf, comes more\nfrequently to the surface when it is in her care. But in the rivers\nof Londa, where they are much in danger of being shot, even the\nhippopotamus gains wit by experience; for, while those in the Zambesi\nput up their heads openly to blow, those referred to keep their noses\namong water-plants, and breathe so quietly that one would not dream of\ntheir existence in the river except by footprints on the banks.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 14.\n\nIncreasing Beauty of the Country--Mode of spending the Day--The People\nand the Falls of Gonye--A Makololo Foray--A second prevented, and\nCaptives delivered up--Politeness and Liberality of the People--\nThe Rains--Present of Oxen--The fugitive Barotse--Sekobinyane's\nMisgovernment--Bee-eaters and other Birds--Fresh-water\nSponges--Current--Death from a Lion's Bite at Libonta--Continued\nKindness--Arrangements for spending the Night during the\nJourney--Cooking and Washing--Abundance of animal Life--Different\nSpecies of Birds--Water-fowl--Egyptian Geese--Alligators--Narrow Escape\nof one of my Men--Superstitious Feelings respecting the Alligator--Large\nGame--The most vulnerable Spot--Gun Medicine--A Sunday--Birds of\nSong--Depravity; its Treatment--Wild Fruits--Green Pigeons--Shoals of\nFish--Hippopotami.\n\n\n\n30TH OF NOVEMBER, 1853. At Gonye Falls. No rain has fallen here, so it\nis excessively hot. The trees have put on their gayest dress, and many\nflowers adorn the landscape, yet the heat makes all the leaves droop at\nmidday and look languid for want of rain. If the country increases as\nmuch in beauty in front as it has done within the last four degrees of\nlatitude, it will be indeed a lovely land.\n\nWe all felt great lassitude in traveling. The atmosphere is oppressive\nboth in cloud and sunshine. The evaporation from the river must be\nexcessively great, and I feel as if the fluids of the system joined in\nthe general motion of watery vapor upward, as enormous quantities of\nwater must be drunk to supply its place.\n\nWhen under way our usual procedure is this: We get up a little before\nfive in the morning; it is then beginning to dawn. While I am dressing,\ncoffee is made; and, having filled my pannikin, the remainder is handed\nto my companions, who eagerly partake of the refreshing beverage.\nThe servants are busy loading the canoes, while the principal men are\nsipping the coffee, and, that being soon over, we embark. The next two\nhours are the most pleasant part of the day's sail. The men paddle away\nmost vigorously; the Barotse, being a tribe of boatmen, have large,\ndeeply-developed chests and shoulders, with indifferent lower\nextremities. They often engage in loud scolding of each other in order\nto relieve the tedium of their work. About eleven we land, and eat\nany meat which may have remained from the previous evening meal, or a\nbiscuit with honey, and drink water.\n\nAfter an hour's rest we again embark and cower under an umbrella. The\nheat is oppressive, and, being weak from the last attack of fever, I\ncan not land and keep the camp supplied with flesh. The men, being quite\nuncovered in the sun, perspire profusely, and in the afternoon begin\nto stop, as if waiting for the canoes which have been left behind.\nSometimes we reach a sleeping-place two hours before sunset, and, all\nbeing troubled with languor, we gladly remain for the night. Coffee\nagain, and a biscuit, or a piece of coarse bread made of maize meal,\nor that of the native corn, make up the bill of fare for the evening,\nunless we have been fortunate enough to kill something, when we boil\na potful of flesh. This is done by cutting it up into long strips and\npouring in water till it is covered. When that is boiled dry, the meat\nis considered ready.\n\nThe people at Gonye carry the canoes over the space requisite to avoid\nthe falls by slinging them on poles tied on diagonally. They place these\non their shoulders, and, setting about the work with good humor, soon\naccomplish the task. They are a merry set of mortals; a feeble joke sets\nthem off in a fit of laughter. Here, as elsewhere, all petitioned for\nthe magic lantern, and, as it is a good means of conveying instruction,\nI willingly complied.\n\nThe falls of Gonye have not been made by wearing back, like those of\nNiagara, but are of a fissure form. For many miles below, the river is\nconfined in a narrow space of not more than one hundred yards wide.\nThe water goes boiling along, and gives the idea of great masses of it\nrolling over and over, so that even the most expert swimmer would find\nit difficult to keep on the surface. Here it is that the river, when in\nflood, rises fifty or sixty feet in perpendicular height. The islands\nabove the falls are covered with foliage as beautiful as can be seen\nany where. Viewed from the mass of rock which overhangs the fall, the\nscenery was the loveliest I had seen.\n\nNothing worthy of note occurred on our way up to Nameta. There we heard\nthat a party of the Makololo, headed by Lerimo, had made a foray to the\nnorth and up the Leeba, in the very direction in which we were about to\nproceed. Mpololo, the uncle of Sekeletu, is considered the head man of\nthe Barotse valley; and the perpetrators had his full sanction, because\nMasiko, a son of Santuru, the former chief of the Barotse, had fled high\nup the Leeambye, and, establishing himself there, had sent men down to\nthe vicinity of Naliele to draw away the remaining Barotse from their\nallegiance. Lerimo's party had taken some of this Masiko's subjects\nprisoners, and destroyed several villages of the Balonda, to whom we\nwere going. This was in direct opposition to the policy of Sekeletu, who\nwished to be at peace with these northern tribes; and Pitsane, my head\nman, was the bearer of orders to Mpololo to furnish us with presents\nfor the very chiefs they had attacked. Thus we were to get large pots of\nclarified butter and bunches of beads, in confirmation of the message of\npeace we were to deliver.\n\nWhen we reached Litofe, we heard that a fresh foray was in\ncontemplation, but I sent forward orders to disband the party\nimmediately. At Ma-Sekeletu's town we found the head offender, Mpololo\nhimself, and I gave him a bit of my mind, to the effect that, as I was\ngoing with the full sanction of Sekeletu, if any harm happened to me\nin consequence of his ill-advised expedition, the guilt would rest with\nhim. Ma-Sekeletu, who was present, heartily approved all I said, and\nsuggested that all the captives taken by Lerimo should be returned by\nmy hand, to show Masiko that the guilt of the foray lay not with the\nsuperior persons of the Makololo, but with a mere servant. Her good\nsense appeared in other respects besides, and, as this was exactly what\nmy own party had previously resolved to suggest, we were pleased to hear\nMpololo agree to do what he was advised. He asked me to lay the matter\nbefore the under-chiefs of Naliele, and when we reached that place,\non the 9th of December, I did so in a picho, called expressly for\nthe purpose. Lerimo was present, and felt rather crestfallen when his\nexploit was described by Mohorisi, one of my companions, as one of\nextreme cowardice, he having made an attack upon the defenseless\nvillagers of Londa, while, as we had found on our former visit, a\nlion had actually killed eight people of Naliele without his daring to\nencounter it. The Makololo are cowardly in respect to animals, but brave\nagainst men. Mpololo took all the guilt upon himself before the people,\nand delivered up a captive child whom his wife had in her possession;\nothers followed his example, till we procured the release of five of the\nprisoners. Some thought, as Masiko had tried to take their children by\nstratagem, they ought to take his by force, as the two modes suited the\ngenius of each people--the Makalaka delight in cunning, and the Makololo\nin fighting; and others thought, if Sekeletu meant them to be at peace\nwith Masiko, he ought to have told them so.\n\nIt is rather dangerous to tread in the footsteps of a marauding party\nwith men of the same tribe as the aggressors, but my people were in\ngood spirits, and several volunteers even offered to join our ranks.\nWe, however, adhered strictly to the orders of Sekeletu as to our\ncompanions, and refused all others.\n\nThe people of every village treated us most liberally, presenting,\nbesides oxen, butter, milk, and meal, more than we could stow away in\nour canoes. The cows in this valley are now yielding, as they frequently\ndo, more milk than the people can use, and both men and women present\nbutter in such quantity that I shall be able to refresh my men as we\nmove along. Anointing the skin prevents the excessive evaporation of\nthe fluids of the body, and acts as clothing in both sun and shade. They\nalways made their presents gracefully. When an ox was given, the owner\nwould say, \"Here is a little bit of bread for you.\" This was pleasing,\nfor I had been accustomed to the Bechuanas presenting a miserable goat,\nwith the pompous exclamation, \"Behold an ox!\" The women persisted in\ngiving me copious supplies of shrill praises, or \"lullilooing\"; but,\nthough I frequently told them to modify their \"great lords\" and \"great\nlions\" to more humble expressions, they so evidently intended to do\nme honor that I could not help being pleased with the poor creatures'\nwishes for our success.\n\nThe rains began while we were at Naliele; this is much later than usual;\nbut, though the Barotse valley has been in need of rain, the people\nnever lack abundance of food. The showers are refreshing, but the air\nfeels hot and close; the thermometer, however, in a cool hut, stands\nonly at 84 Deg. The access of the external air to any spot at once\nraises its temperature above 90 Deg. A new attack of fever here caused\nexcessive languor; but, as I am already getting tired of quoting my\nfevers, and never liked to read travels myself where much was said about\nthe illnesses of the traveler, I shall henceforth endeavor to say little\nabout them.\n\nWe here sent back the canoe of Sekeletu, and got the loan of others from\nMpololo. Eight riding oxen, and seven for slaughter, were, according to\nthe orders of that chief, also furnished; some were intended for our own\nuse, and others as presents to the chiefs of the Balonda. Mpololo was\nparticularly liberal in giving all that Sekeletu ordered, though, as\nhe feeds on the cattle he has in charge, he might have felt it so much\nabstracted from his own perquisites. Mpololo now acts the great man,\nand is followed every where by a crowd of toadies, who sing songs in\ndisparagement of Mpepe, of whom he always lived in fear. While Mpepe was\nalive, he too was regaled with the same fulsome adulation, and now they\ncurse him. They are very foul-tongued; equals, on meeting, often greet\neach other with a profusion of oaths, and end the volley with a laugh.\n\nIn coming up the river to Naliele we met a party of fugitive Barotse\nreturning to their homes, and, as the circumstance illustrates the\nsocial status of these subjects of the Makololo, I introduce it here.\nThe villagers in question were the children, or serfs, if we may use the\nterm, of a young man of the same age and tribe as Sekeletu, who, being\nof an irritable temper, went by the nickname of Sekobinyane--a little\nslavish thing. His treatment of his servants was so bad that most of\nthem had fled; and when the Mambari came, and, contrary to the orders of\nSekeletu, purchased slaves, Sekobinyane sold one or two of the Barotse\nchildren of his village. The rest fled immediately to Masiko, and were\ngladly received by that Barotse chief as his subjects.\n\nWhen Sekeletu and I first ascended the Leeambye, we met Sekobinyane\ncoming down, on his way to Linyanti. On being asked the news, he\nremained silent about the loss of his village, it being considered a\ncrime among the Makololo for any one to treat his people so ill as to\ncause them to run away from him. He then passed us, and, dreading the\nvengeance of Sekeletu for his crime, secretly made his escape from\nLinyanti to Lake Ngami. He was sent for, however, and the chief at the\nlake delivered him up, on Sekeletu declaring that he had no intention\nof punishing him otherwise than by scolding. He did not even do that, as\nSekobinyane was evidently terrified enough, and also became ill through\nfear.\n\nThe fugitive villagers remained only a few weeks with their new master\nMasiko, and then fled back again, and were received as if they had done\nnothing wrong. All united in abusing the conduct of Sekobinyane, and no\none condemned the fugitives; and the cattle, the use of which they had\npreviously enjoyed, never having been removed from their village, they\nre-established themselves with apparent gladness.\n\nThis incident may give some idea of the serfdom of the subject tribes,\nand, except that they are sometimes punished for running away and other\noffenses, I can add nothing more by way of showing the true nature of\nthis form of servitude.\n\nLeaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the success of\nour expedition, and hopes that we might return accompanied with white\ntraders, we began again our ascent of the river. It was now beginning to\nrise, though the rains had but just commenced in the valley. The banks\nare low, but cleanly cut, and seldom sloping. At low water they are from\nfour to eight feet high, and make the river always assume very much the\naspect of a canal. They are in some parts of whitish, tenacious clay,\nwith strata of black clay intermixed, and black loam in sand, or pure\nsand stratified. As the river rises it is always wearing to one side or\nthe other, and is known to have cut across from one bend to another,\nand to form new channels. As we coast along the shore, pieces which are\nundermined often fall in with a splash like that caused by the plunge of\nan alligator, and endanger the canoe.\n\nThese perpendicular banks afford building-places to a pretty bee-eater,*\nwhich loves to breed in society. The face of the sand-bank is perforated\nwith hundreds of holes leading to their nests, each of which is about\na foot apart from the other; and as we pass they pour out of their\nhiding-places, and float overhead.\n\n   * 'Merops apiaster' and 'M. bullockoides' (Smith).\n\nA speckled kingfisher is seen nearly every hundred yards, which builds\nin similar spots, and attracts the attention of herd-boys, who dig out\nits nest for the sake of the young. This, and a most lovely little blue\nand orange kingfisher, are seen every where along the banks, dashing\ndown like a shot into the water for their prey. A third, seen more\nrarely, is as large as a pigeon, and is of a slaty color.\n\nAnother inhabitant of the banks is the sand-martin, which also likes\ncompany in the work of raising a family. They never leave this part of\nthe country. One may see them preening themselves in the very depth of\nwinter, while the swallows, of which we shall yet speak, take winter\ntrips. I saw sand-martins at the Orange River during a period of winter\nfrost; it is, therefore, probable that they do not migrate even from\nthence.\n\nAround the reeds, which in some parts line the banks, we see fresh-water\nsponges. They usually encircle the stalk, and are hard and brittle,\npresenting numbers of small round grains near their circumference.\n\nThe river was running at the rate of five miles an hour, and carried\nbunches of reed and decaying vegetable matter on its surface; yet the\nwater was not discolored. It had, however, a slightly yellowish-green\ntinge, somewhat deeper than its natural color. This arose from the\nquantity of sand carried by the rising flood from sand-banks, which are\nannually shifted from one spot to another, and from the pieces falling\nin as the banks are worn; for when the water is allowed to stand in\na glass, a few seconds suffice for its deposit at the bottom. This is\nconsidered an unhealthy period. When waiting, on one occasion, for the\nother canoes to come up, I felt no inclination to leave the one I was\nin; but my head boatman, Mashauana, told me never to remain on board\nwhile so much vegetable matter was floating down the stream.\n\n17TH DECEMBER. At Libonta. We were detained for days together collecting\ncontributions of fat and butter, according to the orders of Sekeletu, as\npresents to the Balonda chiefs. Much fever prevailed, and ophthalmia was\nrife, as is generally the case before the rains begin. Some of my own\nmen required my assistance, as well as the people of Libonta. A lion had\ndone a good deal of mischief here, and when the people went to attack it\ntwo men were badly wounded; one of them had his thigh-bone quite broken,\nshowing the prodigious power of this animal's jaws. The inflammation\nproduced by the teeth-wounds proved fatal to one of them.\n\nHere we demanded the remainder of the captives, and got our number\nincreased to nineteen. They consisted of women and children, and one\nyoung man of twenty. One of the boys was smuggled away in the crowd as\nwe embarked. The Makololo under-chiefs often act in direct opposition\nto the will of the head chief, trusting to circumstances and\nbrazenfacedness to screen themselves from his open displeasure; and as\nhe does not always find it convenient to notice faults, they often go to\nconsiderable lengths in wrong-doing.\n\nLibonta is the last town of the Makololo; so, when we parted from it, we\nhad only a few cattle-stations and outlying hamlets in front, and then\nan uninhabited border country till we came to Londa or Lunda. Libonta is\nsituated on a mound like the rest of the villages in the Barotse valley,\nbut here the tree-covered sides of the valley begin to approach nearer\nthe river. The village itself belongs to two of the chief wives of\nSebituane, who furnished us with an ox and abundance of other food. The\nsame kindness was manifested by all who could afford to give any thing;\nand as I glance over their deeds of generosity recorded in my journal,\nmy heart glows with gratitude to them, and I hope and pray that God may\nspare me to make them some return.\n\nBefore leaving the villages entirely, we may glance at our way of\nspending the nights. As soon as we land, some of the men cut a little\ngrass for my bed, while Mashauana plants the poles of the little tent.\nThese are used by day for carrying burdens, for the Barotse fashion is\nexactly like that of the natives of India, only the burden is fastened\nnear the ends of the pole, and not suspended by long cords. The bed is\nmade, and boxes ranged on each side of it, and then the tent pitched\nover all. Four or five feet in front of my tent is placed the principal\nor kotla fire, the wood for which must be collected by the man who\noccupies the post of herald, and takes as his perquisite the heads of\nall the oxen slaughtered, and of all the game too. Each person knows the\nstation he is to occupy, in reference to the post of honor at the fire\nin front of the door of the tent. The two Makololo occupy my right and\nleft, both in eating and sleeping, as long as the journey lasts. But\nMashauana, my head boatman, makes his bed at the door of the tent as\nsoon as I retire. The rest, divided into small companies according to\ntheir tribes, make sheds all round the fire, leaving a horseshoe-shaped\nspace in front sufficient for the cattle to stand in. The fire gives\nconfidence to the oxen, so the men are always careful to keep them in\nsight of it. The sheds are formed by planting two stout forked poles in\nan inclined direction, and placing another over these in a horizontal\nposition. A number of branches are then stuck in the ground in the\ndirection to which the poles are inclined, the twigs drawn down to the\nhorizontal pole and tied with strips of bark. Long grass is then laid\nover the branches in sufficient quantity to draw off the rain, and we\nhave sheds open to the fire in front, but secure from beasts behind.\nIn less than an hour we were usually all under cover. We never lacked\nabundance of grass during the whole journey. It is a picturesque sight\nat night, when the clear bright moon of these climates glances on the\nsleeping forms around, to look out upon the attitudes of profound repose\nboth men and beasts assume. There being no danger from wild animals in\nsuch a night, the fires are allowed almost to go out; and as there is\nno fear of hungry dogs coming over sleepers and devouring the food, or\nquietly eating up the poor fellows' blankets, which at best were but\ngreasy skins, which sometimes happened in the villages, the picture was\none of perfect peace.\n\nThe cooking is usually done in the natives' own style, and, as they\ncarefully wash the dishes, pots, and the hands before handling food,\nit is by no means despicable. Sometimes alterations are made at my\nsuggestion, and then they believe that they can cook in thorough white\nman's fashion. The cook always comes in for something left in the pot,\nso all are eager to obtain the office.\n\nI taught several of them to wash my shirts, and they did it well, though\ntheir teacher had never been taught that work himself. Frequent changes\nof linen and sunning of my blanket kept me more comfortable than\nmight have been anticipated, and I feel certain that the lessons of\ncleanliness rigidly instilled by my mother in childhood helped to\nmaintain that respect which these people entertain for European ways.\nIt is questionable if a descent to barbarous ways ever elevates a man in\nthe eyes of savages.\n\nWhen quite beyond the inhabited parts, we found the country abounding in\nanimal life of every form. There are upward of thirty species of birds\non the river itself. Hundreds of the 'Ibis religiosa' come down the\nLeeambye with the rising water, as they do on the Nile; then large white\npelicans, in flocks of three hundred at a time, following each other\nin long extending line, rising and falling as they fly so regularly\nall along as to look like an extended coil of birds; clouds of a black\nshell-eating bird, called linongolo ('Anastomus lamelligerus'); also\nplovers, snipes, curlews, and herons without number.\n\nThere are, besides the more common, some strange varieties. The pretty\nwhite 'ardetta' is seen in flocks, settling on the backs of large herds\nof buffaloes, and following them on the wing when they run; while the\nkala ('Textor erythrorhynchus') is a better horseman, for it sits on the\nwithers when the animal is at full speed.\n\nThen those strange birds, the scissor-bills, with snow-white breast,\njet-black coat, and red beak, sitting by day on the sand-banks, the very\npicture of comfort and repose. Their nests are only little hollows made\non these same sand-banks, without any attempt of concealment; they watch\nthem closely, and frighten away the marabou and crows from their eggs\nby feigned attacks at their heads. When man approaches their nests, they\nchange their tactics, and, like the lapwing and ostrich, let one wing\ndrop and make one leg limp, as if lame. The upper mandible being so much\nshorter than the lower, the young are more helpless than the stork in\nthe fable with the flat dishes, and must have every thing conveyed into\nthe mouth by the parents till they are able to provide for themselves.\nThe lower mandible, as thin as a paper-knife, is put into the water\nwhile the bird skims along the surface, and scoops up any little insects\nit meets. It has great length of wing, and can continue its flight with\nperfect ease, the wings acting, though kept above the level of the body.\nThe wonder is, how this plowing of the surface of the water can be so\nwell performed as to yield a meal, for it is usually done in the dark.\nLike most aquatic feeders, they work by night, when insects and fishes\nrise to the surface. They have great affection for their young,\nits amount being increased in proportion to the helplessness of the\noffspring.\n\nThere are also numbers of spoonbills, nearly white in plumage; the\nbeautiful, stately flamingo; the Numidian crane, or demoiselle, some of\nwhich, tamed at Government House, Cape Town, struck every one as most\ngraceful ornaments to a noble mansion, as they perched on its pillars.\nThere are two cranes besides--one light blue, the other also light blue,\nbut with a white neck; and gulls ('Procellaria') of different sizes\nabound.\n\nOne pretty little wader, an avoset, appears as if standing on stilts,\nits legs are so long; and its bill seems bent the wrong way, or upward.\nIt is constantly seen wading in the shallows, digging up little slippery\ninsects, the peculiar form of the bill enabling it to work them easily\nout of the sand. When feeding, it puts its head under the water to\nseize the insect at the bottom, then lifts it up quickly, making a rapid\ngobbling, as if swallowing a wriggling worm.\n\nThe 'Parra Africana' runs about on the surface, as if walking on water,\ncatching insects. It too has long, thin legs, and extremely long toes,\nfor the purpose of enabling it to stand on the floating lotus-leaves\nand other aquatic plants. When it stands on a lotus-leaf five inches in\ndiameter, the spread of the toes, acting on the principle of snow-shoes,\noccupies all the surface, and it never sinks, though it obtains a\nlivelihood, not by swimming or flying, but by walking on the water.\n\nWater-birds, whose prey or food requires a certain aim or action in one\ndirection, have bills quite straight in form, as the heron and snipe;\nwhile those which are intended to come in contact with hard substances,\nas breaking shells, have the bills gently curved, in order that the\nshock may not be communicated to the brain.\n\nThe Barotse valley contains great numbers of large black geese.* They\nmay be seen every where walking slowly about, feeding. They have a\nstrong black spur on the shoulder, like the armed plover, and as strong\nas that on the heel of a cock, but are never seen to use them, except\nin defense of their young. They choose ant-hills for their nests, and\nin the time of laying the Barotse consume vast quantities of their eggs.\nThere are also two varieties of geese, of somewhat smaller size, but\nbetter eating. One of these, the Egyptian goose, or Vulpanser, can not\nrise from the water, and during the floods of the river great numbers\nare killed by being pursued in canoes. The third is furnished with\na peculiar knob on the beak. These, with myriads of ducks of three\nvarieties, abound every where on the Leeambye. On one occasion the canoe\nneared a bank on which a large flock was sitting. Two shots furnished\nour whole party with a supper, for we picked up seventeen ducks and a\ngoose. No wonder the Barotse always look back to this fruitful valley as\nthe Israelites did to the flesh-pots of Egypt. The poorest persons are\nso well supplied with food from their gardens, fruits from the forest\ntrees, and fish from the river, that their children, when taken into\nthe service of the Makololo, where they have only one large meal a day,\nbecome quite emaciated, and pine for a return to their parents.\n\n   * 'Anser leucagaster' and 'melanogaster'.\n\nPart of our company marched along the banks with the oxen, and part went\nin the canoes, but our pace was regulated by the speed of the men on\nshore. Their course was rather difficult, on account of the numbers of\ndeparting and re-entering branches of the Leeambye, which they had to\navoid or wait at till we ferried them over. The number of alligators is\nprodigious, and in this river they are more savage than in some others.\nMany children are carried off annually at Sesheke and other towns; for,\nnotwithstanding the danger, when they go down for water they almost\nalways must play a while. This reptile is said by the natives to strike\nthe victim with its tail, then drag him in and drown him. When lying\nin the water watching for prey, the body never appears. Many calves\nare lost also, and it is seldom that a number of cows can swim over at\nSesheke without some loss. I never could avoid shuddering on seeing my\nmen swimming across these branches, after one of them had been caught by\nthe thigh and taken below. He, however, retained, as nearly all of them\nin the most trying circumstances do, his full presence of mind, and,\nhaving a small, square, ragged-edged javelin with him, when dragged to\nthe bottom gave the alligator a stab behind the shoulder. The alligator,\nwrithing in pain, left him, and he came out with the deep marks of\nthe reptile's teeth on his thigh. Here the people have no antipathy to\npersons who have met with such an adventure, but, in the Bamangwato and\nBakwain tribes, if a man is either bitten or even has had water splashed\nover him by the reptile's tail, he is expelled his tribe. When on the\nZouga we saw one of the Bamangwato living among the Bayeiye, who had\nthe misfortune to have been bitten and driven out of his tribe in\nconsequence. Fearing that I would regard him with the same disgust which\nhis countrymen profess to feel, he would not tell me the cause of his\nexile, but the Bayeiye informed me of it, and the scars of the teeth\nwere visible on his thigh. If the Bakwains happened to go near an\nalligator they would spit on the ground, and indicate its presence by\nsaying \"Boleo ki bo\"--\"There is sin\". They imagine the mere sight of\nit would give inflammation of the eyes; and though they eat the zebra\nwithout hesitation, yet if one bites a man he is expelled the tribe, and\nobliged to take his wife and family away to the Kalahari. These curious\nrelics of the animal-worship of former times scarcely exist among the\nMakololo. Sebituane acted on the principle, \"Whatever is food for men is\nfood for me;\" so no man is here considered unclean. The Barotse appear\ninclined to pray to alligators and eat them too, for when I wounded\na water-antelope, called mochose, it took to the water; when near the\nother side of the river an alligator appeared at its tail, and then both\nsank together. Mashauana, who was nearer to it than I, told me that,\n\"though he had called to it to let his meat alone, it refused to\nlisten.\" One day we passed some Barotse lads who had speared an\nalligator, and were waiting in expectation of its floating soon after.\nThe meat has a strong musky odor, not at all inviting for any one except\nthe very hungry.\n\nWhen we had gone thirty or forty miles above Libonta we sent eleven\nof our captives to the west, to the chief called Makoma, with an\nexplanatory message. This caused some delay; but as we were loaded\nwith presents of food from the Makololo, and the wild animals were in\nenormous herds, we fared sumptuously. It was grievous, however, to\nshoot the lovely creatures, they were so tame. With but little skill\nin stalking, one could easily get within fifty or sixty yards of them.\nThere I lay, looking at the graceful forms and motions of beautiful\npokus,* leches, and other antelopes, often till my men, wondering what\nwas the matter, came up to see, and frightened them away. If we had been\nstarving, I could have slaughtered them with as little hesitation as I\nshould cut off a patient's leg; but I felt a doubt, and the antelopes\ngot the benefit of it. Have they a guardian spirit over them? I have\nrepeatedly observed, when I approached a herd lying beyond an ant-hill\nwith a tree on it, and viewed them with the greatest caution, they very\nsoon showed symptoms of uneasiness. They did not sniff danger in\nthe wind, for I was to leeward of them; but the almost invariable\napprehension of danger which arose, while unconscious of the direction\nin which it lay, made me wonder whether each had what the ancient\nphysicians thought we all possessed, an archon, or presiding spirit.\n\n   * I propose to name this new species 'Antilope Vardonii',\n   after the African traveler, Major Vardon.\n\nIf we could ascertain the most fatal spot in an animal, we could\ndispatch it with the least possible amount of suffering; but as that is\nprobably the part to which the greatest amount of nervous influence is\ndirected at the moment of receiving the shot, if we can not be sure of\nthe heart or brain, we are never certain of speedy death. Antelopes,\nformed for a partially amphibious existence, and other animals of that\nclass, are much more tenacious of life than those which are purely\nterrestrial. Most antelopes, when in distress or pursued, make for the\nwater. If hunted, they always do. A leche shot right through the body,\nand no limb-bone broken, is almost sure to get away, while a zebra, with\na wound of no greater severity, will probably drop down dead. I have\nseen a rhinoceros, while standing apparently chewing the cud, drop down\ndead from a shot in the stomach, while others shot through one lung\nand the stomach go off as if little hurt. But if one should crawl up\nsilently to within twenty yards either of the white or black rhinoceros,\nthrowing up a pinch of dust every now and then, to find out that the\nanxiety to keep the body concealed by the bushes has not led him to\nthe windward side, then sit down, rest the elbow on the knees, and aim,\nslanting a little upward, at a dark spot behind the shoulders, it falls\nstone dead.\n\nTo show that a shock on the part of the system to which much nervous\nforce is at the time directed will destroy life, it may be mentioned\nthat an eland, when hunted, can be dispatched by a wound which does\nlittle more than injure the muscular system; its whole nervous force is\nthen imbuing the organs of motion; and a giraffe, when pressed hard by a\ngood horse only two or three hundred yards, has been known to drop down\ndead, without any wound being inflicted at all. A full gallop by an\neland or giraffe quite dissipates its power, and the hunters, aware of\nthis, always try to press them at once to it, knowing that they have\nbut a short space to run before the animals are in their power. In doing\nthis, the old sportsmen are careful not to go too close to the giraffe's\ntail, for this animal can swing his hind foot round in a way which would\nleave little to choose between a kick with it and a clap from the arm of\na windmill.\n\nWhen the nervous force is entire, terrible wounds may be inflicted\nwithout killing; a tsessebe having been shot through the neck while\nquietly feeding, we went to him, and one of the men cut his throat deep\nenough to bleed him largely. He started up after this and ran more than\na mile, and would have got clear off had not a dog brought him to bay\nunder a tree, where we found him standing.\n\nMy men, having never had fire-arms in their hands before, found it so\ndifficult to hold the musket steady at the flash of fire in the pan,\nthat they naturally expected me to furnish them with \"gun medicine\",\nwithout which, it is almost universally believed, no one can shoot\nstraight. Great expectations had been formed when I arrived among the\nMakololo on this subject; but, having invariably declined to deceive\nthem, as some for their own profit have done, my men now supposed that I\nwould at last consent, and thereby relieve myself from the hard work of\nhunting by employing them after due medication. This I was most willing\nto do, if I could have done it honestly; for, having but little of the\nhunting 'furore' in my composition, I always preferred eating the\ngame to killing it. Sulphur is the remedy most admired, and I remember\nSechele giving a large price for a very small bit. He also gave some\nelephants' tusks, worth 30 Pounds, for another medicine which was to\nmake him invulnerable to musket balls. As I uniformly recommended that\nthese things should be tested by experiment, a calf was anointed with\nthe charm and tied to a tree. It proved decisive, and Sechele remarked\nit was \"pleasanter to be deceived than undeceived.\" I offered sulphur\nfor the same purpose, but that was declined, even though a person\ncame to the town afterward and rubbed his hands with a little before a\nsuccessful trial of shooting at a mark.\n\nI explained to my men the nature of a gun, and tried to teach them, but\nthey would soon have expended all the ammunition in my possession. I\nwas thus obliged to do all the shooting myself ever afterward. Their\ninability was rather a misfortune; for, in consequence of working too\nsoon after having been bitten by the lion, the bone of my left arm\nhad not united well. Continual hard manual labor, and some falls from\nox-back, lengthened the ligament by which the ends of the bones were\nunited, and a false joint was the consequence. The limb has never been\npainful, as those of my companions on the day of the rencounter with the\nlion have been, but, there being a joint too many, I could not steady\nthe rifle, and was always obliged to shoot with the piece resting on\nthe left shoulder. I wanted steadiness of aim, and it generally happened\nthat the more hungry the party became, the more frequently I missed the\nanimals.\n\nWe spent a Sunday on our way up to the confluence of the Leeba and\nLeeambye. Rains had fallen here before we came, and the woods had put on\ntheir gayest hue. Flowers of great beauty and curious forms grow every\nwhere; they are unlike those in the south, and so are the trees. Many\nof the forest-tree leaves are palmated and largely developed; the trunks\nare covered with lichens, and the abundance of ferns which appear in the\nwoods shows we are now in a more humid climate than any to the south of\nthe Barotse valley. The ground begins to swarm with insect life; and in\nthe cool, pleasant mornings the welkin rings with the singing of birds,\nwhich is not so delightful as the notes of birds at home, because I\nhave not been familiar with them from infancy. The notes here, however,\nstrike the mind by their loudness and variety, as the wellings forth\nfrom joyous hearts of praise to Him who fills them with overflowing\ngladness. All of us rise early to enjoy the luscious balmy air of the\nmorning. We then have worship; but, amid all the beauty and loveliness\nwith which we are surrounded, there is still a feeling of want in the\nsoul in viewing one's poor companions, and hearing bitter, impure words\njarring on the ear in the perfection of the scenes of Nature, and a\nlonging that both their hearts and ours might be brought into harmony\nwith the Great Father of Spirits. I pointed out, in, as usual, the\nsimplest words I could employ, the remedy which God has presented to\nus, in the inexpressibly precious gift of His own Son, on whom the Lord\n\"laid the iniquity of us all.\" The great difficulty in dealing with\nthese people is to make the subject plain. The minds of the auditors\ncan not be understood by one who has not mingled much with them. They\nreadily pray for the forgiveness of sins, and then sin again; confess\nthe evil of it, and there the matter ends.\n\nI shall not often advert to their depravity. My practice has always been\nto apply the remedy with all possible earnestness, but never allow my\nown mind to dwell on the dark shades of men's characters. I have never\nbeen able to draw pictures of guilt, as if that could awaken Christian\nsympathy. The evil is there. But all around in this fair creation are\nscenes of beauty, and to turn from these to ponder on deeds of sin can\nnot promote a healthy state of the faculties. I attribute much of the\nbodily health I enjoy to following the plan adopted by most physicians,\nwho, while engaged in active, laborious efforts to assist the needy,\nat the same time follow the delightful studies of some department of\nnatural history. The human misery and sin we endeavor to alleviate and\ncure may be likened to the sickness and impurity of some of the back\nslums of great cities. One contents himself by ministering to the sick\nand trying to remove the causes, without remaining longer in the filth\nthan is necessary for his work; another, equally anxious for the public\ngood, stirs up every cesspool, that he may describe its reeking vapors,\nand, by long contact with impurities, becomes himself infected, sickens,\nand dies.\n\nThe men went about during the day, and brought back wild fruits of\nseveral varieties, which I had not hitherto seen. One, called mogametsa,\nis a bean with a little pulp round it, which tastes like sponge-cake;\nanother, named mawa, grows abundantly on a low bush. There are many\nberries and edible bulbs almost every where. The mamosho or moshomosho,\nand milo (a medlar), were to be found near our encampment. These are\nboth good, if indeed one can be a fair judge who felt quite disposed to\npass a favorable verdict on every fruit which had the property of being\neatable at all. Many kinds are better than our crab-apple or sloe, and,\nhad they the care and culture these have enjoyed, might take high rank\namong the fruits of the world. All that the Africans have thought of has\nbeen present gratification; and now, as I sometimes deposit date-seeds\nin the soil, and tell them I have no hope whatever of seeing the fruit,\nit seems to them as the act of the South Sea Islanders appears to us,\nwhen they planted in their gardens iron nails received from Captain\nCook.\n\nThere are many fruits and berries in the forests, the uses of which are\nunknown to my companions. Great numbers of a kind of palm I have never\nmet with before were seen growing at and below the confluence of the\nLoeti and Leeambye; the seed probably came down the former river. It is\nnearly as tall as the palmyra. The fruit is larger than of that species;\nit is about four inches long, and has a soft yellow pulp round the\nkernel or seed; when ripe, it is fluid and stringy, like the wild mango,\nand not very pleasant to eat.\n\nBefore we came to the junction of the Leeba and Leeambye we found\nthe banks twenty feet high, and composed of marly sandstone. They are\ncovered with trees, and the left bank has the tsetse and elephants. I\nsuspect the fly has some connection with this animal, and the Portuguese\nin the district of Tete must think so too, for they call it the 'Musca\nda elephant' (the elephant fly).\n\nThe water of inundation covers even these lofty banks, but does not\nstand long upon them; hence the crop of trees. Where it remains for any\nlength of time, trees can not live. On the right bank, or that in which\nthe Loeti flows, there is an extensive flat country called Manga, which,\nthough covered with grass, is destitute in a great measure of trees.\n\nFlocks of green pigeons rose from the trees as we passed along the\nbanks, and the notes of many birds told that we were now among strangers\nof the feathered tribe. The beautiful trogon, with bright scarlet breast\nand black back, uttered a most peculiar note, similar to that we read\nof as having once been emitted by Memnon, and likened to the tuning of\na lyre. The boatmen answered it by calling \"Nama, nama!\"--meat, meat--as\nif they thought that a repetition of the note would be a good omen for\nour success in hunting. Many more interesting birds were met; but I\ncould make no collection, as I was proceeding on the plan of having as\nlittle luggage as possible, so as not to excite the cupidity of those\nthrough whose country we intended to pass.\n\nVast shoals of fish come down the Leeambye with the rising waters, as\nwe observed they also do in the Zouga. They are probably induced to make\nthis migration by the increased rapidity of the current dislodging them\nfrom their old pasture-grounds higher up the river. Insects constitute\nbut a small portion of the food of many fish. Fine vegetable matter,\nlike slender mosses, growing on the bottom, is devoured greedily; and\nas the fishes are dislodged from the main stream by the force of the\ncurrent, and find abundant pasture on the flooded plains, the whole\ncommunity becomes disturbed and wanders.\n\nThe mosala ('Clarias Capensis' and 'Glanis siluris'), the mullet ('Mugil\nAfricanus'), and other fishes, spread over the Barotse valley in such\nnumbers that when the waters retire all the people are employed in\ncutting them up and drying them in the sun. The supply exceeds the\ndemand, and the land in numerous places is said to emit a most offensive\nsmell. Wherever you see the Zambesi in the centre of the country, it is\nremarkable for the abundance of animal life in and upon its waters, and\non the adjacent banks.\n\nWe passed great numbers of hippopotami. They are very numerous in the\nparts of the river where they are never hunted. The males appear of a\ndark color, the females of yellowish brown. There is not such a complete\nseparation of the sexes among them as among elephants. They spend most\nof their time in the water, lolling about in a listless, dreamy manner.\nWhen they come out of the river by night, they crop off the soft\nsucculent grasses very neatly. When they blow, they puff up the water\nabout three feet high.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 15.\n\nMessage to Masiko, the Barotse Chief, regarding the Captives--\nNavigation of the Leeambye--Capabilities of this District--The\nLeeba--Flowers and Bees--Buffalo-hunt--Field for a Botanist--Young\nAlligators; their savage Nature--Suspicion of the Balonda--Sekelenke's\nPresent--A Man and his two Wives--Hunters--Message from Manenko,\na female Chief--Mambari Traders--A Dream--Sheakondo and his\nPeople--Teeth-filing--Desire for Butter--Interview with Nyamoana,\nanother female Chief--Court Etiquette--Hair versus Wool--Increase of\nSuperstition--Arrival of Manenko; her Appearance and Husband--Mode\nof Salutation--Anklets--Embassy, with a Present from Masiko--Roast\nBeef--Manioc--Magic Lantern--Manenko an accomplished Scold: compels us\nto wait--Unsuccessful Zebra-hunt.\n\n\n\nOn the 27th of December we were at the confluence of the Leeba and\nLeeambye (lat. 14d 10' 52\" S., long. 23d 35' 40\" E.). Masiko, the\nBarotse chief, for whom we had some captives, lived nearly due east of\nthis point. They were two little boys, a little girl, a young man, and\ntwo middle-aged women. One of these was a member of a Babimpe tribe, who\nknock out both upper and lower front teeth as a distinction. As we had\nbeen informed by the captives on the previous Sunday that Masiko was in\nthe habit of seizing all orphans, and those who have no powerful friend\nin the tribe whose protection they can claim, and selling them for\nclothing to the Mambari, we thought the objection of the women to go\nfirst to his town before seeing their friends quite reasonable, and\nresolved to send a party of our own people to see them safely among\ntheir relatives. I told the captive young man to inform Masiko that he\nwas very unlike his father Santuru, who had refused to sell his people\nto Mambari. He will probably be afraid to deliver such a message\nhimself, but it is meant for his people, and they will circulate it\npretty widely, and Masiko may yet feel a little pressure from without.\nWe sent Mosantu, a Batoka man, and his companions, with the captives.\nThe Barotse whom we had were unwilling to go to Masiko, since they owe\nhim allegiance as the son of Santuru, and while they continue with the\nMakololo are considered rebels. The message by Mosantu was, that \"I was\nsorry to find that Santuru had not borne a wiser son. Santuru loved to\ngovern men, but Masiko wanted to govern wild beasts only, as he sold\nhis people to the Mambari;\" adding an explanation of the return of the\ncaptives, and an injunction to him to live in peace, and prevent\nhis people kidnapping the children and canoes of the Makololo, as a\ncontinuance in these deeds would lead to war, which I wished to prevent.\nHe was also instructed to say, if Masiko wanted fuller explanation of my\nviews, he must send a sensible man to talk with me at the first town of\nthe Balonda, to which I was about to proceed.\n\nWe ferried Mosantu over to the left bank of the Leeba. The journey\nrequired five days, but it could not have been at a quicker rate than\nten or twelve miles per day; the children were between seven and eight\nyears of age, and unable to walk fast in a hot sun.\n\nLeaving Mosantu to pursue his course, we shall take but one glance down\nthe river, which we are now about to leave, for it comes at this point\nfrom the eastward, and our course is to be directed to the northwest,\nas we mean to go to Loanda in Angola. From the confluence, where we now\nare, down to Mosioatunya, there are many long reaches, where a vessel\nequal to the Thames steamers plying between the bridges could run as\nfreely as they do on the Thames. It is often, even here, as broad as\nthat river at London Bridge, but, without accurate measurement of the\ndepth, one could not say which contained most water. There are, however,\nmany and serious obstacles to a continued navigation for hundreds of\nmiles at a stretch. About ten miles below the confluence of the Loeti,\nfor instance, there are many large sand-banks in the stream; then you\nhave a hundred miles to the River Simah, where a Thames steamer could\nply at all times of the year; but, again, the space between Simah and\nKatima-molelo has five or six rapids with cataracts, one of which,\nGonye, could not be passed at any time without portage. Between these\nrapids there are reaches of still, deep water, of several miles in\nlength. Beyond Katima-molelo to the confluence of the Chobe you have\nnearly a hundred miles again, of a river capable of being navigated in\nthe same way as in the Barotse valley.\n\nNow I do not say that this part of the river presents a very inviting\nprospect for extemporaneous European enterprise; but when we have a\npathway which requires only the formation of portages to make it equal\nto our canals for hundreds of miles, where the philosophers supposed\nthere was naught but an extensive sandy desert, we must confess that\nthe future partakes at least of the elements of hope. My deliberate\nconviction was and is that the part of the country indicated is as\ncapable of supporting millions of inhabitants as it is of its thousands.\nThe grass of the Barotse valley, for instance, is such a densely-matted\nmass that, when \"laid\", the stalks bear each other up, so that one feels\nas if walking on the sheaves of a hay-stack, and the leches nestle under\nit to bring forth their young. The soil which produces this, if placed\nunder the plow, instead of being mere pasturage, would yield grain\nsufficient to feed vast multitudes.\n\nWe now began to ascend the Leeba. The water is black in color as\ncompared with the main stream, which here assumes the name of Kabompo.\nThe Leeba flows placidly, and, unlike the parent river, receives numbers\nof little rivulets from both sides. It winds slowly through the most\ncharming meadows, each of which has either a soft, sedgy centre, large\npond, or trickling rill down the middle. The trees are now covered with\na profusion of the freshest foliage, and seem planted in groups of such\npleasant, graceful outline that art could give no additional charm. The\ngrass, which had been burned off and was growing again after the\nrains, was short and green, and all the scenery so like that of a\ncarefully-tended gentleman's park, that one is scarcely reminded that\nthe surrounding region is in the hands of simple nature alone. I suspect\nthat the level meadows are inundated annually, for the spots on which\nthe trees stand are elevated three or four feet above them, and these\nelevations, being of different shapes, give the strange variety of\noutline of the park-like woods. Numbers of a fresh-water shell are\nscattered all over these valleys. The elevations, as I have observed\nelsewhere, are of a soft, sandy soil, and the meadows of black, rich\nalluvial loam. There are many beautiful flowers, and many bees to sip\ntheir nectar. We found plenty of honey in the woods, and saw the stages\non which the Balonda dry their meat, when they come down to hunt and\ngather the produce of the wild hives. In one part we came upon groups of\nlofty trees as straight as masts, with festoons of orchilla-weed hanging\nfrom the branches. This, which is used as a dye-stuff, is found nowhere\nin the dry country to the south. It prefers the humid climate near the\nwest coast.\n\nA large buffalo was wounded, and ran into the thickest part of the\nforest, bleeding profusely. The young men went on his trail; and, though\nthe vegetation was so dense that no one could have run more than a few\nyards, most of them went along quite carelessly, picking and eating\na fruit of the melon family called Mponko. When the animal heard them\napproach he always fled, shifting his stand and doubling on his course\nin the most cunning manner. In other cases I have known them to turn\nback to a point a few yards from their own trail, and then lie down in\na hollow waiting for the hunter to come up. Though a heavy,\nlumbering-looking animal, his charge is then rapid and terrific. More\naccidents happen by the buffalo and the black rhinoceros than by the\nlion. Though all are aware of the mischievous nature of the buffalo when\nwounded, our young men went after him quite carelessly. They never lose\ntheir presence of mind, but, as a buffalo charges back in a forest, dart\ndexterously out of his way behind a tree, and, wheeling round, stab him\nas he passes.\n\nA tree in flower brought the pleasant fragrance of hawthorn hedges back\nto memory; its leaves, flowers, perfumes, and fruit resembled those\nof the hawthorn, only the flowers were as large as dog-roses, and the\n\"haws\" like boys' marbles. Here the flowers smell sweetly, while few\nin the south emit any scent at all, or only a nauseous odor. A botanist\nwould find a rich harvest on the banks of the Leeba. This would be his\nbest season, for the flowers all run rapidly to seed, and then insects\nof every shape spring into existence to devour them. The climbing plants\ndisplay great vigor of growth, being not only thick in the trunk, but\nalso at the very point, in the manner of quickly-growing asparagus. The\nmaroro or malolo now appears, and is abundant in many parts between\nthis and Angola. It is a small bush with a yellow fruit, and in its\nappearance a dwarf \"anona\". The taste is sweet, and the fruit is\nwholesome: it is full of seeds, like the custard-apple.\n\nOn the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank from which had just\nemerged two broods of alligators. We had seen many young ones as we came\nup, so this seems to be their time of coming forth from the nests, for\nwe saw them sunning themselves on sand-banks in company with the old\nones. We made our fire in one of the deserted nests, which were strewed\nall over with the broken shells. At the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken\nout of one such nest alone. They are about the size of those of a goose,\nonly the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter at both ends,\nand the white shell is partially elastic, from having a strong internal\nmembrane and but little lime in its composition. The distance from the\nwater was about ten feet, and there were evidences of the same place\nhaving been used for a similar purpose in former years. A broad path\nled up from the water to the nest, and the dam, it was said by my\ncompanions, after depositing the eggs, covers them up, and returns\nafterward to assist the young out of the place of confinement and out of\nthe egg. She leads them to the edge of the water, and then leaves them\nto catch small fish for themselves. Assistance to come forth seems\nnecessary, for here, besides the tough membrane of the shell, they had\nfour inches of earth upon them; but they do not require immediate aid\nfor food, because they all retain a portion of yolk, equal to that of a\nhen's egg, in a membrane in the abdomen, as a stock of nutriment, while\nonly beginning independent existence by catching fish. Fish is the\nprincipal food of both small and large, and they are much assisted\nin catching them by their broad, scaly tails. Sometimes an alligator,\nviewing a man in the water from the opposite bank, rushes across the\nstream with wonderful agility, as is seen by the high ripple he makes\non the surface caused by his rapid motion at the bottom; but in general\nthey act by stealth, sinking underneath as soon as they see man. They\nseldom leave the water to catch prey, but often come out by day to enjoy\nthe pleasure of basking in the sun. In walking along the bank of the\nZouga once, a small one, about three feet long, made a dash at my feet,\nand caused me to rush quickly in another direction; but this is unusual,\nfor I never heard of a similar case. A wounded leche, chased into any\nof the lagoons in the Barotse valley, or a man or dog going in for the\npurpose of bringing out a dead one, is almost sure to be seized, though\nthe alligators may not appear on the surface. When employed in looking\nfor food they keep out of sight; they fish chiefly by night. When\neating, they make a loud, champing noise, which when once heard is never\nforgotten.\n\nThe young, which had come out of the nests where we spent the night, did\nnot appear wary; they were about ten inches long, with yellow eyes, and\npupil merely a perpendicular slit. They were all marked with transverse\nslips of pale green and brown, half an inch broad. When speared,\nthey bit the weapon savagely, though their teeth were but partially\ndeveloped, uttering at the same time a sharp bark like that of a whelp\nwhen it first begins to use its voice. I could not ascertain whether\nthe dam devours them, as reported, or whether the ichneumon has the same\nreputation here as in Egypt. Probably the Barotse and Bayeiye would not\nlook upon it as a benefactor; they prefer to eat the eggs themselves,\nand be their own ichneumons. The white of the egg does not coagulate,\nbut the yolk does, and this is the only part eaten.\n\nAs the population increases, the alligators will decrease, for their\nnests will be oftener found; the principal check on their inordinate\nmultiplication seems to be man. They are more savage and commit more\nmischief in the Leeambye than in any other river. After dancing long in\nthe moonlight nights, young men run down to the water to wash off the\ndust and cool themselves before going to bed, and are thus often carried\naway. One wonders they are not afraid; but the fact is, they have as\nlittle sense of danger impending over them as the hare has when not\nactually pursued by the hound, and in many rencounters, in which\nthey escape, they had not time to be afraid, and only laugh at the\ncircumstance afterward: there is a want of calm reflection. In many\ncases, not referred to in this book, I feel more horror now in thinking\non dangers I have run than I did at the time of their occurrence.\n\nWhen we reached the part of the river opposite to the village of\nManenko, the first female chief whom we encountered, two of the people\ncalled Balunda, or Balonda, came to us in their little canoe. From them\nwe learned that Kolimbota, one of our party, who had been in the habit\nof visiting these parts, was believed by the Balonda to have acted as\na guide to the marauders under Lerimo, whose captives we were now\nreturning. They very naturally suspected this, from the facility with\nwhich their villages had been found, and, as they had since removed them\nto some distance from the river, they were unwilling to lead us to their\nplaces of concealment. We were in bad repute, but, having a captive\nboy and girl to show in evidence of Sekeletu and ourselves not being\npartakers in the guilt of inferior men, I could freely express my desire\nthat all should live in peace. They evidently felt that I ought to have\ntaught the Makololo first, before coming to them, for they remarked that\nwhat I advanced was very good, but guilt lay at the door of the Makololo\nfor disturbing the previously existing peace. They then went away to\nreport us to Manenko.\n\nWhen the strangers visited us again in the evening, they were\naccompanied by a number of the people of an Ambonda chief named\nSekelenke. The Ambonda live far to the N.W.; their language, the Bonda,\nis the common dialect in Angola. Sekelenke had fled, and was now living\nwith his village as a vassal of Masiko. As notices of such men will\nperhaps convey the best idea of the state of the inhabitants to the\nreader, I shall hereafter allude to the conduct of Sekelenke, whom I at\npresent only introduce. Sekelenke had gone with his villagers to hunt\nelephants on the right bank of the Leeba, and was now on his way back to\nMasiko. He sent me a dish of boiled zebra's flesh, and a request that I\nshould lend him a canoe to ferry his wives and family across the river\nto the bank on which we were encamped. Many of Sekelenke's people came\nto salute the first white man they ever had an opportunity of seeing;\nbut Sekelenke himself did not come near. We heard he was offended with\nsome of his people for letting me know he was among the company. He\nsaid that I should be displeased with him for not coming and making\nsome present. This was the only instance in which I was shunned in this\nquarter.\n\nAs it would have been impolitic to pass Manenko, or any chief, without\nat least showing so much respect as to call and explain the objects\nof our passing through the country, we waited two entire days for the\nreturn of the messengers to Manenko; and as I could not hurry matters, I\nwent into the adjacent country to search for meat for the camp.\n\nThe country is furnished largely with forest, having occasionally open\nlawns covered with grass, not in tufts as in the south, but so closely\nplanted that one can not see the soil. We came upon a man and his two\nwives and children, burning coarse rushes and the stalks of tsitla,\ngrowing in a brackish marsh, in order to extract a kind of salt from the\nashes. They make a funnel of branches of trees, and line it with grass\nrope, twisted round until it is, as it were, a beehive-roof inverted.\nThe ashes are put into water, in a calabash, and then it is allowed to\npercolate through the small hole in the bottom and through the grass.\nWhen this water is evaporated in the sun, it yields sufficient salt to\nform a relish with food. The women and children fled with precipitation,\nbut we sat down at a distance, and allowed the man time to gain courage\nenough to speak. He, however, trembled excessively at the apparition\nbefore him; but when we explained that our object was to hunt game, and\nnot men, he became calm, and called back his wives. We soon afterward\ncame to another party on the same errand with ourselves. The man had a\nbow about six feet long, and iron-headed arrows about thirty inches in\nlength; he had also wooden arrows neatly barbed, to shoot in cases\nwhere he might not be quite certain of recovering them again. We soon\nafterward got a zebra, and gave our hunting acquaintances such a liberal\nshare that we soon became friends. All whom we saw that day then came\nwith us to the encampment to beg a little meat; and as they have so\nlittle salt, I have no doubt they felt grateful for what we gave.\n\nSekelenke and his people, twenty-four in number, defiled past our camp\ncarrying large bundles of dried elephants' meat. Most of them came to\nsay good-by, and Sekelenke himself sent to say that he had gone to visit\na wife living in the village of Manenko. It was a mere African manoeuvre\nto gain information, and not commit himself to either one line of action\nor another with respect to our visit. As he was probably in the party\nbefore us, I replied that it was all right, and when my people came up\nfrom Masiko I would go to my wife too. Another zebra came to our camp,\nand, as we had friends near, it was shot. It was the 'Equus montanus',\nthough the country is perfectly flat, and was finely marked down to the\nfeet, as all the zebras are in these parts.\n\nTo our first message, offering a visit of explanation to Manenko, we got\nan answer, with a basket of manioc roots, that we must remain where we\nwere till she should visit us. Having waited two days already for her,\nother messengers arrived with orders for me to come to her. After four\ndays of rains and negotiation, I declined going at all, and proceeded\nup the river to the small stream Makondo (lat. 13d 23' 12\" S.), which\nenters the Leeba from the east, and is between twenty and thirty yards\nbroad.\n\nJANUARY 1ST, 1854. We had heavy rains almost every day; indeed, the\nrainy season had fairly set in. Baskets of the purple fruit called mawa\nwere frequently brought to us by the villagers; not for sale, but from a\nbelief that their chiefs would be pleased to hear that they had treated\nus well; we gave them pieces of meat in return.\n\nWhen crossing at the confluence of the Leeba and Makondo, one of my men\npicked up a bit of a steel watch-chain of English manufacture, and we\nwere informed that this was the spot where the Mambari cross in\ncoming to Masiko. Their visits explain why Sekelenke kept his tusks so\ncarefully. These Mambari are very enterprising merchants: when they mean\nto trade with a town, they deliberately begin the affair by building\nhuts, as if they knew that little business could be transacted without a\nliberal allowance of time for palaver. They bring Manchester goods into\nthe heart of Africa; these cotton prints look so wonderful that the\nMakololo could not believe them to be the work of mortal hands. On\nquestioning the Mambari they were answered that English manufactures\ncame out of the sea, and beads were gathered on its shore. To Africans\nour cotton mills are fairy dreams. \"How can the irons spin, weave, and\nprint so beautifully?\" Our country is like what Taprobane was to our\nancestors--a strange realm of light, whence came the diamond, muslin,\nand peacocks; an attempt at explanation of our manufactures usually\nelicits the expression, \"Truly ye are gods!\"\n\nWhen about to leave the Makondo, one of my men had dreamed that Mosantu\nwas shut up a prisoner in a stockade: this dream depressed the spirits\nof the whole party, and when I came out of my little tent in the\nmorning, they were sitting the pictures of abject sorrow. I asked if\nwe were to be guided by dreams, or by the authority I derived from\nSekeletu, and ordered them to load the boats at once; they seemed\nashamed to confess their fears; the Makololo picked up courage and\nupbraided the others for having such superstitious views, and said this\nwas always their way; if even a certain bird called to them, they would\nturn back from an enterprise, saying it was unlucky. They entered the\ncanoes at last, and were the better of a little scolding for being\ninclined to put dreams before authority. It rained all the morning,\nbut about eleven we reached the village of Sheakondo, on a small stream\nnamed Lonkonye. We sent a message to the head man, who soon appeared\nwith two wives, bearing handsome presents of manioc: Sheakondo could\nspeak the language of the Barotse well, and seemed awestruck when told\nsome of the \"words of God\". He manifested no fear, always spoke frankly,\nand when he made an asseveration, did so by simply pointing up to the\nsky above him. The Balonda cultivate the manioc or cassava extensively;\nalso dura, ground-nuts, beans, maize, sweet potatoes, and yams, here\ncalled \"lekoto\", but as yet we see only the outlying villages.\n\nThe people who came with Sheakondo to our bivouac had their teeth filed\nto a point by way of beautifying them, though those which were left\nuntouched were always the whitest; they are generally tattooed in\nvarious parts, but chiefly on the abdomen: the skin is raised in small\nelevated cicatrices, each nearly half an inch long and a quarter of an\ninch in diameter, so that a number of them may constitute a star, or\nother device. The dark color of the skin prevents any coloring matter\nbeing deposited in these figures, but they love much to have the whole\nsurface of their bodies anointed with a comfortable varnish of oil. In\ntheir unassisted state they depend on supplies of oil from the Palma\nChristi, or castor-oil plant, or from various other oliferous seeds, but\nthey are all excessively fond of clarified butter or ox fat. Sheakondo's\nold wife presented some manioc roots, and then politely requested to\nbe anointed with butter: as I had been bountifully supplied by the\nMakololo, I gave her as much as would suffice, and as they have little\nclothing, I can readily believe that she felt her comfort greatly\nenhanced thereby.\n\nThe favorite wife, who was also present, was equally anxious for butter.\nShe had a profusion of iron rings on her ankles, to which were attached\nlittle pieces of sheet iron, to enable her to make a tinkling as she\nwalked in her mincing African style; the same thing is thought pretty by\nour own dragoons in walking jauntingly.\n\nWe had so much rain and cloud that I could not get a single observation\nfor either longitude or latitude for a fortnight. Yet the Leeba does\nnot show any great rise, nor is the water in the least discolored. It\nis slightly black, from the number of mossy rills which fall into it. It\nhas remarkably few birds and fish, while the Leeambye swarms with both.\nIt is noticeable that alligators here possess more of the fear of man\nthan in the Leeambye. The Balonda have taught them, by their poisoned\narrows, to keep out of sight. We did not see one basking in the sun. The\nBalonda set so many little traps for birds that few appear. I observed,\nhowever, many (to me) new small birds of song on its banks. More rain\nhas been falling in the east than here, for the Leeambye was rising fast\nand working against the sandy banks so vigorously that a slight yellow\ntinge was perceptible in it.\n\nOne of our men was bitten by a non-venomous serpent, and of course felt\nno harm. The Barotse concluded that this was owing to many of them being\npresent and seeing it, as if the sight of human eyes could dissolve the\npoison and act as a charm.\n\nOn the 6th of January we reached the village of another female chief,\nnamed Nyamoana, who is said to be the mother of Manenko, and sister\nof Shinte or Kabompo, the greatest Balonda chief in this part of the\ncountry. Her people had but recently come to the present locality, and\nhad erected only twenty huts. Her husband, Samoana, was clothed in a\nkilt of green and red baize, and was armed with a spear and a broadsword\nof antique form, about eighteen inches long and three broad. The chief\nand her husband were sitting on skins placed in the middle of a circle\nthirty paces in diameter, a little raised above the ordinary level of\nthe ground, and having a trench round it. Outside the trench sat about a\nhundred persons of all ages and both sexes. The men were well armed with\nbows, arrows, spears, and broadswords. Beside the husband sat a rather\naged woman, having a bad outward squint in the left eye. We put down\nour arms about forty yards off, and I walked up to the centre of the\ncircular bench, and saluted him in the usual way by clapping the hands\ntogether in their fashion. He pointed to his wife, as much as to say,\nthe honor belongs to her. I saluted her in the same way, and a mat\nhaving been brought, I squatted down in front of them.\n\nThe talker was then called, and I was asked who was my spokesman. Having\npointed to Kolimbota, who knew their dialect best, the palaver began\nin due form. I explained the real objects I had in view, without any\nattempt to mystify or appear in any other character than my own, for\nI have always been satisfied that, even though there were no other\nconsiderations, the truthful way of dealing with the uncivilized is\nunquestionably the best. Kolimbota repeated to Nyamoana's talker what\nI had said to him. He delivered it all verbatim to her husband, who\nrepeated it again to her. It was thus all rehearsed four times over,\nin a tone loud enough to be heard by the whole party of auditors. The\nresponse came back by the same roundabout route, beginning at the lady\nto her husband, etc.\n\nAfter explanations and re-explanations, I perceived that our new friends\nwere mixing up my message of peace and friendship with Makololo affairs,\nand stated that it was not delivered on the authority of any one less\nthan that of their Creator, and that if the Makololo did again break His\nlaws and attack the Balonda, the guilt would rest with the Makololo and\nnot with me. The palaver then came to a close.\n\nBy way of gaining their confidence, I showed them my hair, which is\nconsidered a curiosity in all this region. They said, \"Is that hair?\nIt is the mane of a lion, and not hair at all.\" Some thought that I\nhad made a wig of lion's mane, as they sometimes do with fibres of the\n\"ife\", and dye it black, and twist it so as to resemble a mass of their\nown wool. I could not return the joke by telling them that theirs was\nnot hair, but the wool of sheep, for they have none of these in the\ncountry; and even though they had, as Herodotus remarked, \"the African\nsheep are clothed with hair, and men's heads with wool.\" So I had to\nbe content with asserting that mine was the real original hair, such as\ntheirs would have been had it not been scorched and frizzled by the sun.\nIn proof of what the sun could do, I compared my own bronzed face\nand hands, then about the same in complexion as the lighter-colored\nMakololo, with the white skin of my chest. They readily believed that,\nas they go nearly naked and fully exposed to that influence, we might be\nof common origin after all. Here, as every where, when heat and moisture\nare combined, the people are very dark, but not quite black. There is\nalways a shade of brown in the most deeply colored. I showed my watch\nand pocket compass, which are considered great curiosities; but,\nthough the lady was called on by her husband to look, she would not be\npersuaded to approach near enough.\n\nThese people are more superstitious than any we had yet encountered;\nthough still only building their village, they had found time to erect\ntwo little sheds at the chief dwelling in it, in which were placed two\npots having charms in them. When asked what medicine they contained,\nthey replied, \"Medicine for the Barimo;\" but when I rose and looked into\nthem, they said they were medicine for the game. Here we saw the first\nevidence of the existence of idolatry in the remains of an old idol at a\ndeserted village. It was simply a human head carved on a block of wood.\nCertain charms mixed with red ochre and white pipe-clay are dotted over\nthem when they are in use; and a crooked stick is used in the same way\nfor an idol when they have no professional carver.\n\nAs the Leeba seemed still to come from the direction in which we wished\nto go, I was desirous of proceeding farther up with the canoes; but\nNyamoana was anxious that we should allow her people to conduct us\nto her brother Shinte; and when I explained the advantage of\nwater-carriage, she represented that her brother did not live near the\nriver, and, moreover, there was a cataract in front, over which it\nwould be difficult to convey the canoes. She was afraid, too, that the\nBalobale, whose country lies to the west of the river, not knowing the\nobjects for which we had come, would kill us. To my reply that I had\nbeen so often threatened with death if I visited a new tribe that I was\nnow more afraid of killing any one than of being killed, she rejoined\nthat the Balobale would not kill me, but the Makololo would all be\nsacrificed as their enemies. This produced considerable effect on my\ncompanions, and inclined them to the plan of Nyamoana, of going to the\ntown of her brother rather than ascending the Leeba. The arrival of\nManenko herself on the scene threw so much weight into the scale on\ntheir side that I was forced to yield the point.\n\nManenko was a tall, strapping woman about twenty, distinguished by a\nprofusion of ornaments and medicines hung round her person; the latter\nare supposed to act as charms. Her body was smeared all over with a\nmixture of fat and red ochre, as a protection against the weather; a\nnecessary precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was\notherwise in a state of frightful nudity. This was not from want of\nclothing, for, being a chief, she might have been as well clad as any of\nher subjects, but from her peculiar ideas of elegance in dress. When she\narrived with her husband, Sambanza, they listened for some time to\nthe statements I was making to the people of Nyamoana, after which the\nhusband, acting as spokesman, commenced an oration, stating the\nreasons for their coming, and, during every two or three seconds of the\ndelivery, he picked up a little sand, and rubbed it on the upper part\nof his arms and chest. This is a common mode of salutation in Londa; and\nwhen they wish to be excessively polite, they bring a quantity of ashes\nor pipe-clay in a piece of skin, and, taking up handfuls, rub it on the\nchest and upper front part of each arm; others, in saluting, drum their\nribs with their elbows; while others still touch the ground with one\ncheek after the other, and clap their hands. The chiefs go through the\nmanoeuvre of rubbing the sand on the arms, but only make a feint at\npicking up some. When Sambanza had finished his oration, he rose up,\nand showed his ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings; had they\nbeen very heavy, they would have made him adopt a straggling walk. Some\nchiefs have really so many as to be forced, by the weight and size,\nto keep one foot apart from the other, the weight being a serious\ninconvenience in walking. The gentlemen like Sambanza, who wish to\nimitate their betters, do so in their walk; so you see men, with only\na few ounces of ornament on their legs, strutting along as if they\nhad double the number of pounds. When I smiled at Sambanza's walk, the\npeople remarked, \"That is the way in which they show off their lordship\nin these parts.\"\n\nManenko was quite decided in the adoption of the policy of friendship\nwith the Makololo which we recommended; and, by way of cementing the\nbond, she and her counselors proposed that Kolimbota should take a wife\namong them. By this expedient she hoped to secure his friendship, and\nalso accurate information as to the future intentions of the Makololo.\nShe thought that he would visit the Balonda more frequently afterward,\nhaving the good excuse of going to see his wife; and the Makololo would\nnever, of course, kill the villagers among whom so near a relative of\none of their own children dwells. Kolimbota, I found, thought favorably\nof the proposition, and it afterward led to his desertion from us.\n\nOn the evening of the day in which Manenko arrived, we were delighted\nby the appearance of Mosantu and an imposing embassy from Masiko. It\nconsisted of all his under-chiefs, and they brought a fine elephant's\ntusk, two calabashes of honey, and a large piece of blue baize, as a\npresent. The last was intended perhaps to show me that he was a truly\ngreat chief, who had such stores of white men's goods at hand that he\ncould afford to give presents of them; it might also be intended for\nMosantu, for chiefs usually remember the servants; I gave it to him.\nMasiko expressed delight, by his principal men, at the return of the\ncaptives, and at the proposal of peace and alliance with the Makololo.\nHe stated that he never sold any of his own people to the Mambari, but\nonly captives whom his people kidnapped from small neighboring tribes.\nWhen the question was put whether his people had been in the habit of\nmolesting the Makololo by kidnapping their servants and stealing canoes,\nit was admitted that two of his men, when hunting, had gone to the\nMakololo gardens, to see if any of their relatives were there. As the\ngreat object in all native disputes is to get both parties to turn over\na new leaf, I explained the desirableness of forgetting past feuds,\naccepting the present Makololo professions as genuine, and avoiding in\nfuture to give them any cause for marauding. I presented Masiko with an\nox, furnished by Sekeletu as provision for ourselves. All these people\nare excessively fond of beef and butter, from having been accustomed to\nthem in their youth, before the Makololo deprived them of cattle. They\nhave abundance of game, but I am quite of their opinion that, after all,\nthere is naught in the world equal to roast beef, and that in their\nlove for it the English show both good taste and sound sense. The ox was\nintended for Masiko, but his men were very anxious to get my sanction\nfor slaughtering it on the spot. I replied that when it went out of\nmy hands I had no more to do with it. They, however, wished the\nresponsibility of slaughtering it to rest with me; if I had said they\nmight kill it, not many ounces would have remained in the morning. I\nwould have given permission, but had nothing else to offer in return for\nMasiko's generosity.\n\nWe were now without any provisions except a small dole of manioc roots\neach evening from Nyamoana, which, when eaten raw, produce poisonous\neffects. A small loaf, made from nearly the last morsel of maize-meal\nfrom Libonta, was my stock, and our friends from Masiko were still more\ndestitute; yet we all rejoiced so much at their arrival that we resolved\nto spend a day with them. The Barotse of our party, meeting with\nrelatives and friends among the Barotse of Masiko, had many old tales to\ntell; and, after pleasant hungry converse by day, we regaled our friends\nwith the magic lantern by night, and, in order to make the thing of use\nto all, we removed our camp up to the village of Nyamoana. This is a\ngood means of arresting the attention, and conveying important facts to\nthe minds of these people.\n\nWhen erecting our sheds at the village, Manenko fell upon our friends\nfrom Masiko in a way that left no doubt on our minds but that she is\na most accomplished scold. Masiko had, on a former occasion, sent to\nSamoana for a cloth, a common way of keeping up intercourse, and, after\nreceiving it, sent it back, because it had the appearance of having had\n\"witchcraft medicine\" on it; this was a grave offense, and now Manenko\nhad a good excuse for venting her spleen, the embassadors having called\nat her village, and slept in one of the huts without leave. If her\nfamily was to be suspected of dealing in evil charms, why were Masiko's\npeople not to be thought guilty of leaving the same in her hut? She\nadvanced and receded in true oratorical style, belaboring her own\nservants as well for allowing the offense, and, as usual in more\ncivilized feminine lectures, she leaned over the objects of her ire, and\nscreamed forth all their faults and failings ever since they were born,\nand her despair of ever seeing them become better, until they were all\n\"killed by alligators\". Masiko's people followed the plan of receiving\nthis torrent of abuse in silence, and, as neither we nor they had any\nthing to eat, we parted next morning. In reference to Masiko selling\nslaves to the Mambari, they promised to explain the relationship which\nexists between even the most abject of his people and our common Father;\nand that no more kidnapping ought to be allowed, as he ought to give\nthat peace and security to the smaller tribes on his eastern borders\nwhich he so much desired to obtain himself from the Makololo. We\npromised to return through his town when we came back from the\nsea-coast.\n\nManenko gave us some manioc roots in the morning, and had determined\nto carry our baggage to her uncle's, Kabompo or Shinte. We had heard a\nsample of what she could do with her tongue; and as neither my men nor\nmyself had much inclination to encounter a scolding from this black Mrs.\nCaudle, we made ready the packages; but she came and said the men whom\nshe had ordered for the service had not yet come; they would arrive\nto-morrow. Being on low and disagreeable diet, I felt annoyed at this\nfurther delay, and ordered the packages to be put into the canoes to\nproceed up the river without her servants; but Manenko was not to be\ncircumvented in this way; she came forward with her people, and said her\nuncle would be angry if she did not carry forward the tusks and goods\nof Sekeletu, seized the luggage, and declared that she would carry it in\nspite of me. My men succumbed sooner to this petticoat government than\nI felt inclined to do, and left me no power; and, being unwilling to\nencounter her tongue, I was moving off to the canoes, when she gave me\na kind explanation, and, with her hand on my shoulder, put on a motherly\nlook, saying, \"Now, my little man, just do as the rest have done.\" My\nfeelings of annoyance of course vanished, and I went out to try and get\nsome meat.\n\nThe only game to be found in these parts are the ZEBRA, the KUALATA or\ntahetsi ('Aigoceros equina'), kama ('Bubalus caama'), buffaloes, and the\nsmall antelope hakitenwe ('Philantomba').\n\nThe animals can be seen here only by following on their trail for many\nmiles. Urged on by hunger, we followed that of some zebras during the\ngreater part of the day: when within fifty yards of them, in a dense\nthicket, I made sure of one, but, to my infinite disgust, the gun missed\nfire, and off they bounded. The climate is so very damp, from daily\nheavy rains, that every thing becomes loaded with moisture, and the\npowder in the gun-nipples can not be kept dry. It is curious to mark the\nintelligence of the game; in districts where they are much annoyed by\nfire-arms, they keep out on the most open spots of country they can\nfind, in order to have a widely-extended range of vision, and a man\narmed is carefully shunned. From the frequency with which I have been\nallowed to approach nearer without than with a gun, I believe they know\nthe difference between safety and danger in the two cases. But here,\nwhere they are killed by the arrows of the Balonda, they select for\nsafety the densest forest, where the arrow can not be easily shot.\nThe variation in the selection of standing-spots during the day may,\nhowever, be owing partly to the greater heat of the sun, for here it\nis particularly sharp and penetrating. However accounted for, the wild\nanimals here do select the forests by day, while those farther south\ngenerally shun these covers, and, on several occasions, I have observed\nthere was no sunshine to cause them to seek for shade.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 16.\n\nNyamoana's Present--Charms--Manenko's pedestrian Powers--An Idol--\nBalonda Arms--Rain--Hunger--Palisades--Dense Forests--Artificial\nBeehives--Mushrooms--Villagers lend the Roofs of their Houses\n--Divination and Idols--Manenko's Whims--A night Alarm--Shinte's\nMessengers and Present--The proper Way to approach a Village--A\nMerman--Enter Shinte's Town: its Appearance--Meet two half-caste\nSlave-traders--The Makololo scorn them--The Balonda real Negroes--Grand\nReception from Shinte--His Kotla--Ceremony of Introduction--The\nOrators--Women--Musicians and Musical Instruments--A disagreeable\nRequest--Private Interviews with Shinte--Give him an Ox--Fertility\nof Soil--Manenko's new Hut--Conversation with Shinte--Kolimbota's\nProposal--Balonda's Punctiliousness--Selling Children--Kidnapping--\nShinte's Offer of a Slave--Magic Lantern--Alarm of Women--\nDelay--Sambanza returns intoxicated--The last and greatest Proof of\nShinte's Friendship.\n\n\n\n11TH OF JANUARY, 1854. On starting this morning, Samoana (or rather\nNyamoana, for the ladies are the chiefs here) presented a string of\nbeads, and a shell highly valued among them, as an atonement for having\nassisted Manenko, as they thought, to vex me the day before. They seemed\nanxious to avert any evil which might arise from my displeasure; but\nhaving replied that I never kept my anger up all night, they were much\npleased to see me satisfied. We had to cross, in a canoe, a stream which\nflows past the village of Nyamoana. Manenko's doctor waved some charms\nover her, and she took some in her hand and on her body before she\nventured upon the water. One of my men spoke rather loudly when near the\ndoctor's basket of medicines. The doctor reproved him, and always spoke\nin a whisper himself, glancing back to the basket as if afraid of being\nheard by something therein. So much superstition is quite unknown in the\nsouth, and is mentioned here to show the difference in the feelings of\nthis new people, and the comparative want of reverence on these points\namong Caffres and Bechuanas.\n\nManenko was accompanied by her husband and her drummer; the latter\ncontinued to thump most vigorously until a heavy, drizzling mist set in\nand compelled him to desist. Her husband used various incantations and\nvociferations to drive away the rain, but down it poured incessantly,\nand on our Amazon went, in the very lightest marching order, and at a\npace that few of the men could keep up with. Being on ox-back, I kept\npretty close to our leader, and asked her why she did not clothe herself\nduring the rain, and learned that it is not considered proper for a\nchief to appear effeminate. He or she must always wear the appearance\nof robust youth, and bear vicissitudes without wincing. My men, in\nadmiration of her pedestrian powers, every now and then remarked,\n\"Manenko is a soldier;\" and thoroughly wet and cold, we were all glad\nwhen she proposed a halt to prepare our night's lodging on the banks of\na stream.\n\nThe country through which we were passing was the same succession of\nforest and open lawns as formerly mentioned: the trees were nearly all\nevergreens, and of good, though not very gigantic size. The lawns were\ncovered with grass, which, in thickness of crop, looked like ordinary\nEnglish hay. We passed two small hamlets surrounded by gardens of maize\nand manioc, and near each of these I observed, for the first time,\nan ugly idol common in Londa--the figure of an animal, resembling an\nalligator, made of clay. It is formed of grass, plastered over with\nsoft clay; two cowrie-shells are inserted as eyes, and numbers of the\nbristles from the tail of an elephant are stuck in about the neck. It is\ncalled a lion, though, if one were not told so, he would conclude it to\nbe an alligator. It stood in a shed, and the Balonda pray and beat drums\nbefore it all night in cases of sickness.\n\nSome of the men of Manenko's train had shields made of reeds, neatly\nwoven into a square shape, about five feet long and three broad. With\nthese, and short broadswords and sheaves of iron-headed arrows, they\nappeared rather ferocious. But the constant habit of wearing arms is\nprobably only a substitute for the courage they do not possess. We\nalways deposited our fire-arms and spears outside a village before\nentering it, while the Balonda, on visiting us at our encampment, always\ncame fully armed, until we ordered them either to lay down their weapons\nor be off. Next day we passed through a piece of forest so dense that no\none could have penetrated it without an axe. It was flooded, not by\nthe river, but by the heavy rains which poured down every day, and kept\nthose who had clothing constantly wet. I observed, in this piece of\nforest, a very strong smell of sulphureted hydrogen. This I had\nobserved repeatedly in other parts before. I had attacks of fever of the\nintermittent type again and again, in consequence of repeated drenchings\nin these unhealthy spots.\n\nOn the 11th and 12th we were detained by incessant rains, and so heavy\nI never saw the like in the south. I had a little tapioca and a small\nquantity of Libonta meal, which I still reserved for worse times. The\npatience of my men under hunger was admirable; the actual want of the\npresent is never so painful as the thought of getting nothing in the\nfuture. We thought the people of some large hamlets very niggardly and\nvery independent of their chiefs, for they gave us and Manenko nothing,\nthough they had large fields of maize in an eatable state around them.\nWhen she went and kindly begged some for me, they gave her five ears\nonly. They were subjects of her uncle; and, had they been Makololo,\nwould have been lavish in their gifts to the niece of their chief. I\nsuspected that they were dependents of some of Shinte's principal men,\nand had no power to part with the maize of their masters.\n\nEach house of these hamlets has a palisade of thick stakes around it,\nand the door is made to resemble the rest of the stockade; the door is\nnever seen open; when the owner wishes to enter, he removes a stake or\ntwo, squeezes his body in, then plants them again in their places, so\nthat an enemy coming in the night would find it difficult to discover\nthe entrance. These palisades seem to indicate a sense of insecurity\nin regard to their fellow-men, for there are no wild beasts to disturb\nthem; the bows and arrows have been nearly as efficacious in clearing\nthe country here as guns have in the country farther south. This was a\ndisappointment to us, for we expected a continuance of the abundance of\ngame in the north which we found when we first came up to the confluence\nof the Leeba and Leeambye.\n\nA species of the silver-tree of the Cape ('Leucodendron argenteum') is\nfound in abundance in the parts through which we have traveled since\nleaving Samoana's. As it grows at a height of between two and three\nthousand feet above the level of the sea, on the Cape Table Mountain,\nand again on the northern slope of the Cashan Mountains, and here at\nconsiderably greater heights (four thousand feet), the difference of\nclimate prevents the botanical range being considered as affording a\ngood approximation to the altitude. The rapid flow of the Leeambye,\nwhich once seemed to me evidence of much elevation of the country\nfrom which it comes, I now found, by the boiling point of water, was\nfallacious.*\n\n   * On examining this subject when I returned to Linyanti, I\n   found that, according to Dr. Arnott, a declivity of three\n   inches per mile gives a velocity in a smooth, straight channel\n   of three miles an hour. The general velocity of the Zambesi is\n   three miles and three quarters per hour, though in the rocky\n   parts it is sometimes as much as four and a half.  If,\n   however, we make allowances for roughness of bottom, bendings\n   of channel, and sudden descents at cataracts, and say the\n   declivity is even seven inches per mile, those 800 miles\n   between the east coast and the great falls would require less\n   than 500 feet to give the observed velocity, and the\n   additional distance to this point would require but 150 feet\n   of altitude more.  If my observation of this altitude may be\n   depended on, we have a steeper declivity for the Zambesi than\n   for some other great rivers.  The Ganges, for instance, is\n   said to be at 1800 miles from its mouth only 800 feet above\n   the level of the sea, and water requires a month to come that\n   distance. But there are so many modifying circumstances, it is\n   difficult to draw any reliable conclusion from the currents.\n   The Chobe is sometimes heard of as flooded, about 40 miles\n   above Linyanti, a fortnight before the inundation reaches that\n   point, but it is very tortuous. The great river Magdalena\n   falls only 500 feet in a thousand miles; other rivers much\n   more.\n\nThe forests became more dense as we went north. We traveled much more in\nthe deep gloom of the forest than in open sunlight. No passage existed\non either side of the narrow path made by the axe. Large climbing plants\nentwined themselves around the trunks and branches of gigantic trees\nlike boa constrictors, and they often do constrict the trees by which\nthey rise, and, killing them, stand erect themselves. The bark of a\nfine tree found in abundance here, and called \"motuia\", is used by\nthe Barotse for making fish-lines and nets, and the \"molompi\", so well\nadapted for paddles by its lightness and flexibility, was abundant.\nThere were other trees quite new to my companions; many of them ran up\nto a height of fifty feet of one thickness, and without branches.\n\nIn these forests we first encountered the artificial beehives so\ncommonly met with all the way from this to Angola. They consist of about\nfive feet of the bark of a tree fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter.\nTwo incisions are made right round the tree at points five feet apart,\nthen one longitudinal slit from one of these to the other; the workman\nnext lifts up the bark on each side of this slit, and detaches it from\nthe trunk, taking care not to break it, until the whole comes from the\ntree. The elasticity of the bark makes it assume the form it had before;\nthe slit is sewed or pegged up with wooden pins, and ends made of coiled\ngrass-rope are inserted, one of which has a hole for the ingress of the\nbees in the centre, and the hive is complete. These hives are placed in\na horizontal position on high trees in different parts of the forest,\nand in this way all the wax exported from Benguela and Loanda is\ncollected. It is all the produce of free labor. A \"piece of medicine\"\nis tied round the trunk of the tree, and proves sufficient protection\nagainst thieves. The natives seldom rob each other, for all believe\nthat certain medicines can inflict disease and death; and though they\nconsider that these are only known to a few, they act on the principle\nthat it is best to let them all alone. The gloom of these forests\nstrengthens the superstitious feelings of the people. In other quarters,\nwhere they are not subjected to this influence, I have heard the chiefs\nissue proclamations to the effect that real witchcraft medicines had\nbeen placed at certain gardens from which produce had been stolen, the\nthieves having risked the power of the ordinary charms previously placed\nthere.\n\nThis being the rainy season, great quantities of mushrooms were met\nwith, and were eagerly devoured by my companions: the edible variety is\nalways found growing out of ant-hills, and attains the diameter of the\ncrown of a hat; they are quite white, and very good, even when eaten\nraw; they occupy an extensive region of the interior; some, not edible,\nare of a brilliant red, and others are of the same light blue as the\npaper used by apothecaries to put up their medicines.\n\nThere was a considerable pleasure, in spite of rain and fever, in this\nnew scenery. The deep gloom contrasted strongly with the shadeless glare\nof the Kalahari, which had left an indelible impression on my memory.\nThough drenched day by day at this time, and for months afterward, it\nwas long before I could believe that we were getting too much of a good\nthing. Nor could I look at water being thrown away without a slight,\nquick impression flitting across the mind that we were guilty of wasting\nit. Every now and then we emerged from the deep gloom into a pretty\nlittle valley, having a damp portion in the middle; which, though now\nfilled with water, at other times contains moisture enough for wells\nonly. These wells have shades put over them in the form of little huts.\n\nWe crossed, in canoes, a little never-failing stream, which passes\nby the name of Lefuje, or \"the rapid\". It comes from a goodly high\nmountain, called Monakadzi (the woman), which gladdened our eyes as\nit rose to our sight about twenty or thirty miles to the east of our\ncourse. It is of an oblong shape, and seemed at least eight hundred feet\nabove the plains. The Lefuje probably derives its name from the rapid\ndescent of the short course it has to flow from Monakadzi to the Leeba.\n\nThe number of little villages seemed about equal to the number of\nvalleys. At some we stopped and rested, the people becoming more liberal\nas we advanced. Others we found deserted, a sudden panic having seized\nthe inhabitants, though the drum of Manenko was kept beaten pretty\nconstantly, in order to give notice of the approach of great people.\nWhen we had decided to remain for the night at any village, the\ninhabitants lent us the roofs of their huts, which in form resemble\nthose of the Makololo, or a Chinaman's hat, and can be taken off the\nwalls at pleasure. They lifted them off, and brought them to the spot we\nhad selected as our lodging, and, when my men had propped them up with\nstakes, they were then safely housed for the night. Every one who comes\nto salute either Manenko or ourselves rubs the upper parts of the arms\nand chest with ashes; those who wish to show profounder reverence put\nsome also on the face.\n\nWe found that every village had its idols near it. This is the case all\nthrough the country of the Balonda, so that, when we came to an idol in\nthe woods, we always knew that we were within a quarter of an hour of\nhuman habitations. One very ugly idol we passed rested on a horizontal\nbeam placed on two upright posts. This beam was furnished with two loops\nof cord, as of a chain, to suspend offerings before it. On remarking to\nmy companions that these idols had ears, but that they heard not,\netc., I learned that the Balonda, and even the Barotse, believe that\ndivination may be performed by means of these blocks of wood and clay;\nand though the wood itself could not hear, the owners had medicines by\nwhich it could be made to hear and give responses, so that if an enemy\nwere approaching they would have full information. Manenko having\nbrought us to a stand on account of slight indisposition and a desire\nto send forward notice of our approach to her uncle, I asked why it was\nnecessary to send forward information of our movements, if Shinte had\nidols who could tell him every thing. \"She did it only,\"* was the reply.\nIt is seldom of much use to show one who worships idols the folly\nof idolatry without giving something else as an object of adoration\ninstead. They do not love them. They fear them, and betake themselves to\ntheir idols only when in perplexity and danger.\n\n   * This is a curious African idiom, by which a person implies\n   he had no particular reason for his act.\n\nWhile delayed, by Manenko's management, among the Balonda villages, a\nlittle to the south of the town of Shinte, we were well supplied by\nthe villagers with sweet potatoes and green maize; Sambanza went to his\nmother's village for supplies of other food. I was laboring under fever,\nand did not find it very difficult to exercise patience with her whims;\nbut it being Saturday, I thought we might as well go to the town for\nSunday (15th). \"No; her messenger must return from her uncle first.\"\nBeing sure that the answer of the uncle would be favorable, I thought we\nmight go on at once, and not lose two days in the same spot. \"No, it\nis our custom;\" and every thing else I could urge was answered in the\ngenuine pertinacious lady style. She ground some meal for me with her\nown hands, and when she brought it told me she had actually gone to a\nvillage and begged corn for the purpose. She said this with an air as if\nthe inference must be drawn by even a stupid white man: \"I know how to\nmanage, don't I?\" It was refreshing to get food which could be eaten\nwithout producing the unpleasantness described by the Rev. John Newton,\nof St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London, when obliged to eat the same roots\nwhile a slave in the West Indies. The day (January 14th), for a wonder,\nwas fair, and the sun shone, so as to allow us to dry our clothing\nand other goods, many of which were mouldy and rotten from the\nlong-continued damp. The guns rusted, in spite of being oiled every\nevening.\n\nDuring the night we were all awakened by a terrific shriek from one of\nManenko's ladies. She piped out so loud and long that we all imagined\nshe had been seized by a lion, and my men snatched up their arms, which\nthey always place so as to be ready at a moment's notice, and ran to\nthe rescue; but we found the alarm had been caused by one of the oxen\nthrusting his head into her hut and smelling her: she had put her hand\non his cold, wet nose, and thought it was all over with her.\n\nOn Sunday afternoon messengers arrived from Shinte, expressing his\napprobation of the objects we had in view in our journey through the\ncountry, and that he was glad of the prospect of a way being opened by\nwhich white men might visit him, and allow him to purchase ornaments at\npleasure. Manenko now threatened in sport to go on, and I soon afterward\nperceived that what now seemed to me the dilly-dallying way of this lady\nwas the proper mode of making acquaintance with the Balonda; and much of\nthe favor with which I was received in different places was owing to\nmy sending forward messengers to state the object of our coming before\nentering each town and village. When we came in sight of a village we\nsat down under the shade of a tree and sent forward a man to give notice\nwho we were and what were our objects. The head man of the village then\nsent out his principal men, as Shinte now did, to bid us welcome and\nshow us a tree under which we might sleep. Before I had profited by the\nrather tedious teaching of Manenko, I sometimes entered a village and\ncreated unintentional alarm. The villagers would continue to look upon\nus with suspicion as long as we remained. Shinte sent us two large\nbaskets of manioc and six dried fishes. His men had the skin of a\nmonkey, called in their tongue \"poluma\" ('Colobus guereza'), of a jet\nblack color, except the long mane, which is pure white: it is said to be\nfound in the north, in the country of Matiamvo, the paramount chief\nof all the Balonda. We learned from them that they are in the habit of\npraying to their idols when unsuccessful in killing game or in any other\nenterprise. They behaved with reverence at our religious services. This\nwill appear important if the reader remembers the almost total want of\nprayer and reverence we encountered in the south.\n\nOur friends informed us that Shinte would be highly honored by the\npresence of three white men in his town at once. Two others had sent\nforward notice of their approach from another quarter (the west); could\nit be Barth or Krapf? How pleasant to meet with Europeans in such an\nout-of-the-way region! The rush of thoughts made me almost forget my\nfever. Are they of the same color as I am? \"Yes; exactly so.\" And have\nthe same hair? \"Is that hair? we thought it was a wig; we never saw the\nlike before; this white man must be of the sort that lives in the sea.\"\nHenceforth my men took the hint, and always sounded my praises as a true\nspecimen of the variety of white men who live in the sea. \"Only look at\nhis hair; it is made quite straight by the sea-water!\"\n\nI explained to them again and again that, when it was said we came out\nof the sea, it did not mean that we came from beneath the water; but the\nfiction has been widely spread in the interior by the Mambari that the\nreal white men live in the sea, and the myth was too good not to be\ntaken advantage of by my companions; so, notwithstanding my injunctions,\nI believe that, when I was out of hearing, my men always represented\nthemselves as led by a genuine merman: \"Just see his hair!\" If I\nreturned from walking to a little distance, they would remark of some to\nwhom they had been holding forth, \"These people want to see your hair.\"\n\nAs the strangers had woolly hair like themselves, I had to give up the\nidea of meeting any thing more European than two half-caste Portuguese,\nengaged in trading for slaves, ivory, and bees'-wax.\n\n16TH. After a short march we came to a most lovely valley about a mile\nand a half wide, and stretching away eastward up to a low prolongation\nof Monakadzi. A small stream meanders down the centre of this pleasant\ngreen glen; and on a little rill, which flows into it from the western\nside, stands the town of Kabompo, or, as he likes best to be called,\nShinte. (Lat. 12d 37' 35\" S., long. 22d 47' E.) When Manenko thought the\nsun was high enough for us to make a lucky entrance, we found the town\nembowered in banana and other tropical trees having great expansion of\nleaf; the streets are straight, and present a complete contrast to those\nof the Bechuanas, which are all very tortuous. Here, too, we first saw\nnative huts with square walls and round roofs. The fences or walls of\nthe courts which surround the huts are wonderfully straight, and made\nof upright poles a few inches apart, with strong grass or leafy bushes\nneatly woven between. In the courts were small plantations of tobacco,\nand a little solanaceous plant which the Balonda use as a relish; also\nsugar-cane and bananas. Many of the poles have grown again, and trees of\nthe 'Ficus Indica' family have been planted around, in order to give to\nthe inhabitants a grateful shade: they regard this tree with some sort\nof veneration as a medicine or charm. Goats were browsing about, and,\nwhen we made our appearance, a crowd of negroes, all fully armed, ran\ntoward us as if they would eat us up; some had guns, but the manner in\nwhich they were held showed that the owners were more accustomed to bows\nand arrows than to white men's weapons. After surrounding and staring at\nus for an hour, they began to disperse.\n\nThe two native Portuguese traders of whom we had heard had erected a\nlittle encampment opposite the place where ours was about to be made.\nOne of them, whose spine had been injured in youth--a rare sight in this\ncountry--came and visited us. I returned the visit next morning. His\ntall companion had that sickly yellow hue which made him look fairer\nthan myself, but his head was covered with a crop of unmistakable wool.\nThey had a gang of young female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground\nin front of their encampment to clear it of weeds and grass; these were\npurchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now come. There\nwere many Mambari with them, and the establishment was conducted\nwith that military order which pervades all the arrangements of the\nPortuguese colonists. A drum was beaten and trumpet sounded at certain\nhours, quite in military fashion. It was the first time most of my men\nhad seen slaves in chains. \"They are not men,\" they exclaimed (meaning\nthey are beasts), \"who treat their children so.\"\n\nThe Balonda are real negroes, having much more wool on their heads and\nbodies than any of the Bechuana or Caffre tribes. They are generally\nvery dark in color, but several are to be seen of a lighter hue; many of\nthe slaves who have been exported to Brazil have gone from this region;\nbut while they have a general similarity to the typical negro, I never\ncould, from my own observation, think that our ideal negro, as seen\nin tobacconists' shops, is the true type. A large proportion of the\nBalonda, indeed, have heads somewhat elongated backward and upward,\nthick lips, flat noses, elongated 'ossa calces', etc., etc.; but there\nare also many good-looking, well-shaped heads and persons among them.\n\n17TH, TUESDAY. We were honored with a grand reception by Shinte about\neleven o'clock. Sambanza claimed the honor of presenting us, Manenko\nbeing slightly indisposed. The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully\narmed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute; their drummer and\ntrumpeter making all the noise that very old instruments would produce.\nThe kotla, or place of audience, was about a hundred yards square, and\ntwo graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one end; under\none of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne covered with a leopard's\nskin. He had on a checked jacket, and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with\ngreen; many strings of large beads hung from his neck, and his limbs\nwere covered with iron and copper armlets and bracelets; on his head he\nwore a helmet made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned with a\ngreat bunch of goose-feathers. Close to him sat three lads with large\nsheaves of arrows over their shoulders.\n\nWhen we entered the kotla, the whole of Manenko's party saluted Shinte\nby clapping their hands, and Sambanza did obeisance by rubbing his chest\nand arms with ashes. One of the trees being unoccupied, I retreated to\nit for the sake of the shade, and my whole party did the same. We were\nnow about forty yards from the chief, and could see the whole ceremony.\nThe different sections of the tribe came forward in the same way that we\ndid, the head man of each making obeisance with ashes which he carried\nwith him for the purpose; then came the soldiers, all armed to the\nteeth, running and shouting toward us, with their swords drawn, and\ntheir faces screwed up so as to appear as savage as possible, for the\npurpose, I thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to our\nheels. As we did not, they turned round toward Shinte and saluted him,\nthen retired. When all had come and were seated, then began the curious\ncapering usually seen in pichos. A man starts up, and imitates the most\napproved attitudes observed in actual fight, as throwing one javelin,\nreceiving another on the shield, springing to one side to avoid a third,\nrunning backward or forward, leaping, etc. This over, Sambanza and the\nspokesman of Nyamoana stalked backward and forward in front of Shinte,\nand gave forth, in a loud voice, all they had been able to learn,\neither from myself or people, of my past history and connection with the\nMakololo; the return of the captives; the wish to open the country to\ntrade; the Bible as a word from heaven; the white man's desire for\nthe tribes to live in peace: he ought to have taught the Makololo that\nfirst, for the Balonda never attacked them, yet they had assailed the\nBalonda: perhaps he is fibbing, perhaps not; they rather thought he was;\nbut as the Balonda had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to\nany one, he had better receive the white man well, and send him on his\nway. Sambanza was gayly attired, and, besides a profusion of beads, had\na cloth so long that a boy carried it after him as a train.\n\nBehind Shinte sat about a hundred women, clothed in their best, which\nhappened to be a profusion of red baize. The chief wife of Shinte, one\nof the Matebele or Zulus, sat in front with a curious red cap on her\nhead. During the intervals between the speeches, these ladies burst\nforth into a sort of plaintive ditty; but it was impossible for any of\nus to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of Shinte, or of\nthemselves. This was the first time I had ever seen females present in\na public assembly. In the south the women are not permitted to enter the\nkotla; and even when invited to come to a religious service there, would\nnot enter until ordered to do so by the chief; but here they expressed\napprobation by clapping their hands, and laughing to different speakers;\nand Shinte frequently turned round and spoke to them.\n\nA party of musicians, consisting of three drummers and four performers\non the piano, went round the kotla several times, regaling us with their\nmusic. Their drums are neatly carved from the trunk of a tree, and have\na small hole in the side covered with a bit of spider's web: the ends\nare covered with the skin of an antelope pegged on; and when they\nwish to tighten it, they hold it to the fire to make it contract: the\ninstruments are beaten with the hands.\n\nThe piano, named \"marimba\", consists of two bars of wood placed side\nby side, here quite straight, but, farther north, bent round so as to\nresemble half the tire of a carriage-wheel; across these are placed\nabout fifteen wooden keys, each of which is two or three inches broad,\nand fifteen or eighteen inches long; their thickness is regulated\naccording to the deepness of the note required: each of the keys has a\ncalabash beneath it; from the upper part of each a portion is cut off to\nenable them to embrace the bars, and form hollow sounding-boards to the\nkeys, which also are of different sizes, according to the note required;\nand little drumsticks elicit the music. Rapidity of execution seems much\nadmired among them, and the music is pleasant to the ear. In Angola the\nPortuguese use the marimba in their dances.\n\nWhen nine speakers had concluded their orations, Shinte stood up, and so\ndid all the people. He had maintained true African dignity of manner all\nthe while, but my people remarked that he scarcely ever took his eyes\noff me for a moment. About a thousand people were present, according to\nmy calculation, and three hundred soldiers. The sun had now become hot;\nand the scene ended by the Mambari discharging their guns.\n\n18TH. We were awakened during the night by a message from Shinte,\nrequesting a visit at a very unseasonable hour. As I was just in the\nsweating stage of an intermittent, and the path to the town lay through\na wet valley, I declined going. Kolimbota, who knows their customs best,\nurged me to go; but, independent of sickness, I hated words of the night\nand deeds of darkness. \"I was neither a hyaena nor a witch.\" Kolimbota\nthought that we ought to conform to their wishes in every thing: I\nthought we ought to have some choice in the matter as well, which put\nhim into high dudgeon. However, at ten next morning we went, and were\nled into the courts of Shinte, the walls of which were woven rods, all\nvery neat and high. Many trees stood within the inclosure and afforded a\ngrateful shade. These had been planted, for we saw some recently put\nin, with grass wound round the trunk to protect them from the sun. The\notherwise waste corners of the streets were planted with sugar-cane and\nbananas, which spread their large light leaves over the walls.\n\nThe Ficus Indica tree, under which we now sat, had very large leaves,\nbut showed its relationship to the Indian banian by sending down shoots\ntoward the ground. Shinte soon came, and appeared a man of upward of\nfifty-five years of age, of frank and open countenance, and about\nthe middle height. He seemed in good humor, and said he had expected\nyesterday \"that a man who came from the gods would have approached\nand talked to him.\" That had been my own intention in going to the\nreception; but when we came and saw the formidable preparations, and all\nhis own men keeping at least forty yards off from him, I yielded to the\nsolicitations of my men, and remained by the tree opposite to that under\nwhich he sat. His remark confirmed my previous belief that a frank,\nopen, fearless manner is the most winning with all these Africans. I\nstated the object of my journey and mission, and to all I advanced the\nold gentleman clapped his hands in approbation. He replied through a\nspokesman; then all the company joined in the response by clapping of\nhands too.\n\nAfter the more serious business was over, I asked if he had ever seen a\nwhite man before. He replied, \"Never; you are the very first I have seen\nwith a white skin and straight hair; your clothing, too, is different\nfrom any we have ever seen.\" They had been visited by native Portuguese\nand Mambari only.\n\nOn learning from some of the people that \"Shinte's mouth was bitter\nfor want of tasting ox-flesh,\" I presented him with an ox, to his great\ndelight; and, as his country is so well adapted for cattle, I advised\nhim to begin a trade in cows with the Makololo. He was pleased with the\nidea, and when we returned from Loanda, we found that he had profited by\nthe hint, for he had got three, and one of them justified my opinion of\nthe country, for it was more like a prize heifer for fatness than any\nwe had seen in Africa. He soon afterward sent us a basket of green maize\nboiled, another of manioc-meal, and a small fowl. The maize shows by\nits size the fertility of the black soil of all the valleys here, and so\ndoes the manioc, though no manure is ever applied. We saw manioc attain\na height of six feet and upward, and this is a plant which requires the\nvery best soil.\n\nDuring this time Manenko had been extremely busy with all her people\nin getting up a very pretty hut and court-yard, to be, as she said, her\nresidence always when white men were brought by her along the same path.\nWhen she heard that we had given an ox to her uncle, she came forward\nto us with the air of one wronged, and explained that \"this white man\nbelonged to her; she had brought him here, and therefore the ox was\nhers, not Shinte's.\" She ordered her men to bring it, got it slaughtered\nby them, and presented her uncle with a leg only. Shinte did not seem at\nall annoyed at the occurrence.\n\n19TH. I was awakened at an early hour by a messenger from Shinte; but\nthe thirst of a raging fever being just assuaged by the bursting forth\nof a copious perspiration, I declined going for a few hours. Violent\naction of the heart all the way to the town did not predispose me to be\npatient with the delay which then occurred, probably on account of\nthe divination being unfavorable: \"They could not find Shinte.\" When I\nreturned to bed, another message was received, \"Shinte wished to say all\nhe had to tell me at once.\" This was too tempting an offer, so we\nwent, and he had a fowl ready in his hand to present, also a basket\nof manioc-meal, and a calabash of mead. Referring to the\nconstantly-recurring attacks of fever, he remarked that it was the only\nthing which would prevent a successful issue to my journey, for he had\nmen to guide me who knew all the paths which led to the white men.\nHe had himself traveled far when a young man. On asking what he would\nrecommend for the fever, \"Drink plenty of the mead, and as it gets in,\nit will drive the fever out.\" It was rather strong, and I suspect he\nliked the remedy pretty well, even though he had no fever. He had always\nbeen a friend to Sebituane, and, now that his son Sekeletu was in his\nplace, Shinte was not merely a friend, but a father to him; and if a son\nasks a favor, the father must give it. He was highly pleased with the\nlarge calabashes of clarified butter and fat which Sekeletu had sent\nhim, and wished to detain Kolimbota, that he might send a present back\nto Sekeletu by his hands. This proposition we afterward discovered\nwas Kolimbota's own, as he had heard so much about the ferocity of the\ntribes through which we were to pass that he wished to save his skin.\nIt will be seen farther on that he was the only one of our party who\nreturned with a wound.\n\nWe were particularly struck, in passing through the village, with the\npunctiliousness of manners shown by the Balonda. The inferiors, on\nmeeting their superiors in the street, at once drop on their knees\nand rub dust on their arms and chest; they continue the salutation of\nclapping the hands until the great ones have passed. Sambanza knelt down\nin this manner till the son of Shinte had passed him.\n\nWe several times saw the woman who occupies the office of drawer of\nwater for Shinte; she rings a bell as she passes along to give warning\nto all to keep out of her way; it would be a grave offense for any one\nto come near her, and exercise an evil influence by his presence on the\ndrink of the chief. I suspect that offenses of the slightest character\namong the poor are made the pretext for selling them or their children\nto the Mambari. A young man of Lobale had fled into the country of\nShinte, and located himself without showing himself to the chief. This\nwas considered an offense sufficient to warrant his being seized and\noffered for sale while we were there. He had not reported himself, so\nthey did not know the reason of his running away from his own chief, and\nthat chief might accuse them of receiving a criminal. It was curious\nto notice the effect of the slave-trade in blunting the moral\nsusceptibility: no chief in the south would treat a fugitive in this\nway. My men were horrified at the act, even though old Shinte and his\ncouncil had some show of reason on their side; and both the Barotse\nand the Makololo declared that, if the Balonda only knew of the policy\npursued by them to fugitives, but few of the discontented would remain\nlong with Shinte. My men excited the wonder of his people by stating\nthat every one of them had one cow at least in his possession.\n\nAnother incident, which occurred while we were here, may be mentioned,\nas of a character totally unknown in the south. Two children, of seven\nand eight years old, went out to collect firewood a short distance from\ntheir parents' home, which was a quarter of a mile from the village, and\nwere kidnapped; the distracted parents could not find a trace of them.\nThis happened so close to the town, where there are no beasts of prey,\nthat we suspect some of the high men of Shinte's court were the guilty\nparties: they can sell them by night. The Mambari erect large huts of a\nsquare shape to stow these stolen ones in; they are well fed, but aired\nby night only. The frequent kidnapping from outlying hamlets explains\nthe stockades we saw around them; the parents have no redress, for even\nShinte himself seems fond of working in the dark. One night he sent for\nme, though I always stated I liked all my dealings to be aboveboard.\nWhen I came he presented me with a slave girl about ten years old; he\nsaid he had always been in the habit of presenting his visitors with a\nchild. On my thanking him, and saying that I thought it wrong to take\naway children from their parents, that I wished him to give up this\nsystem altogether, and trade in cattle, ivory, and bees'-wax, he urged\nthat she was \"to be a child\" to bring me water, and that a great man\nought to have a child for the purpose, yet I had none. As I replied that\nI had four children, and should be very sorry if my chief were to take\nmy little girl and give her away, and that I would prefer this child to\nremain and carry water for her own mother, he thought I was dissatisfied\nwith her size, and sent for one a head taller; after many explanations\nof our abhorrence of slavery, and how displeasing it must be to God\nto see his children selling one another, and giving each other so much\ngrief as this child's mother must feel, I declined her also. If I could\nhave taken her into my family for the purpose of instruction, and then\nreturned her as a free woman, according to a promise I should have made\nto the parents, I might have done so; but to take her away, and probably\nnever be able to secure her return, would have produced no good effect\non the minds of the Balonda; they would not then have seen evidence of\nour hatred to slavery, and the kind attentions of my friends would, as\nit almost always does in similar cases, have turned the poor thing's\nhead. The difference in position between them and us is as great as\nbetween the lowest and highest in England, and we know the effects of\nsudden elevation on wiser heads than hers, whose owners had not been\nborn to it.\n\nShinte was most anxious to see the pictures of the magic lantern; but\nfever had so weakening an effect, and I had such violent action of the\nheart, with buzzing in the ears, that I could not go for several days;\nwhen I did go for the purpose, he had his principal men and the same\ncrowd of court beauties near him as at the reception. The first picture\nexhibited was Abraham about to slaughter his son Isaac; it was shown\nas large as life, and the uplifted knife was in the act of striking the\nlad; the Balonda men remarked that the picture was much more like a god\nthan the things of wood or clay they worshiped. I explained that this\nman was the first of a race to whom God had given the Bible we now held,\nand that among his children our Savior appeared. The ladies listened\nwith silent awe; but, when I moved the slide, the uplifted dagger moving\ntoward them, they thought it was to be sheathed in their bodies instead\nof Isaac's. \"Mother! mother!\" all shouted at once, and off they rushed\nhelter-skelter, tumbling pell-mell over each other, and over the little\nidol-huts and tobacco-bushes: we could not get one of them back again.\nShinte, however, sat bravely through the whole, and afterward examined\nthe instrument with interest. An explanation was always added after\neach time of showing its powers, so that no one should imagine there was\naught supernatural in it; and had Mr. Murray, who kindly brought it from\nEngland, seen its popularity among both Makololo and Balonda, he would\nhave been gratified with the direction his generosity then took. It was\nthe only mode of instruction I was ever pressed to repeat. The people\ncame long distances for the express purpose of seeing the objects and\nhearing the explanations.\n\nOne can not get away quickly from these chiefs; they like to have the\nhonor of strangers residing in their villages. Here we had an additional\ncause of delay in frequent rains; twenty-four hours never elapsed\nwithout heavy showers; every thing is affected by the dampness; surgical\ninstruments become all rusty, clothing mildewed, and shoes mouldy; my\nlittle tent was now so rotten and so full of small holes that every\nsmart shower caused a fine mist to descend on my blanket, and made me\nfain to cover the head with it. Heavy dews lay on every thing in the\nmorning, even inside the tent; there is only a short time of sunshine in\nthe afternoon, and even that is so interrupted by thunder-showers that\nwe can not dry our bedding.\n\nThe winds coming from the north always bring heavy clouds and rain; in\nthe south, the only heavy rains noticed are those which come from the\nnortheast or east. The thermometer falls as low as 72 Degrees when\nthere is no sunshine, though, when the weather is fair, the protected\nthermometer generally rises as high as 82 Degrees, even in the mornings\nand evenings.\n\n24TH. We expected to have started to-day, but Sambanza, who had been\nsent off early in the morning for guides, returned at midday without\nthem, and drunk. This was the first case of real babbling intoxication\nwe had seen in this region. The boyaloa, or beer of the country, has\nmore of a stupefying than exciting nature; hence the beer-bibbers are\ngreat sleepers; they may frequently be seen lying on their faces\nsound asleep. This peculiarity of posture was ascribed, by no less an\nauthority than Aristotle, to wine, while those who were sent asleep by\nbeer were believed \"to lie upon their backs.\"\n\nSambanza had got into a state of inebriation from indulging in mead,\nsimilar to that which Shinte presented to us, which is much more\npowerful than boyaloa. As far as we could collect from his incoherent\nsentences, Shinte had said the rain was too heavy for our departure, and\nthe guides still required time for preparation. Shinte himself was busy\ngetting some meal ready for my use in the journey. As it rained nearly\nall day, it was no sacrifice to submit to his advice and remain.\nSambanza staggered to Manenko's hut; she, however, who had never\npromised \"to love, honor, and obey him,\" had not been \"nursing her wrath\nto keep it warm,\" so she coolly bundled him into the hut, and put him to\nbed.\n\nAs the last proof of friendship, Shinte came into my tent, though\nit could scarcely contain more than one person, looked at all the\ncuriosities, the quicksilver, the looking-glass, books, hair-brushes,\ncomb, watch, etc., etc., with the greatest interest; then closing the\ntent, so that none of his own people might see the extravagance of which\nhe was about to be guilty, he drew out from his clothing a string of\nbeads, and the end of a conical shell, which is considered, in regions\nfar from the sea, of as great value as the Lord Mayor's badge is in\nLondon. He hung it round my neck, and said, \"There, now you HAVE a proof\nof my friendship.\"\n\nMy men informed me that these shells are so highly valued in this\nquarter, as evidences of distinction, that for two of them a slave\nmight be bought, and five would be considered a handsome price for\nan elephant's tusk worth ten pounds. At our last interview old Shinte\npointed out our principal guide, Intemese, a man about fifty, who was,\nhe said, ordered to remain by us till we should reach the sea; that I\nhad now left Sekeletu far behind, and must henceforth look to Shinte\nalone for aid, and that it would always be most cheerfully rendered.\nThis was only a polite way of expressing his wishes for my success. It\nwas the good words only of the guides which were to aid me from the next\nchief, Katema, on to the sea; they were to turn back on reaching him;\nbut he gave a good supply of food for the journey before us, and, after\nmentioning as a reason for letting us go even now that no one could say\nwe had been driven away from the town, since we had been several days\nwith him, he gave a most hearty salutation, and we parted with the wish\nthat God might bless him.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 17.\n\nLeave Shinte--Manioc Gardens--Mode of preparing the poisonous kind--Its\ngeneral Use--Presents of Food--Punctiliousness of the Balonda--\nTheir Idols and Superstition--Dress of the Balonda--Villages beyond\nLonaje--Cazembe--Our Guides and the Makololo--Night Rains--Inquiries\nfor English cotton Goods--Intemese's Fiction--Visit from an old\nMan--Theft--Industry of our Guide--Loss of Pontoon--Plains covered\nwith Water--Affection of the Balonda for their Mothers--A Night on an\nIsland--The Grass on the Plains--Source of the Rivers--Loan of the\nRoofs of Huts--A Halt--Fertility of the Country through which the\nLokalueje flows--Omnivorous Fish--Natives' Mode of catching them--\nThe Village of a Half-brother of Katema, his Speech and Present--Our\nGuide's Perversity--Mozenkwa's pleasant Home and Family--Clear Water of\nthe flooded Rivers--A Messenger from Katema--Quendende's Village: his\nKindness--Crop of Wool--Meet People from the Town of Matiamvo--Fireside\nTalk--Matiamvo's Character and Conduct--Presentation at Katema's Court:\nhis Present, good Sense, and Appearance--Interview on the following\nDay--Cattle--A Feast and a Makololo Dance--Arrest of a Fugitive--\nDignified old Courtier--Katema's lax Government--Cold Wind from the\nNorth--Canaries and other singing Birds--Spiders, their Nests and\nWebs--Lake Dilolo--Tradition--Sagacity of Ants.\n\n\n\n26TH. Leaving Shinte, with eight of his men to aid in carrying our\nluggage, we passed, in a northerly direction, down the lovely valley\non which the town stands, then went a little to the west through pretty\nopen forest, and slept at a village of Balonda. In the morning we had\na fine range of green hills, called Saloisho, on our right, and were\ninformed that they were rather thickly inhabited by the people of\nShinte, who worked in iron, the ore of which abounds in these hills.\n\nThe country through which we passed possessed the same general character\nof flatness and forest that we noticed before. The soil is dark, with a\ntinge of red--in some places it might be called red--and appeared very\nfertile. Every valley contained villages of twenty or thirty huts, with\ngardens of manioc, which here is looked upon as the staff of life. Very\nlittle labor is required for its cultivation. The earth is drawn up into\noblong beds, about three feet broad and one in height, and in these are\nplanted pieces of the manioc stalk, at four feet apart. A crop of beans\nor ground-nuts is sown between them, and when these are reaped the land\naround the manioc is cleared of weeds. In from ten to eighteen months\nafter planting, according to the quality of the soil, the roots are fit\nfor food. There is no necessity for reaping soon, as the roots do not\nbecome bitter and dry until after three years. When a woman takes up the\nroots, she thrusts a piece or two of the upper stalks into the hole\nshe has made, draws back the soil, and a new crop is thereby begun. The\nplant grows to a height of six feet, and every part of it is useful: the\nleaves may be cooked as a vegetable. The roots are from three to four\ninches in diameter, and from twelve to eighteen inches long.\n\nThere are two varieties of the manioc or cassava--one sweet and\nwholesome, the other bitter and containing poison, but much more\nspeedy in its growth than the former. This last property causes its\nperpetuation. When we reached the village of Kapende, on the banks of\nthe rivulet Lonaje, we were presented with so much of the poisonous kind\nthat we were obliged to leave it. To get rid of the poison, the people\nplace it four days in a pool of water. It then becomes partially\ndecomposed, and is taken out, stripped of its skin, and exposed to the\nsun. When dried, it is easily pounded into a fine white meal, closely\nresembling starch, which has either a little of the peculiar taste\narising from decomposition, or no more flavor than starch. When intended\nto be used as food, this meal is stirred into boiling water: they put\nin as much as can be moistened, one man holding the vessel and the other\nstirring the porridge with all his might. This is the common mess of the\ncountry. Though hungry, we could just manage to swallow it with the aid\nof a little honey, which I shared with my men as long as it lasted. It\nis very unsavory (Scottice: wersh); and no matter how much one may eat,\ntwo hours afterward he is as hungry as ever. When less meal is employed,\nthe mess is exactly like a basin of starch in the hands of a laundress;\nand if the starch were made from diseased potatoes, some idea might be\nformed of the Balonda porridge, which hunger alone forced us to\neat. Santuru forbade his nobles to eat it, as it caused coughing and\nexpectoration.\n\nOur chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages around our\nroute that Shinte's friends must have abundance of provisions. Our\nprogress was impeded by the time requisite for communicating the chief's\ndesire and consequent preparation of meal. We received far more food\nfrom Shinte's people than from himself. Kapende, for instance, presented\ntwo large baskets of meal, three of manioc roots steeped and dried in\nthe sun and ready to be converted into flour, three fowls, and seven\neggs, with three smoke-dried fishes; and others gave with similar\nliberality. I gave to the head men small bunches of my stock of beads,\nwith an apology that we were now on our way to the market for these\ngoods. The present was always politely received.\n\nWe had an opportunity of observing that our guides had much more\netiquette than any of the tribes farther south. They gave us food, but\nwould not partake of it when we had cooked it, nor would they eat their\nown food in our presence. When it was cooked they retired into a thicket\nand ate their porridge; then all stood up, and clapped their hands, and\npraised Intemese for it. The Makololo, who are accustomed to the most\nfree and easy manners, held out handfuls of what they had cooked to\nany of the Balonda near, but they refused to taste. They are very\npunctilious in their manners to each other. Each hut has its own fire,\nand when it goes out they make it afresh for themselves rather than take\nit from a neighbor. I believe much of this arises from superstitious\nfears. In the deep, dark forests near each village, as already\nmentioned, you see idols intended to represent the human head or a\nlion, or a crooked stick smeared with medicine, or simply a small pot of\nmedicine in a little shed, or miniature huts with little mounds of earth\nin them. But in the darker recesses we meet with human faces cut in the\nbark of trees, the outlines of which, with the beards, closely resemble\nthose seen on Egyptian monuments. Frequent cuts are made on the trees\nalong all the paths, and offerings of small pieces of manioc roots or\nears of maize are placed on branches. There are also to be seen every\nfew miles heaps of sticks, which are treated in cairn fashion, by every\none throwing a small branch to the heap in passing; or a few sticks are\nplaced on the path, and each passer-by turns from his course, and forms\na sudden bend in the road to one side. It seems as if their minds were\never in doubt and dread in these gloomy recesses of the forest, and\nthat they were striving to propitiate, by their offerings, some superior\nbeings residing there.\n\nThe dress of the Balonda men consists of the softened skins of small\nanimals, as the jackal or wild cat, hung before and behind from a girdle\nround the loins. The dress of the women is of a nondescript character;\nbut they were not immodest. They stood before us as perfectly\nunconscious of any indecorum as we could be with our clothes on. But,\nwhile ignorant of their own deficiency, they could not maintain their\ngravity at the sight of the nudity of my men behind. Much to the\nannoyance of my companions, the young girls laughed outright whenever\ntheir backs were turned to them.\n\nAfter crossing the Lonaje, we came to some pretty villages, embowered,\nas the negro villages usually are, in bananas, shrubs, and manioc,\nand near the banks of the Leeba we formed our encampment in a nest of\nserpents, one of which bit one of our men, but the wound was harmless.\nThe people of the surrounding villages presented us with large\nquantities of food, in obedience to the mandate of Shinte, without\nexpecting any equivalent. One village had lately been transferred hither\nfrom the country of Matiamvo. They, of course, continue to acknowledge\nhim as paramount chief; but the frequent instances which occur of people\nchanging from one part of the country to another, show that the great\nchiefs possess only a limited power. The only peculiarity we observed in\nthese people is the habit of plaiting the beard into a three-fold cord.\n\nThe town of the Balonda chief Cazembe was pointed out to us as lying to\nthe N.E. and by E. from the town of Shinte, and great numbers of people\nin this quarter have gone thither for the purpose of purchasing copper\nanklets, made at Cazembe's, and report the distance to be about five\ndays' journey. I made inquiries of some of the oldest inhabitants of the\nvillages at which we were staying respecting the visit of Pereira and\nLacerda to that town. An old gray-headed man replied that they had often\nheard of white men before, but never had seen one, and added that one\nhad come to Cazembe when our informant was young, and returned again\nwithout entering this part of the country. The people of Cazembe are\nBalonda or Baloi, and his country has been termed Londa, Lunda, or Lui,\nby the Portuguese.\n\nIt was always difficult to get our guides to move away from a place.\nWith the authority of the chief, they felt as comfortable as king's\nmessengers could, and were not disposed to forego the pleasure of living\nat free quarters. My Makololo friends were but ill drilled as yet; and\nsince they had never left their own country before, except for purposes\nof plunder, they did not take readily to the peaceful system we now\nmeant to follow. They either spoke too imperiously to strangers, or,\nwhen reproved for that, were disposed to follow the dictation of every\none we met. When Intemese, our guide, refused to stir toward the Leeba\non the 31st of January, they would make no effort to induce him to go;\nbut, having ordered them to get ready, Intemese saw the preparations,\nand soon followed the example. It took us about four hours to cross the\nLeeba, which is considerably smaller here than where we left it--indeed,\nonly about a hundred yards wide. It has the same dark mossy hue. The\nvillagers lent us canoes to effect our passage; and, having gone to\na village about two miles beyond the river, I had the satisfaction of\ngetting observations for both longitude and latitude--for the former,\nthe distance between Saturn and the Moon, and for the latter a meridian\naltitude of Canopus. Long. 22d 57' E., lat. 12d 6' 6\" S.\n\nThese were the only opportunities I had of ascertaining my whereabouts\nin this part of Londa. Again and again did I take out the instruments,\nand, just as all was right, the stars would be suddenly obscured by\nclouds. I had never observed so great an amount of cloudiness in any\npart of the south country; and as for the rains, I believe that years\nat Kolobeng would not have made my little tent so rotten and thin as one\nmonth had done in Londa. I never observed in the south the heavy night\nand early morning rains we had in this country. They often continued all\nnight, then became heavier about an hour before dawn. Or if fair during\nthe night, as day drew nigh, an extremely heavy, still, pouring rain set\nin without warning. Five out of every six days we had this pouring rain,\nat or near break of day, for months together; and it soon beat my tent\nso thin, that a mist fell through on my face and made every thing damp.\nThe rains were occasionally, but not always, accompanied with very loud\nthunder.\n\nFEBRUARY 1ST. This day we had a fine view of two hills called Piri\n(Peeri), meaning \"two\", on the side of the river we had left. The\ncountry there is named Mokwankwa. And there Intemese informed us one of\nShinte's children was born, when he was in his progress southward from\nthe country of Matiamvo. This part of the country would thus seem not to\nhave been inhabited by the people of Shinte at any very remote period.\nHe told me himself that he had come into his present country by command\nof Matiamvo.\n\nHere we were surprised to hear English cotton cloth much more eagerly\ninquired after than beads and ornaments. They are more in need of\nclothing than the Bechuana tribes living adjacent to the Kalahari\nDesert, who have plenty of skins for the purpose. Animals of all kinds\nare rare here, and a very small piece of calico is of great value.\n\nIn the midst of the heavy rain, which continued all the morning,\nIntemese sent to say he was laid up with pains in the stomach, and must\nnot be disturbed; but when it cleared up, about eleven, I saw our friend\nwalking off to the village, and talking with a very loud voice. On\nreproaching him for telling an untruth, he turned it off with a laugh by\nsaying he really had a complaint in his stomach, which I might cure\nby slaughtering one of the oxen and allowing him to eat beef. He was\nevidently reveling in the abundance of good food the chief's orders\nbrought us; and he did not feel the shame I did when I gave a few beads\nonly in return for large baskets of meal.\n\nA very old man visited us here with a present of maize: like the others,\nhe had never before seen a white man, and, when conversing with him,\nsome of the young men remarked that they were the true ancients, for\nthey had now seen more wonderful things than their forefathers.\n\nOne of Intemese's men stole a fowl given me by a lady of the village.\nWhen charged with the theft, every one of Intemese's party vociferated\nhis innocence and indignation at being suspected, continuing their\nloud asseverations and gesticulations for some minutes. One of my men,\nLoyanke, went off to the village, brought the lady who had presented the\nfowl to identify it, and then pointed to the hut in which it was hidden.\nThe Balonda collected round him, evincing great wrath; but Loyanke\nseized his battle-axe in the proper manner for striking, and, placing\nhimself on a little hillock, soon made them moderate their tones.\nIntemese then called on me to send one of my people to search the huts\nif I suspected his people. The man sent soon found it, and brought it\nout, to the confusion of Intemese and the laughter of our party. This\nincident is mentioned to show that the greater superstition which exists\nhere does not lead to the practice of the virtues. We never met an\ninstance like this of theft from a white man among the Makololo, though\nthey complain of the Makalaka as addicted to pilfering. The honesty of\nthe Bakwains has been already noticed. Probably the estimation in which\nI was held as a public benefactor, in which character I was not yet\nknown to the Balonda, may account for the sacredness with which my\nproperty was always treated before. But other incidents which happened\nsubsequently showed, as well as this, that idolaters are not so virtuous\nas those who have no idols.\n\nAs the people on the banks of the Leeba were the last of Shinte's tribe\nover which Intemese had power, he was naturally anxious to remain as\nlong as possible. He was not idle, but made a large wooden mortar and\npestle for his wife during our journey. He also carved many wooden\nspoons and a bowl; then commenced a basket; but as what he considered\ngood living was any thing but agreeable to us, who had been accustomed\nto milk and maize, we went forward on the 2d without him. He soon\nfollowed, but left our pontoon, saying it would be brought by the head\nman of the village. This was a great loss, as we afterward found; it\nremained at this village more than a year, and when we returned a mouse\nhad eaten a hole in it.\n\nWe entered on an extensive plain beyond the Leeba, at least twenty miles\nbroad, and covered with water, ankle deep in the shallowest parts. We\ndeviated somewhat from our N.W. course by the direction of Intemese, and\nkept the hills Piri nearly on our right during a great part of the first\nday, in order to avoid the still more deeply flooded plains of Lobale\n(Luval?) on the west. These, according to Intemese, are at present\nimpassable on account of being thigh deep. The plains are so perfectly\nlevel that rain-water, which this was, stands upon them for months\ntogether. They were not flooded by the Leeba, for that was still far\nwithin its banks. Here and there, dotted over the surface, are little\nislands, on which grow stunted date-bushes and scraggy trees. The plains\nthemselves are covered with a thick sward of grass, which conceals\nthe water, and makes the flats appear like great pale yellow-colored\nprairie-lands, with a clear horizon, except where interrupted here and\nthere by trees. The clear rain-water must have stood some time among the\ngrass, for great numbers of lotus-flowers were seen in full blow; and\nthe runs of water tortoises and crabs were observed; other animals also,\nwhich prey on the fish that find their way to the plains.\n\nThe continual splashing of the oxen keeps the feet of the rider\nconstantly wet, and my men complain of the perpetual moisture of the\npaths by which we have traveled in Londa as softening their horny soles.\nThe only information we can glean is from Intemese, who points out the\ndifferent localities as we pass along, and among the rest \"Mokala\na Mama\", his \"mamma's home\". It was interesting to hear this tall\ngray-headed man recall the memories of boyhood. All the Makalaka\nchildren cleave to the mother in cases of separation, or removal from\none part of the country to another. This love for mothers does not argue\nsuperior morality in other respects, or else Intemese has forgotten any\ninjunctions his mamma may have given him not to tell lies. The respect,\nhowever, with which he spoke of her was quite characteristic of his\nrace. The Bechuanas, on the contrary, care nothing for their mothers,\nbut cling to their fathers, especially if they have any expectation of\nbecoming heirs to their cattle. Our Bakwain guide to the lake, Rachosi,\ntold me that his mother lived in the country of Sebituane, but, though\na good specimen of the Bechuanas, he laughed at the idea of going so\nfar as from the Lake Ngami to the Chobe merely for the purpose of seeing\nher. Had he been one of the Makalaka, he never would have parted from\nher.\n\nWe made our beds on one of the islands, and were wretchedly supplied\nwith firewood. The booths constructed by the men were but sorry shelter,\nfor the rain poured down without intermission till midday. There is no\ndrainage for the prodigious masses of water on these plains, except slow\npercolation into the different feeders of the Leeba, and into that\nriver itself. The quantity of vegetation has prevented the country\nfrom becoming furrowed by many rivulets or \"nullahs\". Were it not so\nremarkably flat, the drainage must have been effected by torrents, even\nin spite of the matted vegetation.\n\nThat these extensive plains are covered with grasses only, and the\nlittle islands with but scraggy trees, may be accounted for by the fact,\nobservable every where in this country, that, where water stands for any\nlength of time, trees can not live. The want of speedy drainage destroys\nthem, and injures the growth of those that are planted on the islands,\nfor they have no depth of earth not subjected to the souring influence\nof the stagnant water. The plains of Lobale, to the west of these, are\nsaid to be much more extensive than any we saw, and their vegetation\npossesses similar peculiarities. When the stagnant rain-water has all\nsoaked in, as must happen during the months in which there is no rain,\ntravelers are even put to straits for want of water. This is stated\non native testimony; but I can very well believe that level plains, in\nwhich neither wells nor gullies are met with, may, after the dry season,\npresent the opposite extreme to what we witnessed. Water, however, could\nalways be got by digging, a proof of which we had on our return when\nbrought to a stand on this very plain by severe fever: about twelve\nmiles from the Kasai my men dug down a few feet, and found an abundant\nsupply; and we saw on one of the islands the garden of a man who, in\nthe dry season, had drunk water from a well in like manner. Plains\nlike these can not be inhabited while the present system of cultivation\nlasts. The population is not yet so very large as to need them. They\nfind garden-ground enough on the gentle slopes at the sides of the\nrivulets, and possess no cattle to eat off the millions of acres of fine\nhay we were now wading through. Any one who has visited the Cape Colony\nwill understand me when I say that these immense crops resemble sown\ngrasses more than the tufty vegetation of the south.\n\nI would here request the particular attention of the reader to the\nphenomena these periodically deluged plains present, because they have a\nmost important bearing on the physical geography of a very large portion\nof this country. The plains of Lobale, to the west of this, give rise\nto a great many streams, which unite, and form the deep, never-failing\nChobe. Similar extensive flats give birth to the Loeti and Kasai, and,\nas we shall see further on, all the rivers of an extensive region owe\ntheir origin to oozing bogs, and not to fountains.\n\nWhen released from our island by the rain ceasing, we marched on till\nwe came to a ridge of dry inhabited land in the N.W. The inhabitants,\naccording to custom, lent us the roofs of some huts to save the men the\ntrouble of booth-making. I suspect that the story in Park's \"Travels\",\nof the men lifting up the hut to place it on the lion, referred to the\nroof only. We leave them for the villagers to replace at their leisure.\nNo payment is expected for the use of them. By night it rained so\ncopiously that all our beds were flooded from below; and from this time\nforth we always made a furrow round each booth, and used the earth to\nraise our sleeping-places. My men turned out to work in the wet most\nwillingly; indeed, they always did. I could not but contrast their\nconduct with that of Intemese. He was thoroughly imbued with the slave\nspirit, and lied on all occasions without compunction. Untruthfulness is\na sort of refuge for the weak and oppressed. We expected to move on the\n4th, but he declared that we were so near Katema's, if we did not send\nforward to apprise that chief of our approach, he would certainly impose\na fine. It rained the whole day, so we were reconciled to the delay; but\non Sunday, the 5th, he let us know that we were still two days distant\nfrom Katema. We unfortunately could not manage without him, for the\ncountry was so deluged, we should have been brought to a halt before\nwe went many miles by some deep valley, every one of which was full of\nwater. Intemese continued to plait his basket with all his might, and\nwould not come to our religious service. He seemed to be afraid of our\nincantations, but was always merry and jocular.\n\n6TH. Soon after starting we crossed a branch of the Lokalueje by means\nof a canoe, and in the afternoon passed over the main stream by a like\nconveyance. The former, as is the case with all branches of rivers\nin this country, is called nyuana Kalueje (child of the Kalueje).\nHippopotami exist in the Lokalueje, so it may be inferred to be\nperennial, as the inhabitants asserted. We can not judge of the size\nof the stream from what we now saw. It had about forty yards of deep,\nfast-flowing water, but probably not more than half that amount in the\ndry season. Besides these, we crossed numerous feeders in our N.N.W.\ncourse, and, there being no canoes, got frequently wet in the course of\nthe day. The oxen in some places had their heads only above water, and\nthe stream, flowing over their backs, wetted our blankets, which we used\nas saddles. The arm-pit was the only safe spot for carrying the watch,\nfor there it was preserved from rains above and waters below. The men on\nfoot crossed these gullies holding up their burdens at arms' length.\n\nThe Lokalueje winds from northeast to southwest into the Leeba. The\ncountry adjacent to its banks is extremely fine and fertile, with\nhere and there patches of forest or clumps of magnificent trees. The\nvillagers through whose gardens we passed continue to sow and reap all\nthe year round. The grains, as maize, lotsa ('Pennisetum typhoideum'),\nlokesh or millet, are to be seen at all stages of their growth--some\njust ripe, while at this time the Makololo crops are not half grown. My\ncompanions, who have a good idea of the different qualities of soils,\nexpressed the greatest admiration of the agricultural capabilities of\nthe whole of Londa, and here they were loud in their praises of the\npasturage. They have an accurate idea of the varieties of grasses best\nadapted for different kinds of stock, and lament because here there\nare no cows to feed off the rich green crop, which at this time imparts\nspecial beauty to the landscape.\n\nGreat numbers of the omnivorous feeding fish, 'Glanis siluris', or\nmosala, spread themselves over the flooded plains, and, as the waters\nretire, try to find their way back again to the rivers. The Balonda make\nearthen dikes and hedges across the outlets of the retreating waters,\nleaving only small spaces through which the chief part of the water\nflows. In these open spaces they plant creels, similar in shape to our\nown, into which the fish can enter, but can not return. They secure\nlarge quantities of fish in this way, which, when smoke-dried, make a\ngood relish for their otherwise insipid food. They use also a weir of\nmats made of reeds sewed together, with but half an inch between each.\nOpen spaces are left for the insertion of the creels as before.\n\nIn still water, a fish-trap is employed of the same shape and plan as\nthe common round wire mouse-trap, which has an opening surrounded with\nwires pointing inward. This is made of reeds and supple wands, and food\nis placed inside to attract the fish.\n\nBesides these means of catching fish, they use a hook of iron without a\nbarb; the point is bent inward instead, so as not to allow the fish to\nescape. Nets are not so common as in the Zouga and Leeambye, but they\nkill large quantities of fishes by means of the bruised leaves of a\nshrub, which may be seen planted beside every village in the country.\n\nOn the 7th we came to the village of Soana Molopo, a half-brother of\nKatema, a few miles beyond the Lokalueje. When we went to visit him, we\nfound him sitting with about one hundred men. He called on Intemese to\ngive some account of us, though no doubt it had been done in private\nbefore. He then pronounced the following sentences: \"The journey of the\nwhite man is very proper, but Shinte has disturbed us by showing the\npath to the Makololo who accompany him. He ought to have taken them\nthrough the country without showing them the towns. We are afraid of\nthe Makololo.\" He then gave us a handsome present of food, and seemed\nperplexed by my sitting down familiarly, and giving him a few of our\nideas. When we left, Intemese continued busily imparting an account\nof all we had given to Shinte and Masiko, and instilling the hope that\nSoana Molopo might obtain as much as they had received. Accordingly,\nwhen we expected to move on the morning of the 8th, we got some hints\nabout the ox which Soana Molopo expected to eat, but we recommended him\nto get the breed of cattle for himself, seeing his country was so well\nadapted for rearing stock. Intemese also refused to move; he, moreover,\ntried to frighten us into parting with an ox by saying that Soana Molopo\nwould send forward a message that we were a marauding party; but we\npacked up and went on without him. We did not absolutely need him, but\nhe was useful in preventing the inhabitants of secluded villages from\nbetaking themselves to flight. We wished to be on good terms with\nall, and therefore put up with our guide's peccadilloes. His good word\nrespecting us had considerable influence, and he was always asked if we\nhad behaved ourselves like men on the way. The Makololo are viewed as\ngreat savages, but Intemese could not justly look with scorn on them,\nfor he has the mark of a large gash on his arm, got in fighting; and he\nwould never tell the cause of battle, but boasted of his powers as the\nMakololo do, till asked about a scar on his back, betokening any thing\nbut bravery.\n\nIntemese was useful in cases like that of Monday, when we came upon\na whole village in a forest enjoying their noonday nap. Our sudden\nappearance in their midst so terrified them that one woman nearly went\ninto convulsions from fear. When they saw and heard Intemese, their\nterror subsided.\n\nAs usual, we were caught by rains after leaving Soana Molopo's, and made\nour booths at the house of Mozinkwa, a most intelligent and friendly man\nbelonging to Katema. He had a fine large garden in cultivation, and well\nhedged round. He had made the walls of his compound, or court-yard, of\nbranches of the banian, which, taking root, had grown to be a live hedge\nof that tree. Mozinkwa's wife had cotton growing all round her premises,\nand several plants used as relishes to the insipid porridge of the\ncountry. She cultivated also the common castor-oil plant, and a larger\nshrub ('Jatropha curcas'), which also yields a purgative oil. Here,\nhowever, the oil is used for anointing the heads and bodies alone.\nWe saw in her garden likewise the Indian bringalls, yams, and sweet\npotatoes. Several trees were planted in the middle of the yard, and\nin the deep shade they gave stood the huts of his fine family. His\nchildren, all by one mother, very black, but comely to view, were the\nfinest negro family I ever saw. We were much pleased with the frank\nfriendship and liberality of this man and his wife. She asked me to\nbring her a cloth from the white man's country; but, when we returned,\npoor Mozinkwa's wife was in her grave, and he, as is the custom, had\nabandoned trees, garden, and huts to ruin. They can not live on a spot\nwhere a favorite wife has died, probably because unable to bear the\nremembrance of the happy times they have spent there, or afraid to\nremain in a spot where death has once visited the establishment. If ever\nthe place is revisited, it is to pray to her, or make some offering.\nThis feeling renders any permanent village in the country impossible.\n\nWe learned from Mozinkwa that Soana Molopo was the elder brother of\nKatema, but that he was wanting in wisdom; and Katema, by purchasing\ncattle and receiving in a kind manner all the fugitives who came to\nhim, had secured the birthright to himself, so far as influence in the\ncountry is concerned. Soana's first address to us did not savor much of\nAfrican wisdom.\n\nFRIDAY, 10TH. On leaving Mozinkwa's hospitable mansion we crossed\nanother stream, about forty yards wide, in canoes. While this tedious\nprocess was going on, I was informed that it is called the Mona-Kalueje,\nor brother of Kalueje, as it flows into that river; that both the\nKalueje and Livoa flow into the Leeba; and that the Chifumadze, swollen\nby the Lotembwa, is a feeder of that river also, below the point where\nwe lately crossed it. It may be remarked here that these rivers were now\nin flood, and that the water was all perfectly clear. The vegetation\non the banks is so thickly planted that the surface of the earth is not\nabraded by the torrents. The grass is laid flat, and forms a protection\nto the banks, which are generally a stiff black loam. The fact of canoes\nbeing upon them shows that, though not large, they are not like the\nsouthern rivulets, which dry up during most of the year, and render\ncanoes unnecessary.\n\nAs we were crossing the river we were joined by a messenger from Katema,\ncalled Shakatwala. This person was a sort of steward or factotum to his\nchief. Every chief has one attached to his person, and, though generally\npoor, they are invariably men of great shrewdness and ability. They\nact the part of messengers on all important occasions, and possess\nconsiderable authority in the chief's household. Shakatwala informed\nus that Katema had not received precise information about us, but if we\nwere peaceably disposed, as he loved strangers, we were to come to his\ntown. We proceeded forthwith, but were turned aside, by the strategy of\nour friend Intemese, to the village of Quendende, the father-in-law\nof Katema. This fine old man was so very polite that we did not regret\nbeing obliged to spend Sunday at his village. He expressed his pleasure\nat having a share in the honor of a visit as well as Katema, though it\nseemed to me that the conferring that pleasure required something like a\npretty good stock of impudence, in leading twenty-seven men through\nthe country without the means of purchasing food. My men did a little\nbusiness for themselves in the begging line; they generally commenced\nevery interview with new villagers by saying \"I have come from afar;\ngive me something to eat.\" I forbade this at first, believing that, as\nthe Makololo had a bad name, the villagers gave food from fear. But,\nafter some time, it was evident that in many cases maize and manioc were\ngiven from pure generosity. The first time I came to this conclusion was\nat the house of Mozinkwa; scarcely any one of my men returned from\nit without something in his hand; and as they protested they had not\nbegged, I asked himself, and found that it was the case, and that he had\ngiven spontaneously. In other parts the chiefs attended to my wants,\nand the common people gave liberally to my men. I presented some of my\nrazors and iron spoons to different head men, but my men had nothing to\ngive; yet every one tried to appropriate an individual in each village\nas \"Molekane\", or comrade, and the villagers often assented; so, if the\nreader remembers the molekane system of the Mopato, he may perceive that\nthose who presented food freely would expect the Makololo to treat them\nin like manner, should they ever be placed in similar circumstances.\nTheir country is so fertile that they are in no want of food themselves;\nhowever, their generosity was remarkable; only one woman refused to\ngive some of my men food, but her husband calling out to her to be more\nliberal, she obeyed, scolding all the while.\n\nIn this part of the country, buffaloes, elands, koodoos, and various\nantelopes are to be found, but we did not get any, as they are\nexceedingly wary from being much hunted. We had the same woodland and\nmeadow as before, with here and there pleasant negro villages; and being\nall in good health, could enjoy the fine green scenery.\n\nQuendende's head was a good specimen of the greater crop of wool with\nwhich the negroes of Londa are furnished. The front was parted in the\nmiddle, and plaited into two thick rolls, which, falling down behind the\nears, reached the shoulders; the rest was collected into a large knot,\nwhich lay on the nape of the neck. As he was an intelligent man, we had\nmuch conversation together: he had just come from attending the funeral\nof one of his people, and I found that the great amount of drum-beating\nwhich takes place on these occasions was with the idea that the Barimo,\nor spirits, could be drummed to sleep. There is a drum in every village,\nand we often hear it going from sunset to sunrise. They seem to look\nupon the departed as vindictive beings, and, I suspect, are more\ninfluenced by fear than by love. In beginning to speak on religious\nsubjects with those who have never heard of Christianity, the great\nfact of the Son of God having come down from heaven to die for us is the\nprominent theme. No fact more striking can be mentioned. \"He actually\ncame to men. He himself told us about his Father, and the dwelling-place\nwhither he has gone. We have his words in this book, and he really\nendured punishment in our stead from pure love,\" etc. If this fails to\ninterest them, nothing else will succeed.\n\nWe here met with some people just arrived from the town of Matiamvo\n(Muata yanvo), who had been sent to announce the death of the late\nchieftain of that name. Matiamvo is the hereditary title, muata meaning\nlord or chief. The late Matiamvo seems, from the report of these men, to\nhave become insane, for he is said to have sometimes indulged the whim\nof running a muck in the town and beheading whomsoever he met, until\nhe had quite a heap of human heads. Matiamvo explained this conduct by\nsaying that his people were too many, and he wanted to diminish them.\nHe had absolute power of life and death. On inquiring whether human\nsacrifices were still made, as in the time of Pereira, at Cazembe's, we\nwere informed that these had never been so common as was represented\nto Pereira, but that it occasionally happened, when certain charms were\nneeded by the chief, that a man was slaughtered for the sake of some\npart of his body. He added that he hoped the present chief would not\nact like his (mad) predecessor, but kill only those who were guilty of\nwitchcraft or theft. These men were very much astonished at the liberty\nenjoyed by the Makololo; and when they found that all my people\nheld cattle, we were told that Matiamvo alone had a herd. One very\nintelligent man among them asked, \"If he should make a canoe, and take\nit down the river to the Makololo, would he get a cow for it?\" This\nquestion, which my men answered in the affirmative, was important,\nas showing the knowledge of a water communication from the country of\nMatiamvo to the Makololo; and the river runs through a fertile country\nabounding in large timber. If the tribes have intercourse with each\nother, it exerts a good influence on their chiefs to hear what other\ntribes think of their deeds. The Makololo have such a bad name, on\naccount of their perpetual forays, that they have not been known in\nLonda except as ruthless destroyers. The people in Matiamvo's country\nsubmit to much wrong from their chiefs, and no voice can be raised\nagainst cruelty, because they are afraid to flee elsewhere.\n\nWe left Quendende's village in company with Quendende himself, and the\nprincipal man of the embassadors of Matiamvo, and after two or three\nmiles' march to the N.W., came to the ford of the Lotembwa, which flows\nsouthward. A canoe was waiting to ferry us over, but it was very tedious\nwork; for, though the river itself was only eighty yards wide, the whole\nvalley was flooded, and we were obliged to paddle more than half a mile\nto get free of the water. A fire was lit to warm old Quendende, and\nenable him to dry his tobacco-leaves. The leaves are taken from the\nplant, and spread close to the fire until they are quite dry and crisp;\nthey are then put into a snuff-box, which, with a little pestle, serves\nthe purpose of a mill to grind them into powder; it is then used\nas snuff. As we sat by the fire, the embassadors communicated their\nthoughts freely respecting the customs of their race. When a chief dies,\na number of servants are slaughtered with him to form his company in the\nother world. The Barotse followed the same custom, and this and other\nusages show them to be genuine negroes, though neither they nor the\nBalonda resemble closely the typical form of that people. Quendende said\nif he were present on these occasions he would hide his people, so that\nthey might not be slaughtered. As we go north, the people become more\nbloodily superstitious.\n\nWe were assured that if the late Matiamvo took a fancy to any thing,\nsuch, for instance, as my watch-chain, which was of silver wire, and was\na great curiosity, as they had never seen metal plaited before, he would\norder a whole village to be brought up to buy it from a stranger. When\na slave-trader visited him, he took possession of all his goods; then,\nafter ten days or a fortnight, he would send out a party of men to\npounce upon some considerable village, and, having killed the head\nman, would pay for all the goods by selling the inhabitants. This has\nfrequently been the case, and nearly all the visitants he ever had were\nmen of color. On asking if Matiamvo did not know he was a man, and\nwould be judged, in company with those he destroyed, by a Lord who is no\nrespector of persons? the embassador replied, \"We do not go up to God,\nas you do; we are put into the ground.\" I could not ascertain that even\nthose who have such a distinct perception of the continued existence of\ndeparted spirits had any notion of heaven; they appear to imagine the\nsouls to be always near the place of sepulture.\n\nAfter crossing the River Lotembwa we traveled about eight miles, and\ncame to Katema's straggling town (lat. 11d 35' 49\" S., long. 22d 27'\nE.). It is more a collection of villages than a town. We were led out\nabout half a mile from the houses, that we might make for ourselves the\nbest lodging we could of the trees and grass, while Intemese was taken\nto Katema to undergo the usual process of pumping as to our past conduct\nand professions. Katema soon afterward sent a handsome present of food.\n\nNext morning we had a formal presentation, and found Katema seated on a\nsort of throne, with about three hundred men on the ground around, and\nthirty women, who were said to be his wives, close behind him. The main\nbody of the people were seated in a semicircle, at a distance of fifty\nyards. Each party had its own head man stationed at a little distance\nin front, and, when beckoned by the chief, came near him as councilors.\nIntemese gave our history, and Katema placed sixteen large baskets of\nmeal before us, half a dozen fowls, and a dozen eggs, and expressed\nregret that we had slept hungry: he did not like any stranger to suffer\nwant in his town; and added, \"Go home, and cook and eat, and you will\nthen be in a fit state to speak to me at an audience I will give you\nto-morrow.\" He was busily engaged in hearing the statements of a large\nbody of fine young men who had fled from Kangenke, chief of Lobale,\non account of his selling their relatives to the native Portuguese who\nfrequent his country. Katema is a tall man, about forty years of age,\nand his head was ornamented with a helmet of beads and feathers. He had\non a snuff-brown coat, with a broad band of tinsel down the arms, and\ncarried in his hand a large tail made of the caudal extremities of a\nnumber of gnus. This has charms attached to it, and he continued waving\nit in front of himself all the time we were there. He seemed in good\nspirits, laughing heartily several times. This is a good sign, for a man\nwho shakes his sides with mirth is seldom difficult to deal with. When\nwe rose to take leave, all rose with us, as at Shinte's.\n\nReturning next morning, Katema addressed me thus: \"I am the great Moene\n(lord) Katema, the fellow of Matiamvo. There is no one in the country\nequal to Matiamvo and me. I have always lived here, and my forefathers\ntoo. There is the house in which my father lived. You found no human\nskulls near the place where you are encamped. I never killed any of the\ntraders; they all come to me. I am the great Moene Katema, of whom you\nhave heard.\" He looked as if he had fallen asleep tipsy, and dreamed of\nhis greatness. On explaining my objects to him, he promptly pointed out\nthree men who would be our guides, and explained that the northwest path\nwas the most direct, and that by which all traders came, but that the\nwater at present standing on the plains would reach up to the loins; he\nwould therefore send us by a more northerly route, which no trader had\nyet traversed. This was more suited to our wishes, for we never found a\npath safe that had been trodden by slave-traders.\n\nWe presented a few articles, which pleased him highly: a small shawl,\na razor, three bunches of beads, some buttons, and a powder-horn.\nApologizing for the insignificance of the gift, I wished to know what\nI could bring him from Loanda, saying, not a large thing, but something\nsmall. He laughed heartily at the limitation, and replied, \"Every thing\nof the white people would be acceptable, and he would receive any thing\nthankfully; but the coat he then had on was old, and he would like\nanother.\" I introduced the subject of the Bible, but one of the old\ncouncilors broke in, told all he had picked up from the Mambari, and\nglided off into several other subjects. It is a misery to speak through\nan interpreter, as I was now forced to do. With a body of men like mine,\ncomposed as they were of six different tribes, and all speaking the\nlanguage of the Bechuanas, there was no difficulty in communicating on\ncommon subjects with any tribe we came to; but doling out a story in\nwhich they felt no interest, and which I understood only sufficiently\nwell to perceive that a mere abridgment was given, was uncommonly\nslow work. Neither could Katema's attention be arrested, except by\ncompliments, of which they have always plenty to bestow as well as\nreceive. We were strangers, and knew that, as Makololo, we had not the\nbest of characters, yet his treatment of us was wonderfully good and\nliberal.\n\nI complimented him on the possession of cattle, and pleased him by\ntelling him how he might milk the cows. He has a herd of about thirty,\nreally splendid animals, all reared from two which he bought from the\nBalobale when he was young. They are generally of a white color, and are\nquite wild, running off with graceful ease like a herd of elands on the\napproach of a stranger. They excited the unbounded admiration of the\nMakololo, and clearly proved that the country was well adapted for them.\nWhen Katema wishes to slaughter one, he is obliged to shoot it as if\nit were a buffalo. Matiamvo is said to possess a herd of cattle in a\nsimilar state. I never could feel certain as to the reason why they do\nnot all possess cattle in a country containing such splendid pasturage.\n\nAs Katema did not offer an ox, as would have been done by a Makololo\nor Caffre chief, we slaughtered one of our own, and all of us were\ndelighted to get a meal of meat, after subsisting so long on the light\nporridge and green maize of Londa. On occasions of slaughtering an\nanimal, some pieces of it are in the fire before the skin is all removed\nfrom the body. A frying-pan full of these pieces having been got quickly\nready, my men crowded about their father, and I handed some all round.\nIt was a strange sight to the Balonda, who were looking on, wondering.\nI offered portions to them too, but these were declined, though they\nare excessively fond of a little animal food to eat with their vegetable\ndiet. They would not eat with us, but they would take the meat and cook\nit in their own way, and then use it. I thought at one time that they\nhad imported something from the Mohammedans, and the more especially as\nan exclamation of surprise, \"Allah\", sounds like the Illah of the\nArabs; but we found, a little farther on, another form of salutation,\nof Christian (?) origin, \"Ave-rie\" (Ave Marie). The salutations probably\ntravel farther than the faith. My people, when satisfied with a meal\nlike that which they enjoy so often at home, amused themselves by an\nuproarious dance. Katema sent to ask what I had given them to produce so\nmuch excitement. Intemese replied it was their custom, and they meant no\nharm. The companion of the ox we slaughtered refused food for two days,\nand went lowing about for him continually. He seemed inconsolable for\nhis loss, and tried again and again to escape back to the Makololo\ncountry. My men remarked, \"He thinks they will kill me as well as my\nfriend.\" Katema thought it the result of art, and had fears of my skill\nin medicine, and of course witchcraft. He refused to see the magic\nlantern.\n\nOne of the affairs which had been intrusted by Shinte to Intemese\nwas the rescue of a wife who had eloped with a young man belonging to\nKatema. As this was the only case I have met with in the interior in\nwhich a fugitive was sent back to a chief against his own will, I am\nanxious to mention it. On Intemese claiming her as his master's wife,\nshe protested loudly against it, saying \"she knew she was not going back\nto be a wife again; she was going back to be sold to the Mambari.\" My\nmen formed many friendships with the people of Katema, and some of the\npoorer classes said in confidence, \"We wish our children could go back\nwith you to the Makololo country; here we are all in danger of being\nsold.\" My men were of opinion that it was only the want of knowledge of\nthe southern country which prevented an exodus of all the lower portions\nof Londa population thither.\n\nIt is remarkable how little people living in a flat forest country like\nthis know of distant tribes. An old man, who said he had been born about\nthe same time as the late Matiamvo, and had been his constant companion\nthrough life, visited us; and as I was sitting on some grass in front\nof the little gipsy tent mending my camp stool, I invited him to take\na seat on the grass beside me. This was peremptorily refused: \"he had\nnever sat on the ground during the late chief's reign, and he was not\ngoing to degrade himself now.\" One of my men handed him a log of wood\ntaken from the fire, and helped him out of the difficulty. When I\noffered him some cooked meat on a plate, he would not touch that either,\nbut would take it home. So I humored him by sending a servant to bear a\nfew ounces of meat to the town behind him. He mentioned the Lolo (Lulua)\nas the branch of the Leeambye which flows southward or S.S.E.; but the\npeople of Matiamvo had never gone far down it, as their chief had always\nbeen afraid of encountering a tribe whom, from the description given,\nI could recognize as the Makololo. He described five rivers as falling\ninto the Lolo, viz., the Lishish, Liss or Lise, Kalileme, Ishidish, and\nMolong. None of these are large, but when they are united in the Lolo\nthey form a considerable stream. The country through which the Lolo\nflows is said to be flat, fertile, well peopled, and there are large\npatches of forest. In this report he agreed perfectly with the people of\nMatiamvo, whom we had met at Quendende's village. But we never could get\nhim, or any one in this quarter, to draw a map on the ground, as people\nmay readily be got to do in the south.\n\nKatema promised us the aid of some of his people as carriers, but his\nrule is not very stringent or efficient, for they refused to turn out\nfor the work. They were Balobale; and he remarked on their disobedience\nthat, though he received them as fugitives, they did not feel grateful\nenough to obey, and if they continued rebellious he must drive them back\nwhence they came; but there is little fear of that, as all the chiefs\nare excessively anxious to collect men in great numbers around them.\nThese Balobale would not go, though our guide Shakatwala ran after some\nof them with a drawn sword. This degree of liberty to rebel was very\nstriking to us, as it occurred in a country where people may be sold,\nand often are so disposed of when guilty of any crime; and we well knew\nthat open disobedience like this among the Makololo would be punished\nwith death without much ceremony.\n\nOn Sunday, the 19th, both I and several of our party were seized with\nfever, and I could do nothing but toss about in my little tent, with the\nthermometer above 90 Deg., though this was the beginning of winter, and\nmy men made as much shade as possible by planting branches of trees\nall round and over it. We have, for the first time in my experience in\nAfrica, had a cold wind from the north. All the winds from that quarter\nare hot, and those from the south are cold, but they seldom blow from\neither direction.\n\n20TH. We were glad to get away, though not on account of any scarcity\nof food; for my men, by giving small presents of meat as an earnest of\ntheir sincerity, formed many friendships with the people of Katema.\nWe went about four or five miles in a N.N.W. direction, then two in a\nwesterly one, and came round the small end of Lake Dilolo. It seemed, as\nfar as we could at this time discern, to be like a river a quarter of\na mile wide. It is abundantly supplied with fish and hippopotami; the\nbroad part, which we did not this time see, is about three miles wide,\nand the lake is almost seven or eight long. If it be thought strange\nthat I did not go a few miles to see the broad part, which, according\nto Katema, had never been visited by any of the traders, it must be\nremembered that in consequence of fever I had eaten nothing for two\nentire days, and, instead of sleep, the whole of the nights were\nemployed in incessant drinking of water, and I was now so glad to get on\nin the journey and see some of my fellow fever-patients crawling along,\nthat I could not brook the delay, which astronomical observations\nfor accurately determining the geographical position of this most\ninteresting spot would have occasioned.\n\nWe observed among the people of Katema a love for singing-birds. One\npretty little songster, named \"cabazo\", a species of canary, is kept in\nvery neatly made cages, having traps on the top to entice its still free\ncompanions. On asking why they kept them in confinement, \"Because they\nsing sweetly,\" was the answer. They feed them on the lotsa ('Pennisetum\ntyphoideum'), of which great quantities are cultivated as food for man,\nand these canaries plague the gardeners here, very much in the same way\nas our sparrows do at home.\n\nI was pleased to hear the long-forgotten cry of alarm of the canaries\nin the woods, and observed one warbling forth its song, and keeping in\nmotion from side to side, as these birds do in the cage. We saw also\ntame pigeons; and the Barotse, who always take care to exalt Santuru,\nreminded us that this chief had many doves, and kept canaries which had\nreddish heads when the birds attained maturity. Those we now see have\nthe real canary color on the breast, with a tinge of green; the back,\nyellowish green, with darker longitudinal bands meeting in the centre; a\nnarrow dark band passes from the bill over the eye and back to the bill\nagain.\n\nThe birds of song here set up quite a merry chorus in the mornings, and\nabound most near the villages. Some sing as loudly as our thrushes, and\nthe king-hunter ('Halcyon Senegalensis') makes a clear whirring sound\nlike that of a whistle with a pea in it. During the heat of the day all\nremain silent, and take their siesta in the shadiest parts of the\ntrees, but in the cool of the evening they again exert themselves in the\nproduction of pleasant melody. It is remarkable that so many songbirds\nabound where there is a general paucity of other animal life. As we went\nforward we were struck by the comparative absence of game and the larger\nkind of fowls. The rivers contain very few fish. Common flies are not\ntroublesome, as they are wherever milk is abundant; they are seen in\ncompany with others of the same size and shape, but whose tiny feet do\nnot tickle the skin, as is the case with their companions. Mosquitoes\nare seldom so numerous as to disturb the slumbers of a weary man.\n\nBut, though this region is free from common insect plagues, and from\ntsetse, it has others. Feeling something running across my forehead as\nI was falling asleep, I put up the hand to wipe it off, and was sharply\nstung both on the hand and head; the pain was very acute. On obtaining\na light, we found that it had been inflicted by a light-colored spider,\nabout half an inch in length, and, one of the men having crushed it with\nhis fingers, I had no opportunity of examining whether the pain had been\nproduced by poison from a sting or from its mandibles. No remedy was\napplied, and the pain ceased in about two hours. The Bechuanas believe\nthat there is a small black spider in the country whose bite is fatal.\nI have not met with an instance in which death could be traced to this\ninsect, though a very large black, hairy spider, an inch and a quarter\nlong and three quarters of an inch broad, is frequently seen, having a\nprocess at the end of its front claws similar to that at the end of\nthe scorpion's tail, and when the bulbous portion of it is pressed, the\npoison may be seen oozing out from the point.\n\nWe have also spiders in the south which seize their prey by leaping\nupon it from a distance of several inches. When alarmed, they can spring\nabout a foot away from the object of their own fear. Of this kind there\nare several varieties.\n\nA large reddish spider ('Mygale') obtains its food in a different manner\nthan either patiently waiting in ambush or by catching it with a bound.\nIt runs about with great velocity in and out, behind and around every\nobject, searching for what it may devour, and, from its size and rapid\nmotions, excites the horror of every stranger. I never knew it to do any\nharm except frightening the nervous, and I believe few could look upon\nit for the first time without feeling himself in danger. It is named by\nthe natives \"selali\", and is believed to be the maker of a hinged cover\nfor its nest. You see a door, about the size of a shilling, lying beside\na deep hole of nearly similar diameter. The inside of the door lying\nupward, and which attracts your notice, is of a pure white silky\nsubstance, like paper. The outer side is coated over with earth,\nprecisely like that in which the hole is made. If you try to lift it,\nyou find it is fastened by a hinge on one side, and, if it is turned\nover upon the hole, it fits it exactly, and the earthy side being then\nuppermost, it is quite impossible to detect the situation of the nest.\nUnfortunately, this cavity for breeding is never seen except when the\nowner is out, and has left the door open behind her.\n\nIn some parts of the country there are great numbers of a large,\nbeautiful yellow-spotted spider, the webs of which are about a yard in\ndiameter. The lines on which these webs are spun are suspended from one\ntree to another, and are as thick as coarse thread. The fibres radiate\nfrom a central point, where the insect waits for its prey. The webs are\nplaced perpendicularly, and a common occurrence in walking is to get the\nface enveloped in them as a lady is in a veil.\n\nAnother kind of spider lives in society, and forms so great a collection\nof webs placed at every angle, that the trunk of a tree surrounded by\nthem can not be seen. A piece of hedge is often so hidden by this spider\nthat the branches are invisible. Another is seen on the inside of the\nwalls of huts among the Makololo in great abundance. It is round in\nshape, spotted, brown in color, and the body half an inch in diameter;\nthe spread of the legs is an inch and a half. It makes a smooth spot\nfor itself on the wall, covered with the above-mentioned white silky\nsubstance. There it is seen standing the whole day, and I never could\nascertain how it fed. It has no web, but a carpet, and is a harmless,\nthough an ugly neighbor.\n\nImmediately beyond Dilolo there is a large flat about twenty miles in\nbreadth. Here Shakatwala insisted on our remaining to get supplies of\nfood from Katema's subjects, before entering the uninhabited watery\nplains. When asked the meaning of the name Dilolo, Shakatwala gave the\nfollowing account of the formation of the lake. A female chief, called\nMoene (lord) Monenga, came one evening to the village of Mosogo, a man\nwho lived in the vicinity, but who had gone to hunt with his dogs. She\nasked for a supply of food, and Mosogo's wife gave her a sufficient\nquantity. Proceeding to another village standing on the spot now\noccupied by the water, she preferred the same demand, and was not only\nrefused, but, when she uttered a threat for their niggardliness, was\ntaunted with the question, \"What could she do though she were thus\ntreated?\" In order to show what she could do, she began a song, in slow\ntime, and uttered her own name, Monenga-wo-o. As she prolonged the\nlast note, the village, people, fowls, and dogs sank into the space now\ncalled Dilolo. When Kasimakate, the head man of this village, came home\nand found out the catastrophe, he cast himself into the lake, and is\nsupposed to be in it still. The name is derived from \"ilolo\", despair,\nbecause this man gave up all hope when his family was destroyed. Monenga\nwas put to death. This may be a faint tradition of the Deluge, and it is\nremarkable as the only one I have met with in this country.\n\nHeavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in front (N.N.W.) in\none day, and the constant wading among the grass hurt the feet of the\nmen. There is a footpath all the way across, but as this is worn down\nbeneath the level of the rest of the plain, it is necessarily the\ndeepest portion, and the men, avoiding it, make a new walk by its side.\nA path, however narrow, is a great convenience, as any one who has\ntraveled on foot in Africa will admit. The virtual want of it here\ncaused us to make slow and painful progress.\n\nAnts surely are wiser than some men, for they learn by experience. They\nhave established themselves even on these plains, where water stands so\nlong annually as to allow the lotus, and other aqueous plants, to come\nto maturity. When all the ant horizon is submerged a foot deep, they\nmanage to exist by ascending to little houses built of black tenacious\nloam on stalks of grass, and placed higher than the line of inundation.\nThis must have been the result of experience; for, if they had waited\ntill the water actually invaded their terrestrial habitations, they\nwould not have been able to procure materials for their aerial quarters,\nunless they dived down to the bottom for every mouthful of clay. Some of\nthese upper chambers are about the size of a bean, and others as large\nas a man's thumb. They must have built in anticipation, and if so, let\nus humbly hope that the sufferers by the late inundations in France may\nbe possessed of as much common sense as the little black ants of the\nDilolo plains.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 18.\n\nThe Watershed between the northern and southern Rivers--A deep Valley--\nRustic Bridge--Fountains on the Slopes of the Valleys--Village of\nKabinje--Good Effects of the Belief in the Power of Charms--Demand\nfor Gunpowder and English Calico--The Kasai--Vexatious Trick--Want\nof Food--No Game--Katende's unreasonable Demand--A grave\nOffense--Toll-bridge Keeper--Greedy Guides--Flooded Valleys--Swim the\nNyuana Loke--Prompt Kindness of my Men--Makololo Remarks on the rich\nuncultivated Valleys--Difference in the Color of Africans--Reach a\nVillage of the Chiboque--The Head Man's impudent Message--Surrounds our\nEncampment with his Warriors--The Pretense--Their Demand--Prospect of\na Fight--Way in which it was averted--Change our Path--Summer--\nFever--Beehives and the Honey-guide--Instinct of Trees--Climbers--The\nOx Sinbad--Absence of Thorns in the Forests--Plant peculiar to a\nforsaken Garden--Bad Guides--Insubordination suppressed--Beset by\nEnemies--A Robber Party--More Troubles--Detained by Ionga Panza--His\nVillage--Annoyed by Bangala Traders--My Men discouraged--Their\nDetermination and Precaution.\n\n\n\n24TH OF FEBRUARY. On reaching unflooded lands beyond the plain, we\nfound the villages there acknowledged the authority of the chief named\nKatende, and we discovered, also, to our surprise, that the almost\nlevel plain we had passed forms the watershed between the southern and\nnorthern rivers, for we had now entered a district in which the rivers\nflowed in a northerly direction into the Kasai or Loke, near to which\nwe now were, while the rivers we had hitherto crossed were all running\nsouthward. Having met with kind treatment and aid at the first\nvillage, Katema's guides returned, and we were led to the N.N.W. by the\ninhabitants, and descended into the very first really deep valley we had\nseen since leaving Kolobeng. A stream ran along the bottom of a slope of\nthree or four hundred yards from the plains above.\n\nWe crossed this by a rustic bridge at present submerged thigh-deep by\nthe rains. The trees growing along the stream of this lovely valley were\nthickly planted and very high. Many had sixty or eighty feet of clean\nstraight trunk, and beautiful flowers adorned the ground beneath them.\nAscending the opposite side, we came, in two hours' time, to another\nvalley, equally beautiful, and with a stream also in its centre. It may\nseem mere trifling to note such an unimportant thing as the occurrence\nof a valley, there being so many in every country under the sun; but as\nthese were branches of that in which the Kasai or Loke flows, and both\nthat river and its feeders derive their water in a singular manner from\nthe valley sides, I may be excused for calling particular attention to\nthe more furrowed nature of the country.\n\nAt different points on the slopes of these valleys which we now for the\nfirst time entered, there are oozing fountains, surrounded by clumps of\nthe same evergreen, straight, large-leaved trees we have noticed along\nthe streams. These spots are generally covered with a mat of grassy\nvegetation, and possess more the character of bogs than of fountains.\nThey slowly discharge into the stream below, and are so numerous along\nboth banks as to give a peculiar character to the landscape. These\ngroups of sylvan vegetation are generally of a rounded form, and the\ntrunks of the trees are tall and straight, while those on the level\nplains above are low and scraggy in their growth. There can be little\ndoubt but that the water, which stands for months on the plains, soaks\nin, and finds its way into the rivers and rivulets by percolating\nthrough the soil, and out by these oozing bogs; and the difference\nbetween the growth of these trees, though they be of different species,\nmay be a proof that the stuntedness of those on the plains is owing\nto being, in the course of each year, more subjected to drought than\nmoisture.\n\nReaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent us a present of\ntobacco, Mutokuane or \"bang\" ('Cannabis sativa'), and maize, by the\nman who went forward to announce our arrival, and a message expressing\nsatisfaction at the prospect of having trade with the coast. The westing\nwe were making brought us among people who are frequently visited by the\nMambari as slave-dealers. This trade causes bloodshed; for when a poor\nfamily is selected as the victims, it is necessary to get rid of the\nolder members of it, because they are supposed to be able to give\nannoyance to the chief afterward by means of enchantments. The belief\nin the power of charms for good or evil produces not only honesty, but\na great amount of gentle dealing. The powerful are often restrained in\ntheir despotism from a fear that the weak and helpless may injure them\nby their medical knowledge. They have many fears. A man at one of the\nvillages we came to showed us the grave of his child, and, with much\napparent feeling, told us she had been burned to death in her hut. He\nhad come with all his family, and built huts around it in order to weep\nfor her. He thought, if the grave were left unwatched, the witches would\ncome and bewitch them by putting medicines on the body. They have a more\ndecided belief in the continued existence of departed spirits than any\nof the more southerly tribes. Even the Barotse possess it in a strong\ndegree, for one of my men of that tribe, on experiencing headache, said,\nwith a sad and thoughtful countenance, \"My father is scolding me because\nI do not give him any of the food I eat.\" I asked where his father was.\n\"Among the Barimo,\" was the reply.\n\nWhen we wished to move on, Kabinje refused a guide to the next village\nbecause he was at war with it; but, after much persuasion, he consented,\nprovided that the guide should be allowed to return as soon as he came\nin sight of the enemy's village. This we felt to be a misfortune, as the\npeople all suspect a man who comes telling his own tale; but there being\nno help for it, we went on, and found the head man of a village on the\nrivulet Kalomba, called Kangenke, a very different man from what his\nenemy represented. We found, too, that the idea of buying and selling\ntook the place of giving for friendship. As I had nothing with which to\npurchase food except a parcel of beads which were preserved for worse\ntimes, I began to fear that we should soon be compelled to suffer more\nfrom hunger than we had done. The people demanded gunpowder for every\nthing. If we had possessed any quantity of that article, we should have\ngot on well, for here it is of great value. On our return, near\nthis spot we found a good-sized fowl was sold for a single charge of\ngunpowder. Next to that, English calico was in great demand, and so were\nbeads; but money was of no value whatever. Gold is quite unknown; it\nis thought to be brass; trade is carried on by barter alone. The people\nknow nothing of money. A purse-proud person would here feel the ground\nmove from beneath his feet. Occasionally a large piece of copper, in the\nshape of a St. Andrew's cross, is offered for sale.\n\nFEBRUARY 27TH. Kangenke promptly furnished guides this morning, so\nwe went briskly on a short distance, and came to a part of the Kasye,\nKasai, or Loke, where he had appointed two canoes to convey us across.\nThis is a most beautiful river, and very much like the Clyde in\nScotland. The slope of the valley down to the stream is about five\nhundred yards, and finely wooded. It is, perhaps, one hundred yards\nbroad, and was winding slowly from side to side in the beautiful green\nglen, in a course to the north and northeast. In both the directions\nfrom which it came and to which it went it seemed to be alternately\nembowered in sylvan vegetation, or rich meadows covered with tall grass.\nThe men pointed out its course, and said, \"Though you sail along it for\nmonths, you will turn without seeing the end of it.\"\n\nWhile at the ford of the Kasai we were subjected to a trick, of which we\nhad been forewarned by the people of Shinte. A knife had been dropped by\none of Kangenke's people in order to entrap my men; it was put down near\nour encampment, as if lost, the owner in the mean time watching till one\nof my men picked it up. Nothing was said until our party was divided,\none half on this, and the other on that bank of the river. Then the\ncharge was made to me that one of my men had stolen a knife. Certain of\nmy people's honesty, I desired the man, who was making a great noise, to\nsearch the luggage for it; the unlucky lad who had taken the bait then\ncame forward and confessed that he had the knife in a basket, which was\nalready taken over the river. When it was returned, the owner would not\nreceive it back unless accompanied with a fine. The lad offered beads,\nbut these were refused with scorn. A shell hanging round his neck,\nsimilar to that which Shinte had given me, was the object demanded, and\nthe victim of the trick, as we all knew it to be, was obliged to part\nwith his costly ornament. I could not save him from the loss, as all had\nbeen forewarned; and it is the universal custom among the Makololo and\nmany other tribes to show whatever they may find to the chief person of\ntheir company, and make a sort of offer of it to him. This lad ought to\nhave done so to me; the rest of the party always observed this custom. I\nfelt annoyed at the imposition, but the order we invariably followed in\ncrossing a river forced me to submit. The head of the party remained to\nbe ferried over last; so, if I had not come to terms, I would have been,\nas I always was in crossing rivers which we could not swim, completely\nin the power of the enemy. It was but rarely we could get a head man so\nwitless as to cross a river with us, and remain on the opposite bank\nin a convenient position to be seized as a hostage in case of my being\ncaught.\n\nThis trick is but one of a number equally dishonorable which are\npracticed by tribes that lie adjacent to the more civilized settlements.\nThe Balonda farther east told us, by way of warning, that many parties\nof the more central tribes had at various periods set out, in order to\ntrade with the white men themselves, instead of through the Mambari, but\nhad always been obliged to return without reaching their destination, in\nconsequence of so many pretexts being invented by the tribes encountered\nin the way for fining them of their ivory.\n\nThis ford was in 11d 15' 47\" S. latitude, but the weather was so\nexcessively cloudy we got no observation for longitude.\n\nWe were now in want of food, for, to the great surprise of my\ncompanions, the people of Kangenke gave nothing except by way of sale,\nand charged the most exorbitant prices for the little meal and manioc\nthey brought. The only article of barter my men had was a little fat\nsaved from the ox we slaughtered at Katema's, so I was obliged to give\nthem a portion of the stock of beads. One day (29th) of westing brought\nus from the Kasai to near the village of Katende, and we saw that we\nwere in a land where no hope could be entertained of getting supplies of\nanimal food, for one of our guides caught a light-blue colored mole and\ntwo mice for his supper. The care with which he wrapped them up in a\nleaf and slung them on his spear told that we could not hope to enjoy\nany larger game. We saw no evidence of any animals besides; and, on\ncoming to the villages beyond this, we often saw boys and girls engaged\nin digging up these tiny quadrupeds.\n\nKatende sent for me on the day following our arrival, and, being quite\nwilling to visit him, I walked, for this purpose, about three miles from\nour encampment. When we approached the village we were desired to enter\na hut, and, as it was raining at the time, we did so. After a long time\nspent in giving and receiving messages from the great man, we were told\nthat he wanted either a man, a tusk, beads, copper rings, or a shell, as\npayment for leave to pass through his country. No one, we were assured,\nwas allowed that liberty, or even to behold him, without something of\nthe sort being presented. Having humbly explained our circumstances, and\nthat he could not expect to \"catch a humble cow by the horns\"--a proverb\nsimilar to ours that \"you can't draw milk out of a stone\"--we were told\nto go home, and he would speak again to us next day. I could not avoid\na hearty laugh at the cool impudence of the savage, and made the best\nof my way home in the still pouring rain. My men were rather nettled at\nthis want of hospitality, but, after talking over the matter with one of\nKatende's servants, he proposed that some small article should be given,\nand an attempt made to please Katende. I turned out my shirts, and\nselected the worst one as a sop for him, and invited Katende to come and\nchoose any thing else I had, but added that, when I should reach my own\nchief naked, and was asked what I had done with my clothes, I should\nbe obliged to confess that I had left them with Katende. The shirt was\ndispatched to him, and some of my people went along with the servant;\nthey soon returned, saying that the shirt had been accepted, and guides\nand food too would be sent to us next day. The chief had, moreover,\nexpressed a hope to see me on my return. He is reported to be very\ncorpulent. The traders who have come here seem to have been very timid,\nyielding to every demand made on the most frivolous pretenses. One of my\nmen, seeing another much like an acquaintance at home, addressed him by\nthe name of the latter in sport, telling him, at the same time, why\nhe did so; this was pronounced to be a grave offense, and a large fine\ndemanded; when the case came before me I could see no harm in what had\nbeen done, and told my people not to answer the young fellow. The latter\nfelt himself disarmed, for it is chiefly in a brawl they have power;\nthen words are spoken in anger which rouse the passions of the\ncomplainant's friends. In this case, after vociferating some time, the\nwould-be offended party came and said to my man that, if they exchanged\nsome small gift, all would be right, but, my man taking no notice of\nhim, he went off rather crestfallen.\n\nMy men were as much astonished as myself at the demand for payment\nfor leave to pass, and the almost entire neglect of the rules of\nhospitality. Katende gave us only a little meal and manioc, and a fowl.\nBeing detained two days by heavy rains, we felt that a good stock of\npatience was necessary in traveling through this country in the rainy\nseason.\n\nPassing onward without seeing Katende, we crossed a small rivulet, the\nSengko, by which we had encamped, and after two hours came to another,\nthe Totelo, which was somewhat larger, and had a bridge over it. At the\nfarther end of this structure stood a negro, who demanded fees. He said\nthe bridge was his; the path his; the guides were his children; and\nif we did not pay him he would prevent farther progress. This piece of\ncivilization I was not prepared to meet, and stood a few seconds looking\nat our bold toll-keeper, when one of my men took off three copper\nbracelets, which paid for the whole party. The negro was a better man\nthan he at first seemed, for he immediately went to his garden and\nbrought us some leaves of tobacco as a present.\n\nWhen we had got fairly away from the villages, the guides from Kangenke\nsat down and told us that there were three paths in front, and, if we\ndid not at once present them with a cloth, they would leave us to take\nwhichever we might like best. As I had pointed out the direction in\nwhich Loanda lay, and had only employed them for the sake of knowing the\npaths between villages which lay along our route, and always objected\nwhen they led us in any other than the Loanda direction, I wished my\nmen now to go on without the guides, trusting to ourselves to choose\nthe path which would seem to lead us in the direction we had always\nfollowed. But Mashauana, fearing lest we might wander, asked leave to\ngive his own cloth, and when the guides saw that, they came forward\nshouting \"Averie, Averie!\"\n\nIn the afternoon of this day we came to a valley about a mile wide,\nfilled with clear, fast-flowing water. The men on foot were chin deep in\ncrossing, and we three on ox-back got wet to the middle, the weight of\nthe animals preventing them from swimming. A thunder-shower descending\ncompleted the partial drenching of the plain, and gave a cold,\nuncomfortable \"packing in a wet blanket\" that night. Next day we found\nanother flooded valley about half a mile wide, with a small and now\ndeep rivulet in its middle, flowing rapidly to the S.S.E., or toward\nthe Kasai. The middle part of this flood, being the bed of what at other\ntimes is the rivulet, was so rapid that we crossed by holding on to the\noxen, and the current soon dashed them to the opposite bank; we then\njumped off, and, the oxen being relieved of their burdens, we could pull\nthem on to the shallower part. The rest of the valley was thigh deep and\nboggy, but holding on by the belt which fastened the blanket to the ox,\nwe each floundered through the nasty slough as well as we could. These\nboggy parts, lying parallel to the stream, were the most extensive we\nhad come to: those mentioned already were mere circumscribed patches;\nthese extended for miles along each bank; but even here, though the\nrapidity of the current was very considerable, the thick sward of grass\nwas \"laid\" flat along the sides of the stream, and the soil was not\nabraded so much as to discolor the flood. When we came to the opposite\nside of this valley, some pieces of the ferruginous conglomerate, which\nforms the capping to all other rocks in a large district around and\nnorth of this, cropped out, and the oxen bit at them as if surprised\nby the appearance of stone as much as we were; or it may have contained\nsome mineral of which they stood in need. We had not met with a stone\nsince leaving Shinte's. The country is covered with deep alluvial soil\nof a dark color and very fertile.\n\nIn the afternoon we came to another stream, nyuana Loke (or child of\nLoke), with a bridge over it. The men had to swim off to each end of the\nbridge, and when on it were breast deep; some preferred holding on by\nthe tails of the oxen the whole way across. I intended to do this too;\nbut, riding to the deep part, before I could dismount and seize the helm\nthe ox dashed off with his companions, and his body sank so deep that I\nfailed in my attempt even to catch the blanket belt, and if I pulled the\nbridle the ox seemed as if he would come backward upon me, so I struck\nout for the opposite bank alone. My poor fellows were dreadfully alarmed\nwhen they saw me parted from the cattle, and about twenty of them made\na simultaneous rush into the water for my rescue, and just as I reached\nthe opposite bank one seized my arm, and another threw his around my\nbody. When I stood up, it was most gratifying to see them all struggling\ntoward me. Some had leaped off the bridge, and allowed their cloaks to\nfloat down the stream. Part of my goods, abandoned in the hurry, were\nbrought up from the bottom after I was safe. Great was the pleasure\nexpressed when they found that I could swim, like themselves, without\nthe aid of a tail, and I did and do feel grateful to these poor heathens\nfor the promptitude with which they dashed in to save, as they thought,\nmy life. I found my clothes cumbersome in the water; they could swim\nquicker from being naked. They swim like dogs, not frog-fashion, as we\ndo.\n\nIn the evening we crossed the small rivulet Lozeze, and came to some\nvillages of the Kasabi, from whom we got some manioc in exchange for\nbeads. They tried to frighten us by telling of the deep rivers we should\nhave to cross in our way. I was drying my clothes by turning myself\nround and round before the fire. My men laughed at the idea of being\nfrightened by rivers. \"We can all swim: who carried the white man across\nthe river but himself?\" I felt proud of their praise.\n\nSATURDAY, 4TH MARCH. Came to the outskirts of the territory of the\nChiboque. We crossed the Konde and Kaluze rivulets. The former is a\ndeep, small stream with a bridge, the latter insignificant; the valleys\nin which these rivulets run are beautifully fertile. My companions\nare continually lamenting over the uncultivated vales in such words as\nthese: \"What a fine country for cattle! My heart is sore to see such\nfruitful valleys for corn lying waste.\" At the time these words were\nput down I had come to the belief that the reason why the inhabitants of\nthis fine country possess no herds of cattle was owing to the despotic\nsway of their chiefs, and that the common people would not be allowed to\nkeep any domestic animals, even supposing they could acquire them; but\non musing on the subject since, I have been led to the conjecture that\nthe rich, fertile country of Londa must formerly have been infested by\nthe tsetse, but that, as the people killed off the game on which, in the\nabsence of man, the tsetse must subsist, the insect was starved out of\nthe country. It is now found only where wild animals abound, and the\nBalonda, by the possession of guns, having cleared most of the country\nof all the large game, we may have happened to come just when it was\npossible to admit of cattle. Hence the success of Katema, Shinte, and\nMatiamvo with their herds. It would not be surprising, though they\nknow nothing of the circumstance; a tribe on the Zambesi, which I\nencountered, whose country was swarming with tsetse, believed that they\ncould not keep any cattle, because \"no one loved them well enough to\ngive them the medicine of oxen;\" and even the Portuguese at Loanda\naccounted for the death of the cattle brought from the interior to the\nsea-coast by the prejudicial influence of the sea air! One ox, which\nI took down to the sea from the interior, died at Loanda, with all\nthe symptoms of the poison injected by tsetse, which I saw myself in a\ndistrict a hundred miles from the coast.\n\nWhile at the villages of the Kasabi we saw no evidences of want of food\namong the people. Our beads were very valuable, but cotton cloth would\nhave been still more so; as we traveled along, men, women, and children\ncame running after us, with meal and fowls for sale, which we would\ngladly have purchased had we possessed any English manufactures. When\nthey heard that we had no cloth, they turned back much disappointed.\n\nThe amount of population in the central parts of the country may be\ncalled large only as compared with the Cape Colony or the Bechuana\ncountry. The cultivated land is as nothing compared with what might be\nbrought under the plow. There are flowing streams in abundance, which,\nwere it necessary, could be turned to the purpose of irrigation with but\nlittle labor. Miles of fruitful country are now lying absolutely waste,\nfor there is not even game to eat off the fine pasturage, and to recline\nunder the evergreen, shady groves which we are ever passing in our\nprogress. The people who inhabit the central region are not all quite\nblack in color. Many incline to that of bronze, and others are as light\nin hue as the Bushmen, who, it may be remembered, afford a proof that\nheat alone does not cause blackness, but that heat and moisture combined\ndo very materially deepen the color. Wherever we find people who have\ncontinued for ages in a hot, humid district, they are deep black, but to\nthis apparent law there are exceptions, caused by the migrations of both\ntribes and individuals; the Makololo, for instance, among the tribes\nof the humid central basin, appear of a sickly sallow hue when compared\nwith the aboriginal inhabitants; the Batoka also, who lived in an\nelevated region, are, when seen in company with the Batoka of the\nrivers, so much lighter in color, they might be taken for another tribe;\nbut their language, and the very marked custom of knocking out the upper\nfront teeth, leave no room for doubt that they are one people.\n\nApart from the influences of elevation, heat, humidity, and degradation,\nI have imagined that the lighter and darker colors observed in the\nnative population run in five longitudinal bands along the southern\nportion of the continent. Those on the seaboard of both the east and\nwest are very dark; then two bands of lighter color lie about three\nhundred miles from each coast, of which the westerly one, bending\nround, embraces the Kalahari Desert and Bechuana countries; and then\nthe central basin is very dark again. This opinion is not given with\nany degree of positiveness. It is stated just as it struck my mind in\npassing across the country, and if incorrect, it is singular that the\ndialects spoken by the different tribes have arranged themselves in a\nfashion which seems to indicate migration along the lines of color. The\ndialects spoken in the extreme south, whether Hottentot or Caffre, bear\na close affinity to those of the tribes living immediately on their\nnorthern borders; one glides into the other, and their affinities are so\neasily detected that they are at once recognized to be cognate. If the\ndialects of extreme points are compared, as that of the Caffres and the\ntribes near the equator, it is more difficult to recognize the fact,\nwhich is really the case, that all the dialects belong to but two\nfamilies of languages. Examination of the roots of the words of the\ndialects, arranged in geographical order, shows that they merge into\neach other, and there is not nearly so much difference between the\nextremes of east and west as between those of north and south, the\ndialect spoken at Tete resembling closely that in Angola.\n\nHaving, on the afore-mentioned date, reached the village of Njambi, one\nof the chiefs of the Chiboque, we intended to pass a quiet Sunday; and\nour provisions being quite spent, I ordered a tired riding-ox to be\nslaughtered. As we wished to be on good terms with all, we sent the hump\nand ribs to Njambi, with the explanation that this was the customary\ntribute to chiefs in the part from which we had come, and that we always\nhonored men in his position. He returned thanks, and promised to send\nfood. Next morning he sent an impudent message, with a very small\npresent of meal; scorning the meat he had accepted, he demanded either\na man, an ox, a gun, powder, cloth, or a shell; and in the event of\nrefusal to comply with his demand, he intimated his intention to prevent\nour further progress. We replied, we should have thought ourselves fools\nif we had scorned his small present, and demanded other food instead;\nand even supposing we had possessed the articles named, no black man\nought to impose a tribute on a party that did not trade in slaves. The\nservants who brought the message said that, when sent to the Mambari,\nthey had always got a quantity of cloth from them for their master, and\nnow expected the same, or something else as an equivalent, from me.\n\nWe heard some of the Chiboque remark, \"They have only five guns;\"\nand about midday, Njambi collected all his people, and surrounded our\nencampment. Their object was evidently to plunder us of every thing. My\nmen seized their javelins, and stood on the defensive, while the young\nChiboque had drawn their swords and brandished them with great fury.\nSome even pointed their guns at me, and nodded to each other, as much as\nto say, \"This is the way we shall do with him.\" I sat on my camp-stool,\nwith my double-barreled gun across my knees, and invited the chief to\nbe seated also. When he and his counselors had sat down on the ground in\nfront of me, I asked what crime we had committed that he had come armed\nin that way. He replied that one of my men, Pitsane, while sitting at\nthe fire that morning, had, in spitting, allowed a small quantity of the\nsaliva to fall on the leg of one of his men, and this \"guilt\" he wanted\nto be settled by the fine of a man, ox, or gun. Pitsane admitted the\nfact of a little saliva having fallen on the Chiboque, and in proof of\nits being a pure accident, mentioned that he had given the man a piece\nof meat, by way of making friends, just before it happened, and wiped it\noff with his hand as soon as it fell. In reference to a man being given,\nI declared that we were all ready to die rather than give up one of our\nnumber to be a slave; that my men might as well give me as I give one\nof them, for we were all free men. \"Then you can give the gun with which\nthe ox was shot.\" As we heard some of his people remarking even now that\nwe had only \"five guns\", we declined, on the ground that, as they were\nintent on plundering us, giving a gun would be helping them to do so.\n\nThis they denied, saying they wanted the customary tribute only. I asked\nwhat right they had to demand payment for leave to tread on the ground\nof God, our common Father. If we trod on their gardens, we would pay,\nbut not for marching on land which was still God's, and not theirs. They\ndid not attempt to controvert this, because it is in accordance with\ntheir own ideas, but reverted again to the pretended crime of the\nsaliva.\n\nMy men now entreated me to give something; and after asking the chief\nif he really thought the affair of the spitting a matter of guilt, and\nreceiving an answer in the affirmative, I gave him one of my shirts.\nThe young Chiboque were dissatisfied, and began shouting and brandishing\ntheir swords for a greater fine.\n\nAs Pitsane felt that he had been the cause of this disagreeable affair,\nhe asked me to add something else. I gave a bunch of beads, but the\ncounselors objected this time, so I added a large handkerchief. The\nmore I yielded, the more unreasonable their demands became, and at every\nfresh demand a shout was raised by the armed party, and a rush made\naround us with brandishing of arms. One young man made a charge at my\nhead from behind, but I quickly brought round the muzzle of my gun to\nhis mouth, and he retreated. I pointed him out to the chief, and he\nordered him to retire a little. I felt anxious to avoid the effusion\nof blood; and though sure of being able, with my Makololo, who had been\ndrilled by Sebituane, to drive off twice the number of our assailants,\nthough now a large body, and well armed with spears, swords, arrows, and\nguns, I strove to avoid actual collision. My men were quite unprepared\nfor this exhibition, but behaved with admirable coolness. The chief\nand counselors, by accepting my invitation to be seated, had placed\nthemselves in a trap, for my men very quietly surrounded them, and made\nthem feel that there was no chance of escaping their spears. I then\nsaid that, as one thing after another had failed to satisfy them, it\nwas evident that THEY wanted to fight, while WE only wanted to pass\npeaceably through the country; that they must begin first, and bear\nthe guilt before God: we would not fight till they had struck the first\nblow. I then sat silent for some time. It was rather trying for me,\nbecause I knew that the Chiboque would aim at the white man first; but\nI was careful not to appear flurried, and, having four barrels ready for\ninstant action, looked quietly at the savage scene around. The Chiboque\ncountenance, by no means handsome, is not improved by the practice\nwhich they have adopted of filing the teeth to a point. The chief and\ncounselors, seeing that they were in more danger than I, did not choose\nto follow our decision that they should begin by striking the first\nblow, and then see what we could do, and were perhaps influenced by\nseeing the air of cool preparation which some of my men displayed at the\nprospect of a work of blood.\n\nThe Chiboque at last put the matter before us in this way: \"You come\namong us in a new way, and say you are quite friendly: how can we know\nit unless you give us some of your food, and you take some of ours? If\nyou give us an ox, we will give you whatever you may wish, and then we\nshall be friends.\" In accordance with the entreaties of my men, I gave\nan ox; and when asked what I should like in return, mentioned food as\nthe thing which we most needed. In the evening Njambi sent us a very\nsmall basket of meal, and two or three pounds of the flesh of our own\nox! with the apology that he had no fowls, and very little of any other\nfood. It was impossible to avoid a laugh at the coolness of the generous\ncreatures. I was truly thankful, nevertheless, that, though resolved to\ndie rather than deliver up one of our number to be a slave, we had so\nfar gained our point as to be allowed to pass on without having shed\nhuman blood.\n\nIn the midst of the commotion, several Chiboque stole pieces of meat\nout of the sheds of my people, and Mohorisi, one of the Makololo, went\nboldly into the crowd and took back a marrow-bone from one of them.\nA few of my Batoka seemed afraid, and would perhaps have fled had the\naffray actually begun, but, upon the whole, I thought my men behaved\nadmirably. They lamented having left their shields at home by command\nof Sekeletu, who feared that, if they carried these, they might be more\ndisposed to be overbearing in their demeanor to the tribes we should\nmeet. We had proceeded on the principles of peace and conciliation, and\nthe foregoing treatment shows in what light our conduct was viewed; in\nfact, we were taken for interlopers trying to cheat the revenue of\nthe tribe. They had been accustomed to get a slave or two from every\nslave-trader who passed them, and now that we disputed the right, they\nviewed the infringement on what they considered lawfully due with most\nvirtuous indignation.\n\nMARCH 6TH. We were informed that the people on the west of the Chiboque\nof Njambi were familiar with the visits of slave-traders; and it was the\nopinion of our guides from Kangenke that so many of my companions would\nbe demanded from me, in the same manner as the people of Njambi had\ndone, that I should reach the coast without a single attendant; I\ntherefore resolved to alter our course and strike away to the N.N.E.,\nin the hope that at some point farther north I might find an exit to the\nPortuguese settlement of Cassange. We proceeded at first due north, with\nthe Kasabi villages on our right, and the Kasau on our left. During\nthe first twenty miles we crossed many small, but now swollen streams,\nhaving the usual boggy banks, and wherever the water had stood for any\nlength of time it was discolored with rust of iron. We saw a \"nakong\"\nantelope one day, a rare sight in this quarter; and many new and pretty\nflowers adorned the valleys. We could observe the difference in the\nseasons in our northing in company with the sun. Summer was now nearly\nover at Kuruman, and far advanced at Linyanti, but here we were in the\nmiddle of it; fruits, which we had eaten ripe on the Leeambye, were here\nquite green; but we were coming into the region where the inhabitants\nare favored with two rainy seasons and two crops, i.e., when the sun is\ngoing south, and when he comes back on his way to the north, as was the\ncase at present.\n\nOn the 8th, one of the men had left an ounce or two of powder at our\nsleeping-place, and went back several miles for it. My clothing being\nwet from crossing a stream, I was compelled to wait for him; had I been\nmoving in the sun I should have felt no harm, but the inaction led to\na violent fit of fever. The continuance of this attack was a source of\nmuch regret, for we went on next day to a small rivulet called Chihune,\nin a lovely valley, and had, for a wonder, a clear sky and a clear moon;\nbut such was the confusion produced in my mind by the state of my body,\nthat I could scarcely manage, after some hours' trial, to get a lunar\nobservation in which I could repose confidence. The Chihune flows into\nthe Longe, and that into the Chihombo, a feeder of the Kasai. Those who\nknow the difficulties of taking altitudes, times, and distances, and\ncommitting all of them to paper, will sympathize with me in this and\nmany similar instances. While at Chihune, the men of a village brought\nwax for sale, and, on finding that we wished honey, went off and soon\nbrought a hive. All the bees in the country are in possession of the\nnatives, for they place hives sufficient for them all. After having\nascertained this, we never attended the call of the honey-guide, for\nwe were sure it would only lead us to a hive which we had no right to\ntouch. The bird continues its habit of inviting attention to the honey,\nthough its services in this district are never actually needed. My\nMakololo lamented that they never knew before that wax could be sold for\nany thing of value.\n\nAs we traverse a succession of open lawns and deep forests, it is\ninteresting to observe something like instinct developed even in trees.\nOne which, when cut, emits a milky juice, if met with on the open lawns,\ngrows as an ordinary umbrageous tree, and shows no disposition to be\na climber; when planted in a forest it still takes the same form, then\nsends out a climbing branch, which twines round another tree until it\nrises thirty or forty feet, or to the level of the other trees, and\nthere spreads out a second crown where it can enjoy a fair share of\nthe sun's rays. In parts of the forest still more dense than this, it\nassumes the form of a climber only, and at once avails itself of the\nassistance of a tall neighbor by winding vigorously round it, without\nattempting to form a lower head. It does not succeed so well as\nparasites proper, but where forced to contend for space it may be\nmistaken for one which is invariably a climber. The paths here were very\nnarrow and very much encumbered with gigantic creepers, often as thick\nas a man's leg. There must be some reason why they prefer, in some\ndistricts, to go up trees in the common form of the thread of a screw\nrather than in any other. On the one bank of the Chihune they appeared\nto a person standing opposite them to wind up from left to right, on\nthe other bank from right to left. I imagined this was owing to the sun\nbeing at one season of the year on their north and at another on their\nsouth. But on the Leeambye I observed creepers winding up on opposite\nsides of the same reed, and making a figure like the lacings of a\nsandal.\n\nIn passing through these narrow paths I had an opportunity of observing\nthe peculiarities of my ox \"Sinbad\". He had a softer back than the\nothers, but a much more intractable temper. His horns were bent downward\nand hung loosely, so he could do no harm with them; but as we wended our\nway slowly along the narrow path, he would suddenly dart aside. A string\ntied to a stick put through the cartilage of the nose serves instead of\na bridle: if you jerk this back, it makes him run faster on; if you\npull it to one side, he allows the nose and head to go, but keeps the\nopposite eye directed to the forbidden spot, and goes in spite of you.\nThe only way he can be brought to a stand is by a stroke with a wand\nacross the nose. When Sinbad ran in below a climber stretched over the\npath so low that I could not stoop under it, I was dragged off and came\ndown on the crown of my head; and he never allowed an opportunity of the\nkind to pass without trying to inflict a kick, as if I neither had nor\ndeserved his love.\n\nA remarkable peculiarity in the forests of this country is the absence\nof thorns: there are but two exceptions; one a tree bearing a species of\n'nux vomica', and a small shrub very like the plant of the sarsaparilla,\nbearing, in addition to its hooked thorns, bunches of yellow berries.\nThe thornlessness of the vegetation is especially noticeable to those\nwho have been in the south, where there is so great a variety of\nthorn-bearing plants and trees. We have thorns of every size and shape;\nthorns straight, thin and long, short and thick, or hooked, and so\nstrong as to be able to cut even leather like a knife. Seed-vessels are\nscattered every where by these appendages. One lies flat as a shilling\nwith two thorns in its centre, ready to run into the foot of any animal\nthat treads upon it, and stick there for days together. Another (the\n'Uncaria procumbens', or Grapple-plant) has so many hooked thorns as to\ncling most tenaciously to any animal to which it may become attached;\nwhen it happens to lay hold of the mouth of an ox, the animal stands and\nroars with pain and a sense of helplessness.\n\nWhenever a part of the forest has been cleared for a garden, and\nafterward abandoned, a species of plant, with leaves like those of\nginger, springs up, and contends for the possession of the soil with a\ngreat crop of ferns. This is the case all the way down to Angola, and\nshows the great difference of climate between this and the Bechuana\ncountry, where a fern, except one or two hardy species, is never seen.\nThe plants above mentioned bear a pretty pink flower close to the\nground, which is succeeded by a scarlet fruit full of seeds, yielding,\nas so many fruits in this country do, a pleasant acid juice, which,\nlike the rest, is probably intended as a corrective to the fluids of the\nsystem in the hot climate.\n\nOn leaving the Chihune we crossed the Longe, and, as the day was cloudy,\nour guides wandered in a forest away to the west till we came to the\nRiver Chihombo, flowing to the E.N.E. My men depended so much on the\nsun for guidance that, having seen nothing of the luminary all day, they\nthought we had wandered back to the Chiboque, and, as often happens when\nbewildered, they disputed as to the point where the sun should rise next\nmorning. As soon as the rains would allow next day, we went off to the\nN.E. It would have been better to have traveled by compass alone, for\nthe guides took advantage of any fears expressed by my people, and\nthreatened to return if presents were not made at once. But my men had\nnever left their own country before except for rapine and murder.\nWhen they formerly came to a village they were in the habit of killing\nnumbers of the inhabitants, and then taking a few young men to serve as\nguides to the next place. As this was their first attempt at an opposite\nline of conduct, and as they were without their shields, they felt\ndefenseless among the greedy Chiboque, and some allowance must be made\nfor them on that account.\n\nSATURDAY, 11TH. Reached a small village on the banks of a narrow stream.\nI was too ill to go out of my little covering except to quell a mutiny\nwhich began to show itself among some of the Batoka and Ambonda of our\nparty. They grumbled, as they often do against their chiefs, when they\nthink them partial in their gifts, because they supposed that I had\nshown a preference in the distribution of the beads; but the beads I\nhad given to my principal men were only sufficient to purchase a scanty\nmeal, and I had hastened on to this village in order to slaughter a\ntired ox, and give them all a feast as well as a rest on Sunday, as\npreparation for the journey before us. I explained this to them, and\nthought their grumbling was allayed. I soon sank into a state of stupor,\nwhich the fever sometimes produced, and was oblivious to all their noise\nin slaughtering. On Sunday the mutineers were making a terrible din in\npreparing a skin they had procured. I requested them twice, by the man\nwho attended me, to be more quiet, as the noise pained me; but as\nthey paid no attention to this civil request, I put out my head, and,\nrepeating it myself, was answered by an impudent laugh. Knowing that\ndiscipline would be at an end if this mutiny were not quelled, and\nthat our lives depended on vigorously upholding authority, I seized a\ndouble-barreled pistol, and darted forth from the domicile, looking,\nI suppose, so savage as to put them to a precipitate flight. As some\nremained within hearing, I told them that I must maintain discipline,\nthough at the expense of some of their limbs; so long as we traveled\ntogether they must remember that I was master, and not they. There being\nbut little room to doubt my determination, they immediately became very\nobedient, and never afterward gave me any trouble, or imagined that they\nhad any right to my property.\n\n13TH. We went forward some miles, but were brought to a stand by the\nseverity of my fever on the banks of a branch of the Loajima, another\ntributary of the Kasai. I was in a state of partial coma until late at\nnight, when it became necessary for me to go out; and I was surprised\nto find that my men had built a little stockade, and some of them took\ntheir spears and acted as a guard. I found that we were surrounded by\nenemies, and a party of Chiboque lay near the gateway, after having\npreferred the demand of \"a man, an ox, a gun, or a tusk.\" My men had\nprepared for defense in case of a night attack, and when the Chiboque\nwished to be shown where I lay sick, they very properly refused to point\nme out. In the morning I went out to the Chiboque, and found that they\nanswered me civilly regarding my intentions in opening the country,\nteaching them, etc., etc. They admitted that their chiefs would be\npleased with the prospect of friendship, and now only wished to exchange\ntokens of good-will with me, and offered three pigs, which they hoped I\nwould accept. The people here are in the habit of making a present, and\nthen demanding whatever they choose in return. We had been forewarned of\nthis by our guides, so I tried to decline, by asking if they would eat\none of the pigs in company with us. To this proposition they said that\nthey durst not accede. I then accepted the present in the hope that\nthe blame of deficient friendly feeling might not rest with me, and\npresented a razor, two bunches of beads, and twelve copper rings,\ncontributed by my men from their arms. They went off to report to their\nchief; and as I was quite unable to move from excessive giddiness, we\ncontinued in the same spot on Tuesday evening, when they returned with\na message couched in very plain terms, that a man, tusk, gun, or even\nan ox, alone would be acceptable; that he had every thing else in his\npossession but oxen, and that, whatever I should please to demand from\nhim, he would gladly give it. As this was all said civilly, and\nthere was no help for it if we refused but bloodshed, I gave a tired\nriding-ox. My late chief mutineer, an Ambonda man, was now over-loyal,\nfor he armed himself and stood at the gateway. He would rather die than\nsee his father imposed on; but I ordered Mosantu to take him out of the\nway, which he did promptly, and allowed the Chiboque to march off well\npleased with their booty. I told my men that I esteemed one of their\nlives of more value than all the oxen we had, and that the only cause\nwhich could induce me to fight would be to save the lives and liberties\nof the majority. In the propriety of this they all agreed, and said\nthat, if the Chiboque molested us who behaved so peaceably, the\nguilt would be on their heads. This is a favorite mode of expression\nthroughout the whole country. All are anxious to give explanation of any\nacts they have performed, and conclude the narration with, \"I have no\nguilt or blame\" (\"molatu\"). \"They have the guilt.\" I never could be\npositive whether the idea in their minds is guilt in the sight of the\nDeity, or of mankind only.\n\nNext morning the robber party came with about thirty yards of strong\nstriped English calico, an axe, and two hoes for our acceptance, and\nreturned the copper rings, as the chief was a great man, and did not\nneed the ornaments of my men, but we noticed that they were taken back\nagain. I divided the cloth among my men, and pleased them a little by\nthus compensating for the loss of the ox. I advised the chief, whose\nname we did not learn, as he did not deign to appear except under the\nalias Matiamvo, to get cattle for his own use, and expressed sorrow\nthat I had none wherewith to enable him to make a commencement. Rains\nprevented our proceeding till Thursday morning, and then messengers\nappeared to tell us that their chief had learned that all the cloth sent\nby him had not been presented; that the copper rings had been secreted\nby the persons ordered to restore them to us, and that he had stripped\nthe thievish emissaries of their property as a punishment. Our guides\nthought these were only spies of a larger party, concealed in the forest\nthrough which we were now about to pass. We prepared for defense by\nmarching in a compact body, and allowing no one to straggle far behind\nthe others. We marched through many miles of gloomy forest in gloomier\nsilence, but nothing disturbed us. We came to a village, and found\nall the men absent, the guides thought, in the forest, with their\ncountrymen. I was too ill to care much whether we were attacked or not.\nThough a pouring rain came on, as we were all anxious to get away out\nof a bad neighborhood, we proceeded. The thick atmosphere prevented my\nseeing the creeping plants in time to avoid them; so Pitsane, Mohorisi,\nand I, who alone were mounted, were often caught; and as there is no\nstopping the oxen when they have the prospect of giving the rider a\ntumble, we came frequently to the ground. In addition to these mishaps,\nSinbad went off at a plunging gallop, the bridle broke, and I came down\nbackward on the crown of my head. He gave me a kick on the thigh at the\nsame time. I felt none the worse for this rough treatment, but would\nnot recommend it to others as a palliative in cases of fever! This\nlast attack of fever was so obstinate that it reduced me almost to a\nskeleton. The blanket which I used as a saddle on the back of the ox,\nbeing frequently wet, remained so beneath me even in the hot sun, and,\naided by the heat of the ox, caused extensive abrasion of the\nskin, which was continually healing and getting sore again. To this\ninconvenience was now added the chafing of my projecting bones on the\nhard bed.\n\nOn Friday we came to a village of civil people on the banks of the\nLoajima itself, and we were wet all day in consequence of crossing it.\nThe bridges over it, and another stream which we crossed at midday, were\nsubmerged, as we have hitherto invariably found, by a flood of perfectly\nclear water. At the second ford we were met by a hostile party who\nrefused us further passage. I ordered my men to proceed in the same\ndirection we had been pursuing, but our enemies spread themselves out in\nfront of us with loud cries. Our numbers were about equal to theirs\nthis time, so I moved on at the head of my men. Some ran off to\nother villages, or back to their own village, on pretense of getting\nammunition; others called out that all traders came to them, and that we\nmust do the same. As these people had plenty of iron-headed arrows and\nsome guns, when we came to the edge of the forest I ordered my men to\nput the luggage in our centre; and, if our enemies did not fire, to cut\ndown some young trees and make a screen as quickly as possible, but do\nnothing to them except in case of actual attack. I then dismounted, and,\nadvancing a little toward our principal opponent, showed him how easily\nI could kill him, but pointed upward, saying, \"I fear God.\" He did the\nsame, placing his hand on his heart, pointing upward, and saying, \"I\nfear to kill; but come to our village; come--do come.\" At this juncture,\nthe old head man, Ionga Panza, a venerable negro, came up, and I invited\nhim and all to be seated, that we might talk the matter over. Ionga\nPanza soon let us know that he thought himself very ill treated in being\npassed by. As most skirmishes arise from misunderstanding, this might\nhave been a serious one; for, like all the tribes near the Portuguese\nsettlements, people here imagine that they have a right to demand\npayment from every one who passes through the country; and now, though\nIonga Panza was certainly no match for my men, yet they were determined\nnot to forego their right without a struggle. I removed with my men\nto the vicinity of the village, thankful that no accident had as yet\nbrought us into actual collision.\n\nThe reason why the people have imbibed the idea so strongly that they\nhave a right to demand payment for leave to pass through the country is\nprobably this. They have seen no traders except those either engaged\nin purchasing slaves, or who have slaves in their employment. These\nslave-traders have always been very much at the mercy of the chiefs\nthrough whose country they have passed; for if they afforded a ready\nasylum for runaway slaves, the traders might be deserted at any moment,\nand stripped of their property altogether. They are thus obliged to\ncurry favor with the chiefs, so as to get a safe conduct from them. The\nsame system is adopted to induce the chiefs to part with their people,\nwhom all feel to be the real source of their importance in the country.\nOn the return of the traders from the interior with chains of slaves,\nit is so easy for a chief who may be so disposed to take away a chain of\neight or ten unresisting slaves, that the merchant is fain to give any\namount of presents in order to secure the good-will of the rulers. The\nindependent chiefs, not knowing why their favor is so eagerly sought,\nbecome excessively proud and supercilious in their demands, and look\nupon white men with the greatest contempt. To such lengths did the\nBangala, a tribe near to which we had now approached, proceed a few\nyears ago, that they compelled the Portuguese traders to pay for water,\nwood, and even grass, and every possible pretext was invented for\nlevying fines; and these were patiently submitted to so long as the\nslave-trade continued to flourish. We had unconsciously come in contact\nwith a system which was quite unknown in the country from which my men\nhad set out. An English trader may there hear a demand for payment of\nguides, but never, so far as I am aware, is he asked to pay for leave\nto traverse a country. The idea does not seem to have entered the native\nmind, except through slave-traders, for the aborigines all acknowledge\nthat the untilled land, not needed for pasturage, belongs to God alone,\nand that no harm is done by people passing through it. I rather believe\nthat, wherever the slave-trade has not penetrated, the visits of\nstrangers are esteemed a real privilege.\n\nThe village of old Ionga Panza (lat. 10d 25' S., long. 20d 15' E.) is\nsmall, and embowered in lofty evergreen trees, which were hung around\nwith fine festoons of creepers. He sent us food immediately, and soon\nafterward a goat, which was considered a handsome gift, there being but\nfew domestic animals, though the country is well adapted for them. I\nsuspect this, like the country of Shinte and Katema, must have been a\ntsetse district, and only recently rendered capable of supporting\nother domestic animals besides the goat, by the destruction of the game\nthrough the extensive introduction of fire-arms. We might all have been\nas ignorant of the existence of this insect plague as the Portuguese,\nhad it not been for the numerous migrations of pastoral tribes which\ntook place in the south in consequence of Zulu irruptions.\n\nDuring these exciting scenes I always forgot my fever, but a terrible\nsense of sinking came back with the feeling of safety. The same demand\nof payment for leave to pass was made on the 20th by old Ionga Panza\nas by the other Chiboque. I offered the shell presented by Shinte, but\nIonga Panza said he was too old for ornaments. We might have succeeded\nvery well with him, for he was by no means unreasonable, and had but\na very small village of supporters; but our two guides from Kangenke\ncomplicated our difficulties by sending for a body of Bangala traders,\nwith a view to force us to sell the tusks of Sekeletu, and pay them with\nthe price. We offered to pay them handsomely if they would perform their\npromise of guiding us to Cassange, but they knew no more of the paths\nthan we did; and my men had paid them repeatedly, and tried to get rid\nof them, but could not. They now joined with our enemies, and so did the\ntraders. Two guns and some beads belonging to the latter were standing\nin our encampment, and the guides seized them and ran off. As my men\nknew that we should be called upon to replace them, they gave chase, and\nwhen the guides saw that they would be caught, they threw down the guns,\ndirected their flight to the village, and rushed into a hut. The doorway\nis not much higher than that of a dog's kennel. One of the guides was\nreached by one of my men as he was in the act of stooping to get in, and\na cut was inflicted on a projecting part of the body which would have\nmade any one in that posture wince. The guns were restored, but the\nbeads were lost in the flight. All I had remaining of my stock of beads\ncould not replace those lost; and though we explained that we had no\npart in the guilt of the act, the traders replied that we had brought\nthe thieves into the country; these were of the Bangala, who had been\naccustomed to plague the Portuguese in the most vexatious way. We were\nstriving to get a passage through the country, and, feeling anxious that\nno crime whatever should be laid to our charge, tried the conciliatory\nplan here, though we were not, as in the other instances, likely to be\noverpowered by numbers.\n\nMy men offered all their ornaments, and I offered all my beads and\nshirts; but, though we had come to the village against our will, and the\nguides had also followed us contrary to our desire, and had even sent\nfor the Bangala traders without our knowledge or consent, yet matters\ncould not be arranged without our giving an ox and one of the tusks.\nWe were all becoming disheartened, and could not wonder that native\nexpeditions from the interior to the coast had generally failed to reach\ntheir destinations. My people were now so much discouraged that some\nproposed to return home; the prospect of being obliged to return when\njust on the threshold of the Portuguese settlements distressed me\nexceedingly. After using all my powers of persuasion, I declared to them\nthat if they returned I would go on alone, and went into my little tent\nwith the mind directed to Him who hears the sighing of the soul, and was\nsoon followed by the head of Mohorisi, saying, \"We will never leave you.\nDo not be disheartened. Wherever you lead we will follow. Our remarks\nwere made only on account of the injustice of these people.\" Others\nfollowed, and with the most artless simplicity of manner told me to be\ncomforted--\"they were all my children; they knew no one but Sekeletu\nand me, and they would die for me; they had not fought because I did\nnot wish it; they had just spoken in the bitterness of their spirit, and\nwhen feeling that they could do nothing; but if these enemies begin you\nwill see what we can do.\" One of the oxen we offered to the Chiboque had\nbeen rejected because he had lost part of his tail, as they thought that\nit had been cut off and witchcraft medicine inserted; and some mirth was\nexcited by my proposing to raise a similar objection to all the oxen\nwe still had in our possession. The remaining four soon presented a\nsingular shortness of their caudal extremities, and though no one ever\nasked whether they had medicine in the stumps or no, we were no more\ntroubled by the demand for an ox! We now slaughtered another ox, that\nthe spectacle might not be seen of the owners of the cattle fasting\nwhile the Chiboque were feasting.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 19.\n\nGuides prepaid--Bark Canoes--Deserted by Guides--Mistakes respecting\nthe Coanza--Feelings of freed Slaves--Gardens and Villages--Native\nTraders--A Grave--Valley of the Quango--Bamboo--White Larvae used as\nFood--Bashinje Insolence--A posing Question--The Chief Sansawe--His\nHostility--Pass him safely--The River Quango--Chief's mode of\ndressing his Hair--Opposition--Opportune Aid by Cypriano--His generous\nHospitality--Ability of Half-castes to read and write--Books and\nImages--Marauding Party burned in the Grass--Arrive at Cassange--A good\nSupper--Kindness of Captain Neves--Portuguese Curiosity and Questions--\nAnniversary of the Resurrection--No Prejudice against Color--Country\naround Cassange--Sell Sekeletu's Ivory--Makololo's Surprise at the\nhigh Price obtained--Proposal to return Home, and Reasons--\nSoldier-guide--Hill Kasala--Tala Mungongo, Village of--Civility\nof Basongo--True Negroes--A Field of Wheat--\nCarriers--Sleeping-places--Fever--Enter District of Ambaca--Good Fruits\nof Jesuit Teaching--The 'Tampan'; its Bite--Universal Hospitality of\nthe Portuguese--A Tale of the Mambari--Exhilarating Effects of\nHighland Scenery--District of Golungo Alto--Want of good\nRoads--Fertility--Forests of gigantic Timber--Native Carpenters--Coffee\nEstate--Sterility of Country near the Coast--Mosquitoes--Fears of the\nMakololo--Welcome by Mr. Gabriel to Loanda.\n\n\n\n24TH. Ionga Panza's sons agreed to act as guides into the territory of\nthe Portuguese if I would give them the shell given by Shinte. I was\nstrongly averse to this, and especially to give it beforehand, but\nyielded to the entreaty of my people to appear as if showing confidence\nin these hopeful youths. They urged that they wished to leave the\nshell with their wives, as a sort of payment to them for enduring their\nhusbands' absence so long. Having delivered the precious shell, we went\nwest-by-north to the River Chikapa, which here (lat. 10d 22' S.) is\nforty or fifty yards wide, and at present was deep; it was seen flowing\nover a rocky, broken cataract with great noise about half a mile above\nour ford. We were ferried over in a canoe, made out of a single piece\nof bark sewed together at the ends, and having sticks placed in it at\ndifferent parts to act as ribs. The word Chikapa means bark or skin; and\nas this is the only river in which we saw this kind of canoe used, and\nwe heard that this stream is so low during most of the year as to be\neasily fordable, it probably derives its name from the use made of the\nbark canoes when it is in flood. We now felt the loss of our pontoon,\nfor the people to whom the canoe belonged made us pay once when we began\nto cross, then a second time when half of us were over, and a third time\nwhen all were over but my principal man Pitsane and myself. Loyanke took\noff his cloth and paid my passage with it. The Makololo always ferried\ntheir visitors over rivers without pay, and now began to remark that\nthey must in future fleece the Mambari as these Chiboque had done to us;\nthey had all been loud in condemnation of the meanness, and when I asked\nif they could descend to be equally mean, I was answered that they\nwould only do it in revenge. They like to have a plausible excuse for\nmeanness.\n\nNext morning our guides went only about a mile, and then told us they\nwould return home. I expected this when paying them beforehand, in\naccordance with the entreaties of the Makololo, who are rather ignorant\nof the world. Very energetic remonstrances were addressed to the guides,\nbut they slipped off one by one in the thick forest through which\nwe were passing, and I was glad to hear my companions coming to the\nconclusion that, as we were now in parts visited by traders, we did not\nrequire the guides, whose chief use had been to prevent misapprehension\nof our objects in the minds of the villagers. The country was somewhat\nmore undulating now than it had been, and several fine small streams\nflowed in deep woody dells. The trees are very tall and straight, and\nthe forests gloomy and damp; the ground in these solitudes is quite\ncovered with yellow and brown mosses, and light-colored lichens clothe\nall the trees. The soil is extremely fertile, being generally a black\nloam covered with a thick crop of tall grasses. We passed several\nvillages too. The head man of a large one scolded us well for passing,\nwhen he intended to give us food. Where slave-traders have been in the\nhabit of coming, they present food, then demand three or four times its\nvalue as a custom. We were now rather glad to get past villages without\nintercourse with the inhabitants.\n\nWe were traveling W.N.W., and all the rivulets we here crossed had a\nnortherly course, and were reported to fall into the Kasai or Loke; most\nof them had the peculiar boggy banks of the country. As we were now in\nthe alleged latitude of the Coanza, I was much astonished at the\nentire absence of any knowledge of that river among the natives of\nthis quarter. But I was then ignorant of the fact that the Coanza rises\nconsiderably to the west of this, and has a comparatively short course\nfrom its source to the sea.\n\nThe famous Dr. Lacerda seems to have labored under the same mistake as\nmyself, for he recommended the government of Angola to establish a chain\nof forts along the banks of that river, with a view to communication\nwith the opposite coast. As a chain of forts along its course would lead\nsouthward instead of eastward, we may infer that the geographical data\nwithin reach of that eminent man were no better than those according to\nwhich I had directed my course to the Coanza where it does not exist.\n\n26TH. We spent Sunday on the banks of the Quilo or Kweelo, here a stream\nof about ten yards wide. It runs in a deep glen, the sides of which are\nalmost five hundred yards of slope, and rocky, the rocks being hardened\ncalcareous tufa lying on clay shale and sandstone below, with a capping\nof ferruginous conglomerate. The scenery would have been very\npleasing, but fever took away much of the joy of life, and severe daily\nintermittents rendered me very weak and always glad to recline.\n\nAs we were now in the slave-market, it struck me that the sense of\ninsecurity felt by the natives might account for the circumstance that\nthose who have been sold as slaves and freed again, when questioned,\nprofess to like the new state better than their primitive one. They\nlived on rich, fertile plains, which seldom inspire that love of country\nwhich the mountains do. If they had been mountaineers, they would have\npined for home. To one who has observed the hard toil of the poor in old\ncivilized countries, the state in which the inhabitants here live is one\nof glorious ease. The country is full of little villages. Food abounds,\nand very little labor is required for its cultivation; the soil is so\nrich that no manure is required; when a garden becomes too poor for good\ncrops of maize, millet, etc., the owner removes a little farther into\nthe forest, applies fire round the roots of the larger trees to kill\nthem, cuts down the smaller, and a new, rich garden is ready for the\nseed. The gardens usually present the appearance of a large number of\ntall, dead trees standing without bark, and maize growing between them.\nThe old gardens continue to yield manioc for years after the owners\nhave removed to other spots for the sake of millet and maize. But, while\nvegetable aliment is abundant, there is a want of salt and animal food,\nso that numberless traps are seen, set for mice, in all the forests of\nLonda. The vegetable diet leaves great craving for flesh, and I have no\ndoubt but that, when an ordinary quantity of mixed food is supplied to\nfreed slaves, they actually do feel more comfortable than they did at\nhome. Their assertions, however, mean but little, for they always try to\ngive an answer to please, and if one showed them a nugget of gold, they\nwould generally say that these abounded in their country.\n\nOne could detect, in passing, the variety of character found among\nthe owners of gardens and villages. Some villages were the pictures of\nneatness. We entered others enveloped in a wilderness of weeds, so high\nthat, when sitting on ox-back in the middle of the village, we could\nonly see the tops of the huts. If we entered at midday, the owners\nwould come lazily forth, pipe in hand, and leisurely puff away in dreamy\nindifference. In some villages weeds are not allowed to grow; cotton,\ntobacco, and different plants used as relishes are planted round the\nhuts; fowls are kept in cages, and the gardens present the pleasant\nspectacle of different kinds of grain and pulse at various periods of\ntheir growth. I sometimes admired the one class, and at times wished I\ncould have taken the world easy for a time like the other. Every village\nswarms with children, who turn out to see the white man pass, and run\nalong with strange cries and antics; some run up trees to get a good\nview: all are agile climbers throughout Londa. At friendly villages they\nhave scampered alongside our party for miles at a time. We usually made\na little hedge around our sheds; crowds of women came to the entrance of\nit, with children on their backs, and long pipes in their mouths, gazing\nat us for hours. The men, rather than disturb them, crawled through a\nhole in the hedge, and it was common to hear a man in running off say\nto them, \"I am going to tell my mamma to come and see the white man's\noxen.\"\n\nIn continuing our W.N.W. course, we met many parties of native traders,\neach carrying some pieces of cloth and salt, with a few beads to\nbarter for bees'-wax. They are all armed with Portuguese guns, and have\ncartridges with iron balls. When we meet we usually stand a few minutes.\nThey present a little salt, and we give a bit of ox-hide, or some other\ntrifle, and then part with mutual good wishes. The hide of the oxen we\nslaughtered had been a valuable addition to our resources, for we found\nit in so great repute for girdles all through Loanda that we cut up\nevery skin into strips about two inches broad, and sold them for meal\nand manioc as we went along. As we came nearer Angola we found them of\nless value, as the people there possess cattle themselves.\n\nThe village on the Kweelo, at which we spent Sunday, was that of a\ncivil, lively old man, called Sakandala, who offered no objections to\nour progress. We found we should soon enter on the territory of the\nBashinje (Chinge of the Portuguese), who are mixed with another tribe,\nnamed Bangala, which have been at war with the Babindele or Portuguese.\nRains and fever, as usual, helped to impede our progress until we were\nput on the path which leads from Cassange and Bihe to Matiamvo, by a\nhead man named Kamboela. This was a well-beaten footpath, and soon after\nentering upon it we met a party of half-caste traders from Bihe, who\nconfirmed the information we had already got of this path leading\nstraight to Cassange, through which they had come on their way from Bihe\nto Cabango. They kindly presented my men with some tobacco, and marveled\ngreatly when they found that I had never been able to teach myself to\nsmoke. On parting with them we came to a trader's grave. This was marked\nby a huge cone of sticks placed in the form of the roof of a hut, with\na palisade around it. At an opening on the western side an ugly idol was\nplaced: several strings of beads and bits of cloth were hung around. We\nlearned that he had been a half-caste, who had died on his way back from\nMatiamvo.\n\nAs we were now alone, and sure of being on the way to the abodes of\ncivilization, we went on briskly.\n\nOn the 30th we came to a sudden descent from the high land, indented\nby deep, narrow valleys, over which we had lately been traveling. It is\ngenerally so steep that it can only be descended at particular points,\nand even there I was obliged to dismount, though so weak that I had to\nbe led by my companions to prevent my toppling over in walking down. It\nwas annoying to feel myself so helpless, for I never liked to see a man,\neither sick or well, giving in effeminately. Below us lay the valley of\nthe Quango. If you sit on the spot where Mary Queen of Scots viewed the\nbattle of Langside, and look down on the vale of Clyde, you may see\nin miniature the glorious sight which a much greater and richer valley\npresented to our view. It is about a hundred miles broad, clothed with\ndark forest, except where the light green grass covers meadow-lands on\nthe Quango, which here and there glances out in the sun as it wends its\nway to the north. The opposite side of this great valley appears like a\nrange of lofty mountains, and the descent into it about a mile, which,\nmeasured perpendicularly, may be from a thousand to twelve hundred feet.\nEmerging from the gloomy forests of Londa, this magnificent prospect\nmade us all feel as if a weight had been lifted off our eyelids. A cloud\nwas passing across the middle of the valley, from which rolling thunder\npealed, while above all was glorious sunlight; and when we went down\nto the part where we saw it passing, we found that a very heavy\nthunder-shower had fallen under the path of the cloud; and the bottom\nof the valley, which from above seemed quite smooth, we discovered to be\nintersected and furrowed by great numbers of deep-cut streams. Looking\nback from below, the descent appears as the edge of a table-land, with\nnumerous indented dells and spurs jutting out all along, giving it a\nserrated appearance. Both the top and sides of the sierra are covered\nwith trees, but large patches of the more perpendicular parts are bare,\nand exhibit the red soil, which is general over the region we have now\nentered.\n\nThe hollow affords a section of this part of the country; and we find\nthat the uppermost stratum is the ferruginous conglomerate already\nmentioned. The matrix is rust of iron (or hydrous peroxide of iron and\nhematite), and in it are imbedded water-worn pebbles of sandstone and\nquartz. As this is the rock underlying the soil of a large part of\nLonda, its formation must have preceded the work of denudation by an\narm of the sea, which washed away the enormous mass of matter required\nbefore the valley of Cassange could assume its present form. The strata\nunder the conglomerate are all of red clay shale of different degrees of\nhardness, the most indurated being at the bottom. This red clay shale\nis named \"keele\" in Scotland, and has always been considered as an\nindication of gold; but the only thing we discovered was that it had\ngiven rise to a very slippery clay soil, so different from that which\nwe had just left that Mashauana, who always prided himself on being an\nadept at balancing himself in the canoe on water, and so sure of foot on\nland that he could afford to express contempt for any one less gifted,\ncame down in a very sudden and undignified manner, to the delight of all\nwhom he had previously scolded for falling.\n\nHere we met with the bamboo as thick as a man's arm, and many new trees.\nOthers, which we had lost sight of since leaving Shinte, now reappeared;\nbut nothing struck us more than the comparative scragginess of the\ntrees in this hollow. Those on the high lands we had left were tall\nand straight; here they were stunted, and not by any means so closely\nplanted together. The only way I could account for this was by\nsupposing, as the trees were of different species, that the greater\naltitude suited the nature of those above better than the lower altitude\ndid the other species below.\n\nSUNDAY, APRIL 2D. We rested beside a small stream, and our hunger being\nnow very severe, from having lived on manioc alone since leaving Ionza\nPanza's, we slaughtered one of our four remaining oxen. The people of\nthis district seem to feel the craving for animal food as much as we\ndid, for they spend much energy in digging large white larvae out of the\ndamp soil adjacent to their streams, and use them as a relish to their\nvegetable diet. The Bashinje refused to sell any food for the poor old\nornaments my men had now to offer. We could get neither meal nor manioc,\nbut should have been comfortable had not the Bashinje chief Sansawe\npestered us for the customary present. The native traders informed us\nthat a display of force was often necessary before they could pass this\nman.\n\nSansawe, the chief of a portion of the Bashinje, having sent the usual\nformal demand for a man, an ox, or a tusk, spoke very contemptuously of\nthe poor things we offered him instead. We told his messengers that the\ntusks were Sekeletu's: every thing was gone except my instruments, which\ncould be of no use to them whatever. One of them begged some meat, and,\nwhen it was refused, said to my men, \"You may as well give it, for we\nshall take all after we have killed you to-morrow.\" The more humbly we\nspoke, the more insolent the Bashinje became, till at last we were all\nfeeling savage and sulky, but continued to speak as civilly as we could.\nThey are fond of argument, and when I denied their right to demand\ntribute from a white man, who did not trade in slaves, an old\nwhite-headed negro put rather a posing question: \"You know that God has\nplaced chiefs among us whom we ought to support. How is it that you, who\nhave a book that tells you about him, do not come forward at once to pay\nthis chief tribute like every one else?\" I replied by asking, \"How could\nI know that this was a chief, who had allowed me to remain a day and a\nhalf near him without giving me any thing to eat?\" This, which to the\nuninitiated may seem sophistry, was to the Central Africans quite a\nrational question, for he at once admitted that food ought to have been\nsent, and added that probably his chief was only making it ready for me,\nand that it would come soon.\n\nAfter being wearied by talking all day to different parties sent by\nSansawe, we were honored by a visit from himself: he is quite a young\nman, and of rather a pleasing countenance. There can not have been much\nintercourse between real Portuguese and these people even here, so close\nto the Quango, for Sansawe asked me to show him my hair, on the ground\nthat, though he had heard of it, and some white men had even passed\nthrough his country, he had never seen straight hair before. This is\nquite possible, as most of the slave-traders are not Portuguese, but\nhalf-castes. The difference between their wool and our hair caused\nhim to burst into a laugh, and the contrast between the exposed and\nunexposed parts of my skin, when exhibited in evidence of our all being\nmade of one stock originally, and the children of one Maker, seemed to\nstrike him with wonder. I then showed him my watch, and wished to win my\nway into his confidence by conversation; but, when about to exhibit\nmy pocket compass, he desired me to desist, as he was afraid of my\nwonderful things. I told him, if he knew my aims as the tribes in the\ninterior did, and as I hoped he would yet know them and me, he would be\nglad to stay, and see also the pictures of the magic lantern; but, as\nit was now getting dark, he had evidently got enough of my witchery,\nand began to use some charms to dispel any kindly feelings he might have\nfound stealing round his heart. He asked leave to go, and when his party\nmoved off a little way, he sent for my spokesman, and told him that, \"if\nwe did not add a red jacket and a man to our gift of a few copper rings\nand a few pounds of meat, we must return by the way we had come.\" I\nsaid in reply \"that we should certainly go forward next day, and if he\ncommenced hostilities, the blame before God would be that of Sansawe;\"\nand my man added of his own accord, \"How many white men have you killed\nin this path?\" which might be interpreted into, \"You have never killed\nany white man, and you will find ours more difficult to manage than you\nimagine.\" It expressed a determination, which we had often repeated to\neach other, to die rather than yield one of our party to be a slave.\n\nHunger has a powerful effect on the temper. When we had got a good meal\nof meat, we could all bear the petty annoyances of these borderers on\nthe more civilized region in front with equanimity; but having suffered\nconsiderably of late, we were all rather soured in our feelings, and not\nunfrequently I overheard my companions remark in their own tongue, in\nanswer to threats of attack, \"That's what we want: only begin then;\" or\nwith clenched teeth they would exclaim to each other, \"These things have\nnever traveled, and do not know what men are.\" The worrying, of which\nI give only a slight sketch, had considerable influence on my own mind,\nand more especially as it was impossible to make any allowance for the\nBashinje, such as I was willing to award to the Chiboque. They saw that\nwe had nothing to give, nor would they be benefited in the least by\nenforcing the impudent order to return whence we had come. They were\nadding insult to injury, and this put us all into a fighting spirit,\nand, as nearly as we could judge, we expected to be obliged to cut our\nway through the Bashinje next morning.\n\n3D APRIL. As soon as day dawned we were astir, and, setting off in a\ndrizzling rain, passed close to the village. This rain probably damped\nthe ardor of the robbers. We, however, expected to be fired upon from\nevery clump of trees, or from some of the rocky hillocks among which we\nwere passing; and it was only after two hours' march that we began to\nbreathe freely, and my men remarked, in thankfulness, \"We are children\nof Jesus.\" We continued our course, notwithstanding the rain, across the\nbottom of the Quango Valley, which we found broken by clay shale rocks\njutting out, though lying nearly horizontally. The grass in all the\nhollows, at this time quite green, was about two feet higher than my\nhead while sitting on ox-back. This grass, wetted by the rain, acted as\na shower-bath on one side of our bodies; and some deep gullies, full of\nDISCOLORED water, completed the cooling process. We passed many villages\nduring this drenching, one of which possessed a flock of sheep; and\nafter six hours we came to a stand near the River Quango (lat. 9d\n53' S., long. 18d 37' E.), which may be called the boundary of the\nPortuguese claims to territory on the west. As I had now no change of\nclothing, I was glad to cower under the shelter of my blanket, thankful\nto God for his goodness in bringing us so far without losing one of the\nparty.\n\n4TH APRIL. We were now on the banks of the Quango, a river one hundred\nand fifty yards wide, and very deep. The water was discolored--a\ncircumstance which we had observed in no river in Londa or in the\nMakololo country. This fine river flows among extensive meadows clothed\nwith gigantic grass and reeds, and in a direction nearly north.\n\nThe Quango is said by the natives to contain many venomous water-snakes,\nwhich congregate near the carcass of any hippopotamus that may be killed\nin it. If this is true, it may account for all the villages we saw being\nsituated far from its banks. We were advised not to sleep near it; but,\nas we were anxious to cross to the western side, we tried to induce some\nof the Bashinje to lend us canoes for the purpose. This brought out the\nchief of these parts, who informed us that all the canoe-men were his\nchildren, and nothing could be done without his authority. He then made\nthe usual demand for a man, an ox, or a gun, adding that otherwise we\nmust return to the country from which we had come. As I did not believe\nthat this man had any power over the canoes of the other side, and\nsuspected that if I gave him my blanket--the only thing I now had in\nreserve--he might leave us in the lurch after all, I tried to persuade\nmy men to go at once to the bank, about two miles off, and obtain\npossession of the canoes before we gave up the blanket; but they thought\nthat this chief might attack us in the act of crossing, should we do so.\nThe chief came himself to our encampment and made his demand again. My\nmen stripped off the last of their copper rings and gave them; but he\nwas still intent on a man. He thought, as others did, that my men were\nslaves. He was a young man, with his woolly hair elaborately dressed:\nthat behind was made up into a cone, about eight inches in diameter\nat the base, carefully swathed round with red and black thread. As I\nresisted the proposal to deliver up my blanket until they had placed us\non the western bank, this chief continued to worry us with his demands\ntill I was tired. My little tent was now in tatters, and having a wider\nhole behind than the door in front, I tried in vain to lie down out of\nsight of our persecutors. We were on a reedy flat, and could not follow\nour usual plan of a small stockade, in which we had time to think over\nand concoct our plans. As I was trying to persuade my men to move on\nto the bank in spite of these people, a young half-caste Portuguese\nsergeant of militia, Cypriano di Abreu, made his appearance, and gave\nthe same advice. He had come across the Quango in search of bees'-wax.\nWhen we moved off from the chief who had been plaguing us, his people\nopened a fire from our sheds, and continued to blaze away some time in\nthe direction we were going, but none of the bullets reached us. It\nis probable that they expected a demonstration of the abundance of\nammunition they possessed would make us run; but when we continued\nto move quietly to the ford, they proceeded no farther than our\nsleeping-place. Cypriano assisted us in making a more satisfactory\narrangement with the ferrymen than parting with my blanket; and as soon\nas we reached the opposite bank we were in the territory of the Bangala,\nwho are subjects of the Portuguese, and often spoken of as the Cassanges\nor Cassantse; and happily all our difficulties with the border tribes\nwere at an end.\n\nPassing with light hearts through the high grass by a narrow footpath\nfor about three miles to the west of the river, we came to several neat\nsquare houses, with many cleanly-looking half-caste Portuguese standing\nin front of them to salute us. They are all enrolled in the militia, and\nour friend Cypriano is the commander of a division established here.\nThe Bangala were very troublesome to the Portuguese traders, and at last\nproceeded so far as to kill one of them; the government of Angola then\nsent an expedition against them, which being successful, the Bangala\nwere dispersed, and are now returning to their former abodes as\nvassals. The militia are quartered among them, and engage in trade and\nagriculture for their support, as no pay is given to this branch of the\nservice by the government.\n\nWe came to the dwelling of Cypriano after dark, and I pitched my little\ntent in front of it for the night. We had the company of mosquitoes\nhere. We never found them troublesome on the banks of the pure streams\nof Londa. On the morning of the 5th Cypriano generously supplied my\nmen with pumpkins and maize, and then invited me to breakfast, which\nconsisted of ground-nuts and roasted maize, then boiled manioc roots\nand ground-nuts, with guavas and honey as a dessert. I felt sincerely\ngrateful for this magnificent breakfast.\n\nAt dinner Cypriano was equally bountiful, and several of his friends\njoined us in doing justice to his hospitality. Before eating, all had\nwater poured on the hands by a female slave to wash them. One of the\nguests cut up a fowl with a knife and fork. Neither forks nor spoons\nwere used in eating. The repast was partaken of with decency and good\nmanners, and concluded by washing the hands as at first.\n\nAll of them could read and write with ease. I examined the books they\npossessed, and found a small work on medicine, a small cyclopaedia, and\na Portuguese dictionary, in which the definition of a \"priest\" seemed\nstrange to a Protestant, namely, \"one who takes care of the conscience.\"\nThey had also a few tracts containing the Lives of the Saints, and\nCypriano had three small wax images of saints in his room. One of these\nwas St. Anthony, who, had he endured the privations he did in his cell\nin looking after these lost sheep, would have lived to better purpose.\nNeither Cypriano nor his companions knew what the Bible was, but they\nhad relics in German-silver cases hung round their necks, to act as\ncharms and save them from danger by land or by water, in the same way as\nthe heathen have medicines. It is a pity that the Church to which they\nbelong, when unable to attend to the wants of her children, does not\ngive them the sacred writings in their own tongue; it would surely be\nbetter to see them good Protestants, if these would lead them to be so,\nthan entirely ignorant of God's message to man. For my part, I would\nmuch prefer to see the Africans good Roman Catholics than idolatrous\nheathen.\n\nMuch of the civility shown to us here was, no doubt, owing to the\nflattering letters of recommendation I carried from the Chevalier Du\nPrat, of Cape Town; but I am inclined to believe that my friend Cypriano\nwas influenced, too, by feelings of genuine kindness, for he quite bared\nhis garden in feeding us during the few days which I remained, anxiously\nexpecting the clouds to disperse, so far as to allow of my taking\nobservations for the determination of the position of the Quango. He\nslaughtered an ox for us, and furnished his mother and her maids with\nmanioc roots, to prepare farina for the four or five days of our journey\nto Cassange, and never even hinted at payment. My wretched appearance\nmust have excited his compassion. The farina is prepared by washing\nthe roots well, then rasping them down to a pulp. Next, this is roasted\nslightly on a metal plate over a fire, and is then used with meat as\na vegetable. It closely resembles wood-sawings, and on that account\nis named \"wood-meal\". It is insipid, and employed to lick up any gravy\nremaining on one's plate. Those who have become accustomed to it relish\nit even after they have returned to Europe.\n\nThe manioc cultivated here is of the sweet variety; the bitter, to which\nwe were accustomed in Londa, is not to be found very extensively in\nthis fertile valley. May is the beginning of winter, yet many of the\ninhabitants were busy planting maize; that which we were now eating was\nplanted in the beginning of February. The soil is exceedingly fertile,\nof a dark red color, and covered with such a dense, heavy crop of coarse\ngrass, that when a marauding party of Ambonda once came for plunder\nwhile it was in a dried state, the Bangala encircled the common enemy\nwith a fire which completely destroyed them. This, which is related on\nthe authority of Portuguese who were then in the country, I can easily\nbelieve to be true, for the stalks of the grass are generally as thick\nas goose-quills, and no flight could be made through the mass of grass\nin any direction where a footpath does not exist. Probably, in the case\nmentioned, the direction of the wind was such as to drive the flames\nacross the paths, and prevent escape along them. On one occasion I\nnearly lost my wagon by fire, in a valley where the grass was only about\nthree feet high. We were roused by the roar, as of a torrent, made by\nthe fire coming from the windward. I immediately set fire to that on our\nleeward, and had just time to drag the wagon on to the bare space there\nbefore the windward flames reached the place where it had stood.\n\nWe were detained by rains and a desire to ascertain our geographical\nposition till Monday, the 10th, and only got the latitude 9d 50' S.;\nand, after three days' pretty hard traveling through the long grass,\nreached Cassange, the farthest inland station of the Portuguese in\nWestern Africa. We crossed several fine little streams running into\nthe Quango; and as the grass continued to tower about two feet over our\nheads, it generally obstructed our view of the adjacent country, and\nsometimes hung over the path, making one side of the body wet with the\ndew every morning, or, when it rained, kept me wet during the whole day.\nI made my entrance in a somewhat forlorn state as to clothing among our\nPortuguese allies. The first gentleman I met in the village asked if\nI had a passport, and said it was necessary to take me before the\nauthorities. As I was in the same state of mind in which individuals are\nwho commit a petty depredation in order to obtain the shelter and food\nof a prison, I gladly accompanied him to the house of the commandant or\nChefe, Senhor de Silva Rego. Having shown my passport to this gentleman,\nhe politely asked me to supper, and, as we had eaten nothing except\nthe farina of Cypriano from the Quango to this, I suspect I appeared\nparticularly ravenous to the other gentlemen around the table. They\nseemed, however, to understand my position pretty well, from having all\ntraveled extensively themselves; had they not been present, I might have\nput some in my pocket to eat by night; for, after fever, the appetite\nis excessively keen, and manioc is one of the most unsatisfying kinds of\nfood. Captain Antonio Rodrigues Neves then kindly invited me to take\nup my abode in his house. Next morning this generous man arrayed me in\ndecent clothing, and continued during the whole period of my stay to\ntreat me as if I had been his brother. I feel deeply grateful to him for\nhis disinterested kindness. He not only attended to my wants, but also\nfurnished food for my famishing party free of charge.\n\nThe village of Cassange (pronounced Kassanje) is composed of thirty or\nforty traders' houses, scattered about without any regularity, on an\nelevated flat spot in the great Quango or Cassange valley. They are\nbuilt of wattle and daub, and surrounded by plantations of manioc,\nmaize, etc. Behind them there are usually kitchen gardens, in which\nthe common European vegetables, as potatoes, peas, cabbages, onions,\ntomatoes, etc., etc., grow. Guavas and bananas appear, from the size and\nabundance of the trees, to have been introduced many years ago, while\nthe land was still in the possession of the natives; but pine-apples,\norange, fig, and cashew trees have but lately been tried. There are\nabout forty Portuguese traders in this district, all of whom are\nofficers in the militia, and many of them have become rich from adopting\nthe plan of sending out Pombeiros, or native traders, with large\nquantities of goods, to trade in the more remote parts of the country.\nSome of the governors of Loanda, the capital of this, the kingdom of\nAngola, have insisted on the observance of a law which, from motives\nof humanity, forbids the Portuguese themselves from passing beyond the\nboundary. They seem to have taken it for granted that, in cases where\nthe white trader was killed, the aggression had been made by him, and\nthey wished to avoid the necessity of punishing those who had been\nprovoked to shed Portuguese blood. This indicates a much greater\nimpartiality than has obtained in our own dealings with the Caffres, for\nwe have engaged in most expensive wars with them without once inquiring\nwhether any of the fault lay with our frontier colonists. The Cassange\ntraders seem inclined to spread along the Quango, in spite of the desire\nof their government to keep them on one spot, for mutual protection in\ncase of war. If I might judge from the week of feasting I passed among\nthem, they are generally prosperous.\n\nAs I always preferred to appear in my own proper character, I was an\nobject of curiosity to these hospitable Portuguese. They evidently\nlooked upon me as an agent of the English government, engaged in some\nnew movement for the suppression of slavery. They could not divine what\na \"missionario\" had to do with the latitudes and longitudes, which I was\nintent on observing. When we became a little familiar, the questions put\nwere rather amusing: \"Is it common for missionaries to be doctors?\" \"Are\nyou a doctor of medicine and a 'doutor mathematico' too? You must be\nmore than a missionary to know how to calculate the longitude! Come,\ntell us at once what rank you hold in the English army.\" They may have\ngiven credit to my reason for wearing the mustache, as that explains why\nmen have beards and women have none; but that which puzzled many besides\nmy Cassange friends was the anomaly of my being a \"sacerdote\", with\na wife and four children! I usually got rid of the last question by\nputting another: \"Is it not better to have children with a wife, than\nto have children without a wife?\" But all were most kind and hospitable;\nand as one of their festivals was near, they invited me to partake of\nthe feast.\n\nThe anniversary of the Resurrection of our Savior was observed on the\n16th of April as a day of rejoicing, though the Portuguese have no\npriests at Cassange. The colored population dressed up a figure intended\nto represent Judas Iscariot, and paraded him on a riding-ox about the\nvillage; sneers and maledictions were freely bestowed on the poor wretch\nthus represented. The slaves and free colored population, dressed in\ntheir gayest clothing, made visits to all the principal merchants, and\nwishing them \"a good feast\", expected a present in return. This, though\nfrequently granted in the shape of pieces of calico to make new dresses,\nwas occasionally refused, but the rebuff did not much affect the\npetitioner.\n\nAt ten A.M. we went to the residence of the commandant, and on a signal\nbeing given, two of the four brass guns belonging to the government\ncommenced firing, and continued some time, to the great admiration of\nmy men, whose ideas of the power of a cannon are very exalted. The\nPortuguese flag was hoisted and trumpets sounded, as an expression\nof joy at the resurrection of our Lord. Captain Neves invited all the\nprincipal inhabitants of the place, and did what he could to feast them\nin a princely style. All manner of foreign preserved fruits and wine\nfrom Portugal, biscuits from America, butter from Cork, and beer\nfrom England, were displayed, and no expense spared in rendering the\nentertainment joyous. After the feast was over they sat down to the\ncommon amusement of card-playing, which continued till eleven o'clock at\nnight. As far as a mere traveler could judge, they seemed to be polite\nand willing to aid each other. They live in a febrile district, and\nmany of them had enlarged spleens. They have neither doctor, apothecary,\nschool, nor priest, and, when taken ill, trust to each other and to\nProvidence. As men left in such circumstances must think for themselves,\nthey have all a good idea of what ought to be done in the common\ndiseases of the country, and what they have of either medicine or skill\nthey freely impart to each other.\n\nNone of these gentlemen had Portuguese wives. They usually come to\nAfrica in order to make a little money, and return to Lisbon. Hence\nthey seldom bring their wives with them, and never can be successful\ncolonists in consequence. It is common for them to have families\nby native women. It was particularly gratifying to me, who had been\nfamiliar with the stupid prejudice against color, entertained only by\nthose who are themselves becoming tawny, to view the liberality with\nwhich people of color were treated by the Portuguese. Instances, so\ncommon in the South, in which half-caste children are abandoned, are\nhere extremely rare. They are acknowledged at table, and provided for by\ntheir fathers as if European. The colored clerks of the merchants sit at\nthe same table with their employers without any embarrassment. The civil\nmanners of superiors to inferiors is probably the result of the position\nthey occupy--a few whites among thousands of blacks; but nowhere else in\nAfrica is there so much good-will between Europeans and natives as here.\nIf some border colonists had the absolute certainty of our government\ndeclining to bear them out in their arrogance, we should probably hear\nless of Caffre insolence. It is insolence which begets insolence.\n\nFrom the village of Cassange we have a good view of the surrounding\ncountry: it is a gently undulating plain, covered with grass and patches\nof forest. The western edge of the Quango valley appears, about twenty\nmiles off, as if it were a range of lofty mountains, and passes by the\nname of Tala Mungongo, \"Behold the Range\". In the old Portuguese map, to\nwhich I had been trusting in planning my route, it is indicated as Talla\nMugongo, or \"Castle of Rocks!\" and the Coanza is put down as rising\ntherefrom; but here I was assured that the Coanza had its source near\nBihe, far to the southwest of this, and we should not see that river\ntill we came near Pungo Andonga. It is somewhat remarkable that more\naccurate information about this country has not been published. Captain\nNeves and others had a correct idea of the courses of the rivers, and\ncommunicated their knowledge freely; yet about this time maps were sent\nto Europe from Angola representing the Quango and Coanza as the same\nriver, and Cassange placed about one hundred miles from its true\nposition. The frequent recurrence of the same name has probably helped\nto increase the confusion. I have crossed several Quangos, but all\ninsignificant, except that which drains this valley. The repetition of\nthe favorite names of chiefs, as Catende, is also perplexing, as one\nCatende may be mistaken for another. To avoid this confusion as much\nas possible, I have refrained from introducing many names. Numerous\nvillages are studded all over the valley; but these possess no\npermanence, and many more existed previous to the Portuguese expedition\nof 1850 to punish the Bangala.\n\nThis valley, as I have before remarked, is all fertile in the extreme.\nMy men could never cease admiring its capability for raising their corn\n('Holcus sorghum'), and despising the comparatively limited cultivation\nof the inhabitants. The Portuguese informed me that no manure is ever\nneeded, but that, the more the ground is tilled, the better it yields.\nVirgin soil does not give such a heavy crop as an old garden, and,\njudging from the size of the maize and manioc in the latter, I can\nreadily believe the statement. Cattle do well, too. Viewing the valley\nas a whole, it may be said that its agricultural and pastoral riches\nare lying waste. Both the Portuguese and their descendants turn their\nattention almost exclusively to trade in wax and ivory, and though the\ncountry would yield any amount of corn and dairy produce, the native\nPortuguese live chiefly on manioc, and the Europeans purchase their\nflour, bread, butter, and cheese from the Americans.\n\nAs the traders of Cassange were the first white men we had come to, we\nsold the tusks belonging to Sekeletu, which had been brought to test the\ndifference of prices in the Makololo and white men's country. The result\nwas highly satisfactory to my companions, as the Portuguese give much\nlarger prices for ivory than traders from the Cape can possibly give,\nwho labor under the disadvantage of considerable overland expenses and\nruinous restrictions. Two muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder, and\nEnglish calico and baize sufficient to clothe my whole party, with large\nbunches of beads, all for one tusk, were quite delightful for those who\nhad been accustomed to give two tusks for one gun. With another tusk we\nprocured calico, which here is the chief currency, to pay our way down\nto the coast. The remaining two were sold for money to purchase a horse\nfor Sekeletu at Loanda.\n\nThe superiority of this new market was quite astounding to the Makololo,\nand they began to abuse the traders by whom they had, while in their own\ncountry, been visited, and, as they now declared, \"cheated\". They had\nno idea of the value of time and carriage, and it was somewhat difficult\nfor me to convince them that the reason of the difference of prices lay\nentirely in what they themselves had done in coming here, and that, if\nthe Portuguese should carry goods to their country, they would by no\nmeans be so liberal in their prices. They imagined that, if the Cassange\ntraders came to Linyanti, they would continue to vend their goods at\nCassange prices. I believe I gave them at last a clear idea of the\nmanner in which prices were regulated by the expenses incurred; and when\nwe went to Loanda, and saw goods delivered at a still cheaper rate, they\nconcluded that it would be better for them to come to that city, than to\nturn homeward at Cassange.\n\nIt was interesting for me to observe the effects of the restrictive\npolicy pursued by the Cape government toward the Bechuanas. Like all\nother restrictions on trade, the law of preventing friendly tribes from\npurchasing arms and ammunition only injures the men who enforce it. The\nCape government, as already observed, in order to gratify a company of\nindependent Boers, whose well-known predilection for the practice of\nslavery caused them to stipulate that a number of peaceable, honest\ntribes should be kept defenseless, agreed to allow free trade in\narms and ammunition to the Boers, and prevent the same trade to the\nBechuanas. The Cape government thereby unintentionally aided, and\ncontinues to aid, the Boers to enslave the natives. But arms and\nammunition flow in on all sides by new channels, and where formerly the\nprice of a large tusk procured but one musket, one tusk of the same size\nnow brings ten. The profits are reaped by other nations, and the only\npersons really the losers, in the long run, are our own Cape merchants,\nand a few defenseless tribes of Bechuanas on our immediate frontier.\n\nMr. Rego, the commandant, very handsomely offered me a soldier as a\nguard to Ambaca. My men told me that they had been thinking it would\nbe better to turn back here, as they had been informed by the people of\ncolor at Cassange that I was leading them down to the sea-coast only to\nsell them, and they would be taken on board ship, fattened, and eaten,\nas the white men were cannibals. I asked if they had ever heard of an\nEnglishman buying or selling people; if I had not refused to take a\nslave when she was offered to me by Shinte; but, as I had always behaved\nas an English teacher, if they now doubted my intentions, they had\nbetter not go to the coast; I, however, who expected to meet some of my\ncountrymen there, was determined to go on. They replied that they only\nthought it right to tell me what had been told to them, but they did\nnot intend to leave me, and would follow wherever I should lead the way.\nThis affair being disposed of for the time, the commandant gave them\nan ox, and me a friendly dinner before parting. All the merchants of\nCassange accompanied us, in their hammocks carried by slaves, to the\nedge of the plateau on which their village stands, and we parted with\nthe feeling in my mind that I should never forget their disinterested\nkindness. They not only did every thing they could to make my men and me\ncomfortable during our stay; but, there being no hotels in Loanda, they\nfurnished me with letters of recommendation to their friends in that\ncity, requesting them to receive me into their houses, for without these\na stranger might find himself a lodger in the streets. May God remember\nthem in their day of need!\n\nThe latitude and longitude of Cassange, the most easterly station of the\nPortuguese in Western Africa, is lat. 9d 37' 30\" S., and long. 17d 49'\nE.; consequently we had still about 300 miles to traverse before we\ncould reach the coast. We had a black militia corporal as a guide. He\nwas a native of Ambaca, and, like nearly all the inhabitants of that\ndistrict, known by the name of Ambakistas, could both read and write.\nHe had three slaves with him, and was carried by them in a \"tipoia\", or\nhammock slung to a pole. His slaves were young, and unable to convey him\nfar at a time, but he was considerate enough to walk except when we came\nnear to a village. He then mounted his tipoia and entered the village\nin state; his departure was made in the same manner, and he continued\nin the hammock till the village was out of sight. It was interesting\nto observe the manners of our soldier-guide. Two slaves were always\nemployed in carrying his tipoia, and the third carried a wooden box,\nabout three feet long, containing his writing materials, dishes, and\nclothing. He was cleanly in all his ways, and, though quite black\nhimself, when he scolded any one of his own color, abused him as a\n\"negro\". When he wanted to purchase any article from a village, he would\nsit down, mix a little gunpowder as ink, and write a note in a neat\nhand to ask the price, addressing it to the shopkeeper with the rather\npompous title, \"Illustrissimo Senhor\" (Most Illustrious Sir). This is\nthe invariable mode of address throughout Angola. The answer returned\nwould be in the same style, and, if satisfactory, another note followed\nto conclude the bargain. There is so much of this note correspondence\ncarried on in Angola, that a very large quantity of paper is annually\nconsumed. Some other peculiarities of our guide were not so pleasing.\nA land of slaves is a bad school for even the free; and I was sorry to\nfind less truthfulness and honesty in him than in my own people. We were\noften cheated through his connivance with the sellers of food, and could\nperceive that he got a share of the plunder from them. The food is very\ncheap, but it was generally made dear enough, until I refused to allow\nhim to come near the place where we were bargaining. But he took us\nsafely down to Ambaca, and I was glad to see, on my return to Cassange,\nthat he was promoted to be sergeant-major of a company of militia.\n\nHaving left Cassange on the 21st, we passed across the remaining portion\nof this excessively fertile valley to the foot of Tala Mungongo. We\ncrossed a fine little stream called the Lui on the 22d, and another\nnamed the Luare on the 24th, then slept at the bottom of the height,\nwhich is from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet. The clouds came\nfloating along the valley, and broke against the sides of the ascent,\nand the dripping rain on the tall grass made the slaps in the face it\ngave, when the hand or a stick was not held up before it, any thing but\nagreeable. This edge of the valley is exactly like the other; jutting\nspurs and defiles give the red ascent the same serrated appearance as\nthat which we descended from the highlands of Londa. The whole of this\nvast valley has been removed by denudation, for pieces of the plateau\nwhich once filled the now vacant space stand in it, and present the same\nstructure of red horizontal strata of equal altitudes with those of\nthe acclivity which we are now about to ascend. One of these insulated\nmasses, named Kasala, bore E.S.E. from the place where we made our\nexit from the valley, and about ten miles W.S.W. from the village of\nCassange. It is remarkable for its perpendicular sides; even the natives\nfind it extremely difficult, almost impossible, to reach its summit,\nthough there is the temptation of marabou-nests and feathers, which are\nhighly prized. There is a small lake reported to exist on its southern\nend, and, during the rainy season, a sort of natural moat is formed\naround the bottom. What an acquisition this would have been in feudal\ntimes in England! There is land sufficient for considerable cultivation\non the top, with almost perpendicular sides more than a thousand feet in\nheight.\n\nWe had not yet got a clear idea of the nature of Tala Mungongo. A\ngentleman of Cassange described it as a range of very high mountains,\nwhich it would take four hours to climb; so, though the rain and grass\nhad wetted us miserably, and I was suffering from an attack of fever\ngot while observing by night for the position of Cassange, I eagerly\ncommenced the ascent. The path was steep and slippery; deep gorges\nappear on each side of it, leaving but a narrow path along certain spurs\nof the sierra for the traveler; but we accomplished the ascent in an\nhour, and when there, found we had just got on to a table-land similar\nto that we had left before we entered the great Quango valley. We had\ncome among lofty trees again. One of these, bearing a fruit about the\nsize of a thirty-two pounder, is named Mononga-zambi.\n\nWe took a glance back to this valley, which equals that of the\nMississippi in fertility, and thought of the vast mass of material which\nhad been scooped out and carried away in its formation. This naturally\nled to reflection on the countless ages required for the previous\nformation and deposition of that same material (clay shale), then of\nthe rocks, whose abrasion formed THAT, until the mind grew giddy in\nattempting to ascend the steps which lead up through a portion of the\neternity before man. The different epochs of geology are like landmarks\nin that otherwise shoreless sea. Our own epoch, or creation, is but\nanother added to the number of that wonderful series which presents a\ngrand display of the mighty power of God: every stage of progress in\nthe earth and its habitants is such a display. So far from this science\nhaving any tendency to make men undervalue the power or love of God,\nit leads to the probability that the exhibition of mercy we have in\nthe gift of his Son may possibly not be the only manifestation of\ngrace which has taken place in the countless ages during which works of\ncreation have been going on.\n\nSituated a few miles from the edge of the descent, we found the village\nof Tala Mungongo, and were kindly accommodated with a house to sleep in,\nwhich was very welcome, as we were all both wet and cold. We found that\nthe greater altitude and the approach of winter lowered the temperature\nso much that many of my men suffered severely from colds. At this, as\nat several other Portuguese stations, they have been provident enough to\nerect travelers' houses on the same principle as khans or caravanserais\nof the East. They are built of the usual wattle and daub, and have\nbenches of rods for the wayfarer to make his bed on; also chairs, and\na table, and a large jar of water. These benches, though far from\nluxurious couches, were better than the ground under the rotten\nfragments of my gipsy-tent, for we had still showers occasionally, and\nthe dews were very heavy. I continued to use them for the sake of the\nshelter they afforded, until I found that they were lodgings also for\ncertain inconvenient bedfellows.\n\n27TH. Five hours' ride through a pleasant country of forest and meadow,\nlike those of Londa, brought us to a village of Basongo, a tribe living\nin subjection to the Portuguese. We crossed several little streams,\nwhich were flowing in the westerly direction in which we were marching,\nand unite to form the Quize, a feeder of the Coanza. The Basongo were\nvery civil, as indeed all the tribes were who had been conquered by the\nPortuguese. The Basongo and Bangala are yet only partially subdued. The\nfarther west we go from this, the less independent we find the black\npopulation, until we reach the vicinity of Loanda, where the free\nnatives are nearly identical in their feelings toward the government\nwith the slaves. But the governors of Angola wisely accept the limited\nallegiance and tribute rendered by the more distant tribes as better\nthan none.\n\nAll the inhabitants of this region, as well as those of Londa, may be\ncalled true negroes, if the limitations formerly made be borne in mind.\nThe dark color, thick lips, heads elongated backward and upward and\ncovered with wool, flat noses, with other negro peculiarities, are\ngeneral; but, while these characteristics place them in the true negro\nfamily, the reader would imbibe a wrong idea if he supposed that all\nthese features combined are often met with in one individual. All have a\ncertain thickness and prominence of lip, but many are met with in every\nvillage in whom thickness and projection are not more marked than\nin Europeans. All are dark, but the color is shaded off in different\nindividuals from deep black to light yellow. As we go westward, we\nobserve the light color predominating over the dark, and then again,\nwhen we come within the influence of damp from the sea air, we find the\nshade deepen into the general blackness of the coast population.\nThe shape of the head, with its woolly crop, though general, is not\nuniversal. The tribes on the eastern side of the continent, as the\nCaffres, have heads finely developed and strongly European. Instances of\nthis kind are frequently seen, and after I became so familiar with the\ndark color as to forget it in viewing the countenance, I was struck\nby the strong resemblance some natives bore to certain of our own\nnotabilities. The Bushmen and Hottentots are exceptions to these\nremarks, for both the shape of their heads and growth of wool are\npeculiar; the latter, for instance, springs from the scalp in tufts with\nbare spaces between, and when the crop is short, resembles a number of\nblack pepper-corns stuck on the skin, and very unlike the thick frizzly\nmasses which cover the heads of the Balonda and Maravi. With every\ndisposition to pay due deference to the opinions of those who have made\nethnology their special study, I have felt myself unable to believe that\nthe exaggerated features usually put forth as those of the typical negro\ncharacterize the majority of any nation of south Central Africa. The\nmonuments of the ancient Egyptians seem to me to embody the ideal of the\ninhabitants of Londa better than the figures of any work of ethnology I\nhave met with.\n\nPassing through a fine, fertile, and well-peopled country to Sanza,\nwe found the Quize River again touching our path, and here we had\nthe pleasure of seeing a field of wheat growing luxuriantly without\nirrigation. The ears were upward of four inches long, an object of\ngreat curiosity to my companions, because they had tasted my bread at\nLinyanti, but had never before seen wheat growing. This small field was\ncultivated by Mr. Miland, an agreeable Portuguese merchant. His garden\nwas interesting, as showing what the land at this elevation is capable\nof yielding; for, besides wheat, we saw European vegetables in a\nflourishing condition, and we afterward discovered that the coffee-plant\nhas propagated itself on certain spots of this same district. It may be\nseen on the heights of Tala Mungongo, or nearly 300 miles from the west\ncoast, where it was first introduced by the Jesuit missionaries.\n\nWe spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Ngio, close to the ford of\nthe Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the Coanza. The country\nbecomes more open, but is still abundantly fertile, with a thick crop\nof grass between two and three feet high. It is also well wooded\nand watered. Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and\nfrequently a square house of wattle and daub, belonging to native\nPortuguese, is placed beside them for the purposes of trade. The people\nhere possess both cattle and pigs. The different sleeping-places on our\npath, from eight to ten miles apart, are marked by a cluster of sheds\nmade of sticks and grass. There is a constant stream of people going and\nreturning to and from the coast. The goods are carried on the head, or\non one shoulder, in a sort of basket attached to the extremities of two\npoles between five and six feet long, and called Motete. When the basket\nis placed on the head, the poles project forward horizontally, and when\nthe carrier wishes to rest himself, he plants them on the ground and\nthe burden against a tree, so he is not obliged to lift it up from the\nground to the level of the head. It stands against the tree propped up\nby the poles at that level. The carrier frequently plants the poles on\nthe ground, and stands holding the burden until he has taken breath,\nthus avoiding the trouble of placing the burden on the ground and\nlifting it up again.\n\nWhen a company of these carriers, or our own party, arrives at one of\nthese sleeping-places, immediate possession is taken of the sheds.\nThose who come late, and find all occupied, must then erect others for\nthemselves; but this is not difficult, for there is no lack of long\ngrass. No sooner do any strangers appear at the spot, than the women\nmay be seen emerging from their villages bearing baskets of manioc-meal,\nroots, ground-nuts, yams, bird's-eye pepper, and garlic for sale.\nCalico, of which we had brought some from Cassange, is the chief medium\nof exchange. We found them all civil, and it was evident, from the\namount of talking and laughing in bargaining, that the ladies enjoyed\ntheir occupation. They must cultivate largely, in order to be able to\nsupply the constant succession of strangers. Those, however, near to the\ngreat line of road, purchase also much of the food from the more distant\nvillages for the sake of gain.\n\nPitsane and another of the men had violent attacks of fever, and it\nwas no wonder, for the dampness and evaporation from the ground was\nexcessive. When at any time I attempted to get an observation of a star,\nif the trough of mercury were placed on the ground, so much moisture\nwas condensed on the inside of the glass roof over it that it was with\ndifficulty the reflection of the star could be seen. When the trough was\nplaced on a box to prevent the moisture entering from below, so much dew\nwas deposited on the outside of the roof that it was soon necessary, for\nthe sake of distinct vision, to wipe the glass. This would not have been\nof great consequence, but a short exposure to this dew was so sure to\nbring on a fresh fever, that I was obliged to give up observations by\nnight altogether. The inside of the only covering I now had was not much\nbetter, but under the blanket one is not so liable to the chill which\nthe dew produces.\n\nIt would have afforded me pleasure to have cultivated a more intimate\nacquaintance with the inhabitants of this part of the country, but the\nvertigo produced by frequent fevers made it as much as I could do to\nstick on the ox and crawl along in misery. In crossing the Lombe, my ox\nSinbad, in the indulgence of his propensity to strike out a new path for\nhimself, plunged overhead into a deep hole, and so soused me that I was\nobliged to move on to dry my clothing, without calling on the Europeans\nwho live on the bank. This I regretted, for all the Portuguese were very\nkind, and, like the Boers placed in similar circumstances, feel it a\nslight to be passed without a word of salutation. But we went on to a\nspot where orange-trees had been planted by the natives themselves, and\nwhere abundance of that refreshing fruit was exposed for sale.\n\nOn entering the district of Ambaca, we found the landscape enlivened\nby the appearance of lofty mountains in the distance, the grass\ncomparatively short, and the whole country at this time looking gay and\nverdant. On our left we saw certain rocks of the same nature with those\nof Pungo Andongo, and which closely resemble the Stonehenge group on\nSalisbury Plain, only the stone pillars here are of gigantic size. This\nregion is all wonderfully fertile, famed for raising cattle, and all\nkinds of agricultural produce, at a cheap rate. The soil contains\nsufficient ferruginous matter, to impart a red tinge to nearly the whole\nof it. It is supplied with a great number of little flowing streams\nwhich unite in the Lucalla. This river drains Ambaca, then falls into\nthe Coanza to the southwest at Massangano. We crossed the Lucalla by\nmeans of a large canoe kept there by a man who farms the ferry from the\ngovernment, and charges about a penny per head. A few miles beyond the\nLucalla we came to the village of Ambaca, an important place in former\ntimes, but now a mere paltry village, beautifully situated on a little\nelevation in a plain surrounded on all hands by lofty mountains. It\nhas a jail, and a good house for the commandant, but neither fort nor\nchurch, though the ruins of a place of worship are still standing.\n\nWe were most kindly received by the commandant of Ambaca, Arsenio de\nCarpo, who spoke a little English. He recommended wine for my debility,\nand here I took the first glass of that beverage I had taken in Africa.\nI felt much refreshed, and could then realize and meditate on the\nweakening effects of the fever. They were curious even to myself;\nfor, though I had tried several times since we left Ngio to take lunar\nobservations, I could not avoid confusion of time and distance, neither\ncould I hold the instrument steady, nor perform a simple calculation;\nhence many of the positions of this part of the route were left till\nmy return from Loanda. Often, on getting up in the mornings, I found my\nclothing as wet from perspiration as if it had been dipped in water.\nIn vain had I tried to learn or collect words of the Bunda, or dialect\nspoken in Angola. I forgot the days of the week and the names of my\ncompanions, and, had I been asked, I probably could not have told\nmy own. The complaint itself occupied many of my thoughts. One day I\nsupposed that I had got the true theory of it, and would certainly cure\nthe next attack, whether in myself or companions; but some new symptoms\nwould appear, and scatter all the fine speculations which had sprung up,\nwith extraordinary fertility, in one department of my brain.\n\nThis district is said to contain upward of 40,000 souls. Some ten or\ntwelve miles to the north of the village of Ambaca there once stood\nthe missionary station of Cahenda, and it is now quite astonishing to\nobserve the great numbers who can read and write in this district. This\nis the fruit of the labors of the Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries, for\nthey taught the people of Ambaca; and ever since the expulsion of the\nteachers by the Marquis of Pombal, the natives have continued to\nteach each other. These devoted men are still held in high estimation\nthroughout the country to this day. All speak well of them (os padres\nJesuitas); and, now that they are gone from this lower sphere, I could\nnot help wishing that these our Roman Catholic fellow-Christians had\nfelt it to be their duty to give the people the Bible, to be a light to\ntheir feet when the good men themselves were gone.\n\nWhen sleeping in the house of the commandant, an insect, well known in\nthe southern country by the name Tampan, bit my foot. It is a kind of\ntick, and chooses by preference the parts between the fingers or toes\nfor inflicting its bite. It is seen from the size of a pin's head to\nthat of a pea, and is common in all the native huts in this country. It\nsucks the blood until quite full, and is then of a dark blue color, and\nits skin so tough and yielding that it is impossible to burst it by any\namount of squeezing with the fingers. I had felt the effects of its bite\nin former years, and eschewed all native huts ever after; but as I was\nhere again assailed in a European house, I shall detail the effects of\nthe bite. These are a tingling sensation of mingled pain and itching,\nwhich commences ascending the limb until the poison imbibed reaches the\nabdomen, where it soon causes violent vomiting and purging. Where these\neffects do not follow, as we found afterward at Tete, fever sets in; and\nI was assured by intelligent Portuguese there that death has sometimes\nbeen the result of this fever. The anxiety my friends at Tete manifested\nto keep my men out of the reach of the tampans of the village made it\nevident that they had seen cause to dread this insignificant insect.\nThe only inconvenience I afterward suffered from this bite was the\ncontinuance of the tingling sensation in the point bitten for about a\nweek.\n\nMAY 12TH. As we were about to start this morning, the commandant, Senhor\nArsenio, provided bread and meat most bountifully for my use on the way\nto the next station, and sent two militia soldiers as guides, instead\nof our Cassange corporal, who left us here. About midday we asked for\nshelter from the sun in the house of Senhor Mellot, at Zangu, and,\nthough I was unable to sit and engage in conversation, I found, on\nrising from his couch, that he had at once proceeded to cook a fowl for\nmy use; and at parting he gave me a glass of wine, which prevented\nthe violent fit of shivering I expected that afternoon. The universal\nhospitality of the Portuguese was most gratifying, as it was quite\nunexpected; and even now, as I copy my journal, I remember it all with a\nglow of gratitude.\n\nWe spent Sunday, the 14th of May, at Cabinda, which is one of the\nstations of the sub-commandants, who are placed at different points in\neach district of Angola as assistants of the head-commandant, or chefe.\nIt is situated in a beautiful glen, and surrounded by plantations of\nbananas and manioc. The country was gradually becoming more picturesque\nthe farther we proceeded west. The ranges of lofty blue mountains of\nLibollo, which, in coming toward Ambaca, we had seen thirty or forty\nmiles to our south, were now shut from our view by others nearer at\nhand, and the gray ranges of Cahenda and Kiwe, which, while we were in\nAmbaca, stood clearly defined eight or ten miles off to the north, were\nnow close upon our right. As we looked back toward the open pastoral\ncountry of Ambaca, the broad green gently undulating plains seemed in\na hollow surrounded on all sides by rugged mountains, and as we\nwent westward we were entering upon quite a wild-looking mountainous\ndistrict, called Golungo Alto.\n\nWe met numbers of Mambari on their way back to Bihe. Some of them had\nbelonged to the parties which had penetrated as far as Linyanti, and\nfoolishly showed their displeasure at the prospect of the Makololo\npreferring to go to the coast markets themselves to intrusting them\nwith their ivory. The Mambari repeated the tale of the mode in which\nthe white men are said to trade. \"The ivory is left on the shore in the\nevening, and next morning the seller finds a quantity of goods placed\nthere in its stead by the white men who live in the sea.\" \"Now,\" added\nthey to my men, \"how can you Makololo trade with these 'Mermen'? Can you\nenter into the sea, and tell them to come ashore?\" It was remarkable to\nhear this idea repeated so near the sea as we now were. My men replied\nthat they only wanted to see for themselves; and, as they were now\ngetting some light on the nature of the trade carried on by the Mambari,\nthey were highly amused on perceiving the reasons why the Mambari would\nrather have met them on the Zambesi than so near the sea-coast.\n\nThere is something so exhilarating to one of Highland blood in being\nnear or on high mountains, that I forgot my fever as we wended our\nway among the lofty tree-covered masses of mica schist which form the\nhighlands around the romantic residence of the chefe of Golungo Alto.\n(Lat. 9d 8' 30\" S., long. 15d 2' E.) The whole district is extremely\nbeautiful. The hills are all bedecked with trees of various hues of\nfoliage, and among them towers the graceful palm, which yields the\noil of commerce for making our soaps, and the intoxicating toddy. Some\nclusters of hills look like the waves of the sea driven into a narrow\nopen bay, and have assumed the same form as if, when all were chopping\nup perpendicularly, they had suddenly been congealed. The cottages of\nthe natives, perched on the tops of many of the hillocks, looked as if\nthe owners possessed an eye for the romantic, but they were probably\ninfluenced more by the desire to overlook their gardens, and keep their\nfamilies out of the reach of the malaria, which is supposed to prevail\nmost on the banks of the numerous little streams which run among the\nhills.\n\nWe were most kindly received by the commandant, Lieutenant Antonio Canto\ne Castro, a young gentleman whose whole subsequent conduct will ever\nmake me regard him with great affection. Like every other person of\nintelligence whom I had met, he lamented deeply the neglect with which\nthis fine country has been treated. This district contained by the last\ncensus 26,000 hearths or fires; and if to each hearth we reckon four\nsouls, we have a population of 104,000. The number of carregadores\n(carriers) who may be ordered out at the pleasure of government to\nconvey merchandise to the coast is in this district alone about 6000,\nyet there is no good road in existence. This system of compulsory\ncarriage of merchandise was adopted in consequence of the increase in\nnumbers and activity of our cruisers, which took place in 1845. Each\ntrader who went, previous to that year, into the interior, in the\npursuit of his calling, proceeded on the plan of purchasing ivory and\nbeeswax, and a sufficient number of slaves to carry these commodities.\nThe whole were intended for exportation as soon as the trader reached\nthe coast. But when the more stringent measures of 1845 came into\noperation, and rendered the exportation of slaves almost impossible,\nthere being no roads proper for the employment of wheel conveyances,\nthis new system of compulsory carriage of ivory and beeswax to the coast\nwas resorted to by the government of Loanda. A trader who requires two\nor three hundred carriers to convey his merchandise to the coast now\napplies to the general government for aid. An order is sent to the\ncommandant of a district to furnish the number required. Each head man\nof the villages to whom the order is transmitted must furnish from five\nto twenty or thirty men, according to the proportion that his people\nbear to the entire population of the district. For this accommodation\nthe trader must pay a tax to the government of 1000 reis, or about three\nshillings per load carried. The trader is obliged to pay the carrier\nalso the sum of 50 reis, or about twopence a day, for his sustenance.\nAnd as a day's journey is never more than from eight to ten miles, the\nexpense which must be incurred for this compulsory labor is felt to be\nheavy by those who were accustomed to employ slave labor alone. Yet no\neffort has been made to form a great line of road for wheel carriages.\nThe first great want of a country has not been attended to, and no\ndevelopment of its vast resources has taken place. The fact, however,\nof a change from one system of carriage to another, taken in connection\nwith the great depreciation in the price of slaves near this coast,\nproves the effectiveness of our efforts at repressing the slave-trade on\nthe ocean.\n\nThe latitude of Golungo Alto, as observed at the residence of the\ncommandant, was 9d 8' 30\" S., longitude 15d 2' E. A few days' rest with\nthis excellent young man enabled me to regain much of my strength, and\nI could look with pleasure on the luxuriant scenery before his door. We\nwere quite shut in among green hills, many of which were cultivated\nup to their tops with manioc, coffee, cotton, ground-nuts, bananas,\npine-apples, guavas, papaws, custard-apples, pitangas, and jambos,\nfruits brought from South America by the former missionaries. The high\nhills all around, with towering palms on many points, made this spot\nappear more like the Bay of Rio de Janeiro in miniature than any scene\nI ever saw; and all who have seen that confess it to be unequaled in the\nworld beside. The fertility evident in every spot of this district was\nquite marvelous to behold, but I shall reserve further notices of this\nregion till our return from Loanda.\n\nWe left Golungo Alto on the 24th of May, the winter in these parts.\nEvery evening clouds come rolling in great masses over the mountains in\nthe west, and pealing thunder accompanies the fall of rain during the\nnight or early in the morning. The clouds generally remain on the hills\ntill the morning is well spent, so that we become familiar with morning\nmists, a thing we never once saw at Kolobeng. The thermometer stands at\n80 Degrees by day, but sinks as low as 76 Degrees by night.\n\nIn going westward we crossed several fine little gushing streams which\nnever dry. They unite in the Luinha (pronounced Lueenya) and Lucalla. As\nthey flow over many little cascades, they might easily be turned to good\naccount, but they are all allowed to run on idly to the ocean. We passed\nthrough forests of gigantic timber, and at an open space named Cambondo,\nabout eight miles from Golungo Alto, found numbers of carpenters\nconverting these lofty trees into planks, in exactly the same manner as\nwas followed by the illustrious Robinson Crusoe. A tree of three or four\nfeet in diameter, and forty or fifty feet up to the nearest branches,\nwas felled. It was then cut into lengths of a few feet, and split\ninto thick junks, which again were reduced to planks an inch thick by\npersevering labor with the axe. The object of the carpenters was to make\nlittle chests, and they drive a constant trade in them at Cambondo. When\nfinished with hinges, lock, and key, all of their own manufacture, one\ncosts only a shilling and eightpence. My men were so delighted with\nthem that they carried several of them on their heads all the way to\nLinyanti.\n\nAt Trombeta we were pleased to observe a great deal of taste displayed\nby the sub-commandant in the laying out of his ground and adornment of\nhis house with flowers. This trifling incident was the more pleasing,\nas it was the first attempt at neatness I had seen since leaving the\nestablishment of Mozinkwa in Londa. Rows of trees had been planted\nalong each side of the road, with pine-apples and flowers between. This\narrangement I had an opportunity of seeing in several other districts of\nthis country, for there is no difficulty in raising any plant or tree if\nit is only kept from being choked by weeds.\n\nThis gentleman had now a fine estate, which but a few years ago was\na forest, and cost him only 16 Pounds. He had planted about 900\ncoffee-trees upon it, and as these begin to yield in three years from\nbeing planted, and in six attain their maximum, I have no doubt but that\nere now his 16 Pounds yields him sixty fold. All sorts of fruit-trees\nand grape-vines yield their fruit twice in each year, without any labor\nor irrigation being bestowed on them. All grains and vegetables, if only\nsown, do the same; and if advantage is taken of the mists of winter,\neven three crops of pulse may be raised. Cotton was now standing in the\npods in his fields, and he did not seem to care about it. I understood\nhim to say that this last plant flourishes, but the wet of one of the\ntwo rainy seasons with which this country is favored sometimes proves\ntroublesome to the grower. I am not aware whether wheat has ever been\ntried, but I saw both figs and grapes bearing well. The great complaint\nof all cultivators is the want of a good road to carry their produce to\nmarket. Here all kinds of food are remarkably cheap.\n\nFarther on we left the mountainous country, and, as we descended toward\nthe west coast, saw the lands assuming a more sterile, uninviting\naspect. On our right ran the River Senza, which nearer the sea takes the\nname of Bengo. It is about fifty yards broad, and navigable for canoes.\nThe low plains adjacent to its banks are protected from inundation by\nembankments, and the population is entirely occupied in raising food\nand fruits for exportation to Loanda by means of canoes. The banks are\ninfested by myriads of the most ferocious mosquitoes I ever met. Not one\nof our party could get a snatch of sleep. I was taken into the house\nof a Portuguese, but was soon glad to make my escape and lie across the\npath on the lee side of the fire, where the smoke blew over my body. My\nhost wondered at my want of taste, and I at his want of feeling; for, to\nour astonishment, he and the other inhabitants had actually become used\nto what was at least equal to a nail through the heel of one's boot, or\nthe tooth-ache.\n\nAs we were now drawing near to the sea, my companions were looking at\nevery thing in a serious light. One of them asked me if we should all\nhave an opportunity of watching each other at Loanda. \"Suppose one went\nfor water, would the others see if he were kidnapped?\" I replied, \"I see\nwhat you are driving at; and if you suspect me, you may return, for I\nam as ignorant of Loanda as you are; but nothing will happen to you but\nwhat happens to myself. We have stood by each other hitherto, and will\ndo so to the last.\" The plains adjacent to Loanda are somewhat elevated\nand comparatively sterile. On coming across these we first beheld\nthe sea: my companions looked upon the boundless ocean with awe. On\ndescribing their feelings afterward, they remarked that \"we marched\nalong with our father, believing that what the ancients had always told\nus was true, that the world has no end; but all at once the world\nsaid to us, 'I am finished; there is no more of me!'\" They had always\nimagined that the world was one extended plain without limit.\n\nThey were now somewhat apprehensive of suffering want, and I was unable\nto allay their fears with any promise of supply, for my own mind was\ndepressed by disease and care. The fever had induced a state of chronic\ndysentery, so troublesome that I could not remain on the ox more than\nten minutes at a time; and as we came down the declivity above the city\nof Loanda on the 31st of May, I was laboring under great depression of\nspirits, as I understood that, in a population of twelve thousand souls,\nthere was but one genuine English gentleman. I naturally felt anxious\nto know whether he were possessed of good-nature, or was one of those\ncrusty mortals one would rather not meet at all.\n\nThis gentleman, Mr. Gabriel, our commissioner for the suppression of the\nslave-trade, had kindly forwarded an invitation to meet me on the way\nfrom Cassange, but, unfortunately, it crossed me on the road. When we\nentered his porch, I was delighted to see a number of flowers cultivated\ncarefully, and inferred from this circumstance that he was, what I soon\ndiscovered him to be, a real whole-hearted Englishman.\n\nSeeing me ill, he benevolently offered me his bed. Never shall I forget\nthe luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling myself again on a good\nEnglish couch, after six months' sleeping on the ground. I was soon\nasleep; and Mr. Gabriel, coming in almost immediately, rejoiced at the\nsoundness of my repose.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 20.\n\nContinued Sickness--Kindness of the Bishop of Angola and her Majesty's\nOfficers--Mr. Gabriel's unwearied Hospitality--Serious Deportment of\nthe Makololo--They visit Ships of War--Politeness of the Officers and\nMen--The Makololo attend Mass in the Cathedral--Their Remarks--Find\nEmployment in collecting Firewood and unloading Coal--Their superior\nJudgment respecting Goods--Beneficial Influence of the Bishop of\nAngola--The City of St. Paul de Loanda--The Harbor--Custom-house--No\nEnglish Merchants--Sincerity of the Portuguese Government in suppressing\nthe Slave-trade--Convict Soldiers--Presents from Bishop and Merchants\nfor Sekeletu--Outfit--Leave Loanda 20th September, 1854--Accompanied\nby Mr. Gabriel as far as Icollo i Bengo--Sugar Manufactory--Geology\nof this part of the Country--Women spinning Cotton--Its Price--Native\nWeavers--Market-places--Cazengo; its Coffee Plantations--South American\nTrees--Ruins of Iron Foundry--Native Miners--The Banks of the Lucalla--\nCottages with Stages--Tobacco-plants--Town of Massangano--Sugar and\nRice--Superior District for Cotton--Portuguese Merchants and foreign\nEnterprise--Ruins--The Fort and its ancient Guns--Former Importance\nof Massangano--Fires--The Tribe Kisama--Peculiar Variety of Domestic\nFowl--Coffee Plantations--Return to Golungo Alto--Self-complacency of\nthe Makololo--Fever--Jaundice--Insanity.\n\n\n\nIn the hope that a short enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's generous hospitality\nwould restore me to my wonted vigor, I continued under his roof; but my\ncomplaint having been caused by long exposure to malarious influences,\nI became much more reduced than ever, even while enjoying rest. Several\nPortuguese gentlemen called on me shortly after my arrival; and the\nBishop of Angola, the Right Reverend Joaquim Moreira Reis, then the\nacting governor of the province, sent his secretary to do the same, and\nlikewise to offer the services of the government physician.\n\nSome of her majesty's cruisers soon came into the port, and, seeing the\nemaciated condition to which I was reduced, offered to convey me to St.\nHelena or homeward; but, though I had reached the coast, I had found\nthat, in consequence of the great amount of forest, rivers, and marsh,\nthere was no possibility of a highway for wagons, and I had brought\na party of Sekeletu's people with me, and found the tribes near the\nPortuguese settlement so very unfriendly, that it would be altogether\nimpossible for my men to return alone. I therefore resolved to decline\nthe tempting offers of my naval friends, and take back my Makololo\ncompanions to their chief, with a view of trying to make a path from\nhis country to the east coast by means of the great river Zambesi or\nLeeambye.\n\nI, however, gladly availed myself of the medical assistance of Mr.\nCockin, the surgeon of the \"Polyphemus\", at the suggestion of his\ncommander, Captain Phillips. Mr. Cockin's treatment, aided by the\nexhilarating presence of the warm-hearted naval officers, and Mr.\nGabriel's unwearied hospitality and care, soon brought me round again.\nOn the 14th I was so far well as to call on the bishop, in company with\nmy party, who were arrayed in new robes of striped cotton cloth and red\ncaps, all presented to them by Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head of\nthe provisional government, in the grand hall of the palace. He put many\nintelligent questions respecting the Makololo, and then gave them free\npermission to come to Loanda as often as they pleased. This interview\npleased the Makololo extremely.\n\nEvery one remarked the serious deportment of the Makololo. They viewed\nthe large stone houses and churches in the vicinity of the great\nocean with awe. A house with two stories was, until now, beyond their\ncomprehension. In explanation of this strange thing, I had always been\nobliged to use the word for hut; and as huts are constructed by the\npoles being let into the earth, they never could comprehend how the\npoles of one hut could be founded upon the roof of another, or how men\ncould live in the upper story, with the conical roof of the lower one in\nthe middle. Some Makololo, who had visited my little house at Kolobeng,\nin trying to describe it to their countrymen at Linyanti, said, \"It is\nnot a hut; it is a mountain with several caves in it.\"\n\nCommander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited them to visit their\nvessels, the \"Pluto\" and \"Philomel\". Knowing their fears, I told them\nthat no one need go if he entertained the least suspicion of foul play.\nNearly the whole party went; and when on deck, I pointed to the sailors,\nand said, \"Now these are all my countrymen, sent by our queen for the\npurpose of putting down the trade of those that buy and sell black\nmen.\" They replied, \"Truly! they are just like you!\" and all their fears\nseemed to vanish at once, for they went forward among the men, and\nthe jolly tars, acting much as the Makololo would have done in similar\ncircumstances, handed them a share of the bread and beef which they had\nfor dinner. The commander allowed them to fire off a cannon; and, having\nthe most exalted ideas of its power, they were greatly pleased when I\ntold them, \"That is what they put down the slave-trade with.\" The size\nof the brig-of-war amazed them. \"It is not a canoe at all; it is a\ntown!\" The sailors' deck they named \"the Kotla\"; and then, as a climax\nto their description of this great ark, added, \"And what sort of a town\nis it that you must climb up into with a rope?\"\n\nThe effect of the politeness of the officers and men on their minds was\nmost beneficial. They had behaved with the greatest kindness to me all\nthe way from Linyanti, and I now rose rapidly in their estimation;\nfor, whatever they may have surmised before, they now saw that I was\nrespected among my own countrymen, and always afterward treated me with\nthe greatest deference.\n\nOn the 15th there was a procession and service of the mass in the\nCathedral; and, wishing to show my men a place of worship, I took them\nto the church, which now serves as the chief one of the see of Angola\nand Congo. There is an impression on some minds that a gorgeous ritual\nis better calculated to inspire devotional feelings than the simple\nforms of the Protestant worship. But here the frequent genuflexions,\nchanging of positions, burning of incense, with the priests' back turned\nto the people, the laughing, talking, and manifest irreverence of the\nsingers, with firing of guns, etc., did not convey to the minds of my\nmen the idea of adoration. I overheard them, in talking to each other,\nremark that \"they had seen the white men charming their demons;\" a\nphrase identical with one they had used when seeing the Balonda beating\ndrums before their idols.\n\nIn the beginning of August I suffered a severe relapse, which reduced\nme to a mere skeleton. I was then unable to attend to my men for a\nconsiderable time; but when in convalescence from this last attack, I\nwas thankful to find that I was free from that lassitude which, in my\nfirst recovery, showed the continuance of the malaria in the system. I\nfound that my men, without prompting, had established a brisk trade in\nfire-wood. They sallied forth at cock-crowing in the mornings, and\nby daylight reached the uncultivated parts of the adjacent country,\ncollected a bundle of fire-wood, and returned to the city. It was then\ndivided into smaller fagots, and sold to the inhabitants; and as they\ngave larger quantities than the regular wood-carriers, they found no\ndifficulty in selling. A ship freighted with coal for the cruisers\nhaving arrived from England, Mr. Gabriel procured them employment in\nunloading her at sixpence a day. They continued at this work for upward\nof a month, and nothing could exceed their astonishment at the vast\namount of cargo one ship contained. As they themselves always afterward\nexpressed it, they had labored every day from sunrise to sunset for\na moon and a half, unloading, as quickly as they could, \"stones that\nburn\", and were tired out, still leaving plenty in her. With the money\nso obtained they purchased clothing, beads, and other articles to take\nback to their own country. Their ideas of the value of different kinds\nof goods rather astonished those who had dealt only with natives on the\ncoast. Hearing it stated with confidence that the Africans preferred the\nthinnest fabrics, provided they had gaudy colors and a large extent of\nsurface, the idea was so new to my experience in the interior that\nI dissented, and, in order to show the superior good sense of the\nMakololo, took them to the shop of Mr. Schut. When he showed them the\namount of general goods which they might procure at Loanda for a single\ntusk, I requested them, without assigning any reason, to point out the\nfabrics they prized most. They all at once selected the strongest pieces\nof English calico and other cloths, showing that they had regard to\nstrength without reference to color. I believe that most of the Bechuana\nnation would have done the same. But I was assured that the people\nnear the coast, with whom the Portuguese have to deal, have not so much\nregard to durability. This probably arises from calico being the chief\ncirculating medium; quantity being then of more importance than quality.\n\nDuring the period of my indisposition, the bishop sent frequently to\nmake inquiries, and, as soon as I was able to walk, I went to thank him\nfor his civilities. His whole conversation and conduct showed him to be\na man of great benevolence and kindness of heart. Alluding to my being a\nProtestant, he stated that he was a Catholic from conviction; and though\nsorry to see others, like myself, following another path, he entertained\nno uncharitable feelings, nor would he ever sanction persecuting\nmeasures. He compared the various sects of Christians, in their way to\nheaven, to a number of individuals choosing to pass down the different\nstreets of Loanda to one of the churches--all would arrive at the same\npoint at last. His good influence, both in the city and the country, is\nuniversally acknowledged: he was promoting the establishment of schools,\nwhich, though formed more on the monastic principle than Protestants\nmight approve, will no doubt be a blessing. He was likewise successfully\nattempting to abolish the non-marriage custom of the country; and\nseveral marriages had taken place in Loanda among those who, but for his\nteaching, would have been content with concubinage.\n\nSt. Paul de Loanda has been a very considerable city, but is now in a\nstate of decay. It contains about twelve thousand inhabitants, most of\nwhom are people of color.* There are various evidences of its former\nmagnificence, especially two cathedrals, one of which, once a Jesuit\ncollege, is now converted into a workshop; and in passing the other, we\nsaw with sorrow a number of oxen feeding within its stately walls. Three\nforts continue in a good state of repair. Many large stone houses are\nto be found. The palace of the governor and government offices\nare commodious structures, but nearly all the houses of the native\ninhabitants are of wattle and daub. Trees are planted all over the town\nfor the sake of shade, and the city presents an imposing appearance from\nthe sea. It is provided with an effective police, and the custom-house\ndepartment is extremely well managed. All parties agree in representing\nthe Portuguese authorities as both polite and obliging; and if ever\nany inconvenience is felt by strangers visiting the port, it must be\nconsidered the fault of the system, and not of the men.\n\n   * From the census of 1850-51 we find the population of this\n   city arranged thus:  830 whites, only 160 of whom are females.\n   This is the largest collection of whites in the country, for\n   Angola itself contains only about 1000 whites. There are 2400\n   half-castes in Loanda, and only 120 of them slaves; and there\n   are 9000 blacks, more than 5000 of whom are slaves.\n\nThe harbor is formed by the low, sandy island of Loanda, which is\ninhabited by about 1300 souls, upward of 600 of whom are industrious\nnative fishermen, who supply the city with abundance of good fish daily.\nThe space between it and the main land, on which the city is built, is\nthe station for ships. When a high southwest wind blows, the waves of\nthe ocean dash over part of the island, and, driving large quantities of\nsand before them, gradually fill up the harbor. Great quantities of soil\nare also washed in the rainy season from the heights above the city,\nso that the port, which once contained water sufficient to float the\nlargest ships close to the custom-house, is now at low water dry. The\nships are compelled to anchor about a mile north of their old station.\nNearly all the water consumed in Loanda is brought from the River Bengo\nby means of launches, the only supply that the city affords being from\nsome deep wells of slightly brackish water. Unsuccessful attempts have\nbeen made by different governors to finish a canal, which the Dutch,\nwhile in possession of Loanda during the seven years preceding 1648, had\nbegun, to bring water from the River Coanza to the city. There is not\na single English merchant at Loanda, and only two American. This is the\nmore remarkable, as nearly all the commerce is carried on by means\nof English calico brought hither via Lisbon. Several English houses\nattempted to establish a trade about 1845, and accepted bills on Rio de\nJaneiro in payment for their goods, but the increased activity of our\ncruisers had such an effect upon the mercantile houses of that city that\nmost of them failed. The English merchants lost all, and Loanda got a\nbad name in the commercial world in consequence.\n\nOne of the arrangements of the custom-house may have had some influence\nin preventing English trade. Ships coming here must be consigned to some\none on the spot; the consignee receives one hundred dollars per mast,\nand he generally makes a great deal more for himself by putting a\npercentage on boats and men hired for loading and unloading, and on\nevery item that passes through his hands. The port charges are also\nrendered heavy by twenty dollars being charged as a perquisite of the\nsecretary of government, with a fee for the chief physician, something\nfor the hospital, custom-house officers, guards, etc., etc. But, with\nall these drawbacks, the Americans carry on a brisk and profitable trade\nin calico, biscuit, flour, butter, etc., etc.\n\nThe Portuguese home government has not generally received the credit for\nsincerity in suppressing the slave-trade which I conceive to be its due.\nIn 1839, my friend Mr. Gabriel saw 37 slave-ships lying in this harbor,\nwaiting for their cargoes, under the protection of the guns of the\nforts. At that time slavers had to wait many months at a time for a\nhuman freight, and a certain sum per head was paid to the government\nfor all that were exported. The duties derived from the exportation of\nslaves far exceeded those from other commerce, and, by agreeing to\nthe suppression of this profitable traffic, the government actually\nsacrificed the chief part of the export revenue. Since that period,\nhowever, the revenue from lawful commerce has very much exceeded that on\nslaves. The intentions of the home Portuguese government, however good,\ncan not be fully carried out under the present system. The pay of the\nofficers is so very small that they are nearly all obliged to engage\nin trade; and, owing to the lucrative nature of the slave-trade, the\ntemptation to engage in it is so powerful, that the philanthropic\nstatesmen of Lisbon need hardly expect to have their humane and\nenlightened views carried out. The law, for instance, lately promulgated\nfor the abolition of the carrier system (carregadores) is but one of\nseveral equally humane enactments against this mode of compulsory labor,\nbut there is very little probability of the benevolent intentions of the\nLegislature being carried into effect.\n\nLoanda is regarded somewhat as a penal settlement, and those who leave\ntheir native land for this country do so with the hope of getting rich\nin a few years, and then returning home. They have thus no motive\nfor seeking the permanent welfare of the country. The Portuguese law\npreventing the subjects of any other nation from holding landed property\nunless they become naturalized, the country has neither the advantage of\nnative nor foreign enterprise, and remains very much in the same state\nas our allies found it in 1575. Nearly all the European soldiers sent\nout are convicts, and, contrary to what might be expected from men in\ntheir position, behave remarkably well. A few riots have occurred,\nbut nothing at all so serious as have taken place in our own penal\nsettlements. It is a remarkable fact that the whole of the arms of\nLoanda are every night in the hands of those who have been convicts.\nVarious reasons for this mild behavior are assigned by the officers,\nbut none of these, when viewed in connection with our own experience in\nAustralia, appear to be valid. Religion seems to have no connection\nwith the change. Perhaps the climate may have some influence in subduing\ntheir turbulent disposition, for the inhabitants generally are a timid\nrace; they are not half so brave as our Caffres. The people of Ambriz\nran away like a flock of sheep, and allowed the Portuguese to take\npossession of their copper mines and country without striking a blow. If\nwe must have convict settlements, attention to the climate might be of\nadvantage in the selection. Here even bulls are much tamer than with us.\nI never met with a ferocious one in this country, and the Portuguese use\nthem generally for riding; an ox is seldom seen.\n\nThe objects which I had in view in opening up the country, as stated\nin a few notes of my journey, published in the newspapers of Angola, so\ncommended themselves to the general government and merchants of Loanda,\nthat, at the instance of his excellency the bishop, a handsome present\nfor Sekeletu was granted by the Board of Public Works (Junta da Fazenda\nPublica). It consisted of a colonel's complete uniform and a horse for\nthe chief, and suits of clothing for all the men who accompanied me.\nThe merchants also made a present, by public subscription, of handsome\nspecimens of all their articles of trade, and two donkeys, for the\npurpose of introducing the breed into his country, as tsetse can not\nkill this beast of burden. These presents were accompanied by letters\nfrom the bishop and merchants; and I was kindly favored with letters of\nrecommendation to the Portuguese authorities in Eastern Africa.\n\nI took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh supplies of\nammunition and beads, and gave each of my men a musket. As my companions\nhad amassed considerable quantities of goods, they were unable to carry\nmine, but the bishop furnished me with twenty carriers, and sent forward\norders to all the commandants of the districts through which we were to\npass to render me every assistance in their power. Being now supplied\nwith a good new tent made by my friends on board the Philomel, we left\nLoanda on the 20th of September, 1854, and passed round by sea to the\nmouth of the River Bengo. Ascending this river, we went through the\ndistrict in which stand the ruins of the convent of St. Antonio; thence\ninto Icollo i Bengo, which contains a population of 6530 blacks, 172\nmulattoes, and 11 whites, and is so named from having been the residence\nof a former native king. The proportion of slaves is only 3.38 per cent.\nof the inhabitants. The commandant of this place, Laurence Jose Marquis,\nis a frank old soldier and a most hospitable man; he is one of the few\nwho secure the universal approbation of their fellow-men for stern,\nunflinching honesty, and has risen from the ranks to be a major in the\narmy. We were accompanied thus far by our generous host, Edmund Gabriel,\nEsq., who, by his unwearied attentions to myself, and liberality in\nsupporting my men, had become endeared to all our hearts. My men were\nstrongly impressed with a sense of his goodness, and often spoke of him\nin terms of admiration all the way to Linyanti.\n\nWhile here we visited a large sugar manufactory belonging to a lady,\nDonna Anna da Sousa. The flat alluvial lands on the banks of the Senza\nor Bengo are well adapted for raising sugar-cane, and this lady had a\nsurprising number of slaves, but somehow the establishment was far from\nbeing in a flourishing condition. It presented such a contrast to the\nfree-labor establishments of the Mauritius, which I have since seen,\nwhere, with not one tenth of the number of hands, or such good soil,\na man of color had, in one year, cleared 5000 Pounds by a single crop,\nthat I quote the fact, in hopes it may meet the eye of Donna Anna.\n\nThe water of the river is muddy, and it is observed that such rivers\nhave many more mosquitoes than those which have clear water. It was\nremarked to us here that these insects are much more numerous at\nthe period of new moon than at other times; at any rate, we were all\nthankful to get away from the Senza and its insect plagues.\n\nThe whole of this part of the country is composed of marly tufa,\ncontaining the same kind of shells as those at present alive in the\nseas. As we advanced eastward and ascended the higher lands, we found\neruptive trap, which had tilted up immense masses of mica and sandstone\nschists. The mica schist almost always dipped toward the interior of the\ncountry, forming those mountain ranges of which we have already spoken\nas giving a highland character to the district of Golungo Alto. The trap\nhas frequently run through the gorges made in the upheaved rocks, and\nat the points of junction between the igneous and older rocks there are\nlarge quantities of strongly magnetic iron ore. The clayey soil formed\nby the disintegration of the mica schist and trap is the favorite soil\nfor the coffee; and it is on these mountain sides, and others possessing\na similar red clay soil, that this plant has propagated itself so\nwidely. The meadow-lands adjacent to the Senza and Coanza being\nunderlaid by that marly tufa which abounds toward the coast, and\ncontaining the same shells, show that, previous to the elevation of that\nside of the country, this region possessed some deeply-indented bays.\n\n28TH SEPTEMBER, KALUNGWEMBO.--We were still on the same path by which we\nhad come, and, there being no mosquitoes, we could now better enjoy the\nscenery. Ranges of hills occupy both sides of our path, and the fine\nlevel road is adorned with a beautiful red flower named Bolcamaria. The\nmarkets or sleeping-places are well supplied with provisions by great\nnumbers of women, every one of whom is seen spinning cotton with a\nspindle and distaff, exactly like those which were in use among the\nancient Egyptians. A woman is scarcely ever seen going to the fields,\nthough with a pot on her head, a child on her back, and the hoe over her\nshoulder, but she is employed in this way. The cotton was brought to the\nmarket for sale, and I bought a pound for a penny. This was the price\ndemanded, and probably double what they ask from each other. We saw\nthe cotton growing luxuriantly all around the market-places from seeds\ndropped accidentally. It is seen also about the native huts, and, so far\nas I could learn, it was the American cotton, so influenced by climate\nas to be perennial. We met in the road natives passing with bundles of\ncops, or spindles full of cotton thread, and these they were carrying to\nother parts to be woven into cloth. The women are the spinners, and the\nmen perform the weaving. Each web is about 5 feet long, and 15 or 18\ninches wide. The loom is of the simplest construction, being nothing but\ntwo beams placed one over the other, the web standing perpendicularly.\nThe threads of the web are separated by means of a thin wooden lath,\nand the woof passed through by means of the spindle on which it has been\nwound in spinning.\n\nThe mode of spinning and weaving in Angola, and, indeed, throughout\nSouth Central Africa, is so very like the same occupations in the\nhands of the ancient Egyptians, that I introduce a woodcut from the\ninteresting work of Sir Gardner Wilkinson. The lower figures are engaged\nin spinning in the real African method, and the weavers in the left-hand\ncorner have their web in the Angolese fashion.*\n\n   * Unfortunately, this woodcut can not be represented in this\n   ASCII text. The caption reads, 'Ancient Spinning and Weaving,\n   perpetuated in Africa at the present day.  From Wilkinson's\n   \"Ancient Egyptians\", p. 85, 86.' The web, or cloth on the\n   loom, mentioned, has the vertical threads, or the warp,\n   hanging, perhaps five feet, from a horizontal beam. The woof\n   is passed through from side to side.--A. L., 1997.\n\nNumbers of other articles are brought for sale to these sleeping-places.\nThe native smiths there carry on their trade. I bought ten very good\ntable-knives, made of country iron, for twopence each.\n\nLabor is extremely cheap, for I was assured that even carpenters,\nmasons, smiths, etc., might be hired for fourpence a day, and\nagriculturists would gladly work for half that sum.*\n\n   * In order that the reader may understand the social position\n   of the people of this country, I here give the census of the\n   district of Golungo Alto for the year 1854, though the numbers\n   are evidently not all furnished:\n\n   238 householders or yeomen.\n   4224 patrons, or head men of several hamlets.\n   23 native chiefs or sovas.\n   292 macotas or councilors.\n   5838 carriers.\n   126 carpenters.\n   72 masons.\n   300 shoemakers.\n   181 potters.\n   25 tailors.\n   12 barbers.\n   206 iron-founders.\n   486 bellows-blowers.\n   586 coke-makers.\n   173 iron-miners.\n   184 soldiers of militia.\n   3603 privileged gentlemen, i.e., who may wear boots.\n   18 vagabonds.\n   717 old men.\n   54 blind men and women.\n   81 lame men and women.\n   770 slave men.\n   807 slave women.\n   9578 free women.\n   393 possessors of land.\n   300 female gardeners.\n   139 hunters of wild animals.\n   980 smiths.\n   314 mat-makers.\n   4065 males under 7 years of age.\n   6012 females under 7 years of age.\n\nThese people possess 300 idol-houses, 600 sheep, 5000 goats, 500 oxen,\n398 gardens, 25,120 hearths. The authorities find great difficulty in\ngetting the people to furnish a correct account of their numbers. This\ncensus is quoted merely for the purpose of giving a general idea of the\nemployments of the inhabitants.\n\nThe following is taken from the census of Icollo i Bengo, and is added\nfor a similar reason:\n\n   3232 living without the marriage tie.  (All those who have\n   not been married by a priest are so distinguished.)\n   4 orphans--2 black and 2 white.\n   9 native chiefs.\n   2 carpenters.\n   21 potters.\n   11 tailors.\n   2 shoemakers.\n   3 barbers.\n   5 mat-makers.\n   12 sack-makers.\n   21 basket-makers.\n\n   The cattle in the district are:  10 asses, 401 oxen, 492 cows,\n   3933 sheep, 1699 goats, 909 swine; and as an annual tax is\n   levied of sixpence per head on all stock, it is probable that\n   the returns are less than the reality.\n\nBeing anxious to obtain some more knowledge of this interesting country\nand its ancient missionary establishments than the line of route by\nwhich we had come afforded, I resolved to visit the town of Massangano,\nwhich is situated to the south of Golungo Alto, and at the confluence of\nthe rivers Lucalla and Coanza. This led me to pass through the district\nof Cazengo, which is rather famous for the abundance and excellence\nof its coffee. Extensive coffee plantations were found to exist on the\nsides of the several lofty mountains that compose this district. They\nwere not planted by the Portuguese. The Jesuit and other missionaries\nare known to have brought some of the fine old Mocha seed, and these\nhave propagated themselves far and wide; hence the excellence of\nthe Angola coffee. Some have asserted that, as new plantations\nwere constantly discovered even during the period of our visit, the\ncoffee-tree was indigenous; but the fact that pine-apples, bananas,\nyams, orange-trees, custard apple-trees, pitangas, guavas, and other\nSouth American trees, were found by me in the same localities with the\nrecently-discovered coffee, would seem to indicate that all foreign\ntrees must have been introduced by the same agency. It is known that the\nJesuits also introduced many other trees for the sake of their timber\nalone. Numbers of these have spread over the country, some have probably\ndied out, and others failed to spread, like a lonely specimen which\nstands in what was the Botanic Garden of Loanda, and, though most useful\nin yielding a substitute for frankincense, is the only one of the kind\nin Africa.\n\nA circumstance which would facilitate the extensive propagation of the\ncoffee on the proper clay soil is this: The seed, when buried beneath\nthe soil, generally dies, while that which is sown broadcast, with no\ncovering except the shade of the trees, vegetates readily. The agent in\nsowing in this case is a bird, which eats the outer rind, and throws\nthe kernel on the ground. This plant can not bear the direct rays of\nthe sun; consequently, when a number of the trees are discovered in the\nforest, all that is necessary is to clear away the brushwood, and\nleave as many of the tall forest-trees as will afford good shade to the\ncoffee-plants below. The fortunate discoverer has then a flourishing\ncoffee plantation.\n\nThis district, small though it be, having only a population of 13,822,\nof whom ten only are white, nevertheless yields an annual tribute to the\ngovernment of thirteen hundred cotton cloths, each 5 feet by 18 or 20\ninches, of their own growth and manufacture.\n\nAccompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was well acquainted with\nthis part of the country, I proceeded in a canoe down the River Lucalla\nto Massangano. This river is about 85 yards wide, and navigable for\ncanoes from its confluence with the Coanza to about six miles above the\npoint where it receives the Luinha. Near this latter point stand the\nstrong, massive ruins of an iron foundry, erected in the times (1768)\nand by the order of the famous Marquis of Pombal. The whole of the\nbuildings were constructed of stone, cemented with oil and lime. The dam\nfor water-power was made of the same materials, and 27 feet high. This\nhad been broken through by a flood, and solid blocks, many yards in\nlength, were carried down the stream, affording an instructive example\nof the transporting power of water. There was nothing in the appearance\nof the place to indicate unhealthiness; but eight Spanish and Swedish\nworkmen, being brought hither for the purpose of instructing the\nnatives in the art of smelting iron, soon fell victims to disease and\n\"irregularities\". The effort of the marquis to improve the mode of\nmanufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive. Labor and subsistence\nare, however, so very cheap that almost any amount of work can be\nexecuted, at a cost that renders expensive establishments unnecessary.\n\nA party of native miners and smiths is still kept in the employment of\nthe government, who, working the rich black magnetic iron ore, produce\nfor the government from 480 to 500 bars of good malleable iron every\nmonth. They are supported by the appropriation of a few thousands of\na small fresh-water fish, called \"Cacusu\", a portion of the tax levied\nupon the fishermen of the Coanza. This fish is so much relished in the\ncountry that those who do not wish to eat them can easily convert them\ninto money. The commandant of the district of Massangano, for instance,\nhas a right to a dish of three hundred every morning, as part of his\nsalary. Shell-fish are also found in the Coanza, and the \"Peixemulher\",\nor woman-fish of the Portuguese, which is probably a Manatee.\n\nThe banks of the Lucalla are very pretty, well planted with\norange-trees, bananas, and the palm ('Elaeis Guineensis') which yields\nthe oil of commerce. Large plantations of maize, manioc, and tobacco are\nseen along both banks, which are enlivened by the frequent appearance\nof native houses imbosomed in dense shady groves, with little boys and\ngirls playing about them. The banks are steep, the water having cut out\nits bed in dark red alluvial soil. Before every cottage a small stage\nis erected, to which the inhabitants may descend to draw water without\ndanger from the alligators. Some have a little palisade made in the\nwater for safety from these reptiles, and others use the shell of the\nfruit of the baobab-tree attached to a pole about ten feet long, with\nwhich, while standing on the high bank, they may draw water without fear\nof accident.\n\nMany climbing plants run up the lofty silk, cotton, and baobab trees,\nand hang their beautiful flowers in gay festoons on the branches. As we\napproach Massangano, the land on both banks of the Lucalla becomes very\nlevel, and large portions are left marshy after the annual floods; but\nall is very fertile. As an illustration of the strength of the soil,\nI may state that we saw tobacco-plants in gardens near the confluence\neight feet high, and each plant had thirty-six leaves, which were\neighteen inches long by six or eight inches broad. But it is not\na pastoral district. In our descent we observed the tsetse, and\nconsequently the people had no domestic animals save goats.\n\nWe found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather high land, formed\nby the left bank of the Lucalla and right bank of the Coanza, and\nreceived true Portuguese hospitality from Senhor Lubata. The town has\nmore than a thousand inhabitants; the district has 28,063, with only\n315 slaves. It stands on a mound of calcareous tufa, containing great\nnumbers of fossil shells, the most recent of which resemble those found\nin the marly tufa close to the coast. The fort stands on the south side\nof the town, on a high perpendicular bank overhanging the Coanza. This\nriver is here a noble stream, about a hundred and fifty yards wide,\nadmitting navigation in large canoes from the bar at its mouth to\nCambambe, some thirty miles above this town. There, a fine waterfall\nhinders farther ascent. Ten or twelve large canoes laden with country\nproduce pass Massangano every day. Four galleons were constructed here\nas long ago as 1650, which must have been of good size, for they crossed\nthe ocean to Rio Janeiro.\n\nMassangano district is well adapted for sugar and rice, while Cambambe\nis a very superior field for cotton; but the bar at the mouth of the\nCoanza would prevent the approach of a steamer into this desirable\nregion, though a small one could ply on it with ease when once in. It\nis probable that the objects of those who attempted to make a canal from\nCalumbo to Loanda were not merely to supply that city with fresh water,\nbut to afford facilities for transportation. The remains of the canal\nshow it to have been made on a scale suited for the Coanza canoes. The\nPortuguese began another on a smaller scale in 1811, and, after three\nyears' labor, had finished only 6000 yards. Nothing great or useful will\never be effected here so long as men come merely to get rich, and then\nreturn to Portugal.\n\nThe latitude of the town and fort of Massangano is 9d 37' 46\" S., being\nnearly the same as that of Cassange. The country between Loanda and this\npoint being comparatively flat, a railroad might be constructed at small\nexpense. The level country is prolonged along the north bank of the\nCoanza to the edge of the Cassange basin, and a railway carried thither\nwould be convenient for the transport of the products of the rich\ndistricts of Cassange, Pungo Andongo, Ambaca, Cambambe, Golungo Alto,\nCazengo, Muchima, and Calumbo; in a word, the whole of Angola and\nindependent tribes adjacent to this kingdom.\n\nThe Portuguese merchants generally look to foreign enterprise and to\ntheir own government for the means by which this amelioration might\nbe effected; but, as I always stated to them when conversing on the\nsubject, foreign capitalists would never run the risk, unless they saw\nthe Angolese doing something for themselves, and the laws so altered\nthat the subjects of other nations should enjoy the same privileges in\nthe country with themselves. The government of Portugal has indeed shown\na wise and liberal policy by its permission for the alienation of the\ncrown lands in Angola; but the law giving it effect is so fenced round\nwith limitations, and so deluged with verbiage, that to plain people it\nseems any thing but a straightforward license to foreigners to become\n'bona fide' landholders and cultivators of the soil. At present the\ntolls paid on the different lines of roads for ferries and bridges are\nequal to the interest of large sums of money, though but a small amount\nhas been expended in making available roads.\n\nThere are two churches and a hospital in ruins at Massangano; and the\nremains of two convents are pointed out, one of which is said to have\nbeen an establishment of black Benedictines, which, if successful,\nconsidering the materials the brethren had to work on, must have been a\nlaborious undertaking. There is neither priest nor schoolmaster in the\ntown, but I was pleased to observe a number of children taught by one of\nthe inhabitants. The cultivated lands attached to all these conventual\nestablishments in Angola are now rented by the government of Loanda,\nand thither the bishop lately removed all the gold and silver vessels\nbelonging to them.\n\nThe fort of Massangano is small, but in good repair; it contains some\nvery ancient guns, which were loaded from the breech, and must have been\nformidable weapons in their time. The natives of this country entertain\na remarkable dread of great guns, and this tends much to the permanence\nof the Portuguese authority. They dread a cannon greatly, though the\ncarriage be so rotten that it would fall to pieces at the first shot;\nthe fort of Pungo Andongo is kept securely by cannon perched on cross\nsticks alone!\n\nMassangano was a very important town at the time the Dutch held forcible\npossession of Loanda and part of Angola; but when, in the year 1648,\nthe Dutch were expelled from this country by a small body of Portuguese,\nunder the Governor Salvador Correa de Sa Benevides, Massangano was left\nto sink into its present decay. Since it was partially abandoned by the\nPortuguese, several baobab-trees have sprung up and attained a diameter\nof eighteen or twenty inches, and are about twenty feet high. No certain\nconclusion can be drawn from these instances, as it is not known at what\ntime after 1648 they began to grow; but their present size shows that\ntheir growth is not unusually slow.\n\nSeveral fires occurred during our stay, by the thatch having, through\nlong exposure to a torrid sun, become like tinder. The roofs became\nignited without any visible cause except the intense solar rays, and\nexcited terror in the minds of the inhabitants, as the slightest spark\ncarried by the wind would have set the whole town in a blaze. There is\nnot a single inscription on stone visible in Massangano. If destroyed\nto-morrow, no one could tell where it and most Portuguese interior\nvillages stood, any more than we can do those of the Balonda.\n\nDuring the occupation of this town the Coanza was used for the purpose\nof navigation, but their vessels were so frequently plundered by their\nDutch neighbors that, when they regained the good port of Loanda, they\nno longer made use of the river. We remained here four days, in hopes\nof obtaining an observation for the longitude, but at this season of the\nyear the sky is almost constantly overcast by a thick canopy of clouds\nof a milk-and-water hue; this continues until the rainy season (which\nwas now close at hand) commences.\n\nThe lands on the north side of the Coanza belong to the Quisamas\n(Kisamas), an independent tribe, which the Portuguese have not been able\nto subdue. The few who came under my observation possessed much of the\nBushman or Hottentot feature, and were dressed in strips of soft bark\nhanging from the waist to the knee. They deal largely in salt, which\ntheir country produces in great abundance. It is brought in crystals of\nabout 12 inches long and 1-1/2 in diameter. This is hawked about every\nwhere in Angola, and, next to calico, is the most common medium of\nbarter. The Kisama are brave; and when the Portuguese army followed them\ninto their forests, they reduced the invaders to extremity by tapping\nall the reservoirs of water, which were no other than the enormous\nbaobabs of the country hollowed into cisterns. As the Kisama country is\nill supplied with water otherwise, the Portuguese were soon obliged to\nretreat. Their country, lying near to Massangano, is low and marshy,\nbut becomes more elevated in the distance, and beyond them lie the lofty\ndark mountain ranges of the Libollo, another powerful and independent\npeople. Near Massangano I observed what seemed to be an effort of nature\nto furnish a variety of domestic fowls, more capable than the common\nkind of bearing the heat of the sun. This was a hen and chickens with\nall their feathers curled upward, thus giving shade to the body\nwithout increasing the heat. They are here named \"Kisafu\" by the native\npopulation, who pay a high price for them when they wish to offer them\nas a sacrifice, and by the Portuguese they are termed \"Arripiada\", or\nshivering. There seems to be a tendency in nature to afford varieties\nadapted to the convenience of man. A kind of very short-legged fowl\namong the Boers was obtained, in consequence of observing that such\nwere more easily caught for transportation in their frequent removals\nin search of pasture. A similar instance of securing a variety occurred\nwith the short-limbed sheep in America.\n\nReturning by ascending the Lucalla into Cazengo, we had an opportunity\nof visiting several flourishing coffee plantations, and observed that\nseveral men, who had begun with no capital but honest industry, had, in\nthe course of a few years, acquired a comfortable subsistence. One of\nthese, Mr. Pinto, generously furnished me with a good supply of his\nexcellent coffee, and my men with a breed of rabbits to carry to their\nown country. Their lands, granted by government, yielded, without much\nlabor, coffee sufficient for all the necessaries of life.\n\nThe fact of other avenues of wealth opening up so readily seems like a\nprovidential invitation to forsake the slave-trade and engage in lawful\ncommerce. We saw the female population occupied, as usual, in the\nspinning of cotton and cultivation of their lands. Their only instrument\nfor culture is a double-handled hoe, which is worked with a sort of\ndragging motion. Many of the men were employed in weaving. The latter\nappear to be less industrious than the former, for they require a\nmonth to finish a single web. There is, however, not much inducement\nto industry, for, notwithstanding the time consumed in its manufacture,\neach web is sold for only two shillings.\n\nOn returning to Golungo Alto I found several of my men laid up with\nfever. One of the reasons for my leaving them there was that they might\nrecover from the fatigue of the journey from Loanda, which had much more\neffect upon their feet than hundreds of miles had on our way westward.\nThey had always been accustomed to moisture in their own well-watered\nland, and we certainly had a superabundance of that in Loanda. The\nroads, however, from Loanda to Golungo Alto were both hard and dry, and\nthey suffered severely in consequence; yet they were composing songs to\nbe sung when they should reach home. The Argonauts were nothing to them;\nand they remarked very impressively to me, \"It was well you came with\nMakololo, for no tribe could have done what we have accomplished in\ncoming to the white man's country: we are the true ancients, who can\ntell wonderful things.\" Two of them now had fever in the continued form,\nand became jaundiced, the whites or conjunctival membrane of their eyes\nbecoming as yellow as saffron; and a third suffered from an attack of\nmania. He came to his companions one day, and said, \"Remain well. I am\ncalled away by the gods!\" and set off at the top of his speed. The\nyoung men caught him before he had gone a mile, and bound him. By gentle\ntreatment and watching for a few days he recovered. I have observed\nseveral instances of this kind in the country, but very few cases of\nidiocy, and I believe that continued insanity is rare.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 21.\n\nVisit a deserted Convent--Favorable Report of Jesuits and their Teaching\n--Gradations of native Society--Punishment of Thieves--Palm-toddy; its\nbaneful Effects--Freemasons--Marriages and Funerals--Litigation--Mr.\nCanto's Illness--Bad Behavior of his Slaves--An Entertainment--Ideas\non Free Labor--Loss of American Cotton-seed--Abundance of Cotton in\nthe country--Sickness of Sekeletu's Horse--Eclipse of the Sun--Insects\nwhich distill Water--Experiments with them--Proceed to Ambaca--Sickly\nSeason--Office of Commandant--Punishment of official Delinquents--\nPresent from Mr. Schut of Loanda--Visit Pungo Andongo--Its good\nPasturage, Grain, Fruit, etc.--The Fort and columnar Rocks--The\nQueen of Jinga--Salubrity of Pungo Andongo--Price of a Slave--A\nMerchant-prince--His Hospitality--Hear of the Loss of my Papers\nin \"Forerunner\"--Narrow Escape from an Alligator--Ancient\nBurial-places--Neglect of Agriculture in Angola--Manioc the staple\nProduct--Its Cheapness--Sickness--Friendly Visit from a colored\nPriest--The Prince of Congo--No Priests in the Interior of Angola.\n\n\n\nWhile waiting for the recovery of my men, I visited, in company with my\nfriend Mr. Canto, the deserted convent of St. Hilarion, at Bango, a few\nmiles northwest of Golungo Alto. It is situated in a magnificent valley,\ncontaining a population numbering 4000 hearths. This is the abode of\nthe Sova, or Chief Bango, who still holds a place of authority under the\nPortuguese. The garden of the convent, the church, and dormitories of\nthe brethren are still kept in a good state of repair. I looked at the\nfurniture, couches, and large chests for holding the provisions of the\nbrotherhood with interest, and would fain have learned something of the\nformer occupants; but all the books and sacred vessels had lately been\nremoved to Loanda, and even the graves of the good men stand without any\nrecord: their resting-places are, however, carefully tended. All speak\nwell of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as the Capuchins, etc., for\nhaving attended diligently to the instruction of the children. They were\nsupposed to have a tendency to take the part of the people against the\ngovernment, and were supplanted by priests, concerning whom no regret\nis expressed that they were allowed to die out. In viewing the present\nfruits of former missions, it is impossible not to feel assured that,\nif the Jesuit teaching has been so permanent, that of Protestants,\nwho leave the Bible in the hands of their converts, will not be less\nabiding. The chief Bango has built a large two-story house close by the\nconvent, but superstitious fears prevent him from sleeping in it.\nThe Portuguese take advantage of all the gradations into which native\nsociety has divided itself. This man, for instance, is still a sova\nor chief, has his councilors, and maintains the same state as when the\ncountry was independent. When any of his people are guilty of theft, he\npays down the amount of goods stolen at once, and reimburses himself out\nof the property of the thief so effectually as to be benefited by the\ntransaction. The people under him are divided into a number of classes.\nThere are his councilors, as the highest, who are generally head men of\nseveral villages, and the carriers, the lowest free men. One class above\nthe last obtains the privilege of wearing shoes from the chief by paying\nfor it; another, the soldiers or militia, pay for the privilege of\nserving, the advantage being that they are not afterward liable to\nbe made carriers. They are also divided into gentlemen and little\ngentlemen, and, though quite black, speak of themselves as white men,\nand of the others, who may not wear shoes, as \"blacks\". The men of all\nthese classes trust to their wives for food, and spend most of their\ntime in drinking the palm-toddy. This toddy is the juice of the\npalm-oil-tree ('Elaeis Guineensis'), which, when tapped, yields a sweet,\nclear liquid, not at all intoxicating while fresh, but, when allowed\nto stand till the afternoon, causes inebriation and many crimes.\nThis toddy, called malova, is the bane of the country. Culprits are\ncontinually brought before the commandants for assaults committed\nthrough its influence. Men come up with deep gashes on their heads; and\none, who had burned his father's house, I saw making a profound bow to\nMr. Canto, and volunteering to explain why he did the deed.\n\nThere is also a sort of fraternity of freemasons, named Empacasseiros,\ninto which no one is admitted unless he is an expert hunter, and can\nshoot well with the gun. They are distinguished by a fillet of buffalo\nhide around their heads, and are employed as messengers in all cases\nrequiring express. They are very trustworthy, and, when on active\nservice, form the best native troops the Portuguese possess. The\nmilitia are of no value as soldiers, but cost the country nothing,\nbeing supported by their wives. Their duties are chiefly to guard the\nresidences of commandants, and to act as police.\n\nThe chief recreations of the natives of Angola are marriages and\nfunerals. When a young woman is about to be married, she is placed in a\nhut alone and anointed with various unguents, and many incantations\nare employed in order to secure good fortune and fruitfulness. Here, as\nalmost every where in the south, the height of good fortune is to bear\nsons. They often leave a husband altogether if they have daughters\nonly. In their dances, when any one may wish to deride another, in the\naccompanying song a line is introduced, \"So and so has no children,\nand never will get any.\" She feels the insult so keenly that it is not\nuncommon for her to rush away and commit suicide. After some days the\nbride elect is taken to another hut, and adorned with all the richest\nclothing and ornaments that the relatives can either lend or borrow. She\nis then placed in a public situation, saluted as a lady, and presents\nmade by all her acquaintances are placed around her. After this she is\ntaken to the residence of her husband, where she has a hut for herself,\nand becomes one of several wives, for polygamy is general. Dancing,\nfeasting, and drinking on such occasions are prolonged for several days.\nIn case of separation, the woman returns to her father's family, and the\nhusband receives back what he gave for her. In nearly all cases a man\ngives a price for the wife, and in cases of mulattoes, as much as 60\nPounds is often given to the parents of the bride. This is one of the\nevils the bishop was trying to remedy.\n\nIn cases of death the body is kept several days, and there is a grand\nconcourse of both sexes, with beating of drums, dances, and debauchery,\nkept up with feasting, etc., according to the means of the relatives.\nThe great ambition of many of the blacks of Angola is to give their\nfriends an expensive funeral. Often, when one is asked to sell a pig, he\nreplies, \"I am keeping it in case of the death of any of my friends.\" A\npig is usually slaughtered and eaten on the last day of the ceremonies,\nand its head thrown into the nearest stream or river. A native will\nsometimes appear intoxicated on these occasions, and, if blamed for his\nintemperance, will reply, \"Why! my mother is dead!\" as if he thought it\na sufficient justification. The expenses of funerals are so heavy that\noften years elapse before they can defray them.\n\nThese people are said to be very litigious and obstinate: constant\ndisputes are taking place respecting their lands. A case came before the\nweekly court of the commandant involving property in a palm-tree worth\ntwopence. The judge advised the pursuer to withdraw the case, as the\nmere expenses of entering it would be much more than the cost of the\ntree. \"Oh no,\" said he; \"I have a piece of calico with me for the clerk,\nand money for yourself. It's my right; I will not forego it.\" The calico\nitself cost three or four shillings. They rejoice if they can say of an\nenemy, \"I took him before the court.\"\n\nMy friend Mr. Canto, the commandant, being seized with fever in a severe\nform, it afforded me much pleasure to attend HIM in his sickness, who\nhad been so kind to ME in mine. He was for some time in a state of\ninsensibility, and I, having the charge of his establishment, had thus\nan opportunity of observing the workings of slavery. When a master is\nill, the slaves run riot among the eatables. I did not know this until I\nobserved that every time the sugar-basin came to the table it was\nempty. On visiting my patient by night, I passed along a corridor, and\nunexpectedly came upon the washerwoman eating pine-apples and sugar. All\nthe sweetmeats were devoured, and it was difficult for me to get even\nbread and butter until I took the precaution of locking the pantry door.\nProbably the slaves thought that, as both they and the luxuries were\nthe master's property, there was no good reason why they should be kept\napart.\n\nDebarred by my precaution from these sources of enjoyment, they took to\nkilling the fowls and goats, and, when the animal was dead, brought it\nto me, saying, \"We found this thing lying out there.\" They then enjoyed\na feast of flesh. A feeling of insecurity prevails throughout this\ncountry. It is quite common to furnish visitors with the keys of their\nrooms. When called on to come to breakfast or dinner, each locks his\ndoor and puts the key in his pocket. At Kolobeng we never locked our\ndoors by night or by day for months together; but there slavery is\nunknown. The Portuguese do not seem at all bigoted in their attachment\nto slavery, nor yet in their prejudices against color. Mr. Canto gave an\nentertainment in order to draw all classes together and promote general\ngood-will. Two sovas or native chiefs were present, and took their\nplaces without the least appearance of embarrassment. The Sova of\nKilombo appeared in the dress of a general, and the Sova of Bango was\ngayly attired in a red coat, profusely ornamented with tinsel. The\nlatter had a band of musicians with him consisting of six trumpeters and\nfour drummers, who performed very well. These men are fond of titles,\nand the Portuguese government humors them by conferring honorary\ncaptaincies, etc.: the Sova of Bango was at present anxious to obtain\nthe title of \"Major of all the Sovas\". At the tables of other gentlemen\nI observed the same thing constantly occurring. At this meeting Mr.\nCanto communicated some ideas which I had written out on the dignity\nof labor, and the superiority of free over slave labor. The Portuguese\ngentlemen present were anxiously expecting an arrival of American\ncotton-seed from Mr. Gabriel. They are now in the transition state from\nunlawful to lawful trade, and turn eagerly to cotton, coffee, and sugar\nas new sources of wealth. Mr. Canto had been commissioned by them to\npurchase three sugar-mills. Our cruisers have been the principal agents\nin compelling them to abandon the slave-trade; and our government,\nin furnishing them with a supply of cotton-seed, showed a generous\nintention to aid them in commencing a more honorable course. It can\nscarcely be believed, however, that after Lord Clarendon had been at\nthe trouble of procuring fresh cotton-seed through our minister at\nWashington, and had sent it out to the care of H. M. Commissioner at\nLoanda, probably from having fallen into the hands of a few incorrigible\nslave-traders, it never reached its destination. It was most likely cast\ninto the sea of Ambriz, and my friends at Golungo Alto were left without\nthe means of commencing a new enterprise.\n\nMr. Canto mentioned that there is now much more cotton in the country\nthan can be consumed; and if he had possession of a few hundred pounds,\nhe would buy up all the oil and cotton at a fair price, and thereby\nbring about a revolution in the agriculture of the country. These\ncommodities are not produced in greater quantity, because the people\nhave no market for those which now spring up almost spontaneously around\nthem. The above was put down in my journal when I had no idea that\nenlarged supplies of cotton from new sources were so much needed at\nhome.\n\nIt is common to cut down cotton-trees as a nuisance, and cultivate\nbeans, potatoes, and manioc sufficient only for their own consumption.\nI have the impression that cotton, which is deciduous in America, is\nperennial here; for the plants I saw in winter were not dead, though\ngoing by the name Algodao Americana, or American cotton. The rents paid\nfor gardens belonging to the old convents are merely nominal, varying\nfrom one shilling to three pounds per annum. The higher rents being\nrealized from those in the immediate vicinity of Loanda, none but\nPortuguese or half-castes can pay them.\n\nWhen about to start, the horse which the governor had kindly presented\nfor Sekeletu was seized with inflammation, which delayed us some time\nlonger, and we ultimately lost it. We had been careful to watch it when\ncoming through the district of Matamba, where we had discovered the\ntsetse, that no insect might light upon it. The change of diet here may\nhave had some influence in producing the disease; for I was informed by\nDr. Welweitsch, an able German naturalist, whom we found pursuing his\narduous labors here, and whose life we hope may be spared to give his\nresearches to the world, that, of fifty-eight kinds of grasses found\nat Loanda, only three or four species exist here, and these of the most\ndiminutive kinds. The twenty-four different species of grass of Golungo\nAlto are nearly all gigantic. Indeed, gigantic grasses, climbers,\nshrubs and trees, with but few plants, constitute the vegetation of this\nregion.\n\nNOVEMBER 20TH. An eclipse of the sun, which I had anxiously hoped to\nobserve with a view of determining the longitude, happened this morning,\nand, as often took place in this cloudy climate, the sun was covered\nfour minutes before it began. When it shone forth the eclipse was\nin progress, and a few minutes before it should (according to my\ncalculations) have ended the sun was again completely obscured. The\ngreatest patience and perseverance are required, if one wishes to\nascertain his position when it is the rainy season.\n\nBefore leaving, I had an opportunity of observing a curious insect,\nwhich inhabits trees of the fig family ('Ficus'), upward of twenty\nspecies of which are found here. Seven or eight of them cluster round\na spot on one of the smaller branches, and there keep up a constant\ndistillation of a clear fluid, which, dropping to the ground, forms a\nlittle puddle below. If a vessel is placed under them in the evening,\nit contains three or four pints of fluid in the morning. The natives\nsay that, if a drop falls into the eyes, it causes inflammation of these\norgans. To the question whence is this fluid derived, the people reply\nthat the insects suck it out of the tree, and our own naturalists\ngive the same answer. I have never seen an orifice, and it is scarcely\npossible that the tree can yield so much. A similar but much smaller\nhomopterous insect, of the family 'Cercopidae', is known in England as\nthe frog-hopper ('Aphrophora spumaria'), when full grown and\nfurnished with wings, but while still in the pupa state it is called\n\"Cuckoo-spit\", from the mass of froth in which it envelops itself.\nThe circulation of sap in plants in our climate, especially of the\ngraminaceae, is not quick enough to yield much moisture. The African\nspecies is five or six times the size of the English. In the case of\nbranches of the fig-tree, the point the insects congregate on is soon\nmarked by a number of incipient roots, such as are thrown out when a\ncutting is inserted in the ground for the purpose of starting another\ntree. I believe that both the English and African insects belong to the\nsame family, and differ only in size, and that the chief part of the\nmoisture is derived from the atmosphere. I leave it for naturalists to\nexplain how these little creatures distill both by night and day as\nmuch water as they please, and are more independent than her majesty's\nsteam-ships, with their apparatus for condensing steam; for, without\ncoal, their abundant supplies of sea-water are of no avail. I tried\nthe following experiment: Finding a colony of these insects busily\ndistilling on a branch of the 'Ricinus communis', or castor-oil plant, I\ndenuded about 20 inches of the bark on the tree side of the insects, and\nscraped away the inner bark, so as to destroy all the ascending vessels.\nI also cut a hole in the side of the branch, reaching to the middle, and\nthen cut out the pith and internal vessels. The distillation was then\ngoing on at the rate of one drop each 67 seconds, or about 2 ounces\n5-1/2 drams in 24 hours. Next morning the distillation, so far from\nbeing affected by the attempt to stop the supplies, supposing they had\ncome up through the branch from the tree, was increased to a drop every\n5 seconds, or 12 drops per minute, making 1 pint (16 ounces) in every 24\nhours. I then cut the branch so much that, during the day, it broke; but\nthey still went on at the rate of a drop every 5 seconds, while another\ncolony on a branch of the same tree gave a drop every 17 seconds only,\nor at the rate of about 10 ounces 4-4/5 drams in 24 hours. I finally\ncut off the branch; but this was too much for their patience, for they\nimmediately decamped, as insects will do from either a dead branch or\na dead animal, which Indian hunters soon know, when they sit down on\na recently-killed bear. The presence of greater moisture in the air\nincreased the power of these distillers: the period of greatest activity\nwas in the morning, when the air and every thing else was charged with\ndew.\n\nHaving but one day left for experiment, I found again that another\ncolony on a branch denuded in the same way yielded a drop every 2\nseconds, or 4 pints 10 ounces in 24 hours, while a colony on a branch\nuntouched yielded a drop every 11 seconds, or 16 ounces 2-19/20 drams\nin 24 hours. I regretted somewhat the want of time to institute another\nexperiment, namely, to cut a branch and place it in water, so as to keep\nit in life, and then observe if there was any diminution of the quantity\nof water in the vessel. This alone was wanting to make it certain that\nthey draw water from the atmosphere. I imagine that they have some power\nof which we are not aware, besides that nervous influence which causes\nconstant motion to our own involuntary muscles, the power of life-long\naction without fatigue. The reader will remember, in connection with\nthis insect, the case of the ants already mentioned.\n\nDECEMBER 14TH. Both myself and men having recovered from severe attacks\nof fever, we left the hospitable residence of Mr. Canto with a deep\nsense of his kindness to us all, and proceeded on our way to Ambaca.\n(Lat. 9d 16' 35\" S., long. 15d 23' E.)\n\nFrequent rains had fallen in October and November, which were nearly\nalways accompanied with thunder. Occasionally the quantity of moisture\nin the atmosphere is greatly increased without any visible cause:\nthis imparts a sensation of considerable cold, though the thermometer\nexhibits no fall of the mercury. The greater humidity in the air,\naffording a better conducting medium for the radiation of heat from the\nbody, is as dangerous as a sudden fall of the thermometer: it causes\nconsiderable disease among the natives, and this season is denominated\n\"Carneirado\", as if by the disease they were slaughtered like sheep. The\nseason of these changes, which is the most favorable for Europeans, is\nthe most unhealthy for the native population; and this is by no means\na climate in which either natives or Europeans can indulge in\nirregularities with impunity.\n\nOwing to the weakness of the men who had been sick, we were able to\nmarch but short distances. Three hours and a half brought us to the\nbanks of the Caloi, a small stream which flows into the Senza. This\nis one of the parts of the country reputed to yield petroleum, but the\ngeological formation, being mica schist, dipping toward the eastward,\ndid not promise much for our finding it. Our hospitable friend, Mr.\nMellot, accompanied us to another little river, called the Quango, where\nI saw two fine boys, the sons of the sub-commandant, Mr. Feltao, who,\nthough only from six to eight years old, were subject to fever. We then\npassed on in the bright sunlight, the whole country looking so fresh and\ngreen after the rains, and every thing so cheering, one could not but\nwonder to find it so feverish.\n\nWe found, on reaching Ambaca, that the gallant old soldier, Laurence\nJose Marquis, had, since our passing Icollo i Bengo, been promoted,\non account of his stern integrity, to the government of this important\ndistrict. The office of commandant is much coveted by the officers\nof the line who come to Angola, not so much for the salary as for the\nperquisites, which, when managed skillfully, in the course of a few\nyears make one rich. An idea may be formed of the conduct of some of\nthese officials from the following extract from the Boletin of Loanda of\nthe 28th of October, 1854:\n\n\"The acting governor-general of the province of Angola and its\ndependencies determines as follows:\n\n\"Having instituted an investigation (Syndecancia) against the commandant\nof the fort of----, a captain of the army of Portugal in commission in\nthis province,----, on account of numerous complaints, which have come\nbefore this government, of violences and extortions practiced by the\nsaid commandant, and those complaints appearing by the result of the\ninvestigation to be well founded, it will be convenient to exonerate the\ncaptain referred to from the command of the fort of----, to which he had\nbeen nominated by the portfolio of this general government, No. 41, of\n27th December of the past year; and if not otherwise determined, the\nsame official shall be judged by a council of war for the criminal acts\nwhich are to him attributed.\"\n\nEven this public mention of his crimes attaches no stigma to the man's\ncharacter. The council of war, by which these delinquents always prefer\nto be judged, is composed of men who eagerly expect to occupy the post\nof commandant themselves, and anticipate their own trial for similar\nacts at some future time. The severest sentence a council of war awards\nis a few weeks' suspension from office in his regiment.\n\nThis want of official integrity, which is not at all attributable to the\nhome government of Portugal, would prove a serious impediment in the way\nof foreign enterprise developing the resources of this rich province.\nAnd to this cause, indeed, may be ascribed the failure of the Portuguese\nlaws for the entire suppression of the slave-trade. The officers ought\nto receive higher pay, if integrity is expected from them. At present,\na captain's pay for a year will only keep him in good uniform. The high\npay our own officers receive has manifest advantages.\n\nBefore leaving Ambaca we received a present of ten head of cattle from\nMr. Schut of Loanda, and, as it shows the cheapness of provisions here,\nI may mention that the cost was only about a guinea per head.\n\nOn crossing the Lucalla we made a detour to the south, in order to visit\nthe famous rocks of Pungo Andongo. As soon as we crossed the rivulet\nLotete, a change in the vegetation of the country was apparent. We found\ntrees identical with those to be seen south of the Chobe. The grass,\ntoo, stands in tufts, and is of that kind which the natives consider to\nbe best adapted for cattle. Two species of grape-bearing vines abound\nevery where in this district, and the influence of the good pasturage is\nseen in the plump condition of the cattle. In all my previous inquiries\nrespecting the vegetable products of Angola, I was invariably\ndirected to Pungo Andongo. Do you grow wheat? \"Oh, yes, in Pungo\nAndongo.\"--Grapes, figs, or peaches? \"Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.\"--Do\nyou make butter, cheese, etc.? The uniform answer was, \"Oh, yes, there\nis abundance of all these in Pungo Andongo.\" But when we arrived here,\nwe found that the answers all referred to the activity of one man,\nColonel Manuel Antonio Pires. The presence of the wild grape shows that\nvineyards might be cultivated with success; the wheat grows well without\nirrigation; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese at the table of\nColonel Pires would prefer them to the stale produce of the Irish dairy,\nin general use throughout that province. The cattle in this country are\nseldom milked, on account of the strong prejudice which the Portuguese\nentertain against the use of milk. They believe that it may be used with\nsafety in the morning, but, if taken after midday, that it will cause\nfever. It seemed to me that there was not much reason for carefully\navoiding a few drops in their coffee, after having devoured ten times\nthe amount in the shape of cheese at dinner.\n\nThe fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9d 42' 14\" S., long. 15d 30' E.) is\nsituated in the midst of a group of curious columnar-shaped rocks, each\nof which is upward of three hundred feet in height. They are composed of\nconglomerate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces in a matrix\nof dark red sandstone. They rest on a thick stratum of this last rock,\nwith very few of the pebbles in its substance. On this a fossil palm has\nbeen found, and if of the same age as those on the eastern side of the\ncontinent, on which similar palms now lie, there may be coal underneath\nthis, as well as under that at Tete. The asserted existence of petroleum\nsprings at Dande, and near Cambambe, would seem to indicate the presence\nof this useful mineral, though I am not aware of any one having actually\nseen a seam of coal tilted up to the surface in Angola, as we have\nat Tete. The gigantic pillars of Pungo Andongo have been formed by a\ncurrent of the sea coming from the S.S.E.; for, seen from the top, they\nappear arranged in that direction, and must have withstood the surges of\nthe ocean at a period of our world's history, when the relations of land\nand sea were totally different from what they are now, and long before\n\"the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for\njoy to see the abodes prepared which man was soon to fill.\" The imbedded\npieces in the conglomerate are of gneiss, clay shale, mica and sandstone\nschists, trap, and porphyry, most of which are large enough to give\nthe whole the appearance of being the only remaining vestiges of vast\nprimaeval banks of shingle. Several little streams run among these\nrocks, and in the central part of the pillars stands the village,\ncompletely environed by well-nigh inaccessible rocks. The pathways into\nthe village might be defended by a small body of troops against an army;\nand this place was long the stronghold of the tribe called Jinga, the\noriginal possessors of the country.\n\nWe were shown a footprint carved on one of these rocks. It is spoken of\nas that of a famous queen, who reigned over all this region. In looking\nat these rude attempts at commemoration, one feels the value of letters.\nIn the history of Angola we find that the famous queen Donna Anna de\nSouza came from the vicinity, as embassadress from her brother, Gola\nBandy, King of the Jinga, to Loanda, in 1621, to sue for peace, and\nastonished the governor by the readiness of her answers. The governor\nproposed, as a condition of peace, the payment by the Jinga of an annual\ntribute. \"People talk of tribute after they have conquered, and not\nbefore it; we come to talk of peace, not of subjection,\" was the ready\nanswer. The governor was as much nonplussed as our Cape governors often\nare when they tell the Caffres \"to put it all down in writing, and they\nwill then be able to answer them.\" She remained some time in Loanda,\ngained all she sought, and, after being taught by the missionaries, was\nbaptized, and returned to her own country with honor. She succeeded\nto the kingdom on the death of her brother, whom it was supposed she\npoisoned, but in a subsequent war with the Portuguese she lost nearly\nall her army in a great battle fought in 1627. She returned to the\nChurch after a long period of apostasy, and died in extreme old age; and\nthe Jinga still live as an independent people to the north of this their\nancient country. No African tribe has ever been destroyed.\n\nIn former times the Portuguese imagined that this place was particularly\nunhealthy, and banishment to the black rocks of Pungo Andongo\nwas thought by their judges to be a much severer sentence than\ntransportation to any part of the coast; but this district is now well\nknown to be the most healthy part of Angola. The water is remarkably\npure, the soil is light, and the country open and undulating, with a\ngeneral slope down toward the River Coanza, a few miles distant. That\nriver is the southern boundary of the Portuguese, and beyond, to the S.\nand S.W., we see the high mountains of the Libollo. On the S.E. we have\nalso a mountainous country, inhabited by the Kimbonda or Ambonda, who\nare said by Colonel Pires to be a very brave and independent people,\nbut hospitable and fair in their dealings. They are rich in cattle, and\ntheir country produces much beeswax, which is carefully collected,\nand brought to the Portuguese, with whom they have always been on good\nterms.\n\nThe Ako (Haco), a branch of this family, inhabit the left bank of the\nCoanza above this village, who, instead of bringing slaves for sale, as\nformerly, now occasionally bring wax for the purchase of a slave from\nthe Portuguese. I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings: he said that he\nbelonged to the country of Matiamvo. Here I bought a pair of well-made\nboots, of good tanned leather, which reached above the knee, for five\nshillings and eightpence, and that was just the price given for one\npound of ivory by Mr. Pires; consequently, the boy was worth two pairs\nof boots, or two pounds of ivory. The Libollo on the S. have not so\ngood a character, but the Coanza is always deep enough to form a line of\ndefense. Colonel Pires is a good example of what an honest industrious\nman in this country may become. He came as a servant in a ship, and, by\na long course of persevering labor, has raised himself to be the richest\nmerchant in Angola. He possesses some thousands of cattle; and, on any\nemergency, can appear in the field with several hundred armed slaves.\n\nWhile enjoying the hospitality of this merchant-prince in his commodious\nresidence, which is outside the rocks, and commands a beautiful view of\nall the adjacent country, I learned that all my dispatches, maps,\nand journal had gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet\n\"Forerunner\". I felt so glad that my friend Lieutenant Bedingfeld, to\nwhose care I had committed them, though in the most imminent danger, had\nnot shared a similar fate, that I was at once reconciled to the labor\nof rewriting. I availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and\nremained till the end of the year reproducing my lost papers.\n\nColonel Pires having another establishment on the banks of the Coanza,\nabout six miles distant, I visited it with him about once a week for the\npurpose of recreation. The difference of temperature caused by the lower\naltitude was seen in the cashew-trees; for while, near the rocks, these\ntrees were but coming into flower, those at the lower station were\nripening their fruit. Cocoanut trees and bananas bear well at the lower\nstation, but yield little or no fruit at the upper. The difference\nindicated by the thermometer was 7 Deg. The general range near the rocks\nwas 67 Deg. at 7 A.M., 74 Deg. at midday, and 72 Deg. in the evening.\n\nA slave-boy belonging to Colonel Pires, having stolen and eaten some\nlemons in the evening, went to the river to wash his mouth, so as not to\nbe detected by the flavor. An alligator seized him and carried him to\nan island in the middle of the stream; there the boy grasped hold of the\nreeds, and baffled all the efforts of the reptile to dislodge him,\ntill his companions, attracted by his cries, came in a canoe to his\nassistance. The alligator at once let go his hold; for, when out of his\nown element, he is cowardly. The boy had many marks of the teeth in his\nabdomen and thigh, and those of the claws on his legs and arms.\n\nThe slaves in Colonel Pires' establishments appeared more like free\nservants than any I had elsewhere seen. Every thing was neat and clean,\nwhile generally, where slaves are the only domestics, there is an aspect\nof slovenliness, as if they went on the principle of always doing as\nlittle for their masters as possible.\n\nIn the country near to this station were a large number of the ancient\nburial-places of the Jinga. These are simply large mounds of stones,\nwith drinking and cooking vessels of rude pottery on them. Some are\narranged in a circular form, two or three yards in diameter, and shaped\nlike a haycock. There is not a single vestige of any inscription. The\nnatives of Angola generally have a strange predilection for bringing\ntheir dead to the sides of the most frequented paths. They have a\nparticular anxiety to secure the point where cross-roads meet. On and\naround the graves are planted tree euphorbias and other species of that\nfamily. On the grave itself they also place water-bottles, broken pipes,\ncooking vessels, and sometimes a little bow and arrow.\n\nThe Portuguese government, wishing to prevent this custom, affixed a\npenalty on any one burying in the roads, and appointed places of public\nsepulture in every district in the country. The people persist, however,\nin spite of the most stringent enforcement of the law, to follow their\nancient custom.\n\nThe country between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is covered with low\ntrees, bushes, and fine pasturage. In the latter, we were pleased to\nsee our old acquaintances, the gaudy gladiolus, Amaryllis toxicaria,\nhymanthus, and other bulbs in as flourishing a condition as at the Cape.\n\nIt is surprising that so little has been done in the way of agriculture\nin Angola. Raising wheat by means of irrigation has never been tried;\nno plow is ever used; and the only instrument is the native hoe, in the\nhands of slaves. The chief object of agriculture is the manioc, which\ndoes not contain nutriment sufficient to give proper stamina to the\npeople. The half-caste Portuguese have not so much energy as their\nfathers. They subsist chiefly on the manioc, and, as that can be\neaten either raw, roasted, or boiled, as it comes from the ground; or\nfermented in water, and then roasted or dried after fermentation, and\nbaked or pounded into fine meal; or rasped into meal and cooked as\nfarina; or made into confectionary with butter and sugar, it does not\nso soon pall upon the palate as one might imagine, when told that it\nconstitutes their principal food. The leaves boiled make an excellent\nvegetable for the table; and, when eaten by goats, their milk is much\nincreased. The wood is a good fuel, and yields a large quantity\nof potash. If planted in a dry soil, it takes two years to come to\nperfection, requiring, during that time, one weeding only. It bears\ndrought well, and never shrivels up, like other plants, when deprived of\nrain. When planted in low alluvial soils, and either well supplied with\nrain or annually flooded, twelve, or even ten months, are sufficient to\nbring it to maturity. The root rasped while raw, placed upon a cloth,\nand rubbed with the hands while water is poured upon it, parts with its\nstarchy glutinous matter, and this, when it settles at the bottom of the\nvessel, and the water poured off, is placed in the sun till nearly dry,\nto form tapioca. The process of drying is completed on an iron plate\nover a slow fire, the mass being stirred meanwhile with a stick, and\nwhen quite dry it appears agglutinated into little globules, and is in\nthe form we see the tapioca of commerce. This is never eaten by weevils,\nand so little labor is required in its cultivation that on the spot it\nis extremely cheap. Throughout the interior parts of Angola, fine manioc\nmeal, which could with ease have been converted either into superior\nstarch or tapioca, is commonly sold at the rate of about ten pounds for\na penny. All this region, however, has no means of transport to Loanda\nother than the shoulders of the carriers and slaves over a footpath.\n\nCambambe, to which the navigation of the Coanza reaches, is reported to\nbe thirty leagues below Pungo Andongo. A large waterfall is the limit on\nthat side; and another exists higher up, at the confluence of the Lombe\n(lat. 9d 41' 26\" S., and about long. 16d E.), over which hippopotami and\nelephants are sometimes drawn and killed. The river between is rapid,\nand generally rushes over a rocky bottom. Its source is pointed out\nas S.E. or S.S.E. of its confluence with the Lombe, and near Bihe. The\nsituation of Bihe is not well known. When at Sanza we were assured\nthat it lies nearly south of that point, and eight days distant. This\nstatement seemed to be corroborated by our meeting many people going to\nMatiamvo and to Loanda from Bihe. Both parties had come to Sanza, and\nthen branched off, one to the east, the other to the west. The source of\nthe Coanza is thus probably not far from Sanza.\n\nI had the happiness of doing a little good in the way of administering\nto the sick, for there are no doctors in the interior of Angola.\nNotwithstanding the general healthiness of this fine district and its\npleasant temperature, I was attacked by fever myself. While confined to\nmy room, a gentleman of color, a canon of the Church, kindly paid me\na visit. He was on a tour of visitation in the different interior\ndistricts for the purpose of baptizing and marrying. He had lately been\non a visit to Lisbon in company with the Prince of Congo, and had\nbeen invested with an order of honor by the King of Portugal as an\nacknowledgment of his services. He had all the appearance of a true\nnegro, but commanded the respect of the people; and Colonel P., who had\nknown him for thirty years, pronounced him to be a good man. There are\nonly three or four priests in Loanda, all men of color, but educated for\nthe office. About the time of my journey in Angola, an offer was made\nto any young men of ability who might wish to devote themselves to the\nservice of the Church, to afford them the requisite education at the\nUniversity of Coimbra in Portugal. I was informed, on what seemed good\nauthority, that the Prince of Congo is professedly a Christian, and that\nthere are no fewer than twelve churches in that kingdom, the fruits of\nthe mission established in former times at San Salvador, the capital.\nThese churches are kept in partial repair by the people, who also keep\nup the ceremonies of the Church, pronouncing some gibberish over the\ndead, in imitation of the Latin prayers which they had formerly heard.\nMany of them can read and write. When a King of Congo dies, the body is\nwrapped up in a great many folds of cloth until a priest can come from\nLoanda to consecrate his successor. The King of Congo still retains\nthe title of Lord of Angola, which he had when the Jinga, the original\npossessors of the soil, owed him allegiance; and, when he writes to the\nGovernor of Angola, he places his own name first, as if addressing his\nvassal. The Jinga paid him tribute annually in cowries, which were found\non the island that shelters Loanda harbor, and, on refusing to continue\npayment, the King of Congo gave over the island to the Portuguese, and\nthus their dominion commenced in this quarter.\n\nThere is not much knowledge of the Christian religion in either Congo\nor Angola, yet it is looked upon with a certain degree of favor. The\nprevalence of fever is probably the reason why no priest occupies a post\nin any part of the interior. They come on tours of visitation like\nthat mentioned, and it is said that no expense is incurred, for all the\npeople are ready not only to pay for their services, but also to furnish\nevery article in their power gratuitously. In view of the desolate\ncondition of this fine missionary field, it is more than probable that\nthe presence of a few Protestants would soon provoke the priests, if not\nto love, to good works.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 22.\n\nLeave Pungo Andongo--Extent of Portuguese Power--Meet Traders and\nCarriers--Red Ants; their fierce Attack; Usefulness; Numbers--Descend\nthe Heights of Tala Mungongo--Fruit-trees in the Valley of\nCassange--Edible Muscle--Birds--Cassange Village--Quinine and Cathory--\nSickness of Captain Neves' Infant--A Diviner thrashed--Death of\nthe Child--Mourning--Loss of Life from the Ordeal--Wide-spread\nSuperstitions--The Chieftainship--Charms--Receive Copies of the\n\"Times\"--Trading Pombeiros--Present for Matiamvo--Fever after westerly\nWinds--Capabilities of Angola for producing the raw Materials of\nEnglish Manufacture--Trading Parties with Ivory--More Fever--A\nHyaena's Choice--Makololo Opinion of the Portuguese--Cypriano's Debt--A\nFuneral--Dread of disembodied Spirits--Beautiful Morning Scenes--\nCrossing the Quango--Ambakistas called \"The Jews of Angola\"--Fashions\nof the Bashinje--Approach the Village of Sansawe--His Idea of\nDignity--The Pombeiros' Present--Long Detention--A Blow on the\nBeard--Attacked in a Forest--Sudden Conversion of a fighting Chief\nto Peace Principles by means of a Revolver--No Blood shed in\nconsequence--Rate of Traveling--Slave Women--Way of addressing\nSlaves--Their thievish Propensities--Feeders of the Congo or\nZaire--Obliged to refuse Presents--Cross the Loajima--Appearance of\nPeople; Hair Fashions.\n\n\n\nJANUARY 1, 1855. Having, through the kindness of Colonel Pires,\nreproduced some of my lost papers, I left Pungo Andongo the first day of\nthis year, and at Candumba, slept in one of the dairy establishments of\nmy friend, who had sent forward orders for an ample supply of butter,\ncheese, and milk. Our path lay along the right bank of the Coanza. This\nis composed of the same sandstone rock, with pebbles, which forms the\nflooring of the country. The land is level, has much open forest, and is\nwell adapted for pasturage.\n\nOn reaching the confluence of the Lombe, we left the river, and\nproceeded in a northeasterly direction, through a fine open green\ncountry, to the village of Malange, where we struck into our former\npath. A few miles to the west of this a path branches off to a new\ndistrict named the Duke Braganza. This path crosses the Lucalla and\nseveral of its feeders. The whole of the country drained by these\nis described as extremely fertile. The territory west of Braganza is\nreported to be mountainous, well wooded and watered; wild coffee is\nabundant, and the people even make their huts of coffee-trees. The\nrivers Dande, Senza, and Lucalla are said to rise in one mountain\nrange. Numerous tribes inhabit the country to the north, who are all\nindependent. The Portuguese power extends chiefly over the tribes\nthrough whose lands we have passed. It may be said to be firmly seated\nonly between the rivers Dande and Coanza. It extends inland about three\nhundred miles to the River Quango; and the population, according to the\nimperfect data afforded by the census, given annually by the commandants\nof the fifteen or sixteen districts into which it is divided, can not be\nunder 600,000 souls.\n\nLeaving Malange, we passed quickly, without deviation, along the path\nby which we had come. At Sanza (lat. 9d 37' 46\" S., long. 16d 59' E.) we\nexpected to get a little seed-wheat, but this was not now to be found\nin Angola. The underlying rock of the whole of this section is that same\nsandstone which we have before noticed, but it gradually becomes finer\nin the grain, with the addition of a little mica, the farther we go\neastward; we enter upon clay shale at Tala Mungongo (lat. 9d 42' 37\" S.,\nlong. 17d 27' E.), and find it dipping a little to the west. The general\ngeological structure is a broad fringe of mica and sandstone schist\n(about 15 Deg. E.), dipping in toward the centre of the country, beneath\nthese horizontal and sedimentary rocks of more recent date, which form\nan inland basin. The fringe is not, however, the highest in altitude,\nthough the oldest in age.\n\nWhile at this latter place we met a native of Bihe who has visited the\ncountry of Shinte three times for the purposes of trade. He gave us some\nof the news of that distant part, but not a word of the Makololo,\nwho have always been represented in the countries to the north as a\ndesperately savage race, whom no trader could visit with safety. The\nhalf-caste traders whom we met at Shinte's had returned to Angola with\nsixty-six slaves and upward of fifty tusks of ivory. As we came along\nthe path, we daily met long lines of carriers bearing large square\nmasses of beeswax, each about a hundred pounds weight, and numbers of\nelephants' tusks, the property of Angolese merchants. Many natives were\nproceeding to the coast also on their own account, carrying beeswax,\nivory, and sweet oil. They appeared to travel in perfect security; and\nat different parts of the road we purchased fowls from them at a penny\neach. My men took care to celebrate their own daring in having actually\nentered ships, while the natives of these parts, who had endeavored to\nfrighten them on their way down, had only seen them at a distance. Poor\nfellows! they were more than ever attentive to me; and, as they were not\nobliged to erect sheds for themselves, in consequence of finding them\nalready built at the different sleeping-places, all their care was\nbestowed in making me comfortable. Mashauana, as usual, made his bed\nwith his head close to my feet, and never during the entire journey did\nI have to call him twice for any thing I needed.\n\nDuring our stay at Tala Mungongo, our attention was attracted to a\nspecies of red ant which infests different parts of this country. It\nis remarkably fond of animal food. The commandant of the village having\nslaughtered a cow, slaves were obliged to sit up the whole night,\nburning fires of straw around the meat, to prevent them from devouring\nmost of it. These ants are frequently met with in numbers like a small\narmy. At a little distance they appear as a brownish-red band, two or\nthree inches wide, stretched across the path, all eagerly pressing on in\none direction. If a person happens to tread upon them, they rush up his\nlegs and bite with surprising vigor. The first time I encountered this\nby no means contemptible enemy was near Cassange. My attention being\ntaken up in viewing the distant landscape, I accidentally stepped\nupon one of their nests. Not an instant seemed to elapse before a\nsimultaneous attack was made on various unprotected parts, up the\ntrowsers from below, and on my neck and breast above. The bites of these\nfuries were like sparks of fire, and there was no retreat. I jumped\nabout for a second or two, then in desperation tore off all my clothing,\nand rubbed and picked them off seriatim as quickly as possible. Ugh!\nthey would make the most lethargic mortal look alive. Fortunately, no\none observed this rencounter, or word might have been taken back to the\nvillage that I had become mad. I was once assaulted in a similar way\nwhen sound asleep at night in my tent, and it was only by holding\nmy blanket over the fire that I could get rid of them. It is really\nastonishing how such small bodies can contain so large an amount of\nill-nature. They not only bite, but twist themselves round after the\nmandibles are inserted, to produce laceration and pain, more than would\nbe effected by the single wound. Frequently, while sitting on the ox,\nas he happened to tread near a band, they would rush up his legs to the\nrider, and soon let him know that he had disturbed their march. They\npossess no fear, attacking with equal ferocity the largest as well as\nthe smallest animals. When any person has leaped over the band, numbers\nof them leave the ranks and rush along the path, seemingly anxious for\na fight. They are very useful in ridding the country of dead animal\nmatter, and, when they visit a human habitation, clear it entirely of\nthe destructive white ants and other vermin. They destroy many noxious\ninsects and reptiles. The severity of their attack is greatly increased\nby their vast numbers, and rats, mice, lizards, and even the 'Python\nnatalensis', when in a state of surfeit from recent feeding, fall\nvictims to their fierce onslaught. These ants never make hills like the\nwhite ant. Their nests are but a short distance beneath the soil, which\nhas the soft appearance of the abodes of ants in England. Occasionally\nthey construct galleries over their path to the cells of the white ant,\nin order to secure themselves from the heat of the sun during their\nmarauding expeditions.\n\nJANUARY 15TH, 1855. We descended in one hour from the heights of Tala\nMungongo. I counted the number of paces made on the slope downward, and\nfound them to be sixteen hundred, which may give a perpendicular height\nof from twelve to fifteen hundred feet. Water boiled at 206 Degrees at\nTala Mungongo above, and at 208 Deg. at the bottom of the declivity, the\nair being at 72 Deg. in the shade in the former case, and 94 Deg. in the\nlatter. The temperature generally throughout the day was from 94 Deg. to\n97 Deg. in the coolest shade we could find.\n\nThe rivulets which cut up the valley of Cassange were now dry, but the\nLui and Luare contained abundance of rather brackish water. The banks\nare lined with palm, wild date-trees, and many guavas, the fruit of\nwhich was now becoming ripe. A tree much like the mango abounds, but\nit does not yield fruit. In these rivers a kind of edible muscle is\nplentiful, the shells of which exist in all the alluvial beds of the\nancient rivers as far as the Kuruman. The brackish nature of the water\nprobably enables it to exist here. On the open grassy lawns great\nnumbers of a species of lark are seen. They are black, with\nyellow shoulders. Another black bird, with a long tail ('Centropus\nSenegalensis'), floats awkwardly, with its tail in a perpendicular\nposition, over the long grass. It always chooses the highest points,\nand is caught on them with bird-lime, the long black tail-feathers\nbeing highly esteemed by the natives for plumes. We saw here also the\n\"Lehututu\" ('Tragopan Leadbeaterii'), a large bird strongly resembling\na turkey; it is black on the ground, but when it flies the outer half of\nthe wings are white. It kills serpents, striking them dexterously behind\nthe head. It derives its native name from the noise it makes, and it\nis found as far as Kolobeng. Another species like it is called the\nAbyssinian hornbill.\n\nBefore we reached Cassange we were overtaken by the commandant, Senhor\nCarvalho, who was returning, with a detachment of fifty men and a\nfield-piece, from an unsuccessful search after some rebels. The rebels\nhad fled, and all he could do was to burn their huts. He kindly invited\nme to take up my residence with him; but, not wishing to pass by the\ngentleman (Captain Neves) who had so kindly received me on my first\narrival in the Portuguese possessions, I declined. Senhor Rego had been\nsuperseded in his command, because the Governor Amaral, who had come\ninto office since my departure from Loanda, had determined that the law\nwhich requires the office of commandant to be exclusively occupied by\nmilitary officers of the line should once more come into operation. I\nwas again most kindly welcomed by my friend, Captain Neves, whom I found\nlaboring under a violent inflammation and abscess of the hand. There\nis nothing in the situation of this village to indicate unhealthiness,\nexcept, perhaps, the rank luxuriance of the vegetation. Nearly all\nthe Portuguese inhabitants suffer from enlargement of the spleen,\nthe effects of frequent intermittents, and have generally a sickly\nappearance. Thinking that this affection of the hand was simply an\neffort of nature to get rid of malarious matter from the system, I\nrecommended the use of quinine. He himself applied the leaf of a plant\ncalled cathory, famed among the natives as an excellent remedy for\nulcers. The cathory leaves, when boiled, exude a gummy juice, which\neffectually shuts out the external air. Each remedy, of course, claimed\nthe merit of the cure.\n\nMany of the children are cut off by fever. A fine boy of Captain Neves'\nhad, since my passage westward, shared a similar fate. Another child\ndied during the period of my visit. During his sickness, his mother, a\nwoman of color, sent for a diviner in order to ascertain what ought to\nbe done. The diviner, after throwing his dice, worked himself into the\nstate of ecstasy in which they pretend to be in communication with the\nBarimo. He then gave the oracular response that the child was being\nkilled by the spirit of a Portuguese trader who once lived at Cassange.\nThe case was this: on the death of the trader, the other Portuguese\nmerchants in the village came together, and sold the goods of the\ndeparted to each other, each man accounting for the portion received to\nthe creditors of the deceased at Loanda. The natives, looking on,\nand not understanding the nature of written mercantile transactions,\nconcluded that the merchants of Cassange had simply stolen the dead\nman's goods, and that now the spirit was killing the child of Captain\nNeves for the part he had taken in the affair. The diviner, in his\nresponse, revealed the impression made on his own mind by the sale, and\nlikewise the native ideas of departed souls. As they give the whites\ncredit for greater stupidity than themselves in all these matters, the\nmother of the child came, and told the father that he ought to give a\nslave to the diviner as a fee to make a sacrifice to appease the spirit\nand save the life of the child. The father quietly sent for a neighbor,\nand, though the diviner pretended to remain in his state of ecstasy, the\nbrisk application of two sticks to his back suddenly reduced him to his\nsenses and a most undignified flight.\n\nThe mother of this child seemed to have no confidence in European\nwisdom, and, though I desired her to keep the child out of currents of\nwind, she preferred to follow her own custom, and even got it cupped\non the cheeks. The consequence was that the child was soon in a dying\nstate, and the father wishing it to be baptized, I commended its soul\nto the care and compassion of Him who said, \"Of such is the kingdom of\nheaven.\" The mother at once rushed away, and commenced that doleful\nwail which is so affecting, as it indicates sorrow without hope. She\ncontinued it without intermission until the child was buried. In the\nevening her female companions used a small musical instrument, which\nproduced a kind of screeching sound, as an accompaniment of the death\nwail.\n\nIn the construction of this instrument they make use of caoutchouc,\nwhich, with a variety of other gums, is found in different parts of this\ncountry.\n\nThe intercourse which the natives have had with white men does not seem\nto have much ameliorated their condition. A great number of persons are\nreported to lose their lives annually in different districts of\nAngola by the cruel superstitions to which they are addicted, and the\nPortuguese authorities either know nothing of them, or are unable to\nprevent their occurrence. The natives are bound to secrecy by those who\nadminister the ordeal, which generally causes the death of the victim.\nA person, when accused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant\ndistricts in order to assert her innocency and brave the test. They come\nto a river on the Cassange called Dua, drink the infusion of a poisonous\ntree, and perish unknown.\n\nA woman was accused by a brother-in-law of being the cause of his\nsickness while we were at Cassange. She offered to take the ordeal,\nas she had the idea that it would but prove her conscious innocence.\nCaptain Neves refused his consent to her going, and thus saved her life,\nwhich would have been sacrificed, for the poison is very virulent. When\na strong stomach rejects it, the accuser reiterates his charge; the dose\nis repeated, and the person dies. Hundreds perish thus every year in the\nvalley of Cassange.\n\nThe same superstitious ideas being prevalent through the whole of the\ncountry north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the people must\noriginally have been one. All believe that the souls of the departed\nstill mingle among the living, and partake in some way of the food they\nconsume. In sickness, sacrifices of fowls and goats are made to appease\nthe spirits. It is imagined that they wish to take the living away\nfrom earth and all its enjoyments. When one man has killed another,\na sacrifice is made, as if to lay the spirit of the victim. A sect is\nreported to exist who kill men in order to take their hearts and offer\nthem to the Barimo.\n\nThe chieftainship is elective from certain families. Among the Bangalas\nof the Cassange valley the chief is chosen from three families in\nrotation. A chief's brother inherits in preference to his son. The sons\nof a sister belong to her brother; and he often sells his nephews to pay\nhis debts. By this and other unnatural customs, more than by war, is the\nslave-market supplied.\n\nThe prejudices in favor of these practices are very deeply rooted in\nthe native mind. Even at Loanda they retire out of the city in order\nto perform their heathenish rites without the cognizance of the\nauthorities. Their religion, if such it may be called, is one of dread.\nNumbers of charms are employed to avert the evils with which they feel\nthemselves to be encompassed. Occasionally you meet a man, more cautious\nor more timid than the rest, with twenty or thirty charms round his\nneck. He seems to act upon the principle of Proclus, in his prayer to\nall the gods and goddesses: among so many he surely must have the right\none. The disrespect which Europeans pay to the objects of their fear is\nto their minds only an evidence of great folly.\n\nWhile here, I reproduced the last of my lost papers and maps; and\nas there is a post twice a month from Loanda, I had the happiness to\nreceive a packet of the \"Times\", and, among other news, an account of\nthe Russian war up to the terrible charge of the light cavalry. The\nintense anxiety I felt to hear more may be imagined by every true\npatriot; but I was forced to brood on in silent thought, and utter my\npoor prayers for friends who perchance were now no more, until I reached\nthe other side of the continent.\n\nA considerable trade is carried on by the Cassange merchants with all\nthe surrounding territory by means of native traders, whom they term\n\"Pombeiros\". Two of these, called in the history of Angola \"the trading\nblacks\" (os feirantes pretos), Pedro Joao Baptista and Antonio Jose,\nhaving been sent by the first Portuguese trader that lived at Cassange,\nactually returned from some of the Portuguese possessions in the East\nwith letters from the governor of Mozambique in the year 1815, proving,\nas is remarked, \"the possibility of so important a communication between\nMozambique and Loanda.\" This is the only instance of native Portuguese\nsubjects crossing the continent. No European ever accomplished\nit, though this fact has lately been quoted as if the men had been\n\"PORTUGUESE\".\n\nCaptain Neves was now actively engaged in preparing a present, worth\nabout fifty pounds, to be sent by Pombeiros to Matiamvo. It consisted\nof great quantities of cotton cloth, a large carpet, an arm-chair with\na canopy and curtains of crimson calico, an iron bedstead, mosquito\ncurtains, beads, etc., and a number of pictures rudely painted in oil by\nan embryo black painter at Cassange.\n\nMatiamvo, like most of the natives in the interior of the country, has\na strong desire to possess a cannon, and had sent ten large tusks to\npurchase one; but, being government property, it could not be sold: he\nwas now furnished with a blunderbuss, mounted as a cannon, which would\nprobably please him as well.\n\nSenhor Graca and some other Portuguese have visited this chief at\ndifferent times; but no European resides beyond the Quango; indeed, it\nis contrary to the policy of the government of Angola to allow their\nsubjects to penetrate further into the interior. The present would have\nbeen a good opportunity for me to have visited that chief, and I\nfelt strongly inclined to do so, as he had expressed dissatisfaction\nrespecting my treatment by the Chiboque, and even threatened to punish\nthem. As it would be improper to force my men to go thither, I\nresolved to wait and see whether the proposition might not emanate from\nthemselves. When I can get the natives to agree in the propriety of any\nstep, they go to the end of the affair without a murmur. I speak to them\nand treat them as rational beings, and generally get on well with them\nin consequence.\n\nI have already remarked on the unhealthiness of Cassange; and Captain\nNeves, who possesses an observing turn of mind, had noticed that always\nwhen the west wind blows much fever immediately follows. As long as\neasterly winds prevail, all enjoy good health; but in January, February,\nMarch, and April, the winds are variable, and sickness is general.\nThe unhealthiness of the westerly winds probably results from malaria,\nappearing to be heavier than common air, and sweeping down into the\nvalley of Cassange from the western plateau, somewhat in the same way\nas the carbonic acid gas from bean-fields is supposed by colliers to do\ninto coal-pits. In the west of Scotland strong objections are made by\nthat body of men to farmers planting beans in their vicinity, from the\nbelief that they render the mines unhealthy. The gravitation of the\nmalaria from the more elevated land of Tala Mungongo toward Cassange\nis the only way the unhealthiness of this spot on the prevalence of the\nwesterly winds can be accounted for. The banks of the Quango, though\nmuch more marshy, and covered with ranker vegetation, are comparatively\nhealthy; but thither the westerly wind does not seem to convey the\nnoxious agent.\n\nFEB. 20TH. On the day of starting from Cassange, the westerly wind blew\nstrongly, and on the day following we were brought to a stand by several\nof our party being laid up with fever. This complaint is the only\nserious drawback Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an\nagreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich abundance of\ntropical produce for the rest of the world. Indeed, I have no hesitation\nin asserting that, had it been in the possession of England, it would\nnow have been yielding as much or more of the raw material for her\nmanufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-growing\nstates of America. A railway from Loanda to this valley would secure the\ntrade of most of the interior of South Central Africa.*\n\n   * The following statistics may be of interest to mercantile\n   men. They show that since the repression of the slave-trade in\n   Angola the value of the exports in lawful commerce has\n   steadily augmented. We have no returns since 1850, but the\n   prosperity of legitimate trade has suffered no check.  The\n   duties are noted in Portuguese money, \"milreis\", each of which\n   is about three shillings in value.\n\n\n   Return of the Quantities and Value of the Staple Articles, the\n   Produce of the Province of ANGOLA, exported from ST. PAUL DE\n   LOANDA between July 1, 1848, and June 30, 1849, specifying the\n   Quantities and Value of those exported in Portuguese Ships and\n   in Ships of other Nations.\n\n --------------------------------------------------------------------------\n  |                 |  In Portuguese Ships.  || In Ships of other Nations. |\n  |    Articles.    |------------------------||----------------------------|\n  |                 | Amount. |    Value.    ||   Amount.   |    Value.    |\n  |-----------------|---------|--------------||-------------|--------------|\n  |                 |         |   L.   s. d. ||             |   L.   s. d. |\n  | Ivory. . . Cwt. |   1454  | 35,350  0  0 ||  515        | 12,875  0  0 |\n  | Palm oil .  \"   |   1440  |  2,160  0  0 || 6671  1 qr. | 10,036 17  6 |\n  | Coffee . .  \"   |    152  |    304  0  0 ||  684        |  1,368  0  0 |\n  | Hides. . . No.  |   1837  |    633 17  6 ||  849        |    318 17  6 |\n  | Gum. . . . Cwt. |    147  |    205 16  0 || 4763        |  6,668  4  0 |\n  | Beeswax. .  \"   |   1109  |  6,654  0  0 ||  544        |  3,264  0  0 |\n  | Orchella . Tons |    630  | 23,940  0  0 || ....        |   ....       |\n  |                 |         |--------------||             |--------------|\n  |                 |         | 69,247 13  6 ||             | 34,530 19  0 |\n --------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n      TOTAL Quantity and Value of Exports from LOANDA.\n\n                                             L.   s. d.\n    Ivory . . . Cwt.  1969        . . . .  48,225  0  0\n    Palm oil. .  \"    8111 1 qr.  . . . .  12,196 17  6\n    Coffee. . .  \"     836        . . . .   1,672  0  0\n    Hides . . . No.   2686        . . . .     952 15  0\n    Gum . . . . Cwt.  4910        . . . .   6,874  0  0\n    Beeswax . .  \"    1653        . . . .   9,918  0  0\n    Orchella. . Tons   630        . . . .  23,940  0  0\n                                         -------------\n                                       L. 103,778 12  6\n\n    ABSTRACT VIEW of the Net Revenue of the Customs at St. Paul de Loanda\n    in quinquennial periods from 1818-19 to 1843-44, both included;\n    and thence in each year to 1848-49.\n\n\n ----------------------------------------------------------------------------\n  |         |             |            |          |            |Tonnage Dues,|\n  |         |  Duties on  | Duties on  |Duties on | Duties on  |Store Rents, |\n  |  Years. | Importation.|Exportation.|Re-export-|  Slaves.   |  and other  |\n  |         |             |            |  ation.  |            | incidental  |\n  |         |             |            |          |            |  Receipts.  |\n  |---------|-------------|------------|----------|------------|-------------|\n  |         |   Mil. reis.|  Mil. reis.|Mil. reis.|  Mil. reis.|   Mil. reis.|\n  | 1818-19 |     573 876 |    ...     |   ....   |137,320 800 | 148,608 661 |\n  | 1823-24 |   3,490 752 |    460 420 |   ....   |120,843 000 | 133,446 892 |\n  | 1828-29 |   4,700 684 |    800 280 |   ....   |125,330 000 | 139,981 364 |\n  | 1833-34 |   7,490 000 |  1,590 000 |   ....   |139,280 000 | 158,978 640 |\n  | 1838-39 |  25,800 590 |  2,720 000 |   ....   |135,470 320 | 173,710 910 |\n  | 1843-44 |  53,240 000 |  4,320 000 |   ....   | 72,195 230 | 138,255 230 |\n  | 1844-45 |  99,380 264 |  6,995 095 |   ....   | 17,676 000 | 134,941 359 |\n  | 1845-46 | 150,233 789 |  9,610 735 |   ....   |  5,116 500 | 181,423 550 |\n  | 1846-47 | 122,501 186 |  8,605 821 |   ....   |    549 000 | 114,599 235 |\n  | 1847-48 | 119,246 826 |  9,718 676 | 4097 868 |  1,231 200 | 146,321 476 |\n  | 1848-49 | 131,105 453 |  9,969 960 | 1164 309 |  1,183 500 | 157,152 400 |\n  |         |-------------|------------|          |------------|             |\n  |         | 717,763 420*| 54,790 987 |          |756,195 550 |             |\n  |         | = L.102,680 |  = L.7827  |          |= L.108,028 |             |\n ----------------------------------------------------------------------------\n  * This figure was originally miscalculated as 718,763 420,\n    which probably affected its conversion into Pounds.--A. L., 1997.\n\n -------------------------------------------------------------------------\n  |         | Net Revenue  |  Revenue from  |  Total Net   | Total Amount |\n  |  Years. |  of Customs. | other Sources. |   Revenue.   |  of Charges. |\n  |---------|--------------|----------------|--------------|--------------|\n  |         |   L.   s. d. |    L.   s. d.  |   L.   s. d. |   L.   s. d. |\n  | 1844-45 | 26,988  5  5 |   9,701 10  8  | 36,689 16  1 | 53,542  5  4 |\n  | 1845-46 | 36,284 14  2 |  24,580  4 10  | 60,864 19  0 | 56,695  9  7 |\n  | 1846-47 | 28,919 16 11 |  23,327  9 11  | 52,247  6 10 | 52,180  9  7 |\n  | 1847-48 | 29,264  5 10 |  24,490 11  8  | 53,754 17  6 | 53,440  8  8 |\n  | 1848-49 | 31,430  9  7 |  18,868  3 10  | 51,298 13  5 | 50,686  3  3 |\n -------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n   The above account exhibits the total revenue and charges of\n   the government of St. Paul de Loanda in each year, from 1844-\n   45 to 1848-49, both included. The above three tables are\n   copied from the appendix to a dispatch sent by Mr. Gabriel to\n   Viscount Palmerston, dated the 5th of August, 1850, and, among\n   other facts of interest, show a very satisfactory diminution\n   in the duties upon slaves.\n\n   The returns from 1818 to 1844 have been obtained from\n   different sources as the average revenue; those from 1844 to\n   1849 are from the Custom-house records.\n\nAs soon as we could move toward the Quango we did so, meeting in our\ncourse several trading-parties, both native and Portuguese. We met two\nof the latter carrying a tusk weighing 126 lbs. The owner afterward\ninformed us that its fellow on the left side of the same elephant was\n130 lbs. It was 8 feet 6-1/2 inches long, and 21 inches in circumference\nat the part on which the lip of the animal rests. The elephant was\nrather a small one, as is common in this hot central region. Some idea\nmay be formed of the strength of his neck when it is recollected that\nhe bore a weight of 256 lbs. The ivory which comes from the east and\nnortheast of Cassange is very much larger than any to be found further\nsouth. Captain Neves had one weighing 120 lbs., and this weight is by no\nmeans uncommon. They have been found weighing even 158 lbs.\n\nBefore reaching the Quango we were again brought to a stand by fever\nin two of my companions, close to the residence of a Portuguese who\nrejoiced in the name of William Tell, and who lived here in spite of the\nprohibition of the government. We were using the water of a pond, and\nthis gentleman, having come to invite me to dinner, drank a little of\nit, and caught fever in consequence. If malarious matter existed in\nwater, it would have been a wonder had we escaped; for, traveling in the\nsun, with the thermometer from 96 Degrees to 98 Degrees in the shade,\nthe evaporation from our bodies causing much thirst, we generally\npartook of every water we came to. We had probably thus more disease\nthan others might suffer who had better shelter.\n\nMr. Tell remarked that his garden was rather barren, being still, as\nhe said, wild; but when more worked it would become better, though no\nmanure be applied. My men were busy collecting a better breed of fowls\nand pigeons than those in their own country. Mr. Tell presented\nthem with some large specimens from Rio Janeiro. Of these they were\nwonderfully proud, and bore the cock in triumph through the country\nof the Balonda, as evidence of having been to the sea. But when at the\nvillage of Shinte, a hyaena came into our midst when we were all sound\nasleep, and picked out the giant in his basket from eighty-four others,\nand he was lost, to the great grief of my men. The anxiety these people\nhave always shown to improve the breed of their domestic animals is, I\nthink, a favorable point in their character. On looking at the common\nbreeds in the possession of the Portuguese, which are merely native\ncattle, and seeing them slaughter both heifer-calves and cows, which\nthey themselves never do, and likewise making no use of the milk, they\nconcluded that the Portuguese must be an inferior race of white men.\nThey never ceased remarking on the fine ground for gardens over which\nwe were passing; and when I happened to mention that most of the flour\nwhich the Portuguese consumed came from another country, they exclaimed,\n\"Are they ignorant of tillage?\" \"They know nothing but buying and\nselling: they are not men.\" I hope it may reach the ears of my Angolese\nfriends, and that they may be stirred up to develop the resources of\ntheir fine country.\n\nOn coming back to Cypriano's village on the 28th, we found that his\nstep-father had died after we had passed, and, according to the custom\nof the country, he had spent more than his patrimony in funeral orgies.\nHe acted with his wonted kindness, though, unfortunately, drinking\nhas got him so deeply in debt that he now keeps out of the way of his\ncreditors. He informed us that the source of the Quango is eight days,\nor one hundred miles, to the south of this, and in a range called\nMosamba, in the country of the Basongo. We can see from this a sort\nof break in the high land which stretches away round to Tala Mongongo,\nthrough which the river comes.\n\nA death had occurred in a village about a mile off, and the people were\nbusy beating drums and firing guns. The funeral rites are half festive,\nhalf mourning, partaking somewhat of the character of an Irish wake.\nThere is nothing more heart-rending than their death wails. When the\nnatives turn their eyes to the future world, they have a view cheerless\nenough of their own utter helplessness and hopelessness. They fancy\nthemselves completely in the power of the disembodied spirits, and look\nupon the prospect of following them as the greatest of misfortunes.\nHence they are constantly deprecating the wrath of departed souls,\nbelieving that, if they are appeased, there is no other cause of death\nbut witchcraft, which may be averted by charms. The whole of the colored\npopulation of Angola are sunk in these gross superstitions, but have\nthe opinion, notwithstanding, that they are wiser in these matters than\ntheir white neighbors. Each tribe has a consciousness of following its\nown best interests in the best way. They are by no means destitute of\nthat self-esteem which is so common in other nations; yet they fear\nall manner of phantoms, and have half-developed ideas and traditions of\nsomething or other, they know not what. The pleasures of animal life\nare ever present to their minds as the supreme good; and, but for the\ninnumerable invisibilities, they might enjoy their luxurious climate as\nmuch as it is possible for man to do. I have often thought, in traveling\nthrough their land, that it presents pictures of beauty which angels\nmight enjoy. How often have I beheld, in still mornings, scenes the very\nessence of beauty, and all bathed in a quiet air of delicious warmth!\nyet the occasional soft motion imparted a pleasing sensation of coolness\nas of a fan. Green grassy meadows, the cattle feeding, the goats\nbrowsing, the kids skipping, the groups of herd-boys with miniature\nbows, arrows, and spears; the women wending their way to the river with\nwatering-pots poised jauntily on their heads; men sewing under the shady\nbanians; and old gray-headed fathers sitting on the ground, with staff\nin hand, listening to the morning gossip, while others carry trees or\nbranches to repair their hedges; and all this, flooded with the bright\nAfrican sunshine, and the birds singing among the branches before the\nheat of the day has become intense, form pictures which can never be\nforgotten.\n\nWe were informed that a chief named Gando, living on the other side of\nthe river, having been accused of witchcraft, was killed by the ordeal,\nand his body thrown into the Quango.\n\nThe ferrymen demanded thirty yards of calico, but received six\nthankfully. The canoes were wretched, carrying only two persons at a\ntime; but my men being well acquainted with the water, we all got\nover in about two hours and a half. They excited the admiration of the\ninhabitants by the manner in which they managed the cattle and donkeys\nin crossing. The most stubborn of beasts found himself powerless in\ntheir hands. Five or six, seizing hold on one, bundled him at once into\nthe stream, and, in this predicament, he always thought it best policy\nto give in and swim. The men sometimes swam along with the cattle, and\nforced them to go on by dashing water at their heads. The difference\nbetween my men and those of the native traders who accompanied us was\nnever more apparent than now; for, while my men felt an interest in\nevery thing we possessed in common, theirs were rather glad when the\noxen refused to cross, for, being obliged to slaughter them on such\noccasions, the loss to their masters was a welcome feast to themselves.\n\nOn the eastern side of the Quango we passed on, without visiting our\nfriend of the conical head-dress, to the residence of some Ambakistas\nwho had crossed the river in order to secure the first chances of trade\nin wax. I have before remarked on the knowledge of reading and writing\nthat these Ambakistas possess; they are famed for their love of all\nsorts of learning within their reach, a knowledge of the history of\nPortugal, Portuguese law, etc., etc. They are remarkably keen in trade,\nand are sometimes called the Jews of Angola. They are employed as clerks\nand writers, their feminine delicacy of constitution enabling them to\nwrite a fine lady's hand, a kind of writing much esteemed among the\nPortuguese. They are not physically equal to the European Portuguese,\nbut possess considerable ability; and it is said that half-castes,\nin the course of a few generations, return to the black color of the\nmaternal ancestor. The black population of Angola has become much\ndeteriorated. They are not so strongly formed as the independent tribes.\nA large quantity of aguardiente, an inferior kind of spirit, is imported\ninto the country, which is most injurious in its effects. We saw many\nparties carrying casks of this baneful liquor to the independent chiefs\nbeyond; and were informed that it is difficult for any trader to convey\nit far, carriers being in the habit of helping themselves by means of a\nstraw, and then injecting an equal amount of water when near the point\nof delivery. To prevent this, it is common to see large demijohns\nwith padlocks on the corks. These are frequently stolen. In fact, the\ncarriers are much addicted to both lying and thieving, as might be\nexpected from the lowest class of a people on whom the debasing slave\nsystem has acted for two centuries.\n\nThe Bashinje, in whose country we now are, seem to possess more of the\nlow negro character and physiognomy than either the Balonda or Basongo;\ntheir color is generally dirty black, foreheads low and compressed,\nnoses flat and much expanded laterally, though this is partly owing to\nthe alae spreading over the cheeks, by the custom of inserting bits of\nsticks or reeds in the septum; their teeth are deformed by being filed\nto points; their lips are large. They make a nearer approach to a\ngeneral negro appearance than any tribes I met; but I did not notice\nthis on my way down. They cultivate pretty largely, and rely upon their\nagricultural products for their supplies of salt, flesh, tobacco, etc.,\nfrom Bangalas. Their clothing consists of pieces of skin, hung\nloosely from the girdle in front and behind. They plait their hair\nfantastically. We saw some women coming with their hair woven into the\nform of a European hat, and it was only by a closer inspection that its\nnature was detected. Others had it arranged in tufts, with a threefold\ncord along the ridge of each tuft; while others, again, follow the\nancient Egyptian fashion, having the whole mass of wool plaited into\ncords, all hanging down as far as the shoulders. This mode, with the\nsomewhat Egyptian cast of countenance in other parts of Londa, reminded\nme strongly of the paintings of that nation in the British Museum.\n\nWe had now rain every day, and the sky seldom presented that cloudless\naspect and clear blue so common in the dry lands of the south. The\nheavens are often overcast by large white motionless masses, which stand\nfor hours in the same position, and the intervening spaces are filled\nwith a milk-and-water-looking haze. Notwithstanding these unfavorable\ncircumstances, I obtained good observations for the longitude of this\nimportant point on both sides of the Quango, and found the river running\nin 9d 50' S. lat., 18d 33' E. long.\n\nOn proceeding to our former station near Sansawe's village, he ran to\nmeet us with wonderful urbanity, asking if we had seen Moene Put, king\nof the white men (or Portuguese); and added, on parting, that he would\ncome to receive his dues in the evening. I replied that, as he had\ntreated us so scurvily, even forbidding his people to sell us any food,\nif he did not bring us a fowl and some eggs as part of his duty as a\nchief, he should receive no present from me. When he came, it was in the\nusual Londa way of showing the exalted position he occupies, mounted on\nthe shoulders of his spokesman, as schoolboys sometimes do in England,\nand as was represented to have been the case in the southern islands\nwhen Captain Cook visited them. My companions, amused at his idea of\ndignity, greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visited the native traders\nfirst, and then came to me with two cocks as a present. I spoke to him\nabout the impolicy of treatment we had received at his hands, and quoted\nthe example of the Bangalas, who had been conquered by the Portuguese,\nfor their extortionate demands of payment for firewood, grass, water,\netc., and concluded by denying his right to any payment for simply\npassing through uncultivated land. To all this he agreed; and then I\ngave him, as a token of friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, two\niron spoons, and two yards of coarse printed calico. He looked rather\nsaucily at these articles, for he had just received a barrel containing\n18 lbs. of powder, 24 yards of calico, and two bottles of brandy, from\nSenhor Pascoal the Pombeiro. Other presents were added the next day,\nbut we gave nothing more; and the Pombeiros informed me that it was\nnecessary to give largely, because they are accompanied by slaves and\ncarriers who are no great friends to their masters; and if they did not\nsecure the friendship of these petty chiefs, many slaves and their loads\nmight be stolen while passing through the forests. It is thus a sort of\nblack-mail that these insignificant chiefs levy; and the native traders,\nin paying, do so simply as a bribe to keep them honest. This chief was\na man of no power, but in our former ignorance of this he plagued us a\nwhole day in passing.\n\nFinding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other Pombeiros\nexcessively slow, I resolved to forego his company to Cabango after I\nhad delivered to him some letters to be sent back to Cassange. I went\nforward with the intention of finishing my writing, and leaving a packet\nfor him at some village. We ascended the eastern acclivity that bounds\nthe Cassange valley, which has rather a gradual ascent up from the\nQuango, and we found that the last ascent, though apparently not quite\nso high as that at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The top is\nabout 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and the bottom 3500 feet;\nwater boiling on the heights at 202 Deg., the thermometer in the air\nshowing 96 Deg.; and at the bottom at 205 Deg., the air being 75 Deg. We\nhad now gained the summit of the western subtending ridge, and began to\ndescend toward the centre of the country, hoping soon to get out of the\nChiboque territory, which, when we ascended from the Cassange valley,\nwe had entered; but, on the 19th of April, the intermittent, which had\nbegun on the 16th of March, was changed into an extremely severe attack\nof rheumatic fever. This was brought on by being obliged to sleep on an\nextensive plain covered with water. The rain poured down incessantly,\nbut we formed our beds by dragging up the earth into oblong mounds,\nsomewhat like graves in a country church-yard, and then placing grass\nupon them. The rain continuing to deluge us, we were unable to leave\nfor two days, but as soon as it became fair we continued our march. The\nheavy dew upon the high grass was so cold as to cause shivering, and I\nwas forced to lie by for eight days, tossing and groaning with violent\npain in the head. This was the most severe attack I had endured. It made\nme quite unfit to move, or even know what was passing outside my little\ntent. Senhor Pascoal, who had been detained by the severe rain at a\nbetter spot, at last came up, and, knowing that leeches abounded in the\nrivulets, procured a number, and applied some dozens to the nape of\nthe neck and the loins. This partially relieved the pain. He was then\nobliged to move forward, in order to purchase food for his large party.\nAfter many days I began to recover, and wished to move on, but my men\nobjected to the attempt on account of my weakness. When Senhor\nPascoal had been some time at the village in front, as he had received\ninstructions from his employer, Captain Neves, to aid me as much as\npossible, and being himself a kindly-disposed person, he sent back two\nmessengers to invite me to come on, if practicable.\n\nIt happened that the head man of the village where I had lain twenty-two\ndays, while bargaining and quarreling in my camp for a piece of meat,\nhad been struck on the mouth by one of my men. My principal men paid\nfive pieces of cloth and a gun as an atonement; but the more they\nyielded, the more exorbitant he became, and he sent word to all the\nsurrounding villages to aid him in avenging the affront of a blow on the\nbeard. As their courage usually rises with success, I resolved to\nyield no more, and departed. In passing through a forest in the country\nbeyond, we were startled by a body of men rushing after us. They began\nby knocking down the burdens of the hindermost of my men, and several\nshots were fired, each party spreading out on both sides of the path. I\nfortunately had a six-barreled revolver, which my friend Captain Henry\nNeed, of her majesty's brig \"Linnet\", had considerately sent to Golungo\nAlto after my departure from Loanda. Taking this in my hand, and\nforgetting fever, I staggered quickly along the path with two or three\nof my men, and fortunately encountered the chief. The sight of the six\nbarrels gaping into his stomach, with my own ghastly visage looking\ndaggers at his face, seemed to produce an instant revolution in his\nmartial feelings, for he cried out, \"Oh! I have only come to speak to\nyou, and wish peace only.\" Mashauana had hold of him by the hand, and\nfound him shaking. We examined his gun, and found that it had been\ndischarged. Both parties crowded up to their chiefs. One of the opposite\nparty coming too near, one of mine drove him back with a battle-axe. The\nenemy protested their amicable intentions, and my men asserted the fact\nof having the goods knocked down as evidence of the contrary. Without\nwaiting long, I requested all to sit down, and Pitsane, placing his\nhand upon the revolver, somewhat allayed their fears. I then said to the\nchief, \"If you have come with peaceable intentions, we have no other; go\naway home to your village.\" He replied, \"I am afraid lest you shoot me\nin the back.\" I rejoined, \"If I wanted to kill you, I could shoot you\nin the face as well.\" Mosantu called out to me, \"That's only a Makalaka\ntrick; don't give him your back.\" But I said, \"Tell him to observe that\nI am not afraid of him;\" and, turning, mounted my ox. There was not much\ndanger in the fire that was opened at first, there being so many trees.\nThe enemy probably expected that the sudden attack would make us forsake\nour goods, and allow them to plunder with ease. The villagers were no\ndoubt pleased with being allowed to retire unscathed, and we were\nalso glad to get away without having shed a drop of blood, or having\ncompromised ourselves for any future visit. My men were delighted with\ntheir own bravery, and made the woods ring with telling each other\nhow \"brilliant their conduct before the enemy\" would have been, had\nhostilities not been brought to a sudden close.\n\nI do not mention this little skirmish as a very frightful affair. The\nnegro character in these parts, and in Angola, is essentially cowardly,\nexcept when influenced by success. A partial triumph over any body of\nmen would induce the whole country to rise in arms, and this is the\nchief danger to be feared. These petty chiefs have individually but\nlittle power, and with my men, now armed with guns, I could have easily\nbeaten them off singly; but, being of the same family, they would\nreadily unite in vast numbers if incited by prospects of successful\nplunder. They are by no means equal to the Cape Caffres in any respect\nwhatever.\n\nIn the evening we came to Moena Kikanje, and found him a sensible man.\nHe is the last of the Chiboque chiefs in this direction, and is in\nalliance with Matiamvo, whose territory commences a short distance\nbeyond. His village is placed on the east bank of the Quilo, which is\nhere twenty yards wide, and breast deep.\n\nThe country was generally covered with forest, and we slept every night\nat some village. I was so weak, and had become so deaf from the effects\nof the fever, that I was glad to avail myself of the company of Senhor\nPascoal and the other native traders. Our rate of traveling was only two\ngeographical miles per hour, and the average number of hours three and\na half per day, or seven miles. Two thirds of the month was spent\nin stoppages, there being only ten traveling days in each month. The\nstoppages were caused by sickness, and the necessity of remaining in\ndifferent parts to purchase food; and also because, when one carrier was\nsick, the rest refused to carry his load.\n\nOne of the Pombeiros had eight good-looking women in a chain whom he was\ntaking to the country of Matiamvo to sell for ivory. They always looked\nashamed when I happened to come near them, and must have felt keenly\ntheir forlorn and degraded position. I believe they were captives taken\nfrom the rebel Cassanges. The way in which slaves are spoken of in\nAngola and eastern Africa must sound strangely even to the owners when\nthey first come from Europe. In Angola the common appellation is \"o\ndiabo\", or \"brutu\"; and it is quite usual to hear gentlemen call out, \"O\ndiabo! bring fire.\" In eastern Africa, on the contrary, they apply the\nterm \"bicho\" (an animal), and you hear the phrase, \"Call the ANIMAL to\ndo this or that.\" In fact, slave-owners come to regard their slaves\nas not human, and will curse them as the \"race of a dog\". Most of the\ncarriers of my traveling companions were hired Basongo, and required\nconstant vigilance to prevent them stealing the goods they carried.\nSalt, which is one of the chief articles conveyed into the country,\nbecame considerably lighter as we went along, but the carriers shielded\nthemselves by saying that it had been melted by the rain. Their burdens\nwere taken from them every evening, and placed in security under the\nguardianship of Senhor Pascoal's own slaves. It was pitiable to observe\nthe worrying life he led. There was the greatest contrast possible\nbetween the conduct of his people and that of my faithful Makololo.\n\nWe crossed the Loange, a deep but narrow stream, by a bridge. It becomes\nmuch larger, and contains hippopotami, lower down. It is the boundary of\nLonda on the west. We slept also on the banks of the Pezo, now flooded,\nand could not but admire their capabilities for easy irrigation. On\nreaching the River Chikapa (lat. 10d 10' S., long. 19d 42' E.), the 25th\nof March, we found it fifty or sixty yards wide, and flowing E.N.E. into\nthe Kasai. The adjacent country is of the same level nature as that part\nof Londa formerly described; but, having come farther to the eastward\nthan our previous course, we found that all the rivers had worn for\nthemselves much deeper valleys than at the points we had formerly\ncrossed them.\n\nSurrounded on all sides by large gloomy forests, the people of these\nparts have a much more indistinct idea of the geography of their country\nthan those who live in hilly regions. It was only after long and patient\ninquiry that I became fully persuaded that the Quilo runs into the\nChikapa. As we now crossed them both considerably farther down, and were\ngreatly to the eastward of our first route, there can be no doubt that\nthese rivers take the same course as the others, into the Kasai, and\nthat I had been led into a mistake in saying that any of them flowed to\nthe westward. Indeed, it was only at this time that I began to perceive\nthat all the western feeders of the Kasai, except the Quango, flow first\nfrom the western side toward the centre of the country, then gradually\nturn, with the Kasai itself, to the north; and, after the confluence of\nthe Kasai with the Quango, an immense body of water, collected from all\nthese branches, finds its way out of the country by means of the River\nCongo or Zaire on the west coast.\n\nThe people living along the path we are now following were quite\naccustomed to the visits of native traders, and did not feel in any way\nbound to make presents of food except for the purpose of cheating: thus,\na man gave me a fowl and some meal, and, after a short time, returned.\nI offered him a handsome present of beads; but these he declined, and\ndemanded a cloth instead, which was far more than the value of his\ngift. They did the same with my men, until we had to refuse presents\naltogether. Others made high demands because I slept in a \"house of\ncloth\", and must be rich. They seemed to think that they had a perfect\nright to payment for simply passing through the country.\n\nBeyond the Chikapa we crossed the Kamaue, a small deep stream proceeding\nfrom the S.S.W., and flowing into the Chikapa.\n\nOn the 30th of April we reached the Loajima, where we had to form a\nbridge to effect our passage. This was not so difficult an operation\nas some might imagine; for a tree was growing in a horizontal position\nacross part of the stream, and, there being no want of the tough\nclimbing plants which admit of being knitted like ropes, Senhor P. soon\nconstructed a bridge. The Loajima was here about twenty-five yards wide,\nbut very much deeper than where I had crossed before on the shoulders of\nMashauana. The last rain of this season had fallen on the 28th, and\nhad suddenly been followed by a great decrease of the temperature. The\npeople in these parts seemed more slender in form, and their color a\nlighter olive, than any we had hitherto met. The mode of dressing the\ngreat masses of woolly hair which lay upon their shoulders, together\nwith their general features, again reminded me of the ancient Egyptians.\nSeveral were seen with the upward inclination of the outer angles of\nthe eye, but this was not general. A few of the ladies adopt a curious\ncustom of attaching the hair to a hoop which encircles the head, giving\nit somewhat the appearance of the glory round the head of the Virgin\n(wood-cut No. 1*). Some have a small hoop behind that represented in the\nwood-cut. Others wear an ornament of woven hair and hide adorned with\nbeads. The hair of the tails of buffaloes, which are to be found farther\neast, is sometimes added. This is represented in No. 2. While others,\nas in No. 3, weave their own hair on pieces of hide into the form\nof buffalo horns; or, as in No. 4, make a single horn in front. The\nfeatures given are frequently met with, but they are by no means\nuniversal. Many tattoo their bodies by inserting some black substance\nbeneath the skin, which leaves an elevated cicatrix about half an inch\nlong: these are made in the form of stars, and other figures of no\nparticular beauty.\n\n   * Unfortunately these wood-cuts can not be represented in this\n   ASCII text.\n\n   No. 1 appears like a wheel with spokes of hair\n   connecting it to the head.\n\n   No. 2 appears somewhat like a tiara sloped forward, as the bow\n   of a ship.\n\n   No. 3 appears like gently curving horns.  There is a part in\n   the middle, and the hair, on leather frames, curls outward and\n   upward at the temples.\n\n   No. 4 is likewise, but the single horn curves outward and\n   upward from the forehead--it is labelled \"A Young Man's\n   Fashion\". Except for No. 1, all are represented as having the\n   rest of their hair hanging in braids around the sides and\n   back.  All of the faces, as Livingstone asserts, appear much\n   like paintings of ancient Egyptians, and could easily be\n   European except for the shading and the slanted eyes. They are\n   all handsome.--A. L., 1997.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 23.\n\nMake a Detour southward--Peculiarities of the Inhabitants--Scarcity of\nAnimals--Forests--Geological Structure of the Country--Abundance and\nCheapness of Food near the Chihombo--A Slave lost--The Makololo Opinion\nof Slaveholders--Funeral Obsequies in Cabango--Send a Sketch of the\nCountry to Mr. Gabriel--Native Information respecting the Kasai and\nQuango--The Trade with Luba--Drainage of Londa--Report of Matiamvo's\nCountry and Government--Senhor Faria's Present to a Chief--The Balonda\nMode of spending Time--Faithless Guide--Makololo lament the Ignorance\nof the Balonda--Eagerness of the Villagers for Trade--Civility of\na Female Chief--The Chief Bango and his People--Refuse to eat\nBeef--Ambition of Africans to have a Village--Winters in the\nInterior--Spring at Kolobeng--White Ants: \"Never could desire to eat\nany thing better\"--Young Herbage and Animals--Valley of the Loembwe--\nThe white Man a Hobgoblin--Specimen of Quarreling--Eager Desire for\nCalico--Want of Clothing at Kawawa's--Funeral Observances--Agreeable\nIntercourse with Kawawa--His impudent Demand--Unpleasant\nParting--Kawawa tries to prevent our crossing the River\nKasai--Stratagem.\n\n\n\nWe made a little detour to the southward in order to get provisions in\na cheaper market. This led us along the rivulet called Tamba, where\nwe found the people, who had not been visited so frequently by the\nslave-traders as the rest, rather timid and very civil. It was agreeable\nto get again among the uncontaminated, and to see the natives look at us\nwithout that air of superciliousness which is so unpleasant and common\nin the beaten track. The same olive color prevailed. They file their\nteeth to a point, which makes the smile of the women frightful, as it\nreminds one of the grin of an alligator. The inhabitants throughout this\ncountry exhibit as great a variety of taste as appears on the surface\nof society among ourselves. Many of the men are dandies; their shoulders\nare always wet with the oil dropping from their lubricated hair, and\nevery thing about them is ornamented in one way or another. Some thrum\na musical instrument the livelong day, and, when they wake at night,\nproceed at once to their musical performance. Many of these musicians\nare too poor to have iron keys to their instrument, but make them of\nbamboo, and persevere, though no one hears the music but themselves.\nOthers try to appear warlike by never going out of their huts except\nwith a load of bows and arrows, or a gun ornamented with a strip of hide\nfor every animal they have shot; and others never go any where without a\ncanary in a cage. Ladies may be seen carefully tending little lap-dogs,\nwhich are intended to be eaten. Their villages are generally in forests,\nand composed of groups of irregularly-planted brown huts, with banana\nand cotton trees, and tobacco growing around. There is also at every\nhut a high stage erected for drying manioc roots and meal, and elevated\ncages to hold domestic fowls. Round baskets are laid on the thatch of\nthe huts for the hens to lay in, and on the arrival of strangers, men,\nwomen, and children ply their calling as hucksters with a great deal of\nnoisy haggling; all their transactions are conducted with civil banter\nand good temper.\n\nMy men, having the meat of the oxen which we slaughtered from time to\ntime for sale, were entreated to exchange it for meal; no matter how\nsmall the pieces offered were, it gave them pleasure to deal.\n\nThe landscape around is green, with a tint of yellow, the grass long,\nthe paths about a foot wide, and generally worn deeply in the middle.\nThe tall overhanging grass, when brushed against by the feet and legs,\ndisturbed the lizards and mice, and occasionally a serpent, causing a\nrustling among the herbage. There are not many birds; every animal is\nentrapped and eaten. Gins are seen on both sides of the path every ten\nor fifteen yards, for miles together. The time and labor required to dig\nup moles and mice from their burrows would, if applied to cultivation,\nafford food for any amount of fowls or swine, but the latter are seldom\nmet with.\n\nWe passed on through forests abounding in climbing-plants, many of which\nare so extremely tough that a man is required to go in front with a\nhatchet; and when the burdens of the carriers are caught, they are\nobliged to cut the climbers with their teeth, for no amount of tugging\nwill make them break. The paths in all these forests are so zigzag that\na person may imagine he has traveled a distance of thirty miles, which,\nwhen reckoned as the crow flies, may not be fifteen.\n\nWe reached the River Moamba (lat. 9d 38' S., long. 20d 13' 34\" E.) on\nthe 7th May. This is a stream of thirty yards wide, and, like the Quilo,\nLoange, Chikapa, and Loajima, contains both alligators and hippopotami.\nWe crossed it by means of canoes. Here, as on the slopes down to the\nQuilo and Chikapa, we had an opportunity of viewing the geological\nstructure of the country--a capping of ferruginous conglomerate, which\nin many parts looks as if it had been melted, for the rounded nodules\nresemble masses of slag, and they have a smooth scale on the surface;\nbut in all probability it is an aqueous deposit, for it contains\nwater-worn pebbles of all sorts, and generally small. Below this\nmass lies a pale red hardened sandstone, and beneath that a trap-like\nwhinstone. Lowest of all lies a coarse-grained sandstone containing\na few pebbles, and, in connection with it, a white calcareous rock is\noccasionally met with, and so are banks of loose round quartz pebbles.\nThe slopes are longer from the level country above the further we go\neastward, and every where we meet with circumscribed bogs on them,\nsurrounded by clumps of straight, lofty evergreen trees, which look\nextremely graceful on a ground of yellowish grass. Several of these\nbogs pour forth a solution of iron, which exhibits on its surface the\nprismatic colors. The level plateaus between the rivers, both east and\nwest of the Moamba, across which we traveled, were less woody than the\nriver glens. The trees on them are scraggy and wide apart. There are\nalso large open grass-covered spaces, with scarcely even a bush. On\nthese rather dreary intervals between the rivers it was impossible not\nto be painfully struck with the absence of all animal life. Not a bird\nwas to be seen, except occasionally a tomtit, some of the 'Sylviadae'\nand 'Drymoica', also a black bird ('Dicrurus Ludwigii', Smith) common\nthroughout the country. We were gladdened by the voice of birds only\nnear the rivers, and there they are neither numerous nor varied. The\nSenegal longclaw, however, maintains its place, and is the largest bird\nseen. We saw a butcher-bird in a trap as we passed. There are remarkably\nfew small animals, they having been hunted almost to extermination,\nand few insects except ants, which abound in considerable number and\nvariety. There are scarcely any common flies to be seen, nor are we ever\ntroubled by mosquitoes.\n\nThe air is still, hot, and oppressive; the intensely bright sunlight\nglances peacefully on the evergreen forest leaves, and all feel glad\nwhen the path comes into the shade. The want of life in the scenery made\nme long to tread again the banks of the Zambesi, and see the graceful\nantelopes feeding beside the dark buffaloes and sleek elands. Here\nhippopotami are known to exist only by their footprints on the banks.\nNot one is ever seen to blow or put his head up at all; they have\nlearned to breathe in silence and keep out of sight. We never heard one\nuttering the snorting sound so common on the Zambesi.\n\nWe crossed two small streams, the Kanesi and Fombeji, before reaching\nCabango, a village situated on the banks of the Chihombo. The country\nwas becoming more densely peopled as we proceeded, but it bears no\npopulation compared to what it might easily sustain. Provisions were to\nbe had in great abundance; a fowl and basket of meal weighing 20 lbs.\nwere sold for a yard and a half of very inferior cotton cloth, worth\nnot more than threepence. An idea of the cheapness of food may be formed\nfrom the fact that Captain Neves purchased 380 lbs. of tobacco from the\nBangalas for about two pounds sterling. This, when carried into central\nLonda, might purchase seven thousand five hundred fowls, or feed with\nmeal and fowls seven thousand persons for one day, giving each a fowl\nand 5 lbs. of meal. When food is purchased here with either salt or\ncoarse calico, four persons can be well fed with animal and vegetable\nfood at the rate of one penny a day. The chief vegetable food is the\nmanioc and lotsa meal. These contain a very large proportion of starch,\nand, when eaten alone for any length of time produce most distressing\nheartburn. As we ourselves experienced in coming north, they also cause\na weakness of vision, which occurs in the case of animals fed on pure\ngluten or amylaceous matter only. I now discovered that when these\nstarchy substances are eaten along with a proportion of ground-nuts,\nwhich contain a considerable quantity of oil, no injurious effects\nfollow.\n\nWhile on the way to Cabango we saw fresh tracks of elands, the first\nwe had observed in this country. A poor little slave girl, being ill,\nturned aside in the path, and, though we waited all the next day making\nsearch for her, she was lost. She was tall and slender for her age, as\nif of too quick growth, and probably, unable to bear the fatigue of the\nmarch, lay down and slept in the forest, then, waking in the dark, went\nfarther and farther astray. The treatment of the slaves witnessed by\nmy men certainly did not raise slaveholders in their estimation. Their\nusual exclamation was \"Ga ba na pelu\" (They have no heart); and they\nadded, with reference to the slaves, \"Why do they let them?\" as if they\nthought that the slaves had the natural right to rid the world of such\nheartless creatures, and ought to do it. The uneasiness of the trader\nwas continually showing itself, and, upon the whole, he had reason to\nbe on the alert both day and night. The carriers perpetually stole the\ngoods intrusted to their care, and he could not openly accuse them, lest\nthey should plunder him of all, and leave him quite in the lurch. He\ncould only hope to manage them after getting all the remaining goods\nsafely into a house in Cabango; he might then deduct something from\ntheir pay for what they had purloined on the way.\n\nCabango (lat. 9d 31' S., long. 20d 31' or 32' E.) is the dwelling-place\nof Muanzanza, one of Matiamvo's subordinate chiefs. His village consists\nof about two hundred huts and ten or twelve square houses, constructed\nof poles with grass interwoven. The latter are occupied by half-caste\nPortuguese from Ambaca, agents for the Cassange traders. The cold in the\nmornings was now severe to the feelings, the thermometer ranging from 58\nDeg. to 60 Deg., though, when protected, sometimes standing as high\nas 64 Deg. at six A.M. When the sun is well up, the thermometer in the\nshade rises to 80 Deg., and in the evenings it is about 78 Deg.\n\nA person having died in this village, we could transact no business with\nthe chief until the funeral obsequies were finished. These occupy about\nfour days, during which there is a constant succession of dancing,\nwailing, and feasting. Guns are fired by day, and drums beaten by night,\nand all the relatives, dressed in fantastic caps, keep up the ceremonies\nwith spirit proportionate to the amount of beer and beef expended. When\nthere is a large expenditure, the remark is often made afterward, \"What\na fine funeral that was!\" A figure, consisting chiefly of feathers and\nbeads, is paraded on these occasions, and seems to be regarded as an\nidol.\n\nHaving met with an accident to one of my eyes by a blow from a branch in\npassing through a forest, I remained some days here, endeavoring, though\nwith much pain, to draw a sketch of the country thus far, to be sent\nback to Mr. Gabriel at Loanda. I was always anxious to transmit an\naccount of my discoveries on every possible occasion, lest, any thing\nhappening in the country to which I was going, they should be entirely\nlost. I also fondly expected a packet of letters and papers which my\ngood angel at Loanda would be sure to send if they came to hand, but I\nafterward found that, though he had offered a large sum to any one who\nwould return with an assurance of having delivered the last packet he\nsent, no one followed me with it to Cabango. The unwearied attentions\nof this good Englishman, from his first welcome to me when, a weary,\ndejected, and worn-down stranger, I arrived at his residence, and his\nwhole subsequent conduct, will be held in lively remembrance by me to my\ndying day.\n\nSeveral of the native traders here having visited the country of Luba,\nlying far to the north of this, and there being some visitors also from\nthe town of Mai, which is situated far down the Kasai, I picked up some\ninformation respecting those distant parts. In going to the town of Mai\nthe traders crossed only two large rivers, the Loajima and Chihombo. The\nKasai flows a little to the east of the town of Mai, and near it there\nis a large waterfall. They describe the Kasai as being there of very\ngreat size, and that it thence bends round to the west. On asking an\nold man, who was about to return to his chief Mai, to imagine himself\nstanding at his home, and point to the confluence of the Quango and\nKasai, he immediately turned, and, pointing to the westward, said, \"When\nwe travel five days (thirty-five or forty miles) in that direction, we\ncome to it.\" He stated also that the Kasai received another river, named\nthe Lubilash. There is but one opinion among the Balonda respecting the\nKasai and Quango. They invariably describe the Kasai as receiving\nthe Quango, and, beyond the confluence, assuming the name of Zaire or\nZerezere. And the Kasai, even previous to the junction, is much larger\nthan the Quango, from the numerous branches it receives. Besides those\nwe have already crossed, there is the Chihombo at Cabango; and forty-two\nmiles beyond this, eastward, runs the Kasai itself; fourteen miles\nbeyond that, the Kaunguesi; then, forty-two miles farther east, flows\nthe Lolua; besides numbers of little streams, all of which contribute to\nswell the Kasai.\n\nAbout thirty-four miles east of the Lolua, or a hundred and thirty-two\nmiles E.N.E. of Cabango, stands the town of Matiamvo, the paramount\nchief of all the Balonda. The town of Mai is pointed out as to the\nN.N.W. of Cabango, and thirty-two days or two hundred and twenty-four\nmiles distant, or about lat. S. 5d 45'. The chief town of Luba, another\nindependent chief, is eight days farther in the same direction, or lat.\nS. 4d 50'. Judging from the appearance of the people who had come for\nthe purposes of trade from Mai, those in the north are in quite as\nuncivilized a condition as the Balonda. They are clad in a kind of cloth\nmade of the inner bark of a tree. Neither guns nor native traders are\nadmitted into the country, the chief of Luba entertaining a dread of\ninnovation. If a native trader goes thither, he must dress like the\ncommon people in Angola, in a loose robe resembling a kilt. The chief\ntrades in shells and beads only. His people kill the elephants by means\nof spears, poisoned arrows, and traps. All assert that elephants' tusks\nfrom that country are heavier and of greater length than any others.\n\nIt is evident, from all the information I could collect both here and\nelsewhere, that the drainage of Londa falls to the north and then runs\nwestward. The countries of Luba and Mai are evidently lower than this,\nand yet this is of no great altitude--probably not much more than 3500\nfeet above the level of the sea. Having here received pretty certain\ninformation on a point in which I felt much interest, namely, that the\nKasai is not navigable from the coast, owing to the large waterfall near\nthe town of Mai, and that no great kingdom exists in the region beyond,\nbetween this and the equator, I would fain have visited Matiamvo. This\nseemed a very desirable step, as it is good policy as well as right\nto acknowledge the sovereign of a country; and I was assured, both by\nBalonda and native traders, that a considerable branch of the Zambesi\nrises in the country east of his town, and flows away to the south. The\nwhole of this branch, extending down even to where it turns westward to\nMasiko, is probably placed too far eastward on the map. It was put down\nwhen I believed Matiamvo and Cazembe to be farther east than I have\nsince seen reason to believe them. All, being derived from native\ntestimony, is offered to the reader with diffidence, as needing\nverification by actual explorers. The people of that part, named Kanyika\nand Kanyoka, living on its banks, are represented as both numerous and\nfriendly, but Matiamvo will on no account permit any white person to\nvisit them, as his principal supplies of ivory are drawn from them.\nThinking that we might descend this branch of the Zambesi to Masiko, and\nthence to the Barotse, I felt a strong inclination to make the attempt.\nThe goods, however, we had brought with us to pay our way, had, by the\nlong detention from fever and weakness in both myself and men, dwindled\nto a mere fragment; and, being but slightly acquainted with the Balonda\ndialect, I felt that I could neither use persuasion nor presents to\neffect my object. From all I could hear of Matiamvo, there was no chance\nof my being allowed to proceed through his country to the southward. If\nI had gone merely to visit him, all the goods would have been expended\nby the time I returned to Cabango; and we had not found mendicity so\npleasant on our way to the north as to induce us to desire to return to\nit.\n\nThe country of Matiamvo is said to be well peopled, but they have little\nor no trade. They receive calico, salt, gunpowder, coarse earthenware,\nand beads, and give in return ivory and slaves. They possess no cattle,\nMatiamvo alone having a single herd, which he keeps entirely for\nthe sake of the flesh. The present chief is said to be mild in his\ngovernment, and will depose an under-chief for unjust conduct. He\noccasionally sends the distance of a hundred miles or more to behead an\noffending officer. But, though I was informed by the Portuguese that he\npossesses absolute power, his name had less influence over his subjects\nwith whom I came in contact than that of Sekeletu has over his people\nliving at a much greater distance from the capital.\n\nAs we thought it best to strike away to the S.E. from Cabango to our\nold friend Katema, I asked a guide from Muanzanza as soon as the funeral\nproceedings were over. He agreed to furnish one, and also accepted a\nsmaller present from me than usual, when it was represented to him by\nPascoal and Faria that I was not a trader. He seemed to regard these\npresents as his proper dues; and as a cargo of goods had come by Senhor\nPascoal, he entered the house for the purpose of receiving his share,\nwhen Senhor Faria gravely presented him with the commonest earthenware\nvessel, of which great numbers are brought for this trade. The chief\nreceived it with expressions of abundant gratitude, as these vessels are\nhighly valued, because from their depth they can hold so much food or\nbeer. The association of ideas is sometimes so very ludicrous that it is\ndifficult to maintain one's gravity.\n\nSeveral of the children of the late Matiamvo came to beg from me, but\nnever to offer any food. Having spoken to one young man named Liula\n(Heavens) about their stinginess, he soon brought bananas and manioc.\nI liked his appearance and conversation, and believe that the Balonda\nwould not be difficult to teach, but their mode of life would be a\ndrawback. The Balonda in this quarter are much more agreeable-looking\nthan any of the inhabitants nearer the coast. The women allow their\nteeth to remain in their beautifully white state, and would be comely\nbut for the custom of inserting pieces of reed into the cartilage of the\nnose. They seem generally to be in good spirits, and spend their time in\neverlasting talk, funeral ceremonies, and marriages. This flow of animal\nspirits must be one reason why they are such an indestructible race. The\nhabitual influence on their minds of the agency of unseen spirits may\nhave a tendency in the same direction, by preserving the mental quietude\nof a kind of fatalism.\n\nWe were forced to prepay our guide and his father too, and he went but\none day, although he promised to go with us to Katema. He was not in the\nleast ashamed at breaking his engagements, and probably no disgrace will\nbe attached to the deed by Muanzanza. Among the Bakwains he would have\nbeen punished. My men would have stripped him of the wages which he wore\non his person, but thought that, as we had always acted on the mildest\nprinciples, they would let him move off with his unearned gains.\n\nThey frequently lamented the want of knowledge in these people, saying,\nin their own tongue, \"Ah! they don't know that we are men as well as\nthey, and that we are only bearing with their insolence with patience\nbecause we are men.\" Then would follow a hearty curse, showing that the\npatience was nearly expended; but they seldom quarreled in the language\nof the Balonda. The only one who ever lost his temper was the man who\nstruck a head man of one of the villages on the mouth, and he was the\nmost abject individual in our company.\n\nThe reason why we needed a guide at all was to secure the convenience\nof a path, which, though generally no better than a sheep-walk, is much\neasier than going straight in one direction, through tangled forests and\ntropical vegetation. We knew the general direction we ought to follow,\nand also if any deviation occurred from our proper route; but, to avoid\nimpassable forests and untreadable bogs, and to get to the proper\nfords of the rivers, we always tried to procure a guide, and he always\nfollowed the common path from one village to another when that lay in\nthe direction we were going.\n\nAfter leaving Cabango on the 21st, we crossed several little streams\nrunning into the Chihombo on our left, and in one of them I saw tree\nferns ('Cyathea dregei') for the first time in Africa. The trunk was\nabout four feet high and ten inches in diameter. We saw also grass trees\nof two varieties, which, in damp localities, had attained a height of\nforty feet. On crossing the Chihombo, which we did about twelve miles\nabove Cabango, we found it waist-deep and rapid. We were delighted to\nsee the evidences of buffalo and hippopotami on its banks. As soon as we\ngot away from the track of the slave-traders, the more kindly spirit of\nthe southern Balonda appeared, for an old man brought a large present of\nfood from one of the villages, and volunteered to go as guide himself.\nThe people, however, of the numerous villages which we passed always\nmade efforts to detain us, that they might have a little trade in the\nway of furnishing our suppers. At one village, indeed, they would not\nshow us the path at all unless we remained at least a day with them.\nHaving refused, we took a path in the direction we ought to go, but it\nled us into an inextricable thicket. Returning to the village again, we\ntried another footpath in a similar direction, but this led us into an\nequally impassable and trackless forest. We were thus forced to come\nback and remain. In the following morning they put us in the proper\npath, which in a few hours led us through a forest that would otherwise\nhave taken us days to penetrate.\n\nBeyond this forest we found the village of Nyakalonga, a sister of the\nlate Matiamvo, who treated us handsomely. She wished her people to guide\nus to the next village, but this they declined unless we engaged in\ntrade. She then requested us to wait an hour or two till she could get\nready a present of meal, manioc roots, ground-nuts, and a fowl. It was\ntruly pleasant to meet with people possessing some civility, after the\nhauteur we had experienced on the slave-path. She sent her son to the\nnext village without requiring payment. The stream which ran past her\nvillage was quite impassable there, and for a distance of about a mile\non either side, the bog being soft and shaky, and, when the crust was\nbroken through, about six feet deep.\n\nOn the 28th we reached the village of the chief Bango (lat. 12d 22' 53\"\nS., long. 20d 58' E.), who brought us a handsome present of meal, and\nthe meat of an entire pallah. We here slaughtered the last of the cows\npresented to us by Mr. Schut, which I had kept milked until it gave only\na teaspoonful at a time. My men enjoyed a hearty laugh when they found\nthat I had given up all hope of more, for they had been talking among\nthemselves about my perseverance. We offered a leg of the cow to Bango,\nbut he informed us that neither he nor his people ever partook of beef,\nas they looked upon cattle as human, and living at home like men. None\nof his people purchased any of the meat, which was always eagerly done\nevery where else. There are several other tribes who refuse to keep\ncattle, though not to eat them when offered by others, because, say\nthey, oxen bring enemies and war; but this is the first instance I have\nmet with in which they have been refused as food. The fact of killing\nthe pallahs for food shows that the objection does not extend to meat in\ngeneral.\n\nThe little streams in this part of the country did not flow in deep\ndells, nor were we troubled with the gigantic grasses which annoyed our\neyes on the slopes of the streams before we came to Cabango. The country\nwas quite flat, and the people cultivated manioc very extensively. There\nis no large collection of the inhabitants in any one spot. The ambition\nof each seems to be to have his own little village; and we see many\ncoming from distant parts with the flesh of buffaloes and antelopes as\nthe tribute claimed by Bango. We have now entered again the country of\nthe game, but they are so exceedingly shy that we have not yet seen a\nsingle animal. The arrangement into many villages pleases the Africans\nvastly, for every one who has a few huts under him feels himself in\nsome measure to be a chief. The country at this time is covered with\nyellowish grass quite dry. Some of the bushes and trees are green;\nothers are shedding their leaves, the young buds pushing off the old\nfoliage. Trees, which in the south stand bare during the winter months,\nhave here but a short period of leaflessness. Occasionally, however, a\ncold north wind comes up even as far as Cabango, and spreads a wintry\naspect on all the exposed vegetation. The tender shoots of the evergreen\ntrees on the south side become as if scorched; the leaves of manioc,\npumpkins, and other tender plants are killed; while the same kinds, in\nspots sheltered by forests, continue green through the whole year. All\nthe interior of South Africa has a distinct winter of cold, varying in\nintensity with the latitudes. In the central parts of the Cape Colony\nthe cold in the winter is often severe, and the ground is covered with\nsnow. At Kuruman snow seldom falls, but the frost is keen. There is\nfrost even as far as the Chobe, and a partial winter in the Barotse\nvalley, but beyond the Orange River we never have cold and damp\ncombined. Indeed, a shower of rain seldom or never falls during winter,\nand hence the healthiness of the Bechuana climate. From the Barotse\nvalley northward it is questionable if it ever freezes; but, during the\nprevalence of the south wind, the thermometer sinks as low as 42 Deg.,\nand conveys the impression of bitter cold.\n\nNothing can exceed the beauty of the change from the wintry appearance\nto that of spring at Kolobeng. Previous to the commencement of the\nrains, an easterly wind blows strongly by day, but dies away at night.\nThe clouds collect in increasing masses, and relieve in some measure\nthe bright glare of the southern sun. The wind dries up every thing,\nand when at its greatest strength is hot, and raises clouds of dust.\nThe general temperature during the day rises above 96 Deg.: then showers\nbegin to fall; and if the ground is but once well soaked with a good\nday's rain, the change produced is marvelous. In a day or two a tinge\nof green is apparent all over the landscape, and in five or six days the\nfresh leaves sprouting forth, and the young grass shooting up, give\nan appearance of spring which it requires weeks of a colder climate to\nproduce. The birds, which in the hot, dry, windy season had been silent,\nnow burst forth into merry twittering songs, and are busy building their\nnests. Some of them, indeed, hatch several times a year. The lowering of\nthe temperature, by rains or other causes, has much the same effect as\nthe increasing mildness of our own spring. The earth teems with myriads\nof young insects; in some parts of the country hundreds of centipedes,\nmyriapedes, and beetles emerge from their hiding-places, somewhat as\nour snails at home do; and in the evenings the white ants swarm by\nthousands. A stream of them is seen to rush out of a hole, and, after\nflying one or two hundred yards, they descend; and if they light upon a\npiece of soil proper for the commencement of a new colony, they bend\nup their tails, unhook their wings, and, leaving them on the surface,\nquickly begin their mining operations. If an attempt is made to separate\nthe wings from the body by drawing them away backward, they seem as if\nhooked into the body, and tear away large portions of the insect; but if\nturned forward, as the ant itself does, they snap off with the greatest\nease. Indeed, they seem formed only to serve the insect in its short\nflight to a new habitation, and then to be thrown aside. Nothing can\nexceed the eagerness with which, at the proper time, they rush out from\ntheir birth-place. Occasionally this occurs in a house, and then, in\norder to prevent every corner from being filled with them, I have seen a\nfire placed over the orifice; but they hesitate not even to pass through\nthe fire. While swarming they appear like snow-flakes floating about\nin the air, and dogs, cats, hawks, and almost every bird, may be seen\nbusily devouring them. The natives, too, profit by the occasion, and\nactively collect them for food, they being about half an inch long, as\nthick as a crow-quill, and very fat. When roasted they are said to be\ngood, and somewhat resemble grains of boiled rice. An idea may be\nformed of this dish by what once occurred on the banks of the Zouga.\nThe Bayeiye chief Palani visiting us while eating, I gave him a piece\nof bread and preserved apricots; and as he seemed to relish it much, I\nasked him if he had any food equal to that in his country. \"Ah!\" said\nhe, \"did you ever taste white ants?\" As I never had, he replied, \"Well,\nif you had, you never could have desired to eat any thing better.\" The\ngeneral way of catching them is to dig into the ant-hill, and wait\ntill the builders come forth to repair the damage, then brush them off\nquickly into a vessel, as the ant-eater does into his mouth.\n\nThe fall of the rain makes all the cattle look fresh and clean, and both\nmen and women proceed cheerily to their already hoed gardens, and sow\nthe seed. The large animals in the country leave the spots where they\nhad been compelled to congregate for the sake of water, and become much\nwilder. Occasionally a herd of buffaloes or antelopes smell rain from\nafar, and set off in a straight line toward the place. Sometimes they\nmake mistakes, and are obliged to return to the water they had left.\n\nVery large tracts of country are denuded of old grass during the winter\nby means of fire, in order to attract the game to that which there\nsprings up unmixed with the older crop. This new herbage has a\nrenovating tendency, for as long as they feed on the dry grass of the\nformer season they continue in good condition; but no sooner are they\nable to indulge their appetites on the fresh herbage, than even the\nmarrow in their bones becomes dissolved, and a red, soft, uneatable mass\nis left behind. After this commences the work of regaining their former\nplumpness.\n\nMAY 30TH. We left Bango, and proceeded to the River Loembwe, which flows\nto the N.N.E., and abounds in hippopotami. It is about sixty yards wide,\nand four feet deep, but usually contains much less water than this, for\nthere are fishing-weirs placed right across it. Like all the African\nrivers in this quarter, it has morasses on each bank, yet the valley\nin which it winds, when seen from the high lands above, is extremely\nbeautiful. This valley is about the fourth of a mile wide, and it was\neasy to fancy the similarity of many spots on it to the goodly manors in\nour own country, and feel assured that there was still ample territory\nleft for an indefinite increase of the world's population. The villages\nare widely apart and difficult of access, from the paths being so\ncovered with tall grass that even an ox can scarcely follow the track.\nThe grass cuts the feet of the men; yet we met a woman with a little\nchild, and a girl, wending their way home with loads of manioc. The\nsight of a white man always infuses a tremor into their dark bosoms, and\nin every case of the kind they appeared immensely relieved when I had\nfairly passed without having sprung upon them. In the villages the dogs\nrun away with their tails between their legs, as if they had seen a\nlion. The women peer from behind the walls till he comes near them, and\nthen hastily dash into the house. When a little child, unconscious of\ndanger, meets you in the street, he sets up a scream at the apparition,\nand conveys the impression that he is not far from going into fits.\nAmong the Bechuanas I have been obliged to reprove the women for making\na hobgoblin of the white man, and telling their children that they would\nsend for him to bite them.\n\nHaving passed the Loembwe, we were in a more open country, with every\nfew hours a small valley, through which ran a little rill in the middle\nof a bog. These were always difficult to pass, and being numerous, kept\nthe lower part of the person constantly wet. At different points in\nour course we came upon votive offerings to the Barimo. These usually\nconsisted of food; and every deserted village still contained the idols\nand little sheds with pots of medicine in them. One afternoon we\npassed a small frame house with the head of an ox in it as an object\nof worship. The dreary uniformity of gloomy forests and open flats must\nhave a depressing influence on the minds of the people. Some villages\nappear more superstitious than others, if we may judge from the greater\nnumber of idols they contain.\n\nOnly on one occasion did we witness a specimen of quarreling. An old\nwoman, standing by our camp, continued to belabor a good-looking young\nman for hours with her tongue. Irritated at last, he uttered some words\nof impatience, when another man sprang at him, exclaiming, \"How dare\nyou curse my 'Mama'?\" They caught each other, and a sort of pushing,\ndragging wrestling-match ensued. The old woman who had been the cause of\nthe affray wished us to interfere, and the combatants themselves hoped\nas much; but we, preferring to remain neutral, allowed them to fight\nit out. It ended by one falling under the other, both, from their\nscuffling, being in a state of nudity. They picked up their clothing and\nran off in different directions, each threatening to bring his gun and\nsettle the dispute in mortal combat. Only one, however, returned, and\nthe old woman continued her scolding till my men, fairly tired of\nher tongue, ordered her to be gone. This trifling incident was one of\ninterest to me, for, during the whole period of my residence in the\nBechuana country, I never saw unarmed men strike each other. Their\ndisputes are usually conducted with great volubility and noisy swearing,\nbut they generally terminate by both parties bursting into a laugh.\n\nAt every village attempts were made to induce us to remain a night.\nSometimes large pots of beer were offered to us as a temptation.\nOccasionally the head man would peremptorily order us to halt under a\ntree which he pointed out. At other times young men volunteered to guide\nus to the impassable part of the next bog, in the hope of bringing us\nto a stand, for all are excessively eager to trade; but food was so very\ncheap that we sometimes preferred paying them to keep it, and let us\npart in good humor. A good-sized fowl could be had for a single charge\nof gunpowder. Each native who owns a gun carries about with him a\nmeasure capable of holding but one charge, in which he receives his\npowder. Throughout this region the women are almost entirely naked,\ntheir gowns being a patch of cloth frightfully narrow, with no flounces;\nand nothing could exceed the eagerness with which they offered to\npurchase strips of calico of an inferior description. They were\ndelighted with the large pieces we gave, though only about two feet\nlong, for a fowl and a basket of upward of 20 lbs. of meal. As we had\nnow only a small remnant of our stock, we were obliged to withstand\ntheir importunity, and then many of their women, with true maternal\nfeelings, held up their little naked babies, entreating us to sell only\na little rag for them. The fire, they say, is their only clothing by\nnight, and the little ones derive heat by sticking closely to their\nparents. Instead of a skin or cloth to carry their babies in, the women\nplait a belt about four inches broad, of the inner bark of a tree, and\nthis, hung from the one shoulder to the opposite side, like a soldier's\nbelt, enables them to support the child by placing it on their side in\na sitting position. Their land is very fertile, and they can raise\nground-nuts and manioc in abundance. Here I observed no cotton, nor any\ndomestic animals except fowls and little dogs. The chief possessed a few\ngoats, and I never could get any satisfactory reason why the people also\ndid not rear them.\n\nOn the evening of the 2d of June we reached the village of Kawawa,\nrather an important personage in these parts. This village consists of\nforty or fifty huts, and is surrounded by forest. Drums were beating\nover the body of a man who had died the preceding day, and some women\nwere making a clamorous wail at the door of his hut, and addressing the\ndeceased as if alive. The drums continued beating the whole night, with\nas much regularity as a steam-engine thumps on board ship. We observed\nthat a person dressed fantastically with a great number of feathers left\nthe people at the dance and wailing, and went away into the deep forest\nin the morning, to return again to the obsequies in the evening; he is\nintended to represent one of the Barimo.\n\nIn the morning we had agreeable intercourse with Kawawa; he visited us,\nand we sat and talked nearly the whole day with him and his people. When\nwe visited him in return, we found him in his large court-house, which,\nthough of a beehive shape, was remarkably well built. As I had shown him\na number of curiosities, he now produced a jug, of English ware, shaped\nlike an old man holding a can of beer in his hand, as the greatest\ncuriosity he had to exhibit.\n\nWe had now an opportunity of hearing a case brought before him for\njudgment. A poor man and his wife were accused of having bewitched the\nman whose wake was now held in the village. Before Kawawa even heard the\ndefense, he said, \"You have killed one of my children; bring all yours\nbefore me, that I may choose which of them shall be mine instead.\" The\nwife eloquently defended herself, but this availed little, for these\naccusations are the means resorted to by some chiefs to secure subjects\nfor the slave-market. He probably thought that I had come to purchase\nslaves, though I had already given a pretty full explanation of my\npursuits both to himself and his people. We exhibited the pictures of\nthe magic lantern in the evening, and all were delighted except Kawawa\nhimself. He showed symptoms of dread, and several times started up as\nif to run away, but was prevented by the crowd behind. Some of the more\nintelligent understood the explanations well, and expatiated eloquently\non them to the more obtuse. Nothing could exceed the civilities which\nhad passed between us during this day; but Kawawa had heard that the\nChiboque had forced us to pay an ox, and now thought he might do the\nsame. When, therefore, I sent next morning to let him know that we were\nready to start, he replied in his figurative way, \"If an ox came in the\nway of a man, ought he not to eat it? I had given one to the Chiboque,\nand must give him the same, together with a gun, gunpowder, and a black\nrobe, like that he had seen spread out to dry the day before; that, if\nI refused an ox, I must give one of my men, and a book by which he might\nsee the state of Matiamvo's heart toward him, and which would forewarn\nhim, should Matiamvo ever resolve to cut off his head.\" Kawawa came\nin the coolest manner possible to our encampment after sending this\nmessage, and told me he had seen all our goods, and must have all he\nasked, as he had command of the Kasai in our front, and would prevent\nus from passing it unless we paid this tribute. I replied that the goods\nwere my property and not his; that I would never have it said that a\nwhite man had paid tribute to a black, and that I should cross the Kasai\nin spite of him. He ordered his people to arm themselves, and when some\nof my men saw them rushing for their bows, arrows, and spears, they\nbecame somewhat panic-stricken. I ordered them to move away, and not to\nfire unless Kawawa's people struck the first blow. I took the lead, and\nexpected them all to follow, as they usually had done, but many of my\nmen remained behind. When I knew this, I jumped off the ox, and made\na rush to them with the revolver in my hand. Kawawa ran away among his\npeople, and they turned their backs too. I shouted to my men to take up\ntheir luggage and march; some did so with alacrity, feeling that they\nhad disobeyed orders by remaining; but one of them refused, and was\npreparing to fire at Kawawa, until I gave him a punch on the head\nwith the pistol, and made him go too. I felt here, as elsewhere, that\nsubordination must be maintained at all risks. We all moved into the\nforest, the people of Kawawa standing about a hundred yards off, gazing,\nbut not firing a shot or an arrow. It is extremely unpleasant to part\nwith these chieftains thus, after spending a day or two in the most\namicable intercourse, and in a part where the people are generally\ncivil. This Kawawa, however, is not a good specimen of the Balonda\nchiefs, and is rather notorious in the neighborhood for his folly. We\nwere told that he has good reason to believe that Matiamvo will some day\ncut off his head for his disregard of the rights of strangers.\n\nKawawa was not to be balked of his supposed rights by the unceremonious\nway in which we had left him; for, when we had reached the ford of the\nKasai, about ten miles distant, we found that he had sent four of his\nmen, with orders to the ferrymen to refuse us passage. We were here duly\ninformed that we must deliver up all the articles mentioned, and one of\nour men besides. This demand for one of our number always nettled every\nheart. The canoes were taken away before our eyes, and we were supposed\nto be quite helpless without them, at a river a good hundred yards\nbroad, and very deep. Pitsane stood on the bank, gazing with apparent\nindifference on the stream, and made an accurate observation of where\nthe canoes were hidden among the reeds. The ferrymen casually asked one\nof my Batoka if they had rivers in his country, and he answered with\ntruth, \"No, we have none.\" Kawawa's people then felt sure we could not\ncross. I thought of swimming when they were gone; but after it was dark,\nby the unasked loan of one of the hidden canoes, we soon were snug in\nour bivouac on the southern bank of the Kasai. I left some beads as\npayment for some meal which had been presented by the ferrymen; and, the\ncanoe having been left on their own side of the river, Pitsane and his\ncompanions laughed uproariously at the disgust our enemies would feel,\nand their perplexity as to who had been our paddler across. They were\nquite sure that Kawawa would imagine that we had been ferried over by\nhis own people, and would be divining to find out who had done the deed.\nWhen ready to depart in the morning, Kawawa's people appeared on the\nopposite heights, and could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw\nus prepared to start away to the south. At last one of them called out,\n\"Ah! ye are bad,\" to which Pitsane and his companions retorted, \"Ah! ye\nare good, and we thank you for the loan of your canoe.\" We were careful\nto explain the whole of the circumstances to Katema and the other\nchiefs, and they all agreed that we were perfectly justifiable under\nthe circumstances, and that Matiamvo would approve our conduct. When\nany thing that might bear an unfavorable construction happens among\nthemselves, they send explanations to each other. The mere fact of\ndoing so prevents them from losing their character, for there is public\nopinion even among them.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 24.\n\nLevel Plains--Vultures and other Birds--Diversity of Color in Flowers of\nthe same Species--The Sundew--Twenty-seventh Attack of Fever--A River\nwhich flows in opposite Directions--Lake Dilolo the Watershed between\nthe Atlantic and Indian Oceans--Position of Rocks--Sir Roderick\nMurchison's Explanation--Characteristics of the Rainy Season in\nconnection with the Floods of the Zambesi and the Nile--Probable Reason\nof Difference in Amount of Rain South and North of the Equator--Arab\nReports of Region east of Londa--Probable Watershed of the Zambesi and\nthe Nile--Lake Dilolo--Reach Katema's Town: his renewed Hospitality;\ndesire to appear like a White Man; ludicrous Departure--Jackdaws--\nFord southern Branch of Lake Dilolo--Small Fish--Project for a Makololo\nVillage near the Confluence of the Leeba and the Leeambye--Hearty\nWelcome from Shinte--Kolimbota's Wound--Plant-seeds and Fruit-trees\nbrought from Angola--Masiko and Limboa's Quarrel--Nyamoana now a\nWidow--Purchase Canoes and descend the Leeba--Herds of wild Animals on\nits Banks--Unsuccessful Buffalo-hunt--Frogs--Sinbad and the Tsetse--\nDispatch a Message to Manenko--Arrival of her Husband Sambanza--The\nCeremony called Kasendi--Unexpected Fee for performing a\nsurgical Operation--Social Condition of the Tribes--Desertion of\nMboenga--Stratagem of Mambowe Hunters--Water-turtles--Charged by a\nBuffalo--Reception from the People of Libonta--Explain the Causes of\nour long Delay--Pitsane's Speech--Thanksgiving Services--Appearance of\nmy \"Braves\"--Wonderful Kindness of the People.\n\n\n\nAfter leaving the Kasai, we entered upon the extensive level plains\nwhich we had formerly found in a flooded condition. The water on them\nwas not yet dried up, as it still remained in certain hollow spots.\nVultures were seen floating in the air, showing that carrion was to be\nfound; and, indeed, we saw several of the large game, but so exceedingly\nwild as to be unapproachable. Numbers of caterpillars mounted the stalks\nof grass, and many dragonflies and butterflies appeared, though this was\nwinter. The caprimulgus or goat-sucker, swifts, and different kinds of\nswallows, with a fiery-red bee-eater in flocks, showed that the lowest\ntemperature here does not destroy the insects on which they feed.\nJet-black larks, with yellow shoulders, enliven the mornings with their\nsongs, but they do not continue so long on the wing as ours, nor soar\nso high. We saw many of the pretty white ardea, and other water-birds,\nflying over the spots not yet dried up; and occasionally wild ducks, but\nthese only in numbers sufficient to remind us that we were approaching\nthe Zambesi, where every water-fowl has a home.\n\nWhile passing across these interminable-looking plains, the eye rests\nwith pleasure on a small flower, which exists in such numbers as to give\nits own hue to the ground. One broad band of yellow stretches across our\npath. On looking at the flowers which formed this golden carpet, we\nsaw every variety of that color, from the palest lemon to the richest\norange. Crossing a hundred yards of this, we came upon another broad\nband of the same flower, but blue, and this color is varied from the\nlightest tint to dark blue, and even purple. I had before observed\nthe same flower possessing different colors in different parts of\nthe country, and once a great number of liver-colored flowers, which\nelsewhere were yellow. Even the color of the birds changed with the\ndistrict we passed through; but never before did I see such a marked\nchange as from yellow to blue, repeated again and again on the same\nplain. Another beautiful plant attracted my attention so strongly on\nthese plains that I dismounted to examine it. To my great delight I\nfound it to be an old home acquaintance, a species of Drosera, closely\nresembling our own sundew ('Drosera Anglia'). The flower-stalk never\nattains a height of more than two or three inches, and the leaves are\ncovered with reddish hairs, each of which has a drop of clammy fluid\nat its tip, making the whole appear as if spangled over with small\ndiamonds. I noticed it first in the morning, and imagined the appearance\nwas caused by the sun shining on drops of dew; but, as it continued\nto maintain its brilliancy during the heat of the day, I proceeded to\ninvestigate the cause of its beauty, and found that the points of the\nhairs exuded pure liquid, in, apparently, capsules of clear, glutinous\nmatter. They were thus like dewdrops preserved from evaporation. The\nclammy fluid is intended to entrap insects, which, dying on the leaf,\nprobably yield nutriment to the plant.\n\nDuring our second day on this extensive plain I suffered from my\ntwenty-seventh attack of fever, at a part where no surface-water was to\nbe found. We never thought it necessary to carry water with us in this\nregion; and now, when I was quite unable to move on, my men soon found\nwater to allay my burning thirst by digging with sticks a few feet\nbeneath the surface. We had thus an opportunity of observing the state\nof these remarkable plains at different seasons of the year. Next day\nwe pursued our way, and on the 8th of June we forded the Lotembwa to the\nN.W. of Dilolo, and regained our former path.\n\nThe Lotembwa here is about a mile wide, about three feet deep, and full\nof the lotus, papyrus, arum, mat-rushes, and other aquatic plants. I did\nnot observe the course in which the water flowed while crossing; but,\nhaving noticed before that the Lotembwa on the other side of the Lake\nDilolo flowed in a southerly direction, I supposed that this was simply\na prolongation of the same river beyond Dilolo, and that it rose in this\nlarge marsh, which we had not seen in our progress to the N.W. But when\nwe came to the Southern Lotembwa, we were informed by Shakatwala that\nthe river we had crossed flowed in an opposite direction--not into\nDilolo, but into the Kasai. This phenomenon of a river running in\nopposite directions struck even his mind as strange; and, though I did\nnot observe the current, simply from taking it for granted that it was\ntoward the lake, I have no doubt that his assertion, corroborated as it\nwas by others, is correct, and that the Dilolo is actually the watershed\nbetween the river systems that flow to the east and west.\n\nI would have returned in order to examine more carefully this most\ninteresting point, but, having had my lower extremities chilled in\ncrossing the Northern Lotembwa, I was seized with vomiting of blood,\nand, besides, saw no reason to doubt the native testimony. The distance\nbetween Dilolo and the valleys leading to that of the Kasai is not more\nthan fifteen miles, and the plains between are perfectly level; and, had\nI returned, I should only have found that this little lake Dilolo, by\ngiving a portion to the Kasai and another to the Zambesi, distributes\nits waters to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. I state the fact exactly\nas it opened to my own mind, for it was only now that I apprehended the\ntrue form of the river systems and continent. I had seen the various\nrivers of this country on the western side flowing from the subtending\nridges into the centre, and had received information from natives and\nArabs that most of the rivers on the eastern side of the same great\nregion took a somewhat similar course from an elevated ridge there, and\nthat all united in two main drains, the one flowing to the north and the\nother to the south, and that the northern drain found its way out by the\nCongo to the west, and the southern by the Zambesi to the east. I was\nthus on the watershed, or highest point of these two great systems, but\nstill not more than 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and 1000 feet\nlower than the top of the western ridge we had already crossed; yet,\ninstead of lofty snow-clad mountains appearing to verify the conjectures\nof the speculative, we had extensive plains, over which one may travel a\nmonth without seeing any thing higher than an ant-hill or a tree. I was\nnot then aware that any one else had discovered the elevated trough form\nof the centre of Africa.\n\nI had observed that the old schistose rocks on the sides dipped in\ntoward the centre of the country, and their strike nearly corresponded\nwith the major axis of the continent; and also that where the later\nerupted trap rocks had been spread out in tabular masses over the\ncentral plateau, they had borne angular fragments of the older rocks in\ntheir substance; but the partial generalization which the observations\nled to was, that great volcanic action had taken place in ancient times,\nsomewhat in the same way it does now, at distances of not more than\nthree hundred miles from the sea, and that this igneous action,\nextending along both sides of the continent, had tilted up the lateral\nrocks in the manner they are now seen to lie. The greater energy and\nmore extended range of igneous action in those very remote periods when\nAfrica was formed, embracing all the flanks, imparted to it its present\nvery simple literal outline. This was the length to which I had come.\n\nThe trap rocks, which now constitute the \"filling up\" of the great\nvalley, were always a puzzle to me till favored with Sir Roderick\nMurchison's explanation of the original form of the continent, for then\nI could see clearly why these trap rocks, which still lie in a perfectly\nhorizontal position on extensive areas, held in their substance angular\nfragments, containing algae of the old schists, which form the bottom\nof the original lacustrine basin: the traps, in bursting through, had\nbroken them off and preserved them. There are, besides, ranges of hills\nin the central parts, composed of clay and sandstone schists, with\nthe ripple mark distinct, in which no fossils appear; but as they are\nusually tilted away from the masses of horizontal trap, it is probable\nthat they too were a portion of the original bottom, and fossils may yet\nbe found in them.*\n\n   * After dwelling upon the geological structure of the Cape\n   Colony as developed by Mr. A. Bain, and the existence in very\n   remote periods of lacustrine conditions in the central part of\n   South Africa, as proved by fresh-water and terrestrial\n   fossils, Sir Roderick Murchison thus writes:\n\n   \"Such as South Africa is now, such have been her main features\n   during countless past ages anterior to the creation of the\n   human race; for the old rocks which form her outer fringe\n   unquestionably circled round an interior marshy or lacustrine\n   country, in which the Dicynodon flourished, at a time when not\n   a single animal was similar to any living thing which now\n   inhabits the surface of our globe.  The present central and\n   meridian zone of waters, whether lakes or marshes, extending\n   from Lake Tchad to Lake 'Ngami, with hippopotami on their\n   banks, are therefore but the great modern residual\n   geographical phenomena of those of a mesozoic age.  The\n   differences, however, between the geological past of Africa\n   and her present state are enormous. Since that primeval time,\n   the lands have been much elevated above the sea-level--\n   eruptive rocks piercing in parts through them; deep rents and\n   defiles have been suddenly formed in the subtending ridges\n   through which some rivers escape outward.\n\n   \"Travelers will eventually ascertain whether the basin-shaped\n   structure, which is here announced as having been the great\n   feature of the most ancient, as it is of the actual geography\n   of South Africa (i.e., from primeval times to the present\n   day), does, or does not, extend into Northern Africa.  Looking\n   at that much broader portion of the continent, we have some\n   reason to surmise that the higher mountains also form, in a\n   general sense, its flanks only.\"--President's Address, Royal\n   Geographical Society, 1852, p. cxxiii.\n\nThe characteristics of the rainy season in this wonderfully humid region\nmay account in some measure for the periodical floods of the Zambesi,\nand perhaps the Nile. The rains seem to follow the course of the sun,\nfor they fall in October and November, when the sun passes over this\nzone on his way south. On reaching the tropic of Capricorn in December,\nit is dry; and December and January are the months in which injurious\ndroughts are most dreaded near that tropic (from Kolobeng to Linyanti).\nAs he returns again to the north in February, March, and April, we\nhave the great rains of the year; and the plains, which in October and\nNovember were well moistened, and imbibed rain like sponges, now\nbecome supersaturated, and pour forth those floods of clear water which\ninundate the banks of the Zambesi. Somewhat the same phenomenon probably\ncauses the periodical inundations of the Nile. The two rivers rise\nin the same region; but there is a difference in the period of flood,\npossibly from their being on opposite sides of the equator. The waters\nof the Nile are said to become turbid in June; and the flood attains\nits greatest height in August, or the period when we may suppose the\nsupersaturation to occur. The subject is worthy the investigation of\nthose who may examine the region between the equator and 10 Deg. S.;\nfor the Nile does not show much increase when the sun is at its farthest\npoint north, or tropic of Cancer, but at the time of its returning to\nthe equator, exactly as in the other case when he is on Capricorn, and\nthe Zambesi is affected.*\n\n   * The above is from my own observation, together with\n   information derived from the Portuguese in the interior of\n   Angola; and I may add that the result of many years'\n   observation by Messrs. Gabriel and Brand at Loanda, on the\n   west coast, is in accordance therewith. It rains there between\n   the 1st and 30th of November, but January and December are\n   usually both warm and dry. The heavier rains commence about\n   the 1st of February, and last until the 15th of May.  Then no\n   rain falls between the 20th of May and the 1st of November.\n   The rain averages from 12 to 15 inches per annum.  In 1852 it\n   was 12.034 inches; in 1853, 15.473 inches.  Although I had no\n   means of measuring the amount of rain which fell in Londa, I\n   feel certain that the annual quantity exceeds very much that\n   which falls on the coast, because for a long time we noticed\n   that every dawn was marked by a deluging shower, which began\n   without warning-drops or thunder. I observed that the rain\n   ceased suddenly on the 28th of April, and the lesser rains\n   commenced about a fortnight before the beginning of November.\n\nFrom information derived from Arabs of Zanzibar, whom I met at Naliele\nin the middle of the country, the region to the east of the parts of\nLonda over which we have traveled resembles them in its conformation.\nThey report swampy steppes, some of which have no trees, where the\ninhabitants use grass, and stalks of native corn, for fuel. A large\nshallow lake is also pointed out in that direction, named Tanganyenka,\nwhich requires three days for crossing in canoes. It is connected with\nanother named Kalagwe (Garague?), farther north, and may be the Nyanja\nof the Maravim. From this lake is derived, by numerous small streams,\nthe River Loapula, the eastern branch of the Zambesi, which, coming from\nthe N.E., flows past the town of Cazembe.\n\nThe southern end of this lake is ten days northeast of the town of\nCazembe; and as that is probably more than five days from Shinte, we\ncan not have been nearer to it than 150 miles. Probably this lake is\nthe watershed between the Zambesi and the Nile, as Lake Dilolo is that\nbetween the Leeba and Kasai. But, however this may be, the phenomena of\nthe rainy season show that it is not necessary to assume the existence\nof high snowy mountains until we get reliable information. This, it is\nto be hoped, will be one of the results of the researches of Captain\nBurton in his present journey.\n\nThe original valley formation of the continent determined the northern\nand southern course of the Zambesi in the centre, and also of the\nancient river which once flowed from the Linyanti basin to the Orange\nRiver. It also gave direction to the southern and northern flow of the\nKasai and the Nile. We find that between the latitudes, say 6 Deg. and\n12 Deg. S., from which, in all probability, the head waters of those\nrivers diverge, there is a sort of elevated partition in the great\nlongitudinal valley. Presuming on the correctness of the native\ninformation, which places the humid region to which the Nile and Zambesi\nprobably owe their origin within the latitudes indicated, why does\nso much more rain fall there than in the same latitudes north of the\nequator? Why does Darfur not give rise to great rivers, like Londa and\nthe country east of it? The prevailing winds in the ocean opposite the\nterritory pointed out are said to be from the N.E. and S.E. during a\ngreat part of the year; they extend their currents on one side at least\nof the equator quite beyond the middle of the continent, and even until\nin Angola they meet the sea-breeze from the Atlantic. If the reader\nremembers the explanation given at page 109,* that the comparative want\nof rain on the Kalahari Desert is caused by the mass of air losing its\nhumidity as it passes up and glides over the subtending ridge, and will\nturn to the map, he may perceive that the same cause is in operation\nin an intense degree by the mountains of Abyssinia to render the region\nabout Darfur still more arid, and that the flanking ranges mentioned lie\nmuch nearer the equator than those which rob the Kalahari of humidity.\nThe Nile, even while running through a part of that region, receives\nremarkably few branches. Observing also that there is no known abrupt\nlateral mountain-range between 6 Deg. and 12 Deg. S., but that there is\nan elevated partition there, and that the southing and northing of the\nsoutheasters and northeasters probably cause a confluence of the two\ngreat atmospheric currents, he will perceive an accumulation of humidity\non the flanks and crown of the partition, instead of, as elsewhere,\nopposite the Kalahari and Darfur, a deposition of the atmospheric\nmoisture on the eastern slopes of the subtending ridges. This\nexplanation is offered with all deference to those who have made\nmeteorology their special study, and as a hint to travelers who may have\nopportunity to examine the subject more fully. I often observed, while\non a portion of the partition, that the air by night was generally quite\nstill, but as soon as the sun's rays began to shoot across the upper\nstrata of the atmosphere in the early morning, a copious discharge came\nsuddenly down from the accumulated clouds. It always reminded me of the\nexperiment of putting a rod into a saturated solution of a certain salt,\ncausing instant crystallization. This, too, was the period when I often\nobserved the greatest amount of cold.\n\n   * Since the explanation in page 109 [Chapter 5 Paragraph 5]\n   was printed, I have been pleased to see the same explanation\n   given by the popular astronomer and natural philosopher, M.\n   Babinet, in reference to the climate of France.  It is quoted\n   from a letter of a correspondent of the 'Times' in Paris:\n\n   \"In the normal meteorological state of France and Europe, the\n   west wind, which is the counter-current of the trade-winds\n   that constantly blow from the east under the tropics--the west\n   wind, I say, after having touched France and Europe by the\n   western shores, re-descends by Marseilles and the\n   Mediterranean, Constantinople and the Archipelago, Astrakan\n   and the Caspian Sea, in order to merge again into the great\n   circuit of the general winds, and be thus carried again into\n   the equatorial current. Whenever these masses of air,\n   impregnated with humidity during their passage over the ocean,\n   meet with an obstacle, such as a chain of mountains, for\n   example, they slide up the acclivity, and, when they reach the\n   crest, find themselves relieved from a portion of the column\n   of air which pressed upon them. Thus, dilating by reason of\n   their elasticity, they cause a considerable degree of cold,\n   and a precipitation of humidity in the form of fogs, clouds,\n   rain, or snow.  A similar effect occurs whatever be the\n   obstacle they find in their way.  Now this is what had\n   gradually taken place before 1856.  By some cause or other\n   connected with the currents of the atmosphere, the warm\n   current from the west had annually ascended northward, so\n   that, instead of passing through France, it came from the\n   Baltic and the north of Germany, thus momentarily disturbing\n   the ordinary law of the temperatures of Europe. But in 1856 a\n   sudden change occurred.  The western current again passed, as\n   before, through the centre of France.  It met with an obstacle\n   in the air which had not yet found its usual outlet toward the\n   west and south. Hence a stoppage, a rising, a consequent\n   dilation and fall of temperature, extraordinary rains and\n   inundations.  But, now that the natural state of things is\n   restored, nothing appears to prognosticate the return of\n   similar disasters.  Were the western current found annually to\n   move further north, we might again experience meteorological\n   effects similar to those of 1856.  Hence the regular seasons\n   may be considered re-established in France for several years\n   to come. The important meteorological communications which the\n   Imperial Observatory is daily establishing with the other\n   countries of Europe, and the introduction of apparatus for\n   measuring the velocity of the aerial currents and prevailing\n   winds, will soon afford prognostics sufficiently certain to\n   enable an enlightened government to provide in time against\n   future evils.\"\n\nAfter crossing the Northern Lotembwa we met a party of the people of\nKangenke, who had treated us kindly on our way to the north, and sent\nhim a robe of striped calico, with an explanation of the reason for not\nreturning through his village. We then went on to the Lake Dilolo. It\nis a fine sheet of water, six or eight miles long, and one or two broad,\nand somewhat of a triangular shape. A branch proceeds from one of the\nangles, and flows into the Southern Lotembwa. Though laboring under\nfever, the sight of the blue waters, and the waves lashing the shore,\nhad a most soothing influence on the mind, after so much of lifeless,\nflat, and gloomy forest. The heart yearned for the vivid impressions\nwhich are always created by the sight of the broad expanse of the grand\nold ocean. That has life in it; but the flat uniformities over which we\nhad roamed made me feel as if buried alive. We found Moene Dilolo (Lord\nof the Lake) a fat, jolly fellow, who lamented that when they had no\nstrangers they had plenty of beer, and always none when they came. He\ngave us a handsome present of meal and putrid buffalo's flesh. Meat can\nnot be too far gone for them, as it is used only in small quantities,\nas a sauce to their tasteless manioc. They were at this time hunting\nantelopes, in order to send the skins as a tribute to Matiamvo.\nGreat quantities of fish are caught in the lake; and numbers of young\nwater-fowl are now found in the nests among the reeds.\n\nOur progress had always been slow, and I found that our rate of\ntraveling could only be five hours a day for five successive days. On\nthe sixth, both men and oxen showed symptoms of knocking up. We never\nexceeded two and a half or three miles an hour in a straight line,\nthough all were anxious to get home. The difference in the rate of\ntraveling between ourselves and the slave-traders was our having a\nrather quicker step, a longer day's journey, and twenty traveling days\na month instead of their ten. When one of my men became ill, but still\ncould walk, others parted his luggage among them; yet we had often to\nstop one day a week, besides Sundays, simply for the sake of rest. The\nlatitude of Lake Dilolo is 11d 32' 1\" S., long. 22d 27' E.\n\nJUNE 14TH. We reached the collection of straggling villages over\nwhich Katema rules, and were thankful to see old familiar faces again.\nShakatwala performed the part of a chief by bringing forth abundant\nsupplies of food in his master's name. He informed us that Katema, too,\nwas out hunting skins for Matiamvo.\n\nIn different parts of this country, we remarked that when old friends\nwere inquired for, the reply was, \"Ba hola\" (They are getting better);\nor if the people of a village were inquired for, the answer was, \"They\nare recovering,\" as if sickness was quite a common thing. Indeed, many\nwith whom we had made acquaintance in going north we now found were\nin their graves. On the 15th Katema came home from his hunting, having\nheard of our arrival. He desired me to rest myself and eat abundantly,\nfor, being a great man, I must feel tired; and he took good care to give\nthe means of doing so. All the people in these parts are exceedingly\nkind and liberal with their food, and Katema was not behindhand. When\nhe visited our encampment, I presented him with a cloak of red baize,\nornamented with gold tinsel, which cost thirty shillings, according to\nthe promise I had made in going to Londa; also a cotton robe, both large\nand small beads, an iron spoon, and a tin pannikin containing a quarter\nof a pound of powder. He seemed greatly pleased with the liberality\nshown, and assured me that the way was mine, and that no one should\nmolest me in it if he could help it. We were informed by Shakatwala that\nthe chief never used any part of a present before making an offer of it\nto his mother, or the departed spirit to whom he prayed. Katema asked if\nI could not make a dress for him like the one I wore, so that he\nmight appear as a white man when any stranger visited him. One of the\ncouncilors, imagining that he ought to second this by begging, Katema\nchecked him by saying, \"Whatever strangers give, be it little or much,\nI always receive it with thankfulness, and never trouble them for more.\"\nOn departing, he mounted on the shoulders of his spokesman, as the most\ndignified mode of retiring. The spokesman being a slender man, and the\nchief six feet high, and stout in proportion, there would have been a\nbreak-down had he not been accustomed to it. We were very much pleased\nwith Katema; and next day he presented us with a cow, that we might\nenjoy the abundant supplies of meal he had given with good animal food.\nHe then departed for the hunting-ground, after assuring me that the\ntown and every thing in it were mine, and that his factotum, Shakatwala,\nwould remain and attend to every want, and also conduct us to the Leeba.\n\nOn attempting to slaughter the cow Katema had given, we found the herd\nas wild as buffaloes; and one of my men having only wounded it, they\nfled many miles into the forest, and were with great difficulty brought\nback. Even the herdsman was afraid to go near them. The majority of them\nwere white, and they were all beautiful animals. After hunting it for\ntwo days it was dispatched at last by another ball. Here we saw a flock\nof jackdaws, a rare sight in Londa, busy with the grubs in the valley,\nwhich are eaten by the people too.\n\nLeaving Katema's town on the 19th, and proceeding four miles to the\neastward, we forded the southern branch of Lake Dilolo. We found it a\nmile and a quarter broad; and, as it flows into the Lotembwa, the lake\nwould seem to be a drain of the surrounding flats, and to partake of the\ncharacter of a fountain. The ford was waist-deep, and very difficult,\nfrom the masses of arum and rushes through which we waded. Going to the\neastward about three miles, we came to the Southern Lotembwa itself,\nrunning in a valley two miles broad. It is here eighty or ninety\nyards wide, and contains numerous islands covered with dense sylvan\nvegetation. In the rainy season the valley is flooded, and as the\nwaters dry up great multitudes of fish are caught. This happens very\nextensively over the country, and fishing-weirs are met with every\nwhere. A species of small fish, about the size of the minnow, is caught\nin bagfuls and dried in the sun. The taste is a pungent aromatic bitter,\nand it was partaken of freely by my people, although they had never met\nwith it before. On many of the paths which had been flooded a nasty sort\nof slime of decayed vegetable matter is left behind, and much sickness\nprevails during the drying up of the water. We did not find our friend\nMozinkwa at his pleasant home on the Lokaloeje; his wife was dead,\nand he had removed elsewhere. He followed us some distance, but our\nreappearance seemed to stir up his sorrows. We found the pontoon at\nthe village in which we left it. It had been carefully preserved, but a\nmouse had eaten a hole in it and rendered it useless.\n\nWe traversed the extended plain on the north bank of the Leeba, and\ncrossed this river a little farther on at Kanyonke's village, which is\nabout twenty miles west of the Peri hills, our former ford. The first\nstage beyond the Leeba was at the rivulet Loamba, by the village\nof Chebende, nephew of Shinte; and next day we met Chebende himself\nreturning from the funeral of Samoana, his father. He was thin and\nhaggard-looking compared to what he had been before, the probable effect\nof the orgies in which he had been engaged. Pitsane and Mohorisi, having\nconcocted the project of a Makololo village on the banks of the Leeba,\nas an approach to the white man's market, spoke to Chebende, as an\ninfluential man, on the subject, but he cautiously avoided expressing\nan opinion. The idea which had sprung up in their own minds of an\nestablishment somewhere near the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye,\ncommended itself to my judgment at the time as a geographically suitable\npoint for civilization and commerce. The right bank of the Leeba there\nis never flooded; and from that point there is communication by means\nof canoes to the country of the Kanyika, and also to Cazembe and beyond,\nwith but one or two large waterfalls between. There is no obstruction\ndown to the Barotse valley; and there is probably canoe navigation down\nthe Kafue or Bashukulompo River, though it is reported to contain\nmany cataracts. It flows through a fertile country, well peopled with\nBamasasa, who cultivate the native produce largely.\n\nAs this was the middle of winter, it may be mentioned that the\ntemperature of the water in the morning was 47 Deg., and that of the\nair 50 Deg., which, being loaded with moisture, was very cold to the\nfeelings. Yet the sun was very hot by day, and the temperature in the\ncoolest shade from 88 Deg. to 90 Deg.; in the evenings from 76 Deg. to\n78 Deg.\n\nBefore reaching the town of Shinte we passed through many large villages\nof the Balobale, who have fled from the chief Kangenke. The Mambari\nfrom Bihe come constantly to him for trade; and, as he sells his people,\ngreat numbers of them escape to Shinte and Katema, who refuse to give\nthem up.\n\nWe reached our friend Shinte, and received a hearty welcome from this\nfriendly old man, and abundant provisions of the best he had. On hearing\nthe report of the journey given by my companions, and receiving a piece\nof cotton cloth about two yards square, he said, \"These Mambari cheat us\nby bringing little pieces only; but the next time you pass I shall send\nmen with you to trade for me in Loanda.\" When I explained the use made\nof the slaves he sold, and that he was just destroying his own tribe by\nselling his people, and enlarging that of the Mambari for the sake\nof these small pieces of cloth, it seemed to him quite a new idea.\nHe entered into a long detail of his troubles with Masiko, who had\nprevented him from cultivating that friendship with the Makololo which\nI had inculcated, and had even plundered the messengers he had sent\nwith Kolimbota to the Barotse valley. Shinte was particularly anxious\nto explain that Kolimbota had remained after my departure of his own\naccord, and that he had engaged in the quarrels of the country without\nbeing invited; that, in attempting to capture one of the children of a\nBalobale man, who had offended the Balonda by taking honey from a hive\nwhich did not belong to him, Kolimbota had got wounded by a shot in the\nthigh, but that he had cured the wound, given him a wife, and sent a\npresent of cloth to Sekeletu, with a full account of the whole affair.\nFrom the statement of Shinte we found that Kolimbota had learned, before\nwe left his town, that the way we intended to take was so dangerous that\nit would be better for him to leave us to our fate; and, as he had taken\none of our canoes with him, it seemed evident that he did not expect us\nto return. Shinte, however, sent a recommendation to his sister Nyamoana\nto furnish as many canoes as we should need for our descent of the Leeba\nand Leeambye.\n\nAs I had been desirous of introducing some of the fruit-trees of Angola,\nboth for my own sake and that of the inhabitants, we had carried a\npot containing a little plantation of orange, cashew-trees,\ncustard-apple-trees ('anona'), and a fig-tree, with coffee, aracas\n('Araca pomifera'), and papaws ('Carica papaya'). Fearing that, if we\ntook them farther south at present, they might be killed by the cold, we\nplanted them out in an inclosure of one of Shinte's principal men, and,\nat his request, promised to give Shinte a share when grown. They know\nthe value of fruits, but at present have none except wild ones. A wild\nfruit we frequently met with in Londa is eatable, and, when boiled,\nyields a large quantity of oil, which is much used in anointing\nboth head and body. He eagerly accepted some of the seeds of the\npalm-oil-tree ('Elaeis Guineensis'), when told that this would produce\noil in much greater quantity than their native tree, which is not a\npalm. There are very few palm-trees in this country, but near Bango\nwe saw a few of a peculiar palm, the ends of the leaf-stalks of which\nremain attached to the trunk, giving it a triangular shape.\n\nIt is pleasant to observe that all the tribes in Central Africa are fond\nof agriculture. My men had collected quantities of seeds in Angola,\nand now distributed them among their friends. Some even carried onions,\ngarlic, and bird's-eye pepper, growing in pannikins. The courts of the\nBalonda, planted with tobacco, sugar-cane, and plants used as relishes,\nled me to the belief that care would be taken of my little nursery.\n\nThe thermometer early in the mornings ranged from 42 Deg. to 52 Deg., at\nnoon 94 Deg. to 96 Deg., and in the evening about 70 Deg. It was placed\nin the shade of my tent, which was pitched under the thickest tree we\ncould find. The sensation of cold, after the heat of the day, was very\nkeen. The Balonda at this season never leave their fires till nine\nor ten in the morning. As the cold was so great here, it was probably\nfrosty at Linyanti; I therefore feared to expose my young trees there.\nThe latitude of Shinte's town is 12d 37' 35\" S., longitude 22d 47' E.\n\nWe remained with Shinte till the 6th of July, he being unwilling to\nallow us to depart before hearing in a formal manner, in the presence of\nhis greatest councilor Chebende, a message from Limboa, the brother of\nMasiko. When Masiko fled from the Makololo country in consequence of a\ndislike of being in a state of subjection to Sebituane, he came into the\nterritory of Shinte, who received him kindly, and sent orders to all\nthe villages in his vicinity to supply him with food. Limboa fled in a\nwesterly direction with a number of people, and also became a chief.\nHis country was sometimes called Nyenko, but by the Mambari and native\nPortuguese traders \"Mboela\"--the place where they \"turned again\",\nor back. As one of the fruits of polygamy, the children of different\nmothers are always in a state of variance. Each son endeavors to gain\nthe ascendency by enticing away the followers of the others. The\nmother of Limboa being of a high family, he felt aggrieved because\nthe situation chosen by Masiko was better than his. Masiko lived at a\nconvenient distance from the Saloisho hills, where there is abundance of\niron ore, with which the inhabitants manufacture hoes, knives, etc. They\nare also skillful in making wooden vessels. Limboa felt annoyed because\nhe was obliged to apply for these articles through his brother, whom he\nregarded as his inferior, and accordingly resolved to come into the same\ndistrict. As this was looked upon as an assertion of superiority which\nMasiko would resist, it was virtually a declaration of war. Both Masiko\nand Shinte pleaded my injunction to live in peace and friendship, but\nLimboa, confident of success, now sent the message which I was about\nto hear--\"That he, too, highly approved of the 'word' I had given, but\nwould only for once transgress a little, and live at peace for ever\nafterward.\" He now desired the aid of Shinte to subdue his brother.\nMessengers came from Masiko at the same time, desiring assistance to\nrepel him. Shinte felt inclined to aid Limboa, but, as he had advised\nthem both to wait till I came, I now urged him to let the quarrel alone,\nand he took my advice.\n\nWe parted on the best possible terms with our friend Shinte, and\nproceeded by our former path to the village of his sister Nyamoana, who\nis now a widow. She received us with much apparent feeling, and said,\n\"We had removed from our former abode to the place where you found us,\nand had no idea then that it was the spot where my husband was to die.\"\nShe had come to the River Lofuje, as they never remain in a place where\ndeath has once visited them. We received the loan of five small canoes\nfrom her, and also one of those we had left here before, to proceed down\nthe Leeba. After viewing the Coanza at Massangano, I thought the Leeba\nat least a third larger, and upward of two hundred yards wide. We saw\nevidence of its rise during its last flood having been upward of forty\nfeet in perpendicular height; but this is probably more than usual, as\nthe amount of rain was above the average. My companions purchased also\na number of canoes from the Balonda. These are very small, and can carry\nonly two persons. They are made quite thin and light, and as sharp as\nracing-skiffs, because they are used in hunting animals in the water.\nThe price paid was a string of beads equal to the length of the canoe.\nWe advised them to bring canoes for sale to the Makololo, as they would\ngladly give them cows in exchange.\n\nIn descending the Leeba we saw many herds of wild animals, especially\nthe tahetsi ('Aigoceros equina'), one magnificent antelope, the\nputokuane ('Antilope niger'), and two fine lions. The Balobale, however,\nare getting well supplied with guns, and will soon thin out the large\ngame. At one of the villages we were entreated to attack some buffaloes\nwhich grazed in the gardens every night and destroyed the manioc. As\nwe had had no success in shooting at the game we had seen, and we all\nlonged to have a meal of meat, we followed the footprints of a number\nof old bulls. They showed a great amount of cunning by selecting the\ndensest parts of very closely-planted forests to stand or recline in\nduring the day. We came within six yards of them several times before\nwe knew that they were so near. We only heard them rush away among the\ncrashing branches, catching only a glimpse of them. It was somewhat\nexciting to feel, as we trod on the dry leaves with stealthy steps,\nthat, for any thing we knew, we might next moment be charged by one of\nthe most dangerous beasts of the forest. We threaded out their doublings\nfor hours, drawn on by a keen craving for animal food, as we had been\nentirely without salt for upward of two months, but never could get a\nshot.\n\nIn passing along the side of the water every where except in Londa,\ngreen frogs spring out at your feet, and light in the water as if taking\na \"header\"; and on the Leeambye and Chobe we have great numbers of small\ngreen frogs ('Rana fasciata', Boie), which light on blades of grass with\nremarkable precision; but on coming along the Leeba I was struck by the\nsight of a light green toad about an inch long. The leaf might be nearly\nperpendicular, but it stuck to it like a fly. It was of the same size\nas the 'Brachymerus bi-fasciatus' (Smith),* which I saw only once in the\nBakwain country. Though small, it was hideous, being colored jet black,\nwith vermilion spots.\n\n   * The discovery of this last species is thus mentioned by that\n   accomplished naturalist, Dr. Smith:  \"On the banks of the\n   Limpopo River, close to the tropic of Capricorn, a massive\n   tree was cut down to obtain wood to repair a wagon.  The\n   workman, while sawing the trunk longitudinally nearly along\n   its centre, remarked, on reaching a certain point, 'It is\n   hollow, and will not answer the purpose for which it is\n   wanted.' He persevered, however, and when a division into\n   equal halves was effected, it was discovered that the saw in\n   its course had crossed a large hole, in which were five\n   specimens of the species just described, each about an inch in\n   length.  Every exertion was made to discover a means of\n   communication between the external air and the cavity, but\n   without success.  Every part of the latter was probed with the\n   utmost care, and water was kept in each half for a\n   considerable time, without any passing into the wood.  The\n   inner surface of the cavity was black, as if charred, and so\n   was likewise the adjoining wood for half an inch from the\n   cavity.  The tree, at the part where the latter existed, was\n   19 inches in diameter; the length of the trunk was 18 feet.\n   When the Batrachia above mentioned were discovered, they\n   appeared inanimate, but the influence of a warm sun to which\n   they were subjected soon imparted to them a moderate degree of\n   vigor. In a few hours from the time they were liberated they\n   were tolerably active, and able to move from place to place\n   apparently with great ease.\"\n\nBefore reaching the Makondo rivulet, latitude 13d 23' 12\" S., we came\nupon the tsetse in such numbers that many bites were inflicted on my\npoor ox, in spite of a man with a branch warding them off. The bite\nof this insect does not affect the donkey as it does cattle. The next\nmorning, the spots on which my ox had been bitten were marked by patches\nof hair about half an inch broad being wetted by exudation. Poor Sinbad\nhad carried me all the way from the Leeba to Golungo Alto, and all\nthe way back again, without losing any of his peculiarities, or ever\nbecoming reconciled to our perversity in forcing him away each morning\nfrom the pleasant pasturage on which he had fed. I wished to give the\nclimax to his usefulness, and allay our craving for animal food at the\nsame time; but my men having some compunction, we carried him to end his\ndays in peace at Naliele.\n\nHaving dispatched a message to our old friend Manenko, we waited a day\nopposite her village, which was about fifteen miles from the river. Her\nhusband was instantly dispatched to meet us with liberal presents of\nfood, she being unable to travel in consequence of a burn on the foot.\nSambanza gave us a detailed account of the political affairs of the\ncountry, and of Kolimbota's evil doings, and next morning performed\nthe ceremony called \"Kasendi\", for cementing our friendship. It is\naccomplished thus: The hands of the parties are joined (in this case\nPitsane and Sambanza were the parties engaged); small incisions are made\non the clasped hands, on the pits of the stomach of each, and on the\nright cheeks and foreheads. A small quantity of blood is taken off from\nthese points in both parties by means of a stalk of grass. The blood\nfrom one person is put into a pot of beer, and that of the second into\nanother; each then drinks the other's blood, and they are supposed to\nbecome perpetual friends or relations. During the drinking of the beer,\nsome of the party continue beating the ground with short clubs, and\nutter sentences by way of ratifying the treaty. The men belonging\nto each then finish the beer. The principals in the performance of\n\"Kasendi\" are henceforth considered blood-relations, and are bound to\ndisclose to each other any impending evil. If Sekeletu should resolve to\nattack the Balonda, Pitsane would be under obligation to give Sambanza\nwarning to escape, and so on the other side. They now presented each\nother with the most valuable presents they had to bestow. Sambanza\nwalked off with Pitsane's suit of green baize faced with red, which had\nbeen made in Loanda, and Pitsane, besides abundant supplies of food,\nobtained two shells similar to that I had received from Shinte.\n\nOn one occasion I became blood-relation to a young woman by accident.\nShe had a large cartilaginous tumor between the bones of the fore-arm,\nwhich, as it gradually enlarged, so distended the muscles as to render\nher unable to work. She applied to me to excise it. I requested her to\nbring her husband, if he were willing to have the operation performed,\nand, while removing the tumor, one of the small arteries squirted some\nblood into my eye. She remarked, when I was wiping the blood out of it,\n\"You were a friend before, now you are a blood-relation; and when you\npass this way, always send me word, that I may cook food for you.\" In\ncreating these friendships, my men had the full intention of returning;\neach one had his 'Molekane' (friend) in every village of the friendly\nBalonda. Mohorisi even married a wife in the town of Katema, and Pitsane\ntook another in the town of Shinte. These alliances were looked upon\nwith great favor by the Balonda chiefs, as securing the good-will of the\nMakololo.\n\nIn order that the social condition of the tribes may be understood by\nthe reader, I shall mention that, while waiting for Sambanza, a party of\nBarotse came from Nyenko, the former residence of Limboa, who had lately\ncrossed the Leeba on his way toward Masiko. The head man of this party\nhad brought Limboa's son to his father, because the Barotse at Nyenko\nhad, since the departure of Limboa, elected Nananko, another son\nof Santuru, in his stead; and our visitor, to whom the boy had been\nintrusted as a guardian, thinking him to be in danger, fled with him\nto his father. The Barotse, whom Limboa had left behind at Nyenko, on\nproceeding to elect Nananko, said, \"No, it is quite too much for Limboa\nto rule over two places.\" I would have gone to visit Limboa and Masiko\ntoo, in order to prevent hostilities, but the state of my ox would\nnot allow it. I therefore sent a message to Limboa by some of his men,\nprotesting against war with his brother, and giving him formal notice\nthat the path up the Leeba had been given to us by the Balonda, the\nowners of the country, and that no attempt must ever be made to obstruct\nfree intercourse.\n\nOn leaving this place we were deserted by one of our party, Mboenga, an\nAmbonda man, who had accompanied us all the way to Loanda and back. His\nfather was living with Masiko, and it was natural for him to wish to\njoin his own family again. He went off honestly, with the exception of\ntaking a fine \"tari\" skin given me by Nyamoana, but he left a parcel\nof gun-flints which he had carried for me all the way from Loanda. I\nregretted parting with him thus, and sent notice to him that he need not\nhave run away, and if he wished to come to Sekeletu again he would be\nwelcome. We subsequently met a large party of Barotse fleeing in\nthe same direction; but when I represented to them that there was a\nprobability of their being sold as slaves in Londa, and none in the\ncountry of Sekeletu, they concluded to return. The grievance which the\nBarotse most feel is being obliged to live with Sekeletu at Linyanti,\nwhere there is neither fish nor fowl, nor any other kind of food, equal\nin quantity to what they enjoy in their own fat valley.\n\nA short distance below the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye we met a\nnumber of hunters belonging to the tribe called Mambowe, who live under\nMasiko. They had dried flesh of hippopotami, buffaloes, and alligators.\nThey stalk the animals by using the stratagem of a cap made of the\nskin of a leche's or poku's head, having the horns still attached, and\nanother made so as to represent the upper white part of the crane called\njabiru ('Mycteru Senegalensis'), with its long neck and beak above. With\nthese on, they crawl through the grass; they can easily put up their\nheads so far as to see their prey without being recognized until they\nare within bow-shot. They presented me with three fine water-turtles,*\none of which, when cooked, had upward of forty eggs in its body. The\nshell of the egg is flexible, and it is of the same size at both ends,\nlike those of the alligator. The flesh, and especially the liver, is\nexcellent. The hunters informed us that, when the message inculcating\npeace among the tribes came to Masiko, the common people were so glad at\nthe prospect of \"binding up the spears\", that they ran to the river, and\nbathed and plunged in it for joy. This party had been sent by Masiko to\nthe Makololo for aid to repel their enemy, but, afraid to go thither,\nhad spent the time in hunting. They have a dread of the Makololo, and\nhence the joy they expressed when peace was proclaimed. The Mambowe\nhunters were much alarmed until my name was mentioned. They then joined\nour party, and on the following day discovered a hippopotamus dead,\nwhich they had previously wounded. This was the first feast of flesh my\nmen had enjoyed, for, though the game was wonderfully abundant, I had\nquite got out of the way of shooting, and missed perpetually. Once I\nwent with the determination of getting so close that I should not miss a\nzebra. We went along one of the branches that stretch out from the\nriver in a small canoe, and two men, stooping down as low as they could,\npaddled it slowly along to an open space near to a herd of zebras and\npokus. Peering over the edge of the canoe, the open space seemed like a\npatch of wet ground, such as is often seen on the banks of a river, made\nsmooth as the resting-place of alligators. When we came within a few\nyards of it, we found by the precipitate plunging of the reptile that\nthis was a large alligator itself. Although I had been most careful\nto approach near enough, I unfortunately only broke the hind leg of\na zebra. My two men pursued it, but the loss of a hind leg does not\nprevent this animal from a gallop. As I walked slowly after the men on\nan extensive plain covered with a great crop of grass, which was 'laid'\nby its own weight, I observed that a solitary buffalo, disturbed by\nothers of my own party, was coming to me at a gallop. I glanced around,\nbut the only tree on the plain was a hundred yards off, and there was\nno escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle, with the intention\nof giving him a steady shot in the forehead when he should come within\nthree or four yards of me. The thought flashed across my mind, \"What if\nyour gun misses fire?\" I placed it to my shoulder as he came on at\nfull speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is a\nlumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and bunch of grass\nfifteen yards off made him swerve a little, and exposed his shoulder. I\njust heard the ball crack there as I fell flat on my face. The pain must\nhave made him renounce his purpose, for he bounded close past me on to\nthe water, where he was found dead. In expressing my thankfulness to\nGod among my men, they were much offended with themselves for not\nbeing present to shield me from this danger. The tree near me was a\ncamel-thorn, and reminded me that we had come back to the land of thorns\nagain, for the country we had left is one of evergreens.\n\n   * It is probably a species allied to the 'Sternotherus\n   sinuatus' of Dr. Smith, as it has no disagreeable smell.  This\n   variety annually leaves the water with so much regularity for\n   the deposit of its eggs, that the natives decide on the time\n   of sowing their seed by its appearance.\n\nJULY 27TH. We reached the town of Libonta, and were received with\ndemonstrations of joy such as I had never witnessed before. The women\ncame forth to meet us, making their curious dancing gestures and loud\nlulliloos. Some carried a mat and stick, in imitation of a spear and\nshield. Others rushed forward and kissed the hands and cheeks of the\ndifferent persons of their acquaintance among us, raising such a dust\nthat it was quite a relief to get to the men assembled and sitting with\nproper African decorum in the kotla. We were looked upon as men risen\nfrom the dead, for the most skillful of their diviners had pronounced us\nto have perished long ago. After many expressions of joy at meeting, I\narose, and, thanking them, explained the causes of our long delay, but\nleft the report to be made by their own countrymen. Formerly I had\nbeen the chief speaker, now I would leave the task of speaking to them.\nPitsane then delivered a speech of upward of an hour in length, giving\na highly flattering picture of the whole journey, of the kindness of the\nwhite men in general, and of Mr. Gabriel in particular. He concluded by\nsaying that I had done more for them than they expected; that I had not\nonly opened up a path for them to the other white men, but conciliated\nall the chiefs along the route. The oldest man present rose and answered\nthis speech, and, among other things, alluded to the disgust I felt at\nthe Makololo for engaging in marauding expeditions against Lechulatebe\nand Sebolamakwaia, of which we had heard from the first persons we met,\nand which my companions most energetically denounced as \"mashue hela\",\nentirely bad. He entreated me not to lose heart, but to reprove Sekeletu\nas my child. Another old man followed with the same entreaties. The\nfollowing day we observed as our thanksgiving to God for his goodness in\nbringing us all back in safety to our friends. My men decked themselves\nout in their best, and I found that, although their goods were finished,\nthey had managed to save suits of European clothing, which, being white,\nwith their red caps, gave them rather a dashing appearance. They tried\nto walk like the soldiers they had seen in Loanda, and called themselves\nmy \"braves\" (batlabani). During the service they all sat with their guns\nover their shoulders, and excited the unbounded admiration of the women\nand children. I addressed them all on the goodness of God in preserving\nus from all the dangers of strange tribes and disease. We had a similar\nservice in the afternoon. The men gave us two fine oxen for slaughter,\nand the women supplied us abundantly with milk, meal, and butter. It was\nall quite gratuitous, and I felt ashamed that I could make no return.\nMy men explained the total expenditure of our means, and the Libontese\nanswered gracefully, \"It does not matter; you have opened a path for us,\nand we shall have sleep.\" Strangers came flocking from a distance, and\nseldom empty-handed. Their presents I distributed among my men.\n\nOur progress down the Barotse valley was just like this. Every village\ngave us an ox, and sometimes two. The people were wonderfully kind. I\nfelt, and still feel, most deeply grateful, and tried to benefit them in\nthe only way I could, by imparting the knowledge of that Savior who can\ncomfort and supply them in the time of need, and my prayer is that\nhe may send his good Spirit to instruct them and lead them into his\nkingdom. Even now I earnestly long to return, and make some recompense\nto them for their kindness. In passing them on our way to the north,\ntheir liberality might have been supposed to be influenced by the hope\nof repayment on our return, for the white man's land is imagined to be\nthe source of every ornament they prize most. But, though we set out\nfrom Loanda with a considerable quantity of goods, hoping both to pay\nour way through the stingy Chiboque, and to make presents to the kind\nBalonda and still more generous Makololo, the many delays caused by\nsickness made us expend all my stock, and all the goods my men procured\nby their own labor at Loanda, and we returned to the Makololo as poor\nas when we set out. Yet no distrust was shown, and my poverty did not\nlessen my influence. They saw that I had been exerting myself for their\nbenefit alone, and even my men remarked, \"Though we return as poor as we\nwent, we have not gone in vain.\" They began immediately to collect tusks\nof hippopotami and other ivory for a second journey.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 25.\n\nColony of Birds called Linkololo--The Village of Chitlane--Murder\nof Mpololo's Daughter--Execution of the Murderer and his Wife--My\nCompanions find that their Wives have married other Husbands--\nSunday--A Party from Masiko--Freedom of Speech--Canoe struck by a\nHippopotamus--Gonye--Appearance of Trees at the end of Winter--Murky\nAtmosphere--Surprising Amount of organic Life--Hornets--The Packages\nforwarded by Mr. Moffat--Makololo Suspicions and Reply to the Matebele\nwho brought them--Convey the Goods to an Island and build a Hut over\nthem--Ascertain that Sir R. Murchison had recognized the true Form of\nAfrican Continent--Arrival at Linyanti--A grand Picho--Shrewd Inquiry--\nSekeletu in his Uniform--A Trading-party sent to Loanda with Ivory--\nMr. Gabriel's Kindness to them--Difficulties in Trading--Two Makololo\nForays during our Absence--Report of the Country to the N.E.--Death of\ninfluential Men--The Makololo desire to be nearer the Market\n--Opinions upon a Change of Residence--Climate of Barotse Valley--\nDiseases--Author's Fevers not a fair Criterion in the Matter--The\nInterior an inviting Field for the Philanthropist--Consultations about\na Path to the East Coast--Decide on descending North Bank of Zambesi--\nWait for the Rainy Season--Native way of spending Time during the period\nof greatest Heat--Favorable Opening for Missionary Enterprise--Ben\nHabib wishes to marry--A Maiden's Choice--Sekeletu's Hospitality--\nSulphureted Hydrogen and Malaria--Conversations with Makololo--Their\nmoral Character and Conduct--Sekeletu wishes to purchase a Sugar-mill,\netc.--The Donkeys--Influence among the Natives--\"Food fit for a\nChief\"--Parting Words of Mamire--Motibe's Excuses.\n\n\n\nOn the 31st of July we parted with our kind Libonta friends. We planted\nsome of our palm-tree seeds in different villages of this valley. They\nbegan to sprout even while we were there, but, unfortunately, they were\nalways destroyed by the mice which swarm in every hut.\n\nAt Chitlane's village we collected the young of a colony of the\nlinkololo ('Anastomus lamalligerus'), a black, long-legged bird,\nsomewhat larger than a crow, which lives on shellfish ('Ampullaria'),\nand breeds in society at certain localities among the reeds. These\nplaces are well known, as they continue there from year to year, and\nbelong to the chiefs, who at particular times of the year gather most\nof the young. The produce of this \"harvest\", as they call it, which was\npresented to me, was a hundred and seventy-five unfledged birds. They\nhad been rather late in collecting them, in consequence of waiting for\nthe arrival of Mpololo, who acts the part of chief, but gave them to me,\nknowing that this would be pleasing to him, otherwise this colony would\nhave yielded double the amount. The old ones appear along the Leeambye\nin vast flocks, and look lean and scraggy. The young are very fat, and,\nwhen roasted, are esteemed one of the dainties of the Barotse valley. In\npresents of this kind, as well as of oxen, it is a sort of feast of joy,\nthe person to whom they are presented having the honor of distributing\nthe materials of the feast. We generally slaughtered every ox at the\nvillage where it was presented, and then our friends and we rejoiced\ntogether.\n\nThe village of Chitlane is situated, like all others in the Barotse\nvalley, on an eminence, over which floods do not rise; but this last\nyear the water approached nearer to an entire submergence of the whole\nvalley than has been known in the memory of man. Great numbers of people\nwere now suffering from sickness, which always prevails when the waters\nare drying up, and I found much demand for the medicines I had brought\nfrom Loanda. The great variation of the temperature each day must have\na trying effect upon the health. At this village there is a real Indian\nbanian-tree, which has spread itself over a considerable space by means\nof roots from its branches; it has been termed, in consequence, \"the\ntree with legs\" (more oa maotu). It is curious that trees of this family\nare looked upon with veneration, and all the way from the Barotse to\nLoanda are thought to be preservatives from evil.\n\nOn reaching Naliele on the 1st of August we found Mpololo in great\naffliction on account of the death of his daughter and her child. She\nhad been lately confined; and her father naturally remembered her when\nan ox was slaughtered, or when the tribute of other food, which he\nreceives in lieu of Sekeletu, came in his way, and sent frequent\npresents to her. This moved the envy of one of the Makololo who hated\nMpololo, and, wishing to vex him, he entered the daughter's hut by\nnight, and strangled both her and her child. He then tried to make fire\nin the hut and burn it, so that the murder might not be known; but\nthe squeaking noise of rubbing the sticks awakened a servant, and the\nmurderer was detected. Both he and his wife were thrown into the river;\nthe latter having \"known of her husband's intentions, and not revealing\nthem.\" She declared she had dissuaded him from the crime, and, had any\none interposed a word, she might have been spared.\n\nMpololo exerted himself in every way to supply us with other canoes, and\nwe left Shinte's with him. The Mambowe were well received, and departed\nwith friendly messages to their chief Masiko. My men were exceedingly\ndelighted with the cordial reception we met with every where; but a\nsource of annoyance was found where it was not expected. Many of their\nwives had married other men during our two years' absence. Mashauana's\nwife, who had borne him two children, was among the number. He wished\nto appear not to feel it much, saying, \"Why, wives are as plentiful as\ngrass, and I can get another: she may go;\" but he would add, \"If I had\nthat fellow, I would open his ears for him.\" As most of them had more\nwives than one, I tried to console them by saying that they had still\nmore than I had, and that they had enough yet; but they felt the\nreflection to be galling, that while they were toiling, another had been\ndevouring their corn. Some of their wives came with very young infants\nin their arms. This excited no discontent; and for some I had to speak\nto the chief to order the men, who had married the only wives some of my\ncompanions ever had, to restore them.\n\nSUNDAY, AUGUST 5TH. A large audience listened most attentively to my\nmorning address. Surely some will remember the ideas conveyed, and pray\nto our merciful Father, who would never have thought of Him but for this\nvisit. The invariably kind and respectful treatment I have received from\nthese, and many other heathen tribes in this central country, together\nwith the attentive observations of many years, have led me to the\nbelief that, if one exerts himself for their good, he will never be ill\ntreated. There may be opposition to his doctrine, but none to the man\nhimself.\n\nWhile still at Naliele, a party which had been sent after me by Masiko\narrived. He was much disappointed because I had not visited him. They\nbrought an elephant's tusk, two calabashes of honey, two baskets of\nmaize, and one of ground-nuts, as a present. Masiko wished to say that\nhe had followed the injunction which I had given as the will of God, and\nlived in peace until his brother Limboa came, captured his women as they\nwent to their gardens, and then appeared before his stockade. Masiko\noffered to lead his men out; but they objected, saying, \"Let us servants\nbe killed, you must not be slain.\" Those who said this were young\nBarotse who had been drilled to fighting by Sebituane, and used shields\nof ox-hide. They beat off the party of Limboa, ten being wounded, and\nten slain in the engagement. Limboa subsequently sent three slaves as\na self-imposed fine to Masiko for attacking him. I succeeded in getting\nthe Makololo to treat the messengers of Masiko well, though, as they\nregarded them as rebels, it was somewhat against the grain at first to\nspeak civilly to them.\n\nMpololo, attempting to justify an opposite line of conduct, told me how\nthey had fled from Sebituane, even though he had given them numbers of\ncattle after their subjection by his arms, and was rather surprised\nto find that I was disposed to think more highly of them for having\nasserted their independence, even at the loss of milk. For this food,\nall who have been accustomed to it from infancy in Africa have an\nexcessive longing. I pointed out how they might be mutually beneficial\nto each other by the exchange of canoes and cattle.\n\nThere are some very old Barotse living here who were the companions of\nthe old chief Santuru. These men, protected by their age, were very free\nin their comments on the \"upstart\" Makololo. One of them, for instance,\ninterrupted my conversation one day with some Makololo gentlemen with\nthe advice \"not to believe them, for they were only a set of thieves;\"\nand it was taken in quite a good-natured way. It is remarkable that none\nof the ancients here had any tradition of an earthquake having occurred\nin this region. Their quick perception of events recognizable by\nthe senses, and retentiveness of memory, render it probable that no\nperceptible movement of the earth has taken place between 7 Deg. and 27\nDeg. S. in the centre of the continent during the last two centuries at\nleast. There is no appearance of recent fracture or disturbance of rocks\nto be seen in the central country, except the falls of Gonye; nor is\nthere any evidence or tradition of hurricanes.\n\nI left Naliele on the 13th of August, and, when proceeding along the\nshore at midday, a hippopotamus struck the canoe with her forehead,\nlifting one half of it quite out of the water, so as nearly to overturn\nit. The force of the butt she gave tilted Mashauana out into the river;\nthe rest of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards off.\nGlancing back, I saw her come to the surface a short way off, and look\nto the canoe, as if to see if she had done much mischief. It was a\nfemale, whose young one had been speared the day before. No damage was\ndone except wetting person and goods. This is so unusual an occurrence,\nwhen the precaution is taken to coast along the shore, that my men\nexclaimed, \"Is the beast mad?\" There were eight of us in the canoe at\nthe time, and the shake it received shows the immense power of this\nanimal in the water.\n\nOn reaching Gonye, Mokwala, the head man, having presented me with a\ntusk, I gave it to Pitsane, as he was eagerly collecting ivory for the\nLoanda market. The rocks of Gonye are reddish gray sandstone, nearly\nhorizontal, and perforated by madrepores, the holes showing the\ncourse of the insect in different directions. The rock itself has\nbeen impregnated with iron, and that hardened, forms a glaze on the\nsurface--an appearance common to many of the rocks of this country.\n\nAUGUST 22D. This is the end of winter. The trees which line the banks\nbegin to bud and blossom, and there is some show of the influence of the\nnew sap, which will soon end in buds that push off the old foliage by\nassuming a very bright orange color. This orange is so bright that I\nmistook it for masses of yellow blossom. There is every variety of shade\nin the leaves--yellow, purple, copper, liver-color, and even inky black.\n\nHaving got the loan of other canoes from Mpololo, and three oxen as\nprovision for the way, which made the number we had been presented with\nin the Barotse valley amount to thirteen, we proceeded down the river\ntoward Sesheke, and were as much struck as formerly with the noble\nriver. The whole scenery is lovely, though the atmosphere is murky in\nconsequence of the continuance of the smoky tinge of winter.\n\nThis peculiar tinge of the atmosphere was observed every winter at\nKolobeng, but it was not so observable in Londa as in the south, though\nI had always considered that it was owing to the extensive burnings\nof the grass, in which hundreds of miles of pasturage are annually\nconsumed. As the quantity burned in the north is very much greater than\nin the south, and the smoky tinge of winter was not observed, some other\nexplanation than these burnings must be sought for. I have sometimes\nimagined that the lowering of the temperature in the winter rendered\nthe vapor in the upper current of air visible, and imparted this hazy\nappearance.\n\nThe amount of organic life is surprising. At the time the river begins\nto rise, the 'Ibis religiosa' comes down in flocks of fifties, with\nprodigious numbers of other water-fowl. Some of the sand-banks appear\nwhitened during the day with flocks of pelicans--I once counted three\nhundred; others are brown with ducks ('Anas histrionica')--I got\nfourteen of these by one shot ('Querquedula Hottentota', Smith), and\nother kinds. Great numbers of gulls ('Procellaria turtur', Smith),\nand several others, float over the surface. The vast quantity of small\nbirds, which feed on insects, show that the river teems also with\nspecimens of minute organic life. In walking among bushes on the banks\nwe are occasionally stung by a hornet, which makes its nest in form\nlike that of our own wasp, and hangs it on the branches of trees. The\nbreeding storgh* is so strong in this insect that it pursues any one\ntwenty or thirty yards who happens to brush too closely past its nest.\nThe sting, which it tries to inflict near the eye, is more like a\ndischarge of electricity from a powerful machine, or a violent blow,\nthan aught else. It produces momentary insensibility, and is followed by\nthe most pungent pain. Yet this insect is quite timid when away from its\nnest. It is named Murotuani by the Bechuanas.\n\n   * (Greek) sigma-tau-omicron-rho-gamma-eta.\n\nWe have tsetse between Nameta and Sekhosi. An insect of prey, about an\ninch in length, long-legged and gaunt-looking, may be observed flying\nabout and lighting upon the bare ground. It is a tiger in its way, for\nit springs upon tsetse and other flies, and, sucking out their blood,\nthrows the bodies aside.\n\nLong before reaching Sesheke we had been informed that a party of\nMatebele, the people of Mosilikatse, had brought some packages of goods\nfor me to the south bank of the river, near the Victoria Falls, and,\nthough they declared that they had been sent by Mr. Moffat, the Makololo\nhad refused to credit the statement of their sworn enemies. They\nimagined that the parcels were directed to me as a mere trick, whereby\nto place witchcraft-medicine into the hands of the Makololo. When the\nMatebele on the south bank called to the Makololo on the north to come\nover in canoes and receive the goods sent by Moffat to \"Nake\", the\nMakololo replied, \"Go along with you, we know better than that; how\ncould he tell Moffat to send his things here, he having gone away to the\nnorth?\" The Matebele answered, \"Here are the goods; we place them now\nbefore you, and if you leave them to perish the guilt will be yours.\"\nWhen they had departed the Makololo thought better of it, and, after\nmuch divination, went over with fear and trembling, and carried the\npackages carefully to an island in the middle of the stream; then,\nbuilding a hut over them to protect them from the weather, they left\nthem; and there I found they had remained from September, 1854, till\nSeptember, 1855, in perfect safety. Here, as I had often experienced\nbefore, I found the news was very old, and had lost much of its interest\nby keeping, but there were some good eatables from Mrs. Moffat. Among\nother things, I discovered that my friend, Sir Roderick Murchison, while\nin his study in London, had arrived at the same conclusion respecting\nthe form of the African continent as I had lately come to on the spot\n(see note p. 512 [footnote to Chapter 24 Paragraph 7]); and that,\nfrom the attentive study of the geological map of Mr. Bain and other\nmaterials, some of which were furnished by the discoveries of Mr.\nOswell and myself, he had not only clearly enunciated the peculiar\nconfiguration as an hypothesis in his discourse before the Geographical\nSociety in 1852, but had even the assurance to send me out a copy for my\ninformation! There was not much use in nursing my chagrin at being\nthus fairly \"cut out\" by the man who had foretold the existence of\nthe Australian gold before its discovery, for here it was in black and\nwhite. In his easy-chair he had forestalled me by three years, though I\nhad been working hard through jungle, marsh, and fever, and, since the\nlight dawned on my mind at Dilolo, had been cherishing the pleasing\ndelusion that I should be the first to suggest the idea that the\ninterior of Africa was a watery plateau of less elevation than flanking\nhilly ranges.\n\nHaving waited a few days at Sesheke till the horses which we had left at\nLinyanti should arrive, we proceeded to that town, and found the wagon,\nand every thing we had left in November, 1853, perfectly safe. A grand\nmeeting of all the people was called to receive our report, and the\narticles which had been sent by the governor and merchants of Loanda. I\nexplained that none of these were my property, but that they were sent\nto show the friendly feelings of the white men, and their eagerness to\nenter into commercial relations with the Makololo. I then requested my\ncompanions to give a true account of what they had seen. The wonderful\nthings lost nothing in the telling, the climax always being that they\nhad finished the whole world, and had turned only when there was no more\nland. One glib old gentleman asked, \"Then you reached Ma Robert (Mrs.\nL.)?\" They were obliged to confess that she lived a little beyond the\nworld. The presents were received with expressions of great satisfaction\nand delight; and on Sunday, when Sekeletu made his appearance at church\nin his uniform, it attracted more attention than the sermon; and\nthe kind expressions they made use of respecting myself were so very\nflattering that I felt inclined to shut my eyes. Their private opinion\nmust have tallied with their public report, for I very soon received\noffers from volunteers to accompany me to the east coast. They said they\nwished to be able to return and relate strange things like my recent\ncompanions; and Sekeletu immediately made arrangements with the Arab Ben\nHabib to conduct a fresh party with a load of ivory to Loanda. These,\nhe said, must go with him and learn to trade: they were not to have any\nthing to do in the disposal of the ivory, but simply look and learn. My\ncompanions were to remain and rest themselves, and then return to Loanda\nwhen the others had come home. Sekeletu consulted me as to sending\npresents back to the governor and merchants of Loanda, but, not\npossessing much confidence in this Arab, I advised him to send a present\nby Pitsane, as he knew who ought to receive it.\n\nSince my arrival in England, information has been received from Mr.\nGabriel that this party had arrived on the west coast, but that the\nivory had been disposed of to some Portuguese merchants in the interior,\nand the men had been obliged to carry it down to Loanda. They had not\nbeen introduced to Mr. Gabriel, but that gentleman, having learned that\nthey were in the city, went to them, and pronounced the names Pitsane,\nMashauana, when all started up and crowded round him. When Mr. G.\nobtained an interpreter, he learned that they had been ordered by\nSekeletu to be sure and go to my brother, as he termed him. Mr. G.\nbehaved in the same liberal manner as he had done to my companions,\nand they departed for their distant home after bidding him a formal and\naffectionate adieu.\n\nIt was to be expected that they would be imposed upon in their first\nattempt at trading, but I believe that this could not be so easily\nrepeated. It is, however, unfortunate that in dealing with the natives\nin the interior there is no attempt made at the establishment of fair\nprices. The trader shows a quantity of goods, the native asks for more,\nand more is given. The native, being ignorant of the value of the\ngoods or of his ivory, tries what another demand will bring. After some\nhaggling, an addition is made, and that bargain is concluded to the\nsatisfaction of both parties. Another trader comes, and perhaps offers\nmore than the first; the customary demand for an addition is made, and\nhe yields. The natives by this time are beginning to believe that the\nmore they ask the more they will get: they continue to urge, the trader\nbursts into a rage, and the trade is stopped, to be renewed next day by\na higher offer. The natives naturally conclude that they were right\nthe day before, and a most disagreeable commercial intercourse is\nestablished. A great amount of time is spent in concluding these\nbargains. In other parts, it is quite common to see the natives going\nfrom one trader to another till they have finished the whole village;\nand some give presents of brandy to tempt their custom. Much of this\nunpleasant state of feeling between natives and Europeans results from\nthe commencements made by those who were ignorant of the language, and\nfrom the want of education being given at the same time.\n\nDuring the time of our absence at Loanda, the Makololo had made two\nforays, and captured large herds of cattle. One, to the lake, was in\norder to punish Lechulatebe for the insolence he had manifested after\nprocuring some fire-arms; and the other to Sebola Makwaia, a chief\nliving far to the N.E. This was most unjustifiable, and had been\ncondemned by all the influential Makololo. Ben Habib, however, had, in\ncoming from Zanzibar, visited Sebola Makwaia, and found that the chief\ntown was governed by an old woman of that name. She received him kindly,\nand gave him a large quantity of magnificent ivory, sufficient to\nset him up as a trader, at a very small cost; but, his party having\ndischarged their guns, Ben Habib observed that the female chief and her\npeople were extremely alarmed, and would have fled and left their cattle\nin a panic, had he not calmed their fears. Ben Habib informed the uncle\nof Sekeletu that he could easily guide him thither, and he might get\na large number of cattle without any difficulty. This uncle advised\nSekeletu to go; and, as the only greatness he knew was imitation of his\nfather's deeds, he went, but was not so successful as was anticipated.\nSebola Makwaia had fled on hearing of the approach of the Makololo; and,\nas the country is marshy and intersected in every direction by rivers,\nthey could not easily pursue her. They captured canoes, and, pursuing up\ndifferent streams, came to a small lake called \"Shuia\". Having entered\nthe Loangwa, flowing to the eastward, they found it advisable to return,\nas the natives in those parts became more warlike the further they went\nin that direction. Before turning, the Arab pointed out an elevated\nridge in the distance, and said to the Makololo, \"When we see that,\nwe always know that we are only ten or fifteen days from the sea.\" On\nseeing him afterward, he informed me that on the same ridge, but much\nfurther to the north, the Banyassa lived, and that the rivers flowed\nfrom it toward the S.W. He also confirmed the other Arab's account that\nthe Loapula, which he had crossed at the town of Cazembe, flowed in the\nsame direction, and into the Leeambye.\n\nSeveral of the influential Makololo who had engaged in these marauding\nexpeditions had died before our arrival, and Nokwane had succumbed to\nhis strange disease. Ramosantane had perished through vomiting blood\nfrom over-fatigue in the march, and Lerimo was affected by a leprosy\npeculiar to the Barotse valley. In accordance with the advice of my\nLibonta friends, I did not fail to reprove \"my child Sekeletu\" for his\nmarauding. This was not done in an angry manner, for no good is ever\nachieved by fierce denunciations. Motibe, his father-in-law, said to me,\n\"Scold him much, but don't let others hear you.\"\n\nThe Makololo expressed great satisfaction with the route we had opened\nup to the west, and soon after our arrival a \"picho\" was called, in\norder to discuss the question of removal to the Barotse valley, so\nthat they might be nearer the market. Some of the older men objected to\nabandoning the line of defense afforded by the rivers Chobe and Zambesi\nagainst their southern enemies the Matebele. The Makololo generally have\nan aversion to the Barotse valley, on account of the fevers which are\nannually engendered in it as the waters dry up. They prefer it only as\na cattle station; for, though the herds are frequently thinned by an\nepidemic disease (peripneumonia), they breed so fast that the losses\nare soon made good. Wherever else the Makololo go, they always leave\na portion of their stock in the charge of herdsmen in that prolific\nvalley. Some of the younger men objected to removal, because the\nrankness of the grass at the Barotse did not allow of their running\nfast, and because there \"it never becomes cool.\"\n\nSekeletu at last stood up, and, addressing me, said, \"I am perfectly\nsatisfied as to the great advantages for trade of the path which you\nhave opened, and think that we ought to go to the Barotse, in order\nto make the way from us to Loanda shorter; but with whom am I to live\nthere? If you were coming with us, I would remove to-morrow; but now you\nare going to the white man's country to bring Ma Robert, and when you\nreturn you will find me near to the spot on which you wish to dwell.\"\nI had then no idea that any healthy spot existed in the country, and\nthought only of a convenient central situation, adapted for intercourse\nwith the adjacent tribes and with the coast, such as that near to the\nconfluence of the Leeba and Leeambye.\n\nThe fever is certainly a drawback to this otherwise important missionary\nfield. The great humidity produced by heavy rains and inundations, the\nexuberant vegetation caused by fervid heat in rich moist soil, and the\nprodigious amount of decaying vegetable matter annually exposed after\nthe inundations to the rays of a torrid sun, with a flat surface often\ncovered by forest through which the winds can not pass, all combine\nto render the climate far from salubrious for any portion of the human\nfamily. But the fever, thus caused and rendered virulent, is almost the\nonly disease prevalent in it. There is no consumption or scrofula,\nand but little insanity. Smallpox and measles visited the country some\nthirty years ago and cut off many, but they have since made no return,\nalthough the former has been almost constantly in one part or another\nof the coast. Singularly enough, the people used inoculation for this\ndisease; and in one village, where they seem to have chosen a malignant\ncase from which to inoculate the rest, nearly the whole village was cut\noff. I have seen but one case of hydrocephalus, a few of epilepsy, none\nof cholera or cancer, and many diseases common in England are here\nquite unknown. It is true that I suffered severely from fever, but my\nexperience can not be taken as a fair criterion in the matter. Compelled\nto sleep on the damp ground month after month, exposed to drenching\nshowers, and getting the lower extremities wetted two or three times\nevery day, living on native food (with the exception of sugarless\ncoffee, during the journey to the north and the latter half of the\nreturn journey), and that food the manioc roots and meal, which contain\nso much uncombined starch that the eyes become affected (as in the\ncase of animals fed for experiment on pure gluten or starch), and being\nexposed during many hours each day in comparative inaction to the\ndirect rays of the sun, the thermometer standing above 96 Deg. in the\nshade--these constitute a more pitiful hygiene than any missionaries who\nmay follow will ever have to endure. I do not mention these privations\nas if I considered them to be \"sacrifices\", for I think that the word\nought never to be applied to any thing we can do for Him who came down\nfrom heaven and died for us; but I suppose it is necessary to notice\nthem, in order that no unfavorable opinion may be formed from my\nexperience as to what that of others might be, if less exposed to the\nvicissitudes of the weather and change of diet.\n\nI believe that the interior of this country presents a much more\ninviting field for the philanthropist than does the west coast, where\nmissionaries of the Church Missionary, United Presbyterian, and other\nsocieties have long labored with most astonishing devotedness and\nnever-flagging zeal. There the fevers are much more virulent and more\nspeedily fatal than here, for from 8 Deg. south they almost invariably\ntake the intermittent or least fatal type; and their effect being to\nenlarge the spleen, a complaint which is best treated by change of\nclimate, we have the remedy at hand by passing the 20th parallel on our\nway south. But I am not to be understood as intimating that any of the\nnumerous tribes are anxious for instruction: they are not the inquiring\nspirits we read of in other countries; they do not desire the Gospel,\nbecause they know nothing about either it or its benefits; but there is\nno impediment in the way of instruction. Every head man would be proud\nof a European visitor or resident in his territory, and there is perfect\nsecurity for life and property all over the interior country. The great\nbarriers which have kept Africa shut are the unhealthiness of the coast,\nand the exclusive, illiberal disposition of the border tribes. It has\nnot within the historic period been cut into by deep arms of the sea,\nand only a small fringe of its population have come into contact with\nthe rest of mankind. Race has much to do in the present circumstances of\nnations; yet it is probable that the unhealthy coast-climate has reacted\non the people, and aided both in perpetuating their own degradation and\npreventing those more inland from having intercourse with the rest of\nthe world. It is to be hoped that these obstacles will be overcome by\nthe more rapid means of locomotion possessed in the present age, if a\ngood highway can become available from the coast into the interior.\n\nHaving found it impracticable to open up a carriage-path to the west,\nit became a question as to which part of the east coast we should direct\nour steps. The Arabs had come from Zanzibar through a peaceful country.\nThey assured me that the powerful chiefs beyond the Cazembe on the N.E.,\nviz., Moatutu, Moaroro, and Mogogo, chiefs of the tribes Batutu, Baroro,\nand Bagogo, would have no objection to my passing through their country.\nThey described the population there as located in small villages like\nthe Balonda, and that no difficulty is experienced in traveling among\nthem. They mentioned also that, at a distance of ten days beyond\nCazembe, their path winds round the end of Lake Tanganyenka. But\nwhen they reach this lake, a little to the northwest of its southern\nextremity, they find no difficulty in obtaining canoes to carry them\nover. They sleep on islands, for it is said to require three days in\ncrossing, and may thus be forty or fifty miles broad. Here they punt the\ncanoes the whole way, showing that it is shallow. There are many small\nstreams in the path, and three large rivers. This, then, appeared to me\nto be the safest; but my present object being a path admitting of water\nrather than land carriage, this route did not promise so much as that\nby way of the Zambesi or Leeambye. The Makololo knew all the country\neastward as far as the Kafue, from having lived in former times near\nthe confluence of that river with the Zambesi, and they all advised this\npath in preference to that by the way of Zanzibar. The only difficulty\nthat they assured me of was that in the falls of Victoria. Some\nrecommended my going to Sesheke, and crossing over in a N.E. direction\nto the Kafue, which is only six days distant, and descending that river\nto the Zambesi. Others recommended me to go on the south bank of the\nZambesi until I had passed the falls, then get canoes and proceed\nfarther down the river. All spoke strongly of the difficulties of\ntraveling on the north bank, on account of the excessively broken\nand rocky nature of the country near the river on that side. And when\nPonuane, who had lately headed a foray there, proposed that I should\ncarry canoes along that side till we reached the spot where the\nLeeambye becomes broad and placid again, others declared that, from\nthe difficulties he himself had experienced in forcing the men of his\nexpedition to do this, they believed that mine would be sure to desert\nme if I attempted to impose such a task upon them. Another objection to\ntraveling on either bank of the river was the prevalence of the tsetse,\nwhich is so abundant that the inhabitants can keep no domestic animals\nexcept goats.\n\nWhile pondering over these different paths, I could not help regretting\nmy being alone. If I had enjoyed the company of my former companion, Mr.\nOswell, one of us might have taken the Zambesi, and the other gone by\nway of Zanzibar. The latter route was decidedly the easiest, because all\nthe inland tribes were friendly, while the tribes in the direction of\nthe Zambesi were inimical, and I should now be obliged to lead a party,\nwhich the Batoka of that country view as hostile invaders, through an\nenemy's land; but, as the prospect of permanent water-conveyance was\ngood, I decided on going down the Zambesi, and keeping on the north\nbank, because, in the map given by Bowditch, Tete, the farthest inland\nstation of the Portuguese, is erroneously placed on that side. Being\nnear the end of September, the rains were expected daily; the clouds\nwere collecting, and the wind blew strongly from the east, but it was\nexcessively hot. All the Makololo urged me strongly to remain till the\nground should be cooled by the rains; and as it was probable that I\nshould get fever if I commenced my journey now, I resolved to wait. The\nparts of the country about 17 Deg. and 18 Deg. suffer from drought and\nbecome dusty. It is but the commencement of the humid region to the\nnorth, and partakes occasionally of the character of both the wet and\ndry regions. Some idea may be formed of the heat in October by the fact\nthat the thermometer (protected) stood, in the shade of my wagon, at 100\nDeg. through the day. It rose to 110 Deg. if unprotected from the wind;\nat dark it showed 89 Deg.; at 10 o'clock, 80 Deg.; and then gradually\nsunk till sunrise, when it was 70 Deg. That is usually the period of\ngreatest cold in each twenty-four hours in this region. The natives,\nduring the period of greatest heat, keep in their huts, which are always\npleasantly cool by day, but close and suffocating by night. Those who\nare able to afford it sit guzzling beer or boyaloa. The perspiration\nproduced by copious draughts seems to give enjoyment, the evaporation\ncausing a feeling of coolness. The attendants of the chief, on these\noccasions, keep up a continuous roar of bantering, raillery, laughing,\nand swearing. The dance is kept up in the moonlight till past midnight.\nThe women stand clapping their hands continuously, and the old men sit\nadmiringly, and say, \"It is really very fine.\" As crowds came to see me,\nI employed much of my time in conversation, that being a good mode of\nconveying instruction. In the public meetings for worship the people\nlistened very attentively, and behaved with more decorum than formerly.\nThey really form a very inviting field for a missionary. Surely the\noft-told tale of the goodness and love of our heavenly Father, in giving\nup his own Son to death for us sinners, will, by the power of his Holy\nSpirit, beget love in some of these heathen hearts.\n\n1ST OCTOBER. Before Ben Habib started for Loanda, he asked the daughter\nof Sebituane in marriage. This is the plan the Arabs adopt for\ngaining influence in a tribe, and they have been known to proceed thus\ncautiously to form connections, and gradually gain so much influence\nas to draw all the tribe over to their religion. I never heard of any\npersecution, although the Arabs with whom I came in contact seemed\nmuch attached to their religion. This daughter of Sebituane, named\nManchunyane, was about twelve years of age. As I was the bosom-friend\nof her father, I was supposed to have a voice in her disposal, and, on\nbeing asked, objected to her being taken away, we knew not whither, and\nwhere we might never see her again. As her name implies, she was only a\nlittle black, and, besides being as fair as any of the Arabs, had quite\nthe Arab features; but I have no doubt that Ben Habib will renew\nhis suit more successfully on some other occasion. In these cases of\nmarriage, the consent of the young women is seldom asked. A maid-servant\nof Sekeletu, however, pronounced by the Makololo to be good-looking, was\nat this time sought in marriage by five young men. Sekeletu, happening\nto be at my wagon when one of these preferred his suit, very coolly\nordered all five to stand in a row before the young woman, that she\nmight make her choice. Two refused to stand, apparently, because they\ncould not brook the idea of a repulse, although willing enough to take\nher if Sekeletu had acceded to their petition without reference to\nher will. Three dandified fellows stood forth, and she unhesitatingly\ndecided on taking one who was really the best looking. It was amusing to\nsee the mortification exhibited on the black faces of the unsuccessful\ncandidates, while the spectators greeted them with a hearty laugh.\n\nDuring the whole of my stay with the Makololo, Sekeletu supplied my\nwants abundantly, appointing some cows to furnish me with milk, and,\nwhen he went out to hunt, sent home orders for slaughtered oxen to be\ngiven. That the food was not given in a niggardly spirit may be inferred\nfrom the fact that, when I proposed to depart on the 20th of October, he\nprotested against my going off in such a hot sun. \"Only wait,\" said he,\n\"for the first shower, and then I will let you go.\" This was reasonable,\nfor the thermometer, placed upon a deal box in the sun, rose to 138 Deg.\nIt stood at 108 Deg. in the shade by day, and 96 Deg. at sunset. If\nmy experiments were correct, the blood of a European is of a higher\ntemperature than that of an African. The bulb, held under my tongue,\nstood at 100 Deg.; under that of the natives, at 98 Deg. There was much\nsickness in the town, and no wonder, for part of the water left by the\ninundation still formed a large pond in the centre. Even the plains\nbetween Linyanti and Sesheke had not yet been freed from the waters of\nthe inundation. They had risen higher than usual, and for a long time\ncanoes passed from the one place to the other, a distance of upward of\n120 miles, in nearly a straight line. We found many patches of stagnant\nwater, which, when disturbed by our passing through them, evolved strong\neffluvia of sulphureted hydrogen. At other times these spots exhibit\nan efflorescence of the nitrate of soda; they also contain abundance of\nlime, probably from decaying vegetable matter, and from these may have\nemanated the malaria which caused the present sickness. I have often\nremarked this effluvium in sickly spots, and can not help believing but\nthat it has some connection with fever, though I am quite aware of Dr.\nMacWilliams's unsuccessful efforts to discover sulphureted hydrogen, by\nthe most delicate tests, in the Niger expedition.\n\nI had plenty of employment, for, besides attending to the severer cases,\nI had perpetual calls on my attention. The town contained at least 7000\ninhabitants, and every one thought that he might come, and at least look\nat me. In talking with some of the more intelligent in the evenings, the\nconversation having turned from inquiries respecting eclipses of the sun\nand moon to that other world where Jesus reigns, they let me know that\nmy attempts to enlighten them had not been without some small effect.\n\"Many of the children,\" said they, \"talk about the strange things you\nbring to their ears, but the old men show a little opposition by saying,\n'Do we know what he is talking about?'\" Ntlaria and others complain of\ntreacherous memories, and say, \"When we hear words about other things,\nwe hold them fast; but when we hear you tell much more wonderful things\nthan any we have ever heard before, we don't know how it is, they run\naway from our hearts.\" These are the more intelligent of my Makololo\nfriends. On the majority the teaching produces no appreciable effect;\nthey assent to the truth with the most perplexing indifference, adding,\n\"But we don't know,\" or, \"We do not understand.\" My medical intercourse\nwith them enabled me to ascertain their moral status better than a mere\nreligious teacher could do. They do not attempt to hide the evil, as\nmen often do, from their spiritual instructors; but I have found it\ndifficult to come to a conclusion on their character. They sometimes\nperform actions remarkably good, and sometimes as strangely the\nopposite. I have been unable to ascertain the motive for the good, or\naccount for the callousness of conscience with which they perpetrate the\nbad. After long observation, I came to the conclusion that they are just\nsuch a strange mixture of good and evil as men are every where\nelse. There is not among them an approach to that constant stream of\nbenevolence flowing from the rich to the poor which we have in England,\nnor yet the unostentatious attentions which we have among our own poor\nto each other. Yet there are frequent instances of genuine kindness and\nliberality, as well as actions of an opposite character. The rich show\nkindness to the poor in expectation of services, and a poor person who\nhas no relatives will seldom be supplied even with water in illness,\nand, when dead, will be dragged out to be devoured by the hyaenas\ninstead of being buried. Relatives alone will condescend to touch a dead\nbody. It would be easy to enumerate instances of inhumanity which I have\nwitnessed. An interesting-looking girl came to my wagon one day in a\nstate of nudity, and almost a skeleton. She was a captive from another\ntribe, and had been neglected by the man who claimed her. Having\nsupplied her wants, I made inquiry for him, and found that he had been\nunsuccessful in raising a crop of corn, and had no food to give her. I\nvolunteered to take her; but he said he would allow me to feed her\nand make her fat, and then take her away. I protested against his\nheartlessness; and, as he said he could \"not part with his child,\" I\nwas precluded from attending to her wants. In a day or two she was lost\nsight of. She had gone out a little way from the town, and, being too\nweak to return, had been cruelly left to perish. Another day I saw\na poor boy going to the water to drink, apparently in a starving\ncondition. This case I brought before the chief in council, and found\nthat his emaciation was ascribed to disease and want combined. He was\nnot one of the Makololo, but a member of a subdued tribe. I showed them\nthat any one professing to claim a child, and refusing proper nutriment,\nwould be guilty of his death. Sekeletu decided that the owner of this\nboy should give up his alleged right rather than destroy the child. When\nI took him he was so far gone as to be in the cold stage of starvation,\nbut was soon brought round by a little milk given three or four times a\nday. On leaving Linyanti I handed him over to the charge of his chief,\nSekeletu, who feeds his servants very well. On the other hand, I have\nseen instances in which both men and women have taken up little orphans\nand carefully reared them as their own children. By a selection of cases\nof either kind, it would not be difficult to make these people appear\nexcessively good or uncommonly bad.\n\nI still possessed some of the coffee which I had brought from Angola,\nand some of the sugar which I had left in my wagon. So long as the sugar\nlasted, Sekeletu favored me with his company at meals; but the sugar\nsoon came to a close. The Makololo, as formerly mentioned, were well\nacquainted with the sugar-cane, as it is cultivated by the Barotse, but\nnever knew that sugar could be got from it. When I explained the process\nby which it was produced, Sekeletu asked if I could not buy him an\napparatus for the purpose of making sugar. He said that he would plant\nthe cane largely if he only had the means of making the sugar from it.\nI replied that I was unable to purchase a mill, when he instantly\nrejoined, \"Why not take ivory to buy it?\" As I had been living at his\nexpense, I was glad of the opportunity to show my gratitude by serving\nhim; and when he and his principal men understood that I was willing to\nexecute a commission, Sekeletu gave me an order for a sugar-mill, and\nfor all the different varieties of clothing that he had ever seen,\nespecially a mohair coat, a good rifle, beads, brass-wire, etc., etc.,\nand wound up by saying, \"And any other beautiful thing you may see in\nyour own country.\" As to the quantity of ivory required to execute the\ncommission, I said I feared that a large amount would be necessary. Both\nhe and his councilors replied, \"The ivory is all your own; if you leave\nany in the country it will be your own fault.\" He was also anxious for\nhorses. The two I had left with him when I went to Loanda were still\nliving, and had been of great use to him in hunting the giraffe and\neland, and he was now anxious to have a breed. This, I thought, might\nbe obtained at the Portuguese settlements. All were very much delighted\nwith the donkeys we had brought from Loanda. As we found that they were\nnot affected by the bite of the tsetse, and there was a prospect of the\nbreed being continued, it was gratifying to see the experiment of their\nintroduction so far successful. The donkeys came as frisky as kids all\nthe way from Loanda until we began to descend the Leeambye. There we\ncame upon so many interlacing branches of the river, and were obliged\nto drag them through such masses of tangled aquatic plants, that we half\ndrowned them, and were at last obliged to leave them somewhat exhausted\nat Naliele. They excited the unbounded admiration of my men by their\nknowledge of the different kinds of plants, which, as they remarked,\n\"the animals had never before seen in their own country;\" and when the\ndonkeys indulged in their music, they startled the inhabitants more than\nif they had been lions. We never rode them, nor yet the horse which had\nbeen given by the bishop, for fear of hurting them by any work.\n\nAlthough the Makololo were so confiding, the reader must not imagine\nthat they would be so to every individual who might visit them. Much of\nmy influence depended upon the good name given me by the Bakwains, and\nthat I secured only through a long course of tolerably good conduct.\nNo one ever gains much influence in this country without purity and\nuprightness. The acts of a stranger are keenly scrutinized by both young\nand old, and seldom is the judgment pronounced, even by the heathen,\nunfair or uncharitable. I have heard women speaking in admiration of\na white man because he was pure, and never was guilty of any secret\nimmorality. Had he been, they would have known it, and, untutored\nheathen though they be, would have despised him in consequence. Secret\nvice becomes known throughout the tribe; and while one, unacquainted\nwith the language, may imagine a peccadillo to be hidden, it is as\npatent to all as it would be in London had he a placard on his back.\n\n27TH OCTOBER, 1855. The first continuous rain of the season commenced\nduring the night, the wind being from the N.E., as it always was on like\noccasions at Kolobeng. The rainy season was thus begun, and I made ready\nto go. The mother of Sekeletu prepared a bag of ground-nuts, by frying\nthem in cream with a little salt, as a sort of sandwiches for my\njourney. This is considered food fit for a chief. Others ground the\nmaize from my own garden into meal, and Sekeletu pointed out Sekwebu\nand Kanyata as the persons who should head the party intended to form\nmy company. Sekwebu had been captured by the Matebele when a little boy,\nand the tribe in which he was a captive had migrated to the country near\nTete; he had traveled along both banks of the Zambesi several times, and\nwas intimately acquainted with the dialects spoken there. I found him\nto be a person of great prudence and sound judgment, and his subsequent\nloss at the Mauritius has been, ever since, a source of sincere regret.\nHe at once recommended our keeping well away from the river, on account\nof the tsetse and rocky country, assigning also as a reason for it that\nthe Leeambye beyond the falls turns round to the N.N.E. Mamire, who\nhad married the mother of Sekeletu, on coming to bid me farewell before\nstarting, said, \"You are now going among people who can not be trusted\nbecause we have used them badly; but you go with a different message\nfrom any they ever heard before, and Jesus will be with you and help\nyou, though among enemies; and if he carries you safely, and brings you\nand Ma Robert back again, I shall say he has bestowed a great favor upon\nme. May we obtain a path whereby we may visit and be visited by other\ntribes, and by white men!\" On telling him my fears that he was\nstill inclined to follow the old marauding system, which prevented\nintercourse, and that he, from his influential position, was especially\nguilty in the late forays, he acknowledged all rather too freely for my\ntaste, but seemed quite aware that the old system was far from right.\nMentioning my inability to pay the men who were to accompany me, he\nreplied, \"A man wishes, of course, to appear among his friends, after a\nlong absence, with something of his own to show; the whole of the\nivory in the country is yours, so you must take as much as you can,\nand Sekeletu will furnish men to carry it.\" These remarks of Mamire\nare quoted literally, in order to show the state of mind of the most\ninfluential in the tribe. And as I wish to give the reader a fair idea\nof the other side of the question as well, it may be mentioned that\nMotibe parried the imputation of the guilt of marauding by every\npossible subterfuge. He would not admit that they had done wrong, and\nlaid the guilt of the wars in which the Makololo had engaged on the\nBoers, the Matebele, and every other tribe except his own. When quite\na youth, Motibe's family had been attacked by a party of Boers; he hid\nhimself in an ant-eater's hole, but was drawn out and thrashed with\na whip of hippopotamus hide. When enjoined to live in peace, he would\nreply, \"Teach the Boers to lay down their arms first.\" Yet Motibe, on\nother occasions, seemed to feel the difference between those who\nare Christians indeed and those who are so only in name. In all our\ndiscussions we parted good friends.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 26.\n\nDeparture from Linyanti--A Thunder-storm--An Act of genuine Kindness--\nFitted out a second time by the Makololo--Sail down the Leeambye--\nSekote's Kotla and human Skulls; his Grave adorned with Elephants'\nTusks--Victoria Falls--Native Names--Columns of Vapor--Gigantic Crack--\nWear of the Rocks--Shrines of the Barimo--\"The Pestle of the Gods\"--\nSecond Visit to the Falls--Island Garden--Store-house Island--\nNative Diviners--A European Diviner--Makololo Foray--Marauder to be\nfined--Mambari--Makololo wish to stop Mambari Slave-trading--Part\nwith Sekeletu--Night Traveling--River Lekone--Ancient fresh-water\nLakes--Formation of Lake Ngami--Native Traditions--Drainage of\nthe Great Valley--Native Reports of the Country to the\nNorth--Maps--Moyara's Village--Savage Customs of the Batoka--A Chain\nof Trading Stations--Remedy against Tsetse--\"The Well of Joy\"--First\nTraces of Trade with Europeans--Knocking out the front Teeth--Facetious\nExplanation--Degradation of the Batoka--Description of the Traveling\nParty--Cross the Unguesi--Geological Formation--Ruins of a large Town--\nProductions of the Soil similar to those in Angola--Abundance of Fruit.\n\n\n\nOn the 3d of November we bade adieu to our friends at Linyanti,\naccompanied by Sekeletu and about 200 followers. We were all fed at his\nexpense, and he took cattle for this purpose from every station we came\nto. The principal men of the Makololo, Lebeole, Ntlarie, Nkwatlele,\netc., were also of the party. We passed through the patch of the tsetse,\nwhich exists between Linyanti and Sesheke, by night. The majority of the\ncompany went on by daylight, in order to prepare our beds. Sekeletu and\nI, with about forty young men, waited outside the tsetse till dark. We\nthen went forward, and about ten o'clock it became so pitchy dark that\nboth horses and men were completely blinded. The lightning spread over\nthe sky, forming eight or ten branches at a time, in shape exactly like\nthose of a tree. This, with great volumes of sheet-lightning, enabled\nus at times to see the whole country. The intervals between the flashes\nwere so densely dark as to convey the idea of stone-blindness. The\nhorses trembled, cried out, and turned round, as if searching for each\nother, and every new flash revealed the men taking different directions,\nlaughing, and stumbling against each other. The thunder was of that\ntremendously loud kind only to be heard in tropical countries, and which\nfriends from India have assured me is louder in Africa than any they\nhave ever heard elsewhere. Then came a pelting rain, which completed\nour confusion. After the intense heat of the day, we soon felt miserably\ncold, and turned aside to a fire we saw in the distance. This had been\nmade by some people on their march; for this path is seldom without\nnumbers of strangers passing to and from the capital. My clothing having\ngone on, I lay down on the cold ground, expecting to spend a miserable\nnight; but Sekeletu kindly covered me with his own blanket, and lay\nuncovered himself. I was much affected by this act of genuine kindness.\nIf such men must perish by the advance of civilization, as certain races\nof animals do before others, it is a pity. God grant that ere this time\ncomes they may receive that Gospel which is a solace for the soul in\ndeath!\n\nWhile at Sesheke, Sekeletu supplied me with twelve oxen--three of which\nwere accustomed to being ridden upon--hoes, and beads to purchase a\ncanoe when we should strike the Leeambye beyond the falls. He likewise\npresented abundance of good fresh butter and honey, and did every thing\nin his power to make me comfortable for the journey. I was entirely\ndependent on his generosity, for the goods I originally brought from the\nCape were all expended by the time I set off from Linyanti to the west\ncoast. I there drew 70 Pounds of my salary, paid my men with it, and\npurchased goods for the return journey to Linyanti. These being now all\nexpended, the Makololo again fitted me out, and sent me on to the east\ncoast. I was thus dependent on their bounty, and that of other Africans,\nfor the means of going from Linyanti to Loanda, and again from Linyanti\nto the east coast, and I feel deeply grateful to them. Coin would have\nbeen of no benefit, for gold and silver are quite unknown. We were here\njoined by Moriantsane, uncle of Sekeletu and head man of Sesheke,\nand, entering canoes on the 13th, some sailed down the river to the\nconfluence of the Chobe, while others drove the cattle along the banks,\nspending one night at Mparia, the island at the confluence of the Chobe,\nwhich is composed of trap, having crystals of quartz in it coated with a\npellicle of green copper ore. Attempting to proceed down the river next\nday, we were detained some hours by a strong east wind raising waves so\nlarge as to threaten to swamp the canoes. The river here is very large\nand deep, and contains two considerable islands, which from either bank\nseem to be joined to the opposite shore. While waiting for the wind to\nmoderate, my friends related the traditions of these islands, and,\nas usual, praised the wisdom of Sebituane in balking the Batoka,\nwho formerly enticed wandering tribes to them, and starved them, by\ncompelling the chiefs to remain by his side till all his cattle and\npeople were ferried over. The Barotse believe that at certain parts of\nthe river a tremendous monster lies hid, and that it will catch a canoe,\nand hold it fast and motionless, in spite of the utmost exertions of the\npaddlers. While near Nameta they even objected to pass a spot supposed\nto be haunted, and proceeded along a branch instead of the main stream.\nThey believe that some of them possess a knowledge of the proper prayer\nto lay the monster. It is strange to find fables similar to those of\nthe more northern nations even in the heart of Africa. Can they be the\nvestiges of traditions of animals which no longer exist? The fossil\nbones which lie in the calcareous tufa of this region will yet, we hope,\nreveal the ancient fauna.\n\nHaving descended about ten miles, we came to the island of Nampene, at\nthe beginning of the rapids, where we were obliged to leave the canoes\nand proceed along the banks on foot. The next evening we slept opposite\nthe island of Chondo, and, then crossing the Lekone or Lekwine, early\nthe following morning were at the island of Sekote, called Kalai. This\nSekote was the last of the Batoka chiefs whom Sebituane rooted out. The\nisland is surrounded by a rocky shore and deep channels, through which\nthe river rushes with great force. Sekote, feeling secure in his island\nhome, ventured to ferry over the Matebele enemies of Sebituane. When\nthey had retired, Sebituane made one of those rapid marches which he\nalways adopted in every enterprise. He came down the Leeambye from\nNaliele, sailing by day along the banks, and during the night in the\nmiddle of the stream, to avoid the hippopotami. When he reached Kalai,\nSekote took advantage of the larger canoes they employ in the rapids,\nand fled during the night to the opposite bank. Most of his people were\nslain or taken captive, and the island has ever since been under the\nMakololo. It is large enough to contain a considerable town. On the\nnorthern side I found the kotla of the elder Sekote, garnished with\nnumbers of human skulls mounted on poles: a large heap of the crania of\nhippopotami, the tusks untouched except by time, stood on one side. At a\nshort distance, under some trees, we saw the grave of Sekote, ornamented\nwith seventy large elephants' tusks planted round it with the points\nturned inward, and there were thirty more placed over the resting-places\nof his relatives. These were all decaying from the effects of the sun\nand weather; but a few, which had enjoyed the shade, were in a pretty\ngood condition. I felt inclined to take a specimen of the tusks of the\nhippopotami, as they were the largest I had ever seen, but feared that\nthe people would look upon me as a \"resurrectionist\" if I did, and\nregard any unfavorable event which might afterward occur as a punishment\nfor the sacrilege. The Batoka believe that Sekote had a pot of medicine\nburied here, which, when opened, would cause an epidemic in the country.\nThese tyrants acted much on the fears of their people.\n\nAs this was the point from which we intended to strike off to the\nnortheast, I resolved on the following day to visit the falls of\nVictoria, called by the natives Mosioatunya, or more anciently Shongwe.\nOf these we had often heard since we came into the country; indeed, one\nof the questions asked by Sebituane was, \"Have you smoke that sounds in\nyour country?\" They did not go near enough to examine them, but, viewing\nthem with awe at a distance, said, in reference to the vapor and noise,\n\"Mosi oa tunya\" (smoke does sound there). It was previously called\nShongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascertain. The word for a\n\"pot\" resembles this, and it may mean a seething caldron, but I am not\ncertain of it. Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself were the\nvery first Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre of the\ncountry, and that this is the connecting link between the known and\nunknown portions of that river, I decided to use the same liberty as the\nMakololo did, and gave the only English name I have affixed to any part\nof the country. No better proof of previous ignorance of this river\ncould be desired than that an untraveled gentleman, who had spent a\ngreat part of his life in the study of the geography of Africa, and knew\nevery thing written on the subject from the time of Ptolemy downward,\nactually asserted in the \"Athenaeum\", while I was coming up the Red Sea,\nthat this magnificent river, the Leeambye, had \"no connection with the\nZambesi, but flowed under the Kalahari Desert, and became lost;\" and\n\"that, as all the old maps asserted, the Zambesi took its rise in the\nvery hills to which we have now come.\" This modest assertion smacks\nexactly as if a native of Timbuctoo should declare that the \"Thames\" and\nthe \"Pool\" were different rivers, he having seen neither the one nor the\nother. Leeambye and Zambesi mean the very same thing, viz., the RIVER.\n\nSekeletu intended to accompany me, but, one canoe only having come\ninstead of the two he had ordered, he resigned it to me. After twenty\nminutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the\ncolumns of vapor appropriately called \"smoke\", rising at a distance of\nfive or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in\nAfrica. Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the\nwind, they seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees; the\ntops of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds.\nThey were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate\nsmoke very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful; the banks\nand islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation\nof great variety of color and form. At the period of our visit several\ntrees were spangled over with blossoms. Trees have each their own\nphysiognomy. There, towering over all, stands the great burly baobab,\neach of whose enormous arms would form the trunk of a large tree, beside\ngroups of graceful palms, which, with their feathery-shaped leaves\ndepicted on the sky, lend their beauty to the scene. As a hieroglyphic\nthey always mean \"far from home\", for one can never get over their\nforeign air in a picture or landscape. The silvery mohonono, which in\nthe tropics is in form like the cedar of Lebanon, stands in pleasing\ncontrast with the dark color of the motsouri, whose cypress-form is\ndotted over at present with its pleasant scarlet fruit. Some trees\nresemble the great spreading oak, others assume the character of our own\nelms and chestnuts; but no one can imagine the beauty of the view\nfrom any thing witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by\nEuropean eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by\nangels in their flight. The only want felt is that of mountains in the\nbackground. The falls are bounded on three sides by ridges 300 or\n400 feet in height, which are covered with forest, with the red soil\nappearing among the trees. When about half a mile from the falls, I left\nthe canoe by which we had come down thus far, and embarked in a lighter\none, with men well acquainted with the rapids, who, by passing down\nthe centre of the stream in the eddies and still places caused by many\njutting rocks, brought me to an island situated in the middle of the\nriver, and on the edge of the lip over which the water rolls. In coming\nhither there was danger of being swept down by the streams which rushed\nalong on each side of the island; but the river was now low, and we\nsailed where it is totally impossible to go when the water is high. But,\nthough we had reached the island, and were within a few yards of the\nspot, a view from which would solve the whole problem, I believe that no\none could perceive where the vast body of water went; it seemed to\nlose itself in the earth, the opposite lip of the fissure into which it\ndisappeared being only 80 feet distant. At least I did not comprehend it\nuntil, creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent\nwhich had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambesi, and saw that\na stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a hundred feet, and then\nbecame suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. The\nentire falls are simply a crack made in a hard basaltic rock from the\nright to the left bank of the Zambesi, and then prolonged from the left\nbank away through thirty or forty miles of hills. If one imagines\nthe Thames filled with low, tree-covered hills immediately beyond the\ntunnel, extending as far as Gravesend, the bed of black basaltic rock\ninstead of London mud, and a fissure made therein from one end of\nthe tunnel to the other down through the keystones of the arch, and\nprolonged from the left end of the tunnel through thirty miles of hills,\nthe pathway being 100 feet down from the bed of the river instead of\nwhat it is, with the lips of the fissure from 80 to 100 feet apart,\nthen fancy the Thames leaping bodily into the gulf, and forced there to\nchange its direction, and flow from the right to the left bank, and then\nrush boiling and roaring through the hills, he may have some idea of\nwhat takes place at this, the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in\nAfrica. In looking down into the fissure on the right of the island, one\nsees nothing but a dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the\nspot, had two bright rainbows on it. (The sun was on the meridian, and\nthe declination about equal to the latitude of the place.) From this\ncloud rushed up a great jet of vapor exactly like steam, and it mounted\n200 or 300 feet high; there condensing, it changed its hue to that of\ndark smoke, and came back in a constant shower, which soon wetted us to\nthe skin. This shower falls chiefly on the opposite side of the fissure,\nand a few yards back from the lip there stands a straight hedge of\nevergreen trees, whose leaves are always wet. From their roots a number\nof little rills run back into the gulf, but, as they flow down the steep\nwall there, the column of vapor, in its ascent, licks them up clean off\nthe rock, and away they mount again. They are constantly running down,\nbut never reach the bottom.\n\nOn the left of the island we see the water at the bottom, a white\nrolling mass moving away to the prolongation of the fissure, which\nbranches off near the left bank of the river. A piece of the rock has\nfallen off a spot on the left of the island, and juts out from the water\nbelow, and from it I judged the distance which the water falls to be\nabout 100 feet. The walls of this gigantic crack are perpendicular, and\ncomposed of one homogeneous mass of rock. The edge of that side over\nwhich the water falls is worn off two or three feet, and pieces have\nfallen away, so as to give it somewhat of a serrated appearance. That\nover which the water does not fall is quite straight, except at the left\ncorner, where a rent appears, and a piece seems inclined to fall off.\nUpon the whole, it is nearly in the state in which it was left at the\nperiod of its formation. The rock is dark brown in color, except about\nten feet from the bottom, which is discolored by the annual rise of the\nwater to that or a greater height. On the left side of the island we\nhave a good view of the mass of water which causes one of the columns of\nvapor to ascend, as it leaps quite clear of the rock, and forms a thick\nunbroken fleece all the way to the bottom. Its whiteness gave the idea\nof snow, a sight I had not seen for many a day. As it broke into (if I\nmay use the term) pieces of water, all rushing on in the same direction,\neach gave off several rays of foam, exactly as bits of steel, when\nburned in oxygen gas, give off rays of sparks. The snow-white sheet\nseemed like myriads of small comets rushing on in one direction, each of\nwhich left behind its nucleus rays of foam. I never saw the appearance\nreferred to noticed elsewhere. It seemed to be the effect of the mass of\nwater leaping at once clear of the rock, and but slowly breaking up into\nspray.\n\nI have mentioned that we saw five columns of vapor ascending from this\nstrange abyss. They are evidently formed by the compression suffered by\nthe force of the water's own fall into an unyielding wedge-shaped space.\nOf the five columns, two on the right and one on the left of the island\nwere the largest, and the streams which formed them seemed each to\nexceed in size the falls of the Clyde at Stonebyres when that river is\nin flood. This was the period of low water in the Leeambye; but, as\nfar as I could guess, there was a flow of five or six hundred yards of\nwater, which, at the edge of the fall, seemed at least three feet deep.\nI write in the hope that others, more capable of judging distances than\nmyself, will visit the scene, and I state simply the impressions made on\nmy mind at the time. I thought, and do still think, the river above the\nfalls to be one thousand yards broad; but I am a poor judge of distances\non water, for I showed a naval friend what I supposed to be four hundred\nyards in the Bay of Loanda, and, to my surprise, he pronounced it to be\nnine hundred. I tried to measure the Leeambye with a strong thread,\nthe only line I had in my possession, but, when the men had gone two\nor three hundred yards, they got into conversation, and did not hear\nus shouting that the line had become entangled. By still going on they\nbroke it, and, being carried away down the stream, it was lost on a\nsnag. In vain I tried to bring to my recollection the way I had been\ntaught to measure a river by taking an angle with the sextant. That\nI once knew it, and that it was easy, were all the lost ideas I could\nrecall, and they only increased my vexation. However, I measured the\nriver farther down by another plan, and then I discovered that the\nPortuguese had measured it at Tete, and found it a little over one\nthousand yards. At the falls it is as broad as at Tete, if not more so.\nWhoever may come after me will not, I trust, find reason to say I have\nindulged in exaggeration.* With respect to the drawing, it must be\nborne in mind that it was composed from a rude sketch as viewed from the\nisland, which exhibited the columns of vapor only, and a ground\nplan. The artist has given a good idea of the scene, but, by way of\nexplanation, he has shown more of the depth of the fissure than is\nvisible except by going close to the edge. The left-hand column, and\nthat farthest off, are the smallest, and all ought to have been a little\nmore tapering at the tops.\n\n   * The river is about one mile (1.6 km) wide at the falls, and\n   plunges over 350 feet at the centre.  Livingstone greatly\n   underestimated both distances.--A. L., 1997.\n\nThe fissure is said by the Makololo to be very much deeper farther to\nthe eastward; there is one part at which the walls are so sloping that\npeople accustomed to it can go down by descending in a sitting position.\nThe Makololo on one occasion, pursuing some fugitive Batoka, saw them,\nunable to stop the impetus of their flight at the edge, literally dashed\nto pieces at the bottom. They beheld the stream like a \"white cord\" at\nthe bottom, and so far down (probably 300 feet) that they became giddy,\nand were fain to go away holding on to the ground.\n\nNow, though the edge of the rock over which the river falls does not\nshow wearing more than three feet, and there is no appearance of the\nopposite wall being worn out at the bottom in the parts exposed to view,\nyet it is probable that, where it has flowed beyond the walls, the sides\nof the fissure may have given way, and the parts out of sight may be\nbroader than the \"white cord\" on the surface. There may even be some\nramifications of the fissure, which take a portion of the stream quite\nbeneath the rocks; but this I did not learn.\n\nIf we take the want of much wear on the lip of hard basaltic rock as of\nany value, the period when this rock was riven is not geologically very\nremote. I regretted the want of proper means of measuring and marking\nits width at the falls, in order that, at some future time, the question\nwhether it is progressive or not might be tested. It seemed as if\na palm-tree could be laid across it from the island. And if it is\nprogressive, as it would mark a great natural drainage being effected,\nit might furnish a hope that Africa will one day become a healthy\ncontinent. It is, at any rate, very much changed in respect to its lakes\nwithin a comparatively recent period.\n\nAt three spots near these falls, one of them the island in the middle,\non which we were, three Batoka chiefs offered up prayers and sacrifices\nto the Barimo. They chose their places of prayer within the sound of the\nroar of the cataract, and in sight of the bright bows in the cloud.\nThey must have looked upon the scene with awe. Fear may have induced\nthe selection. The river itself is to them mysterious. The words of the\ncanoe-song are,\n\n   \"The Leeambye!  Nobody knows\n   Whence it comes and whither it goes.\"\n\nThe play of colors of the double iris on the cloud, seen by them\nelsewhere only as the rainbow, may have led them to the idea that this\nwas the abode of Deity. Some of the Makololo, who went with me near to\nGonye, looked upon the same sign with awe. When seen in the heavens\nit is named \"motse oa barimo\"--the pestle of the gods. Here they could\napproach the emblem, and see it stand steadily above the blustering\nuproar below--a type of Him who sits supreme--alone unchangeable, though\nruling over all changing things. But, not aware of His true character,\nthey had no admiration of the beautiful and good in their bosoms. They\ndid not imitate His benevolence, for they were a bloody, imperious crew,\nand Sebituane performed a noble service in the expulsion from their\nfastnesses of these cruel \"Lords of the Isles\".\n\nHaving feasted my eyes long on the beautiful sight, I returned to my\nfriends at Kalai, and saying to Sekeletu that he had nothing else worth\nshowing in his country, his curiosity was excited to visit it the next\nday. I returned with the intention of taking a lunar observation from\nthe island itself, but the clouds were unfavorable, consequently all my\ndeterminations of position refer to Kalai. (Lat. 17d 51' 54\" S., long.\n25d 41' E.) Sekeletu acknowledged to feeling a little nervous at the\nprobability* of being sucked into the gulf before reaching the island.\nHis companions amused themselves by throwing stones down, and wondered\nto see them diminishing in size, and even disappearing, before they\nreached the water at the bottom.\n\n   * In modern American English, the word \"possibility\" is more\n   appropriate here, and elsewhere in the text where\n   \"probability\" is used.--A. L., 1997.\n\nI had another object in view in my return to the island. I observed that\nit was covered with trees, the seeds of which had probably come down\nwith the stream from the distant north, and several of which I had seen\nnowhere else, and every now and then the wind wafted a little of the\ncondensed vapor over it, and kept the soil in a state of moisture,\nwhich caused a sward of grass, growing as green as on an English lawn.\nI selected a spot--not too near the chasm, for there the constant\ndeposition of the moisture nourished numbers of polypi of a mushroom\nshape and fleshy consistence, but somewhat back--and made a little\ngarden. I there planted about a hundred peach and apricot stones, and a\nquantity of coffee-seeds. I had attempted fruit-trees before, but,\nwhen left in charge of my Makololo friends, they were always allowed to\nwither, after having vegetated, by being forgotten. I bargained for\na hedge with one of the Makololo, and if he is faithful, I have great\nhopes of Mosioatunya's abilities as a nursery-man. My only source of\nfear is the hippopotami, whose footprints I saw on the island. When the\ngarden was prepared, I cut my initials on a tree, and the date 1855.\nThis was the only instance in which I indulged in this piece of vanity.\nThe garden stands in front, and, were there no hippopotami, I have no\ndoubt but this will be the parent of all the gardens which may yet be in\nthis new country. We then went up to Kalai again.\n\nOn passing up we had a view of the hut on the island where my goods had\nlain so long in safety. It was under a group of palm-trees, and Sekeletu\ninformed me that, so fully persuaded were most of the Makololo of the\npresence of dangerous charms in the packages, that, had I not returned\nto tell them the contrary, they never would have been touched. Some of\nthe diviners had been so positive in their decisions on the point,\nthat the men who lifted a bag thought they felt a live kid in it. The\ndiviners always quote their predictions when they happen to tally with\nthe event. They declared that the whole party which went to Loanda had\nperished; and as I always quoted the instances in which they failed,\nmany of them refused to throw the \"bola\" (instruments of divination)\nwhen I was near. This was a noted instance of failure. It would have\nafforded me equal if not greater pleasure to have exposed the failure,\nif such it had been, of the European diviner whose paper lay a whole\nyear on this island, but I was obliged to confess that he had been\nsuccessful with his \"bola\", and could only comfort myself with the idea\nthat, though Sir Roderick Murchison's discourse had lain so long within\nsight and sound of the magnificent falls, I had been \"cut out\" by no one\nin their discovery.\n\nI saw the falls at low water, and the columns of vapor when five or six\nmiles distant. When the river is full, or in flood, the columns, it\nis said, can be seen ten miles off, and the sound is quite distinct\nsomewhat below Kalai, or about an equal distance. No one can then go\nto the island in the middle. The next visitor must bear these points in\nmind in comparing his description with mine.\n\nWe here got information of a foray which had been made by a Makololo man\nin the direction we were going. This instance of marauding was so much\nin accordance with the system which has been pursued in this country\nthat I did not wonder at it. But the man had used Sekeletu's name as\nhaving sent him, and, the proof being convincing, he would undoubtedly\nbe fined. As that would be the first instance of a fine being levied\nfor marauding, I looked upon it as the beginning of a better state of\nthings. In tribes which have been accustomed to cattle-stealing, the act\nis not considered immoral in the way that theft is. Before I knew the\nlanguage well, I said to a chief, \"You stole the cattle of so and so.\"\n\"No, I did not steal them,\" was the reply, \"I only LIFTED them.\" The\nword \"gapa\" is identical with the Highland term for the same deed.\n\nAnother point came to our notice here. Some Mambari had come down thus\nfar, and induced the Batoka to sell a very large tusk which belonged\nto Sekeletu for a few bits of cloth. They had gone among the Batoka\nwho need hoes, and, having purchased some of these from the people near\nSesheke, induced the others living farther east to sell both ivory and\nchildren. They would not part with children for clothing or beads, but\nagriculture with wooden hoes is so laborious, that the sight of the hoes\nprevailed. The Makololo proposed to knock the Mambari on the head as\nthe remedy the next time they came; but on my proposing that they should\nsend hoes themselves, and thereby secure the ivory in a quiet way, all\napproved highly of the idea, and Pitsane and Mohorisi expatiated on the\nvalue of the ivory, their own willingness to go and sell it at Loanda,\nand the disgust with which the Mambari whom we met in Angola had looked\nupon their attempt to reach the proper market. If nothing untoward\nhappens, I think there is a fair prospect of the trade in slaves being\nabolished in a natural way in this quarter, Pitsane and Mohorisi having\nagain expressed their willingness to go away back to Loanda if Sekeletu\nwould give them orders. This was the more remarkable, as both have\nplenty of food and leisure at home.\n\n20TH NOVEMBER. Sekeletu and his large party having conveyed me thus far,\nand furnished me with a company of 114 men to carry the tusks to the\ncoast, we bade adieu to the Makololo, and proceeded northward to the\nLekone. The country around is very beautiful, and was once well peopled\nwith Batoka, who possessed enormous herds of cattle. When Sebituane came\nin former times, with his small but warlike party of Makololo, to\nthis spot, a general rising took place of the Batoka through the whole\ncountry, in order to \"eat him up\"; but his usual success followed him,\nand, dispersing them, the Makololo obtained so many cattle that they\ncould not take any note of the herds of sheep and goats. The tsetse\nhas been brought by buffaloes into some districts where formerly cattle\nabounded. This obliged us to travel the first few stages by night. We\ncould not well detect the nature of the country in the dim moonlight;\nthe path, however, seemed to lead along the high bank of what may have\nbeen the ancient bed of the Zambesi before the fissure was made. The\nLekone now winds in it in an opposite direction to that in which the\nancient river must have flowed.\n\nBoth the Lekone and Unguesi flow back toward the centre of the country,\nand in an opposite direction to that of the main stream. It was plain,\nthen, that we were ascending the farther we went eastward. The level of\nthe lower portion of the Lekone is about two hundred feet above that\nof the Zambesi at the falls, and considerably more than the altitude\nof Linyanti; consequently, when the river flowed along this ancient\nbed instead of through the rent, the whole country between this and the\nridge beyond Libebe westward, Lake Ngami and the Zouga southward, and\neastward beyond Nchokotsa, was one large fresh-water lake. There is\nabundant evidence of the existence and extent of this vast lake in\nthe longitudes indicated, and stretching from 17 Deg. to 21 Deg. south\nlatitude. The whole of this space is paved with a bed of tufa, more\nor less soft, according as it is covered with soil, or left exposed\nto atmospheric influences. Wherever ant-eaters make deep holes in this\nancient bottom, fresh-water shells are thrown out, identical with those\nnow existing in the Lake Ngami and the Zambesi. The Barotse valley was\nanother lake of a similar nature; and one existed beyond Masiko, and a\nfourth near the Orange River. The whole of these lakes were let out by\nmeans of cracks or fissures made in the subtending sides by the upheaval\nof the country. The fissure made at the Victoria Falls let out the water\nof this great valley, and left a small patch in what was probably\nits deepest portion, and is now called Lake Ngami. The Falls of Gonye\nfurnished an outlet to the lake of the Barotse valley, and so of the\nother great lakes of remote times. The Congo also finds its way to the\nsea through a narrow fissure, and so does the Orange River in the west;\nwhile other rents made in the eastern ridge, as the Victoria Falls and\nthose to the east of Tanganyenka, allowed the central waters to drain\neastward. All the African lakes hitherto discovered are shallow, in\nconsequence of being the mere 'residua' of very much larger ancient\nbodies of water. There can be no doubt that this continent was, in\nformer times, very much more copiously supplied with water than at\npresent, but a natural process of drainage has been going on for ages.\nDeep fissures are made, probably by the elevation of the land, proofs\nof which are seen in modern shells imbedded in marly tufa all round the\ncoast-line. Whether this process of desiccation is as rapid throughout\nthe continent as, in a letter to the late Dean Buckland, in 1843, I\nshowed to have been the case in the Bechuana country, it is not for me\nto say; but, though there is a slight tradition of the waters having\nburst through the low hills south of the Barotse, there is none of a\nsudden upheaval accompanied by an earthquake. The formation of the\ncrack of Mosioatunya is perhaps too ancient for that; yet, although\ninformation of any remarkable event is often transmitted in the native\nnames, and they even retain a tradition which looks like the story of\nSolomon and the harlots, there is not a name like Tom Earthquake or Sam\nShake-the-ground in the whole country. They have a tradition which may\nrefer to the building of the Tower of Babel, but it ends in the bold\nbuilders getting their crowns cracked by the fall of the scaffolding;\nand that they came out of a cave called \"Loey\" (Noe?) in company with\nthe beasts, and all point to it in one direction, viz., the N.N.E. Loey,\ntoo, is an exception in the language, as they use masculine instead of\nneuter pronouns to it.\n\nIf we take a glance back at the great valley, the form the rivers have\ntaken imparts the idea of a lake slowly drained out, for they have cut\nout for themselves beds exactly like what we may see in the soft mud\nof a shallow pool of rain-water, when that is let off by a furrow.\nThis idea would probably not strike a person on coming first into the\ncountry, but more extensive acquaintance with the river system certainly\nwould convey the impression. None of the rivers in the valley of the\nLeeambye have slopes down to their beds. Indeed, many parts are much\nlike the Thames at the Isle of Dogs, only the Leeambye has to rise\ntwenty or thirty feet before it can overflow some of its meadows. The\nrivers have each a bed of low water--a simple furrow cut sharply out\nof the calcareous tufa which lined the channel of the ancient lake--and\nanother of inundation. When the beds of inundation are filled, they\nassume the appearance of chains of lakes. When the Clyde fills the holms\n(\"haughs\") above Bothwell Bridge and retires again into its channel,\nit resembles the river we are speaking of, only here there are no high\nlands sloping down toward the bed of inundation, for the greater part of\nthe region is not elevated fifty feet above them. Even the rocky banks\nof the Leeambye below Gonye, and the ridges bounding the Barotse valley,\nare not more than two or three hundred feet in altitude over the general\ndead level. Many of the rivers are very tortuous in their course, the\nChobe and Simah particularly so; and, if we may receive the testimony of\nthe natives, they form what anatomists call 'anastamosis', or a network\nof rivers. Thus, for instance, they assured me that if they go up the\nSimah in a canoe, they can enter the Chobe, and descend that river to\nthe Leeambye; or they may go up the Kama and come down the Simah; and so\nin the case of the Kafue. It is reputed to be connected in this way\nwith the Leeambye in the north, and to part with the Loangwa; and the\nMakololo went from the one into the other in canoes. And even though the\ninterlacing may not be quite to the extent believed by the natives,\nthe country is so level and the rivers so tortuous that I see no\nimprobability in the conclusion that here is a network of waters of a\nvery peculiar nature. The reason why I am disposed to place a certain\namount of confidence in the native reports is this: when Mr. Oswell and\nI discovered the Zambesi in the centre of the continent in 1851, being\nunable to ascend it at the time ourselves, we employed the natives to\ndraw a map embodying their ideas of that river. We then sent the native\nmap home with the same view that I now mention their ideas of the\nriver system, namely, in order to be an aid to others in farther\ninvestigations. When I was able to ascend the Leeambye to 14 Deg. south,\nand subsequently descend it, I found, after all the care I could bestow,\nthat the alterations I was able to make in the original native plan were\nvery trifling. The general idea their map gave was wonderfully accurate;\nand now I give, in the larger map appended, their views of the other\nrivers, in the hope that they may prove helpful to any traveler who may\npursue the investigation farther.\n\n24TH. We remained a day at the village of Moyara. Here the valley in\nwhich the Lekone flows trends away to the eastward, while our course is\nmore to the northeast. The country is rocky and rough, the soil\nbeing red sand, which is covered with beautiful green trees, yielding\nabundance of wild fruits. The father of Moyara was a powerful chief, but\nthe son now sits among the ruins of the town, with four or five wives\nand very few people. At his hamlet a number of stakes are planted in\nthe ground, and I counted fifty-four human skulls hung on their points.\nThese were Matebele, who, unable to approach Sebituane on the island of\nLoyela, had returned sick and famishing. Moyara's father took advantage\nof their reduced condition, and after putting them to death, mounted\ntheir heads in the Batoka fashion. The old man who perpetrated this deed\nnow lies in the middle of his son's huts, with a lot of rotten ivory\nover his grave. One can not help feeling thankful that the reign of such\nwretches is over. They inhabited the whole of this side of the country,\nand were probably the barrier to the extension of the Portuguese\ncommerce in this direction. When looking at these skulls, I remarked to\nMoyara that many of them were those of mere boys. He assented readily,\nand pointed them out as such. I asked why his father had killed boys.\n\"To show his fierceness,\" was the answer. \"Is it fierceness to kill\nboys?\" \"Yes; they had no business here.\" When I told him that this\nprobably would insure his own death if the Matebele came again, he\nreplied, \"When I hear of their coming I shall hide the bones.\" He was\nevidently proud of these trophies of his father's ferocity, and I was\nassured by other Batoka that few strangers ever returned from a visit\nto this quarter. If a man wished to curry favor with a Batoka chief,\nhe ascertained when a stranger was about to leave, and waylaid him at a\ndistance from the town, and when he brought his head back to the chief,\nit was mounted as a trophy, the different chiefs vieing with each other\nas to which should mount the greatest number of skulls in his village.\n\nIf, as has been asserted, the Portuguese ever had a chain of trading\nstations across the country from Caconda to Tete, it must have passed\nthrough these people; but the total ignorance of the Zambesi flowing\nfrom north to south in the centre of the country, and the want of\nknowledge of the astonishing falls of Victoria, which excite the wonder\nof even the natives, together with the absence of any tradition of such\na chain of stations, compel me to believe that they existed only on\npaper. This conviction is strengthened by the fact that when a late\nattempt was made to claim the honor of crossing the continent for the\nPortuguese, the only proof advanced was the journey of two black traders\nformerly mentioned, adorned with the name of \"Portuguese\". If a chain of\nstations had existed, a few hundred names of the same sort might easily\nhave been brought forward; and such is the love of barter among all the\ncentral Africans, that, had there existed a market for ivory, its value\nwould have become known, and even that on the graves of the chiefs would\nnot have been safe.\n\nWhen about to leave Moyara on the 25th, he brought a root which, when\npounded and sprinkled over the oxen, is believed to disgust the tsetse,\nso that it flies off without sucking the blood. He promised to show me\nthe plant or tree if I would give him an ox; but, as we were traveling,\nand could not afford the time required for the experiment, so as not to\nbe cheated (as I had too often been by my medical friends), I deferred\nthe investigation till I returned. It is probably but an evanescent\nremedy, and capable of rendering the cattle safe during one night only.\nMoyara is now quite a dependent of the Makololo, and my new party, not\nbeing thoroughly drilled, forced him to carry a tusk for them. When I\nrelieved him, he poured forth a shower of thanks at being allowed to go\nback to sleep beneath his skulls.\n\nNext day we came to Namilanga, or \"The Well of Joy\". It is a small well\ndug beneath a very large fig-tree, the shade of which renders the water\ndelightfully cool. The temperature through the day was 104 Deg. in the\nshade and 94 Deg. after sunset, but the air was not at all oppressive.\nThis well received its name from the fact that, in former times,\nmarauding parties, in returning with cattle, sat down here and were\nregaled with boyaloa, music, and the lullilooing of the women from the\nadjacent towns.\n\nAll the surrounding country was formerly densely peopled, though now\ndesolate and still. The old head man of the place told us that his\nfather once went to Bambala, where white traders lived, when our\ninformant was a child, and returned when he had become a boy of about\nten years. He went again, and returned when it was time to knock out\nhis son's teeth. As that takes place at the age of puberty, he must have\nspent at least five years in each journey. He added that many who went\nthere never returned, because they liked that country better than this.\nThey had even forsaken their wives and children; and children had been\nso enticed and flattered by the finery bestowed upon them there, that\nthey had disowned their parents and adopted others. The place to which\nthey had gone, which they named Bambala, was probably Dambarari, which\nwas situated close to Zumbo. This was the first intimation we had of\nintercourse with the whites. The Barotse, and all the other tribes in\nthe central valley, have no such tradition as this, nor have either\nthe one or the other any account of a trader's visit to them in ancient\ntimes.\n\nAll the Batoka tribes follow the curious custom of knocking out the\nupper front teeth at the age of puberty. This is done by both sexes; and\nthough the under teeth, being relieved from the attrition of the upper,\ngrow long and somewhat bent out, and thereby cause the under lip\nto protrude in a most unsightly way, no young woman thinks herself\naccomplished until she has got rid of the upper incisors. This custom\ngives all the Batoka an uncouth, old-man-like appearance. Their laugh is\nhideous, yet they are so attached to it that even Sebituane was unable\nto eradicate the practice. He issued orders that none of the children\nliving under him should be subjected to the custom by their parents, and\ndisobedience to his mandates was usually punished with severity; but,\nnotwithstanding this, the children would appear in the streets without\ntheir incisors, and no one would confess to the deed. When questioned\nrespecting the origin of this practice, the Batoka reply that their\nobject is to be like oxen, and those who retain their teeth they\nconsider to resemble zebras. Whether this is the true reason or not, it\nis difficult to say; but it is noticeable that the veneration for oxen\nwhich prevails in many tribes should here be associated with hatred to\nthe zebra, as among the Bakwains; that this operation is performed at\nthe same age that circumcision is in other tribes; and that here that\nceremony is unknown. The custom is so universal that a person who has\nhis teeth is considered ugly, and occasionally, when the Batoka borrowed\nmy looking-glass, the disparaging remark would be made respecting boys\nor girls who still retained their teeth, \"Look at the great teeth!\" Some\nof the Makololo give a more facetious explanation of the custom: they\nsay that the wife of a chief having in a quarrel bitten her husband's\nhand, he, in revenge, ordered her front teeth to be knocked out, and all\nthe men in the tribe followed his example; but this does not explain why\nthey afterward knocked out their own.\n\nThe Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in color, and very\ndegraded and negro-like in appearance, while those who live on the high\nlands we are now ascending are frequently of the color of coffee and\nmilk. We had a large number of the Batoka of Mokwine in our party, sent\nby Sekeletu to carry his tusks. Their greater degradation was probably\ncaused by the treatment of their chiefs--the barbarians of the islands.\nI found them more difficult to manage than any of the rest of my\ncompanions, being much less reasonable and impressible than the others.\nMy party consisted of the head men aforementioned, Sekwebu, and Kanyata.\nWe were joined at the falls by another head man of the Makololo, named\nMonahin, in command of the Batoka. We had also some of the Banajoa under\nMosisinyane, and, last of all, a small party of Bashubia and Barotse\nunder Tuba Mokoro, which had been furnished by Sekeletu because of\ntheir ability to swim. They carried their paddles with them, and, as the\nMakololo suggested, were able to swim over the rivers by night and steal\ncanoes, if the inhabitants should be so unreasonable as to refuse to\nlend them. These different parties assorted together into messes; any\norders were given through their head man, and when food was obtained\nhe distributed it to the mess. Each party knew its own spot in the\nencampment; and as this was always placed so that our backs should be to\nthe east, the direction from whence the prevailing winds came, no time\nwas lost in fixing the sheds of our encampment. They each took it in\nturn to pull grass to make my bed, so I lay luxuriously.\n\nNOVEMBER 26TH. As the oxen could only move at night, in consequence of\na fear that the buffaloes in this quarter might have introduced the\ntsetse, I usually performed the march by day on foot, while some of\nthe men brought on the oxen by night. On coming to the villages under\nMarimba, an old man, we crossed the Unguesi, a rivulet which, like the\nLekone, runs backward. It falls into the Leeambye a little above\nthe commencement of the rapids. The stratified gneiss, which is the\nunderlying rock of much of this part of the country, dips toward the\ncentre of the continent, but the strata are often so much elevated as to\nappear nearly on their edges. Rocks of augitic trap are found in various\npositions on it; the general strike is north and south; but when the\ngneiss was first seen, near to the basalt of the falls, it was easterly\nand westerly, and the dip toward the north, as if the eruptive force of\nthe basalt had placed it in that position.\n\nWe passed the remains of a very large town, which, from the only\nevidence of antiquity afforded by ruins in this country, must have been\ninhabited for a long period; the millstones of gneiss, trap, and\nquartz were worn down two and a half inches perpendicularly. The ivory\ngrave-stones soon rot away. Those of Moyara's father, who must have\ndied not more than a dozen years ago, were crumbling into powder; and\nwe found this to be generally the case all over the Batoka country. The\nregion around is pretty well covered with forest; but there is abundance\nof open pasturage, and, as we are ascending in altitude, we find the\ngrass to be short, and altogether unlike the tangled herbage of the\nBarotse valley.\n\nIt is remarkable that we now meet with the same trees we saw in\ndescending toward the west coast. A kind of sterculia, which is the\nmost common tree at Loanda, and the baobab, flourish here; and the tree\ncalled moshuka, which we found near Tala Mungongo, was now yielding\nits fruit, which resembles small apples. The people brought it to us in\nlarge quantities: it tastes like a pear, but has a harsh rind, and four\nlarge seeds within. We found prodigious quantities of this fruit as\nwe went along. The tree attains the height of 15 or 20 feet, and has\nleaves, hard and glossy, as large as one's hand. The tree itself is\nnever found on the lowlands, but is mentioned with approbation at the\nend of the work of Bowditch. My men almost lived upon the fruit for many\ndays.\n\nThe rains had fallen only partially: in many parts the soil was\nquite dry and the leaves drooped mournfully, but the fruit-trees are\nunaffected by a drought, except when it happens at the time of their\nblossoming. The Batoka of my party declared that no one ever dies of\nhunger here. We obtained baskets of maneko, a curious fruit, with a\nhorny rind, split into five pieces: these sections, when chewed, are\nfull of a fine glutinous matter, and sweet like sugar. The seeds are\ncovered with a yellow silky down, and are not eaten: the entire fruit\nis about the size of a walnut. We got also abundance of the motsouri\nand mamosho. We saw the Batoka eating the beans called nju, which are\ncontained in a large square pod; also the pulp between the seeds of nux\nvomica, and the motsintsela. Other fruits become ripe at other seasons,\nas the motsikiri, which yields an oil, and is a magnificent tree,\nbearing masses of dark evergreen leaves; so that, from the general\nplenty, one can readily believe the statement made by the Batoka. We\nhere saw trees allowed to stand in gardens, and some of the Batoka even\nplant them, a practice seen nowhere else among natives. A species of\nleucodendron abounds. When we meet with it on a spot on which no rain\nhas yet fallen, we see that the young ones twist their leaves round\nduring the heat of the day, so that the edge only is exposed to the rays\nof the sun; they have then a half twist on the petiole. The acacias in\nthe same circumstances, and also the mopane ('Bauhania'), fold their\nleaves together, and, by presenting the smallest possible surface to the\nsun, simulate the eucalypti of Australia.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 27.\n\nLow Hills--Black Soldier-Ants; their Cannibalism--The Plasterer and\nits Chloroform--White Ants; their Usefulness--Mutokwane-smoking;\nits Effects--Border Territory--Healthy Table-lands--Geological\nFormation--Cicadae--Trees--Flowers--River Kalomo--Physical\nConformation of Country--Ridges, sanatoria--A wounded Buffalo\nassisted--Buffalo-bird--Rhinoceros-bird--Leaders of Herds--The\nHoney-guide--The White Mountain--Mozuma River--Sebituane's old\nHome--Hostile Village--Prophetic Phrensy--Food of the Elephant--\nAnt-hills--Friendly Batoka--Clothing despised--Method of Salutation--\nWild Fruits--The Captive released--Longings for Peace--Pingola's\nConquests--The Village of Monze--Aspect of the Country--Visit from the\nChief Monze and his Wife--Central healthy Locations--Friendly Feelings\nof the People in reference to a white Resident--Fertility of the\nSoil--Bashukulompo Mode of dressing their Hair--Gratitude of the\nPrisoner we released--Kindness and Remarks of Monze's Sister--Dip of\nthe Rocks--Vegetation--Generosity of the Inhabitants--Their Anxiety for\nMedicine--Hooping-cough--Birds and Rain.\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER 27TH. Still at Marimba's. In the adjacent country palms abound,\nbut none of that species which yields the oil; indeed, that is met\nwith only near the coast. There are numbers of flowers and bulbs\njust shooting up from the soil. The surface is rough, and broken into\ngullies; and, though the country is parched, it has not that appearance,\nso many trees having put forth their fresh green leaves at the time the\nrains ought to have come. Among the rest stands the mola, with its dark\nbrownish-green color and spreading oak-like form. In the distance there\nare ranges of low hills. On the north we have one called Kanjele, and to\nthe east that of Kaonka, to which we proceed to-morrow. We have made a\nconsiderable detour to the north, both on account of our wish to avoid\nthe tsetse and to visit the people. Those of Kaonka are the last Batoka\nwe shall meet, in friendship with the Makololo.\n\nWalking down to the forest, after telling these poor people, for the\nfirst time in their lives, that the Son of God had so loved them as to\ncome down from heaven to save them, I observed many regiments of black\nsoldier-ants returning from their marauding expeditions. These I have\noften noticed before in different parts of the country; and as we had,\neven at Kolobeng, an opportunity of observing their habits, I may give a\nshort account of them here. They are black, with a slight tinge of gray,\nabout half an inch in length, and on the line of march appear three or\nfour abreast; when disturbed, they utter a distinct hissing or chirping\nsound. They follow a few leaders who never carry any thing, and they\nseem to be guided by a scent left on the path by the leaders; for,\nhappening once to throw the water from my basin behind a bush where\nI was dressing, it lighted on the path by which a regiment had passed\nbefore I began my toilette, and when they returned they were totally\nat a loss to find the way home, though they continued searching for\nit nearly half an hour. It was found only by one making a long circuit\nround the wetted spot. The scent may have indicated also the propriety\nof their going in one direction only. If a handful of earth is thrown\non the path at the middle of the regiment, either on its way home or\nabroad, those behind it are completely at a loss as to their farther\nprogress. Whatever it may be that guides them, they seem only to know\nthat they are not to return, for they come up to the handful of earth,\nbut will not cross it, though not a quarter of an inch high. They wheel\nround and regain their path again, but never think of retreating to the\nnest, or to the place where they have been stealing. After a quarter of\nan hour's confusion and hissing, one may make a circuit of a foot round\nthe earth, and soon all follow in that roundabout way. When on their\nway to attack the abode of the white ants, the latter may be observed\nrushing about in a state of great perturbation. The black leaders,\ndistinguished from the rest by their greater size, especially in the\nregion of the sting, then seize the white ants one by one, and inflict\na sting, which seems to inject a portion of fluid similar in effect to\nchloroform, as it renders them insensible, but not dead, and only able\nto move one or two front legs. As the leaders toss them on one side, the\nrank and file seize them and carry them off.\n\nOne morning I saw a party going forth on what has been supposed to be a\nslave-hunting expedition. They came to a stick, which, being inclosed in\na white-ant gallery, I knew contained numbers of this insect; but I\nwas surprised to see the black soldiers passing without touching it. I\nlifted up the stick and broke a portion of the gallery, and then laid\nit across the path in the middle of the black regiment. The white ants,\nwhen uncovered, scampered about with great celerity, hiding themselves\nunder the leaves, but attracted little attention from the black\nmarauders till one of the leaders caught them, and, applying his sting,\nlaid them in an instant on one side in a state of coma; the others then\npromptly seized them and rushed off. On first observing these marauding\ninsects at Kolobeng, I had the idea, imbibed from a work of no less\nauthority than Brougham's Paley, that they seized the white ants in\norder to make them slaves; but, having rescued a number of captives, I\nplaced them aside, and found that they never recovered from the state of\ninsensibility into which they had been thrown by the leaders. I supposed\nthen that the insensibility had been caused by the soldiers holding the\nnecks of the white ants too tightly with their mandibles, as that is\nthe way they seize them; but even the pupae which I took from the\nsoldier-ants, though placed in a favorable temperature, never became\ndeveloped. In addition to this, if any one examines the orifice by which\nthe black ant enters his barracks, he will always find a little heap of\nhard heads and legs of white ants, showing that these black ruffians are\na grade lower than slave-stealers, being actually cannibals. Elsewhere I\nhave seen a body of them removing their eggs from a place in which they\nwere likely to be flooded by the rains; I calculated their numbers to be\n1260; they carried their eggs a certain distance, then laid them down,\nwhen others took them and carried them farther on. Every ant in the\ncolony seemed to be employed in this laborious occupation, yet there was\nnot a white slave-ant among them. One cold morning I observed a band of\nanother species of black ant returning each with a captive; there could\nbe no doubt of their cannibal propensities, for the \"brutal soldiery\"\nhad already deprived the white ants of their legs. The fluid in the\nstings of this species is of an intensely acid taste.\n\nI had often noticed the stupefaction produced by the injection of a\nfluid from the sting of certain insects before. It is particularly\nobservable in a hymenopterous insect called the \"plasterer\" ('Pelopaeus\nEckloni'), which in his habits resembles somewhat the mason-bee. It is\nabout an inch and a quarter in length, jet black in color, and may be\nobserved coming into houses, carrying in its fore legs a pellet of soft\nplaster about the size of a pea. When it has fixed upon a convenient\nspot for its dwelling, it forms a cell about the same length as its\nbody, plastering the walls so as to be quite thin and smooth inside.\nWhen this is finished, all except a round hole, it brings seven or eight\ncaterpillars or spiders, each of which is rendered insensible, but not\nkilled, by the fluid from its sting. These it deposits in the cell, and\nthen one of its own larvae, which, as it grows, finds food quite\nfresh. The insects are in a state of coma, but the presence of vitality\nprevents putridity, or that drying up which would otherwise take place\nin this climate. By the time the young insect is full grown and its\nwings completely developed, the food is done. It then pierces the wall\nof its cell at the former door, or place last filled up by its parent,\nflies off, and begins life for itself. The plasterer is a most useful\ninsect, as it acts as a check on the inordinate increase of caterpillars\nand spiders. It may often be seen with a caterpillar or even a cricket\nmuch larger than itself, but they lie perfectly still after the\ninjection of chloroform, and the plasterer, placing a row of legs on\neach side of the body, uses both legs and wings in trailing the\nvictim along. The fluid in each case is, I suppose, designed to cause\ninsensibility, and likewise act as an antiseptic, the death of the\nvictims being without pain.\n\nWithout these black soldier-ants the country would be overrun by the\nwhite ants; they are so extremely prolific, and nothing can exceed the\nenergy with which they work. They perform a most important part in the\neconomy of nature by burying vegetable matter as quickly beneath the\nsoil as the ferocious red ant does dead animal substances. The white ant\nkeeps generally out of sight, and works under galleries constructed\nby night to screen them from the observation of birds. At some given\nsignal, however, I never could ascertain what, they rush out by\nhundreds, and the sound of their mandibles cutting grass into lengths\nmay be heard like a gentle wind murmuring through the leaves of the\ntrees. They drag these pieces to the doors of their abodes, and after\nsome hours' toil leave off work, and many of the bits of grass may\nbe seen collected around the orifice. They continue out of sight for\nperhaps a month, but they are never idle. On one occasion, a good bundle\nof grass was laid down for my bed on a spot which was quite smooth and\ndestitute of plants. The ants at once sounded the call to a good supply\nof grass. I heard them incessantly nibbling and carrying away all that\nnight; and they continued all next day (Sunday), and all that night too,\nwith unabated energy. They had thus been thirty-six hours at it, and\nseemed as fresh as ever. In some situations, if we remained a day, they\ndevoured the grass beneath my mat, and would have eaten that too had we\nnot laid down more grass. At some of their operations they beat time in\na curious manner. Hundreds of them are engaged in building a large tube,\nand they wish to beat it smooth. At a signal, they all give three or\nfour energetic beats on the plaster in unison. It produces a sound like\nthe dropping of rain off a bush when touched. These insects are the\nchief agents employed in forming a fertile soil. But for their labors,\nthe tropical forests, bad as they are now with fallen trees, would be a\nthousand times worse. They would be impassable on account of the heaps\nof dead vegetation lying on the surface, and emitting worse effluvia\nthan the comparatively small unburied collections do now. When one\nlooks at the wonderful adaptations throughout creation, and the varied\noperations carried on with such wisdom and skill, the idea of second\ncauses looks clumsy. We are viewing the direct handiwork of Him who is\nthe one and only Power in the universe; wonderful in counsel; in whom we\nall live, and move, and have our being.\n\nThe Batoka of these parts are very degraded in their appearance, and\nare not likely to improve, either physically or mentally, while so much\naddicted to smoking the mutokwane ('Cannabis sativa'). They like its\nnarcotic effects, though the violent fit of coughing which follows a\ncouple of puffs of smoke appears distressing, and causes a feeling of\ndisgust in the spectator. This is not diminished on seeing the usual\npractice of taking a mouthful of water, and squirting it out together\nwith the smoke, then uttering a string of half-incoherent sentences,\nusually in self-praise. This pernicious weed is extensively used in\nall the tribes of the interior. It causes a species of phrensy, and\nSebituane's soldiers, on coming in sight of their enemies, sat down and\nsmoked it, in order that they might make an effective onslaught. I was\nunable to prevail on Sekeletu and the young Makololo to forego its use,\nalthough they can not point to an old man in the tribe who has been\naddicted to this indulgence. I believe it was the proximate cause of\nSebituane's last illness, for it sometimes occasions pneumonia. Never\nhaving tried it, I can not describe the pleasurable effects it is said\nto produce, but the hashish in use among the Turks is simply an extract\nof the same plant, and that, like opium, produces different effects on\ndifferent individuals. Some view every thing as if looking in through\nthe wide end of a telescope, and others, in passing over a straw, lift\nup their feet as if about to cross the trunk of a tree. The Portuguese\nin Angola have such a belief in its deleterious effects that the use of\nit by a slave is considered a crime.\n\nNOVEMBER 28TH. The inhabitants of the last of Kaonka's villages\ncomplained of being plundered by the independent Batoka. The tribes in\nfront of this are regarded by the Makololo as in a state of rebellion.\nI promised to speak to the rebels on the subject, and enjoined on Kaonka\nthe duty of giving them no offense. According to Sekeletu's order,\nKaonka gave us the tribute of maize-corn and ground-nuts, which would\notherwise have gone to Linyanti. This had been done at every village,\nand we thereby saved the people the trouble of a journey to the capital.\nMy own Batoka had brought away such loads of provisions from their homes\nthat we were in no want of food.\n\nAfter leaving Kaonka we traveled over an uninhabited, gently undulating,\nand most beautiful district, the border territory between those who\naccept and those who reject the sway of the Makololo. The face of the\ncountry appears as if in long waves, running north and south. There are\nno rivers, though water stands in pools in the hollows. We were now\ncome into the country which my people all magnify as a perfect paradise.\nSebituane was driven from it by the Matebele. It suited him exactly for\ncattle, corn, and health. The soil is dry, and often a reddish sand;\nthere are few trees, but fine large shady ones stand dotted here and\nthere over the country where towns formerly stood. One of the fig family\nI measured, and found to be forty feet in circumference; the heart had\nbeen burned out, and some one had made a lodging in it, for we saw the\nremains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open country, with\nthe increased altitude we were attaining, was most refreshing to the\nspirits. Large game abound. We see in the distance buffaloes, elands,\nhartebeest, gnus, and elephants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them.\nLions, which always accompany other large animals, roared about us, but,\nas it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the evening, while standing\non a mass of granite, one began to roar at me, though it was still\nlight. The temperature was pleasant, as the rains, though not universal,\nhad fallen in many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observations.\nThe temperature at 6 A.M. was 70 Deg., at midday 90 Deg., in the\nevening 84 Deg. This is very pleasant on the high lands, with but little\nmoisture in the air.\n\nThe different rocks to the westward of Kaonka's, talcose gneiss and\nwhite mica schist, generally dip toward the west, but at Kaonka's, large\nrounded masses of granite, containing black mica, began to appear. The\nouter rind of it inclines to peel off, and large crystals project on the\nexposed surface.\n\nIn passing through some parts where a good shower of rain has fallen,\nthe stridulous piercing notes of the cicadae are perfectly deafening; a\ndrab-colored cricket joins the chorus with a sharp sound, which has\nas little modulation as the drone of a Scottish bagpipe. I could not\nconceive how so small a thing could raise such a sound; it seemed to\nmake the ground over it thrill. When cicadae, crickets, and frogs unite,\ntheir music may be heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile.\n\nA tree attracted my attention as new, the leaves being like those of\nan acacia, but the ends of the branches from which they grew resembled\nclosely oblong fir-cones. The corn-poppy was abundant, and many of the\ntrees, flowering bulbs, and plants were identical with those in Pungo\nAndongo. A flower as white as the snowdrop now begins to appear, and\nfarther on it spots the whole sward with its beautiful pure white. A\nfresh crop appears every morning, and if the day is cloudy they do not\nexpand till the afternoon. In an hour or so they droop and die. They are\nnamed by the natives, from their shape, \"Tlaku ea pitse\", hoof of zebra.\nI carried several of the somewhat bulbous roots of this pretty flower\ntill I reached the Mauritius.\n\nOn the 30th we crossed the River Kalomo, which is about 50 yards broad,\nand is the only stream that never dries up on this ridge. The current\nis rapid, and its course is toward the south, as it joins the Zambesi\nat some distance below the falls. The Unguesi and Lekone, with their\nfeeders, flow westward, this river to the south, and all those to which\nwe are about to come take an easterly direction. We were thus at the\napex of the ridge, and found that, as water boiled at 202 Deg., our\naltitude above the level of the sea was over 5000 feet. Here the granite\ncrops out again in great rounded masses which change the dip of the\ngneiss and mica schist rocks from the westward to the eastward.\nIn crossing the western ridge I mentioned the clay shale or keele\nformation, a section of which we have in the valley of the Quango: the\nstrata there lie nearly horizontal, but on this ridge the granite seems\nto have been the active agent of elevation, for the rocks, both on its\neast and west, abut against it. Both eastern and western ridges are\nknown to be comparatively salubrious, and in this respect, as well as\nin the general aspect of the country, they resemble that most healthy of\nall healthy climates, the interior of South Africa, near and adjacent to\nthe Desert. This ridge has neither fountain nor marsh upon it, and east\nof the Kalomo we look upon treeless undulating plains covered with short\ngrass. From a point somewhat near to the great falls, this ridge or\noblong mound trends away to the northeast, and there treeless elevated\nplains again appear. Then again the ridge is said to bend away from the\nfalls to the southeast, the Mashona country, or rather their\nmountains, appearing, according to Mr. Moffat, about four days east of\nMatlokotloko, the present residence of Mosilikatse. In reference to\nthis ridge he makes the interesting remark, \"I observed a number of\nthe Angora goat, most of them being white; and their long soft hair,\ncovering their entire bodies to the ground, made them look like animals\nmoving along without feet.\"*\n\n   * Moffat's \"Visit to Mosilikatse\".--Royal Geographical\n   Society's Journal, vol. xxvi., p. 96.\n\nIt is impossible to say how much farther to the north these subtending\nridges may stretch. There is reason to believe that, though the same\ngeneral form of country obtains, they are not flanked by abrupt hills\nbetween the latitude 12 Deg. south and the equator. The inquiry is\nworthy the attention of travelers. As they are known to be favorable to\nhealth, the Makololo, who have been nearly all cut off by fevers in the\nvalley, declaring that here they never had a headache, they may even be\nrecommended as a sanatorium for those whose enterprise leads them into\nAfrica, either for the advancement of scientific knowledge, or for the\npurposes of trade or benevolence. In the case of the eastern ridge, we\nhave water carriage, with only one short rapid as an obstruction,\nright up to its base; and if a quick passage can be effected during the\nhealthy part of the year, there would be no danger of loss of health\nduring a long stay on these high lands afterward. How much farther do\nthese high ridges extend? The eastern one seems to bend in considerably\ntoward the great falls; and the strike of the rocks indicating that,\nfarther to the N.N.E. than my investigations extend, it may not, at a\nfew degrees of latitude beyond, be more than 300 or 350 miles from\nthe coast. They at least merit inquiry, for they afford a prospect to\nEuropeans of situations superior in point of salubrity to any of those\non the coast; and so on the western side of the continent; for it is\na fact that many parts in the interior of Angola, which were formerly\nthought to be unhealthy on account of their distance inland, have been\nfound, as population advanced, to be the most healthy spots in the\ncountry. Did the great Niger expedition turn back when near such a\ndesirable position for its stricken and prostrate members?\n\nThe distances from top to top of the ridges may be about 10 Deg. of\nlongitude, or 600 geographical miles. I can not hear of a hill ON either\nridge, and there are scarcely any in the space inclosed by them. The\nMonakadze is the highest, but that is not more than a thousand feet\nabove the flat valley. On account of this want of hills in the part of\nthe country which, by gentle undulations, leads one insensibly up to\nan altitude of 5000 feet above the level of the sea, I have adopted the\nagricultural term ridges, for they partake very much of the character of\nthe oblong mounds with which we are all familiar. And we shall yet see\nthat the mountains which are met with outside these ridges are only a\nlow fringe, many of which are not of much greater altitude than even the\nbottom of the great central valley. If we leave out of view the greater\nbreadth of the central basin at other parts, and speak only of the\ncomparatively narrow part formed by the bend to the westward of the\neastern ridge, we might say that the form of this region is a broad\nfurrow in the middle, with an elevated ridge about 200 miles broad on\neither side, the land sloping thence, on both sides, to the sea. If I am\nright in believing the granite to be the cause of the elevation of this\nridge, the direction in which the strike of the rocks trends to the\nN.N.E. may indicate that the same geological structure prevails farther\nnorth, and two or three lakes which exist in that direction may be of\nexactly the same nature with Lake Ngami, having been diminished to their\npresent size by the same kind of agency as that which formed the falls\nof Victoria.\n\nWe met an elephant on the Kalomo which had no tusks. This is as rare a\nthing in Africa as it is to find them with tusks in Ceylon. As soon\nas she saw us she made off. It is remarkable to see the fear of man\noperating even on this huge beast. Buffaloes abound, and we see large\nherds of them feeding in all directions by day. When much disturbed by\nman they retire into the densest parts of the forest, and feed by night\nonly. We secured a fine large bull by crawling close to a herd. When\nshot, he fell down, and the rest, not seeing their enemy, gazed about,\nwondering where the danger lay. The others came back to it, and, when\nwe showed ourselves, much to the amusement of my companions, they lifted\nhim up with their horns, and, half supporting him in the crowd, bore him\naway. All these wild animals usually gore a wounded companion, and\nexpel him from the herd; even zebras bite and kick an unfortunate or a\ndiseased one. It is intended by this instinct that none but the perfect\nand healthy ones should propagate the species. In this case they\nmanifested their usual propensity to gore the wounded, but our\nappearance at that moment caused them to take flight, and this, with the\ngoring being continued a little, gave my men the impression that they\nwere helping away their wounded companion. He was shot between the\nfourth and fifth ribs; the ball passed through both lungs and a rib on\nthe opposite side, and then lodged beneath the skin. But, though it was\neight ounces in weight, yet he ran off some distance, and was secured\nonly by the people driving him into a pool of water and killing him\nthere with their spears. The herd ran away in the direction of our\ncamp, and then came bounding past us again. We took refuge on a\nlarge ant-hill, and as they rushed by us at full gallop I had a good\nopportunity of seeing that the leader of a herd of about sixty was an\nold cow; all the others allowed her a full half-length in their front.\nOn her withers sat about twenty buffalo-birds ('Textor erythrorhynchus',\nSmith), which act the part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the\nbuffalo is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the ground\npicking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of the insects with\nwhich their skins are sometimes infested. The sight of the bird being\nmuch more acute than that of the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the\napproach of any danger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise\ntheir heads to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of\ntheir guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes in their flight\non the wing, at other times they sit as above described.\n\nAnother African bird, namely, the 'Buphaga Africana', attends the\nrhinoceros for a similar purpose. It is called \"kala\" in the language of\nthe Bechuanas. When these people wish to express their dependence upon\nanother, they address him as \"my rhinoceros\", as if they were the birds.\nThe satellites of a chief go by the same name. This bird can not be said\nto depend entirely on the insects on that animal, for its hard, hairless\nskin is a protection against all except a few spotted ticks; but it\nseems to be attached to the beast, somewhat as the domestic dog is to\nman; and while the buffalo is alarmed by the sudden flying up of its\nsentinel, the rhinoceros, not having keen sight, but an acute ear,\nis warned by the cry of its associate, the 'Buphaga Africana'. The\nrhinoceros feeds by night, and its sentinel is frequently heard in\nthe morning uttering its well-known call, as it searches for its bulky\ncompanion. One species of this bird, observed in Angola, possesses a\nbill of a peculiar scoop or stone forceps form, as if intended only to\ntear off insects from the skin; and its claws are as sharp as needles,\nenabling it to hang on to an animal's ear while performing a useful\nservice within it. This sharpness of the claws allows the bird to cling\nto the nearly insensible cuticle without irritating the nerves of pain\non the true skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand; but in\nthe case of the 'Buphaga Africana' and 'erythrorhyncha', other food is\npartaken of, for we observed flocks of them roosting on the reeds, in\nspots where neither tame nor wild animals were to be found.\n\nThe most wary animal in a herd is generally the \"leader\". When it is\nshot the others often seem at a loss what to do, and stop in a state of\nbewilderment. I have seen them attempt to follow each other and appear\nquite confused, no one knowing for half a minute or more where to direct\nthe flight. On one occasion I happened to shoot the leader, a young\nzebra mare, which at some former time had been bitten on the hind leg\nby a carnivorous animal, and, thereby made unusually wary, had, in\nconsequence, become a leader. If they see either one of their own herd\nor any other animal taking to flight, wild animals invariably flee.\nThe most timid thus naturally leads the rest. It is not any other\npeculiarity, but simply this provision, which is given them for the\npreservation of the race. The great increase of wariness which is\nseen to occur when the females bring forth their young, causes all the\nleaders to be at that time females; and there is a probability that the\nseparation of sexes into distinct herds, which is annually observed in\nmany antelopes, arises from the simple fact that the greater caution of\nthe she antelopes is partaken of only by the young males, and their more\nfrequent flights now have the effect of leaving the old males behind.\nI am inclined to believe this, because, though the antelopes, as the\npallahs, etc., are frequently in separate herds, they are never seen in\nthe act of expelling the males. There may be some other reason in the\ncase of the elephants; but the male and female elephants are never seen\nin one herd. The young males remain with their dams only until they are\nfull grown; and so constantly is the separation maintained, that any\none familiar with them, on seeing a picture with the sexes mixed, would\nimmediately conclude that the artist had made it from his imagination,\nand not from sight.\n\nDECEMBER 2, 1855. We remained near a small hill, called Maundo, where we\nbegan to be frequently invited by the honey-guide ('Cuculus indicator').\nWishing to ascertain the truth of the native assertion that this bird is\na deceiver, and by its call sometimes leads to a wild beast and not to\nhoney, I inquired if any of my men had ever been led by this friendly\nlittle bird to any thing else than what its name implies. Only one of\nthe 114 could say he had been led to an elephant instead of a hive, like\nmyself with the black rhinoceros mentioned before. I am quite convinced\nthat the majority of people who commit themselves to its guidance are\nled to honey, and to it alone.\n\nOn the 3d we crossed the River Mozuma, or River of Dila, having traveled\nthrough a beautifully undulating pastoral country. To the south, and\na little east of this, stands the hill Taba Cheu, or \"White Mountain\",\nfrom a mass of white rock, probably dolomite, on its top. But none\nof the hills are of any great altitude. When I heard this mountain\ndescribed at Linyanti I thought the glistening substance might be snow,\nand my informants were so loud in their assertions of its exceeding\ngreat altitude that I was startled with the idea; but I had quite\nforgotten that I was speaking with men who had been accustomed to\nplains, and knew nothing of very high mountains. When I inquired what\nthe white substance was, they at once replied it was a kind of rock. I\nexpected to have come nearer to it, and would have ascended it; but\nwe were led to go to the northeast. Yet I doubt not that the native\ntestimony of its being stone is true. The distant ranges of hills which\nline the banks of the Zambesi on the southeast, and landscapes which\npermit the eye to range over twenty or thirty miles at a time, with\nshort grass under our feet, were especially refreshing sights to those\nwho had traveled for months together over the confined views of the flat\nforest, and among the tangled rank herbage of the great valley.\n\nThe Mozuma, or River of Dila, was the first water-course which indicated\nthat we were now on the slopes toward the eastern coast. It contained no\nflowing water, but revealed in its banks what gave me great pleasure\nat the time--pieces of lignite, possibly indicating the existence of a\nmineral, namely, coal, the want of which in the central country I had\nalways deplored. Again and again we came to the ruins of large towns,\ncontaining the only hieroglyphics of this country, worn mill-stones,\nwith the round ball of quartz with which the grinding was effected.\nGreat numbers of these balls were lying about, showing that the\ndepopulation had been the result of war; for, had the people removed in\npeace, they would have taken the balls with them.\n\nAt the River of Dila we saw the spot where Sebituane lived, and Sekwebu\npointed out the heaps of bones of cattle which the Makololo had been\nobliged to slaughter after performing a march with great herds captured\nfrom the Batoka through a patch of the fatal tsetse. When Sebituane\nsaw the symptoms of the poison, he gave orders to his people to eat the\ncattle. He still had vast numbers; and when the Matebele, crossing the\nZambesi opposite this part, came to attack him, he invited the Batoka to\ntake repossession of their herds, he having so many as to be unable to\nguide them in their flight. The country was at that time exceedingly\nrich in cattle, and, besides pasturage, it is all well adapted for the\ncultivation of native produce. Being on the eastern slope of the ridge,\nit receives more rain than any part of the westward. Sekwebu had been\ninstructed to point out to me the advantages of this position for a\nsettlement, as that which all the Makololo had never ceased to regret.\nIt needed no eulogy from Sekwebu; I admired it myself, and the enjoyment\nof good health in fine open scenery had an exhilarating effect on my\nspirits. The great want was population, the Batoka having all taken\nrefuge in the hills. We were now in the vicinity of those whom the\nMakololo deem rebels, and felt some anxiety as to how we should be\nreceived.\n\nOn the 4th we reached their first village. Remaining at a distance of a\nquarter of a mile, we sent two men to inform them who we were, and that\nour purposes were peaceful. The head man came and spoke civilly, but,\nwhen nearly dark, the people of another village arrived and behaved very\ndifferently. They began by trying to spear a young man who had gone for\nwater. Then they approached us, and one came forward howling at the top\nof his voice in the most hideous manner; his eyes were shot out, his\nlips covered with foam, and every muscle of his frame quivered. He came\nnear to me, and, having a small battle-axe in his hand, alarmed my men\nlest he might do violence; but they were afraid to disobey my previous\norders, and to follow their own inclination by knocking him on the\nhead. I felt a little alarmed too, but would not show fear before my own\npeople or strangers, and kept a sharp look-out on the little battle-axe.\nIt seemed to me a case of ecstasy or prophetic phrensy, voluntarily\nproduced. I felt it would be a sorry way to leave the world, to get my\nhead chopped by a mad savage, though that, perhaps, would be preferable\nto hydrophobia or delirium tremens. Sekwebu took a spear in his hand, as\nif to pierce a bit of leather, but in reality to plunge it into the man\nif he offered violence to me. After my courage had been sufficiently\ntested, I beckoned with the head to the civil head man to remove him,\nand he did so by drawing him aside. This man pretended not to know what\nhe was doing. I would fain have felt his pulse, to ascertain whether the\nviolent trembling were not feigned, but had not much inclination to go\nnear the battle-axe again. There was, however, a flow of perspiration,\nand the excitement continued fully half an hour, then gradually ceased.\nThis paroxysm is the direct opposite of hypnotism, and it is singular\nthat it has not been tried in Europe as well as clairvoyance. This\nsecond batch of visitors took no pains to conceal their contempt for our\nsmall party, saying to each other, in a tone of triumph, \"They are quite\na Godsend!\" literally, \"God has apportioned them to us.\" \"They are lost\namong the tribes!\" \"They have wandered in order to be destroyed, and\nwhat can they do without shields among so many?\" Some of them asked if\nthere were no other parties. Sekeletu had ordered my men not to take\ntheir shields, as in the case of my first company. We were looked upon\nas unarmed, and an easy prey. We prepared against a night attack by\ndischarging and reloading our guns, which were exactly the same in\nnumber (five) as on the former occasion, as I allowed my late companions\nto retain those which I purchased at Loanda. We were not molested, but\nsome of the enemy tried to lead us toward the Bashukulompo, who are\nconsidered to be the fiercest race in this quarter. As we knew our\ndirection to the confluence of the Kafue and Zambesi, we declined their\nguidance, and the civil head man of the evening before then came along\nwith us. Crowds of natives hovered round us in the forest; but he ran\nforward and explained, and we were not molested. That night we slept by\na little village under a low range of hills, which are called Chizamena.\nThe country here is more woody than on the high lands we had left, but\nthe trees are not in general large. Great numbers of them have been\nbroken off by elephants a foot or two from the ground: they thus seem\npollarded from that point. This animal never seriously lessens the\nnumber of trees; indeed, I have often been struck by the very little\ndamage he does in a forest. His food consists more of bulbs, tubers,\nroots, and branches, than any thing else. Where they have been feeding,\ngreat numbers of trees, as thick as a man's body, are seen twisted down\nor broken off, in order that they may feed on the tender shoots at the\ntops. They are said sometimes to unite in wrenching down large trees.\nThe natives in the interior believe that the elephant never touches\ngrass, and I never saw evidence of his having grazed until we came near\nto Tete, and then he had fed on grass in seed only; this seed contains\nso much farinaceous matter that the natives collect it for their own\nfood.\n\nThis part of the country abounds in ant-hills. In the open parts they\nare studded over the surface exactly as haycocks are in harvest, or\nheaps of manure in spring, rather disfiguring the landscape. In the\nwoods they are as large as round haystacks, 40 or 50 feet in diameter\nat the base, and at least 20 feet high. These are more fertile than the\nrest of the land, and here they are the chief garden-ground for maize,\npumpkins, and tobacco.\n\nWhen we had passed the outskirting villages, which alone consider\nthemselves in a state of war with the Makololo, we found the Batoka, or\nBatonga, as they here call themselves, quite friendly. Great numbers of\nthem came from all the surrounding villages with presents of maize and\nmasuka, and expressed great joy at the first appearance of a white man,\nand harbinger of peace. The women clothe themselves better than the\nBalonda, but the men go 'in puris naturalibus'. They walk about without\nthe smallest sense of shame. They have even lost the tradition of the\n\"fig-leaf\". I asked a fine, large-bodied old man if he did not think\nit would be better to adopt a little covering. He looked with a pitying\nleer, and laughed with surprise at my thinking him at all indecent; he\nevidently considered himself above such weak superstition. I told them\nthat, on my return, I should have my family with me, and no one must\ncome near us in that state. \"What shall we put on? we have no clothing.\"\nIt was considered a good joke when I told them that, if they had nothing\nelse, they must put on a bunch of grass.\n\nThe farther we advanced, the more we found the country swarming with\ninhabitants. Great numbers came to see the white man, a sight they had\nnever beheld before. They always brought presents of maize and masuka.\nTheir mode of salutation is quite singular. They throw themselves on\ntheir backs on the ground, and, rolling from side to side, slap the\noutside of their thighs as expressions of thankfulness and welcome,\nuttering the words \"Kina bomba.\" This method of salutation was to me\nvery disagreeable, and I never could get reconciled to it. I called out,\n\"Stop, stop; I don't want that;\" but they, imagining I was dissatisfied,\nonly tumbled about more furiously, and slapped their thighs with greater\nvigor. The men being totally unclothed, this performance imparted to my\nmind a painful sense of their extreme degradation. My own Batoka were\nmuch more degraded than the Barotse, and more reckless. We had to keep\na strict watch, so as not to be involved by their thieving from the\ninhabitants, in whose country and power we were. We had also to watch\nthe use they made of their tongues, for some within hearing of the\nvillagers would say, \"I broke all the pots of that village,\" or, \"I\nkilled a man there.\" They were eager to recount their soldier deeds,\nwhen they were in company with the Makololo in former times as a\nconquering army. They were thus placing us in danger by their remarks. I\ncalled them together, and spoke to them about their folly, and gave\nthem a pretty plain intimation that I meant to insist upon as complete\nsubordination as I had secured in my former journey, as being necessary\nfor the safety of the party. Happily, it never was needful to resort to\nany other measure for their obedience, as they all believed that I would\nenforce it.\n\nIn connection with the low state of the Batoka, I was led to think on\nthe people of Kuruman, who were equally degraded and equally depraved.\nThere a man scorned to shed a tear. It would have been \"tlolo\", or\ntransgression. Weeping, such as Dr. Kane describes among the Esquimaux,\nis therefore quite unknown in that country. But I have witnessed\ninstances like this: Baba, a mighty hunter--the interpreter who\naccompanied Captain Harris, and who was ultimately killed by a\nrhinoceros--sat listening to the Gospel in the church at Kuruman, and\nthe gracious words of Christ, made to touch his heart, evidently by the\nHoly Spirit, melted him into tears; I have seen him and others sink down\nto the ground weeping. When Baba was lying mangled by the furious beast\nwhich tore him off his horse, he shed no tear, but quietly prayed as\nlong as he was conscious. I had no hand in his instruction: if these\nBatoka ever become like him, and they may, the influence that effects it\nmust be divine.\n\nA very large portion of this quarter is covered with masuka-trees,\nand the ground was so strewed with the pleasant fruit that my men kept\neating it constantly as we marched along. We saw a smaller kind of\nthe same tree, named Molondo, the fruit of which is about the size of\nmarbles, having a tender skin, and slight acidity of taste mingled with\nits sweetness. Another tree which is said to yield good fruit is named\nSombo, but it was not ripe at this season.\n\nDECEMBER 6TH. We passed the night near a series of villages. Before we\ncame to a stand under our tree, a man came running to us with hands and\narms firmly bound with cords behind his back, entreating me to release\nhim. When I had dismounted, the head man of the village advanced, and\nI inquired the prisoner's offense. He stated that he had come from the\nBashukulompo as a fugitive, and he had given him a wife and garden and\na supply of seed; but, on refusing a demand for more, the prisoner had\nthreatened to kill him, and had been seen the night before skulking\nabout the village, apparently with that intention. I declined\ninterceding unless he would confess to his father-in-law, and promise\namendment. He at first refused to promise to abstain from violence, but\nafterward agreed. The father-in-law then said that he would take him to\nthe village and release him, but the prisoner cried out bitterly, \"He\nwill kill me there; don't leave me, white man.\" I ordered a knife, and\none of the villagers released him on the spot. His arms were cut by the\ncords, and he was quite lame from the blows he had received.\n\nThese villagers supplied us abundantly with ground-nuts, maize, and\ncorn. All expressed great satisfaction on hearing my message, as I\ndirected their attention to Jesus as their Savior, whose word is \"Peace\non earth, and good-will to men.\" They called out, \"We are tired of\nflight; give us rest and sleep.\" They of course did not understand\nthe full import of the message, but it was no wonder that they eagerly\nseized the idea of peace. Their country has been visited by successive\nscourges during the last half century, and they are now \"a nation\nscattered and peeled.\" When Sebituane came, the cattle were innumerable,\nand yet these were the remnants only, left by a chief called Pingola,\nwho came from the northeast. He swept across the whole territory\ninhabited by his cattle-loving countrymen, devouring oxen, cows, and\ncalves, without retaining a single head. He seems to have been actuated\nby a simple love of conquest, and is an instance of what has occurred\ntwo or three times in every century in this country, from time\nimmemorial. A man or more energy or ambition than his fellows rises\nup and conquers a large territory, but as soon as he dies the power\nhe built up is gone, and his reign, having been one of terror, is\nnot perpetuated. This, and the want of literature, have prevented the\nestablishment of any great empire in the interior of Africa. Pingola\neffected his conquests by carrying numbers of smith's bellows with him.\nThe arrow-heads were heated before shooting into a town, and when a\nwound was inflicted on either man or beast, great confusion ensued.\nAfter Pingola came Sebituane, and after him the Matebele of Mosilikatse;\nand these successive inroads have reduced the Batoka to a state in which\nthey naturally rejoice at the prospect of deliverance and peace.\n\nWe spent Sunday, the 10th, at Monze's village, who is considered the\nchief of all the Batoka we have seen. He lives near the hill Kisekise,\nwhence we have a view of at least thirty miles of open undulating\ncountry, covered with short grass, and having but few trees. These open\nlawns would in any other land, as well as this, be termed pastoral, but\nthe people have now no cattle, and only a few goats and fowls. They\nare located all over the country in small villages, and cultivate\nlarge gardens. They are said to have adopted this wide-spread mode of\nhabitation in order to give alarm should any enemy appear. In former\ntimes they lived in large towns. In the distance (southeast) we see\nranges of dark mountains along the banks of the Zambesi, and are told of\nthe existence there of the rapid named Kansala, which is said to impede\nthe navigation. The river is reported to be placid above that as far\nas the territory of Sinamane, a Batoka chief, who is said to command it\nafter it emerges smooth again below the falls. Kansala is the only rapid\nreported in the river until we come to Kebrabasa, twenty or thirty miles\nabove Tete. On the north we have mountains appearing above the horizon,\nwhich are said to be on the banks of the Kafue.\n\nThe chief Monze came to us on Sunday morning, wrapped in a large cloth,\nand rolled himself about in the dust, screaming \"Kina bomba,\" as they\nall do. The sight of great naked men wallowing on the ground, though\nintended to do me honor, was always very painful; it made me feel\nthankful that my lot had been cast in such different circumstances from\nthat of so many of my fellow-men. One of his wives accompanied him; she\nwould have been comely if her teeth had been spared; she had a little\nbattle-axe in her hand, and helped her husband to scream. She was much\nexcited, for she had never seen a white man before. We rather liked\nMonze, for he soon felt at home among us, and kept up conversation\nduring much of the day. One head man of a village after another arrived,\nand each of them supplied us liberally with maize, ground-nuts, and\ncorn. Monze gave us a goat and a fowl, and appeared highly satisfied\nwith a present of some handkerchiefs I had got in my supplies left at\nthe island. Being of printed cotton, they excited great admiration; and\nwhen I put a gaudy-colored one as a shawl about his child, he said that\nhe would send for all his people to make a dance about it. In telling\nthem that my object was to open up a path whereby they might, by getting\nmerchandise for ivory, avoid the guilt of selling their children, I\nasked Monze, with about 150 of his men, if they would like a white man\nto live among them and teach them. All expressed high satisfaction at\nthe prospect of the white man and his path: they would protect both him\nand his property. I asked the question, because it would be of great\nimportance to have stations in this healthy region, whither agents\noppressed by sickness might retire, and which would serve, moreover, as\npart of a chain of communication between the interior and the coast. The\nanswer does not mean much more than what I know, by other means, to be\nthe case--that a white man OF GOOD SENSE would be welcome and safe in\nall these parts. By uprightness, and laying himself out for the good of\nthe people, he would be known all over the country as a BENEFACTOR of\nthe race. None desire Christian instruction, for of it they have\nno idea. But the people are now humbled by the scourgings they have\nreceived, and seem to be in a favorable state for the reception of the\nGospel. The gradual restoration of their former prosperity in cattle,\nsimultaneously with instruction, would operate beneficially upon their\nminds. The language is a dialect of the other negro languages in the\ngreat valley; and as many of the Batoka living under the Makololo\nunderstand both it and the Sichuana, missionaries could soon acquire it\nthrough that medium.\n\nMonze had never been visited by any white man, but had seen black native\ntraders, who, he said, came for ivory, not for slaves. He had heard\nof white men passing far to the east of him to Cazembe, referring, no\ndoubt, to Pereira, Lacerda, and others, who have visited that chief.\n\nThe streams in this part are not perennial; I did not observe one\nsuitable for the purpose of irrigation. There is but little wood; here\nand there you see large single trees, or small clumps of evergreens, but\nthe abundance of maize and ground-nuts we met with shows that more rain\nfalls than in the Bechuana country, for there they never attempt to\nraise maize except in damp hollows on the banks of rivers. The pasturage\nis very fine for both cattle and sheep. My own men, who know the land\nthoroughly, declare that it is all garden-ground together, and that the\nmore tender grains, which require richer soil than the native corn, need\nno care here. It is seldom stony.\n\nThe men of a village came to our encampment, and, as they followed\nthe Bashukulompo mode of dressing their hair, we had an opportunity\nof examining it for the first time. A circle of hair at the top of the\nhead, eight inches or more in diameter, is woven into a cone eight or\nten inches high, with an obtuse apex, bent, in some cases, a little\nforward, giving it somewhat the appearance of a helmet. Some have only\na cone, four or five inches in diameter at the base. It is said that the\nhair of animals is added; but the sides of the cone are woven something\nlike basket-work. The head man of this village, instead of having his\nbrought to a point, had it prolonged into a wand, which extended a full\nyard from the crown of his head. The hair on the forehead, above the\nears, and behind, is all shaven off, so they appear somewhat as if a cap\nof liberty were cocked upon the top of the head. After the weaving is\nperformed it is said to be painful, as the scalp is drawn tightly up;\nbut they become used to it. Monze informed me that all his people were\nformerly ornamented in this way, but he discouraged it. I wished him to\ndiscourage the practice of knocking out the teeth too, but he smiled, as\nif in that case the fashion would be too strong for him, as it was for\nSebituane.\n\nMonze came on Monday morning, and, on parting, presented us with a piece\nof a buffalo which had been killed the day before by lions. We crossed\nthe rivulet Makoe, which runs westward into the Kafue, and went\nnorthward in order to visit Semalembue, an influential chief there.\nWe slept at the village of Monze's sister, who also passes by the same\nname. Both he and his sister are feminine in their appearance, but\ndisfigured by the foolish custom of knocking out the upper front teeth.\n\nIt is not often that jail-birds turn out well, but the first person who\nappeared to welcome us at the village of Monze's sister was the prisoner\nwe had released in the way. He came with a handsome present of corn\nand meal, and, after praising our kindness to the villagers who had\nassembled around us, asked them, \"What do you stand gazing at? Don't\nyou know that they have mouths like other people?\" He then set off and\nbrought large bundles of grass and wood for our comfort, and a pot to\ncook our food in.\n\nDECEMBER 12TH. The morning presented the appearance of a continuous rain\nfrom the north, the first time we had seen it set in from that quarter\nin such a southern latitude. In the Bechuana country, continuous rains\nare always from the northeast or east, while in Londa and Angola they\nare from the north. At Pungo Andongo, for instance, the whitewash is all\nremoved from the north side of the houses. It cleared up, however, about\nmidday, and Monze's sister conducted us a mile or two upon the road. On\nparting, she said that she had forwarded orders to a distant village to\nsend food to the point where we should sleep. In expressing her joy at\nthe prospect of living in peace, she said it would be so pleasant \"to\nsleep without dreaming of any one pursuing them with a spear.\"\n\nIn our front we had ranges of hills called Chamai, covered with trees.\nWe crossed the rivulet Nakachinta, flowing westward into the Kafue, and\nthen passed over ridges of rocks of the same mica schist which we\nfound so abundant in Golungo Alto; here they were surmounted by reddish\nporphyry and finely laminated felspathic grit with trap. The dip,\nhowever, of these rocks is not toward the centre of the continent, as\nin Angola, for ever since we passed the masses of granite on the\nKalomo, the rocks, chiefly of mica schist, dip away from them, taking\nan easterly direction. A decided change of dip occurs again when we come\nnear the Zambesi, as will be noticed farther on. The hills which flank\nthat river now appeared on our right as a high dark range, while those\nnear the Kafue have the aspect of a low blue range, with openings\nbetween. We crossed two never-failing rivulets also flowing into the\nKafue. The country is very fertile, but vegetation is nowhere rank. The\nboiling-point of water being 204 Deg., showed that we were not yet as\nlow down as Linyanti; but we had left the masuka-trees behind us, and\nmany others with which we had become familiar. A feature common to the\nforests of Angola and Benguela, namely, the presence of orchilla-weed\nand lichens on the trees, with mosses on the ground, began to appear;\nbut we never, on any part of the eastern slope, saw the abundant crops\nof ferns which are met with every where in Angola. The orchilla-weed and\nmosses, too, were in but small quantities.\n\nAs we passed along, the people continued to supply us with food in\ngreat abundance. They had by some means or other got a knowledge that I\ncarried medicine, and, somewhat to the disgust of my men, who wished to\nkeep it all to themselves, brought their sick children for cure. Some of\nthem I found had hooping-cough, which is one of the few epidemics that\nrange through this country.\n\nIn passing through the woods I for the first time heard the bird called\nMokwa reza, or \"Son-in-law of God\" (Micropogon sulphuratus?), utter its\ncry, which is supposed by the natives to be \"pula, pula\" (rain, rain).\nIt is said to do this only before heavy falls of rain. It may be a\ncuckoo, for it is said to throw out the eggs of the white-backed Senegal\ncrow, and lay its own instead. This, combined with the cry for rain,\ncauses the bird to be regarded with favor. The crow, on the other hand,\nhas a bad repute, and, when rain is withheld, its nest is sought for\nand destroyed, in order to dissolve the charm by which it is supposed\nto seal up the windows of heaven. All the other birds now join in full\nchorus in the mornings, and two of them, at least, have fine loud notes.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 28.\n\nBeautiful Valley--Buffalo--My young Men kill two Elephants--The\nHunt--Mode of measuring Height of live Elephants--Wild Animals smaller\nhere than in the South, though their Food is more abundant--The Elephant\na dainty Feeder--Semalembue--His Presents--Joy in prospect of living\nin Peace--Trade--His People's way of wearing their Hair--Their Mode\nof Salutation--Old Encampment--Sebituane's former Residence--Ford\nof Kafue--Hippopotami--Hills and Villages--Geological Formation--\nProdigious Quantities of large Game--Their Tameness--Rains--Less\nSickness than in the Journey to Loanda--Reason--Charge from an\nElephant--Vast Amount of animal Life on the Zambesi--Water of River\ndiscolored--An Island with Buffaloes and Men on it--Native Devices for\nkilling Game--Tsetse now in Country--Agricultural Industry--An Albino\nmurdered by his Mother--\"Guilty of Tlolo\"--Women who make their\nMouths \"like those of Ducks\"--First Symptom of the Slave-trade on this\nside--Selole's Hostility--An armed Party hoaxed--An Italian Marauder\nslain--Elephant's Tenacity of Life--A Word to young Sportsmen--\nMr. Oswell's Adventure with an Elephant; narrow Escape--Mburuma's\nVillage--Suspicious Conduct of his People--Guides attempt to detain\nus--The Village and People of Ma Mburuma--Character our Guides give of\nus.\n\n\n\n13TH. The country is becoming very beautiful, and furrowed by deep\nvalleys; the underlying rocks, being igneous, have yielded fertile soil.\nThere is great abundance of large game. The buffaloes select open spots,\nand often eminences, as standing-places through the day. We crossed the\nMbai, and found in its bed rocks of pink marble. Some little hills near\nit are capped by marble of beautiful whiteness, the underlying rock\nbeing igneous. Violent showers occur frequently on the hills, and cause\nsuch sudden sweeping floods in these rivulets, that five of our men, who\nhad gone to the other side for firewood, were obliged to swim back.\nThe temperature of the air is lowered considerably by the daily rains.\nSeveral times the thermometer at sunrise has been as low as 68 Deg., and\n74 Deg. at sunset. Generally, however, it stood at from 72 Deg. to 74\nDeg. at sunrise, 90 Deg. to 96 Deg. at midday, and 80 Deg. to 84 Deg.\nat sunset. The sensation, however, as before remarked, was not\ndisagreeable.\n\n14TH. We entered a most beautiful valley, abounding in large game.\nFinding a buffalo lying down, I went to secure him for our food. Three\nballs did not kill him, and, as he turned round as if for a charge, we\nran for the shelter of some rocks. Before we gained them, we found that\nthree elephants, probably attracted by the strange noise, had cut off\nour retreat on that side; they, however, turned short off, and allowed\nus to gain the rocks. We then saw that the buffalo was moving off quite\nbriskly, and, in order not to be entirely balked, I tried a long shot at\nthe last of the elephants, and, to the great joy of my people, broke his\nfore leg. The young men soon brought him to a stand, and one shot in the\nbrain dispatched him. I was right glad to see the joy manifested at such\nan abundant supply of meat.\n\nOn the following day, while my men were cutting up the elephant, great\nnumbers of the villagers came to enjoy the feast. We were on the side\nof a fine green valley, studded here and there with trees, and cut by\nnumerous rivulets. I had retired from the noise, to take an observation\namong some rocks of laminated grit, when I beheld an elephant and her\ncalf at the end of the valley, about two miles distant. The calf was\nrolling in the mud, and the dam was standing fanning herself with her\ngreat ears. As I looked at them through my glass, I saw a long string\nof my own men appearing on the other side of them, and Sekwebu came and\ntold me that these had gone off saying, \"Our father will see to-day what\nsort of men he has got.\" I then went higher up the side of the valley,\nin order to have a distinct view of their mode of hunting. The goodly\nbeast, totally unconscious of the approach of an enemy, stood for some\ntime suckling her young one, which seemed about two years old; they then\nwent into a pit containing mud, and smeared themselves all over with it,\nthe little one frisking about his dam, flapping his ears and tossing his\ntrunk incessantly, in elephantine fashion. She kept flapping her ears\nand wagging her tail, as if in the height of enjoyment. Then began the\npiping of her enemies, which was performed by blowing into a tube,\nor the hands closed together, as boys do into a key. They call out to\nattract the animal's attention,\n\n   \"O chief! chief! we have come to kill you.\n   O chief! chief! many more will die besides you, etc.\n   The gods have said it,\" etc., etc.\n\nBoth animals expanded their ears and listened, then left their bath as\nthe crowd rushed toward them. The little one ran forward toward the\nend of the valley, but, seeing the men there, returned to his dam. She\nplaced herself on the danger side of her calf, and passed her proboscis\nover it again and again, as if to assure it of safety. She frequently\nlooked back to the men, who kept up an incessant shouting, singing,\nand piping; then looked at her young one and ran after it, sometimes\nsideways, as if her feelings were divided between anxiety to protect her\noffspring and desire to revenge the temerity of her persecutors. The men\nkept about a hundred yards in her rear, and some that distance from her\nflanks, and continued thus until she was obliged to cross a rivulet.\nThe time spent in descending and getting up the opposite bank allowed\nof their coming up to the edge, and discharging their spears at about\ntwenty yards distance. After the first discharge she appeared with her\nsides red with blood, and, beginning to flee for her own life, seemed\nto think no more of her young. I had previously sent off Sekwebu with\norders to spare the calf. It ran very fast, but neither young nor old\never enter into a gallop; their quickest pace is only a sharp walk.\nBefore Sekwebu could reach them, the calf had taken refuge in the water,\nand was killed. The pace of the dam gradually became slower. She turned\nwith a shriek of rage, and made a furious charge back among the men.\nThey vanished at right angles to her course, or sideways, and, as she\nran straight on, she went through the whole party, but came near no one\nexcept a man who wore a piece of cloth on his shoulders. Bright clothing\nis always dangerous in these cases. She charged three or four times,\nand, except in the first instance, never went farther than 100 yards.\nShe often stood after she had crossed a rivulet, and faced the men,\nthough she received fresh spears. It was by this process of spearing and\nloss of blood that she was killed; for at last, making a short charge,\nshe staggered round and sank down dead in a kneeling posture. I did\nnot see the whole hunt, having been tempted away by both sun and moon\nappearing unclouded. I turned from the spectacle of the destruction of\nnoble animals, which might be made so useful in Africa, with a feeling\nof sickness, and it was not relieved by the recollection that the ivory\nwas mine, though that was the case. I regretted to see them killed, and\nmore especially the young one, the meat not being at all necessary at\nthat time; but it is right to add that I did not feel sick when my own\nblood was up the day before. We ought, perhaps, to judge those deeds\nmore leniently in which we ourselves have no temptation to engage. Had\nI not been previously guilty of doing the very same thing, I might have\nprided myself on superior humanity when I experienced the nausea in\nviewing my men kill these two.\n\nThe elephant first killed was a male, not full grown; his height at the\nwithers, 8 feet 4 inches; circumference of the fore foot, 44 inches * 2\n= 7 feet 4 inches. The female was full grown, and measured in height 8\nfeet 8 inches; circumference of the fore foot, 48 inches * 2 = 8 feet\n(96 inches). We afterward found that full-grown male elephants of this\nregion ranged in height at the withers from 9 feet 9 inches to 9 feet 10\ninches, and the circumference of the fore foot to be 4 feet 9-1/2 inches\n* 2 = 9 feet 7 inches. These details are given because the general rule\nhas been observed that twice the circumference of the impression made\nby the fore foot on the ground is the height of the animal. The print on\nthe ground, being a little larger than the foot itself, would thus seem\nto be an accurate mode of measuring the size of any elephant that has\npassed; but the above measurements show that it is applicable only to\nfull-grown animals. The greater size of the African elephant in the\nsouth would at once distinguish it from the Indian one; but here they\napproach more nearly to each other in bulk, a female being about as\nlarge as a common Indian male. But the ear of the African is an external\nmark which no one will mistake even in a picture. That of the female now\nkilled was 4 feet 5 inches in depth, and 4 feet in horizontal breadth.\nI have seen a native creep under one so as to be quite covered from the\nrain. The ear of the Indian variety is not more than a third of this\nsize. The representation of elephants on ancient coins shows that this\nimportant characteristic was distinctly recognized of old. Indeed,\nCuvier remarked that it was better known by Aristotle than by Buffon.\n\nHaving been anxious to learn whether the African elephant is capable\nof being tamed, through the kindness of my friend Admiral Smythe I am\nenabled to give the reader conclusive evidence on this point. In the two\nmedals furnished from his work, \"A descriptive Catalogue of his Cabinet\nof Roman and Imperial large brass Medals\", the size of the ears will\nbe at once noted as those of the true African elephant.* They were even\nmore docile than the Asiatic, and were taught various feats, as walking\non ropes, dancing, etc. One of the coins is of Faustina senior, the\nother of Severus the Seventh, and struck A.D. 197. These elephants were\nbrought from Africa to Rome. The attempt to tame this most useful animal\nhas never been made at the Cape, nor has one ever been exhibited in\nEngland. There is only one very young calf of the species in the British\nMuseum.\n\n   * Unfortunately these illustrations can not be presented in\n   this ASCII text. A. L., 1997.\n\nThe abundance of food in this country, as compared with the south, would\nlead one to suppose that animals here must attain a much greater size;\nbut actual measurement now confirms the impression made on my mind by\nthe mere sight of the animals, that those in the districts north of\n20 Deg. were smaller than the same races existing southward of that\nlatitude. The first time that Mr. Oswell and myself saw full-grown male\nelephants on the River Zouga, they seemed no larger than the females\n(which are always smaller than males) we had met on the Limpopo. There\nthey attain a height of upward of 12 feet. At the Zouga the height of\none I measured was 11 feet 4 inches, and in this district 9 feet 10\ninches. There is, however, an increase in the size of the tusks as we\napproach the equator. Unfortunately, I never made measurements of other\nanimals in the south; but the appearance of the animals themselves in\nthe north at once produced the impression on my mind referred to as to\ntheir decrease in size. When we first saw koodoos, they were so much\nsmaller than those we had been accustomed to in the south that we\ndoubted whether they were not a new kind of antelope; and the leche,\nseen nowhere south of 20 Deg., is succeeded by the poku as we go north.\nThis is, in fact, only a smaller species of that antelope, with a more\nreddish color. A great difference in size prevails also among domestic\nanimals; but the influence of locality on them is not so well marked.\nThe cattle of the Batoka, for instance, are exceedingly small and very\nbeautiful, possessing generally great breadth between the eyes and a\nvery playful disposition. They are much smaller than the aboriginal\ncattle in the south; but it must be added that those of the Barotse\nvalley, in the same latitudes as the Batoka, are large. The breed may\nhave come from the west, as the cattle within the influence of the sea\nair, as at Little Fish Bay, Benguela, Ambriz, and along that coast, are\nvery large. Those found at Lake Ngami, with large horns and standing\nsix feet high, probably come from the same quarter. The goats are also\nsmall, and domestic fowls throughout this country are of a very\nsmall size, and even dogs, except where the inhabitants have had an\nopportunity of improving the breed by importation from the Portuguese.\nAs the Barotse cattle are an exception to this general rule, so are\nthe Barotse dogs, for they are large, savage-looking animals, though in\nreality very cowardly. It is a little remarkable that a decrease in size\nshould occur where food is the most abundant; but tropical climates seem\nunfavorable for the full development of either animals or man. It is\nnot from want of care in the breeding, for the natives always choose the\nlarger and stronger males for stock, and the same arrangement prevails\nin nature, for it is only by overcoming their weaker rivals that the\nwild males obtain possession of the herd. Invariably they show the scars\nreceived in battle. The elephant we killed yesterday had an umbilical\nhernia as large as a child's head, probably caused by the charge of a\nrival. The cow showed scars received from men; two of the wounds in her\nside were still unhealed, and there was an orifice six inches long, and\nopen, in her proboscis, and, as it was about a foot from the point, it\nmust have interfered with her power of lifting water.\n\nIn estimating the amount of food necessary for these and other large\nanimals, sufficient attention has not been paid to the kinds chosen. The\nelephant, for instance, is a most dainty feeder, and particularly fond\nof certain sweet-tasted trees and fruits. He chooses the mohonono, the\nmimosa, and other trees which contain much saccharine matter, mucilage,\nand gum. He may be seen putting his head to a lofty palmyra, and swaying\nit to and fro to shake off the seeds; he then picks them up singly\nand eats them. Or he may be seen standing by the masuka and other\nfruit-trees patiently picking off the sweet fruits one by one. He also\ndigs up bulbs and tubers, but none of these are thoroughly digested.\nBruce remarked upon the undigested bits of wood seen in their droppings,\nand he must have observed, too, that neither leaves nor seeds are\nchanged by passing through the alimentary canal. The woody fibre of\nroots and branches is dropped in the state of tow, the nutritious\nmatter alone having been extracted. This capability of removing all\nthe nourishment, and the selection of those kinds of food which contain\ngreat quantities of mucilage and gum, accounts for the fact that\nherds of elephants produce but small effect upon the vegetation of\na country--quality being more requisite than quantity. The amount of\ninternal fat found in them makes them much prized by the inhabitants,\nwho are all very fond of it, both for food and ointment.\n\nAfter leaving the elephant valley we passed through a very beautiful\ncountry, but thinly inhabited by man. The underlying rock is trap, and\ndikes of talcose gneiss. The trap is often seen tilted on its edge, or\ndipping a little either to the north or south. The strike is generally\nto the northeast, the direction we are going. About Losito we found\nthe trap had given place to hornblende schist, mica schist, and various\nschorly rocks. We had now come into the region in which the appearance\nof the rocks conveys the impression of a great force having acted along\nthe bed of the Zambesi. Indeed, I was led to the belief from seeing the\nmanner in which the rocks have been thrust away on both sides from\nits bed, that the power which formed the crack of the falls had given\ndirection to the river below, and opened a bed for it all the way from\nthe falls to beyond the gorge of Lupata.\n\nPassing the rivulet Losito, and through the ranges of hills, we reached\nthe residence of Semalembue on the 18th. His village is situated at the\nbottom of ranges through which the Kafue finds a passage, and close\nto the bank of that river. The Kafue, sometimes called Kahowhe or\nBashukulompo River, is upward of two hundred yards wide here, and full\nof hippopotami, the young of which may be seen perched on the necks\nof their dams. At this point we had reached about the same level as\nLinyanti.\n\nSemalembue paid us a visit soon after our arrival, and said that he had\noften heard of me, and now that he had the pleasure of seeing me, he\nfeared that I should sleep the first night at his village hungry. This\nwas considered the handsome way of introducing a present, for he then\nhanded five or six baskets of meal and maize, and an enormous one of\nground-nuts. Next morning he gave me about twenty baskets more of meal.\nI could make but a poor return for his kindness, but he accepted my\napologies politely, saying that he knew there were no goods in the\ncountry from which I had come, and, in professing great joy at the words\nof peace I spoke, he said, \"Now I shall cultivate largely, in the hope\nof eating and sleeping in peace.\" It is noticeable that all whom we have\nyet met eagerly caught up the idea of living in peace as the probable\neffect of the Gospel. They require no explanation of the existence of\nthe Deity. Sekwebu makes use of the term \"Reza\", and they appear to\nunderstand at once. Like negroes in general, they have a strong tendency\nto worship, and I heard that Semalembue gets a good deal of ivory from\nthe surrounding tribes on pretense of having some supernatural power.\nHe transmits this to some other chiefs on the Zambesi, and receives\nin return English cotton goods which come from Mozambique by Babisa\ntraders. My men here began to sell their beads and other ornaments for\ncotton cloth. Semalembue was accompanied by about forty people, all\nlarge men. They have much wool on their heads, which is sometimes drawn\nall together up to the crown, and tied there in a large tapering bunch.\nThe forehead and round by the ears is shaven close to the base of this\ntuft. Others draw out the hair on one side, and twist it into little\nstrings. The rest is taken over, and hangs above the ear, which gives\nthe appearance of having a cap cocked jauntily on the side of the head.\n\nThe mode of salutation is by clapping the hands. Various parties of\nwomen came from the surrounding villages to see the white man, but all\nseemed very much afraid. Their fear, which I seldom could allay, made\nthem, when addressed, clap their hands with increasing vigor. Sekwebu\nwas the only one of the Makololo who knew this part of the country; and\nthis was the region which to his mind was best adapted for the residence\nof a tribe. The natives generally have a good idea of the nature of the\nsoil and pasturage, and Sekwebu expatiated with great eloquence on the\ncapabilities of this part for supplying the wants of the Makololo. There\nis certainly abundance of room at present in the country for thousands\nand thousands more of population.\n\nWe passed near the Losito, a former encampment of the Matebele, with\nwhom Sekwebu had lived. At the sight of the bones of the oxen they had\ndevoured, and the spot where savage dances had taken place, though all\ndeserted now, the poor fellow burst out into a wild Matebele song.\nHe pointed out also a district, about two days and a half west of\nSemalembue, where Sebituane had formerly dwelt. There is a hot fountain\non the hills there named \"Nakalombo\", which may be seen at a distance\nemitting steam. \"There,\" said Sekwebu, \"had your Molekane (Sebituane)\nbeen alive, he would have brought you to live with him. You would be\non the bank of the river, and, by taking canoes, you would at once sail\ndown to the Zambesi, and visit the white people at the sea.\"\n\nThis part is a favorite one with the Makololo, and probably it would be\na good one in which to form a centre of civilization. There is a\nlarge, flat district of country to the north, said to be peopled by\nthe Bashukulompo and other tribes, who cultivate the ground to a great\nextent, and raise vast quantities of grain, ground-nuts, sweet potatoes,\netc. They also grow sugar-cane. If they were certain of a market, I\nbelieve they would not be unwilling to cultivate cotton too, but they\nhave not been accustomed to the peaceful pursuits of commerce. All are\nfond of trade, but they have been taught none save that in ivory and\nslaves.\n\nThe Kafue enters a narrow gorge close by the village of Semalembue; as\nthe hill on the north is called Bolengwe, I apply that name to the gorge\n(lat. 15d 48' 19\" S., long. 28d 22' E.). Semalembue said that he ought\nto see us over the river, so he accompanied us to a pass about a mile\nsouth of his village, and when we entered among the hills we found the\nford of the Kafue. On parting with Semalembue I put on him a shirt, and\nhe went away with it apparently much delighted.\n\nThe ford was at least 250 yards broad, but rocky and shallow. After\ncrossing it in a canoe, we went along the left bank, and were completely\nshut in by high hills. Every available spot between the river and the\nhills is under cultivation; and the residence of the people here is\nintended to secure safety for themselves and their gardens from their\nenemies; there is plenty of garden-ground outside the hills; here\nthey are obliged to make pitfalls to protect the grain against the\nhippopotami. As these animals had not been disturbed by guns, they were\nremarkably tame, and took no notice of our passing. We again saw numbers\nof young ones, not much larger than terrier dogs, sitting on the necks\nof their dams, the little saucy-looking heads cocking up between the\nold one's ears; as they become a little older they sit on the withers.\nNeeding meat, we shot a full-grown cow, and found, as we had often done\nbefore, the flesh to be very much like pork. The height of this animal\nwas 4 feet 10 inches, and from the point of the nose to the root of the\ntail 10 feet 6. They seem quarrelsome, for both males and females are\nfound covered with scars, and young males are often killed by the elder\nones: we met an instance of this near the falls.\n\nWe came to a great many little villages among the hills, as if the\ninhabitants had reason to hide themselves from the observation of their\nenemies. While detained cutting up the hippopotamus, I ascended a hill\ncalled Mabue asula (stones smell badly), and, though not the highest in\nsight, it was certainly not 100 feet lower than the most elevated. The\nboiling-point of water showed it to be about 900 feet above the river,\nwhich was of the level of Linyanti. These hills seemed to my men of\nprodigious altitude, for they had been accustomed to ant-hills only.\nThe mention of mountains that pierced the clouds made them draw in their\nbreath and hold their hands to their mouths. And when I told them that\ntheir previous description of Taba cheu had led me to expect something\nof the sort, I found that the idea of a cloud-capped mountain had never\nentered into their heads. The mountains certainly look high, from having\nabrupt sides; but I had recognized the fact by the point of ebullition\nof water, that they are of a considerably lower altitude than the top of\nthe ridge we had left. They constitute, in fact, a sort of low fringe\non the outside of the eastern ridge, exactly as the (apparently) high\nmountains of Angola (Golungo Alto) form an outer low fringe to the\nwestern ridge. I was much struck by the similarity of conformation\nand nature of the rocks on both sides of the continent; but there is\na difference in the structure of the subtending ridges, as may be\nunderstood by the annexed ideal geological section.\n\n\n*[The ASCII edition cannot include the drawing of the cross-section,\nbut the comments are included in full.--A. L., 1997.]\n\n\n                  IDEAL SECTION ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA,\n  INTENDED TO SHOW THE ELEVATED VALLEY FORM OF THAT PORTION OF THE CONTINENT.\n                   --------------------------------------\n\n                                        WEST.\n\n   [Terrain]           [Remarks]\n\n   Sea.                CALCAREOUS TUFA.\n\n                       TRAP.  With modern shells, and similar to those now found\n                       in the sea adjacent, with strongly magnetic iron ore.\n\n                       MICA SCHIST.  Dipping East.\n\n                       SANDSTONE (like that of East Africa).  The rocks\n   Pungo Andongo.      of Pungo Andongo are a conglomerate of rounded shingle in\n   Rocks 4000 feet.    a matrix of sandstone, and stand on horizontal sandstone,\n                       on which fossil palms appear.\n\n   Fault.\n\n                       RED SHALES CAPPED BY FERRUGINOUS CONGLOMERATE.\n                       Soft red shale or \"keele\".\n\n   G| 5000 feet.\n   R| Water boils\n   E| at 202 Deg.\n   A|                  On top, ferruginous conglomerate; below that, red shale,\n   T| 4500 feet.       with banks of gravel.\n    | Lake Dilolo.\n   C|                  TUFA AND TRAP.  In Londa, the bottom of the valley\n   E| 2500 feet.           is formed of ferruginous conglomerate on the surface;\n   N| Lake Ngami.          hardened sandstone, with madrepore holes,\n   T|                      banks of gravel, and occasionally trap;\n   R|                      south of 12 Degrees, large patches of soft\n   A|                  TUFA.    calcareous tufa, with pebbles of jasper,\n   L|                      agates, &c., lie on various horizontal traps,\n    |                      amygdaloids with analami and mesotype, which is\n   P|                      burst through by basaltic rocks forming hills,\n   L|                      and showing that the bottom of the valley\n   A|                  RADIATED ZEOLITE.    consists of old silurian schists;\n   T|                      there are also various granitic rocks\n   E|                      cropping through the trap.\n   A|\n   U|                  BASALTIC ROCKS.  Augitic porphyry and basalt,\n   .|                  with tufa over it.\n\n   Place of Great Cataract.\n\n                       MICA SCHIST.  White mica schist dipping west, and gneiss.\n\n   5000 feet.  Kalomo.\n   Water boils         GRANITE.  With black mica.\n   at 202 Deg.\n\n                       MICA SCHIST.  White mica schist and white marble.\n\n   Hill tops           TRAP.  Hot fountain; conical hills of igneous rocks,\n   4000 feet.          containing much mica.\n   Bottoms 3500 feet.\n\n                       MICA SCHIST.  Pink marble dolomite,\n                       on hills of mica schist, of various colours, with trap,\n                       schorl in gneiss, kyanite or disthene gneissose mica\n                       in the schist.\n\n   1500 ft.            COAL IN SANDSTONE.  Specular and magnetic iron\n                       on various igneous rocks; finely laminated porphyry;\n                       granite; hot fountain.\n\n                       Sandstone overlying coal; trap dykes;\n                       syenitic porphyry dykes; black vesicular trap,\n                       penetrating in thin veins the clay shale of the country,\n                       converting it into porcellanite, and partially\n                       crystallizing the coal.  On this sandstone\n                       lie fossil palms, and coniferous trees\n                       converted into silica, as on a similar rock in Angola.\n\n                       COMPACT SILICEOUS SCHIST.\n\n                       IGNEOUS ROCKS.  Trappean rocks, with hot fountain.\n\n                       CALCAREOUS TUFA.  Arkose, or granitic grit,\n                       with modern shells covered by calcareous tufa.\n   Sea.\n\n                                        EAST.\n\n\nThe heights are given as an approximation obtained from observing\nthe boiling point of water, they are drawn on a scale of 1/10 of an inch\nper 1000 feet in altitude.  The section is necessarily exaggerated\nin longitude, as it was traversed in different latitudes,\nthe western side being in 8d-12d, the eastern 15d-18d S.\n\n\nWe can see from this hill five distinct ranges, of which Bolengo is the\nmost westerly, and Komanga is the most easterly. The second is named\nSekonkamena, and the third Funze. Very many conical hills appear among\nthem, and they are generally covered with trees. On their tops we have\nbeautiful white quartz rocks, and some have a capping of dolomite.\nOn the west of the second range we have great masses of kyanite or\ndisthene, and on the flanks of the third and fourth a great deal\nof specular iron ore which is magnetic, and containing a very large\npercentage of the metal. The sides of these ranges are generally very\nprecipitous, and there are rivulets between which are not perennial.\nMany of the hills have been raised by granite, exactly like that of the\nKalomo. Dikes of this granite may be seen thrusting up immense masses of\nmica schist and quartz or sandstone schist, and making the strata fold\nover them on each side, as clothes hung upon a line. The uppermost\nstratum is always dolomite or bright white quartz. Semalembue intended\nthat we should go a little to the northeast, and pass through the people\ncalled Babimpe, and we saw some of that people, who invited us to come\nthat way on account of its being smoother; but, feeling anxious to get\nback to the Zambesi again, we decided to cross the hills toward its\nconfluence with the Kafue. The distance, which in a straight line is but\nsmall, occupied three days. The precipitous nature of the sides of this\nmass of hills knocked up the oxen and forced us to slaughter two, one of\nwhich, a very large one, and ornamented with upward of thirty pieces of\nits own skin detached and hanging down, Sekeletu had wished us to take\nto the white people as a specimen of his cattle. We saw many elephants\namong the hills, and my men ran off and killed three. When we came to\nthe top of the outer range of the hills we had a glorious view. At\na short distance below us we saw the Kafue, wending away over a\nforest-clad plain to the confluence, and on the other side of the\nZambesi, beyond that, lay a long range of dark hills. A line of fleecy\nclouds appeared lying along the course of that river at their base. The\nplain below us, at the left of the Kafue, had more large game on it than\nany where else I had seen in Africa. Hundreds of buffaloes and zebras\ngrazed on the open spaces, and there stood lordly elephants feeding\nmajestically, nothing moving apparently but the proboscis. I wished that\nI had been able to take a photograph of a scene so seldom beheld, and\nwhich is destined, as guns increase, to pass away from earth. When we\ndescended we found all the animals remarkably tame. The elephants stood\nbeneath the trees, fanning themselves with their large ears, as if they\ndid not see us at 200 or 300 yards distance. The number of animals was\nquite astonishing, and made me think that here I could realize an image\nof that time when Megatheria fed undisturbed in the primeval forests. We\nsaw great numbers of red-colored pigs ('Potamochoerus') standing gazing\nat us in wonder. The people live on the hills, and, having no guns,\nseldom disturb the game. They have never been visited, even by\nhalf-castes; but Babisa traders have come occasionally. Continuous rains\nkept us for some time on the banks of the Chiponga, and here we were\nunfortunate enough to come among the tsetse. Mr. J. N. Gray, of the\nBritish Museum, has kindly obliged me with a drawing of the insect,\nwith the ravages of which I have unfortunately been too familiar. (For\ndescription, see p. 94-96 [Chapter 4 Paragraphs 16-20].) No. 1 is the\ninsect somewhat smaller than life, from the specimen having contracted\nin drying; they are a little larger than the common house-fly. No. 2\nis the insect magnified; and No. 3 shows the magnified proboscis and\npoison-bulb at the root.*\n\n   * Unfortunately, these illustrations can not be presented in\n   this ASCII text. Fortunately, information on the Tsetse is no\n   longer difficult to find. The \"somewhat smaller than life\"\n   drawing is about 1 cm from head to tail, not including wings\n   or proboscis.--A. L., 1997.\n\nWe tried to leave one morning, but the rain coming on afresh brought us\nto a stand, and after waiting an hour, wet to the skin, we were fain to\nretrace our steps to our sheds. These rains were from the east, and the\nclouds might be seen on the hills exactly as the \"Table-cloth\" on Table\nMountain. This was the first wetting we had got since we left Sesheke,\nfor I had gained some experience in traveling. In Londa we braved the\nrain, and, as I despised being carried in our frequent passage through\nrunning water, I was pretty constantly drenched; but now, when we saw a\nstorm coming, we invariably halted. The men soon pulled grass sufficient\nto make a little shelter for themselves by placing it on a bush, and,\nhaving got my camp-stool and umbrella, with a little grass under my\nfeet, I kept myself perfectly dry. We also lighted large fires, and the\nmen were not chilled by streams of water running down their persons, and\nabstracting the heat, as they would have been had they been exposed to\nthe rain. When it was over they warmed themselves by the fires, and we\ntraveled on comfortably. The effect of this care was, that we had much\nless sickness than with a smaller party in journeying to Loanda. Another\nimprovement made from my experience was avoiding an entire change of\ndiet. In going to Loanda I took little or no European food, in order not\nto burden my men and make them lose spirit, but trusted entirely to what\nmight be got by the gun and the liberality of the Balonda; but on this\njourney I took some flour which had been left in the wagon, with\nsome got on the island, and baked my own bread all the way in an\nextemporaneous oven made by an inverted pot. With these precautions,\naided, no doubt, by the greater healthiness of the district over which\nwe passed, I enjoyed perfect health.\n\nWhen we left the Chipongo on the 30th we passed among the range of hills\non our left, which are composed of mica and clay slate. At the bottom we\nfound a forest of large silicified trees, all lying as if the elevation\nof the range had made them fall away from it, and toward the river. An\nordinary-sized tree standing on end, measured 22 inches in diameter:\nthere were 12 laminae to the inch. These are easily counted, because\nthere is usually a scale of pure silica between each, which has not\nbeen so much affected by the weather as the rest of the ring itself: the\nedges of the rings thus stand out plainly. Mr. Quekett, having kindly\nexamined some specimens, finds that it is \"silicified CONIFEROUS WOOD\nof the ARAUCARIAN type; and the nearest allied wood that he knows of is\nthat found, also in a fossil state, in New South Wales.\" The numbers\nof large game were quite astonishing. I never saw elephants so tame as\nthose near the Chiponga: they stood close to our path without being the\nleast afraid. This is different from their conduct where they have been\naccustomed to guns, for there they take alarm at the distance of a mile,\nand begin to run if a shot is fired even at a longer distance. My men\nkilled another here, and rewarded the villagers of the Chiponga for\ntheir liberality in meal by loading them with flesh. We spent a night\nat a baobab, which was hollow, and would hold twenty men inside. It had\nbeen used as a lodging-house by the Babisa.\n\nAs we approached nearer the Zambesi, the country became covered with\nbroad-leaved bushes, pretty thickly planted, and we had several times\nto shout to elephants to get out of our way. At an open space, a herd\nof buffaloes came trotting up to look at our oxen, and it was only by\nshooting one that I made them retreat. The meat is very much like\nthat of an ox, and this one was very fine. The only danger we actually\nencountered was from a female elephant, with three young ones of\ndifferent sizes. Charging through the centre of our extended line,\nand causing the men to throw down their burdens in a great hurry, she\nreceived a spear for her temerity. I never saw an elephant with more\nthan one calf before. We knew that we were near our Zambesi again,\neven before the great river burst upon our sight, by the numbers of\nwater-fowl we met. I killed four geese with two shots, and, had I\nfollowed the wishes of my men, could have secured a meal of water-fowl\nfor the whole party. I never saw a river with so much animal life around\nand in it, and, as the Barotse say, \"Its fish and fowl are always fat.\"\nWhen our eyes were gladdened by a view of its goodly broad waters, we\nfound it very much larger than it is even above the falls. One might try\nto make his voice heard across it in vain. Its flow was more rapid than\nnear Sesheke, being often four and a half miles an hour, and, what I\nnever saw before, the water was discolored and of a deep brownish-red.\nIn the great valley the Leeambye never becomes of this color. The\nadjacent country, so far north as is known, is all level, and the soil,\nbeing generally covered with dense herbage, is not abraded; but on\nthe eastern ridge the case is different; the grass is short, and, the\nelevation being great, the soil is washed down by the streams, and hence\nthe discoloration which we now view. The same thing was observed on the\nwestern ridge. We never saw discoloration till we reached the Quango;\nthat obtained its matter from the western slope of the western ridge,\njust as this part of the Zambesi receives its soil from the eastern\nslope of the eastern ridge. It carried a considerable quantity of wreck\nof reeds, sticks, and trees. We struck upon the river about eight miles\neast of the confluence with the Kafue, and thereby missed a sight of\nthat interesting point. The cloudiness of the weather was such that\nbut few observations could be made for determining our position; so,\npursuing our course, we went down the left bank, and came opposite the\nisland of Menye makaba. The Zambesi contains numerous islands; this was\nabout a mile and a half or two miles long, and upward of a quarter of\na mile broad. Besides human population, it has a herd of buffaloes that\nnever leave it. In the distance they seemed to be upward of sixty. The\nhuman and brute inhabitants understand each other; for when the former\nthink they ought to avenge the liberties committed on their gardens, the\nleaders of the latter come out boldly to give battle. They told us that\nthe only time in which they can thin them is when the river is full and\npart of the island flooded. They then attack them from their canoes. The\ncomparatively small space to which they have confined themselves shows\nhow luxuriant the vegetation of this region is; for were they in want\nof more pasture, as buffaloes can swim well, and the distance from this\nbank to the island is not much more than 200 yards, they might easily\nremove hither. The opposite bank is much more distant.\n\nRanges of hills appear now to run parallel with the Zambesi, and are\nabout fifteen miles apart. Those on the north approach nearest to the\nriver. The inhabitants on that side are the Batonga, those on the south\nbank are the Banyai. The hills abound in buffaloes, and elephants are\nnumerous, and many are killed by the people on both banks. They erect\nstages on high trees overhanging the paths by which the elephants come,\nand then use a large spear with a handle nearly as thick as a man's\nwrist, and four or five feet long. When the animal comes beneath they\nthrow the spear, and if it enters between the ribs above, as the blade\nis at least twenty inches long by two broad, the motion of the handle,\nas it is aided by knocking against the trees, makes frightful gashes\nwithin, and soon causes death. They kill them also by means of a spear\ninserted in a beam of wood, which being suspended on the branch of a\ntree by a cord attached to a latch fastened in the path, and intended to\nbe struck by the animal's foot, leads to the fall of the beam, and, the\nspear being poisoned, causes death in a few hours.\n\nWe were detained by continuous rains several days at this island. The\nclouds rested upon the tops of the hills as they came from the eastward,\nand then poured down plenteous showers on the valleys below. As soon as\nwe could move, Tomba Nyama, the head man of the island, volunteered the\nloan of a canoe to cross a small river, called the Chongwe, which we\nfound to be about fifty or sixty yards broad and flooded. All this part\nof the country was well known to Sekwebu, and he informed us that, when\nhe passed through it as a boy, the inhabitants possessed abundance of\ncattle, and there were no tsetse. The existence of the insect now shows\nthat it may return in company with the larger game. The vegetation along\nthe bank was exceedingly rank, and the bushes so tangled that it was\ndifficult to get on. The paths had been made by the wild animals alone,\nfor the general pathway of the people is the river, in their canoes. We\nusually followed the footpaths of the game, and of these there was no\nlack. Buffaloes, zebras, pallahs, and waterbucks abound, and there is\nalso a great abundance of wild pigs, koodoos, and the black antelope.\nWe got one buffalo as he was rolling himself in a pool of mud. He had a\nlarge piece of skin torn off his flank, it was believed by an alligator.\n\nWe were struck by the fact that, as soon as we came between the ranges\nof hills which flank the Zambesi, the rains felt warm. At sunrise the\nthermometer stood at from 82 Deg. to 86 Deg.; at midday, in the coolest\nshade, namely, in my little tent, under a shady tree, at 96 Deg. to 98\nDeg.; and at sunset it was 86 Deg. This is different from any thing\nwe experienced in the interior, for these rains always bring down the\nmercury to 72 Deg. or even 68 Deg. There, too, we found a small black\ncoleopterous insect, which stung like the mosquito, but injected less\npoison; it puts us in mind of that insect, which does not exist in the\nhigh lands we had left.\n\nJANUARY 6TH, 1856. Each village we passed furnished us with a couple of\nmen to take us on to the next. They were useful in showing us the parts\nleast covered with jungle. When we came near a village, we saw men,\nwomen, and children employed in weeding their gardens, they being great\nagriculturists. Most of the men are muscular, and have large plowman\nhands. Their color is the same admixture, from very dark to light olive,\nthat we saw in Londa. Though all have thick lips and flat noses, only\nthe more degraded of the population possess the ugly negro physiognomy.\nThey mark themselves by a line of little raised cicatrices, each of\nwhich is a quarter of an inch long; they extend from the tip of the nose\nto the root of the hair on the forehead. It is remarkable that I never\nmet with an Albino in crossing Africa, though, from accounts published\nby the Portuguese, I was led to expect that they were held in favor as\ndoctors by certain chiefs. I saw several in the south: one at Kuruman\nis a full-grown woman, and a man having this peculiarity of skin was met\nwith in the colony. Their bodies are always blistered on exposure to\nthe sun, as the skin is more tender than that of the blacks. The Kuruman\nwoman lived some time at Kolobeng, and generally had on her bosom and\nshoulders the remains of large blisters. She was most anxious to be\nmade black, but nitrate of silver, taken internally, did not produce its\nusual effect. During the time I resided at Mabotsa, a woman came to the\nstation with a fine boy, an Albino. The father had ordered her to\nthrow him away, but she clung to her offspring for many years. He was\nremarkably intelligent for his age. The pupil of the eye was of a pink\ncolor, and the eye itself was unsteady in vision. The hair, or\nrather wool, was yellow, and the features were those common among the\nBechuanas. After I left the place the mother is said to have become\ntired of living apart from the father, who refused to have her while she\nretained the son. She took him out one day, and killed him close to the\nvillage of Mabotsa, and nothing was done to her by the authorities. From\nhaving met with no Albinos in Londa, I suspect they are there also put\nto death. We saw one dwarf only in Londa, and brands on him showed he\nhad once been a slave; and there is one dwarf woman at Linyanti. The\ngeneral absence of deformed persons is partly owing to their destruction\nin infancy, and partly to the mode of life being a natural one, so far\nas ventilation and food are concerned. They use but few unwholesome\nmixtures as condiments, and, though their undress exposes them to the\nvicissitudes of the temperature, it does not harbor vomites. It was\nobserved that, when smallpox and measles visited the country, they were\nmost severe on the half-castes who were clothed. In several tribes, a\nchild which is said to \"tlola\", transgress, is put to death. \"Tlolo\", or\ntransgression, is ascribed to several curious cases. A child who cut\nthe upper front teeth before the under was always put to death among the\nBakaa, and, I believe, also among the Bakwains. In some tribes, a case\nof twins renders one of them liable to death; and an ox, which, while\nlying in the pen, beats the ground with its tail, is treated in the same\nway. It is thought to be calling death to visit the tribe. When I was\ncoming through Londa, my men carried a great number of fowls, of a\nlarger breed than any they had at home. If one crowed before midnight,\nit had been guilty of \"tlolo\", and was killed. The men often carried\nthem sitting on their guns, and, if one began to crow in a forest, the\nowner would give it a beating, by way of teaching it not to be guilty of\ncrowing at unseasonable hours.\n\nThe women here are in the habit of piercing the upper lip, and gradually\nenlarging the orifice until they can insert a shell. The lip then\nappears drawn out beyond the perpendicular of the nose, and gives them a\nmost ungainly aspect. Sekwebu remarked, \"These women want to make their\nmouths like those of ducks;\" and, indeed, it does appear as if they\nhad the idea that female beauty of lip had been attained by the\n'Ornithorhynchus paradoxus' alone. This custom prevails throughout the\ncountry of the Maravi, and no one could see it without confessing that\nfashion had never led women to a freak more mad. We had rains now every\nday, and considerable cloudiness, but the sun often burst through with\nscorching intensity. All call out against it then, saying, \"O the sun!\nthat is rain again.\" It was worth noticing that my companions never\ncomplained of the heat while on the highlands, but when we descended\ninto the lowlands of Angola, and here also, they began to fret on\naccount of it. I myself felt an oppressive steaminess in the atmosphere\nwhich I had not experienced on the higher lands.\n\nAs the game was abundant and my party very large, I had still to supply\ntheir wants with the gun. We slaughtered the oxen only when unsuccessful\nin hunting. We always entered into friendly relations with the head\nmen of the different villages, and they presented grain and other food\nfreely. One man gave a basinful of rice, the first we met with in the\ncountry. It is never seen in the interior. He said he knew it was \"white\nman's corn\", and when I wished to buy some more, he asked me to give him\na slave. This was the first symptom of the slave-trade on this side of\nthe country. The last of these friendly head men was named Mobala; and\nhaving passed him in peace, we had no anticipation of any thing else;\nbut, after a few hours, we reached Selole or Chilole, and found that\nhe not only considered us enemies, but had actually sent an express to\nraise the tribe of Mburuma against us. All the women of Selole had fled,\nand the few people we met exhibited symptoms of terror. An armed party\nhad come from Mburuma in obedience to the call; but the head man of the\ncompany, being Mburuma's brother, suspecting that it was a hoax, came to\nour encampment and told us the whole. When we explained our objects, he\ntold us that Mburuma, he had no doubt, would receive us well. The reason\nwhy Selole acted in this foolish manner we afterward found to be this:\nan Italian named Simoens, and nicknamed Siriatomba (don't eat tobacco),\nhad married the daughter of a chief called Sekokole, living north of\nTete. He armed a party of fifty slaves with guns, and, ascending the\nriver in canoes some distance beyond the island Meya makaba, attacked\nseveral inhabited islands beyond, securing a large number of prisoners,\nand much ivory. On his return, the different chiefs, at the instigation\nof his father-in-law, who also did not wish him to set up as a chief,\nunited, attacked and dispersed the party of Simoens, and killed him\nwhile trying to escape on foot. Selole imagined that I was another\nItalian, or, as he expressed it, \"Siriatomba risen from the dead.\" In\nhis message to Mburuma he even said that Mobala, and all the villages\nbeyond, were utterly destroyed by our fire-arms, but the sight of Mobala\nhimself, who had come to the village of Selole, led the brother of\nMburuma to see at once that it was all a hoax. But for this, the foolish\nfellow Selole might have given us trouble.\n\nWe saw many of the liberated captives of this Italian among the villages\nhere, and Sekwebu found them to be Matebele. The brother of Mburuma had\na gun, which was the first we had seen in coming eastward. Before we\nreached Mburuma my men went to attack a troop of elephants, as they were\nmuch in need of meat. When the troop began to run, one of them fell\ninto a hole, and before he could extricate himself an opportunity was\nafforded for all the men to throw their spears. When he rose he was like\na huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty men had discharged\nmore than one spear at him. As they had no more, they sent for me to\nfinish him. In order to put him at once out of pain, I went to within\ntwenty yards, there being a bank between us which he could not readily\nclimb. I rested the gun upon an ant-hill so as to take a steady aim;\nbut, though I fired twelve two-ounce bullets, all I had, into different\nparts, I could not kill him. As it was becoming dark, I advised my men\nto let him stand, being sure of finding him dead in the morning; but,\nthough we searched all the next day, and went more than ten miles, we\nnever saw him again. I mention this to young men who may think that they\nwill be able to hunt elephants on foot by adopting the Ceylon practice\nof killing them by one ball in the brain. I believe that in Africa the\npractice of standing before an elephant, expecting to kill him with one\nshot, would be certain death to the hunter; and I would add, for the\ninformation of those who may think that, because I met with a great\nabundance of game here, they also might find rare sport, that the tsetse\nexists all along both banks of the Zambesi, and there can be no hunting\nby means of horses. Hunting on foot in this climate is such excessively\nhard work, that I feel certain the keenest sportsman would very soon\nturn away from it in disgust. I myself was rather glad, when furnished\nwith the excuse that I had no longer any balls, to hand over all the\nhunting to my men, who had no more love for the sport than myself, as\nthey never engaged in it except when forced by hunger.\n\nSome of them gave me a hint to melt down my plate by asking if it were\nnot lead. I had two pewter plates and a piece of zinc which I now melted\ninto bullets. I also spent the remainder of my handkerchiefs in buying\nspears for them. My men frequently surrounded herds of buffaloes and\nkilled numbers of the calves. I, too, exerted myself greatly; but, as\nI am now obliged to shoot with the left arm, I am a bad shot, and this,\nwith the lightness of the bullets, made me very unsuccessful. The more\nthe hunger, the less my success, invariably.\n\nI may here add an adventure with an elephant of one who has had more\nnarrow escapes than any man living, but whose modesty has always\nprevented him from publishing any thing about himself. When we were on\nthe banks of the Zouga in 1850, Mr. Oswell pursued one of these animals\ninto the dense, thick, thorny bushes met with on the margin of that\nriver, and to which the elephant usually flees for safety. He followed\nthrough a narrow pathway by lifting up some of the branches and\nforcing his way through the rest; but, when he had just got over this\ndifficulty, he saw the elephant, whose tail he had but got glimpses\nof before, now rushing toward him. There was then no time to lift up\nbranches, so he tried to force the horse through them. He could not\neffect a passage; and, as there was but an instant between the attempt\nand failure, the hunter tried to dismount, but in doing this one foot\nwas caught by a branch, and the spur drawn along the animal's flank;\nthis made him spring away and throw the rider on the ground with his\nface to the elephant, which, being in full chase, still went on. Mr.\nOswell saw the huge fore foot about to descend on his legs, parted them,\nand drew in his breath as if to resist the pressure of the other foot,\nwhich he expected would next descend on his body. He saw the whole\nlength of the under part of the enormous brute pass over him; the horse\ngot away safely. I have heard of but one other authentic instance in\nwhich an elephant went over a man without injury, and, for any one who\nknows the nature of the bush in which this occurred, the very thought\nof an encounter in it with such a foe is appalling. As the thorns are\nplaced in pairs on opposite sides of the branches, and these turn round\non being pressed against, one pair brings the other exactly into the\nposition in which it must pierce the intruder. They cut like knives.\nHorses dread this bush extremely; indeed, most of them refuse to face\nits thorns.\n\nOn reaching Mburuma's village, his brother came to meet us. We explained\nthe reason of our delay, and he told us that we were looked upon with\nalarm. He said that Siriatomba had been killed near the village of\nSelole, and hence that man's fears. He added that the Italian had come\ntalking of peace, as we did, but had kidnapped children and bought ivory\nwith them, and that we were supposed to be following the same calling. I\npointed to my men, and asked if any of these were slaves, and if we had\nany children among them, and I think we satisfied him that we were true\nmen. Referring to our ill success in hunting the day before, he said,\n\"The man at whose village you remained was in fault in allowing you to\nwant meat, for he had only to run across to Mburuma; he would have\ngiven him a little meal, and, having sprinkled that on the ground as an\noffering to the gods, you would have found your elephant.\" The chiefs in\nthese parts take upon themselves an office somewhat like the priesthood,\nand the people imagine that they can propitiate the Deity through them.\nIn illustration of their ideas, it may be mentioned that, when we were\namong the tribes west of Semalembue, several of the people came forward\nand introduced themselves--one as a hunter of elephants, another as\na hunter of hippopotami, a third as a digger of pitfalls--apparently\nwishing me to give them medicine for success in their avocations, as\nwell as to cure the diseases of those to whom I was administering the\ndrugs. I thought they attributed supernatural power to them, for, like\nall Africans, they have unbounded faith in the efficacy of charms; but\nI took pains to let them know that they must pray and trust to another\npower than mine for aid. We never saw Mburuma himself, and the conduct\nof his people indicated very strong suspicions, though he gave us\npresents of meal, maize, and native corn. His people never came near us\nexcept in large bodies and fully armed. We had to order them to place\ntheir bows, arrows, and spears at a distance before entering our\nencampment. We did not, however, care much for a little trouble now, as\nwe hoped that, if we could pass this time without much molestation,\nwe might yet be able to return with ease, and without meeting sour,\nsuspicious looks.\n\nThe soil, glancing every where with mica, is very fertile, and all the\nvalleys are cultivated, the maize being now in ear and eatable. Ranges\nof hills, which line both banks of the river above this, now come close\nup to each bank, and form a narrow gorge, which, like all others of the\nsame nature, is called Mpata. There is a narrow pathway by the side of\nthe river, but we preferred a more open one in a pass among the hills to\nthe east, which is called Mohango. The hills rise to a height of 800\nor 1000 feet, and are all covered with trees. The rocks were of various\ncolored mica schist; and parallel with the Zambesi lay a broad band\nof gneiss with garnets in it. It stood on edge, and several dikes of\nbasalt, with dolerite, had cut through it.\n\nMburuma sent two men as guides to the Loangwa. These men tried to bring\nus to a stand, at a distance of about six miles from the village, by the\nnotice, \"Mburuma says you are to sleep under that tree.\" On declining\nto do this, we were told that we must wait at a certain village for a\nsupply of corn. As none appeared in an hour, I proceeded on the march.\nIt is not quite certain that their intentions were hostile, but this\nseemed to disarrange their plans, and one of them was soon observed\nrunning back to Mburuma. They had first of all tried to separate our\nparty by volunteering the loan of a canoe to convey Sekwebu and me,\ntogether with our luggage, by way of the river, and, as it was pressed\nupon us, I thought that this was their design. The next attempt was to\ndetain us in the pass; but, betraying no suspicion, we civilly declined\nto place ourselves in their power in an unfavorable position. We\nafterward heard that a party of Babisa traders, who came from the\nnortheast, bringing English goods from Mozambique, had been plundered by\nthis same people.\n\nElephants were still abundant, but more wild, as they fled with great\nspeed as soon as we made our appearance. The country between Mburuma's\nand his mother's village was all hilly and very difficult, and prevented\nus from traveling more than ten miles a day. At the village of Ma\nMburuma (mother of Mburuma), the guides, who had again joined us, gave a\nfavorable report, and the women and children did not flee. Here we\nfound that traders, called Bazunga, have been in the habit of coming\nin canoes, and that I was named as one of them. These I supposed to be\nhalf-caste Portuguese, for they said that the hair of their heads and\nthe skin beneath their clothing were different from mine. Ma Mburuma\npromised us canoes to cross the Loangwa in our front. It was pleasant\nto see great numbers of men, women, and boys come, without suspicion,\nto look at the books, watch, looking-glass, revolver, etc. They are a\nstrong, muscular race, and both men and women are seen cultivating the\nground. The soil contains so much comminuted talc and mica from the\nadjacent hills that it seems as if mixed with spermaceti. They generally\neat their corn only after it has begun to sprout from steeping it in\nwater. The deformed lips of the women make them look very ugly; I never\nsaw one smile. The people in this part seem to understand readily what\nis spoken about God, for they listen with great attention, and tell in\nreturn their own ideas of departed spirits. The position of the village\nof Mburuma's mother was one of great beauty, quite inclosed by high,\nsteep hills; and the valleys are all occupied by gardens of native corn\nand maize, which grow luxuriantly. We were obliged to hurry along,\nfor the oxen were bitten daily by the tsetse, which, as I have before\nremarked, now inhabits extensive tracts which once supported herds\nof cattle that were swept off by Mpakane and other marauders, whose\ndevastations were well known to Sekwebu, for he himself had been an\nactor in the scenes. When he told me of them he always lowered his\nvoice, in order that the guides might not hear that he had been one of\ntheir enemies. But that we were looked upon with suspicion, on account\nof having come in the footsteps of invaders, was evident from our guides\nremarking to men in the gardens through which we passed, \"They have\nwords of peace--all very fine; but lies only, as the Bazunga are great\nliars.\" They thought we did not understand them; but Sekwebu knew every\nword perfectly; and, without paying any ostensible attention to these\ncomplimentary remarks, we always took care to explain ever afterward\nthat we were not Bazunga, but Makoa (English).\n\n\n\n\nChapter 29.\n\nConfluence of Loangwa and Zambesi--Hostile Appearances--Ruins of a\nChurch--Turmoil of Spirit--Cross the River--Friendly Parting--Ruins of\nstone Houses--The Situation of Zumbo for Commerce--Pleasant Gardens--Dr.\nLacerda's Visit to Cazembe--Pereira's Statement--Unsuccessful Attempt\nto establish Trade with the People of Cazembe--One of my Men tossed by a\nBuffalo--Meet a Man with Jacket and Hat on--Hear of the Portuguese and\nnative War--Holms and Terraces on the Banks of a River--Dancing for\nCorn--Beautiful Country--Mpende's Hostility--Incantations--A Fight\nanticipated--Courage and Remarks of my Men--Visit from two old\nCouncilors of Mpende--Their Opinion of the English--Mpende concludes\nnot to fight us--His subsequent Friendship--Aids us to cross\nthe River--The Country--Sweet Potatoes--Bakwain Theory of Rain\nconfirmed--Thunder without Clouds--Desertion of one of my Men--Other\nNatives' Ideas of the English--Dalama (gold)--Inhabitants dislike\nSlave-buyers--Meet native Traders with American Calico--Game-laws--\nElephant Medicine--Salt from the Sand--Fertility of Soil--Spotted\nHyaena--Liberality and Politeness of the People--Presents--A stingy\nwhite Trader--Natives' Remarks about him--Effect on their Minds--Rain\nand Wind now from an opposite Direction--Scarcity of Fuel--Trees\nfor Boat-building--Boroma--Freshets--Leave the River--Chicova,\nits Geological Features--Small Rapid near Tete--Loquacious\nGuide--Nyampungo, the Rain-charmer--An old Man--No\nSilver--Gold-washing--No Cattle.\n\n\n\n14TH. We reached the confluence of the Loangwa and the Zambesi, most\nthankful to God for his great mercies in helping us thus far. Mburuma's\npeople had behaved so suspiciously, that, though we had guides from him,\nwe were by no means sure that we should not be attacked in crossing\nthe Loangwa. We saw them here collecting in large numbers, and, though\nprofessing friendship, they kept at a distance from our camp. They\nrefused to lend us more canoes than two, though they have many. They\nhave no intercourse with Europeans except through the Babisa. They tell\nus that this was formerly the residence of the Bazunga, and maintain\nsilence as to the cause of their leaving it. I walked about some ruins\nI discovered, built of stone, and found the remains of a church, and on\none side lay a broken bell, with the letters I. H. S. and a cross, but\nno date. There were no inscriptions on stone, and the people could not\ntell what the Bazunga called their place. We found afterward it was\nZumbo.\n\nI felt some turmoil of spirit in the evening at the prospect of having\nall my efforts for the welfare of this great region and its teeming\npopulation knocked on the head by savages to-morrow, who might be said\nto \"know not what they do.\" It seemed such a pity that the important\nfact of the existence of the two healthy ridges which I had discovered\nshould not become known in Christendom, for a confirmation would thereby\nhave been given to the idea that Africa is not open to the Gospel. But\nI read that Jesus said, \"All power is given unto me in heaven and on\nearth; go ye, therefore, and teach all nations . . . and lo, I AM WITH\nYOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD.\" I took this as His word\nof honor, and then went out to take observations for latitude and\nlongitude, which, I think, were very successful. (The church: lat. 15d\n37' 22\" S., long. 30d 32' E.)\n\n15TH. The natives of the surrounding country collected around us this\nmorning, all armed. The women and children were sent away, and one of\nMburuma's wives, who lives in the vicinity, was not allowed to approach,\nthough she had come from her village to pay me a visit. Only one canoe\nwas lent to us, though we saw two others tied to the bank. The part\nwe crossed was about a mile from the confluence, and, as it was now\nflooded, it seemed upward of half a mile in breadth. We passed all our\ngoods first on to an island in the middle, then the remaining cattle and\nmen; occupying the post of honor, I, as usual, was the last to enter\nthe canoe. A number of the inhabitants stood armed all the time we were\nembarking. I showed them my watch, lens, and other things to keep them\namused, until there only remained those who were to enter the canoe with\nme. I thanked them for their kindness, and wished them peace. After all,\nthey may have been influenced only by the intention to be ready in\ncase I should play them some false trick, for they have reason to be\ndistrustful of the whites. The guides came over to bid us adieu, and we\nsat under a mango-tree fifteen feet in circumference. We found them more\ncommunicative now. They said that the land on both sides belonged to the\nBazunga, and that they had left of old, on the approach of Changamera,\nNgaba, and Mpakane. Sekwebu was with the last named, but he maintained\nthat they never came to the confluence, though they carried off all the\ncattle of Mburuma. The guides confirmed this by saying that the Bazunga\nwere not attacked, but fled in alarm on the approach of the enemy. This\nmango-tree he knew by its proper name, and we found seven others and\nseveral tamarinds, and were informed that the chief Mburuma sends men\nannually to gather the fruit, but, like many Africans whom I have known,\nhas not had patience to propagate more trees. I gave them some little\npresents for themselves, a handkerchief and a few beads, and they were\nhighly pleased with a cloth of red baize for Mburuma, which Sekeletu had\ngiven me to purchase a canoe. We were thankful to part good friends.\n\nNext morning we passed along the bottom of the range, called Mazanzwe,\nand found the ruins of eight or ten stone houses. They all faced the\nriver, and were high enough up the flanks of the hill Mazanzwe to\ncommand a pleasant view of the broad Zambesi. These establishments\nhad all been built on one plan--a house on one side of a large court,\nsurrounded by a wall; both houses and walls had been built of soft gray\nsandstone cemented together with mud. The work had been performed by\nslaves ignorant of building, for the stones were not often placed so as\nto cover the seams below. Hence you frequently find the joinings forming\none seam from the top to the bottom. Much mortar or clay had been used\nto cover defects, and now trees of the fig family grow upon the walls,\nand clasp them with their roots. When the clay is moistened, masses\nof the walls come down by wholesale. Some of the rafters and beams had\nfallen in, but were entire, and there were some trees in the middle of\nthe houses as large as a man's body. On the opposite or south bank of\nthe Zambesi we saw the remains of a wall on a height which was probably\na fort, and the church stood at a central point, formed by the right\nbank of the Loangwa and the left of the Zambesi.\n\nThe situation of Zumbo was admirably well chosen as a site for commerce.\nLooking backward we see a mass of high, dark mountains, covered with\ntrees; behind us rises the fine high hill Mazanzwe, which stretches away\nnorthward along the left bank of the Loangwa; to the S.E. lies an open\ncountry, with a small round hill in the distance called Tofulo. The\nmerchants, as they sat beneath the verandahs in front of their houses,\nhad a magnificent view of the two rivers at their confluence; of their\nchurch at the angle; and of all the gardens which they had on both sides\nof the rivers. In these they cultivated wheat without irrigation, and,\nas the Portuguese assert, of a grain twice the size of that at Tete.\nFrom the guides we learned that the inhabitants had not imbibed much\nidea of Christianity, for they used the same term for the church bell\nwhich they did for a diviner's drum. From this point the merchants had\nwater communication in three directions beyond, namely, from the Loangwa\nto the N.N.W., by the Kafue to the W., and by the Zambesi to the S.W.\nTheir attention, however, was chiefly attracted to the N. or Londa;\nand the principal articles of trade were ivory and slaves. Private\nenterprise was always restrained, for the colonies of the Portuguese\nbeing strictly military, and the pay of the commandants being very\nsmall, the officers have always been obliged to engage in trade; and\nhad they not employed their power to draw the trade to themselves by\npreventing private traders from making bargains beyond the villages,\nand only at regulated prices, they would have had no trade, as they\nthemselves were obliged to remain always at their posts.\n\nSeveral expeditions went to the north as far as to Cazembe, and Dr.\nLacerda, himself commandant of Tete, went to that chief's residence.\nUnfortunately, he was cut off while there, and his papers, taken\npossession of by a Jesuit who accompanied him, were lost to the world.\nThis Jesuit probably intended to act fairly and have them published;\nbut soon after his return he was called away by death himself, and the\npapers were lost sight of. Dr. Lacerda had a strong desire to open up\ncommunication with Angola, which would have been of importance then, as\naffording a speedier mode of communication with Portugal than by the way\nof the Cape; but since the opening of the overland passage to India, a\nquicker transit is effected from Eastern Africa to Lisbon by way of the\nRed Sea. Besides Lacerda, Cazembe was visited by Pereira, who gave a\nglowing account of that chief's power, which none of my inquiries have\nconfirmed. The people of Matiamvo stated to me that Cazembe was a vassal\nof their chief: and, from all the native visitors whom I have seen,\nhe appears to be exactly like Shinte and Katema, only a little more\npowerful. The term \"Emperor\", which has been applied to him, seems\ntotally inappropriate. The statement of Pereira that twenty negroes were\nslaughtered in a day, was not confirmed by any one else, though numbers\nmay have been killed on some particular occasion during the time of his\nvisit, for we find throughout all the country north of 20 Deg., which\nI consider to be real negro, the custom of slaughtering victims to\naccompany the departed soul of a chief, and human sacrifices are\noccasionally offered, and certain parts of the bodies are used as\ncharms. It is on account of the existence of such rites, with the\nsimilarity of the language, and the fact that the names of rivers are\nrepeated again and again from north to south through all that region,\nthat I consider them to have been originally one family. The last\nexpedition to Cazembe was somewhat of the same nature as the others, and\nfailed in establishing a commerce, because the people of Cazembe, who\nhad come to Tete to invite the Portuguese to visit them, had not been\nallowed to trade with whom they might. As it had not been free-trade\nthere, Cazembe did not see why it should be free-trade at his town; he\naccordingly would not allow his people to furnish the party with\nfood except at his price; and the expedition, being half starved in\nconsequence, came away voting unanimously that Cazembe was a great bore.\n\nWhen we left the Loangwa we thought we had got rid of the hills; but\nthere are some behind Mazanzwe, though five or six miles off from the\nriver. Tsetse and the hills had destroyed two riding oxen, and when the\nlittle one that I now rode knocked up, I was forced to march on foot.\nThe bush being very dense and high, we were going along among the trees,\nwhen three buffaloes, which we had unconsciously passed above the wind,\nthought that they were surrounded by men, and dashed through our line.\nMy ox set off at a gallop, and when I could manage to glance back, I saw\none of the men up in the air about five feet above a buffalo, which was\ntearing along with a stream of blood running down his flank. When I got\nback to the poor fellow, I found that he had lighted on his face, and,\nthough he had been carried on the horns of the buffalo about twenty\nyards before getting the final toss, the skin was not pierced nor was a\nbone broken. When the beasts appeared, he had thrown down his load and\nstabbed one in the side. It turned suddenly upon him, and, before he\ncould use a tree for defense, carried him off. We shampooed him well,\nand then went on, and in about a week he was able to engage in the hunt\nagain.\n\nAt Zumbo we had entered upon old gray sandstone, with shingle in it,\ndipping generally toward the south, and forming the bed of the river.\nThe Zambesi is very broad here, but contains many inhabited islands. We\nslept opposite one on the 16th called Shibanga. The nights are warm, the\ntemperature never falling below 80 Deg.; it was 91 Deg. even at sunset.\nOne can not cool the water by a wet towel round the vessel, and we feel\nno pleasure in drinking warm water, though the heat makes us imbibe\nlarge quantities. We often noticed lumps of a froth-like substance on\nthe bushes as large as cricket-balls, which we could not explain.\n\nOn the morning of the 17th we were pleased to see a person coming from\nthe island of Shibanga with jacket and hat on. He was quite black, but\nhad come from the Portuguese settlement at Tete or Nyungwe; and now, for\nthe first time, we understood that the Portuguese settlement was on\nthe other bank of the river, and that they had been fighting with the\nnatives for the last two years. We had thus got into the midst of a\nCaffre war, without any particular wish to be on either side. He advised\nus to cross the river at once, as Mpende lived on this side. We had been\nwarned by the guides of Mburuma against him, for they said that if we\ncould get past Mpende we might reach the white men, but that he was\ndetermined that no white man should pass him. Wishing to follow this\nman's advice, we proposed to borrow his canoes; but, being afraid to\noffend the lords of the river, he declined. The consequence was, we were\nobliged to remain on the enemy's side. The next island belonged to a man\nnamed Zungo, a fine, frank fellow, who brought us at once a present of\ncorn, bound in a peculiar way in grass. He freely accepted our apology\nfor having no present to give in return, as he knew that there were no\ngoods in the interior, and, besides, sent forward a recommendation to\nhis brother-in-law Pangola. The country adjacent to the river is covered\nwith dense bush, thorny and tangled, making one stoop or wait till the\nmen broke or held the branches on one side. There is much rank grass,\nbut it is not so high or rank as that of Angola. The maize, however,\nwhich is grown here is equal in size to that which the Americans sell\nfor seed at the Cape. There is usually a holm adjacent to the river,\nstudded with villages and gardens. The holms are but partially\ncultivated, and on the other parts grows rank and weedy grass. There is\nthen a second terrace, on which trees and bushes abound; and I thought\nI could detect a third and higher steppe. But I never could discover\nterraces on the adjacent country, such as in other countries show\nancient sea-beaches. The path runs sometimes on the one and sometimes on\nthe other of these river terraces. Canoes are essentially necessary; but\nI find that they here cost too much for my means, and higher up, where\nmy hoes might have secured one, I was unwilling to enter into a canoe\nand part with my men while there was danger of their being attacked.\n\n18TH. Yesterday we rested under a broad-spreading fig-tree. Large\nnumbers of buffaloes and water-antelopes were feeding quietly in the\nmeadows; the people have either no guns or no ammunition, or they would\nnot be so tame. Pangola visited us, and presented us with food. In\nfew other countries would one hundred and fourteen sturdy vagabonds be\nsupported by the generosity of the head men and villagers, and whatever\nthey gave be presented with politeness. My men got pretty well supplied\nindividually, for they went into the villages and commenced dancing. The\nyoung women were especially pleased with the new steps they had to show,\nthough I suspect many of them were invented for the occasion, and would\nsay, \"Dance for me, and I will grind corn for you.\" At every fresh\ninstance of liberality, Sekwebu said, \"Did not I tell you that these\npeople had hearts, while we were still at Linyanti?\" All agreed that the\ncharacter he had given was true, and some remarked, \"Look! although we\nhave been so long away from home, not one of us has become lean.\" It was\na fact that we had been all well supplied either with meat by my gun or\ntheir own spears, or food from the great generosity of the inhabitants.\nPangola promised to ferry us across the Zambesi, but failed to fulfill\nhis promise. He seemed to wish to avoid offending his neighbor Mpende\nby aiding us to escape from his hands, so we proceeded along the bank.\nAlthough we were in doubt as to our reception by Mpende, I could not\nhelp admiring the beautiful country as we passed along. There is,\nindeed, only a small part under cultivation in this fertile valley, but\nmy mind naturally turned to the comparison of it with Kolobeng, where we\nwaited anxiously during months for rain, and only a mere thunder-shower\nfollowed. I shall never forget the dry, hot east winds of that region;\nthe yellowish, sultry, cloudless sky; the grass and all the plants\ndrooping from drought, the cattle lean, the people dispirited, and our\nown hearts sick from hope deferred. There we often heard in the dead of\nthe night the shrill whistle of the rain-doctor calling for rain that\nwould not come, while here we listened to the rolling thunder by night,\nand beheld the swelling valleys adorned with plenty by day. We have rain\nalmost daily, and every thing is beautifully fresh and green. I felt\nsomewhat as people do on coming ashore after a long voyage--inclined\nto look upon the landscape in the most favorable light. The hills are\ncovered with forests, and there is often a long line of fleecy cloud\nlying on them about midway up; they are very beautiful. Finding no one\nwilling to aid us in crossing the river, we proceeded to the village of\nthe chief Mpende. A fine large conical hill now appeared to the N.N.E.;\nit is the highest I have seen in these parts, and at some points it\nappears to be two cones joined together, the northern one being a little\nlower than the southern. Another high hill stands on the same side to\nthe N.E., and, from its similarity in shape to an axe at the top, is\ncalled Motemwa. Beyond it, eastward, lies the country of Kaimbwa, a\nchief who has been engaged in actual conflict with the Bazunga, and\nbeat them too, according to the version of things here. The hills on\nthe north bank are named Kamoenja. When we came to Mpende's village, he\nimmediately sent to inquire who we were, and then ordered the guides\nwho had come with us from the last village to go back and call their\nmasters. He sent no message to us whatever. We had traveled very slowly\nup to this point, the tsetse-stricken oxen being now unable to go two\nmiles an hour. We were also delayed by being obliged to stop at every\nvillage, and send notice of our approach to the head man, who came and\nreceived a little information, and gave some food. If we had passed\non without taking any notice of them, they would have considered it\nimpolite, and we should have appeared more as enemies than friends.\nI consoled myself for the loss of time by the thought that these\nconversations tended to the opening of our future path.\n\n23D. This morning, at sunrise, a party of Mpende's people came close\nto our encampment, uttering strange cries and waving some bright red\nsubstance toward us. They then lighted a fire with charms in it, and\ndeparted, uttering the same hideous screams as before. This was intended\nto render us powerless, and probably also to frighten us. Ever since\ndawn, parties of armed men have been seen collecting from all quarters,\nand numbers passed us while it was yet dark. Had we moved down the\nriver at once, it would have been considered an indication of fear or\ndefiance, and so would a retreat. I therefore resolved to wait, trusting\nin Him who has the hearts of all men in His hands. They evidently\nintended to attack us, for no friendly message was sent; and when three\nof the Batoka the night before entered the village to beg food, a man\nwent round about each of them, making a noise like a lion. The villagers\nthen called upon them to do homage, and, when they complied, the chief\nordered some chaff to be given them, as if it had been food. Other\nthings also showed unmistakable hostility. As we were now pretty certain\nof a skirmish, I ordered an ox to be slaughtered, as this is a means\nwhich Sebituane employed for inspiring courage. I have no doubt that\nwe should have been victorious; indeed, my men, who were far better\nacquainted with fighting than any of the people on the Zambesi, were\nrejoicing in the prospect of securing captives to carry the tusks for\nthem. \"We shall now,\" said they, \"get both corn and clothes in plenty.\"\nThey were in a sad state, poor fellows; for the rains we had encountered\nhad made their skin-clothing drop off piecemeal, and they were looked\nupon with disgust by the well-fed and well-clothed Zambesians. They\nwere, however, veterans in marauding, and the head men, instead of being\ndepressed by fear, as the people of Mpende intended should be the case\nin using their charms, hinted broadly to me that I ought to allow them\nto keep Mpende's wives. The roasting of meat went on fast and furious,\nand some of the young men said to me, \"You have seen us with elephants,\nbut you don't know yet what we can do with men.\" I believe that, had\nMpende struck the first blow, he would soon have found out that he never\nmade a greater mistake in his life.\n\nHis whole tribe was assembled at about the distance of half a mile. As\nthe country is covered with trees, we did not see them; but every now\nand then a few came about us as spies, and would answer no questions. I\nhanded a leg of the ox to two of these, and desired them to take it to\nMpende. After waiting a considerable time in suspense, two old men\nmade their appearance, and said they had come to inquire who I was. I\nreplied, \"I am a Lekoa\" (an Englishman). They said, \"We don't know that\ntribe. We suppose you are a Mozunga, the tribe with which we have been\nfighting.\" As I was not yet aware that the term Mozunga was applied to\na Portuguese, and thought they meant half-castes, I showed them my hair\nand the skin of my bosom, and asked if the Bazunga had hair and skin\nlike mine. As the Portuguese have the custom of cutting the hair close,\nand are also somewhat darker than we are, they answered, \"No; we never\nsaw skin so white as that;\" and added, \"Ah! you must be one of that\ntribe that loves (literally, 'has heart to') the black men.\" I, of\ncourse, gladly responded in the affirmative. They returned to the\nvillage, and we afterward heard that there had been a long discussion\nbetween Mpende and his councilors, and that one of the men with whom we\nhad remained to talk the day before had been our advocate. He was\nnamed Sindese Oalea. When we were passing his village, after some\nconversation, he said to his people, \"Is that the man whom they wish to\nstop after he has passed so many tribes? What can Mpende say to refusing\nhim a passage?\" It was owing to this man, and the fact that I belonged\nto the \"friendly white tribe\", that Mpende was persuaded to allow us to\npass. When we knew the favorable decision of the council, I sent Sekwebu\nto speak about the purchase of a canoe, as one of my men had become very\nill, and I wished to relieve his companions by taking him in a canoe.\nBefore Sekwebu could finish his story, Mpende remarked, \"That white man\nis truly one of our friends. See how he lets me know his afflictions!\"\nSekwebu adroitly took advantage of this turn in the conversation, and\nsaid, \"Ah! if you only knew him as well as we do who have lived with\nhim, you would understand that he highly values your friendship and that\nof Mburuma, and, as he is a stranger, he trusts in you to direct him.\"\nHe replied, \"Well, he ought to cross to the other side of the river, for\nthis bank is hilly and rough, and the way to Tete is longer on this than\non the opposite bank.\" \"But who will take us across, if you do not?\"\n\"Truly!\" replied Mpende; \"I only wish you had come sooner to tell me\nabout him; but you shall cross.\" Mpende said frequently he was sorry he\nhad not known me sooner, but that he had been prevented by his enchanter\nfrom coming near me; and he lamented that the same person had kept him\nfrom eating the meat which I had presented. He did every thing he could\nafterward to aid us on our course, and our departure was as different\nas possible from our approach to his village. I was very much pleased to\nfind the English name spoken of with such great respect so far from\nthe coast, and most thankful that no collision occurred to damage its\ninfluence.\n\n24TH. Mpende sent two of his principal men to order the people of a\nlarge island below to ferry us across. The river is very broad, and,\nthough my men were well acquainted with the management of canoes, we\ncould not all cross over before dark. It is 1200 yards from bank to\nbank, and between 700 and 800 of deep water, flowing at the rate of\n3-3/4 miles per hour. We landed first on an island; then, to prevent our\nfriends playing false with us, hauled the canoes up to our bivouac, and\nslept in them. Next morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety.\nWe observed, as we came along the Zambesi, that it had fallen two feet\nbelow the height at which we first found it, and the water, though still\nmuddy enough to deposit a film at the bottom of vessels in a few hours,\nis not nearly so red as it was, nor is there so much wreck on its\nsurface. It is therefore not yet the period of the central Zambesi\ninundation, as we were aware also from our knowledge of the interior.\nThe present height of the water has been caused by rains outside the\neastern ridge. The people here seem abundantly supplied with English\ncotton goods. The Babisa are the medium of trade, for we were informed\nthat the Bazunga, who formerly visited these parts, have been prevented\nby the war from coming for the last two years. The Babisa are said to be\nso fond of a tusk that they will even sell a newly-married wife for one.\nAs we were now not far from the latitude of Mozambique, I was somewhat\ntempted to strike away from the river to that port, instead of going to\nthe S.E., in the direction the river flows; but, the great object of my\njourney being to secure water-carriage, I resolved to continue along the\nZambesi, though it did lead me among the enemies of the Portuguese. The\nregion to the north of the ranges of hills on our left is called Senga,\nfrom being the country of the Basenga, who are said to be great workers\nin iron, and to possess abundance of fine iron ore, which, when broken,\nshows veins of the pure metal in its substance. It has been well roasted\nin the operations of nature. Beyond Senga lies a range of mountains\ncalled Mashinga, to which the Portuguese in former times went to wash\nfor gold, and beyond that are great numbers of tribes which pass under\nthe general term Maravi. To the northeast there are extensive plains\ndestitute of trees, but covered with grass, and in some places it is\nmarshy. The whole of the country to the north of the Zambesi is asserted\nto be very much more fertile than that to the south. The Maravi, for\ninstance, raise sweet potatoes of immense size, but when these are\nplanted on the southern bank they soon degenerate. The root of this\nplant ('Convolvulus batata') does not keep more than two or three days,\nunless it is cut into thin slices and dried in the sun, but the Maravi\nmanage to preserve them for months by digging a pit and burying them\ntherein inclosed in wood-ashes. Unfortunately, the Maravi, and all the\ntribes on that side of the country, are at enmity with the Portuguese,\nand, as they practice night attacks in their warfare, it is dangerous to\ntravel among them.\n\n29TH. I was most sincerely thankful to find myself on the south bank of\nthe Zambesi, and, having nothing else, I sent back one of my two spoons\nand a shirt as a thank-offering to Mpende. The different head men along\nthis river act very much in concert, and if one refuses passage they all\ndo, uttering the sage remark, \"If so-and-so did not lend his canoes, he\nmust have had some good reason.\" The next island we came to was that\nof a man named Mozinkwa. Here we were detained some days by continuous\nrains, and thought we observed the confirmation of the Bakwain theory of\nrains. A double tier of clouds floated quickly away to the west, and\nas soon as they began to come in an opposite direction the rains poured\ndown. The inhabitants who live in a dry region like that of Kolobeng are\nnearly all as weather-wise as the rain-makers, and any one living among\nthem for any length of time becomes as much interested in the motions of\nthe clouds as they are themselves. Mr. Moffat, who was as sorely tried\nby droughts as we were, and had his attention directed in the same way,\nhas noted the curious phenomenon of thunder without clouds. Mrs. L.\nheard it once, but I never had that good fortune. It is worth the\nattention of the observant. Humboldt has seen rain without clouds, a\nphenomenon quite as singular. I have been in the vicinity of the fall of\nthree aerolites, none of which I could afterward discover. One fell into\nthe lake Kumadau with a report somewhat like a sharp peal of thunder.\nThe women of the Bakurutse villages there all uttered a scream on\nhearing it. This happened at midday, and so did another at what is\ncalled the Great Chuai, which was visible in its descent, and was also\naccompanied with a thundering noise. The third fell near Kuruman, and\nat night, and was seen as a falling star by people at Motito and at\nDaniel's Kuil, places distant forty miles on opposite sides of the\nspot. It sounded to me like the report of a great gun, and a few seconds\nafter, a lesser sound, as if striking the earth after a rebound. Does\nthe passage of a few such aerolites through the atmosphere to the earth\nby day cause thunder without clouds?\n\nWe were detained here so long that my tent became again quite rotten.\nOne of my men, after long sickness, which I did not understand, died\nhere. He was one of the Batoka, and when unable to walk I had some\ndifficulty in making his companions carry him. They wished to leave\nhim to die when his case became hopeless. Another of them deserted to\nMozinkwa. He said that his motive for doing so was that the Makololo\nhad killed both his father and mother, and, as he had neither wife nor\nchild, there was no reason why he should continue longer with them. I\ndid not object to his statements, but said if he should change his mind\nhe would be welcome to rejoin us, and intimated to Mozinkwa that he must\nnot be sold as a slave. We are now among people inured to slave-dealing.\nWe were visited by men who had been as far as Tete or Nyungwe, and were\ntold that we were but ten days from that fort. One of them, a Mashona\nman, who had come from a great distance to the southwest, was anxious to\naccompany us to the country of the white men; he had traveled far, and\nI found that he had also knowledge of the English tribe, and of their\nhatred to the trade in slaves. He told Sekwebu that the \"English\nwere men\", an emphasis being put upon the term MEN, which leaves the\nimpression that others are, as they express it in speaking scornfully,\n\"only THINGS\". Several spoke in the same manner, and I found that from\nMpende's downward I rose higher every day in the estimation of my own\npeople. Even the slaves gave a very high character to the English, and\nI found out afterward that, when I was first reported at Tete, the\nservants of my friend the commandant said to him in joke, \"Ah! this is\nour brother who is coming; we shall all leave you and go with him.\" We\nhad still, however, some difficulties in store for us before reaching\nthat point.\n\nThe man who wished to accompany us came and told us before our departure\nthat his wife would not allow him to go, and she herself came to confirm\nthe decision. Here the women have only a small puncture in the upper\nlip, in which they insert a little button of tin. The perforation is\nmade by degrees, a ring with an opening in it being attached to the\nlip, and the ends squeezed gradually together. The pressure on the flesh\nbetween the ends of the ring causes its absorption, and a hole is the\nresult. Children may be seen with the ring on the lip, but not yet\npunctured. The tin they purchase from the Portuguese, and, although\nsilver is reported to have been found in former times in this district,\nno one could distinguish it from tin. But they had a knowledge of gold,\nand for the first time I heard the word \"dalama\" (gold) in the native\nlanguage. The word is quite unknown in the interior, and so is the\nmetal itself. In conversing with the different people, we found the idea\nprevalent that those who had purchased slaves from them had done them\nan injury. \"All the slaves of Nyungwe,\" said one, \"are our children; the\nBazunga have made a town at our expense.\" When I asked if they had\nnot taken the prices offered them, they at once admitted it, but still\nthought that they had been injured by being so far tempted. From the\nway in which the lands of Zumbo were spoken of as still belonging to the\nPortuguese (and they are said to have been obtained by purchase), I was\ninclined to conclude that the purchase of land is not looked upon by the\ninhabitants in the same light as the purchase of slaves.\n\nFEBRUARY 1ST. We met some native traders, and, as many of my men were\nnow in a state of nudity, I bought some American calico marked \"Lawrence\nMills, Lowell\", with two small tusks, and distributed it among the most\nneedy. After leaving Mozinkwa's we came to the Zingesi, a sand-rivulet\nin flood (lat. 15d 38' 34\" S., long. 31d 1' E.). It was sixty or seventy\nyards wide, and waist-deep. Like all these sand-rivers, it is for the\nmost part dry; but by digging down a few feet, water is to be found,\nwhich is percolating along the bed on a stratum of clay. This is the\nphenomenon which is dignified by the name of \"a river flowing under\nground.\" In trying to ford this I felt thousands of particles of coarse\nsand striking my legs, and the slight disturbance of our footsteps\ncaused deep holes to be made in the bed. The water, which is almost\nalways very rapid in them, dug out the sand beneath our feet in a second\nor two, and we were all sinking by that means so deep that we were glad\nto relinquish the attempt to ford it before we got half way over; the\noxen were carried away down into the Zambesi. These sand-rivers remove\nvast masses of disintegrated rock before it is fine enough to form soil.\nThe man who preceded me was only thigh-deep, but the disturbance caused\nby his feet made it breast-deep for me. The shower of particles and\ngravel which struck against my legs gave me the idea that the amount of\nmatter removed by every freshet must be very great. In most rivers\nwhere much wearing is going on, a person diving to the bottom may\nhear literally thousands of stones knocking against each other. This\nattrition, being carried on for hundreds of miles in different rivers,\nmust have an effect greater than if all the pestles and mortars and\nmills of the world were grinding and wearing away the rocks. The\npounding to which I refer may be heard most distinctly in the Vaal\nRiver, when that is slightly in flood. It was there I first heard it.\nIn the Leeambye, in the middle of the country, where there is no\ndiscoloration, and little carried along but sand, it is not to be heard.\n\nWhile opposite the village of a head man called Mosusa, a number of\nelephants took refuge on an island in the river. There were two males,\nand a third not full grown; indeed, scarcely the size of a female. This\nwas the first instance I had ever seen of a comparatively young one with\nthe males, for they usually remain with the female herd till as large as\ntheir dams. The inhabitants were very anxious that my men should attack\nthem, as they go into the gardens on the islands, and do much damage.\nThe men went, but the elephants ran about half a mile to the opposite\nend of the island, and swam to the main land with their probosces above\nthe water, and, no canoe being near, they escaped. They swim strongly,\nwith the proboscis erect in the air. I was not very desirous to have one\nof these animals killed, for we understood that when we passed Mpende we\ncame into a country where the game-laws are strictly enforced. The lands\nof each chief are very well defined, the boundaries being usually marked\nby rivulets, great numbers of which flow into the Zambesi from both\nbanks, and, if an elephant is wounded on one man's land and dies on that\nof another, the under half of the carcass is claimed by the lord of the\nsoil; and so stringent is the law, that the hunter can not begin at once\nto cut up his own elephant, but must send notice to the lord of the soil\non which it lies, and wait until that personage sends one authorized to\nsee a fair partition made. If the hunter should begin to cut up before\nthe agent of the landowner arrives, he is liable to lose both the tusks\nand all the flesh. The hind leg of a buffalo must also be given to the\nman on whose land the animal was grazing, and a still larger quantity\nof the eland, which here and every where else in the country is esteemed\nright royal food. In the country above Zumbo we did not find a vestige\nof this law; and but for the fact that it existed in the country of\nthe Bamapela, far to the south of this, I should have been disposed to\nregard it in the same light as I do the payment for leave to pass--an\nimposition levied on him who is seen to be weak because in the hands\nof his slaves. The only game-laws in the interior are, that the man who\nfirst wounds an animal, though he has inflicted but a mere scratch, is\nconsidered the killer of it; the second is entitled to a hind quarter,\nand the third to a fore leg. The chiefs are generally entitled to a\nshare as tribute; in some parts it is the breast, in others the whole\nof the ribs and one fore leg. I generally respected this law, although\nexceptions are sometimes made when animals are killed by guns. The\nknowledge that he who succeeds in reaching the wounded beast first is\nentitled to a share stimulates the whole party to greater exertions in\ndispatching it. One of my men, having a knowledge of elephant medicine,\nwas considered the leader in the hunt; he went before the others,\nexamined the animals, and on his decision all depended. If he decided to\nattack a herd, the rest went boldly on; but if he declined, none of them\nwould engage. A certain part of the elephant belonged to him by right\nof the office he held, and such was the faith in medicine held by the\nslaves of the Portuguese whom we met hunting, that they offered to pay\nthis man handsomely if he would show them the elephant medicine.\n\nWhen near Mosusa's village we passed a rivulet called Chowe, now running\nwith rain-water. The inhabitants there extract a little salt from the\nsand when it is dry, and all the people of the adjacent country come\nto purchase it from them. This was the first salt we had met with since\nleaving Angola, for none is to be found in either the country of the\nBalonda or Barotse; but we heard of salt-pans about a fortnight west\nof Naliele, and I got a small supply from Mpololo while there. That had\nlong since been finished, and I had again lived two months without salt,\nsuffering no inconvenience except an occasional longing for animal food\nor milk.\n\nIn marching along, the rich reddish-brown soil was so clammy that it\nwas very difficult to walk. It is, however, extremely fertile, and the\npeople cultivate amazing quantities of corn, maize, millet, ground-nuts,\npumpkins, and cucumbers. We observed that, when plants failed in one\nspot, they were in the habit of transplanting them into another, and\nthey had also grown large numbers of young plants on the islands, where\nthey are favored by moisture from the river, and were now removing them\nto the main land. The fact of their being obliged to do this shows that\nthere is less rain here than in Londa, for there we observed the grain\nin all stages of its growth at the same time.\n\nThe people here build their huts in gardens on high stages. This is\nnecessary on account of danger from the spotted hyaena, which is said\nto be very fierce, and also as a protection against lions and elephants.\nThe hyaena is a very cowardly animal, but frequently approaches persons\nlying asleep, and makes an ugly gash on the face. Mozinkwa had lost his\nupper lip in this way, and I have heard of men being killed by them;\nchildren, too, are sometimes carried off; for, though he is so cowardly\nthat the human voice will make him run away at once, yet, when his teeth\nare in the flesh, he holds on, and shows amazing power of jaw. Leg-bones\nof oxen, from which the natives have extracted the marrow and every\nthing eatable, are by this animal crunched up with the greatest ease,\nwhich he apparently effects by turning them round in his teeth till they\nare in a suitable position for being split.\n\nWe had now come among people who had plenty, and were really very\nliberal. My men never returned from a village without some corn or maize\nin their hands. The real politeness with which food is given by\nnearly all the interior tribes, who have not had much intercourse with\nEuropeans, makes it a pleasure to accept. Again and again I have heard\nan apology made for the smallness of the present, or regret expressed\nthat they had not received notice of my approach in time to grind more,\nand generally they readily accepted our excuse at having nothing to give\nin return by saying that they were quite aware that there are no white\nmen's goods in the interior. When I had it in my power, I always gave\nsomething really useful. To Katema, Shinte, and others, I gave presents\nwhich cost me about 2 Pounds each, and I could return to them at any\ntime without having a character for stinginess. How some men can offer\nthree buttons, or some other equally contemptible gift, while they have\nabundance in their possession, is to me unaccountable. They surely do\nnot know, when they write it in their books, that they are declaring\nthey have compromised the honor of Englishmen. The people receive the\noffering with a degree of shame, and ladies may be seen to hand it\nquickly to the attendants, and, when they retire, laugh until the tears\nstand in their eyes, saying to those about them, \"Is that a white man?\nthen there are niggards among them too. Some of them are born without\nhearts!\" One white trader, having presented an OLD GUN to a chief,\nbecame a standing joke in the tribe: \"The white man who made a\npresent of a gun that was new when his grandfather was sucking his\ngreat-grandmother.\" When these tricks are repeated, the natives come to\nthe conclusion that people who show such a want of sense must be told\ntheir duty; they therefore let them know what they ought to give,\nand travelers then complain of being pestered with their \"shameless\nbegging\". I was troubled by importunity on the confines of civilization\nonly, and when I first came to Africa.\n\nFEBRUARY 4TH. We were much detained by rains, a heavy shower without\nwind falling every morning about daybreak; it often cleared up after\nthat, admitting of our moving on a few miles. A continuous rain of\nseveral hours then set in. The wind up to this point was always from\nthe east, but both rain and wind now came so generally from the west,\nor opposite direction to what we had been accustomed to in the interior,\nthat we were obliged to make our encampment face the east, in order to\nhave them in our backs. The country adjacent to the river abounds in\nlarge trees; but the population is so numerous that, those left being\nall green, it is difficult to get dry firewood. On coming to some\nplaces, too, we were warned by the villagers not to cut the trees\ngrowing in certain spots, as they contained the graves of their\nancestors. There are many tamarind-trees, and another very similar,\nwhich yields a fruit as large as a small walnut, of which the elephants\nare very fond. It is called Motondo, and the Portuguese extol its timber\nas excellent for building boats, as it does not soon rot in water.\n\nOn the 6th we came to the village of Boroma, which is situated among a\nnumber of others, each surrounded by extensive patches of cultivation.\nOn the opposite side of the river we have a great cluster of conical\nhills called Chorichori. Boroma did not make his appearance, but sent\na substitute who acted civilly. I sent Sekwebu in the morning to\nstate that we intended to move on; his mother replied that, as she had\nexpected that we should remain, no food was ready, but she sent a basket\nof corn and a fowl. As an excuse why Boroma did not present himself, she\nsaid that he was seized that morning by the Barimo, which probably meant\nthat his lordship was drunk.\n\nWe marched along the river to a point opposite the hill Pinkwe (lat. 15d\n39' 11\" S., long. 32d 5' E.), but the late abundant rains now flooded\nthe Zambesi again, and great quantities of wreck appeared upon the\nstream. It is probable that frequent freshets, caused by the rains on\nthis side of the ridge, have prevented the Portuguese near the coast\nfrom recognizing the one peculiar flood of inundation observed in\nthe interior, and caused the belief that it is flooded soon after the\ncommencement of the rains. The course of the Nile being in the opposite\ndirection to this, it does not receive these subsidiary waters, and\nhence its inundation is recognized all the way along its course. If the\nLeeambye were prolonged southward into the Cape Colony, its flood would\nbe identical with that of the Nile. It would not be influenced by any\nstreams in the Kalahari, for there, as in a corresponding part of the\nNile, there would be no feeders. It is to be remembered that the great\nancient river which flowed to the lake at Boochap took this course\nexactly, and probably flowed thither until the fissure of the falls was\nmade.\n\nThis flood having filled the river, we found the numerous rivulets which\nflow into it filled also, and when going along the Zambesi, we lost so\nmuch time in passing up each little stream till we could find a ford\nabout waist deep, and then returning to the bank, that I resolved\nto leave the river altogether, and strike away to the southeast. We\naccordingly struck off when opposite the hill Pinkwe, and came into a\nhard Mopane country. In a hole of one of the mopane-trees I noticed that\na squirrel ('Sciurus cepapi') had placed a great number of fresh leaves\nover a store of seed. It is not against the cold of winter that they\nthus lay up food, but it is a provision against the hot season, when the\ntrees have generally no seed. A great many silicified trees are met with\nlying on the ground all over this part of the country; some are broken\noff horizontally, and stand upright; others are lying prone, and broken\nacross into a number of pieces. One was 4 feet 8 inches in diameter,\nand the wood must have been soft like that of the baobab, for there were\nonly six concentric rings to the inch. As the semidiameter was only 28\ninches, this large tree could have been but 168 years old. I found\nalso a piece of palm-tree transformed into oxide of iron, and the pores\nfilled with pure silica. These fossil trees lie upon soft gray sandstone\ncontaining banks of shingle, which forms the underlying rock of the\ncountry all the way from Zumbo to near Lupata. It is met with at\nLitubaruba and in Angola, with similar banks of shingle imbedded exactly\nlike those now seen on the sea-beach, but I never could find a shell.\nThere are many nodules and mounds of hardened clay upon it, which seem\nto have been deposited in eddies made round the roots of these ancient\ntrees, for they appear of different colors in wavy and twisted lines.\nAbove this we have small quantities of calcareous marl.\n\nAs we were now in the district of Chicova, I examined the geological\nstructure of the country with interest, because here, it has been\nstated, there once existed silver mines. The general rock is the gray\nsoft sandstone I have mentioned, but at the rivulet Bangue we come upon\na dike of basalt six yards wide, running north and south. When we\ncross this, we come upon several others, some of which run more to the\neastward. The sandstone is then found to have been disturbed, and at\nthe rivulet called Nake we found it tilted up and exhibiting a section,\nwhich was coarse sandstone above, sandstone-flag, shale, and, lastly, a\nthin seam of coal. The section was only shown for a short distance, and\nthen became lost by a fault made by a dike of basalt, which ran to the\nE.N.E. in the direction of Chicova.\n\nThis Chicova is not a kingdom, as has been stated, but a level tract, a\npart of which is annually overflowed by the Zambesi, and is well adapted\nfor the cultivation of corn. It is said to be below the northern end\nof the hill Bungwe. I was very much pleased in discovering this small\nspecimen of such a precious mineral as coal. I saw no indication of\nsilver, and, if it ever was worked by the natives, it is remarkable that\nthey have entirely lost the knowledge of it, and can not distinguish\nbetween silver and tin. In connection with these basaltic dikes, it may\nbe mentioned that when I reached Tete I was informed of the existence of\na small rapid in the river near Chicova; had I known this previously,\nI certainly would not have left the river without examining it. It is\ncalled Kebrabasa, and is described as a number of rocks which jut out\nacross the stream. I have no doubt but that it is formed by some of\nthe basaltic dikes which we now saw, for they generally ran toward that\npoint. I was partly influenced in leaving the river by a wish to avoid\nseveral chiefs in that direction, who levy a heavy tribute on those\nwho pass up or down. Our path lay along the bed of the Nake for some\ndistance, the banks being covered with impenetrable thickets. The\nvillages are not numerous, but we went from one to the other, and were\ntreated kindly. Here they call themselves Bambiri, though the general\nname of the whole nation is Banyai. One of our guides was an inveterate\ntalker, always stopping and asking for pay, that he might go on with\na merry heart. I thought that he led us in the most difficult paths in\norder to make us feel his value, for, after passing through one thicket\nafter another, we always came into the bed of the Nake again, and as\nthat was full of coarse sand, and the water only ankle deep, and as hot\nas a foot-bath from the powerful rays of the sun, we were all completely\ntired out. He likewise gave us a bad character at every village we\npassed, calling to them that they were to allow him to lead us astray,\nas we were a bad set. Sekwebu knew every word he said, and, as he became\nintolerable, I dismissed him, giving him six feet of calico I had bought\nfrom native traders, and telling him that his tongue was a nuisance.\nIt is in general best, when a scolding is necessary, to give it in\ncombination with a present, and then end it by good wishes. This fellow\nwent off smiling, and my men remarked, \"His tongue is cured now.\" The\ncountry around the Nake is hilly, and the valleys covered with tangled\njungle. The people who live in this district have reclaimed their\ngardens from the forest, and the soil is extremely fertile. The Nake\nflows northerly, and then to the east. It is 50 or 60 yards wide, but\nduring most of the year is dry, affording water only by digging in the\nsand. We found in its bed masses of volcanic rock, identical with those\nI subsequently recognized as such at Aden.\n\n13TH. The head man of these parts is named Nyampungo. I sent the last\nfragment of cloth we had, with a request that we should be furnished\nwith a guide to the next chief. After a long conference with his\ncouncil, the cloth was returned with a promise of compliance, and a\nrequest for some beads only. This man is supposed to possess the charm\nfor rain, and other tribes send to him to beg it. This shows that what\nwe inferred before was correct, that less rain falls in this country\nthan in Londa. Nyampungo behaved in quite a gentlemanly manner,\npresented me with some rice, and told my people to go among all the\nvillages and beg for themselves. An old man, father-in-law of the chief,\ntold me that he had seen books before, but never knew what they meant.\nThey pray to departed chiefs and relatives, but the idea of praying\nto God seemed new, and they heard it with reverence. As this was\nan intelligent old man, I asked him about the silver, but he was as\nignorant of it as the rest, and said, \"We never dug silver, but we have\nwashed for gold in the sands of the rivers Mazoe and Luia, which unite\nin the Luenya.\" I think that this is quite conclusive on the question of\nno silver having been dug by the natives of this district. Nyampungo is\nafflicted with a kind of disease called Sesenda, which I imagine to be\na species of leprosy common in this quarter, though they are a cleanly\npeople. They never had cattle. The chief's father had always lived in\ntheir present position, and, when I asked him why he did not possess\nthese useful animals, he said, \"Who would give us the medicine to enable\nus to keep them?\" I found out the reason afterward in the prevalence of\ntsetse, but of this he was ignorant, having supposed that he could not\nkeep cattle because he had no medicine.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 30.\n\nAn Elephant-hunt--Offering and Prayers to the Barimo for Success--\nNative Mode of Expression--Working of Game-laws--A Feast--Laughing\nHyaenas--Numerous Insects--Curious Notes of Birds of Song--\nCaterpillars--Butterflies--Silica--The Fruit Makoronga and Elephants\n--Rhinoceros Adventure--Korwe Bird--Its Nest--A real Confinement--\nHoney and Beeswax--Superstitious Reverence for the Lion--Slow\nTraveling--Grapes--The Ue--Monina's Village--Native Names--Government\nof the Banyai--Electing a Chief--Youths instructed in\n\"Bonyai\"--Suspected of Falsehood--War-dance--Insanity and Disappearance\nof Monahin--Fruitless Search--Monina's Sympathy--The Sand-river\nTangwe--The Ordeal Muavi: its Victims--An unreasonable Man--\"Woman's\nRights\"--Presents--Temperance--A winding Course to shun Villages--\nBanyai Complexion and Hair--Mushrooms--The Tubers, Mokuri--The Tree\nShekabakadzi--Face of the Country--Pot-holes--Pursued by a Party\nof Natives--Unpleasant Threat--Aroused by a Company of Soldiers--A\ncivilized Breakfast--Arrival at Tete.\n\n\n\n14TH. We left Nyampungo this morning. The path wound up the Molinge,\nanother sand-river which flows into the Nake. When we got clear of the\ntangled jungle which covers the banks of these rivulets, we entered the\nMopane country, where we could walk with comfort. When we had gone on\na few hours, my men espied an elephant, and were soon in full pursuit.\nThey were in want of meat, having tasted nothing but grain for several\ndays. The desire for animal food made them all eager to slay him, and,\nthough an old bull, he was soon killed. The people of Nyampungo had\nnever seen such desperadoes before. One rushed up and hamstrung\nthe beast, while still standing, by a blow with an axe. Some Banyai\nelephant-hunters happened to be present when my men were fighting with\nhim. One of them took out his snuff-box, and poured out all its contents\nat the root of a tree as an offering to the Barimo for success. As soon\nas the animal fell, the whole of my party engaged in a wild, savage\ndance round the body, which quite frightened the Banyai, and he who made\nthe offering said to me, \"I see you are traveling with people who don't\nknow how to pray: I therefore offered the only thing I had in their\nbehalf, and the elephant soon fell.\" One of Nyampungo's men, who\nremained with me, ran a little forward, when an opening in the trees\ngave us a view of the chase, and uttered loud prayers for success in\nthe combat. I admired the devout belief they all possessed in the actual\nexistence of unseen beings, and prayed that they might yet know that\nbenignant One who views us all as his own. My own people, who are rather\na degraded lot, remarked to me as I came up, \"God gave it to us. He\nsaid to the old beast, 'Go up there; men are come who will kill and eat\nyou.'\" These remarks are quoted to give the reader an idea of the native\nmode of expression.\n\nAs we were now in the country of stringent game-laws, we were obliged\nto send all the way back to Nyampungo, to give information to a certain\nperson who had been left there by the real owner of this district to\nwatch over his property, the owner himself living near the Zambesi. The\nside upon which the elephant fell had a short, broken tusk; the upper\none, which was ours, was large and thick. The Banyai remarked on our\ngood luck. The men sent to give notice came back late in the afternoon\nof the following day. They brought a basket of corn, a fowl, and a few\nstrings of handsome beads, as a sort of thank-offering for our having\nkilled it on their land, and said they had thanked the Barimo besides\nfor our success, adding, \"There it is; eat it and be glad.\" Had we begun\nto cut it up before we got this permission, we should have lost the\nwhole. They had brought a large party to eat their half, and they\ndivided it with us in a friendly way. My men were delighted with the\nfeast, though, by lying unopened a whole day, the carcass was pretty far\ngone. An astonishing number of hyaenas collected round, and kept up a\nloud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make a very good\nimitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the hyaenas were laughing at,\nas they usually give animals credit for a share of intelligence. They\nsaid that they were laughing because we could not take the whole, and\nthat they would have plenty to eat as well as we.\n\nOn coming to the part where the elephant was slain, we passed through\ngrass so tall that it reminded me of that in the valley of Cassange.\nInsects are very numerous after the rains commence. While waiting by\nthe elephant, I observed a great number of insects, like grains of fine\nsand, moving on my boxes. On examination with a glass, four species were\napparent; one of green and gold preening its wings, which glanced in the\nsun with metallic lustre; another clear as crystal; a third of the color\nof vermilion; and a fourth black. These are probably some of those which\nconsume the seeds of every plant that grows. Almost every kind has its\nown peculiar insect, and when the rains are over very few seeds remain\nuntouched. The rankest poisons, as the Kongwhane and Euphorbia, are soon\ndevoured; the former has a scarlet insect; and even the fiery bird's-eye\npepper, which will keep off many others from their own seeds, is itself\ndevoured by a maggot. I observed here, what I had often seen before,\nthat certain districts abound in centipedes. Here they have light\nreddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen crawling\nevery where. Although they do no harm, they excite in man a feeling\nof loathing. Perhaps our appearance produces a similar feeling in the\nelephant and other large animals. Where they have been much disturbed,\nthey certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid biped\nthat ruins their peace. In the quietest parts of the forest there is\nheard a faint but distinct hum, which tells of insect joy. One may see\nmany whisking about in the clear sunshine in patches among the\ngreen glancing leaves; but there are invisible myriads working with\nnever-tiring mandibles on leaves, and stalks, and beneath the soil. They\nare all brimful of enjoyment. Indeed, the universality of organic life\nmay be called a mantle of happy existence encircling the world, and\nimparts the idea of its being caused by the consciousness of our\nbenignant Father's smile on all the works of His hands.\n\nThe birds of the tropics have been described as generally wanting in\npower of song. I was decidedly of opinion that this was not applicable\nto many parts in Londa, though birds there are remarkably scarce. Here\nthe chorus, or body of song, was not much smaller in volume than it is\nin England. It was not so harmonious, and sounded always as if the birds\nwere singing in a foreign tongue. Some resemble the lark, and, indeed,\nthere are several of that family; two have notes not unlike those of the\nthrush. One brought the chaffinch to my mind, and another the robin; but\ntheir songs are intermixed with several curious abrupt notes unlike any\nthing English. One utters deliberately \"peek, pak, pok\"; another has a\nsingle note like a stroke on a violin-string. The mokwa reza gives\nforth a screaming set of notes like our blackbird when disturbed, then\nconcludes with what the natives say is \"pula, pula\" (rain, rain), but\nmore like \"weep, weep, weep\". Then we have the loud cry of francolins,\nthe \"pumpuru, pumpuru\" of turtle-doves, and the \"chiken, chiken, chik,\nchurr, churr\" of the honey-guide. Occasionally, near villages, we have\na kind of mocking-bird, imitating the calls of domestic fowls. These\nAfrican birds have not been wanting in song; they have only lacked poets\nto sing their praises, which ours have had from the time of Aristophanes\ndownward. Ours have both a classic and a modern interest to enhance\ntheir fame. In hot, dry weather, or at midday when the sun is fierce,\nall are still: let, however, a good shower fall, and all burst forth at\nonce into merry lays and loving courtship. The early mornings and\nthe cool evenings are their favorite times for singing. There are\ncomparatively few with gaudy plumage, being totally unlike, in this\nrespect, the birds of the Brazils. The majority have decidedly a sober\ndress, though collectors, having generally selected the gaudiest as the\nmost valuable, have conveyed the idea that the birds of the tropics for\nthe most part possess gorgeous plumage.\n\n15TH. Several of my men have been bitten by spiders and other insects,\nbut no effect except pain has followed. A large caterpillar is\nfrequently seen, called lezuntabuea. It is covered with long gray hairs,\nand, the body being dark, it resembles a porcupine in miniature. If one\ntouches it, the hairs run into the pores of the skin, and remain there,\ngiving sharp pricks. There are others which have a similar means of\ndefense; and when the hand is drawn across them, as in passing a bush on\nwhich they happen to be, the contact resembles the stinging of nettles.\nFrom the great number of caterpillars seen, we have a considerable\nvariety of butterflies. One particular kind flies more like a swallow\nthan a butterfly. They are not remarkable for the gaudiness of their\ncolors.\n\nIn passing along we crossed the hills Vungue or Mvungwe, which we found\nto be composed of various eruptive rocks. At one part we have breccia of\naltered marl or slate in quartz, and various amygdaloids. It is curious\nto observe the different forms which silica assumes. We have it in\nclaystone porphyry here, in minute round globules, no larger than\nturnip-seed, dotted thickly over the matrix; or crystallized round the\nwalls of cavities, once filled with air or other elastic fluid; or it\nmay appear in similar cavities as tufts of yellow asbestos, or as red,\nyellow, or green crystals, or in laminae so arranged as to appear like\nfossil wood. Vungue forms the watershed between those sand rivulets\nwhich run to the N.E., and others which flow southward, as the Kapopo,\nUe, and Due, which run into the Luia.\n\nWe found that many elephants had been feeding on the fruit called\nMokoronga. This is a black-colored plum, having purple juice. We all ate\nit in large quantities, as we found it delicious. The only defect it has\nis the great size of the seed in comparison with the pulp. This is\nthe chief fault of all uncultivated wild fruits. The Mokoronga exists\nthroughout this part of the country most abundantly, and the natives\neagerly devour it, as it is said to be perfectly wholesome, or, as they\nexpress it, \"It is pure fat,\" and fat is by them considered the best\nof food. Though only a little larger than a cherry, we found that the\nelephants had stood picking them off patiently by the hour. We observed\nthe footprints of a black rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros bicornis', Linn.) and\nher calf. We saw other footprints among the hills of Semalembue, but the\nblack rhinoceros is remarkably scarce in all the country north of the\nZambesi. The white rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros simus' of Burchell), or\nMohohu of the Bechuanas, is quite extinct here, and will soon become\nunknown in the country to the south. It feeds almost entirely on\ngrasses, and is of a timid, unsuspecting disposition: this renders it an\neasy prey, and they are slaughtered without mercy on the introduction\nof fire-arms. The black possesses a more savage nature, and, like the\nill-natured in general, is never found with an ounce of fat in its\nbody. From its greater fierceness and wariness, it holds its place in\na district much longer than its more timid and better-conditioned\nneighbor. Mr. Oswell was once stalking two of these beasts, and, as\nthey came slowly to him, he, knowing that there is but little chance\nof hitting the small brain of this animal by a shot in the head, lay\nexpecting one of them to give his shoulder till he was within a few\nyards. The hunter then thought that by making a rush to his side he\nmight succeed in escaping, but the rhinoceros, too quick for that,\nturned upon him, and, though he discharged his gun close to the animal's\nhead, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensible for some time,\nand, on recovering, found large wounds on the thigh and body: I saw that\non the former part still open, and five inches long. The white, however,\nis not always quite safe, for one, even after it was mortally wounded,\nattacked Mr. Oswell's horse, and thrust the horn through to the saddle,\ntossing at the time both horse and rider. I once saw a white rhinoceros\ngive a buffalo, which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in the\nchest, but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get out of the\nway. Four varieties of the rhinoceros are enumerated by naturalists, but\nmy observation led me to conclude that there are but two, and that the\nextra species have been formed from differences in their sizes, ages,\nand the direction of the horns, as if we should reckon the short-horned\ncattle a different species from the Alderneys or the Highland breed.\nI was led to this from having once seen a black rhinoceros with a horn\nbent downward like that of the kuabaoba, and also because the animals\nof the two great varieties differ very much in appearance at different\nstages of their growth. I find, however, that Dr. Smith, the best\njudge in these matters, is quite decided as to the propriety of the\nsubdivision into three or four species. For common readers, it is\nsufficient to remember that there are two well-defined species, that\ndiffer entirely in appearance and food. The absence of both these\nrhinoceroses among the reticulated rivers in the central valley may\neasily be accounted for, they would be such an easy prey to the natives\nin their canoes at the periods of inundation; but one can not so readily\naccount for the total absence of the giraffe and ostrich on the high\nopen lands of the Batoka, north of the Zambesi, unless we give credence\nto the native report which bounds the country still farther north by\nanother network of waters near Lake Shuia, and suppose that it also\nprevented their progress southward. The Batoka have no name for the\ngiraffe or the ostrich in their language; yet, as the former exists in\nconsiderable numbers in the angle formed by the Leeambye and Chobe, they\nmay have come from the north along the western ridge. The Chobe would\nseem to have been too narrow to act as an obstacle to the giraffe,\nsupposing it to have come into that district from the south; but the\nbroad river into which that stream flows seems always to have presented\nan impassable barrier to both the giraffe and the ostrich, though they\nabound on its southern border, both in the Kalahari Desert and the\ncountry of Mashona.\n\nWe passed through large tracts of Mopane country, and my men caught a\ngreat many of the birds called Korwe ('Tockus erythrorhynchus') in their\nbreeding-places, which were in holes in the mopane-trees. On the 19th\nwe passed the nest of a korwe just ready for the female to enter; the\norifice was plastered on both sides, but a space was left of a heart\nshape, and exactly the size of the bird's body. The hole in the tree\nwas in every case found to be prolonged some distance upward above the\nopening, and thither the korwe always fled to escape being caught. In\nanother nest we found that one white egg, much like that of a pigeon,\nwas laid, and the bird dropped another when captured. She had four\nbesides in the ovarium. The first time that I saw this bird was at\nKolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by a\ntree, a native looked behind me and exclaimed, \"There is the nest of\na korwe.\" I saw a slit only, about half an inch wide and three or four\ninches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking the word korwe\ndenoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would\nextract; he broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into\nthe hole, and brought out a 'Tockus', or 'red-beaked hornbill', which\nhe killed. He informed me that, when the female enters her nest, she\nsubmits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the entrance,\nleaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and which exactly\nsuits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest of her own feathers,\nlays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are\nfully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be two or\nthree months, the male continues to feed her and the young family. The\nprisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a very dainty\nmorsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean\nthat, on the sudden lowering of the temperature which sometimes happens\nafter a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies. I never had\nan opportunity of ascertaining the actual length of the confinement, but\non passing the same tree at Kolobeng about eight days afterward the hole\nwas plastered up again, as if, in the short time that had elapsed, the\ndisconsolate husband had secured another wife. We did not disturb her,\nand my duties prevented me from returning to the spot. This is the month\nin which the female enters the nest. We had seen one of these, as\nbefore mentioned, with the plastering not quite finished; we saw many\ncompleted; and we received the very same account here that we did at\nKolobeng, that the bird comes forth when the young are fully fledged, at\nthe period when the corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance abroad with her\nyoung is one of the signs they have for knowing when it ought to be so.\nAs that is about the end of April, the time is between two and three\nmonths. She is said sometimes to hatch two eggs, and, when the young of\nthese are full-fledged, other two are just out of the egg-shells: she\nthen leaves the nest with the two elder, the orifice is again plastered\nup, and both male and female attend to the wants of the young which are\nleft. On several occasions I observed a branch bearing the marks of the\nmale having often sat upon it when feeding his mate, and the excreta had\nbeen expelled a full yard from the orifice, and often proved a means of\ndiscovering the retreat.\n\nThe honey-guides were very assiduous in their friendly offices, and\nenabled my men to get a large quantity of honey. But, though bees\nabound, the wax of these parts forms no article of trade. In Londa it\nmay be said to be fully cared for, as you find hives placed upon trees\nin the most lonesome forests. We often met strings of carriers laden\nwith large blocks of this substance, each 80 or 100 lbs. in weight, and\npieces were offered to us for sale at every village; but here we never\nsaw a single artificial hive. The bees were always found in the natural\ncavities of mopane-trees. It is probable that the good market for\nwax afforded to Angola by the churches of Brazil led to the gradual\ndevelopment of that branch of commerce there. I saw even on the banks\nof the Quango as much as sixpence paid for a pound. In many parts of\nthe Batoka country bees exist in vast numbers, and the tribute due to\nSekeletu is often paid in large jars of honey; but, having no market nor\nuse for the wax, it is thrown away. This was the case also with ivory at\nthe Lake Ngami, at the period of its discovery. The reports brought by\nmy other party from Loanda of the value of wax had induced some of my\npresent companions to bring small quantities of it to Tete, but, not\nknowing the proper mode of preparing it, it was so dark colored that no\none would purchase it; I afterward saw a little at Kilimane which had\nbeen procured from the natives somewhere in this region.\n\nThough we are now approaching the Portuguese settlement, the country is\nstill full of large game. My men killed six buffalo calves out of a herd\nwe met. The abundance of these animals, and also of antelopes, shows the\ninsufficiency of the bow and arrow to lessen their numbers. There are\nalso a great many lions and hyaenas, and there is no check upon the\nincrease of the former, for the people, believing that the souls of\ntheir chiefs enter into them, never attempt to kill them; they even\nbelieve that a chief may metamorphose himself into a lion, kill any one\nhe chooses, and then return to the human form; therefore, when they\nsee one, they commence clapping their hands, which is the usual mode\nof salutation here. The consequence is, that lions and hyaenas are\nso abundant that we see little huts made in the trees, indicating the\nplaces where some of the inhabitants have slept when benighted in the\nfields. As numbers of my men frequently left the line of march in order\nto take out the korwes from their nests, or follow the honey-guides,\nthey excited the astonishment of our guides, who were constantly\nwarning them of the danger they thereby incurred from lions. I was often\nconsiderably ahead of the main body of my men on this account, and was\nobliged to stop every hour or two; but, the sun being excessively hot\nby day, I was glad of the excuse for resting. We could make no such\nprodigious strides as officers in the Arctic regions are able to do. Ten\nor twelve miles a day were a good march for both the men and myself; and\nit was not the length of the marches, but continuing day after day to\nperform the same distance, that was so fatiguing. It was in this case\nmuch longer than appears on the map, because we kept out of the way of\nvillages. I drank less than the natives when riding, but all my clothing\nwas now constantly damp from the moisture which was imbibed in large\nquantities at every pond. One does not stay on these occasions to\nprepare water with alum or any thing else, but drinks any amount without\nfear. I never felt the atmosphere so steamy as on the low-lying lands\nof the Zambesi, and yet it was becoming cooler than it was on the\nhighlands.\n\nWe crossed the rivulets Kapopo and Ue, now running, but usually dry.\nThere are great numbers of wild grape-vines growing in this quarter;\nindeed, they abound every where along the banks of the Zambesi. In\nthe Batoka country there is a variety which yields a black grape of\nconsiderable sweetness. The leaves are very large and harsh, as if\ncapable of withstanding the rays of this hot sun; but the most common\nkinds--one with a round leaf and a greenish grape, and another with a\nleaf closely resembling that of the cultivated varieties, and with dark\nor purple fruit--have large seeds, which are strongly astringent, and\nrender it a disagreeable fruit. The natives eat all the varieties; and\nI tasted vinegar made by a Portuguese from these grapes. Probably a\ncountry which yields the wild vines so very abundantly might be a fit\none for the cultivated species. At this part of the journey so many of\nthe vines had run across the little footpath we followed that one had\nto be constantly on the watch to avoid being tripped. The ground was\ncovered with rounded shingle, which was not easily seen among the grass.\nPedestrianism may be all very well for those whose obesity requires much\nexercise, but for one who was becoming as thin as a lath, through the\nconstant perspiration caused by marching day after day in the hot sun,\nthe only good I saw in it was that it gave an honest sort of man a vivid\nidea of the tread-mill.\n\nAlthough the rains were not quite over, great numbers of pools were\ndrying up, and the ground was in many parts covered with small green\ncryptogamous plants, which gave it a mouldy appearance and a strong\nsmell. As we sometimes pushed aside the masses of rank vegetation which\nhung over our path, we felt a sort of hot blast on our faces. Every\nthing looked unwholesome, but we had no fever. The Ue flows between high\nbanks of a soft red sandstone streaked with white, and pieces of tufa.\nThe crumbling sandstone is evidently alluvial, and is cut into 12 feet\ndeep. In this region, too, we met with pot-holes six feet deep and three\nor four in diameter. In some cases they form convenient wells; in others\nthey are full of earth; and in others still the people have made them\ninto graves for their chiefs.\n\nOn the 20th we came to Monina's village (close to the sand-river Tangwe,\nlatitude 16d 13' 38\" south, longitude 32d 32' east). This man is\nvery popular among the tribes on account of his liberality. Boroma,\nNyampungo, Monina, Jira, Katolosa (Monomotapa), and Susa, all\nacknowledge the supremacy of one called Nyatewe, who is reported to\ndecide all disputes respecting land. This confederation is exactly\nsimilar to what we observed in Londa and other parts of Africa. Katolosa\nis \"the Emperor Monomotapa\" of history, but he is a chief of no great\npower, and acknowledges the supremacy of Nyatewe. The Portuguese\nformerly honored Monomotapa with a guard, to fire off numbers of guns on\nthe occasion of any funeral, and he was also partially subsidized. The\nonly evidence of greatness possessed by his successor is his having\nabout a hundred wives. When he dies a disputed succession and much\nfighting are expected. In reference to the term Monomotapa, it is to be\nremembered that Mono, Moene, Mona, Mana, or Morena, mean simply 'chief',\nand considerable confusion has arisen from naming different people by\nmaking a plural of the chief's name. The names Monomoizes, spelled also\nMonemuiges and Monomuizes, and Monomotapistas, when applied to these\ntribes, are exactly the same as if we should call the Scotch the Lord\nDouglases. Motape was the chief of the Bambiri, a tribe of the Banyai,\nand is now represented in the person of Katolosa. He was probably a man\nof greater energy than his successor, yet only an insignificant chief.\nMonomoizes was formed from Moiza or Muiza, the singular of the word\nBabisa or Aiza, the proper name of a large tribe to the north. In the\ntransformation of this name the same error has been committed as in the\nothers; and mistakes have occurred in many other names by inattention to\nthe meaning, and predilection for the letter R. The River Loangwa, for\ninstance, has been termed Arroangoa, and the Luenya the Ruanha. The\nBazizulu, or Mashona, are spoken of as the Morururus.\n\nThe government of the Banyai is rather peculiar, being a sort of feudal\nrepublicanism. The chief is elected, and they choose the son of the\ndeceased chief's sister in preference to his own offspring. When\ndissatisfied with one candidate, they even go to a distant tribe for a\nsuccessor, who is usually of the family of the late chief, a brother, or\na sister's son, but never his own son or daughter. When first spoken to\non the subject, he answers as if he thought himself unequal to the\ntask and unworthy of the honor; but, having accepted it, all the wives,\ngoods, and children of his predecessor belong to him, and he takes care\nto keep them in a dependent position. When any one of them becomes\ntired of this state of vassalage and sets up his own village, it is not\nunusual for the elected chief to send a number of the young men, who\ncongregate about himself, to visit him. If he does not receive them with\nthe usual amount of clapping of hands and humility, they, in obedience\nto orders, at once burn his village. The children of the chief have\nfewer privileges than common free men. They may not be sold, but, rather\nthan choose any one of them for a chief at any future time, the free men\nwould prefer to elect one of themselves, who bore only a very distant\nrelationship to the family. These free men are a distinct class who\ncan never be sold; and under them there is a class of slaves whose\nappearance as well as position is very degraded. Monina had a great\nnumber of young men about him from twelve to fifteen years of age.\nThese were all sons of free men, and bands of young men like them in the\ndifferent districts leave their parents about the age of puberty, and\nlive with such men as Monina for the sake of instruction. When I asked\nthe nature of the instruction, I was told \"Bonyai\", which I suppose may\nbe understood as indicating manhood, for it sounds as if we should say,\n\"to teach an American Americanism,\" or \"an Englishman to be English.\"\nWhile here they are kept in subjection to rather stringent regulations.\nThey must salute carefully by clapping their hands on approaching a\nsuperior, and when any cooked food is brought, the young men may not\napproach the dish, but an elder divides a portion to each. They remain\nunmarried until a fresh set of youths is ready to occupy their place\nunder the same instruction. The parents send servants with their sons to\ncultivate gardens to supply them with food, and also tusks to Monina to\npurchase clothing for them. When the lads return to the village of their\nparents, a case is submitted to them for adjudication, and if they speak\nwell on the point, the parents are highly gratified.\n\nWhen we told Monina that we had nothing to present but some hoes, he\nreplied that he was not in need of those articles, and that he had\nabsolute power over the country in front, and if he prevented us from\nproceeding, no one would say any thing to him. His little boy Boromo\nhaving come to the encampment to look at us, I gave him a knife, and\nhe went off and brought a pint of honey for me. The father came soon\nafterward, and I offered him a shirt. He remarked to his councilors, \"It\nis evident that this man has nothing, for, if he had, his people\nwould be buying provisions, but we don't see them going about for that\npurpose.\" His council did not agree in this. They evidently believed\nthat we had goods, but kept them hid, and we felt it rather hard to be\nsuspected of falsehood. It was probably at their suggestion that in the\nevening a wardance was got up about a hundred yards from our encampment,\nas if to put us in fear and force us to bring forth presents. Some\nof Monina's young men had guns, but most were armed with large bows,\narrows, and spears. They beat their drums furiously, and occasionally\nfired off a gun. As this sort of dance is never got up unless there is\nan intention to attack, my men expected an assault. We sat and looked at\nthem for some time, and then, as it became dark, lay down, all ready\nto give them a warm reception. But an hour or two after dark the dance\nceased, and, as we then saw no one approaching us, we went to sleep.\nDuring the night, one of my head men, Monahin, was seen to get up, look\ntoward the village, and say to one who was half awake, \"Don't you hear\nwhat these people are saying? Go and listen.\" He then walked off in the\nopposite direction, and never returned. We had no guard set, but every\none lay with his spear in his hand. The man to whom he spoke appears to\nhave been in a dreamy condition, for it did not strike him that he ought\nto give the alarm. Next morning I found to my sorrow that Monahin was\ngone, and not a trace of him could be discovered. He had an attack of\npleuritis some weeks before, and had recovered, but latterly complained\na little of his head. I observed him in good spirits on the way hither,\nand in crossing some of the streams, as I was careful not to wet my\nfeet, he aided me, and several times joked at my becoming so light.\nIn the evening he sat beside my tent until it was dark, and did not\nmanifest any great alarm. It was probably either a sudden fit of\ninsanity, or, having gone a little way out from the camp, he may have\nbeen carried off by a lion, as this part of the country is full of them.\nI incline to the former opinion, because sudden insanity occurs when\nthere is any unusual strain upon their minds. Monahin was in command\nof the Batoka of Mokwine in my party, and he was looked upon with great\ndislike by all that chief's subjects. The only difficulties I had with\nthem arose in consequence of being obliged to give orders through him.\nThey said Mokwine is reported to have been killed by the Makololo, but\nMonahin is the individual who put forth his hand and slew him. When\none of these people kills in battle, he seems to have no compunction\nafterward; but when he makes a foray on his own responsibility, and\nkills a man of note, the common people make remarks to each other,\nwhich are reported to him, and bring the affair perpetually to his\nremembrance. This iteration on the conscience causes insanity, and when\none runs away in a wide country like this, the fugitive is never heard\nof. Monahin had lately become afraid of his own party from overhearing\ntheir remarks, and said more than once to me, \"They want to kill me.\" I\nbelieve if he ran to any village they would take care of him. I felt\nhis loss greatly, and spent three days in searching for him. He was a\nsensible and most obliging man. I sent in the morning to inform Monina\nof this sad event, and he at once sent to all the gardens around,\ndesiring the people to look for him, and, should he come near, to bring\nhim home. He evidently sympathized with us in our sorrow, and, afraid\nlest we might suspect him, added, \"We never catch nor kidnap people\nhere. It is not our custom. It is considered as guilt among all the\ntribes.\" I gave him credit for truthfulness, and he allowed us to move\non without farther molestation.\n\nAfter leaving his village we marched in the bed of a sand-river a\nquarter of a mile broad, called Tangwe. Walking on this sand is as\nfatiguing as walking on snow. The country is flat, and covered with low\ntrees, but we see high hills in the distance. A little to the south we\nhave those of the Lobole. This region is very much infested by lions,\nand men never go any distance into the woods alone. Having turned aside\non one occasion at midday, and gone a short distance among grass a\nlittle taller than myself, an animal sprung away from me which was\ncertainly not an antelope, but I could not distinguish whether it was a\nlion or a hyaena. This abundance of carnivora made us lose all hope of\nMonahin. We saw footprints of many black rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and\nzebras.\n\nAfter a few hours we reached the village of Nyakoba. Two men, who\naccompanied us from Monina to Nyakoba's, would not believe us when we\nsaid that we had no beads. It is very trying to have one's veracity\ndoubted, but, on opening the boxes, and showing them that all I had\nwas perfectly useless to them, they consented to receive some beads off\nSekwebu's waist, and I promised to send four yards of calico from Tete.\nAs we came away from Monina's village, a witch-doctor, who had been sent\nfor, arrived, and all Monina's wives went forth into the fields that\nmorning fasting. There they would be compelled to drink an infusion of a\nplant named \"goho\", which is used as an ordeal. This ceremony is called\n\"muavi\", and is performed in this way. When a man suspects that any of\nhis wives has bewitched him, he sends for the witch-doctor, and all the\nwives go forth into the field, and remain fasting till that person has\nmade an infusion of the plant. They all drink it, each one holding up\nher hand to heaven in attestation of her innocency. Those who vomit\nit are considered innocent, while those whom it purges are pronounced\nguilty, and put to death by burning. The innocent return to their homes,\nand slaughter a cock as a thank-offering to their guardian spirits. The\npractice of ordeal is common among all the negro nations north of the\nZambesi. This summary procedure excited my surprise, for my intercourse\nwith the natives here had led me to believe that the women were held in\nso much estimation that the men would not dare to get rid of them thus.\nBut the explanation I received was this. The slightest imputation makes\nthem eagerly desire the test; they are conscious of being innocent, and\nhave the fullest faith in the muavi detecting the guilty alone; hence\nthey go willingly, and even eagerly, to drink it. When in Angola, a\nhalf-caste was pointed out to me who is one of the most successful\nmerchants in that country; and the mother of this gentleman, who was\nperfectly free, went, of her own accord, all the way from Ambaca to\nCassange, to be killed by the ordeal, her rich son making no objection.\nThe same custom prevails among the Barotse, Bashubia, and Batoka, but\nwith slight variations. The Barotse, for instance, pour the medicine\ndown the throat of a cock or of a dog, and judge of the innocence or\nguilt of the person accused according to the vomiting or purging of the\nanimal. I happened to mention to my own men the water-test for witches\nformerly in use in Scotland: the supposed witch, being bound hand and\nfoot, was thrown into a pond; if she floated, she was considered\nguilty, taken out, and burned; but if she sank and was drowned, she was\npronounced innocent. The wisdom of my ancestors excited as much wonder\nin their minds as their custom did in mine.\n\nThe person whom Nyakoba appointed to be our guide, having informed us\nof the decision, came and bargained that his services should be rewarded\nwith a hoe. I had no objection to give it, and showed him the article;\nhe was delighted with it, and went off to show it to his wife. He soon\nafterward returned, and said that, though he was perfectly willing to\ngo, his wife would not let him. I said, \"Then bring back the hoe;\" but\nhe replied, \"I want it.\" \"Well, go with us, and you shall have it.\" \"But\nmy wife won't let me.\" I remarked to my men, \"Did you ever hear such a\nfool?\" They answered, \"Oh, that is the custom of these parts; the wives\nare the masters.\" And Sekwebu informed me that he had gone to this man's\nhouse, and heard him saying to his wife, \"Do you think that I would ever\nleave you?\" then, turning to Sekwebu, he asked, \"Do you think I would\nleave this pretty woman? Is she not pretty?\" Sekwebu had been making\ninquiries among the people, and had found that the women indeed\npossessed a great deal of influence. We questioned the guide whom we\nfinally got from Nyakoba, an intelligent young man, who had much of\nthe Arab features, and found the statements confirmed. When a young man\ntakes a liking for a girl of another village, and the parents have no\nobjection to the match, he is obliged to come and live at their village.\nHe has to perform certain services for the mother-in-law, such as\nkeeping her well supplied with firewood; and when he comes into her\npresence he is obliged to sit with his knees in a bent position, as\nputting out his feet toward the old lady would give her great offense.\nIf he becomes tired of living in this state of vassalage, and wishes\nto return to his own family, he is obliged to leave all his children\nbehind--they belong to the wife. This is only a more stringent\nenforcement of the law from which emanates the practice which prevails\nso very extensively in Africa, known to Europeans as \"buying wives\".\nSuch virtually it is, but it does not appear quite in that light to the\nactors. So many head of cattle or goats are given to the parents of the\ngirl \"to give her up\", as it is termed, i.e., to forego all claim on\nher offspring, and allow an entire transference of her and her seed into\nanother family. If nothing is given, the family from which she has come\ncan claim the children as part of itself: the payment is made to sever\nthis bond. In the case supposed, the young man has not been able to\nadvance any thing for that purpose; and, from the temptations placed\nhere before my men, I have no doubt that some prefer to have their\ndaughters married in that way, as it leads to the increase of their own\nvillage. My men excited the admiration of the Bambiri, who took them for\na superior breed on account of their bravery in elephant-hunting, and\nwished to get them as sons-in-law on the conditions named, but none\nyielded to the temptation.\n\nWe were informed that there is a child belonging to a half-caste\nPortuguese in one of these tribes, and the father had tried in vain to\nget him from the mother's parents. We saw several things to confirm\nthe impression of the higher position which women hold here; and, being\nanxious to discover if I were not mistaken, when we came among the\nPortuguese I inquired of them, and was told that they had ascertained\nthe same thing; and that, if they wished a man to perform any service\nfor them, he would reply, \"Well, I shall go and ask my wife.\" If she\nconsented, he would go, and perform his duty faithfully; but no amount\nof coaxing or bribery would induce him to do it if she refused. The\nPortuguese praised the appearance of the Banyai, and they certainly are\na fine race.\n\nWe got on better with Nyakoba than we expected. He has been so much\naffected by the sesenda that he is quite decrepit, and requires to be\nfed. I at once showed his messenger that we had nothing whatever\nto give. Nyakoba was offended with him for not believing me, and he\nimmediately sent a basket of maize and another of corn, saying that he\nbelieved my statement, and would send men with me to Tete who would not\nlead me to any other village.\n\nThe birds here sing very sweetly, and I thought I heard the canary,\nas in Londa. We had a heavy shower of rain, and I observed that the\nthermometer sank 14 Deg. in one hour afterward. From the beginning of\nFebruary we experienced a sensible diminution of temperature. In January\nthe lowest was 75 Deg., and that at sunrise; the average at the same\nhour (sunrise) being 79 Deg.; at 3 P.M., 90 Deg.; and at sunset, 82 Deg.\nIn February it fell as low as 70 Deg. in the course of the night, and\nthe average height was 88 Deg. Only once did it rise to 94 Deg., and a\nthunder-storm followed this; yet the sensation of heat was greater now\nthan it had been at much higher temperatures on more elevated lands.\n\nWe passed several villages by going roundabout ways through the forest.\nWe saw the remains of a lion that had been killed by a buffalo, and the\nhorns of a putokwane (black antelope), the finest I had ever seen, which\nhad met its death by a lion. The drums, beating all night in one village\nnear which we slept, showed that some person in it had finished his\ncourse. On the occasion of the death of a chief, a trader is liable to\nbe robbed, for the people consider themselves not amenable to law until\na new one is elected. We continued a very winding course, in order to\navoid the chief Katolosa, who is said to levy large sums upon those who\nfall into his hands. One of our guides was a fine, tall young man, the\nvery image of Ben Habib the Arab. They were carrying dried buffalo's\nmeat to the market at Tete as a private speculation.\n\nA great many of the Banyai are of a light coffee-and-milk color, and,\nindeed, this color is considered handsome throughout the whole country,\na fair complexion being as much a test of beauty with them as with\nus. As they draw out their hair into small cords a foot in length, and\nentwine the inner bark of a certain tree round each separate cord, and\ndye this substance of a reddish color, many of them put me in mind of\nthe ancient Egyptians. The great mass of dressed hair which they possess\nreaches to the shoulders, but when they intend to travel they draw it up\nto a bunch, and tie it on the top of the head. They are cleanly in their\nhabits.\n\nAs we did not come near human habitations, and could only take short\nstages on account of the illness of one of my men, I had an opportunity\nof observing the expedients my party resorted to in order to supply\ntheir wants. Large white edible mushrooms are found on the ant-hills,\nand are very good. The mokuri, a tuber which abounds in the Mopane\ncountry, they discovered by percussing the ground with stones; and\nanother tuber, about the size of a turnip, called \"bonga\", is found\nin the same situations. It does not determine to the joints like the\nmokuri, and in winter has a sensible amount of salt in it. A fruit\ncalled \"ndongo\" by the Makololo, \"dongolo\" by the Bambiri, resembles\nin appearance a small plum, which becomes black when ripe, and is good\nfood, as the seeds are small. Many trees are known by tradition, and one\nreceives curious bits of information in asking about different fruits\nthat are met with. A tree named \"shekabakadzi\" is superior to all others\nfor making fire by friction. As its name implies, women may even readily\nmake fire by it when benighted.\n\nThe country here is covered over with well-rounded shingle and gravel of\ngranite, gneiss with much talc in it, mica schist, and other rocks which\nwe saw 'in situ' between the Kafue and Loangwa. There are great mounds\nof soft red sand slightly coherent, which crumble in the hand with ease.\nThe gravel and the sand drain away the water so effectually that the\ntrees are exposed to the heat during a portion of the year without any\nmoisture; hence they are not large, like those on the Zambesi, and are\noften scrubby. The rivers are all of the sandy kind, and we pass over\nlarge patches between this and Tete in which, in the dry season, no\nwater is to be found. Close on our south, the hills of Lokole rise to\na considerable height, and beyond them flows the Mazoe with its golden\nsands. The great numbers of pot-holes on the sides of sandstone ridges,\nwhen viewed in connection with the large banks of rolled shingle and\nwashed sand which are met with on this side of the eastern ridge, may\nindicate that the sea in former times rolled its waves along its flanks.\nMany of the hills between the Kafue and Loangwa have their sides of\nthe form seen in mud banks left by the tide. The pot-holes appear\nmost abundant on low gray sandstone ridges here; and as the shingle is\ncomposed of the same rocks as the hills west of Zumbo, it looks as if\na current had dashed along from the southeast in the line in which the\npot-holes now appear; and if the current was deflected by those hills\ntoward the Maravi country, north of Tete, it may have hollowed the\nrounded, water-worn caverns in which these people store their corn, and\nalso hide themselves from their enemies. I could detect no terraces on\nthe land, but, if I am right in my supposition, the form of this part of\nthe continent must once have resembled the curves or indentations seen\non the southern extremity of the American continent. In the indentation\nto the S.E., S., S.W., and W. of this, lie the principal gold-washings;\nand the line of the current, supposing it to have struck against the\nhills of Mburuma, shows the washings in the N. and N.E. of Tete.\n\nWe were tolerably successful in avoiding the villages, and slept one\nnight on the flanks of the hill Zimika, where a great number of deep\npot-holes afforded an abundant supply of good rain-water. Here, for the\nfirst time, we saw hills with bare, smooth, rocky tops, and we crossed\nover broad dikes of gneiss and syenitic porphyry: the directions in\nwhich they lay were N. and S. As we were now near to Tete, we were\ncongratulating ourselves on having avoided those who would only have\nplagued us; but next morning some men saw us, and ran off to inform the\nneighboring villages of our passing. A party immediately pursued us,\nand, as they knew we were within call of Katolosa (Monomotapa), they\nthreatened to send information to that chief of our offense, in passing\nthrough the country without leave. We were obliged to give them two\nsmall tusks; for, had they told Katolosa of our supposed offense, we\nshould, in all probability, have lost the whole. We then went through a\nvery rough, stony country without any path. Being pretty well tired\nout in the evening of the 2d of March, I remained at about eight miles\ndistance from Tete, Tette, or Nyungwe. My men asked me to go on; I felt\ntoo fatigued to proceed, but sent forward to the commandant the letters\nof recommendation with which I had been favored in Angola by the bishop\nand others, and lay down to rest. Our food having been exhausted, my men\nhad been subsisting for some time on roots and honey. About two o'clock\nin the morning of the 3d we were aroused by two officers and a company\nof soldiers, who had been sent with the materials for a civilized\nbreakfast and a \"masheela\" to bring me to Tete. (Commandant's house:\nlat. 16d 9' 3\" S., long. 33d 28' E.) My companions thought that we were\ncaptured by the armed men, and called me in alarm. When I understood\nthe errand on which they had come, and had partaken of a good breakfast,\nthough I had just before been too tired to sleep, all my fatigue\nvanished. It was the most refreshing breakfast I ever partook of, and\nI walked the last eight miles without the least feeling of weariness,\nalthough the path was so rough that one of the officers remarked to\nme, \"This is enough to tear a man's life out of him.\" The pleasure\nexperienced in partaking of that breakfast was only equaled by the\nenjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's bed on my arrival at Loanda. It was also\nenhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen and the war was\nfinished.\n\n   Note.--Having neglected, in referring to the footprints of the\n          rhinoceros,\n   to mention what may be interesting to naturalists, I add it here\n          in a note;\n   that wherever the footprints are seen, there are also marks of the\n          animal\n   having plowed up the ground and bushes with his horn.  This has\n          been supposed\n   to indicate that he is subject to \"fits of ungovernable rage\";\n   but, when seen, he appears rather to be rejoicing in his strength.\n   He acts as a bull sometimes does when he gores the earth with his\n          horns.\n   The rhinoceros, in addition to this, stands on a clump of bushes,\n   bends his back down, and scrapes the ground with his feet,\n   throwing it out backward, as if to stretch and clean his toes,\n   in the same way that a dog may be seen to do on a little grass:\n   this is certainly not rage.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 31.\n\nKind Reception from the Commandant--His Generosity to my Men--The\nVillage of Tete--The Population--Distilled Spirits--The Fort--Cause\nof the Decadence of Portuguese Power--Former Trade--Slaves employed\nin Gold-washing--Slave-trade drained the Country of Laborers--The\nRebel Nyaude's Stockade--He burns Tete--Kisaka's Revolt and\nRavages--Extensive Field of Sugar-cane--The Commandant's good\nReputation among the Natives--Providential Guidance--Seams of Coal--A\nhot Spring--Picturesque Country--Water-carriage to the Coal-fields--\nWorkmen's Wages--Exports--Price of Provisions--Visit Gold-washings--\nThe Process of obtaining the precious Metal--Coal within a Gold-field--\nPresent from Major Sicard--Natives raise Wheat, etc.--Liberality of\nthe Commandant--Geographical Information from Senhor\nCandido--Earthquakes--Native Ideas of a Supreme Being--Also of the\nImmortality and Transmigration of Souls--Fondness for Display at\nFunerals--Trade Restrictions--Former Jesuit Establishment--State of\nReligion and Education at Tete--Inundation of the Zambesi--Cotton\ncultivated--The fibrous Plants Conge and Buaze--Detained by Fever--The\nKumbanzo Bark--Native Medicines--Iron, its Quality--Hear of Famine\nat Kilimane--Death of a Portuguese Lady--The Funeral--Disinterested\nKindness of the Portuguese.\n\n\n\nI was most kindly received by the commandant Tito Augusto d'Araujo\nSicard, who did every thing in his power to restore me from my emaciated\ncondition; and, as this was still the unhealthy period at Kilimane,\nhe advised me to remain with him until the following month. He also\ngenerously presented my men with abundant provisions of millet; and, by\ngiving them lodgings in a house of his own until they could erect their\nown huts, he preserved them from the bite of the tampans, here named\nCarapatos.* We had heard frightful accounts of this insect while among\nthe Banyai, and Major Sicard assured me that to strangers its bite is\nmore especially dangerous, as it sometimes causes fatal fever. It may\nplease our homoeopathic friends to hear that, in curing the bite of\nthe tampan, the natives administer one of the insects bruised in the\nmedicine employed.\n\n   * Another insect, resembling a maggot, burrows into the feet\n   of the natives and sucks their blood.  Mr. Westwood says, \"The\n   tampan is a large species of mite, closely allied to the\n   poisonous bug (as it is called) of Persia, 'Argos reflexus',\n   respecting which such marvelous accounts have been recorded,\n   and which the statement respecting the carapato or tampan\n   would partially confirm.\" Mr. W. also thinks that the poison-\n   yielding larva called N'gwa is a \"species of chrysomelidae.\n   The larvae of the British species of that family exude a fetid\n   yellow thickish fluid when alarmed, but he has not heard that\n   any of them are at all poisonous.\"\n\nThe village of Tete is built on a long slope down to the river, the fort\nbeing close to the water. The rock beneath is gray sandstone, and has\nthe appearance of being crushed away from the river: the strata have\nthus a crumpled form. The hollow between each crease is a street, the\nhouses being built upon the projecting fold. The rocks at the top of the\nslope are much higher than the fort, and of course completely command\nit. There is then a large valley, and beyond that an oblong hill called\nKarueira. The whole of the adjacent country is rocky and broken, but\nevery available spot is under cultivation. The stone houses in Tete are\ncemented with mud instead of lime, and thatched with reeds and grass.\nThe rains, having washed out the mud between the stones, give all the\nhouses a rough, untidy appearance. No lime was known to be found nearer\nthan Mozambique; some used in making seats in the verandas had actually\nbeen brought all that distance. The Portuguese evidently knew nothing\nof the pink and white marbles which I found at the Mbai, and another\nrivulet, named the Unguesi, near it, and of which I brought home\nspecimens, nor yet of the dolomite which lies so near to Zumbo:\nthey might have burned the marble into lime without going so far as\nMozambique. There are about thirty European houses; the rest are native,\nand of wattle and daub. A wall about ten feet high is intended to\ninclose the village, but most of the native inhabitants prefer to live\non different spots outside. There are about twelve hundred huts in all,\nwhich with European households would give a population of about four\nthousand five hundred souls. Only a small proportion of these, however,\nlive on the spot; the majority are engaged in agricultural operations\nin the adjacent country. Generally there are not more than two thousand\npeople resident, for, compared with what it was, Tete is now a ruin. The\nnumber of Portuguese is very small; if we exclude the military, it is\nunder twenty. Lately, however, one hundred and five soldiers were sent\nfrom Portugal to Senna, where in one year twenty-five were cut off by\nfever. They were then removed to Tete, and here they enjoy much better\nhealth, though, from the abundance of spirits distilled from various\nplants, wild fruits, and grain, in which pernicious beverage they\nlargely indulge, besides partaking chiefly of unwholesome native food,\nbetter health could scarcely have been expected. The natives here\nunderstand the method of distillation by means of gun-barrels, and a\nsuccession of earthen pots filled with water to keep them cool. The\ngeneral report of the fever here is that, while at Kilimane the fever\nis continuous, at Tete a man recovers in about three days. The mildest\nremedies only are used at first, and, if that period be passed, then the\nmore severe.\n\nThe fort of Tete has been the salvation of the Portuguese power in this\nquarter. It is a small square building, with a thatched apartment for\nthe residence of the troops; and, though there are but few guns, they\nare in a much better state than those of any fort in the interior of\nAngola. The cause of the decadence of the Portuguese power in this\nregion is simply this: In former times, considerable quantities of\ngrain, as wheat, millet, and maize, were exported; also coffee, sugar,\noil, and indigo, besides gold-dust and ivory. The cultivation of grain\nwas carried on by means of slaves, of whom the Portuguese possessed a\nlarge number. The gold-dust was procured by washing at various points on\nthe north, south, and west of Tete. A merchant took all his slaves with\nhim to the washings, carrying as much calico and other goods as he could\nmuster. On arriving at the washing-place, he made a present to the chief\nof the value of about a pound sterling. The slaves were then divided\ninto parties, each headed by a confidential servant, who not only had\nthe supervision of his squad while the washing went on, but bought\ndust from the inhabitants, and made a weekly return to his master. When\nseveral masters united at one spot, it was called a \"Bara\", and they\nthen erected a temporary church, in which a priest from one of the\nmissions performed mass. Both chiefs and people were favorable to these\nvisits, because the traders purchased grain for the sustenance of the\nslaves with the goods they had brought. They continued at this labor\nuntil the whole of the goods were expended, and by this means about\n130 lbs. of gold were annually produced. Probably more than this was\nactually obtained, but, as it was an article easily secreted, this alone\nwas submitted to the authorities for taxation. At present the whole\namount of gold obtained annually by the Portuguese is from 8 to 10 lbs.\nonly. When the slave-trade began, it seemed to many of the merchants a\nmore speedy mode of becoming rich to sell off the slaves than to pursue\nthe slow mode of gold-washing and agriculture, and they continued to\nexport them until they had neither hands to labor nor to fight for them.\nIt was just the story of the goose and the golden egg. The coffee and\nsugar plantations and gold-washings were abandoned, because the labor\nhad been exported to the Brazils. Many of the Portuguese then followed\ntheir slaves, and the government was obliged to pass a law to prevent\nfurther emigration, which, had it gone on, would have depopulated the\nPortuguese possessions altogether. A clever man of Asiatic (Goa) and\nPortuguese extraction, called Nyaude, now built a stockade at the\nconfluence of the Luenya and Zambesi; and when the commandant of Tete\nsent an officer with his company to summon him to his presence, Nyaude\nasked permission of the officer to dress himself, which being granted,\nhe went into an inner apartment, and the officer ordered his men to pile\ntheir arms. A drum of war began to beat a note which is well known to\nthe inhabitants. Some of the soldiers took the alarm on hearing this\nnote, but the officer, disregarding their warning, was, with his whole\nparty, in a few minutes disarmed and bound hand and foot. The commandant\nof Tete then armed the whole body of slaves and marched against the\nstockade of Nyaude, but when they came near to it there was the Luenya\nstill to cross. As they did not effect this speedily, Nyaude dispatched\na strong party under his son Bonga across the river below the stockade,\nand up the left bank of the Zambesi until they came near to Tete. They\nthen attacked Tete, which was wholly undefended save by a few soldiers\nin the fort, plundered and burned the whole town except the house of\nthe commandant and a few others, with the church and fort. The women and\nchildren fled into the church; and it is a remarkable fact that none of\nthe natives of this region will ever attack a church. Having rendered\nTete a ruin, Bonga carried off all the cattle and plunder to his father.\nNews of this having been brought to the army before the stockade, a\nsudden panic dispersed the whole; and as the fugitives took roundabout\nways in their flight, Katolosa, who had hitherto pretended to be\nfriendly with the Portuguese, sent out his men to capture as many of\nthem as they could. They killed many for the sake of their arms. This is\nthe account which both natives and Portuguese give of the affair.\n\nAnother half-caste from Macao, called Kisaka or Choutama, on the\nopposite bank of the river, likewise rebelled. His father having\ndied, he imagined that he had been bewitched by the Portuguese, and he\ntherefore plundered and burned all the plantations of the rich merchants\nof Tete on the north bank. As I have before remarked, that bank is the\nmost fertile, and there the Portuguese had their villas and plantations\nto which they daily retired from Tete. When these were destroyed the\nTete people were completely impoverished. An attempt was made to\npunish this rebel, but it was also unsuccessful, and he has lately been\npardoned by the home government. One point in the narrative of this\nexpedition is interesting. They came to a field of sugar-cane so large\nthat 4000 men eating it during two days did not finish the whole. The\nPortuguese were thus placed between two enemies, Nyaude on the right\nbank and Kisaka on the left, and not only so, but Nyaude, having placed\nhis stockade on the point of land on the right banks of both the Luenya\nand Zambesi, and washed by both these rivers, could prevent intercourse\nwith the sea. The Luenya rushes into the Zambesi with great force when\nthe latter is low, and, in coming up the Zambesi, boats must cross it\nand the Luenya separately, even going a little way up that river, so\nas not to be driven away by its current in the bed of the Zambesi, and\ndashed on the rock which stands on the opposite shore. In coming up\nto the Luenya for this purpose, all boats and canoes came close to the\nstockade to be robbed. Nyaude kept the Portuguese shut up in their fort\nat Tete during two years, and they could only get goods sufficient to\nbuy food by sending to Kilimane by an overland route along the north\nbank of the Zambesi. The mother country did not in these \"Caffre wars\"\npay the bills, so no one either became rich or blamed the missionaries.\n\nThe merchants were unable to engage in trade, and commerce, which the\nslave-trade had rendered stagnant, was now completely obstructed. The\npresent commandant of Tete, Major Sicard, having great influence among\nthe natives, from his good character, put a stop to the war more than\nonce by his mere presence on the spot. We heard of him among the Banyai\nas a man with whom they would never fight, because \"he had a good\nheart.\" Had I come down to this coast instead of going to Loanda in\n1853, I should have come among the belligerents while the war was still\nraging, and should probably have been cut off. My present approach was\njust at the conclusion of the peace; and when the Portuguese authorities\nhere were informed, through the kind offices of Lord Clarendon and Count\nde Lavradio, that I was expected to come this way, they all declared\nthat such was the existing state of affairs that no European could\npossibly pass through the tribes. Some natives at last came down the\nriver to Tete and said, alluding to the sextant and artificial horizon,\nthat \"the Son of God had come,\" and that he was \"able to take the sun\ndown from the heavens and place it under his arm!\" Major Sicard then\nfelt sure that this was the man mentioned in Lord Clarendon's dispatch.\n\nOn mentioning to the commandant that I had discovered a small seam of\ncoal, he stated that the Portuguese were already aware of nine such\nseams, and that five of them were on the opposite bank of the river.\nAs soon as I had recovered from my fatigue I went to examine them. We\nproceeded in a boat to the mouth of the Lofubu or Revubu, which is about\ntwo miles below Tete, and on the opposite or northern bank. Ascending\nthis about four miles against a strong current of beautifully clear\nwater, we landed near a small cataract, and walked about two miles\nthrough very fertile gardens to the seam, which we found to be in one of\nthe feeders of the Lofubu, called Muatize or Motize. The seam is in\nthe perpendicular bank, and dips into the rivulet, or in a northerly\ndirection. There is, first of all, a seam 10 inches in diameter, then\nsome shale, below which there is another seam, 58 inches of which are\nseen, and, as the bottom touches the water of the Muatize, it may be\nmore. This part of the seam is about 30 yards long. There is then a\nfault. About 100 yards higher up the stream black vesicular trap\nis seen, penetrating in thin veins the clay shale of the country,\nconverting it into porcellanite, and partially crystallizing the coal\nwith which it came into contact. On the right bank of the Lofubu there\nis another feeder entering that river near its confluence with the\nMuatize, which is called the Morongozi, in which there is another and\nstill larger bed of coal exposed. Farther up the Lofubu there are other\nseams in the rivulets Inyavu and Makare; also several spots in the\nMaravi country have the coal cropping out. This has evidently been\nbrought to the surface by volcanic action at a later period than the\ncoal formation.\n\nI also went up the Zambesi, and visited a hot spring called Nyamboronda,\nsituated in the bed of a small rivulet named Nyaondo, which shows that\nigneous action is not yet extinct. We landed at a small rivulet called\nMokorozi, then went a mile or two to the eastward, where we found a hot\nfountain at the bottom of a high hill. A little spring bubbles up on one\nside of the rivulet Nyaondo, and a great quantity of acrid steam rises\nup from the ground adjacent, about 12 feet square of which is so hot\nthat my companions could not stand on it with their bare feet. There are\nseveral little holes from which the water trickles, but the principal\nspring is in a hole a foot in diameter, and about the same in depth.\nNumbers of bubbles are constantly rising. The steam feels acrid in the\nthroat, but is not inflammable, as it did not burn when I held a bunch\nof lighted grass over the bubbles. The mercury rises to 158 Deg. when\nthe thermometer is put into the water in the hole, but after a few\nseconds it stands steadily at 160 Deg. Even when flowing over the stones\nthe water is too hot for the hand. Little fish frequently leap out of\nthe stream in the bed of which the fountain rises, into the hot\nwater, and get scalded to death. We saw a frog which had performed the\nexperiment, and was now cooked. The stones over which the water flows\nare incrusted with a white salt, and the water has a saline taste. The\nground has been dug out near the fountain by the natives, in order to\nextract the salt it contains. It is situated among rocks of syenitic\nporphyry in broad dikes, and gneiss tilted on edge, and having a\nstrike to the N.E. There are many specimens of half-formed pumice, with\ngreenstone and lava. Some of the sandstone strata are dislocated by a\nhornblende rock and by basalt, the sandstone nearest to the basalt being\nconverted into quartz.\n\nThe country around, as indeed all the district lying N. and N.W. of\nTete, is hilly, and, the hills being covered with trees, the scenery\nis very picturesque. The soil of the valleys is very fruitful and well\ncultivated. There would not be much difficulty in working the coal. The\nLofubu is about 60 yards broad; it flows perennially, and at its very\nlowest period, which is after September, there is water about 18 inches\ndeep, which could be navigated in flat-bottomed boats. At the time of\nmy visit it was full, and the current was very strong. If the small\ncataract referred to were to be avoided, the land-carriage beyond would\nonly be about two miles. The other seams farther up the river may,\nafter passing the cataract, be approached more easily than that in the\nMuatize; as the seam, however, dips down into the stream, no drainage of\nthe mine would be required, for if water were come to it would run into\nthe stream. I did not visit the others, but I was informed that there\nare seams in the independent native territory as well as in that of the\nPortuguese. That in the Nake is in the Banyai country, and, indeed, I\nhave no doubt but that the whole country between Zumbo and Lupata is a\ncoal-field of at least 2-1/2 Deg. of latitude in breadth, having many\nfaults, made during the time of the igneous action. The gray sandstone\nrock having silicified trees lying on it is of these dimensions. The\nplantation in which the seam of coal exists would be valued among\nthe Portuguese at about 60 dollars or 12 Pounds, but much more would\nprobably be asked if a wealthy purchaser appeared. They could not,\nhowever, raise the price very much higher, because estates containing\ncoal might be had from the native owners at a much cheaper rate. The\nwages of free laborers, when employed in such work as gold-washing,\nagriculture, or digging coal, is 2 yards of unbleached calico per day.\nThey might be got to work cheaper if engaged by the moon, or for about\n16 yards per month. For masons and carpenters even, the ordinary rate is\n2 yards per day. This is called 1 braca. Tradesmen from Kilimane demand\n4 bracas, or 8 yards, per day. English or American unbleached calico is\nthe only currency used. The carriage of goods up the river to Tete adds\nabout 10 per cent. to their cost. The usual conveyance is by means of\nvery large canoes and launches built at Senna.\n\nThe amount of merchandise brought up during the five months of peace\nprevious to my visit was of the value of 30,000 dollars, or about 6000\nPounds. The annual supply of goods for trade is about 15,000 Pounds,\nbeing calico, thick brass wire, beads, gunpowder, and guns. The quantity\nof the latter is, however, small, as the government of Mozambique made\nthat article contraband after the commencement of the war. Goods, when\ntraded with in the tribes around the Portuguese, produce a profit\nof only about 10 per cent., the articles traded in being ivory and\ngold-dust. A little oil and wheat are exported, but nothing else. Trade\nwith the tribes beyond the exclusive ones is much better. Thirty brass\nrings cost 10s. at Senna, 1 Pound at Tete, and 2 Pounds beyond the\ntribes in the vicinity of Tete; these are a good price for a penful of\ngold-dust of the value of 2 Pounds. The plantations of coffee, which,\nprevious to the commencement of the slave-trade, yielded one material\nfor exportation, are now deserted, and it is difficult to find a single\ntree. The indigo ('Indigofera argentea', the common wild indigo of\nAfrica) is found growing every where, and large quantities of the\nsenna-plant* grow in the village of Tete and other parts, but neither\nindigo nor senna is collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance\nin some parts farther down the river, is bought by the Americans, it is\nsaid, to use as a dye-stuff. A kind of sarsaparilla, or a plant which is\nbelieved by the Portuguese to be such, is found from Londa to Senna, but\nhas never been exported.\n\n   * These appear to belong to 'Cassia acutifolia', or true senna\n   of commerce, found in various parts of Africa and India.--Dr.\n   Hooker.\n\nThe price of provisions is low, but very much higher than previous to\nthe commencement of the war. Two yards of calico are demanded for six\nfowls; this is considered very dear, because, before the war, the same\nquantity of calico was worth 24 fowls. Grain is sold in little bags made\nfrom the leaves of the palmyra, like those in which we receive sugar.\nThey are called panjas, and each panja weighs between 30 and 40 lbs. The\npanja of wheat at Tete is worth a dollar, or 5s.; but the native grain\nmay be obtained among the islands below Lupata at the rate of three\npanjas for two yards of calico. The highest articles of consumption are\ntea and coffee, the tea being often as high as 15s. a pound. Food is\ncheaper down the river below Lupata, and, previous to the war, the\nislands which stud the Zambesi were all inhabited, and, the soil being\nexceedingly fertile, grain and fowls could be got to any amount. The\ninhabitants disappeared before their enemies the Landeens, but are\nbeginning to return since the peace. They have no cattle, the only place\nwhere we found no tsetse being the district of Tete itself; and the\ncattle in the possession of the Portuguese are a mere remnant of what\nthey formerly owned.\n\nWhen visiting the hot fountain, I examined what were formerly the\ngold-washings in the rivulet Mokoroze, which is nearly on the 16th\nparallel of latitude. The banks are covered with large groves of fine\nmango-trees, among which the Portuguese lived while superintending the\nwashing for the precious metal. The process of washing is very laborious\nand tedious. A quantity of sand is put into a wooden bowl with water;\na half rotatory motion is given to the dish, which causes the coarser\nparticles of sand to collect on one side of the bottom. These are\ncarefully removed with the hand, and the process of rotation renewed\nuntil the whole of the sand is taken away, and the gold alone remains.\nIt is found in very minute scales, and, unless I had been assured to the\ncontrary, I should have taken it to be mica, for, knowing the gold to be\nof greater specific gravity than the sand, I imagined that a stream\nof water would remove the latter and leave the former; but here the\npractice is to remove the whole of the sand by the hand. This process\nwas, no doubt, a profitable one to the Portuguese, and it is probable\nthat, with the improved plan by means of mercury, the sands would\nbe lucrative. I had an opportunity of examining the gold-dust from\ndifferent parts to the east and northeast of Tete. There are six\nwell-known washing-places. These are called Mashinga, Shindundo,\nMissala, Kapata, Mano, and Jawa. From the description of the rock I\nreceived, I suppose gold is found both in clay shale and quartz. At the\nrange Mushinga to the N.N.W. the rock is said to be so soft that the\nwomen pound it into powder in wooden mortars previous to washing.\n\nRound toward the westward, the old Portuguese indicate a station which\nwas near to Zumbo on the River Panyame, and called Dambarari, near which\nmuch gold was found. Farther west lay the now unknown kingdom of Abutua,\nwhich was formerly famous for the metal; and then, coming round toward\nthe east, we have the gold-washings of the Mashona, or Bazizulu, and,\nfarther east, that of Manica, where gold is found much more abundantly\nthan in any other part, and which has been supposed by some to be the\nOphir of King Solomon. I saw the gold from this quarter as large as\ngrains of wheat, that found in the rivers which run into the coal-field\nbeing in very minute scales. If we place one leg of the compasses at\nTete, and extend the other three and a half degrees, bringing it round\nfrom the northeast of Tete by west, and then to the southeast, we nearly\ntouch or include all the known gold-producing country. As the gold\non this circumference is found in coarser grains than in the streams\nrunning toward the centre, or Tete, I imagine that the real gold-field\nlies round about the coal-field; and, if I am right in the conjecture,\nthen we have coal encircled by a gold-field, and abundance of wood,\nwater, and provisions--a combination not often met with in the world.\nThe inhabitants are not unfavorable to washings, conducted on the\nprinciple formerly mentioned. At present they wash only when in want of\na little calico. They know the value of gold perfectly well, for they\nbring it for sale in goose-quills, and demand 24 yards of calico for one\npenful. When the rivers in the district of Manica and other gold-washing\nplaces have been flooded, they leave a coating of mud on the banks. The\nnatives observe the spots which dry soonest, and commence digging there,\nin firm belief that gold lies beneath. They are said not to dig deeper\nthan their chins, believing that if they did so the ground would fall in\nand kill them. When they find a 'piece' or flake of gold, they bury it\nagain, from the superstitious idea that this is the seed of the gold,\nand, though they know the value of it well, they prefer losing it rather\nthan the whole future crop. This conduct seemed to me so very unlikely\nin men who bring the dust in quills, and even put in a few seeds of a\ncertain plant as a charm to prevent their losing any of it on the way,\nthat I doubted the authority of my informant; but I found the report\nverified by all the Portuguese who knew the native language and mode of\nthinking, and give the statement for what it is worth. If it is really\npracticed, the custom may have been introduced by some knowing one\nwho wished to defraud the chiefs of their due; for we are informed in\nPortuguese history that in former times these pieces or flakes of gold\nwere considered the perquisites of the chiefs.\n\nMajor Sicard, the commandant, whose kindness to me and my people was\nunbounded, presented a rosary made of the gold of the country, the\nworkmanship of a native of Tete, to my little daughter; also specimens\nof the gold-dust of three different places, which, with the coal of\nMuatize and Morongoze, are deposited in the Museum of Practical Geology,\nJermyn Street, London.\n\nAll the cultivation is carried on with hoes in the native manner,\nand considerable quantities of 'Holcus sorghum', maize, 'Pennisetum\ntyphoideum', or lotsa of the Balonda, millet, rice, and wheat are\nraised, as also several kinds of beans--one of which, called \"litloo\" by\nthe Bechuanas, yields under ground, as well as the 'Arachis hypogaea',\nor ground-nut; with cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons. The wheat is sown\nin low-lying places which are annually flooded by the Zambesi. When the\nwaters retire, the women drop a few grains in a hole made with a hoe,\nthen push back the soil with the foot. One weeding alone is required\nbefore the grain comes to maturity. This simple process represents all\nour subsoil plowing, liming, manuring, and harrowing, for in four months\nafter planting a good crop is ready for the sickle, and has been\nknown to yield a hundred-fold. It flourished still more at Zumbo. No\nirrigation is required, because here there are gentle rains, almost\nlike mist, in winter, which go by the name of \"wheat-showers\", and are\nunknown in the interior, where no winter rain ever falls. The rains\nat Tete come from the east, though the prevailing winds come from the\nS.S.E. The finest portion of the flour does not make bread nearly so\nwhite as the seconds, and here the boyaloa (pombe), or native beer,\nis employed to mix with the flour instead of yeast. It makes excellent\nbread. At Kilimane, where the cocoanut palm abounds, the toddy from it,\ncalled \"sura\", is used for the same purpose, and makes the bread still\nlighter.\n\nAs it was necessary to leave most of my men at this place, Major Sicard\ngave them a portion of land on which to cultivate their own food,\ngenerously supplying them with corn in the mean time. He also said that\nmy young men might go and hunt elephants in company with his servants,\nand purchase goods with both the ivory and dried meat, in order that\nthey might have something to take with them on their return to Sekeletu.\nThe men were delighted with his liberality, and soon sixty or seventy of\nthem set off to engage in this enterprise. There was no calico to be\nhad at this time in Tete, but the commandant handsomely furnished my men\nwith clothing. I was in a state of want myself, and, though I pressed\nhim to take payment in ivory for both myself and men, he refused all\nrecompense. I shall ever remember his kindness with deep gratitude. He\nhas written me, since my arrival in England, that my men had killed four\nelephants in the course of two months after my departure.\n\nOn the day of my arrival I was visited by all the gentlemen of the\nvillage, both white and colored, including the padre. Not one of them\nhad any idea as to where the source of the Zambesi lay. They sent for\nthe best traveled natives, but none of them knew the river even as\nfar as Kansala. The father of one of the rebels who had been fighting\nagainst them had been a great traveler to the southwest, and had even\nheard of our visit to Lake Ngami; but he was equally ignorant with all\nthe others that the Zambesi flowed in the centre of the country. They\nhad, however, more knowledge of the country to the north of Tete than I\nhad. One man, who had gone to Cazembe with Major Monteiro, stated\nthat he had seen the Luapura or Loapula flowing past the town of that\nchieftain into the Luameji or Leeambye, but imagined that it found its\nway, somehow or other, into Angola. The fact that sometimes rivers were\nseen to flow like this toward the centre of the country, led geographers\nto the supposition that inner Africa was composed of elevated sandy\nplains, into which rivers ran and were lost. One of the gentlemen\npresent, Senhor Candido, had visited a lake 45 days to the N.N.W. of\nTete, which is probably the Lake Maravi of geographers, as in going\nthither they pass through the people of that name. The inhabitants of\nits southern coast are named Shiva; those on the north, Mujao; and they\ncall the lake Nyanja or Nyanje, which simply means a large water, or\nbed of a large river. A high mountain stands in the middle of it, called\nMurombo or Murombola, which is inhabited by people who have much cattle.\nHe stated that he crossed the Nyanja at a narrow part, and was 36 hours\nin the passage. The canoes were punted the whole way, and, if we take\nthe rate about two miles per hour, it may be sixty or seventy miles in\nbreadth. The country all round was composed of level plains covered with\ngrass, and, indeed, in going thither they traveled seven or eight days\nwithout wood, and cooked their food with grass and stalks of native\ncorn alone. The people sold their cattle at a very cheap rate. From the\nsouthern extremity of the lake two rivers issue forth: one, named after\nitself, the Nyanja, which passes into the sea on the east coast under\nanother name; and the Shire, which flows into the Zambesi a little below\nSenna. The Shire is named Shirwa at its point of departure from the\nlake, and Senhor Candido was informed, when there, that the lake was\nsimply an expansion of the River Nyanja, which comes from the north\nand encircles the mountain Murombo, the meaning of which is junction\nor union, in reference to the water having parted at its northern\nextremity, and united again at its southern. The Shire flows through\na low, flat, marshy country, but abounding in population, and they are\nsaid to be brave. The Portuguese are unable to navigate the Shire up to\nthe Lake Nyanja, because of the great abundance of a water-plant which\nrequires no soil, and which they name \"alfacinya\" ('Pistia stratiotes'),\nfrom its resemblance to a lettuce. This completely obstructs the\nprogress of canoes. In confirmation of this I may state that, when I\npassed the mouth of the Shire, great quantities of this same plant were\nfloating from it into the Zambesi, and many parts of the banks below\nwere covered with the dead plants.\n\nSenhor Candido stated that slight earthquakes have happened several\ntimes in the country of the Maravi, and at no great distance from Tete.\nThe motion seems to come from the eastward, and never to have lasted\nmore than a few seconds. They are named in the Maravi tongue \"shiwo\",\nand in that of the people of Tete \"shitakoteko\", or \"shivering\". This\nagrees exactly with what has taken place in the coast of Mozambique--a\nfew slight shocks of short duration, and all appearing to come from the\neast. At Senna, too, a single shock has been felt several times, which\nshook the doors and windows, and made the glasses jingle. Both Tete and\nSenna have hot springs in their vicinity, but the shocks seemed to come,\nnot from them, but from the east, and proceed to the west. They are\nprobably connected with the active volcanoes in the island of Bourbon.\n\nAs Senhor Candido holds the office of judge in all the disputes of the\nnatives, and knows their language perfectly, his statement may be relied\non that all the natives of this region have a clear idea of a Supreme\nBeing, the maker and governor of all things. He is named \"Morimo\",\n\"Molungo\", \"Reza\", \"Mpambe\", in the different dialects spoken. The\nBarotse name him \"Nyampi\", and the Balonda \"Zambi\". All promptly\nacknowledge him as the ruler over all. They also fully believe in the\nsoul's continued existence apart from the body, and visit the graves\nof relatives, making offerings of food, beer, etc. When undergoing the\nordeal, they hold up their hands to the Ruler of Heaven, as if appealing\nto him to assert their innocence. When they escape, or recover from\nsickness, or are delivered from any danger, they offer a sacrifice of a\nfowl or a sheep, pouring out the blood as a libation to the soul of some\ndeparted relative. They believe in the transmigration of souls, and\nalso that while persons are still living they may enter into lions and\nalligators, and then return again to their own bodies.\n\nWhile still at Tete the son of Monomotapa paid the commandant a visit.\nHe is named Mozungo, or \"White Man\", has a narrow tapering head, and\nprobably none of the ability or energy his father possessed. He was\nthe favorite of his father, who hoped that he would occupy his place.\nA strong party, however, in the tribe placed Katalosa in the\nchieftainship, and the son became, as they say, a child of this man. The\nPortuguese have repeatedly received offers of territory if they would\nonly attend the interment of the departed chief with troops, fire off\nmany rounds of cartridges over the grave, and then give eclat to the\ninstallment of the new chief. Their presence would probably influence\nthe election, for many would vote on the side of power, and a candidate\nmight feel it worth while to grant a good piece of land, if thereby he\ncould secure the chieftainship to himself. When the Portuguese traders\nwish to pass into the country beyond Katalosa, they present him with\nabout thirty-two yards of calico and some other goods, and he then gives\nthem leave to pass in whatever direction they choose to go. They must,\nhowever, give certain quantities of cloth to a number of inferior chiefs\nbeside, and they are subject to the game-laws. They have thus a body of\nexclusive tribes around them, preventing direct intercourse between them\nand the population beyond. It is strange that, when they had the power,\nthey did not insist on the free navigation of the Zambesi. I can only\naccount for this in the same way in which I accounted for a similar\nstate of things in the west. All the traders have been in the hands of\nslaves, and have wanted that moral courage which a free man, with free\nservants on whom he can depend, usually possesses. If the English had\nbeen here, they would have insisted on the free navigation of this\npathway as an indispensable condition of friendship. The present system\nis a serious difficulty in the way of developing the resources of\nthe country, and might prove fatal to an unarmed expedition. If this\ndesirable and most fertile field of enterprise is ever to be opened up,\nmen must proceed on a different plan from that which has been followed,\nand I do not apprehend there would be much difficulty in commencing a\nnew system, if those who undertook it insisted that it is not our\ncustom to pay for a highway which has not been made by man. The natives\nthemselves would not deny that the river is free to those who do not\ntrade in slaves. If, in addition to an open, frank explanation, a small\nsubsidy were given to the paramount chief, the willing consent of all\nthe subordinates would soon be secured.\n\nOn the 1st of April I went to see the site of a former establishment\nof the Jesuits, called Micombo, about ten miles S.E. of Tete. Like all\ntheir settlements I have seen, both judgment and taste had been employed\nin the selection of the site. A little stream of mineral water had been\ncollected in a tank and conducted to their house, before which was a\nlittle garden for raising vegetables at times of the year when no rain\nfalls. It is now buried in a deep shady grove of mango-trees. I was\naccompanied by Captain Nunes, whose great-grandfather, also a captain in\nthe time of the Marquis of Pombal, received sealed orders, to be opened\nonly on a certain day. When that day arrived, he found the command to go\nwith his company, seize all the Jesuits of this establishment, and march\nthem as prisoners to the coast. The riches of the fraternity, which were\nimmense, were taken possession of by the state. Large quantities of gold\nhad often been sent to their superiors at Goa, inclosed in images. The\nJesuits here do not seem to have possessed the sympathies of the people\nas their brethren in Angola did. They were keen traders in ivory and\ngold-dust. All praise their industry. Whatever they did, they did it\nwith all their might, and probably their successful labors in securing\nthe chief part of the trade to themselves had excited the envy of the\nlaity. None of the natives here can read; and though the Jesuits are\nsaid to have translated some of the prayers into the language of the\ncountry, I was unable to obtain a copy. The only religious teachers now\nin this part of the country are two gentlemen of color, natives of\nGoa. The one who officiates at Tete, named Pedro Antonio d'Araujo, is\na graduate in Dogmatic Theology and Moral Philosophy. There is but a\nsingle school in Tete, and it is attended only by the native Portuguese\nchildren, who are taught to read and write. The black population is\ntotally uncared for. The soldiers are marched every Sunday to hear mass,\nand but few others attend church. During the period of my stay, a kind\nof theatrical representation of our Savior's passion and resurrection\nwas performed. The images and other paraphernalia used were of great\nvalue, but the present riches of the Church are nothing to what it once\npossessed. The commandant is obliged to lock up all the gold and silver\nin the fort for safety, though not from any apprehension of its being\nstolen by the people, for they have a dread of sacrilege.\n\nThe state of religion and education is, I am sorry to say, as low as\nthat of commerce; but the European Portuguese value education highly,\nand send their children to Goa and elsewhere for instruction in the\nhigher branches. There is not a single bookseller's shop, however, in\neither eastern or western Africa. Even Loanda, with its 12,000 or 14,000\nsouls, can not boast of one store for the sale of food for the mind.\n\nOn the 2d the Zambesi suddenly rose several feet in height. Three such\nfloods are expected annually, but this year there were four. This last\nwas accompanied by discoloration, and must have been caused by another\ngreat fall of rain east of the ridge. We had observed a flood of\ndiscolored water when we reached the river at the Kafue; it then fell\ntwo feet, and from subsequent rains again rose so high that we were\nobliged to leave it when opposite the hill Pinkwe. About the 10th of\nMarch the river rose several feet with comparatively clear water, and\nit continued to rise until the 21st, with but very slight discoloration.\nThis gradual rise was the greatest, and was probably caused by the water\nof inundation in the interior. The sudden rise which happened on the\n2d, being deeply discolored, showed again the effect of rains at a\ncomparatively short distance. The fact of the river rising three or four\ntimes annually, and the one flood of inundation being mixed with the\nothers, may account for the Portuguese not recognizing the phenomenon of\nthe periodical inundation, so well known in the central country.\n\nThe independent natives cultivate a little cotton, but it is not at all\nequal, either in quantity or quality, to what we found in Angola. The\npile is short, and it clings to the seed so much that they use an iron\nroller to detach it. The soil, however, is equal to the production of\nany tropical plant or fruit. The natives have never been encouraged to\ncultivate cotton for sale, nor has any new variety been introduced. We\nsaw no palm-oil-trees, the oil which is occasionally exported being from\nthe ground-nut. One of the merchants of Tete had a mill of the rudest\nconstruction for grinding this nut, which was driven by donkeys. It\nwas the only specimen of a machine I could exhibit to my men. A very\nsuperior kind of salad oil is obtained from the seeds of cucumbers, and\nis much used in native cookery.\n\nAn offer, said to have been made by the \"Times\", having excited\nattention even in this distant part, I asked the commandant if he knew\nof any plant fit for the production of paper. He procured specimens of\nthe fibrous tissue of a species of aloe, named Conge, and some also from\nthe root of a wild date, and, lastly, of a plant named Buaze, the fibres\nof which, though useless for the manufacture of paper, are probably\na suitable substitute for flax. I submitted a small quantity of these\nfibres to Messrs. Pye, Brothers, of London, who have invented a superior\nmode for the preparation of such tissues for the manufacturer. They most\npolitely undertook the examination, and have given a favorable opinion\nof the Buaze, as may be seen in the note below.*\n\n   *\n   80 Lombard Street, 20th March, 1857.\n\n   Dear Sir,--We have the pleasure to return you the specimens of\n   fibrous plants from the Zambesi River, on which you were\n   desirous to see the effects of our treatment; we therefore\n   inclose to you,\n\n   No. 1.  Buaze, in the state received from you.\n   1 A.    Do.    as prepared by us.\n   1 B.  The tow which has come from it in hackling.\n   No. 2.  Conge, as received from you.\n   2 A.    Do.    as prepared by us.\n\n   With regard to both these fibres, we must state that the VERY\n   MINUTE QUANTITY of each specimen has prevented our subjecting\n   them to any thing like the full treatment of our process, and\n   we can therefore only give you an APPROXIMATE idea of their\n   value.\n\n   The Buaze evidently possesses a very strong and fine fibre,\n   assimilating to flax in its character, but we believe, when\n   treated IN QUANTITY by our process, it would show both a\n   stronger and finer fibre than flax; but being unable to apply\n   the rolling or pressing processes with any efficiency to so\n   very small a quantity, the gums are not yet so perfectly\n   extracted as they would be, nor the fibre opened out to so\n   fine a quality as it would then exhibit.\n\n   This is even yet more the case with the Conge, which, being\n   naturally a harsh fibre, full of gums, wants exactly that\n   powerful treatment which our process is calculated to give it,\n   but which can not be applied to such miniature specimens.  We\n   do not therefore consider this as more than half treated, its\n   fibre consequently remaining yet harsh, and coarse, and stiff,\n   as compared with what it would be if treated IN QUANTITY.\n\n   Judging that it would be satisfactory to you to be in\n   possession of the best practical opinion to be obtained on\n   such a subject, we took the liberty of forwarding your little\n   specimens to Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, who have kindly\n   favored us with the following observations on them:\n\n   \"We have examined the samples you sent us yesterday, and think\n   the Conge or aloe fibre would be of no use to us, but the\n   Buaze fibre appears to resemble flax, and as prepared by you\n   will be equal to flax worth 50 Pounds or 60 Pounds per ton,\n   but we could hardly speak positively to the value unless we\n   had 1 cwt. or 2 cwt. to try on our machinery.  However, we\n   think the result is promising, and we hope further inquiry\n   will be made as to the probable supply of the material.\"\n\n   We are, dear sir, your very obedient servants, Pye, Brothers.\n\n   The Rev. Dr. Livingstone.\n\n\nA representation of the plant is given in the annexed woodcut,* as a\nhelp to its identification. I was unable to procure either the flowers\nor fruit; but, as it is not recognized at sight by that accomplished\nbotanist and eminent traveler, Dr. J. D. Hooker, it may safely be\nconcluded that it is quite unknown to botanists. It is stated by the\nPortuguese to grow in large quantities in the Maravi country north of\nthe Zambesi, but it is not cultivated, and the only known use it has\nbeen put to is in making threads on which the natives string their\nbeads. Elsewhere the split tendons of animals are employed for this\npurpose. This seems to be of equal strength, for a firm thread of it\nfeels like catgut in the hand, and would rather cut the fingers than\nbreak.\n\n   * Unfortunately, this woodcut can not be represented in this\n   ASCII text, but buaze, or bwazi, is 'Securidaca\n   longipedunculata'.--A. L., 1997.\n\nHaving waited a month for the commencement of the healthy season at\nKilimane, I would have started at the beginning of April, but tarried a\nfew days in order that the moon might make her appearance, and enable me\nto take lunar observations on my way down the river. A sudden change of\ntemperature happening on the 4th, simultaneously with the appearance of\nthe new moon, the commandant and myself, with nearly every person in the\nhouse, were laid up with a severe attack of fever. I soon recovered by\nthe use of my wonted remedies, but Major Sicard and his little boy were\nconfined much longer. There was a general fall of 4 Deg. of temperature\nfrom the middle of March, 84 Deg. at 9 A.M., and 87 Deg. at 9 P.M.;\nthe greatest heat being 90 Deg. at midday, and the lowest 81 Deg.\nat sunrise. It afforded me pleasure to attend the invalids in their\nsickness, though I was unable to show a tithe of the gratitude I felt\nfor the commandant's increasing kindness. My quinine and other remedies\nwere nearly all expended, and no fresh supply was to be found here,\nthere being no doctors at Tete, and only one apothecary with the\ntroops, whose stock of medicine was also small. The Portuguese,\nhowever, informed me that they had the cinchona bark growing in their\ncountry--that there was a little of it to be found at Tete--whole\nforests of it at Senna and near the delta of Kilimane. It seems quite\na providential arrangement that the remedy for fever should be found in\nthe greatest abundance where it is most needed. On seeing the leaves,\nI stated that it was not the 'Cinchona longifolia' from which it\nis supposed the quinine of commerce is extracted, but the name and\nproperties of this bark made me imagine that it was a cinchonaceous\ntree. I could not get the flower, but when I went to Senna I tried to\nbring away a few small living trees with earth in a box. They, however,\nall died when we came to Kilimane. Failing in this mode of testing\nthe point, I submitted a few leaves and seed-vessels to my friend,\nDr. Hooker, who kindly informs me that they belong \"apparently to an\napocyneous plant, very nearly allied to the Malouetia Heudlotii (of\nDecaisne), a native of Senegambia.\" Dr. H. adds, \"Various plants of this\nnatural order are reputed powerful febrifuges, and some of them are\nsaid to equal the cinchona in their effects.\" It is called in the native\ntongue Kumbanzo.\n\nThe flowers are reported to be white. The pods are in pairs, a foot or\nfifteen inches in length, and contain a groove on their inner sides.\nThe thick soft bark of the root is the part used by the natives; the\nPortuguese use that of the tree itself. I immediately began to use a\ndecoction of the bark of the root, and my men found it so efficacious\nthat they collected small quantities of it for themselves, and kept it\nin little bags for future use. Some of them said that they knew it in\ntheir own country, but I never happened to observe it. The decoction is\ngiven after the first paroxysm of the complaint is over. The Portuguese\nbelieve it to have the same effects as the quinine, and it may prove a\nsubstitute for that invaluable medicine.\n\nThere are numbers of other medicines in use among the natives, but I\nhave always been obliged to regret want of time to ascertain which were\nuseful and which of no value. We find a medicine in use by a tribe\nin one part of the country, and the same plant employed by a tribe a\nthousand miles distant. This surely must arise from some inherent virtue\nin the plant. The Boers under Potgeiter visited Delgoa Bay for the first\ntime about ten years ago, in order to secure a port on the east coast\nfor their republic. They had come from a part of the interior where the\ndisease called croup occasionally prevails. There was no appearance of\nthe disease among them at the period of their visit, but the Portuguese\ninhabitants of that bay found that they had left it among them,\nand several adults were cut off by a form of the complaint called\n'Laryngismus stridulus', the disease of which the great Washington died.\nSimilar cases have occurred in the South Sea Islands. Ships have left\ndiseases from which no one on board was suffering at the time of their\nvisit. Many of the inhabitants here were cut down, usually in three\ndays from their first attack, until a native doctor adopted the plan of\nscratching the root of the tongue freely with a certain root, and giving\na piece of it to be chewed. The cure may have been effected by the\nscarification only, but the Portuguese have the strongest faith in the\nvirtues of the root, and always keep some of it within reach.\n\nThere are also other plants which the natives use in the treatment of\nfever, and some of them produce 'diaphoresis' in a short space of\ntime. It is certain that we have got the knowledge of the most potent\nfebrifuge in our pharmacopoeia from the natives of another country. We\nhave no cure for cholera and some other diseases. It might be worth the\ninvestigation of those who visit Africa to try and find other remedies\nin a somewhat similar way to that in which we found the quinine.*\n\n   * I add the native names of a few of their remedies in order\n   to assist the inquirer:  Mupanda panda:  this is used in fever\n   for producing perspiration; the leaves are named Chirussa; the\n   roots dye red, and are very astringent.  Goho or Go-o: this is\n   the ordeal medicine; it is both purgative and emetic. Mutuva\n   or Mutumbue:  this plant contains so much oil that it serves\n   as lights in Londa; it is an emollient drink for the cure of\n   coughs, and the pounded leaves answer as soap to wash the\n   head.  Nyamucu ucu has a curious softening effect on old dry\n   grain.  Mussakasi is believed to remove the effects of the Go-\n   o. Mudama is a stringent vermifuge.  Mapubuza dyes a red\n   color. Musikizi yields an oil.  Shinkondo:  a virulent poison;\n   the Maravi use it in their ordeal, and it is very fatal.\n   Kanunka utare is said to expel serpents and rats by its\n   pungent smell, which is not at all disagreeable to man; this\n   is probably a kind of 'Zanthoxylon', perhaps the Z.\n   melancantha of Western Africa, as it is used to expel rats and\n   serpents there.  Mussonzoa dyes cloth black. Mussio:  the\n   beans of this also dye black.  Kangome, with flowers and fruit\n   like Mocha coffee; the leaves are much like those of the sloe,\n   and the seeds are used as coffee or eaten as beans. Kanembe-\n   embe:  the pounded leaves used as an extemporaneous glue for\n   mending broken vessels.  Katunguru is used for killing fish.\n   Mutavea Nyerere:  an active caustic.  Mudiacoro:  also an\n   external caustic, and used internally.  Kapande:  another\n   ordeal plant, but used to produce 'diaphoresis'.  Karumgasura:\n   also diaphoretic. Munyazi yields an oil, and is one of the\n   ingredients for curing the wounds of poisoned arrows.  Uombue:\n   a large root employed in killing fish.  Kakumate:  used in\n   intermittents.  Musheteko: applied to ulcers, and the infusion\n   also internally in amenorrhoea. Inyakanyanya:  this is seen in\n   small, dark-colored, crooked roots of pleasant aromatic smell\n   and slightly bitter taste, and is highly extolled in the\n   treatment of fever; it is found in Manica. Eskinencia:  used\n   in croup and sore-throat.  Itaca or Itaka: for diaphoresis in\n   fever; this root is brought as an article of barter by the\n   Arabs to Kilimane; the natives purchase it eagerly.\n   Mukundukundu:  a decoction used as a febrifuge in the same way\n   as quinine; it grows plentifully at Shupanga, and the wood is\n   used as masts for launches.  I may here add the recipe of\n   Brother Pedro of Zumbo for the cure of poisoned wounds, in\n   order to show the similarity of practice among the natives of\n   the Zambesi, from whom, in all probability, he acquired his\n   knowledge, and the Bushmen of the Kalahari. It consists of\n   equal parts of the roots of the Calumba, Musheteko, Abutua,\n   Batatinya, Paregekanto, Itaka, or Kapande, put into a bottle\n   and covered with common castor-oil.  As I have before\n   observed, I believe the oily ingredient is the effectual one,\n   and ought to be tried by any one who has the misfortune to get\n   wounded by a Bushman's or Banyai arrow.\n\nThe only other metal, besides gold, we have in abundance in this region,\nis iron, and that is of excellent quality. In some places it is obtained\nfrom what is called the specular iron ore, and also from black oxide.\nThe latter has been well roasted in the operations of nature, and\ncontains a large proportion of the metal. It occurs generally in tears\nor rounded lumps, and is but slightly magnetic. When found in the beds\nof rivers, the natives know of its existence by the quantity of oxide\non the surface, and they find no difficulty in digging it with pointed\nsticks. They consider English iron as \"rotten\"; and I have seen, when a\njavelin of their own iron lighted on the cranium of a hippopotamus, it\ncurled up like the proboscis of a butterfly, and the owner would prepare\nit for future use by straightening it COLD with two stones. I brought\nhome some of the hoes which Sekeletu gave me to purchase a canoe, also\nsome others obtained in Kilimane, and they have been found of such good\nquality that a friend of mine in Birmingham has made an Enfield rifle of\nthem.*\n\n   * The following remarks are by a practical blacksmith, one of\n   the most experienced men in the gun-trade.  In this trade\n   various qualities of iron are used, and close attention is\n   required to secure for each purpose the quality of iron\n   peculiarly adapted to it:\n\n   The iron in the two spades strongly resembles Swedish or\n   Russian; it is highly carbonized.\n\n   The same qualities are found in both spades.\n\n   When chilled in water it has all the properties of steel: see\n   the piece marked I, chilled at one end, and left soft at the\n   other.\n\n   When worked hot, it is very malleable:  but cold, it breaks\n   quite short and brittle.\n\n   The great irregularity found in the working of the iron\n   affords evidence that it has been prepared by inexperienced\n   hands.\n\n   This is shown in the bending of the small spade; the thick\n   portion retains its crystallized nature, while the thin part\n   has been changed by the hammering it has undergone.\n\n   The large spade shows a very brittle fracture.\n\n   The iron is too brittle for gun-work; it would be liable to\n   break.\n\n   This iron, if REPEATEDLY heated and hammered, would become\n   decarbonized, and would then possess the qualities found in\n   the spear-head, which, after being curled up by being struck\n   against a hard substance, was restored, by hammering, to its\n   original form without injury.\n\n   The piece of iron marked II is a piece of gun-iron of fibrous\n   quality, such as will bend without breaking.\n\n   The piece marked III is of crystalline quality; it has been\n   submitted to a process which has changed it to IIII; III and\n   IIII are cut from the same bar.  The spade-iron has been\n   submitted to the same process, but no corresponding effect can\n   be produced.\n\nThe iron ore exists in great abundance, but I did not find any limestone\nin its immediate vicinity. So far as I could learn, there is neither\ncopper nor silver. Malachite is worked by the people of Cazembe, but, as\nI did not see it, nor any other metal, I can say nothing about it. A\nfew precious stones are met with, and some parts are quite covered with\nagates. The mineralogy of the district, however, has not been explored\nby any one competent to the task.\n\nWhen my friend the commandant was fairly recovered, and I myself felt\nstrong again, I prepared to descend the Zambesi. A number of my men\nwere out elephant-hunting, and others had established a brisk trade in\nfirewood, as their countrymen did at Loanda. I chose sixteen of those\nwho could manage canoes to convey me down the river. Many more would\nhave come, but we were informed that there had been a failure of the\ncrops at Kilimane from the rains not coming at the proper time, and\nthousands had died of hunger. I did not hear of a single effort having\nbeen made to relieve the famishing by sending them food down the river.\nThose who perished were mostly slaves, and others seemed to think that\ntheir masters ought to pay for their relief. The sufferers were chiefly\namong those natives who inhabit the delta, and who are subject to the\nPortuguese. They are in a state of slavery, but are kept on farms and\nmildly treated. Many yield a certain rental of grain only to their\nowners, and are otherwise free. Eight thousand are said to have\nperished. Major Sicard lent me a boat which had been built on the river,\nand sent also Lieutenant Miranda to conduct me to the coast.\n\nA Portuguese lady who had come with her brother from Lisbon, having been\nsuffering for some days from a severe attack of fever, died about three\no'clock in the morning of the 20th of April. The heat of the body having\ncontinued unabated till six o'clock, I was called in, and found her\nbosom quite as warm as I ever did in a living case of fever. This\ncontinued for three hours more. As I had never seen a case in which\nfever-heat continued so long after death, I delayed the funeral until\nunmistakable symptoms of dissolution occurred. She was a widow, only\ntwenty-two years of age, and had been ten years in Africa. I attended\nthe funeral in the evening, and was struck by the custom of the country.\nA number of slaves preceded us, and fired off many rounds of gunpowder\nin front of the body. When a person of much popularity is buried, all\nthe surrounding chiefs send deputations to fire over the grave. On one\noccasion at Tete, more than thirty barrels of gunpowder were expended.\nEarly in the morning of the 21st the slaves of the deceased lady's\nbrother went round the village making a lamentation, and drums were\nbeaten all day, as they are at such times among the heathen.\n\nThe commandant provided for the journey most abundantly, and gave orders\nto Lieutenant Miranda that I should not be allowed to pay for any thing\nall the way to the coast, and sent messages to his friends Senhors\nFerrao, Isidore, Asevedo, and Nunes, to treat me as they would himself.\nFrom every one of these gentlemen I am happy to acknowledge that I\nreceived most disinterested kindness, and I ought to speak well forever\nof Portuguese hospitality. I have noted each little act of civility\nreceived, because somehow or other we have come to hold the Portuguese\ncharacter in rather a low estimation. This may have arisen partly from\nthe pertinacity with which some of them have pursued the slave-trade,\nand partly from the contrast which they now offer to their illustrious\nancestors--the foremost navigators of the world. If my specification of\ntheir kindnesses will tend to engender a more respectful feeling to the\nnation, I shall consider myself well rewarded. We had three large canoes\nin the company which had lately come up with goods from Senna. They\nare made very large and strong, much larger than any we ever saw in the\ninterior, and might strike with great force against a rock and not be\nbroken. The men sit at the stern when paddling, and there is usually a\nlittle shed made over a part of the canoe to shade the passengers from\nthe sun. The boat in which I went was furnished with such a covering, so\nI sat quite comfortably.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 32.\n\nLeave Tete and proceed down the River--Pass the Stockade of Bonga--\nGorge of Lupata--\"Spine of the World\"--Width of River--Islands--War\nDrum at Shiramba--Canoe Navigation--Reach Senna--Its ruinous\nState--Landeens levy Fines upon the Inhabitants--Cowardice of native\nMilitia--State of the Revenue--No direct Trade with Portugal--Attempts\nto revive the Trade of Eastern Africa--Country round Senna--Gorongozo,\na Jesuit Station--Manica, the best Gold Region in Eastern\nAfrica--Boat-building at Senna--Our Departure--Capture of a Rebel\nStockade--Plants Alfacinya and Njefu at the Confluence of the\nShire--Landeen Opinion of the Whites--Mazaro, the point reached by\nCaptain Parker--His Opinion respecting the Navigation of the River\nfrom this to the Ocean--Lieutenant Hoskins' Remarks on the same\nsubject--Fever, its Effects--Kindly received into the House of Colonel\nNunes at Kilimane--Forethought of Captain Nolloth and Dr. Walsh--Joy\nimbittered--Deep Obligations to the Earl of Clarendon, etc.--On\ndeveloping Resources of the Interior--Desirableness of Missionary\nSocieties selecting healthy Stations--Arrangements on leaving my Men--\nRetrospect--Probable Influence of the Discoveries on Slavery--Supply of\nCotton, Sugar, etc., by Free Labor--Commercial Stations--Development\nof the Resources of Africa a Work of Time--Site of Kilimane--\nUnhealthiness--Death of a shipwrecked Crew from Fever--The Captain\nsaved by Quinine--Arrival of H. M. Brig \"Frolic\"--Anxiety of one of my\nMen to go to England--Rough Passage in the Boats to the Ship--Sekwebu's\nAlarm--Sail for Mauritius--Sekwebu on board; he becomes insane; drowns\nhimself--Kindness of Major-General C. M. Hay--Escape Shipwreck--Reach\nHome.\n\n\n\nWe left Tete at noon on the 22d, and in the afternoon arrived at the\ngarden of Senhor A. Manoel de Gomez, son-in-law and nephew of Bonga. The\nCommandant of Tete had sent a letter to the rebel Bonga, stating that\nhe ought to treat me kindly, and he had deputed his son-in-law to be my\nhost. Bonga is not at all equal to his father Nyaude, who was a man of\ngreat ability. He is also in bad odor with the Portuguese, because\nhe receives all runaway slaves and criminals. He does not trust the\nPortuguese, and is reported to be excessively superstitious. I found his\nson-in-law, Manoel, extremely friendly, and able to converse in a very\nintelligent manner. He was in his garden when we arrived, but soon\ndressed himself respectably, and gave us a good tea and dinner. After a\nbreakfast of tea, roasted eggs, and biscuits next morning, he presented\nsix fowls and three goats as provisions for the journey. When we parted\nfrom him we passed the stockade of Bonga at the confluence of the\nLuenya, but did not go near it, as he is said to be very suspicious. The\nPortuguese advised me not to take any observation, as the instruments\nmight awaken fears in Bonga's mind, but Manoel said I might do so if I\nwished; his garden, however, being above the confluence, could not avail\nas a geographical point. There are some good houses in the stockade. The\ntrees of which it is composed seemed to me to be living, and could not\nbe burned. It was strange to see a stockade menacing the whole commerce\nof the river in a situation where the guns of a vessel would have\nfull play on it, but it is a formidable affair for those who have only\nmuskets. On one occasion, when Nyaude was attacked by Kisaka, they\nfought for weeks; and though Nyaude was reduced to cutting up his copper\nanklets for balls, his enemies were not able to enter the stockade.\n\nOn the 24th we sailed only about three hours, as we had done the day\nbefore; but having come to a small island at the western entrance of the\ngorge of Lupata, where Dr. Lacerda is said to have taken an astronomical\nobservation, and called it the island of Mozambique, because it was\nbelieved to be in the same latitude, or 15d 1', I wished to verify\nhis position, and remained over night: my informants must have been\nmistaken, for I found the island of Mozambique here to be lat. 16d 34'\n46\" S.\n\nRespecting this range, to which the gorge has given a name, some\nPortuguese writers have stated it to be so high that snow lies on it\nduring the whole year, and that it is composed of marble. It is not\nso high in appearance as the Campsie Hills when seen from the Vale of\nClyde. The western side is the most abrupt, and gives the idea of the\ngreatest height, as it rises up perpendicularly from the water six or\nseven hundred feet. As seen from this island, it is certainly no higher\nthan Arthur's Seat appears from Prince's Street, Edinburgh. The rock\nis compact silicious schist of a slightly reddish color, and in thin\nstrata; the island on which we slept looks as if torn off from the\nopposite side of the gorge, for the strata are twisted and torn in every\ndirection. The eastern side of the range is much more sloping than the\nwestern, covered with trees, and does not give the idea of altitude\nso much as the western. It extends a considerable way into the Maganja\ncountry in the north, and then bends round toward the river again, and\nends in the lofty mountain Morumbala, opposite Senna. On the other\nor southern side it is straighter, but is said to end in Gorongozo, a\nmountain west of the same point. The person who called this Lupata\n\"the spine of the world\" evidently did not mean to say that it was\na translation of the word, for it means a defile or gorge having\nperpendicular walls. This range does not deserve the name of either\nCordillera or Spine, unless we are willing to believe that the world has\na very small and very crooked \"back-bone\".\n\nWe passed through the gorge in two hours, and found it rather tortuous,\nand between 200 and 300 yards wide. The river is said to be here always\nexcessively deep; it seemed to me that a steamer could pass through\nit at full speed. At the eastern entrance of Lupata stand two conical\nhills; they are composed of porphyry, having large square crystals\ntherein. These hills are called Moenda en Goma, which means a footprint\nof a wild beast. Another conical hill on the opposite bank is named\nKasisi (priest), from having a bald top. We sailed on quickly with the\ncurrent of the river, and found that it spread out to more than two\nmiles in breadth; it is, however, full of islands, which are generally\ncovered with reeds, and which, previous to the war, were inhabited, and\nyielded vast quantities of grain. We usually landed to cook breakfast,\nand then went on quickly. The breadth of water between the islands was\nnow quite sufficient for a sailing vessel to tack, and work her sails\nin; the prevailing winds would blow her up the stream; but I regretted\nthat I had not come when the river was at its lowest rather than at\nits highest. The testimony, however, of Captain Parker and Lieutenant\nHoskins, hereafter to be noticed, may be considered conclusive as to the\ncapabilities of this river for commercial purposes. The Portuguese state\nthat there is high water during five months of the year, and when it is\nlow there is always a channel of deep water. But this is very winding;\nand as the river wears away some of the islands and forms others, the\ncourse of the channel is often altered. I suppose that an accurate\nchart of it made in one year would not be very reliable the next; but I\nbelieve, from all that I can learn, that the river could be navigated in\na small flat-bottomed steamer during the whole year as far as Tete. At\nthis time a steamer of large size could have floated easily. The river\nwas measured at the latter place by the Portuguese, and found by them to\nbe 1050 yards broad. The body of water flowing past when I was there\nwas very great, and the breadth it occupied when among the islands had a\nmost imposing effect. I could not get a glimpse of either shore. All the\nright bank beyond Lupata is low and flat: on the north, the ranges\nof hills and dark lines below them are seen, but from the boat it is\nimpossible to see the shore. I only guess the breadth of the river to\nbe two miles; it is probably more. Next day we landed at Shiramba for\nbreakfast, having sailed 8-1/2 hours from Lupata. This was once the\nresidence of a Portuguese brigadier, who spent large sums of money in\nembellishing his house and gardens: these we found in entire ruin, as\nhis half-caste son had destroyed all, and then rebelled against the\nPortuguese, but with less success than either Nyaude or Kisaka, for he\nhad been seized and sent a prisoner to Mozambique a short time before\nour visit. All the southern shore has been ravaged by the Caffres,\nwho are here named Landeens, and most of the inhabitants who remain\nacknowledge the authority of Bonga, and not of the Portuguese. When at\nbreakfast, the people of Shiramba commenced beating the drum of war.\nLieutenant Miranda, who was well acquainted with the customs of the\ncountry, immediately started to his feet, and got all the soldiers of\nour party under arms; he then demanded of the natives why the drum was\nbeaten while we were there. They gave an evasive reply; and, as they\nemploy this means of collecting their neighbors when they intend to rob\ncanoes, our watchfulness may have prevented their proceeding farther.\n\nWe spent the night of the 26th on the island called Nkuesi, opposite a\nremarkable saddle-shaped mountain, and found that we were just on the\n17th parallel of latitude. The sail down the river was very fine; the\ntemperature becoming low, it was pleasant to the feelings; but the\nshores being flat and far from us, the scenery was uninteresting. We\nbreakfasted on the 27th at Pita, and found some half-caste Portuguese\nhad established themselves there, after fleeing from the opposite\nbank to escape Kisaka's people, who were now ravaging all the Maganja\ncountry. On the afternoon of the 27th we arrived at Senna. (Commandant\nIsidore's house, 300 yards S.W. of the mud fort on the banks of the\nriver: lat. 17d 27' 1\" S., long. 35d 10' E.) We found Senna to be\ntwenty-three and a half hours' sail from Tete. We had the current\nentirely in our favor, but met various parties in large canoes toiling\nlaboriously against it. They use long ropes, and pull the boats from the\nshore. They usually take about twenty days to ascend the distance we had\ndescended in about four. The wages paid to boatmen are considered high.\nPart of the men who had accompanied me gladly accepted employment from\nLieutenant Miranda to take a load of goods in a canoe from Senna to\nTete.\n\nI thought the state of Tete quite lamentable, but that of Senna was ten\ntimes worse. At Tete there is some life; here every thing is in a state\nof stagnation and ruin. The fort, built of sun-dried bricks, has the\ngrass growing over the walls, which have been patched in some places by\npaling. The Landeens visit the village periodically, and levy fines upon\nthe inhabitants, as they consider the Portuguese a conquered tribe, and\nvery rarely does a native come to trade. Senhor Isidore, the commandant,\na man of considerable energy, had proposed to surround the whole village\nwith palisades as a protection against the Landeens, and the villagers\nwere to begin this work the day after I left. It was sad to look at the\nruin manifest in every building, but the half-castes appear to be in\nleague with the rebels and Landeens; for when any attempt is made by\nthe Portuguese to coerce the enemy or defend themselves, information\nis conveyed at once to the Landeen camp, and, though the commandant\nprohibits the payment of tribute to the Landeens, on their approach\nthe half-castes eagerly ransom themselves. When I was there, a party of\nKisaka's people were ravaging the fine country on the opposite shore.\nThey came down with the prisoners they had captured, and forthwith\nthe half-castes of Senna went over to buy slaves. Encouraged by this,\nKisaka's people came over into Senna fully armed and beating their\ndrums, and were received into the house of a native Portuguese. They\nhad the village at their mercy, yet could have been driven off by half\na dozen policemen. The commandant could only look on with bitter sorrow.\nHe had soldiers, it is true, but it is notorious that the native\nmilitia of both Senna and Kilimane never think of standing to fight,\nbut invariably run away, and leave their officers to be killed. They\nare brave only among the peaceable inhabitants. One of them, sent from\nKilimane with a packet of letters or expresses, arrived while I was at\nSenna. He had been charged to deliver them with all speed, but Senhor\nIsidore had in the mean time gone to Kilimane, remained there a\nfortnight, and reached Senna again before the courier came. He could not\npunish him. We gave him a passage in our boat, but he left us in the way\nto visit his wife, and, \"on urgent private business,\" probably gave up\nthe service altogether, as he did not come to Kilimane all the time I\nwas there. It is impossible to describe the miserable state of decay\ninto which the Portuguese possessions here have sunk. The revenues are\nnot equal to the expenses, and every officer I met told the same tale,\nthat he had not received one farthing of pay for the last four years.\nThey are all forced to engage in trade for the support of their\nfamilies. Senhor Miranda had been actually engaged against the enemy\nduring these four years, and had been highly lauded in the commandant's\ndispatches to the home government, but when he applied to the Governor\nof Kilimane for part of his four years' pay, he offered him twenty\ndollars only. Miranda resigned his commission in consequence. The common\nsoldiers sent out from Portugal received some pay in calico. They all\nmarry native women, and, the soil being very fertile, the wives find but\nlittle difficulty in supporting their husbands. There is no direct trade\nwith Portugal. A considerable number of Banians, or natives of India,\ncome annually in small vessels with cargoes of English and Indian goods\nfrom Bombay. It is not to be wondered at, then, that there have been\nattempts made of late years by speculative Portuguese in Lisbon to\nrevive the trade of Eastern Africa by means of mercantile companies. One\nwas formally proposed, which was modeled on the plan of our East India\nCompany; and it was actually imagined that all the forts, harbors,\nlands, etc., might be delivered over to a company, which would bind\nitself to develop the resources of the country, build schools, make\nroads, improve harbors, etc., and, after all, leave the Portuguese the\noption of resuming possession.\n\nAnother effort has been made to attract commercial enterprise to this\nregion by offering any mining company permission to search for the ores\nand work them. Such a company, however, would gain but little in the way\nof protection or aid from the government of Mozambique, as that can\nbut barely maintain a hold on its own small possessions; the condition\naffixed of importing at the company's own cost a certain number of\nPortuguese from the island of Madeira or the Azores, in order to\nincrease the Portuguese population in Africa, is impolitic. Taxes would\nalso be levied on the minerals exported. It is noticeable that all the\ncompanies which have been proposed in Portugal have this put prominently\nin the preamble, \"and for the abolition of the inhuman slave-trade.\"\nThis shows either that the statesmen in Portugal are enlightened and\nphilanthropic, or it may be meant as a trap for English capitalists; I\nincline to believe the former. If the Portuguese really wish to develop\nthe resources of the rich country beyond their possessions, they\nought to invite the co-operation of other nations on equal terms with\nthemselves. Let the pathway into the interior be free to all; and,\ninstead of wretched forts, with scarcely an acre of land around them\nwhich can be called their own, let real colonies be made. If, instead of\nmilitary establishments, we had civil ones, and saw emigrants going out\nwith their wives, plows, and seeds, rather than military convicts with\nbugles and kettle-drums, we might hope for a return of prosperity to\nEastern Africa.\n\nThe village of Senna stands on the right bank of the Zambesi. There are\nmany reedy islands in front of it, and there is much bush in the country\nadjacent. The soil is fertile, but the village, being in a state of\nruin, and having several pools of stagnant water, is very unhealthy. The\nbottom rock is the akose of Brongniart, or granitic grit, and several\nconical hills of trap have burst through it. One standing about half a\nmile west of the village is called Baramuana, which has another behind\nit; hence the name, which means \"carry a child on the back\". It is 300\nor 400 feet high, and on the top lie two dismounted cannon, which were\nused to frighten away the Landeens, who, in one attack upon Senna,\nkilled 150 of the inhabitants. The prospect from Baramuana is very fine;\nbelow, on the eastward, lies the Zambesi, with the village of Senna; and\nsome twenty or thirty miles beyond stands the lofty mountain Morumbala,\nprobably 3000 or 4000 feet high. It is of an oblong shape, and from its\nphysiognomy, which can be distinctly seen when the sun is in the west,\nis evidently igneous. On the northern end there is a hot sulphurous\nfountain, which my Portuguese friends refused to allow me to visit,\nbecause the mountain is well peopled, and the mountaineers are\nat present not friendly with the Portuguese. They have plenty of\ngarden-ground and running water on its summit. My friends at Senna\ndeclined the responsibility of taking me into danger. To the north of\nMorumbala we have a fine view of the mountains of the Maganja; they here\ncome close to the river, and terminate in Morumbala. Many of them are\nconical, and the Shire is reported to flow among them, and to run on\nthe Senna side of Morumbala before joining the Zambesi. On seeing the\nconfluence afterward, close to a low range of hills beyond Morumbala, I\nfelt inclined to doubt the report, as the Shire must then flow parallel\nwith the Zambesi, from which Morumbala seems distant only twenty or\nthirty miles. All around to the southeast the country is flat, and\ncovered with forest, but near Senna a number of little abrupt conical\nhills diversify the scenery. To the west and north the country is also\nflat forest, which gives it a sombre appearance; but just in the haze\nof the horizon southwest by south, there rises a mountain range equal in\nheight to Morumbala, and called Nyamonga. In a clear day another range\nbeyond this may be seen, which is Gorongozo, once a station of the\nJesuits. Gorongozo is famed for its clear cold waters and healthiness,\nand there are some inscriptions engraved on large square slabs on the\ntop of the mountain, which have probably been the work of the fathers.\nAs this lies in the direction of a district between Manica and Sofala,\nwhich has been conjectured to be the Ophir of King Solomon, the idea\nthat first sprang up in my mind was, that these monuments might be more\nancient than the Portuguese; but, on questioning some persons who had\nseen them, I found that they were in Roman characters, and did not\ndeserve a journey of six days to see them.\n\nManica lies three days northwest of Gorongozo, and is the best gold\ncountry known in Eastern Africa. The only evidence the Portuguese have\nof its being the ancient Ophir is, that at Sofala, its nearest port,\npieces of wrought gold have been dug up near the fort and in the\ngardens. They also report the existence of hewn stones in the\nneighborhood, but these can not have been abundant, for all the stones\nof the fort of Sofala are said to have been brought from Portugal.\nNatives whom I met in the country of Sekeletu, from Manica, or Manoa,\nas they call it, state that there are several caves in the country,\nand walls of hewn stones, which they believe to have been made by their\nancestors; and there is, according to the Portuguese, a small tribe\nof Arabs there, who have become completely like the other natives. Two\nrivers, the Motirikwe and Sabia, or Sabe, run through their country into\nthe sea. The Portuguese were driven out of the country by the Landeens,\nbut now talk of reoccupying Manica.\n\nThe most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the negroes of Senhor\nIsidore building boats after the European model, without any one to\nsuperintend their operations. They had been instructed by a European\nmaster, but now go into the forest and cut down the motondo-trees, lay\ndown the keel, fit in the ribs, and make very neat boats and launches,\nvalued at from 20 Pounds to 100 Pounds. Senhor Isidore had some of them\ninstructed also in carpentry at Rio Janeiro, and they constructed for\nhim the handsomest house in Kilimane, the woodwork being all of country\ntrees, some of which are capable of a fine polish, and very durable. A\nmedical opinion having been asked by the commandant respecting a better\nsite for the village, which, lying on the low bank of the Zambesi, is\nvery unhealthy, I recommended imitation of the Jesuits, who had chosen\nthe high, healthy mountain of Gorongozo, and to select a new site on\nMorumbala, which is perfectly healthy, well watered, and where the Shire\nis deep enough for the purpose of navigation at its base. As the next\nresource, I proposed removal to the harbor of Mitilone, which is at\none of the mouths of the Zambesi, a much better port than Kilimane, and\nwhere, if they must have the fever, they would be in the way of doing\nmore good to themselves and the country than they can do in their\npresent situation. Had the Portuguese possessed this territory as a real\ncolony, this important point would not have been left unoccupied; as it\nis, there is not even a native village placed at the entrance of this\nsplendid river to show the way in.\n\nOn the 9th of May sixteen of my men were employed to carry government\ngoods in canoes up to Tete. They were much pleased at getting this work.\nOn the 11th the whole of the inhabitants of Senna, with the commandant,\naccompanied us to the boats. A venerable old man, son of a judge, said\nthey were in much sorrow on account of the miserable state of decay into\nwhich they had sunk, and of the insolent conduct of the people of Kisaka\nnow in the village. We were abundantly supplied with provisions by\nthe commandant and Senhor Ferrao, and sailed pleasantly down the broad\nriver. About thirty miles below Senna we passed the mouth of the River\nZangwe on our right, which farther up goes by the name of Pungwe; and\nabout five miles farther on our left, close to the end of a low range\ninto which Morumbala merges, we crossed the mouth of the Shire, which\nseemed to be about 200 yards broad. A little inland from the confluence\nthere is another rebel stockade, which was attacked by Ensign Rebeiro\nwith three European soldiers, and captured; they disarmed the rebels and\nthrew the guns into the water. This ensign and Miranda volunteered\nto disperse the people of Kisaka who were riding roughshod over\nthe inhabitants of Senna; but the offer was declined, the few real\nPortuguese fearing the disloyal half-castes among whom they dwelt.\nSlavery and immorality have here done their work; nowhere else does\nthe European name stand at so low an ebb; but what can be expected?\nFew Portuguese women are ever taken to the colonies, and here I did\nnot observe that honorable regard for the offspring which I noticed in\nAngola. The son of a late governor of Tete was pointed out to me in the\ncondition and habit of a slave. There is neither priest nor school at\nSenna, though there are ruins of churches and convents.\n\nOn passing the Shire we observed great quantities of the plant\nAlfacinya, already mentioned, floating down into the Zambesi. It is\nprobably the 'Pistia stratiotes', a gigantic \"duck-weed\". It was mixed\nwith quantities of another aquatic plant, which the Barotse named\n\"Njefu\", containing in the petiole of the leaf a pleasant-tasted nut.\nThis was so esteemed by Sebituane that he made it part of his tribute\nfrom the subjected tribes. Dr. Hooker kindly informs me that the njefu\n\"is probably a species of 'Trapa', the nuts of which are eaten in the\nsouth of Europe and in India. Government derives a large revenue from\nthem in Kashmir, amounting to 12,000 Pounds per annum for 128,000\nass-loads! The ancient Thracians are said to have eaten them largely. In\nthe south of France they are called water-chestnuts.\" The existence of\nthese plants in such abundance in the Shire may show that it flows from\nlarge collections of still water. We found them growing in all the still\nbranches and lagoons of the Leeambye in the far north, and there also we\nmet a beautiful little floating plant, the 'Azolla Nilotica', which is\nfound in the upper Nile. They are seldom seen in flowing streams.\n\nA few miles beyond the Shire we left the hills entirely, and sailed\nbetween extensive flats. The banks seen in the distance are covered\nwith trees. We slept on a large inhabited island, and then came to the\nentrance of the River Mutu (latitude 18d 3' 37\" S., longitude 35d 46'\nE.): the point of departure is called Mazaro, or \"mouth of the Mutu\".\nThe people who live on the north are called Baroro, and their country\nBororo. The whole of the right bank is in subjection to the Landeens,\nwho, it was imagined, would levy a tribute upon us, for this they are\naccustomed to do to passengers. I regret that we did not meet them, for,\nthough they are named Caffres, I am not sure whether they are of\nthe Zulu family or of the Mashona. I should have liked to form their\nacquaintance, and to learn what they really think of white men. I\nunderstood from Sekwebu, and from one of Changamera's people who lives\nat Linyanti, and was present at the attack on Senna, that they consider\nthe whites as a conquered tribe.\n\nThe Zambesi at Mazaro is a magnificent river, more than half a mile\nwide, and without islands. The opposite bank is covered with forests of\nfine timber; but the delta which begins here is only an immense flat,\ncovered with high, coarse grass and reeds, with here and there a few\nmango and cocoanut trees. This was the point which was reached by\nthe late lamented Captain Parker, who fell at the Sulina mouth of\nthe Danube. I had a strong desire to follow the Zambesi farther, and\nascertain where this enormous body of water found its way into the sea;\nbut on hearing from the Portuguese that he had ascended to this point,\nand had been highly pleased with the capabilities of the river, I felt\nsure that his valuable opinion must be in possession of the Admiralty.\nOn my arrival in England I applied to Captain Washington, Hydrographer\nto the Admiralty, and he promptly furnished the document for publication\nby the Royal Geographical Society.\n\nThe river between Mazaro and the sea must therefore be judged of from\nthe testimony of one more competent to decide on its merits than a mere\nlandsman like myself.\n\n\n'On the Quilimane and Zambesi Rivers'. From the Journal of the late\nCapt. HYDE PARKER, R.N., H. M. Brig \"Pantaloon\".\n\n\n\"The Luabo is the main outlet of the Great Zambesi. In the rainy\nseason--January and February principally--the whole country is\noverflowed, and the water escapes by the different rivers as far up\nas Quilimane; but in the dry season neither Quilimane nor Olinda\ncommunicates with it. The position of the river is rather incorrect in\nthe Admiralty chart, being six miles too much to the southward, and\nalso considerably to the westward. Indeed, the coast from here up to\nTongamiara seems too far to the westward. The entrance to the Luabo\nRiver is about two miles broad, and is easily distinguishable, when\nabreast of it, by a bluff (if I may so term it) of high, straight trees,\nvery close together, on the western side of the entrance. The bar may\nbe said to be formed by two series of sand-banks; that running from the\neastern point runs diagonally across (opposite?) the entrance and nearly\nacross it. Its western extremity is about two miles outside the west\npoint.\n\n\"The bank running out from the west point projects to the southward\nthree miles and a half, passing not one quarter of a mile from the\neastern or cross bank. This narrow passage is the BAR PASSAGE. It\nbreaks completely across at low water, except under very extraordinary\ncircumstances. At this time--low water--a great portion of the banks are\nuncovered; in some places they are seven or eight feet above water.\n\n\"On these banks there is a break at all times, but in fine weather, at\nhigh water, a boat may cross near the east point. There is very little\nwater, and, in places, a nasty race and bubble, so that caution is\nrequisite. The best directions for going in over the regular bar\npassage, according to my experience, are as follows: Steer down well to\nthe eastward of the bar passage, so as to avoid the outer part of the\nwestern shoals, on which there is usually a bad sea. When you get near\nthe CROSS-BAR, keep along it till the bluff of trees on the west side of\nthe entrance bears N.E.; you may then steer straight for it. This will\nclear the end of the CROSS-BAR, and, directly you are within that,\nthe water is smooth. The worst sea is generally just without the bar\npassage.\n\n\"Within the points the river widens at first and then contracts again.\nAbout three miles from the Tree Bluff is an island; the passage up the\nriver is the right-hand side of it, and deep. The plan will best explain\nit. The rise and fall of the tide at the entrance of the river being at\nsprings twenty feet, any vessel can get in at that time, but, with all\nthese conveniences for traffic, there is none here at present. The water\nin the river is fresh down to the bar with the ebb tide, and in the\nrainy season it is fresh at the surface quite outside. In the rainy\nseason, at the full and change of the moon, the Zambesi frequently\noverflows its banks, making the country for an immense distance one\ngreat lake, with only a few small eminences above the water. On the\nbanks of the river the huts are built on piles, and at these times the\ncommunication is only in canoes; but the waters do not remain up more\nthan three or four days at a time. The first village is about eight\nmiles up the river, on the western bank, and is opposite to another\nbranch of the river called 'Muselo', which discharges itself into the\nsea about five miles to the eastward.\n\n\"The village is extensive, and about it there is a very large quantity\nof land in cultivation; calavances, or beans, of different sorts, rice,\nand pumpkins, are the principal things. I saw also about here some wild\ncotton, apparently of very good quality, but none is cultivated. The\nland is so fertile as to produce almost any (thing?) without much\ntrouble.\n\n\"At this village is a very large house, mud-built, with a court-yard.\nI believe it to have been used as a barracoon for slaves, several large\ncargoes having been exported from this river. I proceeded up the river\nas far as its junction with the Quilimane River, called 'Boca do\nRio', by my computation between 70 and 80 miles from the entrance. The\ninfluence of the tides is felt about 25 or 30 miles up the river. Above\nthat, the stream, in the dry season, runs from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 miles an\nhour, but in the rains much stronger. The banks of the river, for\nthe first 30 miles, are generally thickly clothed with trees, with\noccasional open glades. There are many huts and villages on both sides,\nand a great deal of cultivation. At one village, about 17 miles up on\nthe eastern bank, and distinguished by being surrounded by an immense\nnumber of bananas and plantain-trees, a great quantity of excellent peas\nare cultivated; also cabbages, tomatoes, onions, etc. Above this there\nare not many inhabitants on the left or west bank, although it is much\nthe finest country, being higher, and abounding in cocoanut palms, the\neastern bank being sandy and barren. The reason is, that some years back\nthe Landeens, or Caffres, ravaged all this country, killing the men and\ntaking the women as slaves, but they have never crossed the river; hence\nthe natives are afraid to settle on the west bank, and the Portuguese\nowners of the different 'prasos' have virtually lost them. The banks of\nthe river continue mostly sandy, with few trees, except some cocoanut\npalms, until the southern end of the large plantation of Nyangue,\nformed by the river about 20 miles from Maruru. Here the country is more\npopulous and better cultivated, the natives a finer race, and the huts\nlarger and better constructed. Maruru belongs to Senor Asevedo, of\nQuilimane, well known to all English officers on the east coast for his\nhospitality.\n\n\"The climate here is much cooler than nearer the sea, and Asevedo has\nsuccessfully cultivated most European as well as tropical vegetables.\nThe sugar-cane thrives, as also coffee and cotton, and indigo is a weed.\nCattle here are beautiful, and some of them might show with credit in\nEngland. The natives are intelligent, and under a good government this\nfine country might become very valuable. Three miles from Maruru is\nMesan, a very pretty village among palm and mango trees. There is here a\ngood house belonging to a Senor Ferrao; close by is the canal (Mutu)\nof communication between the Quilimane and Zambesi rivers, which in the\nrainy season is navigable (?). I visited it in the month of October,\nwhich is about the dryest time of the year; it was then a dry canal,\nabout 30 or 40 yards wide, overgrown with trees and grass, and, at the\nbottom, at least 16 or 17 feet above the level of the Zambesi, which was\nrunning beneath. In the rains, by the marks I saw, the entrance rise\nof the river must be very nearly 30 feet, and the volume of water\ndischarged by it (the Zambesi) enormous.\n\n\"Above Maruru the country begins to become more hilly, and the high\nmountains of Boruru are in sight; the first view of these is obtained\nbelow Nyangue, and they must be of considerable height, as from this\nthey are distant above 40 miles. They are reported to contain great\nmineral wealth; gold and copper being found in the range, as also COAL\n(?). The natives (Landeens) are a bold, independent race, who do not\nacknowledge the Portuguese authority, and even make them pay for leave\nto pass unmolested. Throughout the whole course of the river hippopotami\nwere very abundant, and at one village a chase by the natives was\nwitnessed. They harpoon the animal with a barbed lance, to which is\nattached, by a cord 3 or 4 fathoms long, an inflated bladder. The\nnatives follow in their canoes, and look out to fix more harpoons as\nthe animal rises to blow, and, when exhausted, dispatch him with their\nlances. It is, in fact, nearly similar to a whale-hunt. Elephants and\nlions are also abundant on the western side; the latter destroy many of\nthe blacks annually, and are much feared by them. Alligators are said to\nbe numerous, but I did not see any.\n\n\"The voyage up to Maruru occupied seven days, as I did not work the men\nat the oar, but it might be done in four; we returned to the bar in two\nand a half days.\n\n\"There is another mouth of the Zambesi seven miles to the westward of\nLuabo, which was visited by the 'Castor's pinnace'; and I was assured by\nLieutenant Hoskins that the bar was better than the one I visited.\"\n\n\nThe conclusions of Captain Parker are strengthened by those of Lieut. A.\nH. H. Hoskins, who was on the coast at the same time, and also visited\nthis spot. Having applied to my friend for his deliberate opinion on the\nsubject, he promptly furnished the following note in January last:\n\n\n\"The Zambesi appears to have five principal mouths, of which the Luabo\nis the most southern and most navigable; Cumana, and two whose names\nI do not know, not having myself visited it, lying between it and the\nQuilimane, and the rise and fall at spring tides on the bar of the Luabo\nis 22 feet; and as, in the passage, there is NEVER less than four feet\n(I having crossed it at dead low-water--springs), this would give an\naverage depth sufficient for any commercial purposes. The rise and fall\nis six feet greater, the passages narrow and more defined, consequently\ndeeper and more easily found than that of the Quilimane River. The river\nabove the bar is very tortuous, but deep; and it is observable that the\ninfluence of the tide is felt much higher in this branch than in the\nothers; for whereas in the Catrina and Cumana I have obtained drinkable\nwater a very short distance from the mouth, in the Luabo I have ascended\nseventy miles without finding the saltness perceptibly diminished. This\nwould facilitate navigation, and I have no hesitation in saying that\nlittle difficulty would be experienced in conveying a steam-vessel of\nthe size and capabilities of the gunboat I lately commanded as high as\nthe branching off of the Quilimane River (Mazaro), which, in the dry\nseason, is observed many yards above the Luabo (main stream); though\nI have been told by the Portuguese that the freshes which come down in\nDecember and March fill it temporarily. These freshes deepen the river\nconsiderably at that time of the year, and freshen the water many miles\nfrom the coast. The population of the delta, except in the immediate\nneighborhood of the Portuguese, appeared to be very sparse. Antelopes\nand hippopotami were plentiful; the former tame and easily shot. I\ninquired frequently of both natives and Portuguese if slavers were\nin the habit of entering there to ship their cargoes, but could not\nascertain that they have ever done so in any except the Quilimane. With\ncommon precaution the rivers are not unhealthy; for, during the whole\ntime I was employed in them (off and on during eighteen months), in open\nboats and at all times of the year, frequently absent from the ship for\na month or six weeks at a time, I had not, in my boat's crew of fourteen\nmen, more than two, and those mild, cases of fever. Too much importance\ncan not be ascribed to the use of quinine, to which I attribute our\ncomparative immunity, and with which our judicious commander, Commodore\nWyvill, kept us amply supplied. I hope these few remarks may be of some\nlittle use in confirming your views of the utility of that magnificent\nriver.\n\nA. H. H. Hoskins.\"\n\n\nIt ought to be remembered that the testimony of these gentlemen is all\nthe more valuable, because they visited the river when the water was at\nits lowest, and the surface of the Zambesi was not, as it was now, on a\nlevel with and flowing into the Mutu, but sixteen feet beneath its bed.\nThe Mutu, at the point of departure, was only ten or twelve yards broad,\nshallow, and filled with aquatic plants. Trees and reeds along the banks\noverhang it so much, that, though we had brought canoes and a boat\nfrom Tete, we were unable to enter the Mutu with them, and left them\nat Mazaro. During most of the year this part of the Mutu is dry, and we\nwere even now obliged to carry all our luggage by land for about fifteen\nmiles. As Kilimane is called, in all the Portuguese documents, the\ncapital of the rivers of Senna, it seemed strange to me that the capital\nshould be built at a point where there was no direct water conveyance\nto the magnificent river whose name it bore; and, on inquiry, I was\ninformed that the whole of the Mutu was large in days of yore, and\nadmitted of the free passage of great launches from Kilimane all the\nyear round, but that now this part of the Mutu had been filled up.\n\nI was seized by a severe tertian fever at Mazaro, but went along the\nright bank of the Mutu to the N.N.E. and E. for about fifteen miles.\nWe then found that it was made navigable by a river called the Pangazi,\nwhich comes into it from the north. Another river, flowing from the same\ndirection, called the Luare, swells it still more; and, last of all,\nthe Likuare, with the tide, make up the river of Kilimane. The Mutu at\nMazaro is simply a connecting link, such as is so often seen in Africa,\nand neither its flow nor stoppage affects the river of Kilimane. The\nwaters of the Pangazi were quite clear compared with those of the\nZambesi.*\n\n   * I owe the following information, of a much later date, also\n   to the politeness of Captain Washington.  H. M. sloop\n   \"Grecian\" visited the coast in 1852-3, and the master remarks\n   that \"the entrance to the Luabo is in lat. 18d 51' S., long.\n   36d 12' E., and may be known by a range of hummocks on its\n   eastern side, and very low land to the S.W.  The entrance is\n   narrow, and, as with all the rivers on this coast, is fronted\n   by a bar, which renders the navigation, particularly for\n   boats, very dangerous with the wind to the south of east or\n   west. Our boats proceeded twenty miles up this river, 2\n   fathoms on the bar, then 2-1/2--5--6--7 fathoms.  It was\n   navigable farther up, but they did not proceed.  It is quite\n   possible for a moderate-sized vessel to cross the bar at\n   spring tides, and be perfectly landlocked and hidden among the\n   trees.\n\n   \"The Maiudo, in 18d 52' S., 36d 12' E., IS NOT MENTIONED IN\n   HORSBURGH, NOR LAID DOWN IN THE ADMIRALTY CHART, but is,\n   nevertheless, one of some importance, and appears to be one of\n   the principal stations for shipping slaves, as the boats found\n   two barracoons, about 20 miles up, bearing every indication of\n   having been very recently occupied, and which had good\n   presumptive evidence that the 'Cauraigo', a brig under\n   American colors, had embarked a cargo from thence but a short\n   time before.  The river is fronted by a portion of the\n   Elephant Shoals, at the distance of three or four miles\n   outside. The eastern bank is formed by level sea-cliffs (as\n   seen from the ship it has that appearance), high for this part\n   of the coast, and conspicuous. The western side is composed of\n   thick trees, and terminates in dead wood, from which we called\n   it 'Dead-wood Point'.  After crossing the bar it branches off\n   in a W. and N.W. direction, the latter being the principal\n   arm, up which the boats went some 30 miles, or about 10 beyond\n   the barracoon.  Fresh water can be obtained almost immediately\n   inside the entrance, as the stream runs down very rapidly with\n   the ebb tide.  The least water crossing the bar (low-water--\n   springs) was 1-1/2 fathom, one cast only therefrom from 2 to 5\n   fathoms, another 7 fathoms nearly the whole way up.\n\n   \"The Catrina, latitude 18d 50' south, longitude 36d 24' east.\n   The external appearance of this river is precisely similar to\n   that of the Maiudo, so much so that it is difficult to\n   distinguish them by any feature of the land.  The longitude is\n   the best guide, or, in the absence of observation, perhaps the\n   angles contained by the extremes of land will be serviceable.\n   Thus, at nine miles off the Maiudo the angle contained by the\n   above was seven points, the bearing being N.E. W. of N.W. (?);\n   while off the Catrina, at the same distance from shore (about\n   nine miles), the angle was only 3-1/2 to 4 points, being N. to\n   N.W.  As we did not send the boats up this river, no\n   information was obtained.\"\n\nMy fever became excessively severe in consequence of traveling in the\nhot sun, and the long grass blocking up the narrow path so as to exclude\nthe air. The pulse beat with amazing force, and felt as if thumping\nagainst the crown of the head. The stomach and spleen swelled\nenormously, giving me, for the first time, an appearance which I had\nbeen disposed to laugh at among the Portuguese. At Interra we met Senhor\nAsevedo, a man who is well known by all who ever visited Kilimane, and\nwho was presented with a gold chronometer watch by the Admiralty for\nhis attentions to English officers. He immediately tendered his large\nsailing launch, which had a house in the stern. This was greatly in my\nfavor, for it anchored in the middle of the stream, and gave me some\nrest from the mosquitoes, which in the whole of the delta are something\nfrightful. Sailing comfortably in this commodious launch along the river\nof Kilimane, we reached that village (latitude 17d 53' 8\" S., longitude\n36d 40' E.) on the 20th of May, 1856, which wanted only a few days of\nbeing four years since I started from Cape Town. Here I was received\ninto the house of Colonel Galdino Jose Nunes, one of the best men in the\ncountry. I had been three years without hearing from my family; letters\nhaving frequently been sent, but somehow or other, with but a single\nexception, they never reached me. I received, however, a letter from\nAdmiral Trotter, conveying information of their welfare, and some\nnewspapers, which were a treat indeed. Her majesty's brig the \"Frolic\"\nhad called to inquire for me in the November previous, and Captain\nNolluth, of that ship, had most considerately left a case of wine; and\nhis surgeon, Dr. James Walsh, divining what I should need most, left an\nounce of quinine. These gifts made my heart overflow. I had not tasted\nany liquor whatever during the time I had been in Africa; but when\nreduced in Angola to extreme weakness, I found much benefit from a\nlittle wine, and took from Loanda one bottle of brandy in my medicine\nchest, intending to use it if it were again required; but the boy who\ncarried it whirled the box upside down, and smashed the bottle, so I can\nnot give my testimony either in favor of or against the brandy.\n\nBut my joy on reaching the east coast was sadly imbittered by the news\nthat Commander MacLune, of H. M. brigantine \"Dart\", on coming in to\nKilimane to pick me up, had, with Lieutenant Woodruffe and five men,\nbeen lost on the bar. I never felt more poignant sorrow. It seemed as if\nit would have been easier for me to have died for them, than that they\nshould all be cut off from the joys of life in generously attempting to\nrender me a service. I would here acknowledge my deep obligations to the\nEarl of Clarendon, to the admiral at the Cape, and others, for the kind\ninterest they manifested in my safety; even the inquiries made were very\nmuch to my advantage. I also refer with feelings of gratitude to\nthe Governor of Mozambique for offering me a passage in the schooner\n\"Zambesi\", belonging to that province; and I shall never forget the\ngenerous hospitality of Colonel Nunes and his nephew, with whom I\nremained. One of the discoveries I have made is that there are vast\nnumbers of good people in the world, and I do most devoutly tender my\nunfeigned thanks to that Gracious One who mercifully watched over me\nin every position, and influenced the hearts of both black and white to\nregard me with favor.\n\nWith the united testimony of Captain Parker and Lieutenant Hoskins,\nadded to my own observation, there can be no reasonable doubt but that\nthe real mouth of the Zambesi is available for the purposes of commerce.\nThe delta is claimed by the Portuguese, and the southern bank of the\nLuabo, or Cuama, as this part of the Zambesi is sometimes called, is\nowned by independent natives of the Caffre family. The Portuguese are\nthus near the main entrance to the new central region; and as they have\nof late years shown, in an enlightened and liberal spirit, their desire\nto develop the resources of Eastern Africa by proclaiming Mozambique\na free port, it is to be hoped that the same spirit will lead them to\ninvite mercantile enterprise up the Zambesi, by offering facilities to\nthose who may be led to push commerce into the regions lying far\nbeyond their territory. Their wish to co-operate in the noble work of\ndeveloping the resources of the rich country beyond could not be shown\nbetter than by placing a village with Zambesian pilots at the harbor of\nMitilone, and erecting a light-house for the guidance of seafaring men.\nIf this were done, no nation would be a greater gainer by it than the\nPortuguese themselves, and assuredly no other needs a resuscitation of\nits commerce more. Their kindness to me personally makes me wish for a\nreturn of their ancient prosperity; and the most liberal and generous\nact of the enlightened young king H. M. Don Pedro, in sending out orders\nto support my late companions at the public expense of the province\nof Mozambique until my return to claim them, leads me to hope for\nencouragement in every measure for either the development of commerce,\nthe elevation of the natives, or abolition of the trade in slaves.\n\nAs far as I am myself concerned, the opening of the new central country\nis a matter for congratulation only in so far as it opens up a prospect\nfor the elevation of the inhabitants. As I have elsewhere remarked, I\nview the end of the geographical feat as the beginning of the missionary\nenterprise. I take the latter term in its most extended signification,\nand include every effort made for the amelioration of our race, the\npromotion of all those means by which God in His providence is working,\nand bringing all His dealings with man to a glorious consummation. Each\nman in his sphere, either knowingly or unwittingly, is performing the\nwill of our Father in heaven. Men of science, searching after hidden\ntruths, which, when discovered, will, like the electric telegraph,\nbind men more closely together--soldiers battling for the right against\ntyranny--sailors rescuing the victims of oppression from the grasp of\nheartless men-stealers--merchants teaching the nations lessons of mutual\ndependence--and many others, as well as missionaries, all work in the\nsame direction, and all efforts are overruled for one glorious end.\n\nIf the reader has accompanied me thus far, he may, perhaps, be disposed\nto take an interest in the objects I propose to myself, should God\nmercifully grant me the honor of doing something more for Africa. As the\nhighlands on the borders of the central basin are comparatively healthy,\nthe first object seems to be to secure a permanent path thither,\nin order that Europeans may pass as quickly as possible through the\nunhealthy region near the coast. The river has not been surveyed, but\nat the time I came down there was abundance of water for a large vessel,\nand this continues to be the case during four or five months of each\nyear. The months of low water still admit of navigation by launches, and\nwould permit small vessels equal to the Thames steamers to ply with ease\nin the deep channel. If a steamer were sent to examine the Zambesi,\nI would recommend one of the lightest draught, and the months of May,\nJune, and July for passing through the delta; and this not so much for\nfear of want of water as the danger of being grounded on a sand or mud\nbank, and the health of the crew being endangered by the delay.\n\nIn the months referred to no obstruction would be incurred in the\nchannel below Tete. Twenty or thirty miles above that point we have\na small rapid, of which I regret my inability to speak, as (mentioned\nalready) I did not visit it. But, taking the distance below this point,\nwe have, in round numbers, 300 miles of navigable river. Above this\nrapid we have another reach of 300 miles, with sand, but no mud banks\nin it, which brings us to the foot of the eastern ridge. Let it not,\nhowever, be thought that a vessel by going thither would return laden\nwith ivory and gold-dust. The Portuguese of Tete pick up all the\nmerchandise of the tribes in their vicinity, and, though I came out by\ntraversing the people with whom the Portuguese have been at war, it\ndoes not follow that it will be perfectly safe for others to go in\nwhose goods may be a stronger temptation to cupidity than any thing I\npossessed. When we get beyond the hostile population mentioned, we reach\na very different race. On the latter my chief hopes at present rest. All\nof them, however, are willing and anxious to engage in trade, and, while\neager for this, none have ever been encouraged to cultivate the raw\nmaterials of commerce. Their country is well adapted for cotton; and I\nventure to entertain the hope that by distributing seeds of better kinds\nthan that which is found indigenous, and stimulating the natives to\ncultivate it by affording them the certainty of a market for all they\nmay produce, we may engender a feeling of mutual dependence between them\nand ourselves. I have a twofold object in view, and believe that, by\nguiding our missionary labors so as to benefit our own country, we shall\nthereby more effectually and permanently benefit the heathen. Seven\nyears were spent at Kolobeng in instructing my friends there; but the\ncountry being incapable of raising materials for exportation, when the\nBoers made their murderous attack and scattered the tribe for a season,\nnone sympathized except a few Christian friends. Had the people of\nKolobeng been in the habit of raising the raw materials of English\ncommerce, the outrage would have been felt in England; or, what is more\nlikely to have been the case, the people would have raised themselves\nin the scale by barter, and have become, like the Basutos of Moshesh\nand people of Kuruman, possessed of fire-arms, and the Boers would\nnever have made the attack at all. We ought to encourage the Africans\nto cultivate for our markets, as the most effectual means, next to the\nGospel, of their elevation.\n\nIt is in the hope of working out this idea that I propose the formation\nof stations on the Zambesi beyond the Portuguese territory, but having\ncommunication through them with the coast. A chain of stations admitting\nof easy and speedy intercourse, such as might be formed along the flank\nof the eastern ridge, would be in a favorable position for carrying out\nthe objects in view. The London Missionary Society has resolved to have\na station among the Makololo on the north bank, and another on the\nsouth among the Matebele. The Church--Wesleyan, Baptist, and that most\nenergetic body, the Free Church--could each find desirable locations\namong the Batoka and adjacent tribes. The country is so extensive there\nis no fear of clashing. All classes of Christians find that sectarian\nrancor soon dies out when they are working together among and for the\nreal heathen. Only let the healthy locality be searched for and fixed\nupon, and then there will be free scope to work in the same cause\nin various directions, without that loss of men which the system of\nmissions on the unhealthy coasts entails. While respectfully submitting\nthe plan to these influential societies, I can positively state that,\nwhen fairly in the interior, there is perfect security for life and\nproperty among a people who will at least listen and reason.\n\nEight of my men begged to be allowed to come as far as Kilimane, and,\nthinking that they would there see the ocean, I consented to their\ncoming, though the food was so scarce in consequence of a dearth that\nthey were compelled to suffer some hunger. They would fain have come\nfarther; for when Sekeletu parted with them, his orders were that none\nof them should turn until they had reached Ma Robert and brought her\nback with them. On my explaining the difficulty of crossing the sea, he\nsaid, \"Wherever you lead, they must follow.\" As I did not know well how\nI should get home myself, I advised them to go back to Tete, where food\nwas abundant, and there await my return. I bought a quantity of calico\nand brass wire with ten of the smaller tusks which we had in our charge,\nand sent the former back as clothing to those who remained at Tete. As\nthere were still twenty tusks left, I deposited them with Colonel Nunes,\nthat, in the event of any thing happening to prevent my return, the\nimpression might not be produced in the country that I had made away\nwith Sekeletu's ivory. I instructed Colonel Nunes, in case of my death,\nto sell the tusks and deliver the proceeds to my men; but I intended, if\nmy life should be prolonged, to purchase the goods ordered by Sekeletu\nin England with my own money, and pay myself on my return out of\nthe price of the ivory. This I explained to the men fully, and they,\nunderstanding the matter, replied, \"Nay, father, you will not die; you\nwill return to take us back to Sekeletu.\" They promised to wait till I\ncame back, and, on my part, I assured them that nothing but death would\nprevent my return. This I said, though while waiting at Kilimane a\nletter came from the Directors of the London Missionary Society stating\nthat \"they were restricted in their power of aiding plans connected\nonly remotely with the spread of the Gospel, and that the financial\ncircumstances of the society were not such as to afford any ground of\nhope that it would be in a position, within any definite period, to\nenter upon untried, remote, and difficult fields of labor.\" This has\nbeen explained since as an effusion caused by temporary financial\ndepression; but, feeling perfect confidence in my Makololo friends, I\nwas determined to return and trust to their generosity. The old love of\nindependence, which I had so strongly before joining the society, again\nreturned. It was roused by a mistaken view of what this letter meant;\nfor the directors, immediately on my reaching home, saw the great\nimportance of the opening, and entered with enlightened zeal on the work\nof sending the Gospel into the new field. It is to be hoped that their\nconstituents will not only enable them to begin, but to carry out their\nplans, and that no material depression will ever again be permitted, nor\nappearance of spasmodic benevolence recur. While I hope to continue the\nsame cordial co-operation and friendship which have always characterized\nour intercourse, various reasons induce me to withdraw from pecuniary\ndependence on any society. I have done something for the heathen, but\nfor an aged mother, who has still more sacred claims than they, I have\nbeen able to do nothing, and a continuance of the connection would be\na perpetuation of my inability to make any provision for her declining\nyears. In addition to \"clergyman's sore throat\", which partially\ndisabled me from the work, my father's death imposed new obligations;\nand a fresh source of income having been opened to me without my asking,\nI had no hesitation in accepting what would enable me to fulfill my duty\nto my aged parent as well as to the heathen.\n\nIf the reader remembers the way in which I was led, while teaching the\nBakwains, to commence exploration, he will, I think, recognize the\nhand of Providence. Anterior to that, when Mr. Moffat began to give\nthe Bible--the Magna Charta of all the rights and privileges of modern\ncivilization--to the Bechuanas, Sebituane went north, and spread the\nlanguage into which he was translating the sacred oracles in a new\nregion larger than France. Sebituane, at the same time, rooted out\nhordes of bloody savages, among whom no white man could have gone\nwithout leaving his skull to ornament some village. He opened up the\nway for me--let us hope also for the Bible. Then, again, while I\nwas laboring at Kolobeng, seeing only a small arc of the cycle of\nProvidence, I could not understand it, and felt inclined to ascribe our\nsuccessive and prolonged droughts to the wicked one. But when forced by\nthese and the Boers to become explorer, and open a new country in the\nnorth rather than set my face southward, where missionaries are not\nneeded, the gracious Spirit of God influenced the minds of the heathen\nto regard me with favor; the Divine hand is again perceived. Then I\nturned away westward rather than in the opposite direction, chiefly from\nobserving that some native Portuguese, though influenced by the hope of\na reward from their government to cross the continent, had been obliged\nto return from the east without accomplishing their object. Had I\ngone at first in the eastern direction, which the course of the great\nLeeambye seemed to invite, I should have come among the belligerents\nnear Tete when the war was raging at its height, instead of, as it\nhappened, when all was over. And again, when enabled to reach Loanda,\nthe resolution to do my duty by going back to Linyanti probably saved me\nfrom the fate of my papers in the \"Forerunner\". And then, last of all,\nthis new country is partially opened to the sympathies of Christendom,\nand I find that Sechele himself has, though unbidden by man, been\nteaching his own people. In fact, he has been doing all that I was\nprevented from doing, and I have been employed in exploring--a work\nI had no previous intention of performing. I think that I see the\noperation of the unseen hand in all this, and I humbly hope that it will\nstill guide me to do good in my day and generation in Africa.\n\nViewing the success awarded to opening up the new country as a\ndevelopment of Divine Providence in relation to the African family,\nthe mind naturally turns to the probable influence it may have on negro\nslavery, and more especially on the practice of it by a large portion of\nour own race. We now demand increased supplies of cotton and sugar,\nand then reprobate the means our American brethren adopt to supply our\nwants. We claim a right to speak about this evil, and also to act in\nreference to its removal, the more especially because we are of one\nblood. It is on the Anglo-American race that the hopes of the world for\nliberty and progress rest. Now it is very grievous to find one portion\nof this race practicing the gigantic evil, and the other aiding, by\nincreased demands for the produce of slave labor, in perpetuating the\nenormous wrong. The Mauritius, a mere speck on the ocean, yields sugar,\nby means of guano, improved machinery, and free labor, equal in amount\nto one fourth part of the entire consumption of Great Britain. On that\nisland land is excessively dear and far from rich: no crop can be raised\nexcept by means of guano, and labor has to be brought all the way from\nIndia. But in Africa the land is cheap, the soil good, and free labor\nis to be found on the spot. Our chief hopes rest with the natives\nthemselves; and if the point to which I have given prominence, of\nhealthy inland commercial stations, be realized, where all the produce\nraised may be collected, there is little doubt but that slavery among\nour kinsmen across the Atlantic will, in the course of some years, cease\nto assume the form of a necessity to even the slaveholders themselves.\nNatives alone can collect produce from the more distant hamlets, and\nbring it to the stations contemplated. This is the system pursued so\nsuccessfully in Angola. If England had possessed that strip of land, by\ncivilly declining to enrich her \"frontier colonists\" by \"Caffre\nwars\", the inborn energy of English colonists would have developed its\nresources, and the exports would not have been 100,000 Pounds as now,\nbut one million at least. The establishment of the necessary agency must\nbe a work of time, and greater difficulty will be experienced on the\neastern than on the western side of the continent, because in the one\nregion we have a people who know none but slave-traders, while in\nthe other we have tribes who have felt the influence of the coast\nmissionaries and of the great Niger expedition; one invaluable benefit\nit conferred was the dissemination of the knowledge of English love of\ncommerce and English hatred of slavery, and it therefore was no failure.\nBut on the east there is a river which may become a good pathway to\na central population who are friendly to the English; and if we\ncan conciliate the less amicable people on the river, and introduce\ncommerce, an effectual blow will be struck at the slave-trade in that\nquarter. By linking the Africans there to ourselves in the manner\nproposed, it is hoped that their elevation will eventually be the\nresult. In this hope and proposed effort I am joined by my brother\nCharles, who has come from America, after seventeen years' separation,\nfor the purpose. We expect success through the influence of that Spirit\nwho already aided the efforts to open the country, and who has since\nturned the public mind toward it. A failure may be experienced by sudden\nrash speculation overstocking the markets there, and raising the prices\nagainst ourselves. But I propose to spend some more years of labor, and\nshall be thankful if I see the system fairly begun in an open pathway\nwhich will eventually benefit both Africa and England.\n\nThe village of Kilimane stands on a great mud bank, and is surrounded by\nextensive swamps and rice-grounds. The banks of the river are lined with\nmangrove bushes, the roots of which, and the slimy banks on which they\ngrow, are alternately exposed to the tide and sun. The houses are well\nbuilt of brick and lime, the latter from Mozambique. If one digs down\ntwo or three feet in any part of the site of the village, he comes to\nwater; hence the walls built on this mud bank gradually subside; pieces\nare sometimes sawn off the doors below, because the walls in which they\nare fixed have descended into the ground, so as to leave the floors\nhigher than the bottom of the doors. It is almost needless to say that\nKilimane is very unhealthy. A man of plethoric temperament is sure to\nget fever, and concerning a stout person one may hear the remark, \"Ah!\nhe will not live long; he is sure to die.\"\n\nA Hamburgh vessel was lost near the bar before we came down. The men\nwere much more regular in their habits than English sailors, so I had\nan opportunity of observing the fever acting as a slow poison. They\nfelt \"out of sorts\" only, but gradually became pale, bloodless, and\nemaciated, then weaker and weaker, till at last they sank more like oxen\nbitten by tsetse than any disease I ever saw. The captain, a strong,\nrobust young man, remained in perfect health for about three months,\nbut was at last knocked down suddenly and made as helpless as a child\nby this terrible disease. He had imbibed a foolish prejudice\nagainst quinine, our sheet-anchor in the complaint. This is rather\na professional subject, but I introduce it here in order to protest\nagainst the prejudice as almost entirely unfounded. Quinine is\ninvaluable in fever, and never produces any unpleasant effects in any\nstage of the disease, IF EXHIBITED IN COMBINATION WITH AN APERIENT. The\ncaptain was saved by it, without his knowledge, and I was thankful that\nthe mode of treatment, so efficacious among natives, promised so fair\namong Europeans.\n\nAfter waiting about six weeks at this unhealthy spot, in which, however,\nby the kind attentions of Colonel Nunes and his nephew, I partially\nrecovered from my tertian, H. M. brig \"Frolic\" arrived off Kilimane. As\nthe village is twelve miles from the bar, and the weather was rough, she\nwas at anchor ten days before we knew of her presence about seven miles\nfrom the entrance to the port. She brought abundant supplies for all\nmy need, and 150 Pounds to pay my passage home, from my kind friend\nMr. Thompson, the Society's agent at the Cape. The admiral at the Cape\nkindly sent an offer of a passage to the Mauritius, which I thankfully\naccepted. Sekwebu and one attendant alone remained with me now. He was\nvery intelligent, and had been of the greatest service to me; indeed,\nbut for his good sense, tact, and command of the language of the tribes\nthrough which we passed, I believe we should scarcely have succeeded in\nreaching the coast. I naturally felt grateful to him; and as his chief\nwished ALL my companions to go to England with me, and would probably be\ndisappointed if none went, I thought it would be beneficial for him to\nsee the effects of civilization, and report them to his countrymen; I\nwished also to make some return for his very important services. Others\nhad petitioned to come, but I explained the danger of a change of\nclimate and food, and with difficulty restrained them. The only one\nwho now remained begged so hard to come on board ship that I greatly\nregretted that the expense prevented my acceding to his wish to visit\nEngland. I said to him, \"You will die if you go to such a cold country\nas mine.\" \"That is nothing,\" he reiterated; \"let me die at your feet.\"\n\nWhen we parted from our friends at Kilimane, the sea on the bar was\nfrightful even to the seamen. This was the first time Sekwebu had seen\nthe sea. Captain Peyton had sent two boats in case of accident. The\nwaves were so high that, when the cutter was in one trough, and we in\nthe pinnace in another, her mast was hid. We then mounted to the crest\nof the wave, rushed down the slope, and struck the water again with\na blow which felt as if she had struck the bottom. Boats must be\nsingularly well constructed to be able to stand these shocks. Three\nbreakers swept over us. The men lift up their oars, and a wave comes\nsweeping over all, giving the impression that the boat is going down,\nbut she only goes beneath the top of the wave, comes out on the other\nside, and swings down the slope, and a man bales out the water with a\nbucket. Poor Sekwebu looked at me when these terrible seas broke over,\nand said, \"Is this the way you go? Is this the way you go?\" I smiled\nand said, \"Yes; don't you see it is?\" and tried to encourage him. He was\nwell acquainted with canoes, but never had seen aught like this. When we\nreached the ship--a fine, large brig of sixteen guns and a crew of one\nhundred and thirty--she was rolling so that we could see a part of her\nbottom. It was quite impossible for landsmen to catch the ropes and\nclimb up, so a chair was sent down, and we were hoisted in as ladies\nusually are, and received so hearty an English welcome from Captain\nPeyton and all on board that I felt myself at once at home in every\nthing except my own mother tongue. I seemed to know the language\nperfectly, but the words I wanted would not come at my call. When I\nleft England I had no intention of returning, and directed my\nattention earnestly to the languages of Africa, paying none to English\ncomposition. With the exception of a short interval in Angola, I had\nbeen three and a half years without speaking English, and this, with\nthirteen years of previous partial disuse of my native tongue, made me\nfeel sadly at a loss on board the \"Frolic\".\n\nWe left Kilimane on the 12th of July, and reached the Mauritius on the\n12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was picking up English, and becoming a\nfavorite with both men and officers. He seemed a little bewildered,\nevery thing on board a man-of-war being so new and strange; but he\nremarked to me several times, \"Your countrymen are very agreeable,\" and,\n\"What a strange country this is--all water together!\" He also said that\nhe now understood why I used the sextant. When we reached the Mauritius\na steamer came out to tow us into the harbor. The constant strain on\nhis untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax, for during the night\nhe became insane. I thought at first that he was intoxicated. He had\ndescended into a boat, and, when I attempted to go down and bring him\ninto the ship, he ran to the stern and said, \"No! no! it is enough that\nI die alone. You must not perish; if you come, I shall throw myself\ninto the water.\" Perceiving that his mind was affected, I said, \"Now,\nSekwebu, we are going to Ma Robert.\" This struck a chord in his bosom,\nand he said, \"Oh yes; where is she, and where is Robert?\" and he seemed\nto recover. The officers proposed to secure him by putting him in irons;\nbut, being a gentleman in his own country, I objected, knowing that the\ninsane often retain an impression of ill treatment, and I could not\nbear to have it said in Sekeletu's country that I had chained one of\nhis principal men as they had seen slaves treated. I tried to get him\non shore by day, but he refused. In the evening a fresh accession\nof insanity occurred; he tried to spear one of the crew, then leaped\noverboard, and, though he could swim well, pulled himself down hand\nunder hand by the chain cable. We never found the body of poor Sekwebu.\n\nAt the Mauritius I was most hospitably received by Major General C. M.\nHay, and he generously constrained me to remain with him till, by the\ninfluence of the good climate and quiet English comfort, I got rid of an\nenlarged spleen from African fever. In November I came up the Red Sea;\nescaped the danger of shipwreck through the admirable management of\nCaptain Powell, of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company's ship\n\"Candia\", and on the 12th of December was once more in dear old England.\nThe Company most liberally refunded my passage-money. I have not\nmentioned half the favors bestowed, but I may just add that no one has\ncause for more abundant gratitude to his fellow-men and to his Maker\nthan I have; and may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that\nI may be more humbly devoted to the service of the Author of all our\nmercies!\n\n\n\nAppendix.--Latitudes and Longitudes of Positions.\n\n[The \"Remarks\" column has been replaced, where needed, with remarks listed\nbelow the corresponding line, and inclosed in square brackets.]\n\n\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n   Positions.                    Latitude.  Longitude.      Date.     No. of Sets\n                                   South.      East.                    of Lunar\n                                                                       Distances.\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n                                  d  '  \"    d  '  \"                        W. E.\n   Manakalongwe Pass.            22 55 52    .  .  .  1853, Jan. 26\n   Letloche.                     22 38  0    .  .  .        Jan. 28\n   Kanne.                        22 26 56    .  .  .        Jan. 31\n   Lotlokane, where the first    21 27 47    .  .  .        Feb. 11, 12\n    Palmyra-trees occur.\n    Hence path to Nchokotsa N.N.W.,\n    thence to Kobe N.W.\n   Kobe (1st group).             20 53 14   24 52  0        Feb. 18, 19\n   Kama Kama, from whence        19 52 31    .  .  .        Mar.  2\n    traveled in magnetic\n    meridian (1st group).\n   Fever Ponds (1st group).      19 15 53   24 55  0        Mar. 11, 28\n   Ten miles S. of hill N'gwa    18 38  0   24 26  0        Apr. 14\n    (1st group).\n   N'gwa Hill (a central         18 27 50   24 13 36        Apr. 15, 16\n    occultation of\n    B.A.C. 2364 Gemini).\n   N'gwa Valley, half mile       18 27 20   24 13 36        Apr. 17\n    N. of hill.\n   E. of and in parallel of      18 20  0    .  .  .        Apr. 17\n    Wagon Station of 1851.\n   Wagon Station on the Chobe,   18 20  0   23 50  0        . . .\n    three miles S.\n    of Sekeletu's Town.\n   Sekeletu's Town (1st group).  18 17 20   23 50  9       |June 13    |\n                                                           |July 14, 17|\n        [ Boiling-point of water = 205-1/3 Deg.; Alt. = 3521 feet. ]\n   Island Mahonta.  The Chobe    17 58  0  (24  6)          Apr. 26\n    runs here in 17d 58'.\n   Banks of Sanshureh River,     18  4 27   24  6 20        Apr. 26\n    a branch of the Chobe\n    (1st group).\n        [ At a well-known Baobab-tree 9' south of Mahonta island. ]\n   Town of Sesheke               17 31 38   25 13  0  1855, Aug. 31         .  1\n    on the Zambesi.\n   Sekhosi's Town on             17 29 13    .  .  .  1853, July 26, 27\n    the Zambesi (about 25 miles\n    W. of Sesheke).\n   Cataract of Nambwe.           17 17 16    .  .  .        July 31\n   Confluence of                 17  7 31    .  .  .  1855, Aug. 22         .  1\n    Njoko and Zambesi.\n   Cataract of Bombwe.           16 56 33    .  .  .  1853, Aug.  1\n   Kale Cataract.                16 49 52    .  .  .  1855, Aug. 21         .  1\n   Falls of Gonye.               16 38 50   23 55  0 |1853, Aug.  2|\n                                                     |1855, Aug. 19|        1  2\n   Nameta.                       16 12  9    .  .  .        Aug. 17         .  2\n   Seori sa Mei,                 16  0 32    .  .  .  1853, Aug.  5\n    or Island of Water.\n   Litofe Island, town of.       15 55  0    .  .  .        Aug.  6\n   Loyela, S. end of this        15 27 30    .  .  .        Aug.  9\n    island, town of Mamochisane.\n   Naliele or Nariele,           15 24 17   23  5 54        Aug. 10, 13\n    chief town of Barotse\n    (occultation of Jupiter)\n    (1st group).\n   Linangelo, old town           15 18 40    .  .  .        Aug. 19\n    of Santuru (site nearly\n    swallowed up).\n   Katongo (near Slave           15 16 33    .  .  .        Aug. 30\n    Merchants' Stockade).\n   Point of Junction of Nariele  15 15 43    .  .  .        Aug. 29\n    Branch with the Main Stream.\n   Quando Village.               15  6  8    .  .  .        Aug. 28\n   Town of Libonta.              14 59  0    .  .  .        Aug. 21\n   Island of Tongane.            14 38  6    .  .  .        Aug. 23\n   Cowrie Island.                14 20  5    .  .  .        Aug. 24\n   Junction of the Loeti         14 18 57    .  .  .        Aug.\n    with the Main Stream\n    (Leeambye, Zambesi).\n        [ Boiling-point of water = 203 Deg. = 4741 feet. ]\n   Confluence of the Leeba       14 10 52   23 35 40        Aug. 24, 25\n    or Lonta with the Leeambye\n    (1st group).\n   Kabompo, near the Leeba.      12 37 35   22 47  0 |1854, Jan.  1|\n                                                     |1855, July  3|        .  3\n   Village about 2' N.W.         12  6  6   22 57  0  1854, Feb.  1\n    of the Leeba after leaving\n    Kabompo town:  the hill Peeri,\n    or Piri, bearing S.S.E.,\n    distant about 6'.\n   Village of Soana Molopo,      11 49 22   22 42  0        Feb.  7\n    3' from Lokalueje River.\n   Village of Quendende,         11 41 17    .  .  .        Feb. 11\n    about 2' S.E. of the ford\n    of the Lotembwa, and about\n    9' from the town of Katema.\n   Banks of the Lovoa.           11 40 54    .  .  .  1855, June 20         2  .\n   Lofuje River flows into       12 52 35   22 49  0        July  7         .  3\n    the Leeba; Nyamoana's village.\n   Confluence of the Makondo     13 23 12    .  .  .        July 13\n    and Leeba Rivers.\n   Katema's Town, 5' S. of Lake  11 35 49   22 27  0  1854, Feb. 17         .  2\n    Dilolo, the source of the\n    Lotembwa, one of the principal\n    feeders of the Leeba.\n   Lake Dilolo (station about    11 32  1    .  .  .  1855, June 18         .  2\n    half a mile S. of the lake).                            June 13         .  .\n        [ Boiling-point of water = 203 Deg. = 4741 feet. ]\n   Village near the ford of      11 15 55    .  .  .  1854, Feb. 28\n    the River Kasai, Kasye,\n    or Loke.  The ford is\n    in latitude 11d 17'.\n   Bango's Village, about 10'    10 22 53   20 58  0  1855, May  28         3  .\n    W. of the Loembwe.\n   Banks of the Stream Chihune.  10 57 30  (20 53)*1* 1854, Mar.  8\n        [ The longitude doubtful. ]\n   Ionga Panza's village.        10 25  0   20 15  0 *2*    Mar. 20\n   Ford of the River Quango.      9 50  0  (18 27  0)       Apr.  5\n   Cassange, about 40 or 50       9 37 30   17 49  0        Apr. 13, 17     3  2\n    miles W. of the River Quango,\n    and situated in a deep valley.\n   Tala Mungongo, 2' E.           9 42 37  (17 27)          Jan. 11, 14\n    of following station.\n        [ Longitude not observed:  Water boils--\n          Top of = 206 Deg., height 3151 feet.\n          Bottom of descent     = 208 Deg. = 2097 feet.\n          Bottom of east ascent = 205 Deg. = 3680 feet.\n          Top     \"   \"     \"   = 202 Deg. = 5278 feet. ]\n   Banks of the Quinze,           9 42 37   17 25  0  1855, Jan. 10         .  1\n    near the source, 2' W. of\n    the sudden descent which\n    forms the valley of Cassange.\n   Sanza, on the River Quize      9 37 46   16 59  0        Jan.  7         .  4\n    (about 15 yards wide).\n   Pungo Andongo,                 9 42 14   15 30  0  1854, Dec. 11         .  4\n    on the River Coanza.\n        [ On the top of the rocks water boils at 204 Deg. = 4210 feet. ]\n   On the River Coanza,           9 47  2    .  .  .        Dec. 22\n    2' W. of Pungo Andongo.\n   Candumba, 15 miles E. of       9 42 46    .  .  .  1855, Jan.  2\n    Pungo Andongo, 300 yards\n    N. of the Coanza.\n   Confluence of the Lombe        9 41 26    .  .  .        Jan.  3\n    and Coanza, 8' or 10' E.\n    of Candumba, and at house\n    of M. Pires, taken at about\n    half a mile N. of confluence.\n        [ Here the Coanza takes its southern bend. ]\n   Golungo Alto, about midway     9  8 30   14 51  0  1854,|Oct. 27|\n    between Ambaca and Loanda.                             |May  14|\n   \"Aguaes doces\" in Cassange,    9 15  2    .  .  .        Oct.  6,  7     .  2\n    10' W. of Golungo Alto.\n        [ At the confluence of the Luinha and Luce. ]\n   Confluence of the Luinha       9 26 23    .  .  .\n    and Lucalla.\n   Confluence of the Lucalla      9 37 46    .  .  .        Oct. 11, 12\n    and Coanza, Massangano\n    town and fort.\n        [ A prominent hill in Cazengo, called Zungo, is about 6'\n          S.S.W. of \"Aguaes doces\", and it bears N.E. by E.\n          from the house of the commandant at Massangano. ]\n   Ambaca, residence of the       9 16 35   15 23  0        Dec.  6\n    commandant of the district.\n   Kalai,                        17 51 54   25 41  0  1855, Nov. 18         2  3\n    near the Mosioatunya Falls.\n   Lekone Rivulet.               17 45  6   25 55  0        Nov. 20         4  1\n        [ Water boils at 204-1/2 Deg. = 3945 feet.  Between Lekone and Kalomo,\n          Marimba 203-1/4 Deg. = 4608 feet. ]\n   Kalomo River.                (17  3  0)   .  .  .        Nov. 30         .  1\n        [ The lat. and long. doubtful.  Top of ridge, water boils\n          at 202 Deg. = 5278 feet. ]\n   Rivulet of Dela,              16 56  0   26 45  0        Dec.  2         .  3\n    called Mozuma.\n   Kise Kise Hills.              16 27 20    .  .  .        Dec.  3\n   Nakachinto Rivulet.           16 11 24    .  .  .        Dec. 11\n        [ On eastern descent from ridge, water boils at 204 Deg. = 4210 feet. ]\n   Elephant's Grave.            (16  3  0) (28 10)          Dec. 14         1  .\n        [ The latitude not observed. ]\n   Kenia Hills, Rivulet Losito  (15 56  0) (28  1)          Dec. 16         3  .\n    on their western flank.\n        [ The latitude not observed. ]\n   6' E. of Bolengwe Gorge,      15 48 19   28 22  0        Dec. 18         3  3\n    and on the banks of the Kafue.\n   7' or 8' N.E. or E.N.E.      (15 49  0) (28 34) *3*      Dec. 29         .  4\n    of the confluence of\n    the Kafue and Zambesi,\n    at a rivulet called Kambare.\n        [ The lat. not observed; water boils 205-1/2 Deg. = 3415 feet.\n          Top of the hills Semalembue, water boils 204-1/2 Deg. = 4078 feet.\n          Bottom of ditto, 205-3/4 Deg. = 3288 feet. ]\n   Confluence of Kafue           15 53  0    .  .  .\n    and Zambesi.\n   Banks of Zambesi,             15 50 49    .  .  .        Dec. 30\n    8' or 10' below confluence.\n        [ Water boils at 209 Deg. = 1571 feet. ]\n   Village of Ma-Mburuma,        15 36 57   30 22  0  1856, Jan. 12         1  1\n    about 10 miles from Zumbo.\n   Zumbo station, ruins of a     15 37 22   30 32  0        Jan. 13         2  3\n    church on the right bank of\n    the Loangwa, about 300 yards\n    from confluence with Zambesi.\n        [ Water boils at 209-1/4 Deg. = 1440 feet. ]\n   Chilonda's Village, quarter   15 38 34   30 52  0        Jan. 20         3  .\n    of a mile N. of Zambesi,\n    near the Kabanka Hill.\n   Opposite Hill Pinkwe.         15 39 11  (32  5) *4*      Feb.  7         .  1\n        [ Long. doubtful; the moon's alt. only 4 Deg. ]\n   Moshua Rivulet.               15 45 33   32 22  0 *5*    Feb.  9         1  2\n   Tangwe Rivulet, or            16 13 38   32 29  0        Feb. 20\n    Sand River, 1/4 mile broad.\n   Tete or Nyungwe station,      16  9  3   33 28  0        Mar.  2, 17     4  8\n    house of commandant.\n   Hot Spring Makorozi,          15 59 35    .  .  .        Mar. 13\n    about 10 m. up the river.\n   Below Tete, island of         16 34 46   32 51  0        Apr. 23         1  .\n    Mozambique, on the Zambesi.\n   Island of Nkuesa.             17  1  6    .  .  .        Apr. 25\n   Senna, 300 yards S.W.         17 27  1   34 57  0 *6*   |April 27|       2  6\n    of the Mud Fort on the bank                            |May 8, 9|\n    of the river.\n   Islet of Shupanga.            17 51 38    .  .  .        May  12\n   Small islet in the middle of  17 59 21    .  .  .        May  13\n    the Zambesi, and six or eight\n    miles below Shupanga.\n   Mazaro or Mutu,               18  3 37   35 57  0        May  14         2  2\n    where the Kilimane River\n    branches off the Zambesi.\n   Kilimane Village,             17 53  8   36 40  0 *7*  June 13, 25, 27   1  6\n    at the house of Senor\n    Galdino Jose Nunes,\n    colonel of militia.\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n   Positions.                    Latitude.  Longitude.      Date.     No. of Sets\n                                   South.      East.                    of Lunar\n                                                                       Distances.\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n   *1* Probably 20d 25'.--I. A.\n   *2* Probably 20d 10'.--I. A.\n   *3* Probably 28d 56'.--I. A.\n   *4* Probably 31d 46' 30\".--I. A.\n   *5* Probably 31d 56'.--I. A.\n   *6* Probably 35d 10' 15\".--I. A.\n   *7* Probably 36d 56' 8\".--I. A.\n\n\nAppendix.--Book Review in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February, 1858.\n\n[This review is provided to allow the reader to view Livingstone's\nachievement as it was seen by a contemporary.--A. L., 1997.]\n\n\n\nLivingstone's Travels in South Africa.*\n\n   * 'Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa'. By\n   David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L.  1 vol. 8vo. With Maps and\n   numerous Illustrations.  Harper and Brothers.\n\n   'Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa'. By\n   Henry Barth, Ph.D., D.C.L.  3 vols. 8vo. With Map and numerous\n   Illustrations.  Harper and Brothers.\n\n\nThese two works, each embodying the results of years of travel and\nresearch, entirely revolutionize all our theories as to the geographical\nand physical character of Central Africa. Instead of lofty mountains and\nsandy deserts, we have a wide basin, or rather series of basins, with\nlakes and great rivers, and a soil fertile even when compared with the\nabounding exuberance of our own Western valleys and prairies.\n\nBarth, traveling southward from the Mediterranean, explored this\nregion till within eight degrees of the equator. Livingstone, traveling\nnorthward from the Cape of Good Hope, approached the equator from the\nsouth as nearly as Barth did from the north. He then traversed the\nwhole breadth of the continent diagonally from the west to the east.\nHis special researches cover the entire space between the eighth and\nfifteenth parallels of south latitude. Between the regions explored by\nBarth and Livingstone lies an unexplored tract extending eight degrees\non each side of the equator, and occupying the whole breadth of\nthe continent from east to west. Lieutenant Burton, famous for his\nexpedition to Mecca and Medina, set out from Zanzibar a few months\nsince, with the design of traversing this very region. If he succeeds\nin his purpose his explorations will fill up the void between those of\nBarth and Livingstone.\n\nDr. Livingstone, with whose travels we are at present specially\nconcerned, is no ordinary man. The son of a Presbyterian deacon and\nsmall trader in Glasgow; set to work in a cotton factory at ten years\nold; buying a Latin grammar with his first earnings; working from six in\nthe morning till eight at night, then attending evening-school till\nten, and pursuing his studies till midnight; at sixteen a fair classical\nscholar, with no inconsiderable reading in books of science and travels,\ngained, sentence by sentence, with the book open before him on his\nspinning-jenny; botanizing and geologizing on holidays and at spare\nhours; poring over books of astrology till he was startled by inward\nsuggestions to sell his soul to the Evil One as the price of the\nmysterious knowledge of the stars; soundly flogged by the good deacon\nhis father by way of imparting to him a liking for Boston's \"Fourfold\nState\" and Wilberforce's \"Practical Christianity\"; then convinced by the\nwritings of the worthy Thomas Dick that there was no hostility between\nScience and Religion, embracing with heart and mind the doctrines of\nevangelical Christianity, and resolving to devote his life to their\nextension among the heathen--such are the leading features of the early\nlife of David Livingstone.\n\nHe would equip himself for the warfare and afterward fight with the\npowers of darkness at his own cost. So at the age of nineteen--a slim,\nloose-jointed lad--he commenced the study of medicine and Greek, and\nafterward of theology, in the University of Glasgow, attending lectures\nin the winter, paying his expenses by working as a cotton-spinner during\nthe summer, without receiving a farthing of aid from any one.\n\nHis purpose was to go to China as a medical missionary, and he would\nhave accomplished his object solely by his own efforts had not some\nfriends advised him to join the London Missionary Society. He offered\nhimself, with a half hope that his application would be rejected, for it\nwas not quite agreeable to one accustomed to work his own way to become\ndependent in a measure upon others.\n\nBy the time when his medical and theological studies were completed,\nthe Opium War had rendered it inexpedient to go to China, and his\ndestination was fixed for Southern Africa.\n\nHe reached his field of labor in 1840. Having tarried for three months\nat the head station at Kuruman, and taken to wife a daughter of the\nwell-known missionary Mr. Moffat, he pushed still farther into the\ncountry, and attached himself to the band of Sechele, chief of the\nBakwains, or \"Alligators\", a Bechuana tribe. Here, cutting himself for\nsix months wholly off from all European society, he gained an insight\ninto the language, laws, modes of life, and habits of the Bechuanas,\nwhich proved of incalculable advantage in all his subsequent intercourse\nwith them.\n\nSechele gave a ready ear to the missionary's instructions.\n\n\"Did your forefathers know of a future judgment?\" he asked.\n\n\"They knew of it,\" replied the missionary, who proceeded to describe the\nscenes of the last great day.\n\n\"You startle me: these words make all my bones to shake; I have no more\nstrength in me. But my forefathers were living at the same time yours\nwere; and how is it that they did not send them word about these\nterrible things? They all passed away into darkness without knowing\nwhither they were going.\"\n\nMr. Moffat had translated the Bible into the Bechuana language, which he\nhad reduced to writing, and Sechele set himself to learn to read, with\nso much assiduity that he began to grow corpulent from lack of his\naccustomed exercise. His great favorite was Isaiah. \"He was a fine man,\nthat Isaiah; he knew how to speak,\" he was wont to say, using the very\nwords applied by the Glasgow Professor to the Apostle Paul. Having\nbecome convinced of the truth of Christianity, he wished his people also\nto become Christians. \"I will call them together,\" he said, \"and with\nour rhinoceros-skin whips we will soon make them all believe together.\"\nLivingstone, mindful, perhaps, of the ill success of his worthy father\nin the matter of Wilberforce on \"Practical Christianity\", did not favor\nthe proposed line of argument. He was, in fact, in no great haste\nto urge Sechele to make a full profession of faith by receiving the\nordinance of baptism; for the chief had, in accordance with the customs\nof his people, taken a number of wives, of whom he must, in this case,\nput away all except one. The head-wife was a greasy old jade, who was\nin the habit of attending church without her gown, and when her husband\nsent her home to make her toilet, she would pout out her thick lips in\nunutterable disgust at his new-fangled notions, while some of the other\nwives were the best scholars in the school. After a while Sechele took\nthe matter into his own hands, sent his supernumerary wives back to\ntheir friends--not empty-handed--and was baptized.\n\nMr. Livingstone's station was in the region since rendered famous by\nthe hunting exploits of Gordon Cumming. He vouches for the truth of\nthe wonderful stories told by that redoubtable Nimrod, who visited him\nduring each of his excursions. He himself, indeed, had an adventure with\na lion quite equal to any thing narrated by Cumming or Andersson, the\nresult of which was one dead lion, two Bechuanas fearfully wounded, his\nown arm marked with eleven distinct teeth-marks, the bone crunched to\nsplinters, and the formation of a false joint, which marred his shooting\never after.\n\nMr. Livingstone has a republican contempt for the \"King of Beasts\". He\nis nothing better than an overgrown hulking dog, not a match, in fair\nfight, for a buffalo. If a traveler encounter him by daylight, he turns\ntail and sneaks out of sight like a scared greyhound. All the talk about\nhis majestic roar is sheer twaddle. It takes a keen ear to distinguish\nthe voice of the lion from that of the silly ostrich. When he is gorged\nhe falls asleep, and a couple of natives approach him without fear. One\ndischarges an arrow, the point of which has been anointed with a subtle\npoison, made of the dried entrails of a species of caterpillar, while\nthe other flings his skin cloak over his head. The beast bolts away\nincontinently, but soon dies, howling and biting the ground in agony.\nIn the dark, or at all hours when breeding, the lion is an ugly enough\ncustomer; but if a man will stay at home by night, and does not go out\nof his way to attack him, he runs less risk in Africa of being devoured\nby a lion than he does in our cities of being run over by an omnibus--so\nsays Mr. Livingstone.\n\nWhen the lion grows old he leads a miserable life. Unable to master the\nlarger game, he prowls about the villages in the hope of picking up a\nstray goat. A woman of child venturing out at night does not then come\namiss. When the natives hear of one prowling about the villages, they\nsay, \"His teeth are worn; he will soon kill men,\" and thereupon turn out\nto kill him. This is the only foundation for the common belief that\nwhen the lion has once tasted human flesh he will eat nothing else. A\n\"man-eater\" is always an old lion, who takes to cannibalism to avoid\nstarvation. When he lives far from human habitations, and so can not get\ngoats or children, an old lion is often reduced to such straits as to be\nobliged to live upon mice, and such small deer.\n\nMr. Livingstone's strictly missionary life among the Bakwains lasted\neight or nine years. The family arose early, and, after prayers and\nbreakfast, went to the school-room, where men, women, and children were\nassembled. School was over at eleven, when the husband set about his\nwork as gardener, smith, or carpenter, while his wife busied herself\nwith domestic matters--baking bread, a hollow in a deserted ant-hill\nserving for an oven; churning butter in an earthen jar; running candles;\nmaking soap from ashes containing so little alkaline matter that the\nley had to be kept boiling for a month or six weeks before it was\nstrong enough for use. The wife was maid-of-all-work in doors, while the\nhusband was Jack-at-all-trades outside. Three several times the tribe\nremoved their place of residence, and he was so many times compelled\nto build for himself a house, every stick and brick of which was put in\nplace by his own hands. The heat of the day past, and dinner over, the\nwife betook herself to the infant and sewing schools, while the husband\nwalked down to the village to talk with the natives. Three nights in\nthe week, after the cows had been milked, public meetings were held for\ninstruction in religious and secular matters. All these multifarious\nduties were diversified by attendance upon the sick, and in various ways\naiding the poor and wretched. Being in so many ways helpful to them,\nand having, besides, shown from the first that he could knock them up at\nhard work or traveling, we can not wonder that Livingstone was popular\namong the Bakwains, though conversions seem to have been of the rarest.\nIndeed, we are not sure but Sechele's was the only case.\n\nA great drought set in the very first year of his residence among them,\nwhich increased year by year. The river ran dry; the canals which he\nhad induced them to dig for the purpose of irrigating their gardens were\nuseless; the fish died in such numbers that the congregated hyenas of\nthe country were unable to devour the putrid masses. The rain-makers\ntried their spells in vain. The clouds sometimes gathered promisingly\noverhead, but only to roll away without discharging a drop upon the\nscorched plains. The people began to suspect some connection between the\nnew religion and the drought. \"We like you,\" they said, \"but we wish you\nwould give up this everlasting preaching and praying. You see that we\nnever get any rain, while the tribes who never pray have an abundance.\"\nLivingstone could not deny the fact, and he was sometimes disposed to\nattribute it to the malevolence of the \"Prince of the Power of the Air\",\neager to frustrate the good work.\n\nThe people behaved wonderfully well, though the scarcity amounted almost\nto famine. The women sold their ornaments to buy corn from the more\nfortunate tribes around; the children scoured the country for edible\nroots; the men betook themselves to hunting. They constructed great\ntraps, called 'hopos', consisting of two lines of hedges, a mile long,\nfar apart at the extremities, but converging like the sides of the\nletter V, with a deep pit at the narrow end. Then forming a circuit for\nmiles around, they drove the game--buffaloes, zebras, gnus, antelopes,\nand the like--into the mouth of the hopo, and along its narrowing lane,\nuntil they plunged pell-mell in one confused, writhing, struggling mass\ninto the pit, where they were speared at leisure.\n\nThe precarious mode of life occasioned by the long drought interfered\nsadly with the labors of the mission. Still worse was the conduct of\nBoers who had pushed their way into the Bechuana country. Their theory\nwas very simple: \"We are the people of God, and the heathen are given to\nus for an inheritance.\" Of this inheritance they proceeded to make\nthe most. They compelled the natives to work for them without pay, in\nconsideration of the privilege of living in \"their country\". They made\nregular forays, carrying off the women and children as slaves. They were\ncowardly as well as brutal, compelling friendly tribes to accompany\nthem on their excursions, putting them in front as a shield, and coolly\nfiring over their heads, till the enemy fled in despair, leaving their\nwomen, children, and cattle as a prey.\n\nSo long as fire-arms could be kept from the natives the Boers were sure\nof having it all their own way. But traders came in the train of the\nmissionaries, and sold guns and powder to the Bechuanas. Sechele's\ntribe procured no less than five muskets. The Boers were alarmed, and\ndetermined to drive missionaries and traders from the country.\n\nIn course of time Mr. Livingstone became convinced that Bibles and\npreaching were not all that was necessary. Civilization must accompany\nChristianization; and commerce was essential to civilization; for\ncommerce, more speedily than any thing else, would break down the\nisolation of the tribes, by making them mutually dependent upon and\nserviceable to each other.\n\nIt was well known that northward, beyond the desert, lay a great lake,\nin the midst of a country rich in ivory and other articles of commerce.\nIn former years, when rains had been more abundant, the natives had\nfrequently crossed this desert; and somewhere near the lake dwelt a\nfamous chief, named Sebituane, who had once lived on friendly terms\nin the neighborhood of Sechele, who was anxious to renew the old\nacquaintance. Mr. Livingstone determined to open intercourse with this\nregion, in spite of the threats and opposition of the Boers.\n\nSo the missionary became a traveler and explorer. While laying his plans\nand gathering information, the opportune arrival of Messrs. Oswell and\nMurray, two wealthy Englishmen who had become enamored with African\nhunting, enabled him to undertake the proposed expedition, Mr. Oswell\nagreeing to pay the guides, who were furnished by Sechele.\n\nThis expedition, which resulted in the discovery of Lake Ngami, set out\nfrom the missionary station at Kolobeng on the 1st of June, 1849.\nThe way lay across the great Kalahari desert, seven hundred miles in\nbreadth. This is a singular region. Though it has no running streams,\nand few and scanty wells, it abounds in animal and vegetable life. Men,\nanimals, and plants accommodate themselves singularly to the scarcity of\nwater. Grass is abundant, growing in tufts; bulbous plants abound, among\nwhich are the 'leroshua', which sends up a slender stalk not larger than\na crow quill, with a tuber, a foot or more below the surface, as large\nas a child's head, consisting of a mass of cellular tissue filled with\na cool and refreshing fluid; and the 'mokuri', which deposits under\nground, within a circle of a yard from its stem, a mass of tubers of\nthe size of a man's head. During years when the rains are unusually\nabundant, the Kalahari is covered with the 'kengwe', a species of\nwater-melon. Animals and men rejoice in the rich supply; antelopes,\nlions, hyenas, jackals, mice, and men devour it with equal avidity.\n\nThe people of the desert conceal their wells with jealous care. They\nfill them with sand, and place their dwellings at a distance, that their\nproximity may not betray the precious secret. The women repair to the\nwells with a score or so of ostrich shells in a bag slung over their\nshoulders. Digging down an arm's-length, they insert a hollow reed, with\na bunch of grass tied to the end, then ram the sand firmly around the\ntube. The water slowly filters into the bunch of grass, and is sucked\nup through the reed, and squirted mouthful by mouthful into the shells.\nWhen all are filled, the women gather up their load and trudge homeward.\n\nElands, springbucks, koodoos, and ostriches somehow seem to get along\nvery well without any moisture, except that contained in the grass which\nthey eat. They appear to live for months without drinking; but whenever\nrhinoceroses, buffaloes, or gnus are seen, it is held to be certain\nproof that water exists within a few miles.\n\nThe passage of the Kalahari was effected, not without considerable\ndifficulty, in two months, the expedition reaching Lake Ngami on the 1st\nof August. As they approached it, they came upon a considerable river.\n\n\"Whence does this come?\" asked Livingstone.\n\n\"From a country full of rivers,\" was the reply; \"so many that no man can\ntell their number, and full of large trees.\"\n\nThis was the first actual confirmation of the report of the Bakwains\nthat the country beyond was not the large \"sandy plateau\" of\ngeographers. The prospect of a highway capable of being traversed by\nboats to an unexplored fertile region so filled the mind of Livingstone\nthat, when he came to the lake, this discovery seemed of comparatively\nlittle importance. To us, indeed, whose ideas of a lake are formed from\nSuperior and Huron, the Ngami seems but an insignificant affair. Its\ncircumference may be seventy or a hundred miles, and its mean depth is\nbut a few feet. It lies two thousand feet above the level of the sea,\nand as much below the southern border of the Kalahari, which slopes\ngradually toward the interior.\n\nTheir desire to visit Sebituane, whose residence was considerably\nfarther in the interior, was frustrated by the jealousy of Lechulatebe,\na chief near the lake, and the expedition returned to the station at\nKolobeng. The attempt was renewed the following year. Mrs. Livingstone,\ntheir three children, and Sechele accompanied him. The lake was reached.\nLechulatebe, propitiated by the present of a valuable gun, agreed to\nfurnish guides to Sebituane's country; but the children and servants\nfell ill, and the attempt was for the time abandoned.\n\nA third expedition was successful, although the whole party came near\nperishing for want of water, and their cattle, which had been bitten by\nthe 'Tsetse', died.\n\nThis insect--the 'Glossina moritans' of the naturalists--deserves a\nspecial paragraph. It is a brown insect about as large as our common\nhouse-fly, with three or four yellow bars across its hinder part.\nA lively, buzzing, harmless-looking fellow is the tsetse. Its bite\nproduces a slight itching similar to that caused by the mosquito, and\nin the case of men and some species of animals no further ill effects\nfollow. But woe to the horse, the ox, and the dog, when once bitten by\nthe tsetse. No immediate harm appears; the animal is not startled as by\nthe gad-fly; but in a few days the eyes and the nose begin to run; the\njaws and navel swell; the animal grazes for a while as usual, but grows\nemaciated and weak, and dies, it may be, weeks or months after. When\ndissected, the cellular tissue seems injected with air, the fat is green\nand oily, the muscles are flabby, the heart is so soft that the finger\nmay be pushed through it. The antelope and buffalo, the zebra and goat,\nare not affected by its bite; while to the ox, the horse, and the dog\nit is certain death. The mule and donkey are not troubled by it, nor are\nsucking calves, while dogs, though fed upon milk, perish. Such different\neffects produced upon animals whose nature is similar, constitute one of\nthe most curious phenomena in natural history.\n\nSebituane, who had heard of the approach of his visitors, came more\nthan a hundred miles to meet them. He was a tall, wiry, coffee-and-milk\ncolored man, of five-and-forty. His original home was a thousand miles\nto the south, in the Bakwain country, whence he had been driven by the\nGriquas a quarter of a century before. He fled northward, fighting his\nway, sometimes reduced to the utmost straits, but still keeping his\npeople together. At length he crossed the desert, and conquered the\ncountry around Lake Ngami; then having heard of white men living on the\nwest coast, he passed southwestward into the desert, hoping to be able\nto open intercourse with them. There suffering from the thirst, he\ncame to a small well; the water was not sufficient for his men and his\ncattle; one or the other must perish; he ordered the men to drink, for\nif they survived they could fight for more cattle. In the morning his\ncattle were all gone, and he returned to the north. Here a long course\nof warfare awaited him, but in the end he triumphed over his enemies,\nand established himself for a time on the great river Zambesi. Haunted\nwith a longing for intercourse with the whites, he proposed to descend\nthe river to the eastern coast. He was dissuaded from this purpose by\nthe warnings of a native prophet. \"The gods say, Go not thither!\" he\ncried; then turning to the west, \"I see a city and a nation of black\nmen--men of the water; their cattle are red; thine own tribe are\nperishing, and will all be consumed; thou wilt govern black men, and\nwhen thy warriors have captured the red cattle, let not their owners be\nkilled; they are thy future tribe; let them be spared to cause thee to\nbuild.\" So Sebituane went westward, conquered the blacks of an immense\nregion, spared the lives of the men, and made them his subjects, ruling\nthem gently. His original people are called the Makololo; the subject\ntribes are styled Makalaka.\n\nSebituane, though the greatest warrior in the south, always leading his\nmen to battle in person, was still anxious for peace. He had heard of\ncannon, and had somehow acquired the idea that if he could only procure\none he might live in quiet. He received his visitors with much favor.\n\"Your cattle have all been bitten by the tsetse,\" he said, \"and will\ndie; but never mind, I will give you as many as you want.\" He offered\nto conduct them through his country that they might choose a site for a\nmissionary station. But at this moment he fell ill of an inflammation of\nthe lungs, from which he soon died.\n\n\"He was,\" writes Mr. Livingstone, \"the best specimen of a native chief\nI ever met; and it was impossible not to follow him in thought into the\nworld of which he had just heard when he was called away, and to realize\nsomewhat of the feeling of those who pray for the dead. The deep, dark\nquestion of what is to become of such as he must be left where we find\nit, believing that assuredly the Judge of all the earth will do right.\"\n\nAlthough he had sons, Sebituane left the chieftainship to his daughter\nMamochisane, who confirmed her father's permission that the missionaries\nmight visit her country. They proceeded a hundred and thirty miles\nfarther, and were rewarded by the discovery of the great river\nZambesi, the very existence of which, in Central Africa, had never been\nsuspected. It was the dry season, and the river was at its lowest;\nbut it was from three to six hundred yards broad, flowing with a deep\ncurrent toward the east.\n\nA grander idea than the mere founding of a missionary station now\ndeveloped itself in the mind of Mr. Livingstone. European goods had just\nbegun to be introduced into this region from the Portuguese settlements\non the coast; at present slaves were the only commodity received in\npayment for them. Livingstone thought if a great highway could be\nopened, ivory, and the other products of the country, might be bartered\nfor these goods, and the traffic in slaves would come to an end.\n\nHe therefore resolved to take his family to Cape Town, and thence send\nthem to England, while he returned alone to the interior, with the\npurpose of making his way either to the east or the west coast.\n\nHe reached the Cape in April, 1852, being the first time during eleven\nyears that he had visited the scenes of civilization, and placed his\nfamily on board a ship bound for England, promising to rejoin them in\ntwo years.\n\nIn June he set out from Cape Town upon that long journey which was to\noccupy five years. When he approached the missionary stations in the\ninterior, he learned that the long-threatened attack by the Boers had\ntaken place. A letter from Sechele to Mr. Moffat told the story. Thus it\nran:\n\n\n\"Friend of my heart's love and of all the confidence of my heart, I\nam Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, who attacked me, though I had no\nguilt with them. They demanded that I should be in their kingdom, and\nI refused. They demanded that I should prevent the English and Griquas\nfrom passing. I replied, These are my friends, and I can not prevent\nthem. They came on Saturday, and I besought them not to fight on Sunday,\nand they assented. They began on Monday morning at twilight, and fired\nwith all their might, and burned the town with fire, and scattered us.\nThey killed sixty of my people, and captured women, and children, and\nmen. They took all the cattle and all the goods of the Bakwains; and the\nhouse of Livingstone they plundered, taking away all his goods. Of the\nBoers we killed twenty-eight.\"\n\n\nTwo hundred children, who had been gathered into schools, were carried\naway as slaves. Mr. Livingstone's library was wantonly destroyed, not\ncarried away; his stock of medicines was smashed, and his furniture\nand clothing sold at auction to defray the expenses of the foray. Mr.\nPretorius, the leader of the marauding party, died not long after, and\nan obituary notice of him was published, ending with the words, \"Blessed\nare the dead who die in the Lord.\"\n\nLeaving his desolate home, Livingstone proceeded on his journey. On the\nway he met Sechele, who was going, he said, to see the Queen of England.\nLivingstone tried to dissuade him.\n\n\"Will not the Queen listen to me?\" asked the chief.\n\n\"I believe she would listen, but the difficulty is to get to her.\"\n\n\"Well, I shall reach her.\"\n\nAnd so they parted. Sechele actually made his way to the Cape, a\ndistance of a thousand miles, but could get no farther, and returned to\nhis own country. The remnants of the tribes who had formerly lived among\nthe Boers gathered around him, and he is now more powerful than ever.\n\nIt is slow traveling in Africa. Livingstone was almost a year in\naccomplishing the 1500 miles between Cape Town and the country of the\nMakololo. He found that Mamochisane, the daughter of Sebituane, had\nvoluntarily resigned the chieftainship to her younger brother, Sekeletu.\nShe wished to be married, she said, and have a family like other women.\nThe young chief Sekeletu was very friendly, but showed no disposition\nto become a convert. He refused to learn to read the Bible, for fear it\nmight change his heart, and make him content with only one wife, like\nSechele. For his part he wanted at least five.\n\nSome months were passed in this country, which is described as fertile\nand well-cultivated--producing millet, maize, yams, sweet potatoes,\ncassava, beans, pumpkins, water-melons, and the like. The sugar-cane\ngrows plentifully, but the people had never learned the process of\nmaking sugar. They have great numbers of cattle, and game of various\nspecies abounds. On one occasion a troop of eighty-one buffaloes defiled\nslowly before their evening fire, while herds of splendid elands stood,\nwithout fear, at two hundred yards' distance. The country is rather\nunhealthy, from the mass of decayed vegetation exposed to the torrid\nsun.\n\nAfter due consideration, Livingstone resolved to make his way to Loanda,\na Portuguese settlement on the western coast. Sekeletu, anxious to open\na trade with the coast, appointed twenty-seven men to accompany the\ntraveler; and on the 11th of November, 1853, he set out on his journey.\n\nThree or four small boxes contained all the baggage of the party. The\nonly provisions were a few pounds of biscuits, coffee, tea, and sugar;\ntheir main reliance being upon the game which they expected to kill,\nand, this failing, upon the proceeds of about ten dollars' worth of\nbeads. They also took with them a few elephants' tusks, which Sekeletu\nsent by way of a trading venture.\n\nThe river up which they paddled abounds in hippopotami. These are in\ngeneral harmless, though now and then a solitary old bull who has been\nexpelled from the herd vents his spleen by pitching into every canoe\nthat passes. Once their canoe was attacked by a female whose calf had\nbeen speared, and nearly overturned. The female carries her young upon\nher back, its little round head first appearing above the surface when\nshe comes up to breathe.\n\nBy the order of the chief the party had been furnished with eight oxen\nfor riding, and seven intended for slaughter. Some of the troop paddled\nthe canoes, while others drove the cattle along the bank.\n\nAfrican etiquette requires that a company of travelers, when they come\nin sight of a village, shall seat themselves under a tree, and send\nforward a messenger to announce their arrival and state their object.\nThe chief then gives them a ceremonious reception, with abundance of\nspeech-making and drumming. It is no easy matter to get away from these\nvillages, for the chiefs esteem it an honor to have strangers with\nthem. These delays, and the frequent heavy rains, greatly retarded the\nprogress of the travelers.\n\nThey had traveled four months, and accomplished half of their journey\nbefore encountering any show of hostility from the tribes through which\nthey passed. A chief, named Njambi, then demanded tribute for passing\nthrough his country; when this was refused he said that one of\nLivingstone's men had spit on the leg of one of his people, and this\ncrime must be paid for by a fine of a man, an ox, or a gun. This\nreasonable demand was likewise refused, and the natives seemed about\nto commence hostilities; but changed their minds upon witnessing the\ndetermined attitude of the strangers. Livingstone at last yielded to the\nentreaties of his men and gave them an ox, upon the promise that food\nshould be sent in exchange. The niggardly chief sent them only a small\nbag of meal, and two or three pounds of the meat of their own ox.\n\nFrom this time they were subject to frequent attempts at extortion. The\nlast of these was made on the banks of the River Quango, the boundary of\nthe Portuguese possessions. A Bashinje chief, whose portrait is given\nby Mr. Livingstone, made the usual demand of a man, a gun, or an ox,\notherwise they must return the way they came. While negotiations were\nin progress the opportune arrival of a Portuguese sergeant freed the\ntravelers from their troubles. The river was crossed, and once on\nPortuguese territory their difficulties were over.\n\nAt Cassange, the frontier settlement, they sold Sekeletu's ivory. The\nMakololo, who had been accustomed to give two tusks for one gun,\nwere delighted at the prices they obtained. For one tusk they got two\nmuskets, three kegs of powder, large bunches of beads, and calico and\nbaize enough to clothe all the party.\n\nOn the 31st of May, after more than six months' travel, Livingstone and\nhis companions reached the Portuguese sea-port of Loanda. The Makololo\nwere lost in wonder when they first caught sight of the sea. \"We marched\nalong,\" they said, \"believing that what the ancients had told us was\ntrue, that the world has no end; but all at once the world said to us,\nI am finished, there is no more of me.\" Still greater was their wonder\nwhen they beheld the large stone houses of the town. \"These are not\nhuts,\" they said, \"but mountains with caves in them.\" Livingstone had in\nvain tried to make them comprehend a house of two stories. They knew of\nno dwellings except their own conical huts, made of poles stuck into the\nground, and could not conceive how one hut could be built on the top of\nanother, or how people could live in the upper story, with the pointed\nroof of the lower one sticking up in the middle of the floor. The\nvessels in the harbor were, they said, not canoes, but towns, into which\none must climb by a rope.\n\nAt Loanda Livingstone was attacked by a fever, which reduced him to\na skeleton, and for a while rendered him unable to attend to his\ncompanions. But they managed very well alone. Some went to the forest,\ncut firewood, and brought it to town for sale; others unloaded a\ncoal-vessel in the harbor, at the magnificent wages of a sixpence a day.\nThe proceeds of their labor were shrewdly invested in cloth and beads\nwhich they would take home with them in confirmation of the astounding\nstories they would have to tell; \"for,\" said they, \"in coming to the\nwhite man's country, we have accomplished what no other people in the\nworld could have done; we are the true ancients, who can tell wonderful\nthings.\"\n\nThe two years, at the close of which Livingstone had promised to rejoin\nhis family, had almost expired, and he was offered a passage home\nfrom Loanda. But the great object of his expedition was only partially\nattained. Though he had reached the west coast in safety, he had found\nthat the forests, swamps, and rivers must render a wagon-road from the\ninterior impracticable. He feared also that his native attendants would\nnot be able to make their way alone back to their own country, through\nthe unfriendly tribes. So he resolved, feeble as he was, to return to\nSekeletu's dominions, and thence proceed to the eastern coast.\n\nIn September he started on his return journey, bearing considerable\npresents for Sekeletu from the Portuguese, who were naturally anxious\nto open a trade with the rich ivory region of the interior. The Board of\nPublic Works sent a colonel's uniform and a horse, which unfortunately\ndied on the way. The merchants contributed specimens of all their\narticles of trade, and a couple of donkeys, which would have a special\nvalue on account of their immunity from the bite of the tsetse. The men\nwere made happy by the acquisition of a suit of European clothes and a\ngun apiece, in addition to their own purchases.\n\nIn the Bashinje country he again encountered hostile demonstrations. One\nchief, who came riding into the camp upon the shoulders of an attendant,\nwas especially annoying in his demands for tribute. Another, who had\nquarreled with one of Livingstone's attendants, waylaid and fired upon\nthe party. Livingstone, who was ill of a fever, staggered up to the\nchief, revolver in hand. The sight of the six mouths of that convenient\nimplement gaping at his breast wrought an instant revolution in his\nmartial ideas; he fell into a fit of trembling, protesting that he had\njust come to have a quiet talk, and wanted only peace.\n\nThese Bashinje have more of the low negro character and physiognomy than\nany tribe encountered by Livingstone. Their color is a dirty black; they\nhave low foreheads and flat noses, artificially enlarged by sticks\nrun through the septum, and file their teeth down to a point. A little\nfurther to the south the complexion of the natives is much lighter,\nand their features are strikingly like those depicted upon the Egyptian\nmonuments, the resemblance being still further increased by some of\ntheir modes of wearing the hair. Livingstone indeed affirms that the\nEgyptian paintings and sculptures present the best type of the general\nphysiognomy of the central tribes.\n\nThe return journey was still slower than the advance had been; and it\nwas not till late in the summer of 1855 that they reached the villages\nof the Makololo, having been absent more than eighteen months. They were\nreceived as men risen from the dead, for the diviners had declared that\nthey had perished long ago. The returned adventurers were the lions of\nthe day. They strutted around in their gay European suits, with their\nguns over their shoulders, to the abounding admiration of the women and\nchildren, calling themselves Livingstone's \"braves\", who had gone over\nthe whole world, turning back only when there was no more land. To be\nsure they returned about as poor as they went, for their gun and their\none suit of red and white cotton were all that they had saved, every\nthing else having been expended during their long journey. \"But never\nmind,\" they said; \"we have not gone in vain, you have opened a path for\nus.\"\n\nThere was one serious drawback from their happiness. Some of their\nwives, like those of the companions of Ulysses of old, wearied by their\nlong absence, had married other husbands. They took this misfortune much\nto heart. \"Wives,\" said one of the bereaved husbands, \"are as plenty as\ngrass--I can get another; but,\" he added bitterly, \"if I had that fellow\nI would slit his ears for him.\" Livingstone did the best he could for\nthem. He induced the chiefs to compel the men who had taken the only\nwife of any one to give her up to her former husband. Those--and they\nwere the majority--who had still a number left, he consoled by telling\nthem that they had quite as many as was good for them--more than he\nhimself had. So, undeterred by this single untoward result of their\nexperiment, the adventurers one and all set about gathering ivory for\nanother adventure to the west.\n\nLivingstone had satisfied himself that the great River Leeambye, up\nwhich he had paddled so many miles on his way to the west, was identical\nwith the Zambesi, which he had discovered four years previously. The two\nnames are indeed the same, both meaning simply \"The River\", in different\ndialects spoken on its banks. This great river is an object of wonder to\nthe natives. They have a song which runs,\n\n   \"The Leeambye!  Nobody knows\n   Whence it comes, and whither it goes.\"\n\nLivingstone had pursued it far up toward its source, and knew whence it\ncame; and now he resolved to follow it down to the sea, trusting that\nit would furnish a water communication into the very heart of the\ncontinent.\n\nIt was now October--the close of the hot season. The thermometer stood\nat 100 Deg. in the shade; in the sun it sometimes rose to 130 Deg.\nDuring the day the people kept close in their huts, guzzling a kind\nof beer called 'boyola', and seeming to enjoy the copious perspiration\nwhich it induces. As evening set in the dance began, which was kept up\nin the moonlight till long after midnight. Sekeletu, proud of his new\nuniform, and pleased with the prospect of trade which had been opened,\nentertained Livingstone hospitably, and promised to fit him out for his\neastern journey as soon as the rains had commenced, and somewhat cooled\nthe burning soil.\n\nHe set out early in November, the chief with a large body of retainers\naccompanying him as far as the Falls of Mosioatunye, the most remarkable\npiece of natural scenery in all Africa, which no European had ever seen\nor heard of. The Zambesi, here a thousand yards broad, seems all at\nonce to lose itself in the earth. It tumbles into a fissure in the hard\nbasaltic rock, running at a right-angle with the course of the stream,\nand prolonged for thirty miles through the hills. This fissure, hardly\neighty feet broad, with sides perfectly perpendicular, is fully a\nhundred feet in depth down to the surface of the water, which shows like\na white thread at its bottom. The noise made by the descent of such\na mass of water into this seething abyss is heard for miles, and five\ndistinct columns of vapor rise like pillars of smoke to an\nenormous height. Hence the Makololo name for the cataract, 'Mosi oa\ntunye'--\"Smoke sounds there!\"--for which Livingstone, with questionable\ntaste, proposes to substitute the name of \"Victoria Falls\"--a change\nwhich we trust the world will not sanction.\n\nFrom these falls the country gradually ascends toward the east, the\nriver finding its way by this deep fissure through the hills. Every\nthing shows that this whole region, for hundreds of miles, was once\nthe bed of an immense fresh-water lake. By some convulsion of nature,\noccurring at a period geologically recent, this fissure was formed, and\nthrough it the lake was drained, with the exception of its deepest part,\nwhich constitutes the present Lake Ngami. Similar indications exist of\nthe former existence of other immense bodies of water, which have in\nlike manner been drained by fissures through the surrounding elevations,\nleaving shallow lakes at the lowest points. Such are, undoubtedly, Tsad\nat the north, Ngami at the south, Dilolo at the west, and Taganyika and\nNyanja, of which we have only vague reports, at the east. This great\nlake region of former days seems to have extended 2500 miles from north\nto south, with an average breadth, from east to west, of 600 or 700\nmiles.\n\nThe true theory of the African continent is, that it consists of\na well-watered trough, surrounded on all sides by an elevated rim,\ncomposed in part of mountain ranges, and in part of high sandy deserts.\nLivingstone, who had wrought out this theory from his own personal\nobservations, was almost disappointed when, on returning to England,\nhe found that the same theory had been announced on purely geological\ngrounds by Sir Roderick Murchison, the same philosopher who had averred\nthat gold must exist in Australia, long before the first diggings had\nbeen discovered there.\n\nSekeletu had commissioned Livingstone, when he reached his own country,\nto purchase for him a sugar-mill, a good rifle, different kinds of\nclothing, brass wire, beads, and, in a word, \"any other beautiful thing\nhe might see,\" furnishing him with a considerable quantity of ivory to\npay for them. Their way lay through the country of the Batoka, a fierce\ntribe who had a few years before attempted \"to eat up\" Sebituane, with\nill success, for he dispersed them and took away their cattle. Their\ncountry, once populous, is now almost desolate. At one of their ruined\nvillages Livingstone saw five-and-forty human skulls bleaching upon\nstakes stuck in the ground. In the old times the chiefs used to vie with\neach other as to whose village should be ornamented with the greatest\nnumber of these ghastly trophies; and a skull was the most acceptable\npresent from any one who wished to curry favor with a chief. The Batoka\nhave an odd custom of knocking out the front teeth from the upper jaw.\nThe lower ones, relieved from the attrition and pressure of the upper,\ngrow long and protruding, forcing the lower lip out in a hideous manner.\nThey say that they wish their mouths to be like those of oxen, and not\nlike those of zebras. No young Batoka female can lay any claim to being\na belle until she has thus acquired an \"ox-mouth\". \"Look at the great\nteeth!\" is the disparaging criticism made upon those who neglect to\nremove their incisors. The women wear a little clothing, but the men\ndisdain even the paradisiacal fig-leaf, and go about in a state of\nabsolute nudity. Livingstone told them that he should come back some\nday with his family, when none of them must come near without at least\nputting on a bunch of grass. They thought it a capital joke. Their mode\nof salutation is to fling themselves flat on their backs, and roll from\nside to side, slapping the outside of their naked thighs.\n\nThe country abounds with game. Buffaloes and zebras by the hundred\ngrazed on the open spaces. At one time their procession was interrupted\nby three buffaloes who came dashing through their ranks. Livingstone's\nox set off at a furious gallop. Looking back, he saw one of his men\nflung up into the air by a toss from one of the beasts, who had carried\nhim on his horns for twenty yards before giving the final pitch. The\nfellow came down flat on his face, but the skin was not pierced, and no\nbone was broken. His comrades gave him a brisk shampooing, and in a week\nhe was as well as ever.\n\nThe border country passed, the natives grew more friendly, and gladly\nsupplied all the wants of the travelers. About the middle of December,\nwhen their journey was half over, they came upon the first traces of\nEuropeans--a deserted town, a ruined church, and a broken bell inscribed\nwith a cross and the letters I. H. S., but bearing no date. A few days\nafter they met a man wearing a hat and jacket. He had come from the\nPortuguese settlement of Tete, far down the river. From him they learned\nthat a war was going on below, between the Portuguese and the natives.\nA chief, named Mpende, showed signs of hostility. Livingstone's men,\nwho had become worn and ragged by their long journey, rejoiced at the\nprospect of a fight. \"Now,\" said they, \"we shall get corn and clothes in\nplenty. You have seen us with elephants, but you don't know what we can\ndo with men.\" After a while two old men made their appearance, to\nfind out who the strangers were. \"I am a Lekoa (Englishman),\" said\nLivingstone. \"We don't know that tribe,\" they replied; \"we suppose you\nare a Mozunga (Portuguese).\" Upon Livingstone's showing them his long\nhair and the white skin of his bosom they exclaimed, \"We never saw so\nwhite a skin as that. You must be one of that tribe that loves the black\nmen.\" Livingstone eagerly assured him that such was the case. Sekwebu,\nthe leader of his men, put in a word: \"Ah, if you only knew him as well\nas we do, who have lived with him, you would know how highly he values\nyour friendship; and as he is a stranger he trusts in you to direct\nhim.\" The chief, convinced that he was an Englishman, received the party\nhospitably and forwarded them on their way.\n\nThe frequent appearance of English goods showed that they were\napproaching the coast, and not long afterward Livingstone met a couple\nof native traders, from whom, for two small tusks, he bought a quantity\nof American cotton marked \"Lawrence Mills, Lowell\", which he distributed\namong his men.\n\nFor another month they traveled slowly on through a fertile country,\nabounding in animal life, bagging an elephant or a buffalo when short of\nmeat. Lions are numerous, but the natives, believing that the souls of\ntheir dead chiefs enter the bodies of these animals, into which they\nalso have the power, when living, of transforming themselves at will,\nnever kill them. When they meet a lion they salute him by clapping their\nhands--a courtesy which his Highness frequently returns by making a meal\nof them.\n\nIn this region the women are decidedly in the ascendant. The bridegroom\nis obliged to come to the village of the bride to live. Here he must\nperform certain services for his mother-in-law, such as keeping her\nalways supplied with fire-wood. Above all things, he must always, when\nin her presence, sit with his legs bent under him, it being considered a\nmark of disrespect to present his feet toward her. If he wishes to leave\nthe village, he must not take his children with him; they belong to his\nwife, or, rather, to her family. He can, however, by the payment of a\ncertain number of cattle, \"buy up\" his wife and children. When a man is\ndesired to perform any service he always asks his wife's consent; if she\nrefuses, no amount of bribery or coaxing will induce him to disobey her.\n\nOn the evening of March 2, Livingstone, tired and hungry, came within\neight miles of the Portuguese settlement of Tete. He sent forward the\nletters of recommendation which he had received from the Portuguese on\nthe other side of the continent. Before daylight the following morning\nhe was aroused by two officers and a company of soldiers, who brought\nthe materials for a civilized breakfast--the first of which he had\npartaken since he left Loanda, eighteen months before. \"It was,\" he\nsays, \"the most refreshing breakfast of which I ever partook.\"\n\nTete stands on the Zambesi, three hundred miles from its mouth. The\ncommandant received Livingstone kindly, supplied his men with provisions\nfor immediate use, gave them land upon which to raise future supplies,\nand granted them permission to hunt elephants in the neighborhood on\ntheir own account. Before long they had established a brisk trade\nin fire-wood, as their countrymen had done at Loanda. They certainly\nmanifested none of the laziness which has been said to be characteristic\nof the African races. Thirty elephant tusks remained of those forwarded\nby Sekeletu. Ten of these were sold for cotton cloth for the men. The\nothers were deposited with the authorities, with directions that in case\nLivingstone should never return they should be sold, and the proceeds\ngiven to the men. He told them that death alone should prevent him from\ncoming back. \"Nay, father,\" said the men, \"you will not die; you will\nreturn, and take us back to Sekeletu.\"\n\nHe remained at Tete a month, waiting for the close of the sickly season\nin the low delta at the mouths of the river, and then descended to the\nPortuguese town of Kilimane. Here he remained six weeks, when an English\nvessel arrived with supplies and money for him. Two of his attendants\nonly had come down the river. They begged hard to be allowed to\naccompany him to England. In vain Livingstone told them that they would\ndie if they went to so cold a country. \"That is nothing,\" said one; \"let\nme die at your feet.\" He at last decided to take with him Sekwebu, the\nleader of the party, to whose good sense, bravery, and tact he owed much\nof his success. The sea-waves rose high, as the boat conveyed them to\nthe ship. Sekwebu, who had never seen a larger body of water than the\nshallow Lake Ngami, was terrified.\n\n\"Is this the way you go?\" he inquired.\n\n\"Yes; don't you see it is?\" replied Livingstone, encouragingly.\n\nWhen Livingstone reached his countrymen on the ship he could scarcely\nspeak his native language; the words would not come at his call. He\nhad spoken it but little for thirteen years; and for three and a half,\nexcept for a short time at Loanda, not at all.\n\nSekwebu became a great favorite on shipboard, but he was bewildered\nby the crowd of new ideas that rushed upon his mind. \"What a strange\ncountry this is,\" he said, \"all water!\" When they reached Mauritius,\nhe became insane, and tried to jump overboard. Livingstone's wife had,\nduring her visit to their country, become a great favorite with the\nMakololo, who called her 'Ma Robert'--\"Robert's Mother\"--in honor of her\nyoung son.\n\n\"Come, Sekwebu,\" said Livingstone, \"we are going to Ma Robert.\" This\nstruck a chord in his bosom.\n\n\"Oh yes,\" said he; \"where is she? Where is Robert?\" And for the moment\nhe seemed to recover.\n\nBut in the evening a fresh accession of insanity occurred. He attempted\nto spear one of the crew, and then leaped overboard, and, though he\ncould swim well, pulled himself down, hand over hand, by the cable. His\nbody was never recovered.\n\nFrom Mauritius Livingstone sailed for England, which he reached on the\n12th of December, 1856--four and a half years after he had parted from\nhis family at Cape Town.\n\nHe was received with unwonted honors. The President of the Royal\nGeographical Society, at a special meeting held to welcome him, formally\ninvited him to give to the world a narrative of his travels. Some\nknavish booksellers paid him the less acceptable compliment of putting\nforth spurious accounts of his adventures, one at least of which has\nbeen republished in this country. Livingstone, so long accustomed to a\nlife of action, found the preparation of his book a harder task than he\nhad imagined. \"I think,\" he says, \"that I would rather cross the African\ncontinent again than undertake to write another book.\" We trust that\nhe will yet do both. He would indeed have set out on another African\njourney nearly a year ago to conduct his faithful Makololo attendants\nback to their own country, had not the King of Portugal relieved him\nfrom all anxiety on their account, by sending out directions that they\nshould be supported at Tete until his return.\n\nOur abstract does, at best, but scanty justice to the most interesting,\nas well as most valuable, of modern works of travel. It has\nrevolutionized our ideas of African character as well as of African\ngeography. It shows that Central Africa is peopled by tribes barbarous,\nindeed, but far from manifesting those savage and degrading traits which\nwe are wont to associate with the negro race. In all his long pilgrimage\nLivingstone saw scarcely a trace of the brutal rites and bloody\nsuperstitions of Dahomey and Ashanti. The natives every where long for\nintercourse with the whites, and eagerly seek the products of civilized\nlabor. In regions where no white men had ever been seen the cottons\nof Lowell and Manchester, passed from tribe to tribe, are even now the\nstandard currency. Civilized nations have an equal interest in opening\nintercourse with these countries, for they are capable of supplying\nthose great tropical staples which the industrious temperate zones must\nhave, but can not produce. Livingstone found cotton growing wild all\nalong his route from Loanda to Kilimane; the sugar-cane flourishes\nspontaneously in the valley of \"The River\"; coffee abounds on the west\ncoast; and indigo is a weed in the delta of the Zambesi. Barth also\nfinds these products abundant on the banks of the Benuwe and Shari, and\naround Lake Tsad. The prevalent idea of the inherent laziness of the\nAfricans must be abandoned, for, scattered through the narratives\nof both these intrepid explorers are abundant testimonies of the\nindustrious disposition of the natives.\n\nLivingstone, as befits his profession, regards his discoveries from a\nreligious stand-point. \"The end of the geographical feat,\" he says, \"is\nthe beginning of the missionary enterprise.\" But he is a philosopher as\nwell as a preacher, recognizing as true missionaries the man of science\nwho searches after hidden truths, the soldier who fights against\ntyranny, the sailor who puts down the slave-trade, and the merchant who\nteaches practically the mutual dependence of the nations of the earth.\nHis idea of missionary labor looks to this world as well as the next.\nHad the Bakwains possessed rifles as well as Bibles--had they raised\ncotton as well as attended prayer-meetings--it would have been better\nfor them. He is clearly of the opinion that decent clothing is of more\nimmediate use to the heathen than doctrinal sermons. \"We ought,\" he\nsays, \"to encourage the Africans to cultivate for our markets, as the\nmost effectual means, next to the Gospel, of their elevation.\" His\npractical turn of mind suffers him to present no fancy pictures of\nbarbarous nations longing for the Gospel. His Makololo friends, indeed,\nlistened respectfully when he discoursed of the Saviour, but were all\nearnestness when he spoke of cotton cloths and muskets. Sekeletu favored\nthe missionary, not as the man who could give him Bibles and tracts,\nbut as the one by whose help he hoped to sell his ivory for a rifle, a\nsugar-mill, and brass wire.\n\nLivingstone's missionary scheme is accommodated to the actual state of\nthings. It rests quite as much upon traders as preachers. He would open\na communication by the Zambesi to the heart of the continent. Upon the\nhealthy, elevated region overlooking the low, fertile basin he would\nestablish trading posts, supplied with European wares. We can not wonder\nthat the directors of the Missionary Society looked coldly upon this\nscheme, and wrote to him that they were \"restricted in their power of\naiding plans connected only remotely with the spread of the Gospel;\"\nnor can we regret that Livingstone, feeling his old love of independence\nrevive, withdrew from his connection with the Society, for the purpose\nof carrying out his own plans. With all respect for the worthy persons\nwho manage missionary societies, we can not but believe that the man who\nled so large a party across the African continent will accomplish more\nfor the good cause when working out his own plans than he would do by\nfollowing out their ideas.\n\n\n\n\nAppendix.--Notes to etext.\n\n\n\nWords:\n\n\nThe names Loanda and Zambesi are given in most modern texts as Luanda\nand Zambezi.\n\nIn three cases, the spelling used in the original was distracting enough\nthat it has been changed: musquito > mosquito, hachshish > hashish, and\nnomade > nomad.\n\nIn three other cases, two variant spellings of a word were used in the\ntext. These were made uniform in accordance with the modern standard.\nThey were: water-buck > waterbuck, Mosambique > Mozambique, and imbody >\nembody.\n\nOther notes on terms: Livingstone often refers to ground-nuts--this is\nthe British term for a peanut. Mutokwane ('Cannabis sativa') must be\nsome variety of marijuana.\n\n\n\nSymbols:\n\n\nAs the symbols for the British Pound (a crossed L), Degrees (small\ncircle, in the upper half of the line of text), and fractions cannot be\nrepresented in ASCII, the following standards have been used:\n\nPounds: written out, and capitalized, AFTER the number of pounds, rather\nthan before it. Hence \"L20\" becomes 20 Pounds. (where L represents the\nPound symbol.)\n\nDegrees, Minutes, Seconds: \"Degrees\", when used alone, is either spelled\nout or abbreviated \"Deg.\"--but is always capitalized where it replaces\nthe symbol. When a location is given with a combination of degrees and\nminutes, or degrees, minutes, and seconds, [d] is used to denote\nthe symbol for degrees, ['] represents minutes, and [\"] represents\nseconds--these latter two are the common symbols, or at least as similar\nas ASCII can represent. For an example, lat. 9d 37' 30\" S. would be\nlatitude 9 degrees 37 minutes 30 seconds south. All temperatures given\nare in Fahrenheit.\n\nFractions: Where whole numbers and fractions are combined, the whole\nnumber is separated from the fraction with a dash. For example, in\nChapter 21: 16 ounces and 2-19/20 drams would translate as 16 ounces\nand two-and-nineteen-twentieths drams. Incidentally, Livingstone uses\nBritish measurements, which sometimes differ from the American.\n\n\n\nCorrected Errors:\n\nErrors in the original text were corrected when the context presented\ncompelling evidence that there was in fact an error. When possible,\nproper names were checked against the index for extra surety.\n\n\n   Chapter 2, \"All around Scroti the country is perfectly flat\" changed to\n   \"All around Serotli\".\n\n   Chapter 2, \"one species of plants\" changed to \"one species of plant\".\n\n   Chapter 3, \"a fire specimen of arboreal beauty\" changed to \"a fine\n   specimen\".\n\n   Chapter 12, \"till a stranger, happening to come to visit Santaru\"\n   changed to \"to visit Santuru\".\n\n   Chapter 14, \"the orders of Sekeletu as as to our companions\" changed to\n   \"the orders of Sekeletu as to our companions\".\n\n   Chapter 14, \"while Mashuana plants the poles\" changed to \"while\n   Mashauana\".\n\n   Chapter 15, \"In other cases I have known them turn back\" changed to \"In\n   other cases I have known them to turn back\".\n\n   Chapter 20, p. 438, \"to make a canal from Calumbo to Loando\" changed\n   to \"from Calumbo to Loanda\". (Loando, while correct, is otherwise only\n   given in the full Portuguese name.)\n\n   Chapter 26, \"we saw the Batoko\" changed to \"we saw the Batoka\".\n\n   Chapter 28, \"with whom Lekwebu had lived\" changed to \"with whom\n   Sekwebu\".\n\n\n\nAccented Characters in Words:\n\n\nTo maintain an easily searchable text, accented or special characters\nhave been discarded. The following is a pretty complete list of the\nwords in the text which were originally accented. They appear more or\nless in the order in which they first appeared with the accent--often\nthe accents were dropped in the original. In each case, the accent\nfollows the appropriate letter, the \"ae\" and \"oe\" combinations are\nrepresented as (ae) and (oe), [\\], [/], [~], [^] and [-] represent\nthe accent that looks like them which would appear above the preceding\nletter. [=] represents an accent that looks like the bottom half of\na circle, also appearing above the letter, [\"] is an umlaut, and [,]\nrepresents a cedilla.\n\n\n   Athen(ae)um > Athenaeum\n   Bakwa/in > Bakwain\n   Mabo/tsa > Mabotsa\n   Bechua/na > Bechuana\n   Seche/le > Sechele\n   Chonua/ne > Chonuane\n   Bakalaha/ri > Bakalahari\n   hy(ae)na > hyaena\n   tse/tse > tsetse\n   Banajo/a > Banajoa\n   man(oe)uvre > manoeuvre\n   Bato-ka > Batoka\n   Loye/lo > Loyelo\n   Mamba/ri > Mambari\n   mopane/ > mopane\n   Balo=nda > Balonda\n   Sekele/nke > Sekelenke\n   Mane/nko > Manenko\n   Sheako/ndo > Sheakondo\n   Nyamoa/na > Nyamoana\n   Kolimbo/ta > Kolimbota\n   Samba/nza > Sambanza\n   N~uana Loke/ > Nyuana Loke\n   larv(ae) > larvae\n   de/tour > detour\n   cicad(ae) > cicadae\n   Korwe/ > Korwe\n   Moni/na > Monina\n   Bonya/i > Bonyai\n   Conge/ > Conge\n   Bua/ze > Buaze\n   Leche/ > Leche\n   Bakue/na > Bakuena\n   Shokua/ne > Shokuane\n   Lepelo/le > Lepelole\n   Litubaru/ba > Litubaruba\n   Baka/a > Bakaa\n   Bamangwa/to > Bamangwato\n   Makala/ka > Makalaka\n   Letlo/che > Letloche\n   n~ami > nyami\n   n~aka > nyaka\n   Matebe/le > Matebele\n   Seko/mi > Sekomi\n   Baka/tla > Bakatla\n   Meba/lwe > Mebalwe\n   Batla/pi > Batlapi\n   Bata/u > Batau\n   Bano/ga > Banoga\n   Mokwa/in > Mokwain\n   Leko/a > Lekoa\n   Mako/a > Makoa\n   Mochoase/le > Mochoasele\n   Limpo/po > Limpopo\n   Bangwake/tse > Bangwaketse\n   Sebitua/ne > Sebituane\n   Makolo/lo > Makololo\n   Kalaha/ri > Kalahari\n   mimos(ae) > mimosae\n   vertebr(ae) > vertebrae\n   thoae/la > thoaela\n   tsesse/be > tsessebe\n   Mosilika/tze > Mosilikatze\n   Batlo/kua > Batlokua\n   Bahu/keng > Bahukeng\n   Bamose/tla > Bamosetla\n   Manta/tees > Mantatees\n   Ka-ke > Kake\n   Matlame/tlo > Matlametlo\n   (Ae)sop > Aesop\n   cucurbitace(ae) > cucurbitaceae\n   Leroshu/a > Leroshua\n   Ke-me > Keme\n   simi(ae) > simiae\n   du\"iker > duiker\n   Mona/to > Monato\n   Boatlana/ma > Boatlanama\n   Lope/pe > Lopepe\n   Mashu\"e > Mashue\n   Lobota/ni > Lobotani\n   leguminos(ae) > leguminosae\n   Ramoto/bi > Ramotobi\n   Mohotlua/ni > Mohotluani\n   \"Kia itume/la\" > \"Kia itumela\"\n   \"Kia time/la\" > \"Kia timela\"\n   \"Ki time/tse\" > \"Ki timetse\"\n   Moko/ko > Mokoko\n   Mathulua/ni > Mathuluani\n   Mokokonya/ni > Mokokonyani\n   Lotlaka/ni > Lotlakani\n   Ngabisa/ne > Ngabisane\n   Bako/ba > Bakoba\n   Tzo- > Tzo\n   Bataua/na > Batauana\n   Lechulate/be > Lechulatebe\n   More/mi > Moremi\n   moheto/lo > mohetolo\n   kuabao-ba > kuabaoba\n   tumo-go > tumogo\n   ife/ > ife\n   Bakuru/tse > Bakurutse\n   Ntwe/twe > Ntwetwe\n   Matlomagan-ya/na > Matlomagan-yana\n   Sichua/na > Sichuana\n   Maha/be > Mahabe\n   aroid(oe)a > aroidoea\n   Maja/ne > Majane\n   Moro/a > Moroa\n   Baro/tse > Barotse\n   Nalie/le > Naliele\n   Seshe/ke > Sesheke\n   e- e- e- > ee ee ee\n   (ae) (ae) (ae) > ae ae ae\n   Maha/le > Mahale\n   Namaga/ri > Namagari\n   Basu/tu > Basutu\n   Sikonye/le > Sikonyele\n   Maka/be > Makabe\n   Damara/s > Damaras\n   Bashubi/a > Bashubia\n   C(ae)sar > Caesar\n   Kafu/e > Kafue\n   Tlapa/ne > Tlapane\n   Ramosi/nii/ > Ramosinii\n   Baloia/na > Baloiana\n   Bihe/ > Bihe\n   tse/pe > tsepe\n   acme/ > acme\n   lamell(ae) > lamellae\n   ngotuane/ > ngotuane\n   diarrh(oe)a > diarrhoea\n   natur(ae) > naturae\n   herni(ae) > herniae\n   Serina/ne > Serinane\n   Lesho/nya > Leshonya\n   ka/ma > kama\n   ta-ri > tari\n   formul(ae) > formulae\n   prote/ge/es > protegees\n   prim(ae)val > primaeval\n   lamin(ae) > laminae\n   lopane/ > lopane\n   Kandeha/i > Kandehai\n   Mamochisa/ne > Mamochisane\n   Mpe/pe > Mpepe\n   Nokua/ne > Nokuane\n   \"Nsepi/sa\" > \"Nsepisa\"\n   Banye/ti > Banyeti\n   boya/loa > boyaloa\n   o-a/lo > o-alo\n   bu/za > buza\n   minuti(ae) > minutiae\n   Moti/be > Motibe\n   hypog(oe)a > hypogoea\n   Bapa/lleng > Bapalleng\n   Cho- > Cho\n   Tso- > Tso\n   \"Ho-o-!\" > \"Ho-o!\"\n   Mako-a > Makoa\n   Seko-a > Sekoa\n   Makolo/kue > Makolokue\n   Bape-ri > Baperi\n   Bapo- > Bapo\n   Narie/le > Nariele\n   giraff(ae) > giraffae\n   lechwe/s > lechwes\n   Luambe/ji > Luambeji\n   Luambe/si > Luambesi\n   Ambe/zi > Ambezi\n   Ojimbe/si > Ojimbesi\n   Zambe/si > Zambesi\n   Tianya/ne > Tianyane\n   Lebeo/le > Lebeole\n   Sisinya/ne > Sisinyane\n   Molo=iana > Moloiana\n   \"tau e to=na\" > \"tau e tona\"\n   \"Sau e to=na\" > \"Sau e tona\"\n   Lo=nda > Londa\n   Ambo=nda > Ambonda\n   n~ake > nyake\n   \"Kua-!\" > \"Kua!\"\n   moshe/ba > mosheba\n   Name/ta > Nameta\n   Masi/ko > Masiko\n   Pitsa/ne > Pitsane\n   Sekobinya/ne > Sekobinyane\n   Mashaua/na > Mashauana\n   mogame/tsa > mogametsa\n   mamo/sho > mamosho\n   moshomo/sho > moshomosho\n   Babi/mpe > Babimpe\n   Mosa/ntu > Mosantu\n   Mosioatu/nya > Mosioatunya\n   Sima/h > Simah\n   Bo=nda > Bonda\n   Lonko/nye > Lonkonye\n   leko/to > lekoto\n   Shinte/ > Shinte\n   Kabo/mpo > Kabompo\n   Samoa/na > Samoana\n   Baloba/le > Balobale\n   hakite/nwe > hakitenwe\n   polu/ma > poluma\n   Matia/mvo > Matiamvo\n   Monaka/dzi > Monakadzi\n   Inteme/se > Intemese\n   Saloi/sho > Saloisho\n   Scottice\\ > Scottice\n   Mokwa/nkwa > Mokwankwa\n   \"Moka/la a Ma/ma\" > \"Mokala a Mama\"\n   n~uana Kalueje > nyuana Kalueje\n   typhoi\"deum > typhoideum\n   loke/sh > lokesh\n   Soa/na Molo/po > Soana Molopo\n   Mozi/nkwa > Mozinkwa\n   Livo/a > Livoa\n   Chifuma/dze > Chifumadze\n   Shakatwa/la > Shakatwala\n   Quende/nde > Quendende\n   Muata ya/nvo > Muata yanvo\n   mua/ta > muata\n   Kange/nke > Kangenke\n   Moe/ne > Moene\n   Lo=lo= > Lolo\n   Lishi/sh > Lishish\n   Li/ss > Liss\n   Kalile/me > Kalileme\n   Ishidi/sh > Ishidish\n   Molo/ng > Molong\n   sela/li > selali\n   Mone/nga > Monenga\n   Moso/go > Mosogo\n   Monenga-wo-o- > Monenga-wo-o\n   Kasimaka/te > Kasimakate\n   ilo/lo > ilolo\n   Kate/nde > Katende\n   Loke/ > Loke\n   Kalo/mba > Kalomba\n   Tote/lo > Totelo\n   Averie/ > Averie\n   Loze/ze > Lozeze\n   Kasa/bi > Kasabi\n   Kalu/ze > Kaluze\n   Chihune/ > Chihune\n   Chiho/mbo > Chihombo\n   Banga/la > Bangala\n   Chika/pa > Chikapa\n   Loya/nke > Loyanke\n   Sakanda/la > Sakandala\n   Bashinje/ > Bashinje\n   Babinde/le > Babindele\n   Kamboe/la > Kamboela\n   Caba/ngo > Cabango\n   Qua/ngo > Quango\n   Sansa/we/ > Sansawe\n   cyclop(ae)dia > cyclopaedia\n   Kassanje/ > Kassanje\n   Catende/ > Catende\n   via^ > via\n   Laurence Jose/ Marquis > Laurence Jose Marquis\n   El(ae)is > Elaeis\n   Salvador Correa de Sa/ Benevides > Salvador Correa de Sa Benevides\n   Algoda~o Americana > Algodao Americana\n   Cercopid(ae) > Cercopidae\n   graminace(ae) > graminaceae\n   Pedro Joa~o Baptista > Pedro Joao Baptista\n   Antonio Jose/ > Antonio Jose\n   Senhor Grac,a > Senhor Graca\n   al(ae) > alae\n   Kama/ue > Kamaue\n   Sylviad(ae) > Sylviadae\n   Muanza/nza > Muanzanza\n   Zaire/ > Zaire\n   Zere/zere/ > Zerezere\n   alg(ae) > algae\n   Tanganye/nka > Tanganyenka\n   ae\"rial > aerial\n   arac,a > araca\n   Limbo-a > Limboa\n   Lofuje/ > Lofuje\n   Boie/ > Boie\n   hygie\\ne > hygiene\n   Sekwe/bu > Sekwebu\n   Ntlarie/ > Ntlarie\n   Nkwatle/le > Nkwatlele\n   Moriantsa/ne > Moriantsane\n   Nampe/ne > Nampene\n   Leko/ne > Lekone\n   Seko/te > Sekote\n   Kala/i > Kalai\n   \"motse/ oa barimo\" > \"motse oa barimo\"\n   Loye/la > Loyela\n   Mokwine/ > Mokwine\n   mane/ko > maneko\n   motsintse/la > motsintsela\n   pup(ae) > pupae\n   Pelop(ae)us > Pelopaeus\n   Mburu/ma > Mburuma\n   Nyungwe/ > Nyungwe\n   Sindese Oale/a > Sindese Oalea\n   ae\"rolites > aerolites\n   Chowe/ > Chowe\n   Banya/i > Banyai\n   Moho/hu > Mohohu\n   Cho/be > Chobe\n   Boro/ma > Boroma\n   Nyampu/ngo > Nyampungo\n   Katolo/sa > Katolosa\n   Monomota/pa > Monomotapa\n   Su/sa > Susa\n   Nyate/we > Nyatewe\n   More/na > Morena\n   Monomoi/zes > Monomoizes\n   Monemui/ges > Monemuiges\n   Monomui/zes > Monomuizes\n   Monomota/pistas > Monomotapistas\n   Mota/pe > Motape\n   Babi/sa > Babisa\n   Bazizu/lu > Bazizulu\n   Masho/na > Mashona\n   Moruru/rus > Morururus\n   Boro/mo > Boromo\n   Nyako/ba > Nyakoba\n   moku/ri > mokuri\n   shekabaka/dzi > shekabakadzi\n   Loko/le > Lokole\n   Mazo/e > Mazoe\n   Te/te > Tete\n   Te/tte > Tette\n   hom(oe)opathic > homoeopathic\n   chrysomelid(ae) > chrysomelidae\n   Lofu/bu > Lofubu\n   Revu/bu > Revubu\n   Morongo/zi > Morongozi\n   Nyamboro/nda > Nyamboronda\n   brac,a > braca\n   Mashi/nga > Mashinga\n   Shindu/ndo > Shindundo\n   Missa/la > Missala\n   Kapa/ta > Kapata\n   Ma/no > Mano\n   Ja/wa > Jawa\n   Panya/me > Panyame\n   Dambara/ri > Dambarari\n   Abu/tua > Abutua\n   Mani/ca > Manica\n   hypog(ae)a > hypogaea\n   Kansa/la > Kansala\n   Luapu/ra > Luapura\n   Luame/ji > Luameji\n   Muro/mbo > Murombo\n   shitakote/ko > shitakoteko\n   Mpa/mbe > Mpambe\n   Nya/mpi > Nyampi\n   Za/mbi > Zambi\n   e/clat > eclat\n   pharmacop(oe)ia > pharmacopoeia\n   Goo- > Go-o\n   amenorrh(oe)a > amenorrhoea\n   Inya/kanya/nya > Inyakanyanya\n   Morumba/la > Morumbala\n   Nyamo/nga > Nyamonga\n   Gorongo/zo > Gorongozo\n   Sofa/la > Sofala\n   Sabi/a > Sabia\n   Senhor Ferra~o > Senhor Ferrao\n   Nje/fu > Njefu\n   Maza/ro > Mazaro\n   Baro/ro > Baroro\n   Lu/abo > Luabo\n   Muse/lo > Muselo\n   Nyangu/e > Nyangue\n   Sen~or > Senor\n   Aseve/do > Asevedo\n   Mu/tu > Mutu\n   Panga/zi > Pangazi\n   Lua/re > Luare\n   Likua/re > Likuare\n   Maiu\"do > Maiudo","title":"Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":302884}