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diff --git a/old/zambs10.txt b/old/zambs10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1913167 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/zambs10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12719 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Zambesi Expedition by David Livingstone +#2 in our series by David Livingstone + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the +Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of the +Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa (1858-1864) + +by David Livingstone + +February, 2001 [Etext #2519] + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Zambesi Expedition by David Livingstone +******This file should be named zambs10.txt or zambs10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, zambs11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, zambs10a.txt + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk +from the 1894 John Murray edition. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF DR. LIVINGSTONE'S EXPEDITION TO THE +ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES AND THE DISCOVERY OF LAKES +SHIRWA AND NYASSA 1858-1864 + + + + +TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD PALMERSTON, +K.G., G.C.B. + +My Lord, + +I beg leave to dedicate this Volume to your Lordship, as a tribute +justly due to the great Statesman who has ever had at heart the +amelioration of the African race; and as a token of admiration of the +beneficial effects of that policy which he has so long laboured to +establish on the West Coast of Africa; and which, in improving that +region, has most forcibly shown the need of some similar system on +the opposite side of the Continent. + +DAVID LIVINGSTONE. + + + +NOTICE TO THIS WORK. + + + +The name of the late Mr. Charles Livingstone takes a prominent place +amongst those who acted under the leadership of Dr. Livingstone +during the adventurous sojourn of the "Zambesi Expedition" in East +Africa. In laying the result of their discoveries before the public, +it was arranged that Mr. Charles Livingstone should place his +voluminous notes at the disposal of his brother: they are +incorporated in the present work, but in a necessarily abridged form. + + + +PREFACE. + + + +It has been my object in this work to give as clear an account as I +was able of tracts of country previously unexplored, with their river +systems, natural productions, and capabilities; and to bring before +my countrymen, and all others interested in the cause of humanity, +the misery entailed by the slave-trade in its inland phases; a +subject on which I and my companions are the first who have had any +opportunities of forming a judgment. The eight years spent in +Africa, since my last work was published, have not, I fear, improved +my power of writing English; but I hope that, whatever my +descriptions want in clearness, or literary skill, may in a measure +be compensated by the novelty of the scenes described, and the +additional information afforded on that curse of Africa, and that +shame, even now, in the 19th century, of an European nation,--the +slave-trade. + +I took the "Lady Nyassa" to Bombay for the express purpose of selling +her, and might without any difficulty have done so; but with the +thought of parting with her arose, more strongly than ever, the +feeling of disinclination to abandon the East Coast of Africa to the +Portuguese and slave-trading, and I determined to run home and +consult my friends before I allowed the little vessel to pass from my +hands. After, therefore, having put two Ajawa lads, Chuma and +Wakatani, to school under the eminent missionary the Rev. Dr. Wilson, +and having provided satisfactorily for the native crew, I started +homewards with the three white sailors, and reached London July 20th, +1864. Mr. and Mrs. Webb, my much-loved friends, wrote to Bombay +inviting me, in the event of my coming to England, to make Newstead +Abbey my headquarters, and on my arrival renewed their invitation: +and though, when I accepted it, I had no intention of remaining so +long with my kind-hearted generous friends, I stayed with them until +April, 1865, and under their roof transcribed from my own and my +brother's journal the whole of this present book. It is with +heartfelt gratitude I would record their unwearied kindness. My +acquaintance with Mr. Webb began in Africa, where he was a daring and +successful hunter, and his continued friendship is most valuable +because he has seen missionary work, and he would not accord his +respect and esteem to me had he not believed that I, and my brethren +also, were to be looked on as honest men earnestly trying to do our +duty. + +The Government have supported the proposal of the Royal Geographical +Society made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and have united +with that body to aid me in another attempt to open Africa to +civilizing influences, and a valued private friend has given a +thousand pounds for the same object. I propose to go inland, north +of the territory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavour +to commence that system on the East which has been so eminently +successful on the West Coast; a system combining the repressive +efforts of H.M. cruisers with lawful trade and Christian Missions-- +the moral and material results of which have been so gratifying. I +hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other river North of Cape Delgado, +and, in addition to my other work, shall strive, by passing along the +Northern end of Lake Nyassa and round the Southern end of Lake +Tanganyika, to ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa. In so +doing, I have no wish to unsettle what with so much toil and danger +was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to confirm their +illustrious discoveries. + +I have to acknowledge the obliging readiness of Lord Russell in +lending me the drawings taken by the artist who was in the first +instance attached to the Expedition. These sketches, with +photographs by Charles Livingstone and Dr. Kirk, have materially +assisted in the illustrations. I would also very sincerely thank my +friends Professor Owen and Mr. Oswell for many valuable hints and +other aid in the preparation of this volume. + +Newstead Abbey, +April 16, 1865. + + + + +THE ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + + +Objects of the Expedition--Personal Interest shown by Naval +Authorities--Members of the Zambesi Expedition. + +When first I determined on publishing the narrative of my "Missionary +Travels," I had a great misgiving as to whether the criticism my +endeavours might provoke would be friendly or the reverse, more +particularly as I felt that I had then been so long a sojourner in +the wilderness, as to be quite a stranger to the British public. But +I am now in this, my second essay at authorship, cheered by the +conviction that very many readers, who are personally unknown to me, +will receive this narrative with the kindly consideration and +allowances of friends; and that many more, under the genial +influences of an innate love of liberty, and of a desire to see the +same social and religious blessings they themselves enjoy, +disseminated throughout the world, will sympathize with me in the +efforts by which I have striven, however imperfectly, to elevate the +position and character of our fellow-men in Africa. This knowledge +makes me doubly anxious to render my narrative acceptable to all my +readers; but, in the absence of any excellence in literary +composition, the natural consequence of my pursuits, I have to offer +only a simple account of a mission which, with respect to the objects +proposed to be thereby accomplished, formed a noble contrast to some +of the earlier expeditions to Eastern Africa. I believe that the +information it will give, respecting the people visited and the +countries traversed, will not be materially gainsaid by any future +commonplace traveller like myself, who may be blest with fair health +and a gleam of sunshine in his breast. This account is written in +the earnest hope that it may contribute to that information which +will yet cause the great and fertile continent of Africa to be no +longer kept wantonly sealed, but made available as the scene of +European enterprise, and will enable its people to take a place among +the nations of the earth, thus securing the happiness and prosperity +of tribes now sunk in barbarism or debased by slavery; and, above +all, I cherish the hope that it may lead to the introduction of the +blessings of the Gospel. + +In order that the following narrative may be clearly understood, it +is necessary to call to mind some things which took place previous to +the Zambesi Expedition being sent out. Most geographers are aware +that, before the discovery of Lake Ngami and the well-watered country +in which the Makololo dwell, the idea prevailed that a large part of +the interior of Africa consisted of sandy deserts, into which rivers +ran and were lost. During my journey in 1852-6, from sea to sea, +across the south intertropical part of the continent, it was found to +be a well-watered country, with large tracts of fine fertile soil +covered with forest, and beautiful grassy valleys, occupied by a +considerable population; and one of the most wonderful waterfalls in +the world was brought to light. The peculiar form of the continent +was then ascertained to be an elevated plateau, somewhat depressed in +the centre, and with fissures in the sides by which the rivers +escaped to the sea; and this great fact in physical geography can +never be referred to without calling to mind the remarkable +hypothesis by which the distinguished President of the Royal +Geographical Society (Sir Roderick I. Murchison) clearly indicated +this peculiarity, before it was verified by actual observation of the +altitudes of the country and by the courses of the rivers. New light +was thrown on other portions of the continent by the famous travels +of Dr. Barth, by the researches of the Church of England missionaries +Krapf, Erkhardt, and Rebman, by the persevering efforts of Dr. +Baikie, the last martyr to the climate and English enterprise, by the +journey of Francis Galton, and by the most interesting discoveries of +Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza by Captain Burton, and by +Captain Speke, whose untimely end we all so deeply deplore. Then +followed the researches of Van der Decken, Thornton, and others; and +last of all the grand discovery of the main source of the Nile, which +every Englishman must feel an honest pride in knowing was +accomplished by our gallant countrymen, Speke and Grant. The +fabulous torrid zone, of parched and burning sand, was now proved to +be a well-watered region resembling North America in its fresh-water +lakes, and India in its hot humid lowlands, jungles, ghauts, and cool +highland plains. + +The main object of this Zambesi Expedition, as our instructions from +Her Majesty's Government explicitly stated, was to extend the +knowledge already attained of the geography and mineral and +agricultural resources of Eastern and Central Africa--to improve our +acquaintance with the inhabitants, and to endeavour to engage them to +apply themselves to industrial pursuits and to the cultivation of +their lands, with a view to the production of raw material to be +exported to England in return for British manufactures; and it was +hoped that, by encouraging the natives to occupy themselves in the +development of the resources of the country, a considerable advance +might be made towards the extinction of the slave-trade, as they +would not be long in discovering that the former would eventually be +a more certain source of profit than the latter. The Expedition was +sent in accordance with the settled policy of the English Government; +and the Earl of Clarendon, being then at the head of the Foreign +Office, the Mission was organized under his immediate care. When a +change of Government ensued, we experienced the same generous +countenance and sympathy from the Earl of Malmesbury, as we had +previously received from Lord Clarendon; and, on the accession of +Earl Russell to the high office he has so long filled, we were always +favoured with equally ready attention and the same prompt assistance. +Thus the conviction was produced that our work embodied the +principles, not of any one party, but of the hearts of the statesmen +and of the people of England generally. The Expedition owes great +obligations to the Lords of the Admiralty for their unvarying +readiness to render us every assistance in their power; and to the +warm-hearted and ever-obliging hydrographer to the Admiralty, the +late Admiral Washington, as a subordinate, but most effective agent, +our heartfelt gratitude is also due; and we must ever thankfully +acknowledge that our efficiency was mainly due to the kind services +of Admirals Sir Frederick Grey, Sir Baldwin Walker, and all the naval +officers serving under them on the East Coast. Nor must I omit to +record our obligations to Mr. Skead, R.N. The Luawe was carefully +sounded and surveyed by this officer, whose skilful and zealous +labours, both on that river, and afterwards on the Lower Zambesi, +were deserving of all praise. + +In speaking of what has been done by the Expedition, it should always +be understood that Dr. Kirk, Mr. Charles Livingstone, Mr. R. +Thornton, and others composed it. In using the plural number they +are meant, and I wish to bear testimony to the untiring zeal, energy, +courage, and perseverance with which my companions laboured; +undaunted by difficulties, dangers, or hard fare. It is my firm +belief that, were their services required in any other capacity, they +might be implicitly relied on to perform their duty like men. The +reason why Dr. Kirk's name does not appear on the title-page of this +narrative is, because it is hoped that he may give an account of the +botany and natural history of the Expedition in a separate work from +his own pen. He collected above four thousand species of plants, +specimens of most of the valuable woods, of the different native +manufactures, of the articles of food, and of the different kinds of +cotton from every spot we visited, and a great variety of birds and +insects; besides making meteorological observations, and affording, +as our instructions required, medical assistance to the natives in +every case where he could be of any use. + +Charles Livingstone was also fully occupied in his duties in +following out the general objects of our mission, in encouraging the +culture of cotton, in making many magnetic and meteorological +observations, in photographing so long as the materials would serve, +and in collecting a large number of birds, insects, and other objects +of interest. The collections, being Government property, have been +forwarded to the British Museum, and to the Royal Botanic, Gardens at +Kew; and should Dr. Kirk undertake their description, three or four +years will be required for the purpose. + +Though collections were made, it was always distinctly understood +that, however desirable these and our explorations might be, "Her +Majesty's Government attached more importance to the moral influence +that might be exerted on the minds of the natives by a well-regulated +and orderly household of Europeans setting an example of consistent +moral conduct to all who might witness it; treating the people with +kindness, and relieving their wants, teaching them to make +experiments in agriculture, explaining to them the more simple arts, +imparting to them religious instruction as far as they are capable of +receiving it, and inculcating peace and good will to each other." + +It would be tiresome to enumerate in detail all the little acts which +were performed by us while following out our instructions. As a +rule, whenever the steamer stopped to take in wood, or for any other +purpose, Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone went ashore to their +duties: one of our party, who it was intended should navigate the +vessel and lay down the geographical positions, having failed to +answer the expectations formed of him, these duties fell chiefly to +my share. They involved a considerable amount of night work, in +which I was always cheerfully aided by my companions, and the results +were regularly communicated to our warm and ever-ready friend, Sir +Thomas Maclear of the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope. While +this work was going through the press, we were favoured with the +longitudes of several stations determined from observed occultations +of stars by the moon, and from eclipses and reappearances of +Jupiter's satellites, by Mr. Mann, the able Assistant to the Cape +Astronomer Royal; the lunars are still in the hands of Mr. G. W. H. +Maclear of the same Observatory. In addition to these, the +altitudes, variations of the compass, latitudes and longitudes, as +calculated on the spot, appear in the map by Mr. Arrowsmith, and it +is hoped may not differ much from the results of the same data in +abler bands. The office of "skipper," which, rather than let the +Expedition come to a stand, I undertook, required no great ability in +one "not too old to learn:" it saved a salary, and, what was much +more valuable than gold, saved the Expedition from the drawback of +any one thinking that he was indispensable to its further progress. +The office required attention to the vessel both at rest and in +motion. It also involved considerable exposure to the sun; and to my +regret kept me from much anticipated intercourse with the natives, +and the formation of full vocabularies of their dialects. + +I may add that all wearisome repetitions are as much as possible +avoided in the narrative; and, our movements and operations having +previously been given in a series of despatches, the attempt is now +made to give as fairly as possible just what would most strike any +person of ordinary intelligence in passing through the country. For +the sake of the freshness which usually attaches to first +impressions, the Journal of Charles Livingstone has been incorporated +in the narrative; and many remarks made by the natives, which ho put +down at the moment of translation, will convey to others the same +ideas as they did to ourselves. Some are no doubt trivial; but it is +by the little acts and words of every-day life that character is +truly and best known. And doubtless many will prefer to draw their +own conclusions from them rather than to be schooled by us. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +Arrival at the Zambesi--Rebel Warfare--Wild Animals--Shupanga-- +Hippopotamus Hunters--The Makololo--Crocodiles. + +The Expedition left England on the 10th of March, 1858, in Her +Majesty's Colonial Steamer "Pearl," commanded by Captain Duncan; and, +after enjoying the generous hospitality of our friends at Cape Town, +with the obliging attentions of Sir George Grey, and receiving on +board Mr. Francis Skead, R.N., as surveyor, we reached the East Coast +in the following May. + +Our first object was to explore the Zambesi, its mouths and +tributaries, with a view to their being used as highways for commerce +and Christianity to pass into the vast interior of Africa. When we +came within five or six miles of the land, the yellowish-green tinge +of the sea in soundings was suddenly succeeded by muddy water with +wrack, as of a river in flood. The two colours did not intermingle, +but the line of contact was as sharply defined as when the ocean +meets the land. It was observed that under the wrack--consisting of +reeds, sticks, and leaves.--and even under floating cuttlefish bones +and Portuguese "men-of-war" (Physalia), numbers of small fish screen +themselves from the eyes of birds of prey, and from the rays of the +torrid sun. + +We entered the river Luawe first, because its entrance is so smooth +and deep, that the "Pearl," drawing 9 feet 7 inches, went in without +a boat sounding ahead. A small steam launch having been brought out +from England in three sections on the deck of the "Pearl" was hoisted +out and screwed together at the anchorage, and with her aid the +exploration was commenced. She was called the "Ma Robert," after +Mrs. Livingstone, to whom the natives, according to their custom, +gave the name Ma (mother) of her eldest son. The harbour is deep, +but shut in by mangrove swamps; and though the water a few miles up +is fresh, it is only a tidal river; for, after ascending some seventy +miles, it was found to end in marshes blocked up with reeds and +succulent aquatic plants. As the Luawe had been called "West Luabo," +it was supposed to be a branch of the Zambesi, the main stream of +which is called "Luabo," or "East Luabo." The "Ma Robert" and +"Pearl" then went to what proved to be a real mouth of the river we +sought. + +The Zambesi pours its waters into the ocean by four mouths, namely, +the Milambe, which is the most westerly, the Kongone, the Luabo, and +the Timbwe (or Muselo). When the river is in flood, a natural canal +running parallel with the coast, and winding very much among the +swamps, forms a secret way for conveying slaves from Quillimane to +the bays Massangano and Nameara, or to the Zambesi itself. The +Kwakwa, or river of Quillimane, some sixty miles distant from the +mouth of the Zambesi, has long been represented as the principal +entrance to the Zambesi, in order, as the Portuguese now maintain, +that the English cruisers might be induced to watch the false mouth, +while slaves were quietly shipped from the true one; and, strange to +say, this error has lately been propagated by a map issued by the +colonial minister of Portugal. + +After the examination of three branches by the able and energetic +surveyor, Francis Skead, R.N., the Kongone was found to be the best +entrance. The immense amount of sand brought down by the Zambesi has +in the course of ages formed a sort of promontory, against which the +long swell of the Indian Ocean, beating during the prevailing winds, +has formed bars, which, acting against the waters of the delta, may +have led to their exit sideways. The Kongone is one of those lateral +branches, and the safest; inasmuch as the bar has nearly two fathoms +on it at low water, and the rise at spring tides is from twelve to +fourteen feet. The bar is narrow, the passage nearly straight, and, +were it buoyed and a beacon placed on Pearl Island, would always be +safe to a steamer. When the wind is from the east or north, the bar +is smooth; if from the south and south-east, it has a heavy break on +it, and is not to be attempted in boats. A strong current setting to +the east when the tide is flowing, and to the west when ebbing, may +drag a boat or ship into the breakers. If one is doubtful of his +longitude and runs east, he will soon see the land at Timbwe +disappear away to the north; and coming west again, he can easily +make out East Luabo from its great size; and Kongone follows several +miles west. East Luabo has a good but long bar, and not to be +attempted unless the wind be north-east or east. It has sometimes +been called "Barra Catrina," and was used in the embarkations of +slaves. This may have been the "River of Good Signs," of Vasco da +Gama, as the mouth is more easily seen from the seaward than any +other; but the absence of the pillar dedicated by that navigator to +"St. Raphael," leaves the matter in doubt. No Portuguese live within +eighty miles of any mouth of the Zambesi. + +The Kongone is five miles east of the Milambe, or western branch, and +seven miles west from East Luabo, which again is five miles from the +Timbwe. We saw but few natives, and these, by escaping from their +canoes into the mangrove thickets the moment they caught sight of us, +gave unmistakeable indications that they had no very favourable +opinion of white men. They were probably fugitives from Portuguese +slavery. In the grassy glades buffaloes, wart-hogs, and three kinds +of antelope were abundant, and the latter easily obtained. A few +hours' hunting usually provided venison enough for a score of men for +several days. + +On proceeding up the Kongone branch it was found that, by keeping +well in the bends, which the current had worn deep, shoals were +easily avoided. The first twenty miles are straight and deep; then a +small and rather tortuous natural canal leads off to the right, and, +after about five miles, during which the paddles almost touch the +floating grass of the sides, ends in the broad Zambesi. The rest of +the Kongone branch comes out of the main stream considerably higher +up as the outgoing branch called Doto. + +The first twenty miles of the Kongone are enclosed in mangrove +jungle; some of the trees are ornamented with orchilla weed, which +appears never to have been gathered. Huge ferns, palm bushes, and +occasionally wild date-palms peer out in the forest, which consists +of different species of mangroves; the bunches of bright yellow, +though scarcely edible fruit, contrasting prettily with the graceful +green leaves. In some spots the Milola, an umbrageous hibiscus, with +large yellowish flowers, grows in masses along the bank. Its bark is +made into cordage, and is especially valuable for the manufacture of +ropes attached to harpoons for killing the hippopotamus. The +Pandanus or screw-palm, from which sugar bags are made in the +Mauritius, also appears, and on coming out of the canal into the +Zambesi many are so tall as in the distance to remind us of the +steeples of our native land, and make us relish the remark of an old +sailor, "that but one thing was wanting to complete the picture, and +that was a 'grog-shop near the church.'" We find also a few guava +and lime-trees growing wild, but the natives claim the crops. The +dark woods resound with the lively and exultant song of the +kinghunter (Halcyon striolata), as he sits perched on high among the +trees. As the steamer moves on through the winding channel, a pretty +little heron or bright kingfisher darts out in alarm from the edge of +the bank, flies on ahead a short distance, and settles quietly down +to be again frightened off in a few seconds as we approach. The +magnificent fishhawk (Halietus vocifer) sits on the top of a +mangrove-tree, digesting his morning meal of fresh fish, and is +clearly unwilling to stir until the imminence of the danger compels +him at last to spread his great wings for flight. The glossy ibis, +acute of ear to a remarkable degree, hears from afar the unwonted +sound of the paddles, and, springing from the mud where his family +has been quietly feasting, is off, screaming out his loud, harsh, and +defiant Ha! ha! ha! long before the danger is near. + +Several native huts now peep out from the bananas and cocoa-palms on +the right bank; they stand on piles a few feet above the low damp +ground, and their owners enter them by means of ladders. The soil is +wonderfully rich, and the gardens are really excellent. Rice is +cultivated largely; sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, cabbages, +onions (shalots), peas, a little cotton, and sugar-cane are also +raised. It is said that English potatoes, when planted at Quillimane +on soil resembling this, in the course of two years become in taste +like sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas), and are like our potato +frosted. The whole of the fertile region extending from the Kongone +canal to beyond Mazaro, some eighty miles in length, and fifty in +breadth, is admirably adapted for the growth of sugar-cane; and were +it in the hands of our friends at the Cape, would supply all Europe +with sugar. The remarkably few people seen appear to be tolerably +well fed, but there was a dearth of clothing among them; all were +blacks, and nearly all Portuguese "colonos" or serfs. They +manifested no fear of white men, and stood in groups on the bank +gazing in astonishment at the steamers, especially at the "Pearl," +which accompanied us thus far up the river. One old man who came on +board remarked that never before had he seen any vessel so large as +the "Pearl," it was like a village, "Was it made out of one tree?" +All were eager traders, and soon came off to the ship in light swift +canoes with every kind of fruit and food they possessed; a few +brought honey and beeswax, which are found in quantities in the +mangrove forests. As the ships steamed off, many anxious sellers ran +along the bank, holding up fowls, baskets of rice and meal, and +shouting "Malonda, Malonda," "things for sale," while others followed +in canoes, which they sent through the water with great velocity by +means of short broad-bladed paddles. + +Finding the "Pearl's" draught too great for that part of the river +near the island of Simbo, where the branch called the Doto is given +off to the Kongone on the right bank, and another named Chinde +departs to the secret canal already mentioned on the left, the goods +belonging to the expedition were taken out of her, and placed on one +of the grassy islands about forty miles from the bar. The "Pearl" +then left us, and we had to part with our good friends Duncan and +Skead; the former for Ceylon, the latter to return to his duties as +Government Surveyor at the Cape. + +Of those who eventually did the work of the expedition the majority +took a sober common-sense view of the enterprise in which we were +engaged. Some remained on Expedition Island from the 18th June until +the 13th August, while the launch and pinnace were carrying the goods +up to Shupanga and Senna. The country was in a state of war, our +luggage was in danger, and several of our party were exposed to +disease from inactivity in the malaria of the delta. Here some had +their first introduction to African life, and African fever. Those +alone were safe who were actively employed with the vessels, and of +course, remembering the perilous position of their fellows, they +strained every nerve to finish the work and take them away. + +Large columns of smoke rose daily from different points of the +horizon, showing that the natives were burning off the immense crops +of tall grass, here a nuisance, however valuable elsewhere. A white +cloud was often observed to rest on the head of the column, as if a +current of hot damp air was sent up by the heat of the flames and its +moisture was condensed at the top. Rain did not follow, though +theorists have imagined that in such cases it ought. + +Large game, buffaloes, and zebras, were abundant abreast the island, +but no men could be seen. On the mainland, over on the right bank of +the river, we were amused by the eccentric gyrations and evolutions +of flocks of small seed-eating birds, who in their flight wheeled +into compact columns with such military precision as to give us the +impression that they must be guided by a leader, and all directed by +the same signal. Several other kinds of small birds now go in +flocks, and among others the large Senegal swallow. The presence of +this bird, being clearly in a state of migration from the north, +while the common swallow of the country, and the brown kite are away +beyond the equator, leads to the conjecture that there may be a +double migration, namely, of birds from torrid climates to the more +temperate, as this now is, as well as from severe winters to sunny +regions; but this could not be verified by such birds of passage as +ourselves. + +On reaching Mazaro, the mouth of a narrow creek which in floods +communicates with the Quillimane river, we found that the Portuguese +were at war with a half-caste named Mariano alias Matakenya, from +whom they had generally fled, and who, having built a stockade near +the mouth of the Shire, owned all the country between that river and +Mazaro. Mariano was best known by his native name Matakenya, which +in their tongue means "trembling," or quivering as trees do in a +storm. He was a keen slave-hunter, and kept a large number of men, +well armed with muskets. It is an entire mistake to suppose that the +slave trade is one of buying and selling alone; or that engagements +can be made with labourers in Africa as they are in India; Mariano, +like other Portuguese, had no labour to spare. He had been in the +habit of sending out armed parties on slave-hunting forays among the +helpless tribes to the north-east, and carrying down the kidnapped +victims in chains to Quillimane, where they were sold by his brother- +in-law Cruz Coimbra, and shipped as "Free emigrants" to the French +island of Bourbon. So long as his robberies and murders were +restricted to the natives at a distance, the authorities did not +interfere; but his men, trained to deeds of violence and bloodshed in +their slave forays, naturally began to practise on the people nearer +at hand, though belonging to the Portuguese, and even in the village +of Senna, under the guns of the fort. A gentleman of the highest +standing told us that, while at dinner with his family, it was no +uncommon event for a slave to rush into the room pursued by one of +Mariano's men with spear in hand to murder him. + +The atrocities of this villain, aptly termed by the late governor of +Quillimane a "notorious robber and murderer," became at length +intolerable. All the Portuguese spoke of him as a rare monster of +inhumanity. It is unaccountable why half-castes, such as he, are so +much more cruel than the Portuguese, but such is undoubtedly the +case. + +It was asserted that one of his favourite modes of creating an +impression in the country, and making his name dreaded, was to spear +his captives with his own hands. On one occasion he is reported to +have thus killed forty poor wretches placed in a row before him. We +did not at first credit these statements, and thought that they were +merely exaggerations of the incensed Portuguese, who naturally enough +were exasperated with him for stopping their trade, and harbouring +their runaway slaves; but we learned afterwards from the natives, +that the accounts given us by the Portuguese had not exceeded the +truth; and that Mariano was quite as great a ruffian as they had +described him. One expects slave-owners to treat their human +chattels as well as men do other animals of value, but the slave- +trade seems always to engender an unreasoning ferocity, if not blood- +thirstiness. + +War was declared against Mariano, and a force sent to take him; he +resisted for a time; but seeing that he was likely to get the worst +of it, and knowing that the Portuguese governors have small salaries, +and are therefore "disposed to be reasonable," he went down to +Quillimane to "arrange" with the Governor, as it is termed here; but +Colonel da Silva put him in prison, and then sent him for trial to +Mozambique. When we came into the country, his people were fighting +under his brother Bonga. The war had lasted six months and stopped +all trade on the river during that period. On the 15th June we first +came into contact with the "rebels." They appeared as a crowd of +well-armed and fantastically-dressed people under the trees at +Mazaro. On explaining that we were English, some at once came on +board and called to those on shore to lay aside their arms. On +landing among them we saw that many had the branded marks of slaves +on their chests, but they warmly approved our objects, and knew well +the distinctive character of our nation on the slave question. The +shout at our departure contrasted strongly with the suspicious +questioning on our approach. Hence-forward we were recognized as +friends by both parties. + +At a later period we were taking in wood within a mile of the scene +of action, but a dense fog prevented our hearing the noise of a +battle at Mazaro; and on arriving there, immediately after, many +natives and Portuguese appeared on the bank. + +Dr. Livingstone, landing to salute some of his old friends among the +latter, found himself in the sickening smell, and among the mutilated +bodies of the slain; he was requested to take the Governor, who was +very ill of fever, across to Shupanga, and just as he gave his +assent, the rebels renewed the fight, and the balls began to whistle +about in all directions. After trying in vain to get some one to +assist the Governor down to the steamer, and unwilling to leave him +in such danger, as the officer sent to bring our Kroomen did not +appear, he went into the hut, and dragged along his Excellency to the +ship. He was a very tall man, and as he swayed hither and thither +from weakness, weighing down Dr. Livingstone, it must have appeared +like one drunken man helping another. Some of the Portuguese white +soldiers stood fighting with great bravery against the enemy in +front, while a few were coolly shooting at their own slaves for +fleeing into the river behind. The rebels soon retired, and the +Portuguese escaped to a sandbank in the Zambesi, and thence to an +island opposite Shupanga, where they lay for some weeks, looking at +the rebels on the mainland opposite. This state of inactivity on the +part of the Portuguese could not well be helped, as they had expended +all their ammunition and were waiting anxiously for supplies; hoping, +no doubt sincerely, that the enemy might not hear that their powder +had failed. Luckily their hopes were not disappointed; the rebels +waited until a supply came, and were then repulsed after three-and-a- +half hours' hard fighting. Two months afterwards Mariano's stockade +was burned, the garrison having fled in a panic; and as Bonga +declared that he did not wish to fight with this Governor, with whom +he had no quarrel, the war soon came to an end. His Excellency +meanwhile, being a disciple of Raspail, had taken nothing for the +fever but a little camphor, and after he was taken to Shupanga became +comatose. More potent remedies were administered to him, to his +intense disgust, and he soon recovered. The Colonel in attendance, +whom he never afterwards forgave, encouraged the treatment. "Give +what is right; never mind him; he is very (muito) impertinent:" and +all night long, with every draught of water the Colonel gave a +quantity of quinine: the consequence was, next morning the patient +was cinchonized and better. + +For sixty or seventy miles before reaching Mazaro, the scenery is +tame and uninteresting. On either hand is a dreary uninhabited +expanse, of the same level grassy plains, with merely a few trees to +relieve the painful monotony. The round green top of the stately +palm-tree looks at a distance, when its grey trunk cannot be seen, as +though hung in mid-air. Many flocks of busy sand-martins, which +here, and as far south as the Orange River, do not migrate, have +perforated the banks two or three feet horizontally, in order to +place their nests at the ends, and are now chasing on restless wing +the myriads of tropical insects. The broad river has many low +islands, on which are seen various kinds of waterfowl, such as geese, +spoonbills, herons, and flamingoes. Repulsive crocodiles, as with +open jaws they sleep and bask in the sun on the low banks, soon catch +the sound of the revolving paddles and glide quietly into the stream. +The hippopotamus, having selected some still reach of the river to +spend the day, rises out of the bottom, where he has been enjoying +his morning bath after the labours of the night on shore, blows a +puff of spray from his nostrils, shakes the water out of his ears, +puts his enormous snout up straight and yawns, sounding a loud alarm +to the rest of the herd, with notes as of a monster bassoon. + +As we approach Mazaro the scenery improves. We see the well-wooded +Shupanga ridge stretching to the left, and in front blue hills rise +dimly far in the distance. There is no trade whatever on the Zambesi +below Mazaro. All the merchandise of Senna and Tette is brought to +that point in large canoes, and thence carried six miles across the +country on men's heads to be reshipped on a small stream that flows +into the Kwakwa, or Quillimane river, which is entirely distinct from +the Zambesi. Only on rare occasions and during the highest floods +can canoes pass from the Zambesi to the Quillimane river through the +narrow natural canal Mutu. The natives of Maruru, or the country +around Mazaro, the word Mazaro meaning the "mouth of the creek" Mutu, +have a bad name among the Portuguese; they are said to be expert +thieves, and the merchants sometimes suffer from their adroitness +while the goods are in transit from one river to the other. In +general they are trained canoe-men, and man many of the canoes that +ply thence to Senna and Tette; their pay is small, and, not trusting +the traders, they must always have it before they start. Africans +being prone to assign plausible reasons for their conduct, like white +men in more enlightened lands, it is possible they may be good- +humouredly giving their reason for insisting on being invariably paid +in advance in the words of their favourite canoe-song, "Uachingere, +Uachingere Kale," "You cheated me of old;" or, "Thou art slippery +slippery truly." + +The Landeens or Zulus are lords of the right bank of the Zambesi; and +the Portuguese, by paying this fighting tribe a pretty heavy annual +tribute, practically admit this. Regularly every year come the Zulus +in force to Senna and Shupanga for the accustomed tribute. The few +wealthy merchants of Senna groan under the burden, for it falls +chiefly on them. They submit to pay annually 200 pieces of cloth, of +sixteen yards each, besides beads and brass wire, knowing that +refusal involves war, which might end in the loss of all they +possess. The Zulus appear to keep as sharp a look out on the Senna +and Shupanga people as ever landlord did on tenant; the more they +cultivate, the more tribute they have to pay. On asking some of them +why they did not endeavour to raise certain highly profitable +products, we were answered, "What's the use of our cultivating any +more than we do? the Landeens would only come down on us for more +tribute." + +In the forests of Shupanga the Mokundu-kundu tree abounds; its bright +yellow wood makes good boat-masts, and yields a strong bitter +medicine for fever; the Gunda-tree attains to an immense size; its +timber is hard, rather cross-grained, with masses of silica deposited +in its substance; the large canoes, capable of carrying three or four +tons, are made of its wood. For permission to cut these trees, a +Portuguese gentleman of Quillimane was paying the Zulus, in 1858, two +hundred dollars a year, and his successor now pays three hundred. + +At Shupanga, a one-storied stone house stands on the prettiest site +on the river. In front a sloping lawn, with a fine mango orchard at +its southern end, leads down to the broad Zambesi, whose green +islands repose on the sunny bosom of the tranquil waters. Beyond, +northwards, lie vast fields and forests of palm and tropical trees, +with the massive mountain of Morambala towering amidst the white +clouds; and further away more distant hills appear in the blue +horizon. This beautifully situated house possesses a melancholy +interest from having been associated in a most mournful manner with +the history of two English expeditions. Here, in 1826, poor +Kirkpatrick, of Captain Owen's Surveying Expedition, died of fever; +and here, in 1862, died, of the same fatal disease, the beloved wife +of Dr. Livingstone. A hundred yards east of the house, under a large +Baobab-tree, far from their native land, both are buried. + +The Shupanga-house was the head-quarters of the Governor during the +Mariano war. He told us that the province of Mosambique costs the +Home Government between 5000l. and 6000l. annually, and East Africa +yields no reward in return to the mother country. We met there +several other influential Portuguese. All seemed friendly, and +expressed their willingness to assist the expedition in every way in +their power; and better still, Colonel Nunes and Major Sicard put +their good-will into action, by cutting wood for the steamer and +sending men to help in unloading. It was observable that not one of +them knew anything about the Kongone Mouth; all thought that we had +come in by the "Barra Catrina," or East Luabo. Dr. Kirk remained +here a few weeks; and, besides exploring a small lake twenty miles to +the south-west, had the sole medical care of the sick and wounded +soldiers, for which valuable services he received the thanks of the +Portuguese Government. We wooded up at this place with African ebony +or black wood, and lignum vitae; the latter tree attains an immense +size, sometimes as much as four feet in diameter; our engineer, +knowing what ebony and lignum vitae cost at home, said it made his +heart sore to burn wood so valuable. Though botanically different, +they are extremely alike; the black wood as grown in some districts +is superior, and the lignum vitae inferior in quality, to these +timbers brought from other countries. Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, +is found in abundance inland from Shupanga-house, and calumba-root is +plentiful in the district; indigo, in quantities, propagates itself +close to the banks of the Aver, and was probably at some time +cultivated, for manufactured indigo was once exported. The India- +rubber is made into balls for a game resembling "fives," and calumba- +root is said to be used as a mordant for certain colours, but not as +a dye itself. + +We started for Tette on the 17th August, 1858; the navigation was +rather difficult, the Zambesi from Shupanga to Senna being wide and +full of islands; our black pilot, John Scisssors, a serf, sometimes +took the wrong channel and ran us aground. Nothing abashed, he would +exclaim in an aggrieved tone, "This is not the path, it is back +yonder." "Then why didn't you go yonder at first?" growled out our +Kroomen, who had the work of getting the vessel off. When they spoke +roughly to poor Scissors, the weak cringing slave-spirit came forth +in, "Those men scold me so, I am ready to run away." This mode of +finishing up an engagement is not at all uncommon on the Zambesi; +several cases occurred, when we were on the river, of hired crews +decamping with most of the goods in their charge. If the trader +cannot redress his own wrongs, he has to endure them. The Landeens +will not surrender a fugitive slave, even to his master. One +belonging to Mr. Azevedo fled, and was, as a great favour only, +returned after a present of much more than his value. + +We landed to wood at Shamoara, just below the confluence of the +Shire. Its quartz hills are covered with trees and gigantic grasses; +the buaze, a small forest-tree, grows abundantly; it is a species of +polygala; its beautiful clusters of sweet-scented pinkish flowers +perfume the air with a rich fragrance; its seeds produce a fine +drying oil, and the bark of the smaller branches yields a fibre finer +and stronger than flax; with which the natives make their nets for +fishing. Bonga, the brother of the rebel Mariano, and now at the +head of the revolted natives, with some of his principal men came to +see us, and were perfectly friendly, though told of our having +carried the sick Governor across to Shupanga, and of our having cured +him of fever. On our acquainting Bonga with the object of the +expedition, he remarked that we should suffer no hindrance from his +people in our good work. He sent us a present of rice, two sheep, +and a quantity of firewood. He never tried to make any use of us in +the strife; the other side showed less confidence, by carefully +cross-questioning our pilot whether we had sold any powder to the +enemy. We managed, however, to keep on good terms with both rebels +and Portuguese. + +Senna is built on a low plain, on the right bank of the Zambesi, with +some pretty detached hills in the background; it is surrounded by a +stockade of living trees to protect its inhabitants from their +troublesome and rebellious neighbours. It contains a few large +houses, some ruins of others, and a weather-beaten cross, where once +stood a church; a mound shows the site of an ancient monastery, and a +mud fort by the river is so dilapidated, that cows were grazing +peacefully over its prostrate walls. + +The few Senna merchants, having little or no trade in the village, +send parties of trusted slaves into the interior to hunt for and +purchase ivory. It is a dull place, and very conducive to sleep. +One is sure to take fever in Senna on the second day, if by chance +one escapes it on the first day of a sojourn there; but no place is +entirely bad. Senna has one redeeming feature: it is the native +village of the large-hearted and hospitable Senhor H. A. Ferrao. The +benevolence of this gentleman is unbounded. The poor black stranger +passing through the town goes to him almost as a matter of course for +food, and is never sent away hungry. In times of famine the starving +natives are fed by his generosity; hundreds of his own people he +never sees except on these occasions; and the only benefit derived +from being their master is, that they lean on him as a patriarchal +chief, and he has the satisfaction of settling their differences, and +of saving their lives in seasons of drought and scarcity. + +Senhor Ferrao received us with his usual kindness, and gave us a +bountiful breakfast. During the day the principal men of the place +called, and were unanimously of opinion that the free natives would +willingly cultivate large quantities of cotton, could they find +purchasers. They had in former times exported largely both cotton +and cloth to Manica and even to Brazil. "On their own soil," they +declared, "the natives are willing to labour and trade, provided only +they can do so to advantage: when it is for their interest, blacks +work very hard." We often remarked subsequently that this was the +opinion of men of energy; and that all settlers of activity, +enterprise, and sober habits had become rich, while those who were +much addicted to lying on their backs smoking, invariably complained +of the laziness of the negroes, and were poor, proud, and despicable. + +Beyond Pita lies the little island Nyamotobsi, where we met a small +fugitive tribe of hippopotamus hunters, who had been driven by war +from their own island in front. All were busy at work; some were +making gigantic baskets for grain, the men plaiting from the inside. +With the civility so common among them the chief ordered a mat to be +spread for us under a shed, and then showed us the weapon with which +they kill the hippopotamus; it is a short iron harpoon inserted in +the end of a long pole, but being intended to unship, it is made fast +to a strong cord of milola, or hibiscus, bark, which is wound closely +round the entire length of the shaft, and secured at its opposite +end. Two men in a swift canoe steal quietly down on the sleeping +animal. The bowman dashes the harpoon into the unconscious victim, +while the quick steersman sweeps the light craft back with his broad +paddle; the force of the blow separates the harpoon from its corded +handle, which, appearing on the surface, sometimes with an inflated +bladder attached, guides the hunters to where the wounded beast hides +below until they despatch it. + +These hippopotamus hunters form a separate people, called Akombwi, or +Mapodzo, and rarely--the women it is said never--intermarry with any +other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the +natives on the Zambesi is obvious enough, some having as great an +abhorrence of hippopotamus meat as Mahomedans have of swine's flesh. +Our pilot, Scissors, was one of this class; he would not even cook +his food in a pot which had contained hippopotamus meat, preferring +to go hungry till he could find another; and yet he traded eagerly in +the animal's tusks, and ate with great relish the flesh of the foul- +feeding marabout. These hunters go out frequently on long +expeditions, taking in their canoes their wives and children, +cooking-pots, and sleeping-mats. When they reach a good game +district, they erect temporary huts on the bank, and there dry the +meat they have killed. They are rather a comely-looking race, with +very black smooth skins, and never disfigure themselves with the +frightful ornaments of some of the other tribes. The chief declined +to sell a harpoon, because they could not now get the milola bark +from the coast on account of Mariano's war. He expressed some doubts +about our being children of the same Almighty Father, remarking that +"they could not become white, let them wash ever so much." We made +him a present of a bit of cloth, and he very generously gave us in +return some fine fresh fish and Indian corn. + +The heat of the weather steadily increases during this month +(August), and foggy mornings are now rare. A strong breeze ending in +a gale blows up stream every night. It came in the afternoon a few +weeks ago, then later, and at present its arrival is near midnight; +it makes our frail cabin-doors fly open before it, but continues only +for a short time, and is succeeded by a dead calm. Game becomes more +abundant; near our wooding-places we see herds of zebras, both +Burchell's and the mountain variety, pallahs (Antelope melampus), +waterbuck, and wild hogs, with the spoor of buffaloes and elephants. + +Shiramba Dembe, on the right bank, is deserted; a few old iron guns +show where a rebel stockade once stood; near the river above this, +stands a magnificent Baobab hollowed out into a good-sized hut, with +bark inside as well as without. The old oaks in Sherwood Forest, +when hollow, have the inside dead or rotten; but the Baobab, though +stripped of its bark outside, and hollowed to a cavity inside, has +the power of exuding new bark from its substance to both the outer +and inner surfaces; so, a hut made like that in the oak called the +"Forest Queen," in Sherwood, would soon all be lined with bark. + +The portions of the river called Shigogo and Shipanga are bordered by +a low level expanse of marshy country, with occasional clumps of +palm-trees and a few thorny acacias. The river itself spreads out to +a width of from three to four miles, with many islands, among which +it is difficult to navigate, except when the river is in flood. In +front, a range of high hills from the north-east crosses and +compresses it into a deep narrow channel, called the Lupata Gorge. +The Portuguese thought the steamer would not stem the current here; +but as it was not more than about three knots, and as there was a +strong breeze in our favour, steam and sails got her through with +ease. Heavy-laden canoes take two days to go up this pass. A +current sweeps round the little rocky promontories Chifura and +Kangomba, forming whirlpools and eddies dangerous for the clumsy +craft, which are dragged past with long ropes. + +The paddlers place meal on these rocks as an offering to the +turbulent deities, which they believe preside over spots fatal to +many a large canoe. We were slily told that native Portuguese take +off their hats to these river gods, and pass in solemn silence; when +safely beyond the promontories, they fire muskets, and, as we ought +to do, give the canoe-men grog. From the spoor of buffaloes and +elephants it appears that these animals frequent Lupata in +considerable numbers, and--we have often observed the association-- +the tsetse fly is common. A horse for the Governor of Tette was sent +in a canoe from Quillimane; and, lest it should be wrecked on the +Chifura and Kangomba rocks, it was put on shore and sent in the +daytime through the pass. It was of course bitten by the tsetse, and +died soon after; it was thought that the AIR of Tette had not agreed +with it. The currents above Lupata are stronger than those below; +the country becomes more picturesque and hilly, and there is a larger +population. + +The ship anchored in the stream, off Tette, on the 8th September, +1858, and Dr. Livingstone went ashore in the boat. No sooner did the +Makololo recognize him, than they rushed to the water's edge, and +manifested great joy at seeing him again. Some were hastening to +embrace him, but others cried out, "Don't touch him, you will spoil +his new clothes." The five headmen came on board and listened in +quiet sadness to the story of poor Sekwebu, who died at the Mauritius +on his way to England. "Men die in any country," they observed, and +then told us that thirty of their own number had died of smallpox, +having been bewitched by the people of Tette, who envied them +because, during the first year, none of their party had died. Six of +their young men, becoming tired of cutting firewood for a meagre +pittance, proposed to go and dance for gain before some of the +neighbouring chiefs. "Don't go," said the others, "we don't know the +people of this country;" but the young men set out and visited an +independent half-caste chief, a few miles to the north, named +Chisaka, who some years ago burned all the Portuguese villas on the +north bank of the river; afterwards the young men went to Bonga, son +of another half-caste chief, who bade defiance to the Tette +authorities, and had a stockade at the confluence of the Zambesi and +Luenya, a few miles below that village. Asking the Makololo whence +they came, Bonga rejoined, "Why do you come from my enemy to me? You +have brought witchcraft medicine to kill me." In vain they protested +that they did not belong to the country; they were strangers, and had +come from afar with an Englishman. The superstitious savage put them +all to death. "We do not grieve," said their companions, "for the +thirty victims of the smallpox, who were taken away by Morimo (God); +but our hearts are sore for the six youths who were murdered by +Bonga." Any hope of obtaining justice on the murderer was out of the +question. Bonga once caught a captain of the Portuguese army, and +forced him to perform the menial labour of pounding maize in a wooden +mortar. No punishment followed on this outrage. The Government of +Lisbon has since given Bonga the honorary title of Captain, by way of +coaxing him to own their authority; but he still holds his stockade. + +Tette stands on a succession of low sandstone ridges on the right +bank of the Zambesi, which is here nearly a thousand yards wide (960 +yards). Shallow ravines, running parallel with the river, form the +streets, the houses being built on the ridges. The whole surface of +the streets, except narrow footpaths, were overrun with self-sown +indigo, and tons of it might have been collected. In fact indigo, +senna, and stramonium, with a species of cassia, form the weeds of +the place, which are annually hoed off and burned. A wall of stone +and mud surrounds the village, and the native population live in huts +outside. The fort and the church, near the river, are the +strongholds; the natives having a salutary dread of the guns of the +one, and a superstitious fear of the unknown power of the other. The +number of white inhabitants is small, and rather select, many of them +having been considerately sent out of Portugal "for their country's +good." The military element preponderates in society; the convict +and "incorrigible" class of soldiers, receiving very little pay, +depend in great measure on the produce of the gardens of their black +wives; the moral condition of the resulting population may be +imagined. + +Droughts are of frequent occurrence at Tette, and the crops suffer +severely. This may arise partly from the position of the town +between the ranges of hills north and south, which appear to have a +strong attraction for the rain-clouds. It is often seen to rain on +these hills when not a drop falls at Tette. Our first season was one +of drought. Thrice had the women planted their gardens in vain, the +seed, after just vegetating, was killed by the intense dry heat. A +fourth planting shared the same hard fate, and then some of the +knowing ones discovered the cause of the clouds being frightened +away: our unlucky rain-gauge in the garden. We got a bad name +through that same rain-gauge, and were regarded by many as a species +of evil omen. The Makololo in turn blamed the people of Tette for +drought: "A number of witches live here, who won't let it rain." +Africans in general are sufficiently superstitious, but those of +Tette are in this particular pre-eminent above their fellows. Coming +from many different tribes, all the rays of the separate +superstitions converge into a focus at Tette, and burn out common +sense from the minds of the mixed breed. They believe that many evil +spirits live in the air, the earth, and the water. These invisible +malicious beings are thought to inflict much suffering on the human +race; but, as they have a weakness for beer and a craving for food, +they may be propitiated from time to time by offerings of meat and +drink. The serpent is an object of worship, and hideous little +images are hung in the huts of the sick and dying. The +uncontaminated Africans believe that Morungo, the Great Spirit who +formed all things, lives above the stars; but they never pray to him, +and know nothing of their relation to him, or of his interest in +them. The spirits of their departed ancestors are all good, +according to their ideas, and on special occasions aid them in their +enterprises. When a man has his hair cut, he is careful to burn it, +or bury it secretly, lest, falling into the hands of one who has an +evil eye, or is a witch, it should be used as a charm to afflict him +with headache. They believe, too, that they will live after the +death of the body, but do not know anything of the state of the +Barimo (gods, or departed spirits). + +The mango-tree grows luxuriantly above Lupata, and furnishes a +grateful shade. Its delicious fruit is superior to that on the +coast. For weeks the natives who have charge of the mangoes live +entirely on the fruit, and, as some trees bear in November and some +in March, while the main crop comes between, fruit in abundance may +easily be obtained during four months of the year; but no native can +be induced to plant a mango. A wide-spread superstition has become +riveted in the native mind, that if any one plants this tree he will +soon die. The Makololo, like other natives, were very fond of the +fruit; but when told to take up some mango-stones, on their return, +and plant them in their own country--they too having become deeply +imbued with the belief that it was a suicidal act to do so--replied +"they did not wish to die too soon." There is also a superstition +even among the native Portuguese of Tette, that if a man plants +coffee he will never afterwards be happy: they drink it, however, +and seem the happier for it. + +The Portuguese of Tette have many slaves, with all the usual vices of +their class, as theft, lying, and impurity. As a general rule the +real Portuguese are tolerably humane masters and rarely treat a slave +cruelly; this may be due as much to natural kindness of heart as to a +fear of losing the slaves by their running away. When they purchase +an adult slave they buy at the same time, if possible, all his +relations along with him. They thus contrive to secure him to his +new home by domestic ties. Running away then would be to forsake all +who hold a place in his heart, for the mere chance of acquiring a +freedom, which would probably be forfeited on his entrance into the +first native village, for the chief might, without compunction, again +sell him into slavery. + +A rather singular case of voluntary slavery came to our knowledge: a +free black, an intelligent active young fellow, called Chibanti, who +had been our pilot on the river, told us that he had sold himself +into slavery. On asking why he had done this, he replied that he was +all alone in the world, had neither father nor mother, nor any one +else to give him water when sick, or food when hungry; so he sold +himself to Major Sicard, a notoriously kind master, whose slaves had +little to do, and plenty to eat. "And how much did you get for +yourself?" we asked. "Three thirty-yard pieces of cotton cloth," he +replied; "and I forthwith bought a man, a woman, and child, who cost +me two of the pieces, and I had one piece left." This, at all +events, showed a cool and calculating spirit; he afterwards bought +more slaves, and in two years owned a sufficient number to man one of +the large canoes. His master subsequently employed him in carrying +ivory to Quillimane, and gave him cloth to hire mariners for the +voyage; he took his own slaves, of course, and thus drove a thriving +business; and was fully convinced that he had made a good speculation +by the sale of himself, for had he been sick his master must have +supported him. Occasionally some of the free blacks become slaves +voluntarily by going through the simple but significant ceremony of +breaking a spear in the presence of their future master. A +Portuguese officer, since dead, persuaded one of the Makololo to +remain in Tette, instead of returning to his own country, and tried +also to induce him to break a spear before him, and thus acknowledge +himself his slave, but the man was too shrewd for this; he was a +great elephant doctor, who accompanied the hunters, told them when to +attack the huge beast, and gave them medicine to ensure success. +Unlike the real Portuguese, many of the half-castes are merciless +slave-holders; their brutal treatment of the wretched slaves is +notorious. What a humane native of Portugal once said of them is +appropriate if not true: "God made white men, and God made black +men, but the devil made half-castes." + +The officers and merchants send parties of slaves under faithful +headmen to hunt elephants and to trade in ivory, providing them with +a certain quantity of cloth, beads, etc., and requiring so much ivory +in return. These slaves think that they have made a good thing of +it, when they kill an elephant near a village, as the natives give +them beer and meal in exchange for some of the elephant's meat, and +over every tusk that is brought there is expended a vast amount of +time, talk, and beer. Most of the Africans are natural-born traders, +they love trade more for the sake of trading than for what they make +by it. An intelligent gentleman of Tette told us that native traders +often come to him with a tusk for sale, consider the price he offers, +demand more, talk over it, retire to consult about it, and at length +go away without selling it; next day they try another merchant, talk, +consider, get puzzled and go off as on the previous day, and continue +this course daily until they have perhaps seen every merchant in the +village, and then at last end by selling the precious tusk to some +one for even less than the first merchant had offered. Their love of +dawdling in the transaction arises from the self-importance conferred +on them by their being the object of the wheedling and coaxing of +eager merchants, a feeling to which even the love of gain is +subordinate. + +The native medical profession is reasonably well represented. In +addition to the regular practitioners, who are a really useful class, +and know something of their profession, and the nature and power of +certain medicines, there are others who devote their talents to some +speciality. The elephant doctor prepares a medicine which is +considered indispensable to the hunters when attacking that noble and +sagacious beast; no hunter is willing to venture out before investing +in this precious nostrum. The crocodile doctor sells a charm which +is believed to possess the singular virtue of protecting its owner +from crocodiles. Unwittingly we offended the crocodile school of +medicine while at Tette, by shooting one of these huge reptiles as it +lay basking in the sun on a sandbank; the doctors came to the +Makololo in wrath, clamouring to know why the white man had shot +their crocodile. + +A shark's hook was baited one evening with a dog, of which the +crocodile is said to be particularly fond; but the doctors removed +the bait, on the principle that the more crocodiles the more demand +for medicine, or perhaps because they preferred to eat the dog +themselves. Many of the natives of this quarter are known, as in the +South Seas, to eat the dog without paying any attention to its +feeding. The dice doctor or diviner is an important member of the +community, being consulted by Portuguese and natives alike. Part of +his business is that of a detective, it being his duty to discover +thieves. When goods are stolen, he goes and looks at the place, +casts his dice, and waits a few days, and then, for a consideration, +tells who is the thief: he is generally correct, for he trusts not +to his dice alone; he has confidential agents all over the village, +by whose inquiries and information he is enabled to detect the +culprit. Since the introduction of muskets, gun doctors have sprung +up, and they sell the medicine which professes to make good marksmen; +others are rain doctors, etc., etc. The various schools deal in +little charms, which are hung round the purchaser's neck to avert +evil: some of them contain the medicine, others increase its power. + +Indigo, about three or four feet high, grows in great luxuriance in +the streets of Tette, and so does the senna plant. The leaves are +undistinguishable from those imported in England. A small amount of +first-rate cotton is cultivated by the native population for the +manufacture of a coarse cloth. A neighbouring tribe raises the +sugar-cane, and makes a little sugar; but they use most primitive +wooden rollers, and having no skill in mixing lime with the extracted +juice, the product is of course of very inferior quality. Plenty of +magnetic iron ore is found near Tette, and coal also to any amount; a +single cliff-seam measuring twenty-five feet in thickness. It was +found to burn well in the steamer on the first trial. Gold is washed +for in the beds of rivers, within a couple of days of Tette. The +natives are fully aware of its value, but seldom search for it, and +never dig deeper than four or five feet. They dread lest the falling +in of the sand of the river's bed should bury them. In former times, +when traders went with hundreds of slaves to the washings, the +produce was considerable. It is now insignificant. The gold- +producing lands have always been in the hands of independent tribes. +Deep cuttings near the sources of the gold-yielding streams seem +never to have been tried here, as in California and Australia, nor +has any machinery been used save common wooden basins for washing. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Kebrabasa Rapids--Tette--African fever--Exploration of the Shire-- +Discovery of Lake Shirwa. + +Our curiosity had been so much excited by the reports we had heard of +the Kebrabasa rapids, that we resolved to make a short examination of +them, and seized the opportunity of the Zambesi being unusually low, +to endeavour to ascertain their character while uncovered by the +water. We reached them on the 9th of November. The country between +Tette and Panda Mokua, where navigation ends, is well wooded and +hilly on both banks. Panda Mokua is a hill two miles below the +rapids, capped with dolomite containing copper ore. + +Conspicuous among the trees, for its gigantic size, and bark coloured +exactly like Egyptian syenite, is the burly Baobab. It often makes +the other trees of the forest look like mere bushes in comparison. A +hollow one, already mentioned, is 74 feet in circumference, another +was 84, and some have been found on the West Coast which measure 100 +feet. The lofty range of Kebrabasa, consisting chiefly of conical +hills, covered with scraggy trees, crosses the Zambesi, and confines +it within a narrow, rough, and rocky dell of about a quarter of a +mile in breadth; over this, which may be called the flood-bed of the +river, large masses of rock are huddled in indescribable confusion. +The drawing, for the use of which, and of others, our thanks are due +to Lord Russell, conveys but a faint idea of the scene, inasmuch as +the hills which confine the river do not appear in the sketch. The +chief rock is syenite, some portions of which have a beautiful blue +tinge like lapis lazuli diffused through them; others are grey. +Blocks of granite also abound, of a pinkish tinge; and these with +metamorphic rocks, contorted, twisted, and thrown into every +conceivable position, afford a picture of dislocation or +unconformability which would gladden a geological lecturer's heart; +but at high flood this rough channel is all smoothed over, and it +then conforms well with the river below it, which is half a mile +wide. In the dry season the stream runs at the bottom of a narrow +and deep groove, whose sides are polished and fluted by the boiling +action of the water in flood, like the rims of ancient Eastern wells +by the draw-ropes. The breadth of the groove is often not more than +from forty to sixty yards, and it has some sharp turnings, double +channels, and little cataracts in it. As we steamed up, the masts of +the "Ma Robert," though some thirty feet high, did not reach the +level of the flood-channel above, and the man in the chains sung out, +"No bottom at ten fathoms." Huge pot-holes, as large as draw-wells, +had been worn in the sides, and were so deep that in some instances, +when protected from the sun by overhanging boulders, the water in +them was quite cool. Some of these holes had been worn right +through, and only the side next the rock remained; while the sides of +the groove of the flood-channel were polished as smooth as if they +had gone through the granite-mills of Aberdeen. The pressure of the +water must be enormous to produce this polish. It had wedged round +pebbles into chinks and crannies of the rocks so firmly that, though +they looked quite loose, they could not be moved except with a +hammer. The mighty power of the water here seen gave us an idea of +what is going on in thousands of cataracts in the world. All the +information we had been able to obtain from our Portuguese friends +amounted to this, that some three or four detached rocks jutted out +of the river in Kebrabasa, which, though dangerous to the cumbersome +native canoes, could be easily passed by a steamer, and that if one +or two of these obstructions were blasted away with gunpowder, no +difficulty would hereafter be experienced. After we had painfully +explored seven or eight miles of the rapid, we returned to the vessel +satisfied that much greater labour was requisite for the mere +examination of the cataracts than our friends supposed necessary to +remove them; we therefore went down the river for fresh supplies, and +made preparation for a more serious survey of this region. + +The steamer having returned from the bar, we set out on the 22nd of +November to examine the rapids of Kebrabasa. We reached the foot of +the hills again, late in the afternoon of the 24th, and anchored in +the stream. Canoe-men never sleep on the river, but always spend the +night on shore. The natives on the right bank, in the country called +Shidima, who are Banyai, and even at this short distance from Tette, +independent, and accustomed to lord it over Portuguese traders, +wondered what could be our object in remaining afloat, and were +naturally suspicious at our departing from the universal custom. + +They hailed us from the bank in the evening with "Why don't you come +and sleep onshore like other people?" + +The answer they received from our Makololo, who now felt as +independent as the Banyai, was, "We are held to the bottom with iron; +you may see we are not like your Bazungu." + +This hint, a little amplified, saved us from the usual exactions. It +is pleasant to give a present, but that pleasure the Banyai usually +deny to strangers by making it a fine, and demanding it in such a +supercilious way, that only a sorely cowed trader could bear it. +They often refuse to touch what is offered--throw it down and leave +it--sneer at the trader's slaves, and refuse a passage until the +tribute is raised to the utmost extent of his means. + +Leaving the steamer next morning, we proceeded on foot, accompanied +by a native Portuguese and his men and a dozen Makololo, who carried +our baggage. The morning was pleasant, the hills on our right +furnished for a time a delightful shade; but before long the path +grew frightfully rough, and the hills no longer shielded us from the +blazing sun. Scarcely a vestige of a track was now visible; and, +indeed, had not our guide assured us to the contrary, we should have +been innocent of even the suspicion of a way along the patches of +soft yielding sand, and on the great rocks over which we so painfully +clambered. These rocks have a singular appearance, from being +dislocated and twisted in every direction, and covered with a thin +black glaze, as if highly polished and coated with lamp-black +varnish. This seems to have been deposited while the river was in +flood, for it covers only those rocks which lie between the highest +water-mark and a line about four feet above the lowest. Travellers +who have visited the rapids of the Orinoco and the Congo say that the +rocks there have a similar appearance, and it is attributed to some +deposit from the water, formed only when the current is strong. This +may account for it in part here, as it prevails only where the narrow +river is confined between masses of rock, backed by high hills, and +where the current in floods is known to be the strongest; and it does +not exist where the rocks are only on one side, with a sandy beach +opposite, and a broad expanse of river between. The hot rocks burnt +the thick soles of our men's feet, and sorely fatigued ourselves. +Our first day's march did not exceed four miles in a straight line, +and that we found more than enough to be pleasant. + +The state of insecurity in which the Badema tribe live is indicated +by the habit of hiding their provisions in the hills, and keeping +only a small quantity in their huts; they strip a particular species +of tree of its bitter bark, to which both mice and monkeys are known +to have an antipathy, and, turning the bark inside out, sew it into +cylindrical vessels for their grain, and bury them in holes and in +crags on the wooded hill-sides. By this means, should a marauding +party plunder their huts, they save a supply of corn. They "could +give us no information, and they had no food; Chisaka's men had +robbed them a few weeks before." + +"Never mind," said our native Portuguese, "they will sell you plenty +when you return, they are afraid of you now, as yet they do not know +who you are." We slept under trees in the open air, and suffered no +inconvenience from either mosquitoes or dew: and no prowling wild +beast troubled us; though one evening, while we were here, a native +sitting with some others on the opposite bank was killed by a +leopard. + +One of the Tette slaves, who wished to be considered a great +traveller, gave us, as we sat by our evening fire, an interesting +account of a strange race of men whom he had seen in the interior; +they were only three feet high, and had horns growing out of their +heads; they lived in a large town and had plenty of food. The +Makololo pooh-poohed this story, and roundly told the narrator that +he was telling a downright lie. "WE come from the interior," cried +out a tall fellow, measuring some six feet four, "are WE dwarfs? have +WE horns on our heads?" and thus they laughed the fellow to scorn. +But he still stoutly maintained that he had seen these little people, +and had actually been in their town; thus making himself the hero of +the traditional story, which before and since the time of Herodotus +has, with curious persistency, clung to the native mind. The mere +fact that such absurd notions are permanent, even in the entire +absence of literature, invests the religious ideas of these people +also with importance, as fragments of the wreck of the primitive +faith floating down the stream of time. + +We waded across the rapid Luia, which took us up to the waist, and +was about forty yards wide. The water was discoloured at the time, +and we were not without apprehension that a crocodile might chance to +fancy a white man for dinner. Next day one of the men crawled over +the black rocks to within ten yards of a sleeping hippopotamus, and +shot him through the brain. The weather being warm, the body floated +in a few hours, and some of us had our first trial of hippopotamus +flesh. It is a cross-grained meat, something between pork and beef,- +-pretty good food when one is hungry and can get nothing better. +When we reached the foot of the mountain named Chipereziwa, whose +perpendicular rocky sides are clothed with many-coloured lichens, our +Portuguese companion informed us there were no more obstructions to +navigation, the river being all smooth above; he had hunted there and +knew it well. Supposing that the object of our trip was accomplished +we turned back; but two natives, who came to our camp at night, +assured us that a cataract, called Morumbwa, did still exist in +front. Drs. Livingstone and Kirk then decided to go forward with +three Makololo and settle the question for themselves. It was as +tough a bit of travel as they ever had in Africa, and after some +painful marching the Badema guides refused to go further; "the +Banyai," they said, "would be angry if they showed white men the +country; and there was besides no practicable approach to the spot, +neither elephant, nor hippopotamus, nor even a crocodile could reach +the cataract." The slopes of the mountains on each side of the +river, now not 300 yards wide, and without the flattish flood-channel +and groove, were more than 3000 feet from the sky-line down, and were +covered either with dense thornbush or huge black boulders; this deep +trough-like shape caused the sun's rays to converge as into a focus, +making the surface so hot that the soles of the feet of the Makololo +became blistered. Around, and up and down, the party clambered among +these heated blocks, at a pace not exceeding a mile an hour; the +strain upon the muscles in jumping from crag to boulder, and +wriggling round projections, took an enormous deal out of them, and +they were often glad to cower in the shadow formed by one rock +overhanging and resting on another; the shelter induced the +peculiarly strong and overpowering inclination to sleep, which too +much sun sometimes causes. This sleep is curative of what may be +incipient sunstroke: in its first gentle touches, it caused the +dream to flit over the boiling brain, that they had become lunatics +and had been sworn in as members of the Alpine club; and then it +became so heavy that it made them feel as if a portion of existence +had been cut out from their lives. The sun is excessively hot, and +feels sharp in Africa; but, probably from the greater dryness of the +atmosphere, we never heard of a single case of sunstroke, so common +in India. The Makololo told Dr. Livingstone they "always thought he +had a heart, but now they believed he had none," and tried to +persuade Dr. Kirk to return, on the ground that it must be evident +that, in attempting to go where no living foot could tread, his +leader had given unmistakeable signs of having gone mad. All their +efforts of persuasion, however, were lost upon Dr. Kirk, as he had +not yet learned their language, and his leader, knowing his companion +to be equally anxious with himself to solve the problem of the +navigableness of Kebrabasa, was not at pains to enlighten him. At +one part a bare mountain spur barred the way, and had to be +surmounted by a perilous and circuitous route, along which the crags +were so hot that it was scarcely possible for the hand to hold on +long enough to ensure safety in the passage; and had the foremost of +the party lost his hold, he would have hurled all behind him into the +river at the foot of the promontory; yet in this wild hot region, as +they descended again to the river, they met a fisherman casting his +hand-net into the boiling eddies, and he pointed out the cataract of +Morumbwa; within an hour they were trying to measure it from an +overhanging rock, at a height of about one hundred feet. When you +stand facing the cataract, on the north bank, you see that it is +situated in a sudden bend of the river, which is flowing in a short +curve; the river above it is jammed between two mountains in a +channel with perpendicular sides, and less than fifty yards wide; one +or two masses of rock jut out, and then there is a sloping fall of +perhaps twenty feet in a distance of thirty yards. It would stop all +navigation, except during the highest floods; the rocks showed that +the water then rises upwards of eighty feet perpendicularly. + +Still keeping the position facing the cataract, on its right side +rises Mount Morumbwa from 2000 to 3000 feet high, which gives the +name to the spot. On the left of the cataract stands a noticeable +mountain which may be called onion-shaped, for it is partly conical +and a large concave flake has peeled off, as granite often does, and +left a broad, smooth convex face as if it were an enormous bulb. +These two mountains extend their bases northwards about half a mile, +and the river in that distance, still very narrow, is smooth, with a +few detached rocks standing out from its bed. They climbed as high +up the base of Mount Morumbwa, which touches the cataract, as they +required. The rocks were all water-worn and smooth, with huge +potholes, even at 100 feet above low water. When at a later period +they climbed up the north-western base of this same mountain, the +familiar face of the onion-shaped one opposite was at once +recognised; one point of view on the talus of Mount Morumbwa was not +more than 700 or 800 yards distant from the other, and they then +completed the survey of Kebrabasa from end to end. + +They did not attempt to return by the way they came, but scaled the +slope of the mountain on the north. It took them three hours' hard +labour in cutting their way up through the dense thornbush which +covered the ascent. The face of the slope was often about an angle +of 70 degrees, yet their guide Shokumbenla, whose hard, horny soles, +resembling those of elephants, showed that he was accustomed to this +rough and hot work, carried a pot of water for them nearly all the +way up. They slept that night at a well in a tufaceous rock on the +N.W. of Chipereziwa, and never was sleep more sweet. + +A band of native musicians came to our camp one evening, on our own +way down, and treated us with their wild and not unpleasant music on +the Marimba, an instrument formed of bars of hard wood of varying +breadth and thickness, laid on different-sized hollow calabashes, and +tuned to give the notes; a few pieces of cloth pleased them, and they +passed on. + +The rainy season of Tette differs a little from that of some of the +other intertropical regions; the quantity of rain-fall being +considerably less. It begins in November and ends in April. During +our first season in that place, only a little over nineteen inches of +rain fell. In an average year, and when the crops are good, the fall +amounts to about thirty-five inches. On many days it does not rain +at all, and rarely is it wet all day; some days have merely a passing +shower, preceded and followed by hot sunshine; occasionally an +interval of a week, or even a fortnight, passes without a drop of +rain, and then the crops suffer from the sun. These partial droughts +happen in December and January. The heat appears to increase to a +certain point in the different latitudes so as to necessitate a +change, by some law similar to that which regulates the intense cold +in other countries. After several days of progressive heat here, on +the hottest of which the thermometer probably reaches 103 degrees in +the shade, a break occurs in the weather, and a thunderstorm cools +the air for a time. At Kuruman, when the thermometer stood above 84 +degrees, rain might be expected; at Kolobeng, the point at which we +looked for a storm was 96 degrees. The Zambesi is in flood twice in +the course of the year; the first flood, a partial one, attains its +greatest height about the end of December or beginning of January; +the second, and greatest, occurs after the river inundates the +interior, in a manner similar to the overflow of the Nile, this rise +not taking place at Tette until March. The Portuguese say that the +greatest height which the March floods attain is thirty feet at +Tette, and this happens only about every fourth year; their +observations, however, have never been very accurate on anything but +ivory, and they have in this case trusted to memory alone. The only +fluviometer at Tette, or anywhere else on the river, was set up at +our suggestion; and the first flood was at its greatest height of +thirteen feet six inches on the 17th January, 1859, and then +gradually fell a few feet, until succeeded by the greater flood of +March. The river rises suddenly, the water is highly discoloured and +impure, and there is a four-knot current in many places; but in a day +or two after the first rush of waters is passed, the current becomes +more equally spread over the whole bed of the river, and resumes its +usual rate in the channel, although continuing in flood. The Zambesi +water at other times is almost chemically pure, and the photographer +would find that it is nearly as good as distilled water for the +nitrate of silver bath. + +A third visit to Kebrabasa was made for the purpose of ascertaining +whether it might be navigable when the Zambesi was in flood, the +chief point of interest being of course Morumbwa; it was found that +the rapids observed in our first trip had disappeared, and that while +they were smoothed over, in a few places the current had increased in +strength. As the river fell rapidly while we were on the journey, +the cataract of Morumbwa did not differ materially from what it was +when discovered. Some fishermen assured us that it was not visible +when the river was at its fullest, and that the current was then not +very strong. On this occasion we travelled on the right bank, and +found it, with the additional inconvenience of rain, as rough and +fatiguing as the left had been. Our progress was impeded by the tall +wet grass and dripping boughs, and consequent fever. During the +earlier part of the journey we came upon a few deserted hamlets only; +but at last in a pleasant valley we met some of the people of the +country, who were miserably poor and hungry. The women were +gathering wild fruits in the woods. A young man having consented for +two yards of cotton cloth to show us a short path to the cataract led +us up a steep hill to a village perched on the edge of one of its +precipices; a thunderstorm coming on at the time, the headman invited +us to take shelter in a hut until it had passed. Our guide having +informed him of what he knew and conceived to be our object, was +favoured in return with a long reply in well-sounding blank verse; at +the end of every line the guide, who listened with deep attention, +responded with a grunt, which soon became so ludicrous that our men +burst into a loud laugh. Neither the poet nor the responsive guide +took the slightest notice of their rudeness, but kept on as +energetically as ever to the end. The speech, or more probably our +bad manners, made some impression on our guide, for he declined, +although offered double pay, to go any further. + +A great deal of fever comes in with March and April; in March, if +considerable intervals take place between the rainy days, and in +April always, for then large surfaces of mud and decaying vegetation +are exposed to the hot sun. In general an attack does not continue +long, but it pulls one down quickly; though when the fever is checked +the strength is as quickly restored. It had long been observed that +those who were stationed for any length of time in one spot, and +lived sedentary lives, suffered more from fever than others who moved +about and had both mind and body occupied; but we could not all go in +the small vessel when she made her trips, during which the change of +place and scenery proved so conducive to health; and some of us were +obliged to remain in charge of the expedition's property, making +occasional branch trips to examine objects of interest in the +vicinity. Whatever may be the cause of the fever, we observed that +all were often affected at the same time, as if from malaria. This +was particularly the case during a north wind: it was at first +commonly believed that a daily dose of quinine would prevent the +attack. For a number of months all our men, except two, took quinine +regularly every morning. The fever some times attacked the believers +in quinine, while the unbelievers in its prophylactic powers escaped. +Whether we took it daily, or omitted it altogether for months, made +no difference; the fever was impartial, and seized us on the days of +quinine as regularly and as severely as when it remained undisturbed +in the medicine chest, and we finally abandoned the use of it as a +prophylactic altogether. The best preventive against fever is plenty +of interesting work to do, and abundance of wholesome food to eat. +To a man well housed and clothed, who enjoys these advantages, the +fever at Tette will not prove a more formidable enemy than a common +cold; but let one of these be wanting--let him be indolent, or guilty +of excesses in eating or drinking, or have poor, scanty fare,--and +the fever will probably become a more serious matter. It is of a +milder type at Tette than at Quillimane or on the low sea-coast; and, +as in this part of Africa one is as liable to fever as to colds in +England, it would be advisable for strangers always to hasten from +the coast to the high lands, in order that when the seizure does take +place, it may be of the mildest type. Although quinine was not found +to be a preventive, except possibly in the way of acting as a tonic, +and rendering the system more able to resist the influence of +malaria, it was found invaluable in the cure of the complaint, as +soon as pains in the back, sore bones, headache, yawning, quick and +sometimes intermittent pulse, noticeable pulsations of the jugulars, +with suffused eyes, hot skin, and foul tongue, began. {1} + +Very curious are the effects of African fever on certain minds. +Cheerfulness vanishes, and the whole mental horizon is overcast with +black clouds of gloom and sadness. The liveliest joke cannot provoke +even the semblance of a smile. The countenance is grave, the eyes +suffused, and the few utterances are made in the piping voice of a +wailing infant. An irritable temper is often the first symptom of +approaching fever. At such times a man feels very much like a fool, +if he does not act like one. Nothing is right, nothing pleases the +fever-stricken victim. He is peevish, prone to find fault and to +contradict, and think himself insulted, and is exactly what an Irish +naval surgeon before a court-martial defined a drunken man to be: "a +man unfit for society." + +Finding that it was impossible to take our steamer of only ten-horse +power through Kebrabasa, and convinced that, in order to force a +passage when the river was in flood, much greater power was required, +due information was forwarded to Her Majesty's Government, and +application made for a more suitable vessel. Our attention was in +the mean time turned to the exploration of the river Shire, a +northern tributary of the Zambesi, which joins it about a hundred +miles from the sea. We could learn nothing satisfactory from the +Portuguese regarding this affluent; no one, they said, had ever been +up it, nor could they tell whence it came. Years ago a Portuguese +expedition is said, however, to have attempted the ascent, but to +have abandoned it on account of the impenetrable duckweed (Pistia +stratiotes.) We could not learn from any record that the Shire had +ever been ascended by Europeans. As far, therefore, as we were +concerned, the exploration was absolutely new. All the Portuguese +believed the Manganja to be brave but bloodthirsty savages; and on +our return we found that soon after our departure a report was widely +spread that our temerity had been followed by fatal results, Dr. +Livingstone having been shot, and Dr. Kirk mortally wounded by +poisoned arrows. + +Our first trip to the Shire was in January, 1859. A considerable +quantity of weed floated down the river for the first twenty-five +miles, but not sufficient to interrupt navigation with canoes or with +any other craft. Nearly the whole of this aquatic plant proceeds +from a marsh on the west, and comes into the river a little beyond a +lofty hill called Mount Morambala. Above that there is hardly any. +As we approached the villages, the natives collected in large +numbers, armed with bows and poisoned arrows; and some, dodging +behind trees, were observed taking aim as if on the point of +shooting. All the women had been sent out of the way, and the men +were evidently prepared to resist aggression. At the village of a +chief named Tingane, at least five hundred natives collected and +ordered us to stop. Dr. Livingstone went ashore; and on his +explaining that we were English and had come neither to take slaves +nor to fight, but only to open a path by which our countrymen might +follow to purchase cotton, or whatever else they might have to sell, +except slaves, Tingane became at once quite friendly. The presence +of the steamer, which showed that they had an entirely new people to +deal with, probably contributed to this result; for Tingane was +notorious for being the barrier to all intercourse between the +Portuguese black traders and the natives further inland; none were +allowed to pass him either way. He was an elderly, well-made man, +grey-headed, and over six feet high. Though somewhat excited by our +presence, he readily complied with the request to call his people +together, in order that all might know what our objects were. + +In commencing intercourse with any people we almost always referred +to the English detestation of slavery. Most of them already possess +some information respecting the efforts made by the English at sea to +suppress the slave-trade; and our work being to induce them to raise +and sell cotton, instead of capturing and selling their fellow-men, +our errand appears quite natural; and as they all have clear ideas of +their own self-interest, and are keen traders, the reasonableness of +the proposal is at once admitted; and as a belief in a Supreme Being, +the Maker and Ruler of all things, and in the continued existence of +departed spirits, is universal, it becomes quite appropriate to +explain that we possess a Book containing a Revelation of the will of +Him to whom in their natural state they recognise no relationship. +The fact that His Son appeared among men, and left His words in His +Book, always awakens attention; but the great difficulty is to make +them feel that they have any relationship to Him, and that He feels +any interest in them. The numbness of moral perception exhibited, is +often discouraging; but the mode of communication, either by +interpreters, or by the imperfect knowledge of the language, which +not even missionaries of talent can overcome save by the labour of +many years, may, in part, account for the phenomenon. However, the +idea of the Father of all being displeased with His children, for +selling or killing each other, at once gains their ready assent: it +harmonizes so exactly with their own ideas of right and wrong. But, +as in our own case at home, nothing less than the instruction and +example of many years will secure their moral elevation. + +The dialect spoken here closely resembles that used at Senna and +Tette. We understood it at first only enough to know whether our +interpreter was saying what we bade him, or was indulging in his own +version. After stating pretty nearly what he was told, he had an +inveterate tendency to wind up with "The Book says you are to grow +cotton, and the English are to come and buy it," or with some joke of +his own, which might have been ludicrous, had it not been seriously +distressing. + +In the first ascent of the Shire our attention was chiefly directed +to the river itself. The delight of threading out the meanderings of +upwards of 200 miles of a hitherto unexplored river must be felt to +be appreciated. All the lower part of the river was found to be at +least two fathoms in depth. It became shallower higher up, where +many departing and re-entering branches diminished the volume of +water, but the absence of sandbanks made it easy of navigation. We +had to exercise the greatest care lest anything we did should be +misconstrued by the crowds who watched us. After having made, in a +straight line, one hundred miles, although the windings of the river +had fully doubled the distance, we found further progress with the +steamer arrested, in 15 degrees 55 minutes south, by magnificent +cataracts, which we called, "The Murchison," after one whose name has +already a world-wide fame, and whose generous kindness we can never +repay. The native name of that figured in the woodcut is Mamvira. +It is that at which the progress of the steamer was first stopped. +The angle of descent is much smaller than that of the five cataracts +above it; indeed, so small as compared with them, that after they +were discovered this was not included in the number. + +A few days were spent here in the hope that there might be an +opportunity of taking observations for longitude, but it rained most +of the time, or the sky was overcast. It was deemed imprudent to +risk a land journey whilst the natives were so very suspicious as to +have a strong guard on the banks of the river night and day; the +weather also was unfavourable. After sending presents and messages +to two of the chiefs, we returned to Tette. In going down stream our +progress was rapid, as we were aided by the current. The hippopotami +never made a mistake, but got out of our way. The crocodiles, not so +wise, sometimes rushed with great velocity at us, thinking that we +were some huge animal swimming. They kept about a foot from the +surface, but made three well-defined ripples from the feet and body, +which marked their rapid progress; raising the head out of the water +when only a few yards from the expected feast, down they went to the +bottom like a stone, without touching the boat. + +In the middle of March of the same year (1859), we started again for +a second trip on the Shire. The natives were now friendly, and +readily sold us rice, fowls, and corn. We entered into amicable +relations with the chief, Chibisa, whose village was about ten miles +below the cataract. He had sent two men on our first visit to invite +us to drink beer; but the steamer was such a terrible apparition to +them, that, after shouting the invitation, they jumped ashore, and +left their canoe to drift down the stream. Chibisa was a remarkably +shrewd man, the very image, save his dark hue, of one of our most +celebrated London actors, {2} and the most intelligent chief, by far, +in this quarter. A great deal of fighting had fallen to his lot, he +said; but it was always others who began; he was invariably in the +right, and they alone were to blame. He was moreover a firm believer +in the divine right of kings. He was an ordinary man, he said, when +his father died, and left him the chieftainship; but directly he +succeeded to the high office, he was conscious of power passing into +his head, and down his back; he felt it enter, and knew that he was a +chief, clothed with authority, and possessed of wisdom; and people +then began to fear and reverence him. He mentioned this, as one +would a fact of natural history, any doubt being quite out of the +question. His people, too, believed in him, for they bathed in the +river without the slightest fear of crocodiles, the chief having +placed a powerful medicine there, which protected them from the bite +of these terrible reptiles. + +Leaving the vessel opposite Chibisa's village, Drs. Livingstone and +Kirk and a number of the Makololo started on foot for Lake Shirwa. +They travelled in a northerly direction over a mountainous country. +The people were far from being well-disposed to them, and some of +their guides tried to mislead them, and could not be trusted. +Masakasa, a Makololo headman, overheard some remarks which satisfied +him that the guide was leading them into trouble. He was quiet till +they reached a lonely spot, when he came up to Dr. Livingstone, and +said, "That fellow is bad, he is taking us into mischief; my spear is +sharp, and there is no one here; shall I cast him into the long +grass?" Had the Doctor given the slightest token of assent, or even +kept silence, never more would any one have been led by that guide, +for in a twinkling he would have been where "the wicked cease from +troubling." It was afterwards found that in this case there was no +treachery at all, but a want of knowledge on their part of the +language and of the country. They asked to be led to "Nyanja +Mukulu," or Great Lake, meaning, by this, Lake Shirwa; and the guide +took them round a terribly rough piece of mountainous country, +gradually edging away towards a long marsh, which from the numbers of +those animals we had seen there we had called the Elephant Marsh, but +which was really the place known to him by the name "Nyanja Mukulu," +or Great Lake. Nyanja or Nyanza means, generally, a marsh, lake, +river, or even a mere rivulet. + +The party pushed on at last without guides, or only with crazy ones; +for, oddly enough, they were often under great obligations to the +madmen of the different villages: one of these honoured them, as +they slept in the open air, by dancing and singing at their feet the +whole night. These poor fellows sympathized with the explorers, +probably in the belief that they belonged to their own class; and, +uninfluenced by the general opinion of their countrymen, they really +pitied, and took kindly to the strangers, and often guided them +faithfully from place to place, when no sane man could be hired for +love or money. + +The bearing of the Manganja at this time was very independent; a +striking contrast to the cringing attitude they afterwards assumed, +when the cruel scourge of slave-hunting passed over their country. +Signals were given from the different villages by means of drums, and +notes of defiance and intimidation were sounded in the travellers' +ears by day; and occasionally they were kept awake the whole night, +in expectation of an instant attack. Drs. Livingstone and Kirk were +desirous that nothing should occur to make the natives regard them as +enemies; Masakasa, on the other hand, was anxious to show what he +could do in the way of fighting them. + +The perseverance of the party was finally crowned with success; for +on the 18th of April they discovered Lake Shirwa, a considerable body +of bitter water, containing leeches, fish, crocodiles, and +hippopotami. From having probably no outlet, the water is slightly +brackish, and it appears to be deep, with islands like hills rising +out of it. Their point of view was at the base of Mount Pirimiti or +Mopeu-peu, on its S.S.W. side. Thence the prospect northwards ended +in a sea horizon with two small islands in the distance--a larger +one, resembling a hill-top and covered with trees, rose more in the +foreground. Ranges of hills appeared on the east; and on the west +stood Mount Chikala, which seems to be connected with the great +mountain-mass called Zomba. + +The shore, near which they spent two nights, was covered with reeds +and papyrus. Wishing to obtain the latitude by the natural horizon, +they waded into the water some distance towards what was reported to +be a sand-bank, but were so assaulted by leeches, they were fain to +retreat; and a woman told them that in enticing them into the water +the men only wanted to kill them. The information gathered was that +this lake was nothing in size compared to another in the north, from +which it is separated by only a tongue of land. The northern end of +Shirwa has not been seen, though it has been passed; the length of +the lake may probably be 60 or 80 miles, and about 20 broad. The +height above the sea is 1800 feet, and the taste of the water is like +a weak solution of Epsom salts. The country around is very +beautiful, and clothed with rich vegetation; and the waves, at the +time they were there breaking and foaming over a rock on the south- +eastern side, added to the beauty of the picture. Exceedingly lofty +mountains, perhaps 8000 feet above the sea-level, stand near the +eastern shore. When their lofty steep-sided summits appear, some +above, some below the clouds, the scene is grand. This range is +called Milanje; on the west stands Mount Zomba, 7000 feet in height, +and some twenty miles long. + +Their object being rather to gain the confidence of the people by +degrees than to explore, they considered that they had advanced far +enough into the country for one trip; and believing that they could +secure their end by a repetition of their visit, as they had done on +the Shire, they decided to return to the vessel at Dakanamoio island; +but, instead of returning by the way they came, they passed down +southwards close by Mount Chiradzuru, among the relatives of Chibisa, +and thence by the pass Zedi, down to the Shire. The Kroomen had, +while we were away, cut a good supply of wood for steaming, and we +soon proceeded down the river. + +The steamer reached Tette on the 23rd of June, and, after undergoing +repairs, proceeded to the Kongone to receive provisions from one of +H.M. cruisers. We had been very abundantly supplied with first-rate +stores, but were unfortunate enough to lose a considerable portion of +them, and had now to bear the privation as best we could. On the way +down, we purchased a few gigantic cabbages and pumpkins at a native +village below Mazaro. Our dinners had usually consisted of but a +single course; but we were surprised the next day by our black cook +from Sierra Leone bearing in a second course. "What have you got +there?" was asked in wonder. "A tart, sir." "A tart! of what is it +made?" "Of cabbage, sir." As we had no sugar, and could not "make +believe," as in the days of boyhood, we did not enjoy the feast that +Tom's genius had prepared. Her Majesty's brig "Persian," Lieutenant +Saumarez commanding, called on her way to the Cape; and, though +somewhat short of provisions herself, generously gave us all she +could spare. We now parted with our Kroomen, as, from their +inability to march, we could not use them in our land journeys. A +crew was picked out from the Makololo, who, besides being good +travellers, could cut wood, work the ship, and required only native +food. + +While at the Kongone it was found necessary to beach the steamer for +repairs. She was built of a newly invented sort of steel plates, +only a sixteenth of an inch in thickness, patented, but unfortunately +never tried before. To build an exploring ship of untried material +was a mistake. Some chemical action on this preparation of steel +caused a minute hole; from this point, branches like lichens, or the +little ragged stars we sometimes see in thawing ice, radiated in all +directions. Small holes went through wherever a bend occurred in +these branches. The bottom very soon became like a sieve, completely +full of minute holes, which leaked perpetually. The engineer stopped +the larger ones, but the vessel was no sooner afloat, than new ones +broke out. The first news of a morning was commonly the unpleasant +announcement of another leak in the forward compartment, or in the +middle, which was worse still. + +Frequent showers fell on our way up the Zambesi, in the beginning of +August. On the 8th we had upwards of three inches of rain, which +large quantity, more than falls in any single rainy day during the +season at Tette, we owed to being near the sea. Sometimes the cabin +was nearly flooded; for, in addition to the leakage from below, rain +poured through the roof, and an umbrella had to be used whenever we +wished to write: the mode of coupling the compartments, too, was a +new one, and the action of the hinder compartment on the middle one +pumped up the water of the river, and sent it in streams over the +floor and lockers, where lay the cushions which did double duty as +chairs and beds. In trying to form an opinion of the climate, it +must be recollected that much of the fever, from which we suffered, +was caused by sleeping on these wet cushions. Many of the botanical +specimens, laboriously collected and carefully prepared by Dr. Kirk, +were destroyed, or double work imposed, by their accidentally falling +into wet places in the cabin. + +About the middle of August, after cutting wood at Shamoara, we again +steamed up the Shire, with the intention of becoming better +acquainted with the people, and making another and longer journey on +foot to the north of Lake Shirwa, in search of Lake Nyassa, of which +we had already received some information, under the name Nyinyesi +(the stars). The Shire is much narrower than the Zambesi, but +deeper, and more easily navigated. It drains a low and exceedingly +fertile valley of from fifteen to twenty miles in breadth. Ranges of +wooded hills bound this valley on both sides. For the first twenty +miles the hills on the left bank are close to the river; then comes +Morambala, a detached mountain 500 yards from the river's brink, +which rises, with steep sides on the west, to 4000 feet in height, +and is about seven miles in length. It is wooded up to the very top, +and very beautiful. The southern end, seen from a distance, has a +fine gradual slope, and looks as if it might be of easy ascent; but +the side which faces the Shire is steep and rocky, especially in the +upper half. A small village peeps out about halfway up the mountain; +it has a pure and bracing atmosphere; and is perched above mosquito +range. The people on the summit have a very different climate and +vegetation from those of the plains; but they have to spend a great +portion of their existence amidst white fleecy clouds, which, in the +rainy season, rest daily on the top of their favourite mountain. We +were kindly treated by these mountaineers on our first ascent; before +our second they were nearly all swept away by Mariano. Dr. Kirk +found upwards of thirty species of ferns on this and other mountains, +and even good-sized tree-ferns; though scarcely a single kind is to +be met with on the plains. Lemon and orange trees grew wild, and +pineapples had been planted by the people. Many large hornbills, +hawks, monkeys, antelopes, and rhinoceroses found a home and food +among the great trees round its base. A hot fountain boils up on the +plain near the north end. It bubbles out of the earth, clear as +crystal, at two points, or eyes, a few yards apart from each other, +and sends off a fine flowing stream of hot water. The temperature +was found to be 174 degrees Fahr., and it boiled an egg in about the +usual time. Our guide threw in a small branch to show us how +speedily the Madse-awira (boiling water) could kill the leaves. +Unlucky lizards and insects did not seem to understand the nature of +a hot-spring, as many of their remains were lying at the bottom. A +large beetle had alighted on the water, and been killed before it had +time to fold its wings. An incrustation, smelling of sulphur, has +been deposited by the water on the stones. About a hundred feet from +the eye of the fountain the mud is as hot as can be borne by the +body. In taking a bath there, it makes the skin perfectly clean, and +none of the mud adheres: it is strange that the Portuguese do not +resort to it for the numerous cutaneous diseases with which they are +so often afflicted. + +A few clumps of the palm and acacia trees appear west of Morambala, +on the rich plain forming the tongue of land between the rivers Shire +and Zambesi. This is a good place for all sorts of game. The +Zambesi canoe-men were afraid to sleep on it from the idea of lions +being there; they preferred to pass the night on an island. Some +black men, who accompanied us as volunteer workmen from Shupanga, +called out one evening that a lion stood on the bank. It was very +dark, and we could only see two sparkling lights, said to be the +lion's eyes looking at us; for here, as elsewhere, they have a theory +that the lion's eyes always flash fire at night. Not being +fireflies--as they did not move when a shot was fired in their +direction--they were probably glowworms. + +Beyond Morambala the Shire comes winding through an extensive marsh. +For many miles to the north a broad sea of fresh green grass extends, +and is so level, that it might be used for taking the meridian +altitude of the sun. Ten or fifteen miles north of Morambala, stands +the dome-shaped mountain Makanga, or Chi-kanda; several others with +granitic-looking peaks stretch away to the north, and form the +eastern boundary of the valley; another range, but of metamorphic +rocks, commencing opposite Senna, bounds the valley on the west. +After streaming through a portion of this marsh, we came to a broad +belt of palm and other trees, crossing the fine plain on the right +bank. Marks of large game were abundant. Elephants had been feeding +on the palm nuts, which have a pleasant fruity taste, and are used as +food by man. Two pythons were observed coiled together among the +branches of a large tree, and were both shot. The larger of the two, +a female, was ten feet long. They are harmless, and said to be good +eating. The Makololo having set fire to the grass where they were +cutting wood, a solitary buffalo rushed out of the conflagration, and +made a furious charge at an active young fellow named Mantlanyane. +Never did his fleet limbs serve him better than during the few +seconds of his fearful flight before the maddened animal. When he +reached the bank, and sprang into the river, the infuriated beast was +scarcely six feet behind him. Towards evening, after the day's +labour in wood-cutting was over, some of the men went fishing. They +followed the common African custom of agitating the water, by giving +it a few sharp strokes with the top of the fishing-rod, immediately +after throwing in the line, to attract the attention of the fish to +the bait. Having caught nothing, the reason assigned was the same as +would have been given in England under like circumstances, namely, +that "the wind made the fish cold, and they would not bite." Many +gardens of maize, pumpkins, and tobacco, fringed the marshy banks as +we went on. They belong to natives of the hills, who come down in +the dry season, and raise a crop on parts at other times flooded. +While the crops are growing, large quantities of fish are caught, +chiefly Clarias capensis, and Mugil Africanus; they are dried for +sale or future consumption. + +As we ascended, we passed a deep stream about thirty yards wide, +flowing in from a body of open water several miles broad. Numbers of +men were busy at different parts of it, filling their canoes with the +lotus root, called Nyika, which, when boiled or roasted, resembles +our chestnuts, and is extensively used in Africa as food. Out of +this lagoon, and by this stream, the chief part of the duckweed of +the Shire flows. The lagoon itself is called Nyanja ea Motope (Lake +of Mud). It is also named Nyanja Pangono (Little Lake), while the +elephant marsh goes by the name of Nyanja Mukulu (Great Lake). It is +evident from the shore line still to be observed on the adjacent +hills, that in ancient times these were really lakes, and the +traditional names thus preserved are only another evidence of the +general desiccation which Africa has undergone. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +The Steamer in difficulties--Elephant hunting--Arrival at Chibisa's-- +Search for Lake Nyassa--The Manganja country--Weavers and smelters-- +Lake Pamalombe. + +Late in the afternoon of the first day's steaming, after we left the +wooding-place, we called at the village of Chikanda-Kadze, a female +chief, to purchase rice for our men; but we were now in the blissful +region where time is absolutely of no account, and where men may sit +down and rest themselves when tired; so they requested us to wait +till next day, and they would then sell us some food. As our forty +black men, however, had nothing to cook for supper, we were obliged +to steam on to reach a village a few miles above. When we meet those +who care not whether we purchase or let it alone, or who think men +ought only to be in a hurry when fleeing from an enemy, our ideas +about time being money, and the power of the purse, receives a shock. +The state of eager competition, which in England wears out both mind +and body, and makes life bitter, is here happily unknown. The +cultivated spots are mere dots compared to the broad fields of rich +soil which is never either grazed or tilled. Pity that the plenty in +store for all, from our Father's bountiful hands, is not enjoyed by +more. + +The wretched little steamer could not carry all the hands we needed; +so, to lighten her, we put some into the boats and towed them astern. +In the dark, one of the boats was capsized; but all in it, except one +poor fellow who could not swim, were picked up. His loss threw a +gloom over us all, and added to the chagrin we often felt at having +been so ill-served in our sorry craft. + +Next day we arrived at the village of Mboma (16 degrees 56 minutes 30 +seconds S.), where the people raised large quantities of rice, and +were eager traders; the rice was sold at wonderfully low rates, and +we could not purchase a tithe of the food brought for sale. + +A native minstrel serenaded us in the evening, playing several quaint +tunes on a species of one stringed fiddle, accompanied by wild, but +not unmusical songs. He told the Makololo that he intended to play +all night to induce us to give him a present. The nights being cold, +the thermometer falling to 47 degrees, with occasional fogs, he was +asked if he was not afraid of perishing from cold; but, with the +genuine spirit of an Italian organ-grinder, he replied, "Oh, no; I +shall spend the night with my white comrades in the big canoe; I have +often heard of the white men, but have never seen them till now, and +I must sing and play well to them." A small piece of cloth, however, +bought him off, and he moved away in good humour. The water of the +river was 70 degrees at sunrise, which was 23 degrees warmer than the +air at the same time, and this caused fogs, which rose like steam off +the river. When this is the case cold bathing in the mornings at +this time of the year is improper, for, instead of a glow on coming +out, one is apt to get a chill; the air being so much colder than the +water. + +A range of hills, commencing opposite Senna, comes to within two or +three miles of Mboma village, and then runs in a north-westerly +direction; the principal hill is named Malawe; a number of villages +stand on its tree-covered sides, and coal is found cropping out in +the rocks. The country improves as we ascend, the rich valley +becoming less swampy, and adorned with a number of trees. + +Both banks are dotted with hippopotamus traps, over every track which +these animals have made in going up out of the water to graze. The +hippopotamus feeds on grass alone, and, where there is any danger, +only at night. Its enormous lips act like a mowing-machine, and form +a path of short-cropped grass as it feeds. We never saw it eat +aquatic plants or reeds. The tusks seem weapons of both offence and +defence. The hippopotamus trap consists of a beam five or six feet +long, armed with a spear-head or hard-wood spike, covered with +poison, and suspended to a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down +to the path, is held by a catch, to be set free when the beast treads +on it. Being wary brutes, they are still very numerous. One got +frightened by the ship, as she was steaming close to the bank. In +its eager hurry to escape it rushed on shore, and ran directly under +a trap, when down came the heavy beam on its back, driving the +poisoned spear-head a foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it +plunged back into the river, to die in a few hours, and afterwards +furnished a feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head does +not affect the meat, except the part around the wound, and that is +thrown away. In some places the descending beam is weighted with +heavy stones, but here the hard heavy wood is sufficient. + +"She is leaking worse than ever forward, sir, and there is a foot of +water in the hold," was our first salutation on the morning of the +20th. But we have become accustomed to these things now; the cabin- +floor is always wet, and one is obliged to mop up the water many +times a day, giving some countenance to the native idea that +Englishmen live in or on the water, and have no houses but ships. +The cabin is now a favourite breeding-place for mosquitoes, and we +have to support both the ship-bred and shore-bred bloodsuckers, of +which several species show us their irritating attentions. A large +brown sort, called by the Portuguese mansos (tame), flies straight to +its victim, and goes to work at once, as though it were an invited +guest. Some of the small kinds carry uncommonly sharp lancets, and +very potent poison. "What would these insects eat, if we did not +pass this way?" becomes a natural question. + +The juices of plants, and decaying vegetable matter in the mud, +probably form the natural food of mosquitoes, and blood is not +necessary for their existence. They appear so commonly at malarious +spots, that their presence may be taken as a hint to man to be off to +more healthy localities. None appear on the high lands. On the low +lands they swarm in myriads. The females alone are furnished with +the biting apparatus, and their number appears to be out of all +proportion in excess of the males. At anchor, on a still evening, +they were excessively annoying; and the sooner we took refuge under +our mosquito curtains, the better. The miserable and sleepless night +that only one mosquito inside the curtain can cause, is so well +known, and has been so often described, that it is needless to +describe it here. One soon learns, from experience, that to beat out +the curtains thoroughly before entering them, so that not one of +these pests can possibly be harboured within, is the only safeguard +against such severe trials to one's tranquillity and temper. + +A few miles above Mboma we came again to the village (16 degrees 44 +minutes 30 seconds S.) of the chief Tingane, the beat of whose war- +drums can speedily muster some hundreds of armed men. The bows and +poisoned arrows here are of superior workmanship to those below. +Mariano's slave-hunting parties stood in great awe of these barbed +arrows, and long kept aloof from Tingane's villages. His people were +friendly enough with us now, and covered the banks with a variety of +articles for sale. The majestic mountain, Chipirone, to which we +have given the name of Mount Clarendon, now looms in sight, and +further to the N.W. the southern end of the grand Milanje range rises +in the form of an unfinished sphinx looking down on Lake Shirwa. The +Ruo (16 degrees 31 minutes 0 seconds S.) is said to have its source +in the Milanje mountains, and flows to the S.W., to join the Shire +some distance above Tingane's. A short way beyond the Ruo lies the +Elephant marsh, or Nyanja Mukulu, which is frequented by vast herds +of these animals. We believe that we counted eight hundred elephants +in sight at once. In the choice of such a strong hold, they have +shown their usual sagacity, for no hunter can get near them through +the swamps. They now keep far from the steamer; but, when she first +came up, we steamed into the midst of a herd, and some were shot from +the ship's deck. A single lesson was sufficient to teach them that +the steamer was a thing to be avoided; and at the first glimpse they +are now off two or three miles to the midst of the marsh, which is +furrowed in every direction by wandering branches of the Shire. A +fine young elephant was here caught alive, as he was climbing up the +bank to follow his retreating dam. When laid hold of, he screamed +with so much energy that, to escape a visit from the enraged mother, +we steamed off, and dragged him through the water by the proboscis. +As the men were holding his trunk over the gunwale, Monga, a brave +Makololo elephant-hunter, rushed aft, and drew his knife across it in +a sort of frenzy peculiar to the chase. The wound was skilfully sewn +up, and the young animal soon became quite tame, but, unfortunately +the breathing prevented the cut from healing, and he died in a few +days from loss of blood. Had he lived, and had we been able to bring +him home, he would have been the first AFRICAN elephant ever seen in +England. The African male elephant is from ten to a little over +eleven feet in height, and differs from the Asiatic species more +particularly in the convex shape of his forehead, and the enormous +size of his ears. In Asia many of the males, and all the females, +are without tusks, but in Africa both sexes are provided with these +weapons. The enamel in the molar teeth is arranged differently in +the two species. By an admirable provision, new teeth constantly +come up at the part where in man the wisdom teeth appear, and these +push the others along, and out at the front end of the jaws, thus +keeping the molars sound by renewal, till the animal attains a very +great age. The tusks of animals from dry rocky countries are very +munch more dense and heavier than those from wet and marshy +districts, but the latter attain much the larger size. + +The Shire marshes support prodigious numbers of many kinds of water- +fowl. An hour at the mast-head unfolds novel views of life in an +African marsh. Near the edge, and on the branches of some favourite +tree, rest scores of plotuses and cormorants, which stretch their +snake-like necks, and in mute amazement turn one eye and then another +towards the approaching monster. By and-by the timid ones begin to +fly off, or take "headers" into the stream; but a few of the bolder, +or more composed, remain, only taking the precaution to spread their +wings ready for instant flight. The pretty ardetta (Herodias +bubulcus), of a light yellow colour when at rest, but seemingly of a +pure white when flying, takes wing, and sweeps across the green grass +in large numbers, often showing us where buffaloes and elephants are, +by perching on their backs. Flocks of ducks, of which the kind +called "Soriri" (Dendrocygna personata) is most abundant, being night +feeders, meditate quietly by the small lagoons, until startled by the +noise of the steam machinery. Pelicans glide over the water, +catching fish, while the Scopus (Scopus umbretta) and large herons +peer intently into pools. The large black and white spur-winged +goose (a constant marauder of native gardens) springs up, and circles +round to find out what the disturbance can be, and then settles down +again with a splash. Hundreds of Linongolos (Anastomus lamelligerus) +rise on the wing from the clumps of reeds, or low trees (the +Eschinomena, from which pith hats are made), on which they build in +colonies, and are speedily high in mid-air. Charming little red and +yellow weavers (Ploceidae) remind one of butterflies, as they fly in +and out of the tall grass, or hang to the mouths of their pendent +nests, chattering briskly to their mates within. These weavers seem +to have "cock nests," built with only a roof, and a perch beneath, +with a doorway on each side. The natives say they are made to +protect the bird from the rain. Though her husband is very +attentive, we have seen the hen bird tearing her mate's nest to +pieces, but why we cannot tell. Kites and vultures are busy +overhead, beating the ground for their repast of carrion; and the +solemn-looking, stately-stepping Marabout, with a taste for dead +fish, or men, stalks slowly along the almost stagnant channels. +Groups of men and boys are searching diligently in various places for +lotus and other roots. Some are standing in canoes, on the weed- +covered ponds, spearing fish, while others are punting over the small +intersecting streams, to examine their sunken fish-baskets. + +Towards evening, hundreds of pretty little hawks (Erythropus +vespertinus) are seen flying in a southerly direction, and feeding on +dragon-flies and locusts. They come, apparently, from resting on the +palm-trees during the heat of the day. Flocks of scissor-bills +(Rhyncops) are then also on the wing, and in search of food, +ploughing the water with their lower mandibles, which are nearly half +an inch longer than the upper ones. + +At the north-eastern end of the marsh, and about three miles from the +river, commences a great forest of palm-trees (Borassus Aethiopium). +It extends many miles, and at one point comes close to the river. +The grey trunks and green tops of this immense mass of trees give a +pleasing tone of colour to the view. The mountain-range, which rises +close behind the palms, is generally of a cheerful green, and has +many trees, with patches of a lighter tint among them, as if spots of +land had once been cultivated. The sharp angular rocks and dells on +its sides have the appearance of a huge crystal broken; and this is +so often the case in Africa, that one can guess pretty nearly at +sight whether a range is of the old crystalline rocks or not. The +Borassus, though not an oil-bearing palm, is a useful tree. The +fibrous pulp round the large nuts is of a sweet fruity taste, and is +eaten by men and elephants. The natives bury the nuts until the +kernels begin to sprout; when dug up and broken, the inside resembles +coarse potatoes, and is prized in times of scarcity as nutritious +food. During several months of the year, palm-wine, or sura, is +obtained in large quantities; when fresh, it is a pleasant drink, +somewhat like champagne, and not at all intoxicating; though, after +standing a few hours, it becomes highly so. Sticks, a foot long, are +driven into notches in the hard outside of the tree--the inside being +soft or hollow--to serve as a ladder; the top of the fruit-shoot is +cut off, and the sap, pouring out at the fresh wound, is caught in an +earthen pot, which is hung at the point. A thin slice is taken off +the end, to open the pores, and make the juice flow every time the +owner ascends to empty the pot. Temporary huts are erected in the +forest, and men and boys remain by their respective trees day and +night; the nuts, fish, and wine, being their sole food. The +Portuguese use the palm-wine as yeast, and it makes bread so light, +that it melts in the mouth like froth. + +Beyond the marsh the country is higher, and has a much larger +population. We passed a long line of temporary huts, on a plain on +the right bank, with crowds of men and women hard at work making +salt. They obtain it by mixing the earth, which is here highly +saline, with water, in a pot with a small hole in it, and then +evaporating the liquid, which runs through, in the sun. From the +number of women we saw carrying it off in bags, we concluded that +vast quantities must be made at these works. It is worth observing +that on soils like this, containing salt, the cotton is of larger and +finer staple than elsewhere. We saw large tracts of this rich +brackish soil both in the Shire and Zambesi valleys, and hence, +probably, sea-island cotton would do well; a single plant of it, +reared by Major Sicard, flourished and produced the long staple and +peculiar tinge of this celebrated variety, though planted only in the +street at Tette; and there also a salt efflorescence appears, +probably from decomposition of the rock, off which the people scrape +it for use. + +The large village of the chief, Mankokwe, occupies a site on the +right bank; he owns a number of fertile islands, and is said to be +the Rundo, or paramount chief, of a large district. Being of an +unhappy suspicious disposition, he would not see us; so we thought it +best to move on, rather than spend time in seeking his favour. + +On the 25th August we reached Dakanamoio island, opposite the +perpendicular bluff on which Chibisa's village stands; he had gone, +with most of his people, to live near the Zambesi, but his headman +was civil, and promised us guides and whatever else we needed. A few +of the men were busy cleaning, sorting, spinning, and weaving cotton. +This is a common sight in nearly every village, and each family +appears to have its patch of cotton, as our own ancestors in Scotland +had each his patch of flax. Near sunset an immense flock of the +large species of horn-bill (Buceros cristatus) came here to roost on +the great trees which skirt the edge of the cliff. They leave early +in the morning, often before sunrise, for their feeding-places, +coming and going in pairs. They are evidently of a loving +disposition, and strongly attached to each other, the male always +nestling close beside his mate. A fine male fell to the ground, from +fear, at the report of Dr. Kirk's gun; it was caught and kept on +board; the female did not go off in the mornings to feed with the +others, but flew round the ship, anxiously trying, by her plaintive +calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her: she came again in +the evenings to repeat the invitations. The poor disconsolate +captive soon refused to eat, and in five days died of grief, because +he could not have her company. No internal injury could be detected +after death. + +Chibisa and his wife, with a natural show of parental feeling, had +told the Doctor, on his previous visit, that a few years before some +of Chisaka's men had kidnapped and sold their little daughter, and +that she was now a slave to the padre at Tette. On his return to +Tette, the Doctor tried hard to ransom and restore the girl to her +parents, and offered twice the value of a slave; the padre seemed +willing, but she could not be found. This padre was better than the +average men of the country; and, being always civil and obliging, +would probably have restored her gratuitously, but she had been sold, +it might be to the distant tribe Bazizulu, or he could not tell +where. Custom had rendered his feelings callous, and Chibisa had to +be told that his child would never return. It is this callous state +of mind which leads some of our own blood to quote Scripture in +support of slavery. If we could afford to take a backward step in +civilization, we might find men among ourselves who would in like +manner prove Mormonism or any other enormity to be divine. + +We left the ship on the 28th of August, 1859, for the discovery of +Lake Nyassa. Our party numbered forty-two in all--four whites, +thirty-six Makololo, and two guides. We did not actually need so +many, either for carriage or defence; but took them because we +believed that, human nature being everywhere the same, blacks are as +ready as whites to take advantage of the weak, and are as civil and +respectful to the powerful. We armed our men with muskets, which +gave us influence, although it did not add much to our strength, as +most of the men had never drawn a trigger, and in any conflict would +in all probability have been more dangerous to us than the enemy. + +Our path crossed the valley, in a north-easterly direction, up the +course of a beautiful flowing stream. Many of the gardens had +excellent cotton growing in them. An hour's march brought us to the +foot of the Manganja hills, up which lay the toilsome road. The +vegetation soon changed; as we rose bamboos appeared, and new trees +and plants were met with, which gave such incessant employment to Dr. +Kirk, that he travelled the distance three times over. Remarkably +fine trees, one of which has oil-yielding seeds, and belongs to the +mahogany family, grow well in the hollows along the rivulet courses. +The ascent became very fatiguing, and we were glad of a rest. +Looking back from an elevation of a thousand feet, we beheld a lovely +prospect. The eye takes in at a glance the valley beneath, and the +many windings of its silver stream Makubula, or Kubvula, from the +shady hill-side, where it emerges in foaming haste, to where it +slowly glides into the tranquil Shire; then the Shire itself is seen +for many a mile above and below Chibisa's, and the great level +country beyond, with its numerous green woods; until the prospect, +west and north-west, is bounded far away by masses of peaked and +dome-shaped blue mountains, that fringe the highlands of the Maravi +country. + +After a weary march we halted at Makolongwi, the village of Chitimba. +It stands in a woody hollow on the first of the three terraces of the +Manganja hills, and, like all other Manganja villages, is surrounded +by an impenetrable hedge of poisonous euphorbia. This tree casts a +deep shade, which would render it difficult for bowmen to take aim at +the villagers inside. The grass does not grow beneath it, and this +may be the reason why it is so universally used, for when dry the +grass would readily convey fire to the huts inside; moreover, the +hedge acts as a fender to all flying sparks. As strangers are wont +to do, we sat down under some fine trees near the entrance of the +village. A couple of mats, made of split reeds, were spread for the +white men to sit on; and the headman brought a seguati, or present, +of a small goat and a basket of meal. The full value in beads and +cotton cloth was handed to him in return. He measured the cloth, +doubled it, and then measured that again. The beads were +scrutinized; he had never seen beads of that colour before, and +should like to consult with his comrades before accepting them, and +this, after repeated examinations and much anxious talk, he concluded +to do. Meal and peas were then brought for sale. A fathom of blue +cotton cloth, a full dress for man or woman, was produced. Our +Makololo headman, Sininyane, thinking a part of it was enough for the +meal, was proceeding to tear it, when Chitimba remarked that it was a +pity to cut such a nice dress for his wife, he would rather bring +more meal. "All right," said Sininyane; "but look, the cloth is very +wide, so see that the basket which carries the meal be wide too, and +add a cock to make the meal taste nicely." A brisk trade sprang up +at once, each being eager to obtain as fine things as his neighbour,- +-and all were in good humour. Women and girls began to pound and +grind meal, and men and boys chased the screaming fowls over the +village, until they ran them down. In a few hours the market was +completely glutted with every sort of native food; the prices, +however, rarely fell, as they could easily eat what was not sold. + +We slept under the trees, the air being pheasant, and no mosquitoes +on the hills. According to our usual plan of marching, by early dawn +our camp was in motion. After a cup of coffee and a bit of biscuit +we were on the way. The air was deliciously cool, and the path a +little easier than that of yesterday. We passed a number of +villages, occupying very picturesque spots among the hills, and in a +few hours gained the upper terrace, 3000 feet above the level of the +sea. The plateau lies west of the Milanje mountains, and its north- +eastern border slopes down to Lake Shirwa. We were all charmed with +the splendid country, and looked with never-failing delight on its +fertile plains, its numerous hills, and majestic mountains. In some +of the passes we saw bramble-berries growing; and the many other +flowers, though of great beauty, did not remind us of youth and of +home like the ungainly thorny bramble-bushes. We were a week in +crossing the high-lands in a northerly direction; then we descended +into the Upper Shire Valley, which is nearly 1200 feet above the +level of the sea. This valley is wonderfully fertile, and supports a +large population. After leaving the somewhat flat-topped southern +portion, the most prominent mountain of the Zomba range is Njongone, +which has a fine stream running past its northern base. We were +detained at the end of the chain some days by one of our companions +being laid up with fever. One night we were suddenly aroused by +buffaloes rushing close by the sick-bed. We were encamped by a wood +on the border of a marsh, but our patient soon recovered, +notwithstanding the unfavourable situation, and the poor +accommodation. + +The Manganja country is delightfully well watered. The clear, cool, +gushing streams are very numerous. Once we passed seven fine brooks +and a spring in a single hour, and this, too, near the close of the +dry season. Mount Zomba, which is twenty miles long, and from 7000 +to 8000 feet high, has a beautiful stream flowing through a verdant +valley on its summit, and running away down into Lake Shirwa. The +highlands are well wooded, and many trees, admirable for their height +and timber, grow on the various watercourses. "Is this country good +for cattle?" we inquired of a Makololo herdsman, whose occupation had +given him skill in pasturage. "Truly," he replied, "do you not see +abundance of those grasses which the cattle love, and get fat upon?" +Yet the people have but few goats, and fewer sheep. With the +exception of an occasional leopard, there are no beasts of prey to +disturb domestic animals. Wool-sheep would, without doubt, thrive on +these highlands. Part of the Upper Shire valley has a lady +paramount, named Nyango; and in her dominions women rank higher and +receive more respectful treatment than their sisters on the hills. + +The hill chief, Mongazi, called his wife to take charge of a present +we had given him. She dropped down on her knees, clapping her hands +in reverence, before and after receiving our presents from his lordly +hands. It was painful to see the abject manner in which the women of +the hill tribes knelt beside the path as we passed; but a great +difference took place when we got into Nyango's country. + +On entering a village, we proceeded, as all strangers do, at once to +the Boalo: mats of split reeds or bamboo were usually spread for us +to sit on. Our guides then told the men who might be there, who we +were, whence we had come, whither we wanted to go, and what were our +objects. This information was duly carried to the chief, who, if a +sensible man, came at once; but, if he happened to be timid and +suspicious, waited until he had used divination, and his warriors had +time to come in from outlying hamlets. When he makes his appearance, +all the people begin to clap their hands in unison, and continue +doing so till he sits down opposite to us. His counsellors take +their places beside him. He makes a remark or two, and is then +silent for a few seconds. Our guides then sit down in front of the +chief and his counsellors, and both parties lean forward, looking +earnestly at each other; the chief repeats a word, such as "Ambuiatu" +(our Father, or master)--or "moio" (life), and all clap their hands. +Another word is followed by two claps, a third by still more +clapping, when each touches the ground with both hands placed +together. Then all rise and lean forward with measured clap, and sit +down again with clap, clap, clap, fainter, and still fainter, till +the last dies away, or is brought to an end by a smart loud clap from +the chief. They keep perfect time in this species of court +etiquette. Our guides now tell the chief, often in blank verse, all +they have already told his people, with the addition perhaps of their +own suspicions of the visitors. He asks some questions, and then +converses with us through the guides. Direct communication between +the chief and the head of the stranger party is not customary. In +approaching they often ask who is the spokesman, and the spokesman of +the chief addresses the person indicated exclusively. There is no +lack of punctilious good manners. The accustomed presents are +exchanged with civil ceremoniousness; until our men, wearied and +hungry, call out, "English do not buy slaves, they buy food," and +then the people bring meal, maize, fowls, batatas, yams, beans, beer, +for sale. + +The Manganja are an industrious race; and in addition to working in +iron, cotton, and basket-making, they cultivate the soil extensively. +All the people of a village turn out to labour in the fields. It is +no uncommon thing to see men, women, and children hard at work, with +the baby lying close by beneath a shady bush. When a new piece of +woodland is to be cleared, they proceed exactly as farmers do in +America. The trees are cut down with their little axes of soft +native iron; trunks and branches are piled up and burnt, and the +ashes spread on the soil. The corn is planted among the standing +stumps which are left to rot. If grass land is to be brought under +cultivation, as much tall grass as the labourer can conveniently lay +hold of is collected together and tied into a knot. He then strikes +his hoe round the tufts to sever the roots, and leaving all standing, +proceeds until the whole ground assumes the appearance of a field +covered with little shocks of corn in harvest. A short time before +the rains begin, these grass shocks are collected in small heaps, +covered with earth, and burnt, the ashes and burnt soil being used to +fertilize the ground. Large crops of the mapira, or Egyptian dura +(Holcus sorghum), are raised, with millet, beans, and ground-nuts; +also patches of yams, rice, pumpkins, cucumbers, cassava, sweet +potatoes, tobacco, and hemp, or bang (Cannabis setiva). Maize is +grown all the year round. Cotton is cultivated at almost every +village. Three varieties of cotton have been found in the country, +namely, two foreign and one native. The "tonje manga," or foreign +cotton, the name showing that it has been introduced, is of excellent +quality, and considered at Manchester to be nearly equal to the best +New Orleans. It is perennial, but requires replanting once in three +years. A considerable amount of this variety is grown in the Upper +and Lower Shire valleys. Every family of any importance owns a +cotton patch which, from the entire absence of weeds, seemed to be +carefully cultivated. Most were small, none seen on this journey +exceeding half an acre; but on the former trip some were observed of +more than twice that size. + +The "tonje cadja," or indigenous cotton, is of shorter staple, and +feels in the hand like wool. This kind has to be planted every +season in the highlands; yet, because it makes stronger cloth, many +of the people prefer it to the foreign cotton; the third variety is +not found here. It was remarked to a number of men near the Shire +Lakelet, a little further on towards Nyassa, "You should plant plenty +of cotton, and probably the English will come and buy it." "Truly," +replied a far-travelled Babisa trader to his fellows, "the country is +full of cotton, and if these people come to buy they will enrich us." +Our own observation on the cotton cultivated convinced us that this +was no empty flourish, but a fact. Everywhere we met with it, and +scarcely ever entered a village without finding a number of men +cleaning, spinning, and weaving. It is first carefully separated +from the seed by the fingers, or by an iron roller, on a little block +of wood, and rove out into long soft bands without twist. Then it +receives its first twist on the spindle, and becomes about the +thickness of coarse candlewick; after being taken off and wound into +a large ball, it is given the final hard twist, and spun into a firm +cop on the spindle again: all the processes being painfully slow. + +Iron ore is dug out of the hills, and its manufacture is the staple +trade of the southern highlands. Each village has its smelting- +house, its charcoal-burners, and blacksmiths. They make good axes, +spears, needles, arrowheads, bracelets and anklets, which, +considering the entire absence of machinery, are sold at surprisingly +low rates; a hoe over two pounds in weight is exchanged for calico of +about the value of fourpence. In villages near Lake Shirwa and +elsewhere, the inhabitants enter pretty largely into the manufacture +of crockery, or pottery, making by hand all sorts of cooking, water, +and grain pots, which they ornament with plumbago found in the hills. +Some find employment in weaving neat baskets from split bamboos, and +others collect the fibre of the buaze, which grows abundantly on the +hills, and make it into fish-nets. These they either use themselves, +or exchange with the fishermen on the river or lakes for dried fish +and salt. A great deal of native trade is carried on between the +villages, by means of barter in tobacco, salt, dried fish, skins, and +iron. Many of the men are intelligent-looking, with well-shaped +heads, agreeable faces, and high foreheads. We soon learned to +forget colour, and we frequently saw countenances resembling those of +white people we had known in England, which brought back the looks of +forgotten ones vividly before the mind. The men take a good deal of +pride in the arrangement of their hair; the varieties of style are +endless. One trains his long locks till they take the admired form +of the buffalo's horns; others prefer to let their hair hang in a +thick coil down their backs, like that animal's tail; while another +wears it in twisted cords, which, stiffened by fillets of the inner +bark of a tree wound spirally round each curl, radiate from the head +in all directions. Some have it hanging all round the shoulders in +large masses; others shave it off altogether. Many shave part of it +into ornamental figures, in which the fancy of the barber crops out +conspicuously. About as many dandies run to seed among the blacks as +among the whites. The Man ganja adorn their bodies extravagantly, +wearing rings on their fingers and thumbs, besides throatlets, +bracelets, and anklets of brass, copper, or iron. But the most +wonderful of ornaments, if such it may be called, is the pelele, or +upper-lip ring of the women. The middle of the upper lip of the +girls is pierced close to the septum of the nose, and a small pin +inserted to prevent the puncture closing up. After it has healed, +the pin is taken out and a larger one is pressed into its place, and +so on successively for weeks, and months, and years. The process of +increasing the size of the lip goes on till its capacity becomes so +great that a ring of two inches diameter can be introduced with ease. +All the highland women wear the pelele, and it is common on the Upper +and Lower Shire. The poorer classes make them of hollow or of solid +bamboo, but the wealthier of ivory or tin. The tin pelele is often +made in the form of a small dish. The ivory one is not unlike a +napkin-ring. No woman ever appears in public without the pelele, +except in times of mourning for the dead. It is frightfully ugly to +see the upper lip projecting two inches beyond the tip of the nose. +When an old wearer of a hollow bamboo ring smiles, by the action of +the muscles of the cheeks, the ring and lip outside it are dragged +back and thrown above the eyebrows. The nose is seen through the +middle of the ring, amid the exposed teeth show how carefully they +have been chipped to look like those of a cat or crocodile. The +pelele of an old lady, Chikanda Kadze, a chieftainess, about twenty +miles north of Morambala, hung down below her chin, with, of course, +a piece of the upper lip around its border. The labial letters +cannot be properly pronounced, but the under lip has to do its best +for them, against the upper teeth and gum. Tell them it makes them +ugly; they had better throw it away; they reply, "Kodi! Really! it +is the fashion." How this hideous fashion originated is an enigma. +Can thick lips ever have been thought beautiful, and this mode of +artificial enlargement resorted to in consequence? The constant +twiddling of the pelele with the tongue by the younger women +suggested the irreverent idea that it might have been invented to +give safe employment to that little member. "Why do the women wear +these things?" we inquired of the old chief, Chinsunse. Evidently +surprised at such a stupid question, he replied, "For beauty, to be +sure! Men have beards and whiskers; women have none; and what kind +of creature would a woman be without whiskers, and without the +pelele? She would have a mouth like a man, and no beard; ha! ha! +ha!" Afterwards on the Rovuma, we found men wearing the pelele, as +well as women. An idea suggested itself on seeing the effects of the +slight but constant pressure exerted on the upper gum and front +teeth, of which our medical brethren will judge the value. In many +cases the upper front teeth, instead of the natural curve outwards, +which the row presents, had been pressed so as to appear as if the +line of alveoli in which they were planted had an inward curve. As +this was produced by the slight pressure of the pelele backwards, +persons with too prominent teeth might by slight, but long-continued +pressure, by some appliance only as elastic as the lip, have the +upper gum and teeth depressed, especially in youth, more easily than +is usually imagined. The pressure should be applied to the upper gum +more than to the teeth. + +The Manganja are not a sober people: they brew large quantities of +beer, and like it well. Having no hops, or other means of checking +fermentation, they are obliged to drink the whole brew in a few days, +or it becomes unfit for use. Great merry-makings take place on these +occasions, and drinking, drumming, and dancing continue day and +night, till the beer is gone. In crossing the hills we sometimes +found whole villages enjoying this kind of mirth. The veteran +traveller of the party remarked, that he had not seen so much +drunkenness during all the sixteen years he had spent in Africa. As +we entered a village one afternoon, not a man was to be seen; but +some women were drinking beer under a tree. In a few moments the +native doctor, one of the innocents, "nobody's enemy but his own," +staggered out of a hut, with his cupping-horn dangling from his neck, +and began to scold us for a breach of etiquette. "Is this the way to +come into a man's village, without sending him word that you are +coming?" Our men soon pacified the fuddled but good-humoured medico, +who, entering his beer-cellar, called on two of them to help him to +carry out a huge pot of beer, which he generously presented to us. +While the "medical practitioner" was thus hospitably employed, the +chief awoke in a fright, and shouted to the women to run away, or +they would all be killed. The ladies laughed at the idea of their +being able to run away, and remained beside the beer-pots. We +selected a spot for our camp, our men cooked the dinner as usual, and +we were quietly eating it, when scores of armed men, streaming with +perspiration, came pouring into the village. They looked at us, then +at each other, and turning to the chief upbraided him for so +needlessly sending for them. "These people are peaceable; they do +not hurt you; you are killed with beer:" so saying, they returned to +their homes. + +Native beer has a pinkish colour, and the consistency of gruel. The +grain is made to vegetate, dried in the sun, pounded into meal, and +gently boiled. When only a day or two old, the beer is sweet, with a +slight degree of acidity, which renders it a most grateful beverage +in a hot climate, or when fever begets a sore craving for acid +drinks. A single draught of it satisfies this craving at once. Only +by deep and long-continued potations can intoxication be produced: +the grain being in a minutely divided state, it is a good way of +consuming it, and the decoction is very nutritious. At Tette a +measure of beer is exchanged for an equal-sized pot full of grain. A +present of this beer, so refreshing to our dark comrades, was brought +to us in nearly every village. Beer-drinking does not appear to +produce any disease, or to shorten life on the hills. Never before +did we see so many old, grey-headed men and women; leaning on their +staves they came with the others to see the white men. The aged +chief, Muata Manga, could hardly have been less than ninety years of +age; his venerable appearance struck the Makololo. "He is an old +man," said they, "a very old man; his skin hangs in wrinkles, just +like that on elephants' hips." "Did you never," he was asked, "have +a fit of travelling come over you; a desire to see other lands and +people?" No, he had never felt that, and had never been far from +home in his life. For long life they are not indebted to frequent +ablutions. An old man told us that he remembered to have washed once +in his life, but it was so long since that he had forgotten how it +felt. "Why do you wash?" asked Chinsunse's women of the Makololo; +"our men never do." + +The superstitious ordeal, by drinking the poisonous muave, obtains +credit here; and when a person is suspected of crime, this ordeal is +resorted to. If the stomach rejects the poison, the accused is +pronounced innocent; but if it is retained, guilt is believed to be +demonstrated. Their faith is so firm in its discriminating power, +that the supposed criminal offers of his own accord to drink it, and +even chiefs are not exempted. Chibisa, relying on its efficacy, +drank it several times, in order to vindicate his character. When +asserting that all his wars had been just, it was hinted that, as +every chief had the same tale of innocence to tell, we ought to +suspend our judgment. "If you doubt my word," said he, "give me the +muave to drink." A chief at the foot of Mount Zomba successfully +went through the ordeal the day we reached his village; and his +people manifested their joy at his deliverance by drinking beer, +dancing, and drumming for two days and nights. It is possible that +the native doctor, who mixes the ingredients of the poisoned bowl, +may be able to save those whom he considers innocent; but it is +difficult to get the natives to speak about the matter, and no one is +willing to tell what the muave poison consists of. We have been +shown trees said to be used, but had always reason to doubt the +accuracy of our informants. We once found a tree in a village, with +many pieces of the bark chipped off, closely allied to the Tangena or +Tanghina, the ordeal poison tree of Madagascar; but we could not +ascertain any particulars about it. Death is inflicted on those +found guilty of witchcraft, by the muave. + +The women wail for the dead two days. Seated on the ground they +chant a few plaintive words, and end each verse with the prolonged +sound of a-a, or o-o, or ea-ea-ea--a. Whatever beer is in the house +of the deceased, is poured out on the ground with the meal, and all +cooking and water pots are broken, as being of no further use. Both +men and women wear signs of mourning for their dead relatives. These +consist of narrow strips of the palm-leaf wound round the head, the +arms, legs, neck, and breasts, and worn till they drop off from +decay. They believe in the existence of a supreme being, called +Mpambe, and also Morungo, and in a future state. "We live only a few +days here," said old Chinsunse, "but we live again after death: we +do not know where, or in what condition, or with what companions, for +the dead never return to tell us. Sometimes the dead do come back, +and appear to us in dreams; but they never speak nor tell us where +they have gone, nor how they fare." + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +The Upper Shire--Discovery of Lake Nyassa--Distressing exploration-- +Return to Zambesi--Unpleasant visitors--Start for Sekeletu's Country +in the interior. + +Our path followed the Shire above the cataracts, which is now a broad +deep river, with but little current. It expands in one place into a +lakelet, called Pamalombe, full of fine fish, and ten or twelve miles +long by five or six in breadth. Its banks are low, and a dense wall +of papyrus encircles it. On its western shore rises a range of hills +running north. On reaching the village of the chief Muana-Moesi, and +about a day's march distant from Nyassa, we were told that no lake +had ever been heard of there; that the River Shire stretched on as we +saw it now to a distance of "two months," and then came out from +between perpendicular rocks, which towered almost to the skies. Our +men looked blank at this piece of news, and said, "Let us go back to +the ship, it is of no use trying to find the lake." "We shall go and +see those wonderful rocks at any rate," said the Doctor. "And when +you see them," replied Masakasa, "you will just want to see something +else. But there IS a lake," rejoined Masakasa, "for all their +denying it, for it is down in a book." Masakasa, having unbounded +faith in whatever was in a book, went and scolded the natives for +telling him an untruth. "There is a lake," said he, "for how could +the white men know about it in a book if it did not exist?" They +then admitted that there was a lake a few miles off. Subsequent +inquiries make it probable that the story of the "perpendicular +rocks" may have had reference to a fissure, known to both natives and +Arabs, in the north-eastern portion of the lake. The walls rise so +high that the path along the bottom is said to be underground. It is +probably a crack similar to that which made the Victoria Falls, and +formed the Shire Valley. + +The chief brought a small present of meal in the evening, and sat +with us for a few minutes. On leaving us he said that he wished we +might sleep well. Scarce had he gone, when a wild sad cry arose from +the river, followed by the shrieking of women. A crocodile had +carried off his principal wife, as she was bathing. The Makololo +snatched up their arms, and rushed to the bank, but it was too late, +she was gone. The wailing of the women continued all night, and next +morning we met others coming to the village to join in the general +mourning. Their grief was evidently heartfelt, as we saw the tears +coursing down their cheeks. In reporting this misfortune to his +neighbours, Muana-Moesi said, "that white men came to his village; +washed themselves at the place where his wife drew water and bathed; +rubbed themselves with a white medicine (soap); and his wife, having +gone to bathe afterwards, was taken by a crocodile; he did not know +whether in consequence of the medicine used or not." This we could +not find fault with. On our return we were viewed with awe, and all +the men fled at our approach; the women remained; and this elicited +the remark from our men, "The women have the advantage of men, in not +needing to dread the spear." The practice of bathing, which our +first contact with Chinsunse's people led us to believe was unknown +to the natives, we afterwards found to be common in other parts of +the Manganja country. + +We discovered Lake Nyassa a little before noon of the 16th September, +1859. Its southern end is in 14 degrees 25 minutes S. Lat., and 35 +degrees 30 minutes E. Long. At this point the valley is about twelve +miles wide. There are hills on both sides of the lake, but the haze +from burning grass prevented us at the time from seeing far. A long +time after our return from Nyassa, we received a letter from Captain +R. B. Oldfield, R.N., then commanding H.M.S. "Lyra," with the +information that Dr. Roscher, an enterprising German who +unfortunately lost his life in his zeal for exploration, had also +reached the Lake, but on the 19th November following our discovery; +and on his arrival had been informed by the natives that a party of +white men were at the southern extremity. On comparing dates (16th +September and 19th November) we were about two months before Dr. +Roscher. + +It is not known where Dr. Roscher first saw its waters; as the exact +position of Nusseewa on the borders of the Lake, where he lived some +time, is unknown. He was three days north-east of Nusseewa, and on +the Arab road back to the usual crossing-place of the Rovuma, when he +was murdered. The murderers were seized by one of the chiefs, sent +to Zanzibar, and executed. He is said to have kept his discoveries +to himself, with the intention of publishing in Europe the whole at +once, in a splendid book of travels. + +The chief of the village near the confluence of the Lake and River +Shire, an old man, called Mosauka, hearing that we were sitting under +a tree, came and kindly invited us to his village. He took us to a +magnificent banyan-tree, of which he seemed proud. The roots had +been trained down to the ground into the form of a gigantic arm- +chair, without the seat. Four of us slept in the space betwixt its +arms. Mosauka brought us a present of a goat and basket of meal "to +comfort our hearts." He told us that a large slave party, led by +Arabs, were encamped close by. They had been up to Cazembe's country +the past year, and were on their way back, with plenty of slaves, +ivory, and malachite. In a few minutes half a dozen of the leaders +came over to see us. They were armed with long muskets, and, to our +mind, were a villanous-looking lot. They evidently thought the same +of us, for they offered several young children for sale, but, when +told that we were English, showed signs of fear, and decamped during +the night. On our return to the Kongone, we found that H.M.S. "Lynx" +had caught some of these very slaves in a dhow; for a woman told us +she first saw us at Mosauka's, and that the Arabs had fled for fear +of an UNCANNY sort of Basungu. + +This is one of the great slave-paths from the interior, others cross +the Shire a little below, and some on the lake itself. We might have +released these slaves but did not know what to do with them +afterwards. On meeting men, led in slave-sticks, the Doctor had to +bear the reproaches of the Makololo, who never slave, "Ay, you call +us bad, but are we yellow-hearted, like these fellows--why won't you +let us choke them?" To liberate and leave them, would have done but +little good, as the people of the surrounding villages would soon +have seized them, and have sold them again into slavery. The +Manganja chiefs sell their own people, for we met Ajawa and slave- +dealers in several highland villages, who had certainly been +encouraged to come among them for slaves. The chiefs always seemed +ashamed of the traffic, and tried to excuse themselves. "We do not +sell many, and only those who have committed crimes." As a rule the +regular trade is supplied by the low and criminal classes, and hence +the ugliness of slaves. Others are probably sold besides criminals, +as on the accusation of witchcraft. Friendless orphans also +sometimes disappear suddenly, and no one inquires what has become of +them. The temptation to sell their people is peculiarly great, as +there is but little ivory on the hills, and often the chief has +nothing but human flesh with which to buy foreign goods. The Ajawa +offer cloth, brass rings, pottery, and sometimes handsome young +women, and agree to take the trouble of carrying off by night all +those whom the chief may point out to them. They give four yards of +cotton cloth for a man, three for a woman, and two for a boy or girl, +to be taken to the Portuguese at Mozambique, Iboe, and Quillimane. + +The Manganja were more suspicious and less hospitable than the tribes +on the Zambesi. They were slow to believe that our object in coming +into their country was really what we professed it to be. They +naturally judge us by the motives which govern themselves. A chief +in the Upper Shire Valley, whose scared looks led our men to christen +him Kitlabolawa (I shall be killed), remarked that parties had come +before, with as plausible a story as ours, and, after a few days, had +jumped up and carried off a number of his people as slaves. We were +not allowed to enter some of the villages in the valley, nor would +the inhabitants even sell us food; Zimika's men, for instance, stood +at the entrance of the euphorbia hedge, and declared we should not +pass in. We sat down under a tree close by. A young fellow made an +angry oration, dancing from side to side with his bow and poisoned +arrows, and gesticulating fiercely in our faces. He was stopped in +the middle of his harangue by an old man, who ordered him to sit +down, and not talk to strangers in that way; he obeyed reluctantly, +scowling defiance, and thrusting out his large lips very +significantly. The women were observed leaving the village; and, +suspecting that mischief might ensue, we proceeded on our journey, to +the great disgust of our men. They were very angry with the natives +for their want of hospitality to strangers, and with us, because we +would not allow them to give "the things a thrashing." "This is what +comes of going with white men," they growled out; "had we been with +our own chief, we should have eaten their goats to-night, and had +some of themselves to carry the bundles for us to-morrow." On our +return by a path which left his village on our right, Zimika sent to +apologize, saying that "he was ill, and in another village at the +time; it was not by his orders we were sent away; his men did not +know that we were a party wishing the land to dwell in peace." + +We were not able, when hastening back to the men left in the ship, to +remain in the villages belonging to this chief; but the people came +after us with things for sale, and invited us to stop, and spend the +night with them, urging, "Are we to have it said that white people +passed through our country and we did not see them?" We rested by a +rivulet to gratify these sight-seers. We appear to them to be red +rather than white; and, though light colour is admired among +themselves, our clothing renders us uncouth in aspect. Blue eyes +appear savage, and a red beard hideous. From the numbers of aged +persons we saw on the highlands, and the increase of mental and +physical vigour we experienced on our ascent from the lowlands, we +inferred that the climate was salubrious, and that our countrymen +might there enjoy good health, and also be of signal benefit, by +leading the multitude of industrious inhabitants to cultivate cotton, +buaze, sugar, and other valuable produce, to exchange for goods of +European manufacture; at the same time teaching them, by precept and +example, the great truths of our Holy Religion. + +Our stay at the Lake was necessarily short. We had found that the +best plan for allaying any suspicions, that might arise in the minds +of a people accustomed only to slave-traders, was to pay a hasty +visit, and then leave for a while, and allow the conviction to form +among the people that, though our course of action was so different +from that of others, we were not dangerous, but rather disposed to be +friendly. We had also a party at the vessel, and any indiscretion on +their part might have proved fatal to the character of the +Expedition. + +The trade of Cazembe and Katanga's country, and of other parts of the +interior, crosses Nyassa and the Shire, on its way to the Arab port, +Kilwa, and the Portuguese ports of Iboe and Mozambique. At present, +slaves, ivory, malachite, and copper ornaments, are the only articles +of commerce. According to information collected by Colonel Rigby at +Zanzibar, and from other sources, nearly all the slaves shipped from +the above-mentioned ports come from the Nyassa district. By means of +a small steamer, purchasing the ivory of the Lake and River above the +cataracts, which together have a shore-line of at least 600 miles, +the slave-trade in this quarter would be rendered unprofitable,--for +it is only by the ivory being carried by the slaves, that the latter +do not eat up all the profits of a trip. An influence would be +exerted over an enormous area of country, for the Mazitu about the +north end of the Lake will not allow slave-traders to pass round that +way through their country. They would be most efficient allies to +the English, and might themselves be benefited by more intercourse. +As things are now, the native traders in ivory and malachite have to +submit to heavy exactions; and if we could give them the same prices +which they at present get after carrying their merchandise 300 miles +beyond this to the Coast, it might induce them to return without +going further. It is only by cutting off the supplies in the +interior, that we can crush the slave-trade on the Coast. The plan +proposed would stop the slave-trade from the Zambesi on one side and +Kilwa on the other; and would leave, beyond this tract, only the +Portuguese port of Inhambane on the south, and a portion of the +Sultan of Zanzibar's dominion on the north, for our cruisers to look +after. The Lake people grow abundance of cotton for their own +consumption, and can sell it for a penny a pound or even less. +Water-carriage exists by the Shire and Zambesi all the way to +England, with the single exception of a portage of about thirty-five +miles past the Murchison Cataracts, along which a road of less than +forty miles could be made at a trifling expense; and it seems +feasible that a legitimate and thriving trade might, in a short time, +take the place of the present unlawful traffic. + +Colonel Rigby, Captains Wilson, Oldfield, and Chapman, and all the +most intelligent officers on the Coast, were unanimous in the belief, +that one small vessel on the Lake would have decidedly more +influence, and do more good in suppressing the slave-trade, than half +a dozen men-of-war on the ocean. By judicious operations, therefore, +on a small scale inland, little expense would be incurred, and the +English slave-trade policy on the East would have the same fair +chance of success, as on the West Coast. + +After a land-journey of forty days, we returned to the ship on the +6th of October, 1859, in a somewhat exhausted condition, arising more +from a sort of poisoning, than from the usual fatigue of travel. We +had taken a little mulligatawney paste, for making soup, in case of +want of time to cook other food. Late one afternoon, at the end of +an unusually long march, we reached Mikena, near the base of Mount +Njongone to the north of Zomba, and the cook was directed to use a +couple of spoonfuls of the paste; but, instead of doing so, he put in +the whole potful. The soup tasted rather hot, but we added boiled +rice to it, and, being very hungry, partook freely of it; and, in +consequence of the overdose, we were delayed several days in severe +suffering, and some of the party did not recover till after our +return to the ship. Our illness may partly have arisen from another +cause. One kind of cassava (Jatropha maligna) is known to be, in its +raw state, poisonous, but by boiling it carefully in two waters, +which must be thrown off, the poison is extracted and the cassava +rendered fit for food. The poisonous sort is easily known by raising +a bit of the bark of the root, and putting the tongue to it. A +bitter taste shows poison, but it is probable that even the sweet +kind contains an injurious principle. The sap, which, like that of +our potatoes, is injurious as an article of food, is used in the +"Pepper-pot" of the West Indies, under the name of "Cassereep," as a +perfect preservative of meat. This juice put into an earthen vessel +with a little water and Chili pepper is said to keep meat, that is +immersed in it, good for a great length of time; even for years. No +iron or steel must touch the mixture, or it will become sour. This +"Pepper-pot," of which we first heard from the late Archbishop +Whately, is a most economical meat-safe in a hot climate; any beef, +mutton, pork, or fowl that may be left at dinner, if put into the +mixture and a little fresh cassereep added, keeps perfectly, though +otherwise the heat of the climate or flies would spoil it. Our cook, +however, boiled the cassava root as he was in the habit of cooking +meat, namely, by filling the pot with it, and then pouring in water, +which he allowed to stand on the fire until it had become absorbed +and boiled away. This method did not expel the poisonous properties +of the root, or render it wholesome; for, notwithstanding our +systematic caution in purchasing only the harmless sort, we suffered +daily from its effects, and it was only just before the end of our +trip that this pernicious mode of boiling it was discovered by us. + +In ascending 3000 feet from the lowlands to the highlands, or on +reaching the low valley of the Shire from the higher grounds, the +change of climate was very marked. The heat was oppressive below, +the thermometer standing at from 84 degrees to 103 degrees in the +shade; and our spirits were as dull and languid as they had been +exhilarated on the heights in a temperature cooler by some 20 +degrees. The water of the river was sometimes 84 degrees or higher, +whilst that we had been drinking in the hill streams was only 65 +degrees. + +It was found necessary to send two of our number across from the +Shire to Tette; and Dr. Kirk, with guides from Chibisa, and +accompanied by Mr. Rae, the engineer, accomplished the journey. We +had found the country to the north and east so very well watered, +that no difficulty was anticipated in this respect in a march of less +than a hundred miles; but on this occasion our friends suffered +severely. The little water to be had at this time of the year, by +digging in the beds of dry watercourses, was so brackish as to +increase thirst--some of the natives indeed were making salt from it; +and when at long intervals a less brackish supply was found, it was +nauseous and muddy from the frequent visits of large game. The +tsetse abounded. The country was level, and large tracts of it +covered with mopane forest, the leaves of which afford but scanty +shade to the baked earth, so that scarcely any grass grows upon it. +The sun was so hot, that the men frequently jumped from the path, in +the vain hope of cooling, for a moment, their scorched feet under the +almost shadeless bushes; and the native who carried the provision of +salt pork got lost, and came into Tette two days after the rest of +the party, with nothing but the fibre of the meat left, the fat, +melted by the blazing sun, having all run down his back. This path +was soon made a highway for slaving parties by Captain Raposo, the +Commandant. The journey nearly killed our two active young friends; +and what the slaves must have since suffered on it no one can +conceive; but slaving probably can never be conducted without +enormous suffering and loss of life. + +Mankokwe now sent a message to say that he wished us to stop at his +village on our way down. He came on board on our arrival there with +a handsome present, and said that his young people had dissuaded him +from visiting us before; but now he was determined to see what every +one else was seeing. A bald square-headed man, who had been his +Prime Minister when we came up, was now out of office, and another +old man, who had taken his place accompanied the chief. In passing +the Elephant Marsh, we saw nine large herds of elephants; they +sometimes formed a line two miles long. + +On the 2nd of November we anchored off Shamoara, and sent the boat to +Senna for biscuit and other provisions. Senhor Ferrao, with his +wonted generosity, gave us a present of a bullock, which he sent to +us in a canoe. Wishing to know if a second bullock would be +acceptable to us, he consulted his Portuguese and English dictionary, +and asked the sailor in charge if he would take ANOTHER; but Jack, +mistaking the Portuguese pronunciation of the letter h, replied, "Oh +no, sir, thank you, I don't want an OTTER in the boat, they are such +terrible biters!" + +We had to ground the vessel on a shallow sandbank every night; she +leaked so fast, that in deep water she would have sunk, and the pump +had to be worked all day to keep her afloat. Heavy rains fell daily, +producing the usual injurious effects in the cabin; and, unable to +wait any longer for our associates, who had gone overland from the +Shire to Tette, we ran down the Kongone and beached her for repairs. +Her Majesty's ship "Lynx," Lieut. Berkeley commanding, called shortly +afterwards with supplies; the bar, which had been perfectly smooth +for some time before, became rather rough just before her arrival, so +that it was two or three days before she could communicate with us. +Two of her boats tried to come in on the second day, and one of them, +mistaking the passage, capsized in the heavy breakers abreast of the +island. Mr. Hunt, gunner, the officer in charge of the second boat, +behaved nobly, and by his skilful and gallant conduct succeeded in +rescuing every one of the first boat's crew. Of course the things +that they were bringing to us were lost, but we were thankful that +all the men were saved. The loss of the mail-bags, containing +Government despatches and our friends' letters for the past year, was +felt severely, as we were on the point of starting on an expedition +into the interior, which might require eight or nine months; and +twenty months is a weary time to be without news of friends and +family. In the repairing of our crazy craft, we received kind and +efficient aid from Lieutenant Berkeley, and we were enabled to leave +for Tette on December 16th. + +We had now frequent rains, and the river rose considerably; our +progress up the stream was distressingly slow, and it was not until +the 2nd of February, 1860, that we reached Tette. Mr. Thornton +returned on the same day from a geological tour, by which some +Portuguese expected that a fabulous silver-mine would be +rediscovered. The tradition in the country is, that the Jesuits +formerly knew and worked a precious lode at Chicova. Mr. Thornton +had gone beyond Zumbo, in company with a trader of colour; he soon +after this left the Zambesi and, joining the expedition of the Baron +van der Decken, explored the snow mountain Kilimanjaro, north-west of +Zanzibar. Mr. Thornton's companion, the trader, brought back much +ivory, having found it both abundant and cheap. He was obliged, +however, to pay heavy fines to the Banyai and other tribes, in the +country which is coolly claimed in Europe as Portuguese. During this +trip of six mouths 200 pieces of cotton cloth of sixteen yards each, +besides beads and brass wire, were paid to the different chiefs, for +leave to pass through their country. In addition to these +sufficiently weighty exactions, the natives of THIS DOMINION have got +into the habit of imposing fines for alleged milandos, or crimes, +which the traders' men may have unwittingly committed. The +merchants, however, submit rather than run the risk of fighting. + +The general monotony of existence at Tette is sometimes relieved by +an occasional death or wedding. When the deceased is a person of +consequence, the quantity of gunpowder his slaves are allowed to +expend is enormous. The expense may, in proportion to their means, +resemble that incurred by foolishly gaudy funerals in England. When +at Tette, we always joined with sympathizing hearts in aiding, by our +presence at the last rites, to soothe the sorrows of the surviving +relatives. We are sure that they would have done the same to us had +we been the mourners. We never had to complain of want of +hospitality. Indeed, the great kindness shown by many of whom we +have often spoken, will never be effaced from our memory till our +dying day. When we speak of their failings it is in sorrow, not in +anger. Their trading in slaves is an enormous mistake. Their +Government places them in a false position by cutting them off from +the rest of the world; and of this they always speak with a +bitterness which, were it heard, might alter the tone of the +statesmen of Lisbon. But here there is no press, no booksellers' +shops, and scarcely a schoolmaster. Had we been born in similar +untoward circumstances--we tremble to think of it! + +The weddings are celebrated with as much jollity as weddings are +anywhere. We witnessed one in the house of our friend the Padre. It +being the marriage of his goddaughter, he kindly invited us to be +partakers in his joy; and we there became acquainted with old Donna +Engenia, who was a married wife and had children, when the slaves +came from Cassange, before any of us were born. The whole merry- +making was marked by good taste amid propriety. + +About the only interesting object in the vicinity of Tette is the +coal a few miles to the north. There, in the feeders of the stream +Revubue, it crops out in cliff sections. The seams are from four to +seven feet in thickness; one measured was found to be twenty-five +feet thick. + +Learning that it would be difficult for our party to obtain food +beyond Kebrabasa before the new crop came in and knowing the +difficulty of hunting for so many men in the wet season, we decided +on deferring our departure for the interior until May, and in the +mean time to run down once more to the Kongone, in the hopes of +receiving letters and despatches from the man-of-war that was to call +in March. We left Tette on the 10th, and at Senna heard that our +lost mail had been picked up on the beach by natives, west of the +Milambe; carried to Quillimane, sent thence to Senna, and, passing us +somewhere on the river, on to Tette. At Shupanga the governor +informed us that it was a very large mail; no great comfort, seeing +it was away up the river. + +Mosquitoes were excessively troublesome at the harbour, and +especially when a light breeze blew from the north over the +mangroves. We lived for several weeks in small huts, built by our +men. Those who did the hunting for the party always got wet, and +were attacked by fever, but generally recovered in time to be out +again before the meat was all consumed. No ship appearing, we +started off on the 15th of March, and stopped to wood on the Luabo, +near an encampment of hippopotamus hunters; our men heard again, +through them, of the canoe path from this place to Quillimane, but +they declined to point it out. + +We found our friend Major Sicard at Mazaro with picks, shovels, +hurdles, and slaves, having come to build a fort and custom-house at +the Kongone. As we had no good reason to hide the harbour, but many +for its being made known, we supplied him with a chart of the +tortuous branches, which, running among the mangroves, perplex the +search; and with such directions as would enable him to find his way +down to the river. He had brought the relics of our fugitive mail, +and it was a disappointment to find that all had been lost, with the +exception of a bundle of old newspapers, two photographs, and three +letters, which had been written before we left England. + +The distance from Mazaro, on the Zambesi side, to the Kwakwa at +Nterra, is about six miles, over a surprisingly rich dark soil. We +passed the night in the long shed, erected at Nterra, on the banks of +this river, for the use of travellers, who have often to wait several +days for canoes; we tried to sleep, but the mosquitoes and rats were +so troublesome as to render sleep impossible. The rats, or rather +large mice, closely resembling Mus pumilio (Smith), of this region, +are quite facetious, and, having a great deal of fun in them, often +laugh heartily. Again and again they woke us up by scampering over +our faces, and then bursting into a loud laugh of He! he! he! at +having performed the feat. Their sense of the ludicrous appears to +be exquisite; they screamed with laughter at the attempts which +disturbed and angry human nature made in the dark to bring their ill- +timed merriment to a close. Unlike their prudent European cousins, +which are said to leave a sinking ship, a party of these took up +their quarters in our leaky and sinking vessel. Quiet and invisible +by day, they emerged at night, and cut their funny pranks. No sooner +were we all asleep, than they made a sudden dash over the lockers and +across our faces for the cabin door, where all broke out into a loud +He! he! he! he! he! he! showing how keenly they enjoyed the joke. +They next went forward with as much delight, and scampered over the +men. Every night they went fore and aft, rousing with impartial feet +every sleeper, and laughing to scorn the aimless blows, growls, and +deadly rushes of outraged humanity. We observed elsewhere a species +of large mouse, nearly allied to Euryotis unisulcatus (F. Cuvier), +escaping up a rough and not very upright wall, with six young ones +firmly attached to the perineum. They were old enough to be well +covered with hair, and some were not detached by a blow which +disabled the dam. We could not decide whether any involuntary +muscles were brought into play in helping the young to adhere. Their +weight seemed to require a sort of cataleptic state of the muscles of +the jaw, to enable them to hold on. + +Scorpions, centipedes, and poisonous spiders also were not +unfrequently brought into the ship with the wood, and occasionally +found their way into our beds; but in every instance we were +fortunate enough to discover and destroy them before they did any +harm. Naval officers on this coast report that, when scorpions and +centipedes remain a few weeks after being taken on board in a similar +manner, their poison loses nearly all its virulence; but this we did +not verify. Snakes sometimes came in with the wood, but oftener +floated down the river to us, climbing on board with ease by the +chain-cable, and some poisonous ones were caught in the cabin. A +green snake lived with us several weeks, concealing himself behind +the casing of the deckhouse in the daytime. To be aroused in the +dark by five feet of cold green snake gliding over one's face is +rather unpleasant, however rapid the movement may be. Myriads of two +varieties of cockroaches infested the vessel; they not only ate round +the roots of our nails, but even devoured and defiled our food, +flannels, and boots. Vain were all our efforts to extirpate these +destructive pests; if you kill one, say the sailors, a hundred come +down to his funeral! In the work of Commodore Owen it is stated that +cockroaches, pounded into a paste, form a powerful carminative; this +has not been confirmed, but when monkeys are fed on them they are +sure to become lean. + +On coming to Senna, we found that the Zulus had arrived in force for +their annual tribute. These men are under good discipline, and never +steal from the people. The tax is claimed on the ground of conquest, +the Zulus having formerly completely overcome the Senna people, and +chased them on to the islands in the Zambesi. Fifty-four of the +Portuguese were slain on the occasion, and, notwithstanding the mud +fort, the village has never recovered its former power. Fever was +now very prevalent, and most of the Portuguese were down with it. + +For a good view of the adjacent scenery, the hill, Baramuana, behind +the village, was ascended. A caution was given about the probability +of an attack of fever from a plant that grows near the summit. Dr. +Kirk discovered it to be the Paedevia foetida, which, when smelt, +actually does give headache and fever. It has a nasty fetor, as its +name indicates. This is one instance in which fever and a foul smell +coincide. In a number of instances offensive effluvia and fever +seems to have no connection. Owing to the abundant rains, the crops +in the Senna district were plentiful; this was fortunate, after the +partial failure of the past two years. It was the 25th of April, +1860, before we reached Tette; here also the crops were luxuriant, +and the people said that they had not had such abundance since 1856, +the year when Dr. Livingstone came down the river. It is astonishing +to any one who has seen the works for irrigation in other countries, +as at the Cape and in Egypt, that no attempt has ever been made to +lead out the water either of the Zambesi or any of its tributaries; +no machinery has ever been used to raise it even from the stream, but +droughts and starvations are endured, as if they were inevitable +dispensations of Providence, incapable of being mitigated. + +Feeling in honour bound to return with those who had been the +faithful companions of Dr. Livingstone, in 1856, and to whose +guardianship and services was due the accomplishment of a journey +which all the Portuguese at Tette had previously pronounced +impossible, the requisite steps were taken to convey them to their +homes. + +We laid the ship alongside of the island Kanyimbe, opposite Tette; +and, before starting for the country of the Makololo, obtained a +small plot of land, to form a garden for the two English sailors who +were to remain in charge during our absence. We furnished them with +a supply of seeds, and they set to work with such zeal, that they +certainly merited success. Their first attempt at African +horticulture met with failure from a most unexpected source; every +seed was dug up and the inside of it eaten by mice. "Yes," said an +old native, next morning, on seeing the husks, "that is what happens +this month; for it is the mouse month, and the seed should have been +sown last mouth, when I sowed mine." The sailors, however, sowed +more next day; and, being determined to outwit the mice, they this +time covered the beds over with grass. The onions, with other seeds +of plants cultivated by the Portuguese, are usually planted in the +beginning of April, in order to have the advantage of the cold +season; the wheat a little later, for the same reason. If sown at +the beginning of the rainy season in November, it runs, as before +remarked, entirely to straw; but as the rains are nearly over in May, +advantage is taken of low-lying patches, which have been flooded by +the river. A hole is made in the mud with a hoe, a few seeds dropped +in, and the earth shoved back with the foot. If not favoured with +certain misty showers, which, lower down the river, are simply fogs, +water is borne from the river to the roots of the wheat in earthern +pots; and in about four months the crop is ready for the sickle. The +wheat of Tette is exported, as the best grown in the country; but a +hollow spot at Maruru, close by Mazaro, yielded very good crops, +though just at the level of the sea, as a few inches rise of tide +shows. + +A number of days were spent in busy preparation for our journey; the +cloth, beads, and brass wire, for the trip were sewn up in old +canvas, and each package had the bearer's name printed on it. The +Makololo, who had worked for the Expedition, were paid for their +services, and every one who had come down with the Doctor from the +interior received a present of cloth and ornaments, in order to +protect them from the greater cold of their own country, and to show +that they had not come in vain. Though called Makololo by courtesy, +as they were proud of the name, Kanyata, the principal headman, was +the only real Makololo of the party; and he, in virtue of his birth, +had succeeded to the chief place on the death of Sekwebu. The others +belonged to the conquered tribes of the Batoka, Bashubia, Ba-Selea, +and Barotse. Some of these men had only added to their own vices +those of the Tette slaves; others, by toiling during the first two +years in navigating canoes, and hunting elephants, had often managed +to save a little, to take back to their own country, but had to part +with it all for food to support the rest in times of hunger, and, +latterly, had fallen into the improvident habits of slaves, and spent +their surplus earnings in beer and agua ardiente. + +Everything being ready on the 15th of May, we started at 2 p.m. from +the village where the Makololo had dwelt. A number of the men did +not leave with the goodwill which their talk for months before had +led us to anticipate; but some proceeded upon being told that they +were not compelled to go unless they liked, though others altogether +declined moving. Many had taken up with slave-women, whom they +assisted in hoeing, and in consuming the produce of their gardens. +Some fourteen children had been born to them; and in consequence of +now having no chief to order them, or to claim their services, they +thought that they were about as well off as they had been in their +own country. They knew and regretted that they could call neither +wives nor children their own; the slave-owners claimed the whole; but +their natural affections had been so enchained, that they clave to +the domestic ties. By a law of Portugal the baptized children of +slave women are all free; by the custom of the Zambesi that law is +void. When it is referred to, the officers laugh and say, "These +Lisbon-born laws are very stringent, but somehow, possibly from the +heat of the climate, here they lose all their force." Only one woman +joined our party--the wife of a Batoka man: she had been given to +him, in consideration of his skilful dancing, by the chief, Chisaka. +A merchant sent three of his men along with us, with a present for +Sekeletu, and Major Sicard also lent us three more to assist us on +our return, and two Portuguese gentleman kindly gave us the loan of a +couple of donkeys. We slept four miles above Tette, and hearing that +the Banyai, who levy heavy fines on the Portuguese traders, lived +chiefly on the right bank, we crossed over to the left, as we could +not fully trust our men. If the Banyai had come in a threatening +manner, our followers might, perhaps, from having homes behind them, +have even put down their bundles and run. Indeed, two of them at +this point made up their minds to go no further, and turned back to +Tette. Another, Monga, a Batoka, was much perplexed, and could not +make out what course to pursue, as he had, three years previously, +wounded Kanyata, the headman, with a spear. This is a capital +offence among the Makololo, and he was afraid of being put to death +for it on his return. He tried, in vain, to console himself with the +facts that he had neither father, mother, sisters, nor brothers to +mourn for him, and that he could die but once. He was good, and +would go up to the stars to Yesu, and therefore did not care for +death. In spite, however, of these reflections, he was much cast +down, until Kanyata assured him that he would never mention his +misdeed to the chief; indeed, he had never even mentioned it to the +Doctor, which he would assuredly have done had it lain heavy on his +heart. We were right glad of Monga's company, for he was a merry +good-tempered fellow, and his lithe manly figure had always been in +the front in danger; and, from being left-handed, had been easily +recognized in the fight with elephants. + +We commenced, for a certain number of days, with short marches, +walking gently until broken in to travel. This is of so much +importance, that it occurs to us that more might be made out of +soldiers if the first few days' marches were easy, and gradually +increased in length and quickness. The nights were cold, with heavy +dews and occasional showers, and we had several cases of fever. Some +of the men deserted every night, and we fully expected that all who +had children would prefer to return to Tette, for little ones are +well known to prove the strongest ties, even to slaves. It was +useless informing them, that if they wanted to return they had only +to come and tell us so; we should not be angry with them for +preferring Tette to their own country. Contact with slaves had +destroyed their sense of honour; they would not go in daylight, but +decamped in the night, only in one instance, however, taking our +goods, though, in two more, they carried off their comrades' +property. By the time we had got well into the Kebrabasa hills +thirty men, nearly a third of the party, had turned back, and it +became evident that, if many more left us, Sekeletu's goods could not +be carried up. At last, when the refuse had fallen away, no more +desertions took place. + +Stopping one afternoon at a Kebrabasa village, a man, who pretended +to be able to change himself into a lion, came to salute us. +Smelling the gunpowder from a gun which had been discharged, he went +on one side to get out of the wind of the piece, trembling in a most +artistic manner, but quite overacting his part. The Makololo +explained to us that he was a Pondoro, or a man who can change his +form at will, and added that he trembles when he smells gunpowder. +"Do you not see how he is trembling now?" We told them to ask him to +change himself at once into a lion, and we would give him a cloth for +the performance. "Oh no," replied they; "if we tell him so, he may +change himself and come when we are asleep and kill us." Having +similar superstitions at home, they readily became as firm believers +in the Pondoro as the natives of the village. We were told that he +assumes the form of a lion and remains in the woods for days, and is +sometimes absent for a whole month. His considerate wife had built +him a hut or den, in which she places food and beer for her +transformed lord, whose metamorphosis does not impair his human +appetite. No one ever enters this hut except the Pondoro and his +wife, and no stranger is allowed even to rest his gun against the +baobab-tree beside it: the Mfumo, or petty chief, of another small +village wished to fine our men for placing their muskets against an +old tumble-down hut, it being that of the Pondoro. At times the +Pondoro employs his acquired powers in hunting for the benefit of the +village; and after an absence of a day or two, his wife smells the +lion, takes a certain medicine, places it in the forest, and there +quickly leaves it, lest the lion should kill even her. This medicine +enables the Pondoro to change himself back into a man, return to the +village, and say, "Go and get the game that I have killed for you." +Advantage is of course taken of what a lion has done, and they go and +bring home the buffalo or antelope killed when he was a lion, or +rather found when he was patiently pursuing his course of deception +in the forest. We saw the Pondoro of another village dressed in a +fantastic style, with numerous charms hung round him, and followed by +a troop of boys who were honouring him with rounds of shrill +cheering. + +It is believed also that the souls of departed chiefs enter into +lions, and render them sacred. On one occasion, when we had shot a +buffalo in the path beyond the Kafue, a hungry lion, attracted +probably by the smell of the meat, came close to our camp, and roused +up all hands by his roaring. Tuba Mokoro, imbued with the popular +belief that the beast was a chief in disguise, scolded him roundly +during his brief intervals of silence. "You a chief, eh? You call +yourself a chief, do you? What kind of chief are you to come +sneaking about in the dark, trying to steal our buffalo meat! Are +you not ashamed of yourself? A pretty chief truly; you are like the +scavenger beetle, and think of yourself only. You have not the heart +of a chief; why don't you kill your own beef? You must have a stone +in your chest, and no heart at all, indeed!" Tuba Mokoro producing +no impression on the transformed chief, one of the men, the most +sedate of the party, who seldom spoke, took up the matter, and tried +the lion in another strain. In his slow quiet way he expostulated +with him on the impropriety of such conduct to strangers, who had +never injured him. "We were travelling peaceably through the country +back to our own chief. We never killed people, nor stole anything. +The buffalo meat was ours, not his, and it did not become a great +chief like him to be prowling round in the dark, trying, like a +hyena, to steal the meat of strangers. He might go and hunt for +himself, as there was plenty of game in the forest." The Pondoro, +being deaf to reason, and only roaring the louder, the men became +angry, and threatened to send a ball through him if he did not go +away. They snatched up their guns to shoot him, but he prudently +kept in the dark, outside the luminous circle made by our camp fires, +and there they did not like to venture. A little strychnine was put +into a piece of meat, and thrown to him, when he soon departed, and +we heard no more of the majestic sneaker. + +The Kebrabasa people were now plumper and in better condition than on +our former visits; the harvest had been abundant; they had plenty to +eat and drink, and they were enjoying life as much as ever they +could. At Defwe's village, near where the ship lay on her first +ascent, we found two Mfumos or headmen, the son and son-in-law of the +former chief. A sister's son has much more chance of succeeding to a +chieftainship than the chief's own offspring, it being unquestionable +that the sister's child has the family blood. The men are all marked +across the nose and up the middle of the forehead with short +horizontal bars or cicatrices; and a single brass earring of two or +three inches diameter, like the ancient Egyptian, is worn by the men. +Some wear the hair long like the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians, and +a few have eyes with the downward and inward slant of the Chinese. + +After fording the rapid Luia, we left our former path on the banks of +the Zambesi, and struck off in a N.W. direction behind one of the +hill ranges, the eastern end of which is called Mongwa, the name of +an acacia, having a peculiarly strong fetor, found on it. Our route +wound up a valley along a small mountain-stream which was nearly dry, +and then crossed the rocky spurs of some of the lofty hills. The +country was all very dry at the time, and no water was found except +in an occasional spring and a few wells dug in the beds of +watercourses. The people were poor, and always anxious to convince +travellers of the fact. The men, unlike those on the plains, spend a +good deal of their time in hunting; this may be because they have but +little ground on the hill-sides suitable for gardens, and but little +certainty of reaping what may be sown in the valleys. No women came +forward in the hamlet, east of Chiperiziwa, where we halted for the +night. Two shots had been fired at guinea-fowl a little way off in +the valley; the women fled into the woods, and the men came to know +if war was meant, and a few of the old folks only returned after +hearing that we were for peace. The headman, Kambira, apologized for +not having a present ready, and afterwards brought us some meal, a +roasted coney (Hyrax capensis), and a pot of beer; he wished to be +thought poor. The beer had come to him from a distance; he had none +of his own. Like the Manganja, these people salute by clapping their +hands. When a man comes to a place where others are seated, before +sitting down he claps his hands to each in succession, and they do +the same to him. If he has anything to tell, both speaker and hearer +clap their hands at the close of every paragraph, and then again +vigorously at the end of the speech. The guide, whom the headman +gave us, thus saluted each of his comrades before he started off with +us. There is so little difference in the language, that all the +tribes of this region are virtually of one family. + +We proceeded still in the same direction, and passed only two small +hamlets during the day. Except the noise our men made on the march, +everything was still around us: few birds were seen. The appearance +of a whydahbird showed that he had not yet parted with his fine long +plumes. We passed immense quantities of ebony and lignum-vitae, and +the tree from whose smooth and bitter bark granaries are made for +corn. The country generally is clothed with a forest of ordinary- +sized trees. We slept in the little village near Sindabwe, where our +men contrived to purchase plenty of beer, and were uncommonly +boisterous all the evening. We breakfasted next morning under green +wild date-palms, beside the fine flowery stream, which runs through +the charming valley of Zibah. We now had Mount Chiperiziwa between +us, and part of the river near Morumbwa, having in fact come north +about in order to avoid the difficulties of our former path. The +last of the deserters, a reputed thief, took French leave of us here. +He left the bundle of cloth he was carrying in the path a hundred +yards in front of where we halted, but made off with the musket and +most of the brass rings and beads of his comrade Shirimba, who had +unsuspectingly intrusted them to his care. + +Proceeding S.W. up this lovely valley, in about an hour's time we +reached Sandia's village. The chief was said to be absent hunting, +and they did not know when he would return. This is such a common +answer to the inquiry after a headman, that one is inclined to think +that it only means that they wish to know the stranger's object +before exposing their superior to danger. As some of our men were +ill, a halt was made here. + +As we were unable to march next morning, six of our young men, +anxious to try their muskets, went off to hunt elephants. For +several hours they saw nothing, and some of them, getting tired, +proposed to go to a village and buy food. "No!" said Mantlanyane, +"we came to hunt, so let us go on." In a short time they fell in +with a herd of cow elephants and calves. As soon as the first cow +caught sight of the hunters on the rocks above her, she, with true +motherly instinct, placed her young one between her fore-legs for +protection. The men were for scattering, and firing into the herd +indiscriminately. "That won't do," cried Mantlanyane, "let us all +fire at this one." The poor beast received a volley, and ran down +into the plain, where another shot killed her; the young one escaped +with the herd. The men were wild with excitement, and danced round +the fallen queen of the forest, with loud shouts and exultant songs. +They returned, bearing as trophies the tail and part of the trunk, +and marched into camp as erect as soldiers, and evidently feeling +that their stature had increased considerably since the morning. + +Sandia's wife was duly informed of their success, as here a law +decrees that half the elephant belongs to the chief on whose ground +it has been killed. The Portuguese traders always submit to this +tax, and, were it of native origin, it could hardly be considered +unjust. A chief must have some source of revenue; and, as many +chiefs can raise none except from ivory or slaves, this tax is more +free from objections than any other that a black Chancellor of the +Exchequer could devise. It seems, however, to have originated with +the Portuguese themselves, and then to have spread among the adjacent +tribes. The Governors look sharply after any elephant that may be +slain on the Crown lands, and demand one of the tusks from their +vassals. We did not find the law in operation in any tribe beyond +the range of Portuguese traders, or further than the sphere of travel +of those Arabs who imitated Portuguese customs in trade. At the +Kafue in 1855 the chiefs bought the meat we killed, and demanded +nothing as their due; and so it was up the Shire during our visits. +The slaves of the Portuguese, who are sent by their masters to shoot +elephants, probably connive at the extension of this law, for they +strive to get the good will of the chiefs to whose country they come, +by advising them to make a demand of half of each elephant killed, +and for this advice they are well paid in beer. When we found that +the Portuguese argued in favour of this law, we told the natives that +they might exact tusks from THEM, but that the English, being +different, preferred the pure native custom. It was this which made +Sandia, as afterwards mentioned, hesitate; but we did not care to +insist on exemption in our favour, where the prevalence of the custom +might have been held to justify the exaction. + +The cutting up of an elephant is quite a unique spectacle. The men +stand remind the animal in dead silence, while the chief of the +travelling party declares that, according to ancient law, the head +and right hind-leg belong to him who killed the beast, that is, to +him who inflicted the first wound; the left leg to bins who delivered +the second, or first touched the animal after it fell. The meat +around the eye to the English, or chief of the travellers, and +different parts to the headmen of the different fires, or groups, of +which the camp is composed; not forgetting to enjoin the preservation +of the fat and bowels for a second distribution. This oration +finished, the natives soon become excited, and scream wildly as they +cut away at the carcass with a score of spears, whose long handles +quiver in the air above their heads. Their excitement becomes +momentarily more and more intense, and reaches the culminating point +when, as denoted by a roar of gas, the huge mass is laid fairly open. +Some jump inside, and roll about there in their eagerness to seize +the precious fat, while others run off, screaming, with pieces of the +bloody meat, throw it on the grass, and run back for more: all keep +talking and shouting at the utmost pitch of their voices. Sometimes +two or three, regardless of all laws, seize the same piece of meat, +and have a brief fight of words over it. Occasionally an agonized +yell bursts forth, and a native emerges out of the moving mass of +dead elephant and wriggling humanity, with his hand badly cut by the +spear of his excited friend and neighbour: this requires a rag and +some soothing words to prevent bad blood. In an incredibly short +time tons of meat are cut up, and placed in separate heaps around. + +Sandia arrived soon after the beast was divided: he is an elderly +man, and wears a wig made of "ife" fibre (sanseviera) dyed black, and +of a fine glossy appearance. This plant is allied to the aloes, and +its thick fleshy leaves, in shape somewhat like our sedges, when +bruised yield much fine strong fibre, which is made into ropes, nets, +and wigs. It takes dyes readily, and the fibre might form a good +article of commerce. "Ife" wigs, as we afterwards saw, are not +uncommon in this country, though perhaps not so common as hair wigs +at home. Sandia's mosamela, or small carved wooden pillow, exactly +resembling the ancient Egyptian one, was hung from the back of his +neck; this pillow and a sleeping mat are usually carried by natives +when on hunting excursions. + +We had the elephant's fore-foot cooked for ourselves, in native +fashion. A large hole was dug in the ground, in which a fire was +made; and, when the inside was thoroughly heated, the entire foot was +placed in it, and covered over with the hot ashes and soil; another +fire was made above the whole, and kept burning all night. We had +the foot thus cooked for breakfast next morning, and found it +delicious. It is a whitish mass, slightly gelatinous, and sweet, +like marrow. A long march, to prevent biliousness, is a wise +precaution after a meal of elephant's foot. Elephant's trunk and +tongue are also good, and, after long simmering, much resemble the +hump of a buffalo and the tongue of an ox; but all the other meat is +tough, and, from its peculiar flavour, only to be eaten by a hungry +man. The quantities of meat our men devour is quite astounding. +They boil as much as their pots will hold, and eat till it becomes +physically impossible for them to stow away any more. An uproarious +dance follows, accompanied with stentorian song; and as soon as they +have shaken their first course down, and washed off the sweat and +dust of the after performance, they go to work to roast more: a +short snatch of sleep succeeds, and they are up and at it again; all +night long it is boil and eat, roast and devour, with a few brief +interludes of sleep. Like other carnivora, these men can endure +hunger for a much longer period than the mere porridge-eating tribes. +Our men can cook meat as well as any reasonable traveller could +desire; and, boiled in earthen pots, like Indian chatties, it tastes +much better than when cooked in iron ones. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +Magnificent scenery--Method of marching--Hippopotamus killed--Lions +and buffalo--Sequasha the ivory-trader. + +Sandia gave us two guides; and on the 4th of June we left the +Elephant valley, taking a westerly course; and, after crossing a few +ridges, entered the Chingerere or Paguruguru valley, through which, +in the rainy season, runs the streamlet Pajodze. The mountains on +our left, between us and the Zambesi, our guides told us have the +same name as the valley, but that at the confluence of the Pajodze is +called Morumbwa. We struck the river at less than half a mile to the +north of the cataract Morumbwa. On climbing up the base of this +mountain at Pajodze, we found that we were distant only the diameter +of the mountain from the cataract. In measuring the cataract we +formerly stood on its southern flank; now we were perched on its +northern flank, and at once recognized the onion-shaped mountain, +here called Zakavuma, whose smooth convex surface overlooks the +broken water. Its bearing by compass was l80 degrees from the spot +to which we had climbed, and 700 or 800 yards distant. We now, from +this standing-point, therefore, completed our inspection of all +Kebrabasa, and saw what, as a whole, was never before seen by +Europeans so far as any records show. + +The remainder of the Kebrabasa path, on to Chicova, was close to the +compressed and rocky river. Ranges of lofty tree-covered mountains, +with deep narrow valleys, in which are dry watercourses, or flowing +rivulets, stretch from the north-west, and are prolonged on the +opposite side of the river in a south-easterly direction. Looking +back, the mountain scenery in Kebrabasa was magnificent; conspicuous +from their form and steep sides, are the two gigantic portals of the +cataract; the vast forests still wore their many brilliant autumnal- +coloured tints of green, yellow, red, purple, and brown, thrown into +relief by the grey bark of the trunks in the background. Among these +variegated trees were some conspicuous for their new livery of fresh +light-green leaves, as though the winter of others was their spring. +The bright sunshine in these mountain forests, and the ever-changing +forms of the cloud shadows, gliding over portions of the surface, +added fresh charms to scenes already surpassingly beautiful. + +From what we have seen of the Kebrabasa rocks and rapids, it appears +too evident that they must always form a barrier to navigation at the +ordinary low water of the river; but the rise of the water in this +gorge being as much as eighty feet perpendicularly, it is probable +that a steamer might be taken up at high flood, when all the rapids +are smoothed over, to run on the Upper Zambesi. The most formidable +cataract in it, Morumbwa, has only about twenty feet of fall, in a +distance of thirty yards, and it must entirely disappear when the +water stands eighty feet higher. Those of the Makololo who worked on +board the ship were not sorry at the steamer being left below, as +they had become heartily tired of cutting the wood that the +insatiable furnace of the "Asthmatic" required. Mbia, who was a bit +of a wag, laughingly exclaimed in broken English, "Oh, Kebrabasa +good, very good; no let shippee up to Sekeletu, too muchee work, +cuttee woodyee, cuttee woodyee: Kebrabasa good." It is currently +reported, and commonly believed, that once upon a time a Portuguese +named Jose Pedra,--by the natives called Nyamatimbira,--chief, or +capitao mor, of Zumbo, a man of large enterprise and small humanity,- +-being anxious to ascertain if Kebrabasa could be navigated, made two +slaves fast to a canoe, and launched it from Chicova into Kebrabasa, +in order to see if it would come out at the other end. As neither +slaves nor canoe ever appeared again, his Excellency concluded that +Kebrabasa was unnavigable. A trader had a large canoe swept away by +a sudden rise of the river, and it was found without damage below; +but the most satisfactory information was that of old Sandia, who +asserted that in flood all Kebrabasa became quite smooth, and he had +often seen it so. + +We emerged from the thirty-five or forty miles of Kebrabasa hills +into the Chicova plains on the 7th of June, 1860, having made short +marches all the way. The cold nights caused some of our men to cough +badly, and colds in this country almost invariably become fever. The +Zambesi suddenly expands at Chicova, and assumes the size and +appearance it has at Tette. Near this point we found a large seam of +coal exposed in the left bank. + +We met with native travellers occasionally. Those on a long journey +carry with them a sleeping-mat and wooden pillow, cooking-pot and bag +of meal, pipe and tobacco-pouch, a knife, bow, and arrows, and two +small sticks, of from two to three feet in length, for making fire, +when obliged to sleep away from human habitations. Dry wood is +always abundant, and they get fire by the following method. A notch +is cut in one of the sticks, which, with a close-grained outside, has +a small core of pith, and this notched stick is laid horizontally on +a knife-blade on the ground; the operator squatting, places his great +toes on each end to keep all steady, and taking the other wand which +is of very hard wood cut to a blunt point, fits it into the notch at +right angles; the upright wand is made to spin rapidly backwards and +forwards between the palms of the hands, drill fashion, and at the +same time is pressed downwards; the friction, in the course of a +minute or so, ignites portions of the pith of the notched stick, +which, rolling over like live charcoal on to the knife-blade, are +lifted into a handful of fine dry grass, and carefully blown, by +waving backwards and forwards in the air. It is hard work for the +hands to procure fire by this process, as the vigorous drilling and +downward pressure requisite soon blister soft palms. + +Having now entered a country where lions were numerous, our men began +to pay greater attention to the arrangements of the camp at night. +As they are accustomed to do with their chiefs, they place the white +men in the centre; Kanyata, his men, and the two donkeys, camp on our +right; Tuba Mokoro's party of Bashubia are in front; Masakasa, and +Sininyane's body of Batoka, on the left; and in the rear six Tette +men have their fires. In placing their fires they are careful to put +them where the smoke will not blow in our faces. Soon after we halt, +the spot for the English is selected, and all regulate their places +accordingly, and deposit their burdens. The men take it by turns to +cut some of the tall dry grass, and spread it for our beds on a spot, +either naturally level, or smoothed by the hoe; some, appointed to +carry our bedding, then bring our rugs and karosses, and place the +three rugs in a row on the grass; Dr. Livingstone's being in the +middle, Dr. Kirk's on the right, and Charles Livingstone's on the +left. Our bags, rifles, and revolvers are carefully placed at our +heads, and a fire made near our feet. We have no tent nor covering +of any kind except the branches of the tree under which we may happen +to lie; and it is a pretty sight to look up and see every branch, +leaf, and twig of the tree stand out, reflected against the clear +star-spangled and moonlit sky. The stars of the first magnitude have +names which convey the same meaning over very wide tracts of country. +Here when Venus comes out in the evenings, she is called Ntanda, the +eldest or first-born, and Manjika, the first-born of morning, at +other times: she has so much radiance when shining alone, that she +casts a shadow. Sirius is named Kuewa usiko, "drawer of night," +because supposed to draw the whole night after it. The moon has no +evil influence in this country, so far as we know. We have lain and +looked up at her, till sweet sleep closed our eyes, unharmed. Four +or five of our men were affected with moon-blindness at Tette; though +they had not slept out of doors there, they became so blind that +their comrades had to guide their hands to the general dish of food; +the affection is unknown in their own country. When our posterity +shall have discovered what it is which, distinct from foul smells, +causes fever, and what, apart from the moon, causes men to be moon- +struck, they will pity our dulness of perception. + +The men cut a very small quantity of grass for themselves, and sleep +in fumbas or sleeping-bags, which are double mats of palm-leaf, six +feet long by four wide, and sewn together round three parts of the +square, and left open only on one side. They are used as a +protection from the cold, wet, and mosquitoes, and are entered as we +should get into our beds, were the blankets nailed to the top, +bottom, and one side of the bedstead. + +A dozen fires are nightly kindled in the camp; and these, being +replenished from time to time by the men who are awakened by the +cold, are kept burning until daylight. Abundance of dry hard wood is +obtained with little trouble; and burns beautifully. After the great +business of cooking and eating is over, all sit round the camp-fires, +and engage in talking or singing. Every evening one of the Batoka +plays his "sansa," and continues at it until far into the night; he +accompanies it with an extempore song, in which he rehearses their +deeds ever since they left their own country. At times animated +political discussions spring up, and the amount of eloquence expended +on these occasions is amazing. The whole camp is aroused, and the +men shout to one another from the different fires; whilst some, whose +tongues are never heard on any other subject, burst forth into +impassioned speech. + +As a specimen of our mode of marching, we rise about five, or as soon +as dawn appears, take a cup of tea and a bit of biscuit; the servants +fold up the blankets and stow them away in the bags they carry; the +others tie their fumbas and cooking-pots to each end of their +carrying-sticks, which are borne on the shoulder; the cook secures +the dishes, and all are on the path by sunrise. If a convenient spot +can be found we halt for breakfast about nine a.m. To save time, +this meal is generally cooked the night before, and has only to be +warmed. We continue the march after breakfast, rest a little in the +middle of the day, and break off early in the afternoon. We average +from two to two-and-a-half miles an hour in a straight line, or as +the crow flies, and seldom have more than five or six hours a day of +actual travel. This in a hot climate is as much as a man can +accomplish without being oppressed; and we always tried to make our +progress more a pleasure than a toil. To hurry over the ground, +abuse, and look ferocious at one's native companions, merely for the +foolish vanity of boasting how quickly a distance was accomplished, +is a combination of silliness with absurdity quite odious; while +kindly consideration for the feelings of even blacks, the pleasure of +observing scenery and everything new as one moves on at an ordinary +pace, and the participation in the most delicious rest with our +fellows, render travelling delightful. Though not given to over +haste, we were a little surprised to find that we could tire our men +out; and even the headman, who carried but little more than we did, +and never, as we often had to do, hunted in the afternoon, was no +better than his comrades. Our experience tends to prove that the +European constitution has a power of endurance, even in the tropics, +greater than that of the hardiest of the meat-eating Africans. + +After pitching our camp, one or two of us usually go off to hunt, +more as a matter of necessity than of pleasure, for the men, as well +as ourselves, must have meat. We prefer to take a man with us to +carry home the game, or lead the others to where it lies; but as they +frequently grumble and complain of being tired, we do not +particularly object to going alone, except that it involves the extra +labour of our making a second trip to show the men where the animal +that has been shot is to be found. When it is a couple of miles off +it is rather fatiguing to have to go twice; more especially on the +days when it is solely to supply their wants that, instead of resting +ourselves, we go at all. Like those who perform benevolent deeds at +home, the tired hunter, though trying hard to live in charity with +all men, is strongly tempted to give it up by bringing only +sufficient meat for the three whites and leaving the rest; thus +sending the "idle ungrateful poor" supperless to bed. And yet it is +only by continuance in well-doing, even to the length of what the +worldly-wise call weakness, that the conviction is produced anywhere, +that our motives are high enough to secure sincere respect. + +A jungle of mimosa, ebony, and "wait-a-bit" thorn lies between the +Chicova flats and the cultivated plain, on which stand the villages +of the chief, Chitora. He brought us a present of food and drink, +because, as he, with the innate politeness of an African, said, he +"did not wish us to sleep hungry: he had heard of the Doctor when he +passed down, and had a great desire to see and converse with him; but +he was a child then, and could not speak in the presence of great +men. He was glad that he had seen the English now, and was sorry +that his people were away, or he should have made them cook for us." +All his subsequent conduct showed him to be sincere. + +Many of the African women are particular about the water they use for +drinking and cooking, and prefer that which is filtered through sand. +To secure this, they scrape holes in the sandbanks beside the stream, +and scoop up the water, which slowly filters through, rather than +take it from the equally clear and limpid river. This practice is +common in the Zambesi, the Rovuma, and Lake Nyassa; and some of the +Portuguese at Tette have adopted the native custom, and send canoes +to a low island in the middle of the river for water. Chitora's +people also obtained their supply from shallow wells in the sandy bed +of a small rivulet close to the village. The habit may have arisen +from observing the unhealthiness of the main stream at certain +seasons. During nearly nine months in the year, ordure is deposited +around countless villages along the thousands of miles drained by the +Zambesi. When the heavy rains come down, and sweep the vast fetid +accumulation into the torrents, the water is polluted with filth; +and, but for the precaution mentioned, the natives would prove +themselves as little fastidious as those in London who drink the +abomination poured into the Thames by Reading and Oxford. It is no +wonder that sailors suffered so much from fever after drinking +African river water, before the present admirable system of +condensing it was adopted in our navy. + +The scent of man is excessively terrible to game of all kinds, much +more so, probably, than the sight of him. A herd of antelopes, a +hundred yards off, gazed at us as we moved along the winding path, +and timidly stood their ground until half our line had passed, but +darted off the instant they "got the wind," or caught the flavour of +those who had gone by. The sport is all up with the hunter who gets +to the windward of the African beast, as it cannot stand even the +distant aroma of the human race, so much dreaded by all wild animals. +Is this the fear and the dread of man, which the Almighty said to +Noah was to be upon every beast of the field? A lion may, while +lying in wait for his prey, leap on a human being as he would on any +other animal, save a rhinoceros or an elephant, that happened to +pass; or a lioness, when she has cubs, might attack a man, who, +passing "up the wind of her," had unconsciously, by his scent, +alarmed her for the safety of her whelps; or buffaloes, amid other +animals, might rush at a line of travellers, in apprehension of being +surrounded by them; but neither beast nor snake will, as a general +rule, turn on man except when wounded, or by mistake. If gorillas, +unwounded, advance to do battle with him, and beat their breasts in +defiance, they are an exception to all wild beasts known to us. From +the way an elephant runs at the first glance of man, it is inferred +that this huge brute, though really king of beasts, would run even +from a child. + +Our two donkeys caused as much admiration as the three white men. +Great was the astonishment when one of the donkeys began to bray. +The timid jumped more than if a lion had roared beside them. All +were startled, and stared in mute amazement at the harsh-voiced one, +till the last broken note was uttered; then, on being assured that +nothing in particular was meant, they looked at each other, and burst +into a loud laugh at their common surprise. When one donkey +stimulated the other to try his vocal powers, the interest felt by +the startled visitors, must have equalled that of the Londoners, when +they first crowded to see the famous hippopotamus. + +We were now, when we crossed the boundary rivulet Nyamatarara, out of +Chicova and amongst sandstone rocks, similar to those which prevail +between Lupata and Kebrabasa. In the latter gorge, as already +mentioned, igneous and syenitic masses have been acted on by some +great fiery convulsion of nature; the strata are thrown into a +huddled heap of confusion. The coal has of course disappeared in +Kebrabasa, but is found again in Chicova. Tette grey sandstone is +common about Sinjere, and wherever it is seen with fossil wood upon +it, coal lies beneath; and here, as at Chicova, some seams crop out +on the banks of the Zambesi. Looking southwards, the country is open +plain and woodland, with detached hills and mountains in the +distance; but the latter are too far off, the natives say, for them +to know their names. The principal hills on our right, as we look up +stream, are from six to twelve miles away, and occasionally they send +down spurs to the river, with brooks flowing through their narrow +valleys. The banks of the Zambesi show two well-defined terraces; +the first, or lowest, being usually narrow, and of great fertility, +while the upper one is a dry grassy plain, a thorny jungle, or a +mopane (Bauhinia) forest. One of these plains, near the Kafue, is +covered with the large stumps and trunks of a petrified forest. We +halted a couple of days by the fine stream Sinjere, which comes from +the Chiroby-roby hills, about eight miles to the north. Many lumps +of coal, brought down by the rapid current, lie in its channel. The +natives never seem to have discovered that coal would burn, and, when +informed of the fact, shook their heads, smiled incredulously, and +said "Kodi" (really), evidently regarding it as a mere traveller's +tale. They were astounded to see it burning freely on our fire of +wood. They told us that plenty of it was seen among the hills; but, +being long ago aware that we were now in an immense coalfield, we did +not care to examine it further. + +A dyke of black basaltic rock, called Kakolole, crosses the river +near the mouth of the Sinjere; but it has two open gateways in it of +from sixty to eighty yards in breadth, and the channel is very deep. + +On a shallow sandbank, under the dyke, lay a herd of hippopotami in +fancied security. The young ones were playing with each other like +young puppies, climbing on the backs of their dams, trying to take +hold of one another by the jaws and tumbling over into the water. +Mbia, one of the Makololo, waded across to within a dozen yards of +the drowsy beasts, and shot the father of the herd; who, being very +fat, soon floated, and was secured at the village below. The headman +of the village visited us while we were at breakfast. He wore a +black "ife" wig and a printed shirt. After a short silence he said +to Masakasa, "You are with the white people, so why do you not tell +them to give me a cloth?" "We are strangers," answered Masakasa, +"why do you not bring us some food?" He took the plain hint, and +brought us two fowls, in order that we should not report that in +passing him we got nothing to eat; and, as usual, we gave a cloth in +return. In reference to the hippopotamus he would make no demand, +but said he would take what we chose to give him. The men gorged +themselves with meat for two days, and cut large quantities into long +narrow strips, which they half-dried and half-roasted on wooden +frames over the fire. Much game is taken in this neighbourhood in +pitfalls. Sharp-pointed stakes are set in the bottom, on which the +game tumbles and gets impaled. The natives are careful to warn +strangers of these traps, and also of the poisoned beams suspended on +the tall trees for the purpose of killing elephants and hippopotami. +It is not difficult to detect the pitfalls after one's attention has +been called to them; but in places where they are careful to carry +the earth off to a distance, and a person is not thinking of such +things, a sudden descent of nine feet is an experience not easily +forgotten by the traveller. The sensations of one thus +instantaneously swallowed up by the earth are peculiar. A momentary +suspension of consciousness is followed by the rustling sound of a +shower of sand and dry grass, and the half-bewildered thought of +where he is, and how he came into darkness. Reason awakes to assure +him that he must have come down through that small opening of +daylight overhead, and that he is now where a hippopotamus ought to +have been. The descent of a hippopotamus pitfall is easy, but to get +out again into the upper air is a work of labour. The sides are +smooth and treacherous, and the cross reeds, which support the +covering, break in the attempt to get out by clutching them. A cry +from the depths is unheard by those around, and it is only by +repeated and most desperate efforts that the buried alive can regain +the upper world. At Tette we are told of a white hunter, of +unusually small stature, who plumped into a pit while stalking a +guinea-fowl on a tree. It was the labour of an entire forenoon to +get out; and he was congratulating himself on his escape, and +brushing off the clay from his clothes, when down he went into a +second pit, which happened, as is often the case, to be close beside +the first, and it was evening before he could work himself out of +THAT. + +Elephants and buffaloes seldom return to the river by the same path +on two successive nights, they become so apprehensive of danger from +this human art. An old elephant will walk in advance of the herd, +and uncover the pits with his trunk, that the others may see the +openings and tread on firm ground. Female elephants are generally +the victims: more timid by nature than the males, and very motherly +in their anxiety for their calves, they carry their trunks up, trying +every breeze for fancied danger, which often in reality lies at their +feet. The tusker, fearing less, keeps his trunk down, and, warned in +time by that exquisitely sensitive organ, takes heed to his ways. + +Our camp on the Sinjere stood under a wide-spreading wild fig-tree. +From the numbers of this family, of large size, dotted over the +country, the fig or banyan species would seem to have been held +sacred in Africa from the remotest times. The soil teemed with white +ants, whose clay tunnels, formed to screen them from the eyes of +birds, thread over the ground, up the trunks of trees, and along the +branches, from which the little architects clear away all rotten or +dead wood. Very often the exact shape of branches is left in tunnels +on the ground and not a bit of the wood inside. The first night we +passed here these destructive insects ate through our grass-beds, and +attacked our blankets, and certain large red-headed ones even bit our +flesh. + +On some days not a single white ant is to be seen abroad; and on +others, and during certain hours, they appear out of doors in +myriads, and work with extraordinary zeal and energy in carrying bits +of dried grass down into their nests. During these busy reaping-fits +the lizards and birds have a good time of it, and enjoy a rich feast +at the expense of thousands of hapless workmen; and when they swarm +they are caught in countless numbers by the natives, and their +roasted bodies are spoken of in an unctuous manner as resembling +grains of soft rice fried in delicious fresh oil. + +A strong marauding party of large black ants attacked a nest of white +ones near the camp: as the contest took place beneath the surface, +we could not see the order of the battle; but it soon became apparent +that the blacks had gained the day, and sacked the white town, for +they returned in triumph, bearing off the eggs, and choice bits of +the bodies of the vanquished. A gift, analogous to that of language, +has not been withheld from ants: if part of their building is +destroyed, an official is seen coming out to examine the damage; and, +after a careful survey of the ruins, he chirrups a few clear and +distinct notes, and a crowd of workers begin at once to repair the +breach. When the work is completed, another order is given, and the +workmen retire, as will appear on removing the soft freshly-built +portion. We tried to sleep one rainy might in a native hut, but +could not because of attacks by the fighting battalions of a very +small species of formica, not more than one-sixteenth of an inch in +length. It soon became obvious that they were under regular +discipline, and even attempting to carry out the skilful plans and +stratagems of some eminent leader. Our hands and necks were the +first objects of attack. Large bodies of these little pests were +massed in silence round the point to be assaulted. We could hear the +sharp shrill word of command two or three times repeated, though +until then we had not believed in the vocal power of an ant; the +instant after we felt the storming hosts range over head and neck, +biting the tender skin, clinging with a death-grip to the hair, and +parting with their jaws rather than quit their hold. On our lying +down again in the hope of their having been driven off, no sooner was +the light out, and all still, than the manoeuvre was repeated. Clear +and audible orders were issued, and the assault renewed. It was as +hard to sleep in that hut as in the trenches before Sebastopol. The +white ant, being a vegetable feeder, devours articles of vegetable +origin only, and leather, which, by tanning, is imbued with a +vegetable flavour. "A man may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow, +from the ravages of white ants," said a Portuguese merchant. "If he +gets sick, and unable to look after his goods, his slaves neglect +them, and they are soon destroyed by these insects." The reddish +ant, in the west called drivers, crossed our path daily, in solid +columns an inch wide, and never did the pugnacity of either man or +beast exceed theirs. It is a sufficient cause of war if you only +approach them, even by accident. Some turn out of the ranks and +stand with open mandibles, or, charging with extended jaws, bite with +savage ferocity. When hunting, we lighted among them too often; +while we were intent on the game, and without a thought of ants, they +quietly covered us from head to foot, then all began to bite at the +same instant; seizing a piece of the skin with their powerful +pincers, they twisted themselves round with it, as if determined to +tear it out. Their bites are so terribly sharp that the bravest must +run, and then strip to pick off those that still cling with their +hooked jaws, as with steel forceps. This kind abounds in damp +places, and is usually met with on the banks of streams. We have not +heard of their actually killing any animal except the Python, and +that only when gorged and quite lethargic, but they soon clear away +any dead animal matter; this appears to be their principal food, and +their use in the economy of nature is clearly in the scavenger line. + +We started from the Sinjere on the 12th of June, our men carrying +with them bundles of hippopotamus meat for sale, and for future use. +We rested for breakfast opposite the Kakolole dyke, which confines +the channel, west of the Manyerere mountain. A rogue monkey, the +largest by far that we ever saw, and very fat and tame, walked off +leisurely from a garden as we approached. The monkey is a sacred +animal in this region, and is never molested or killed, because the +people believe devoutly that the souls of their ancestors now occupy +these degraded forms, and anticipate that they themselves must, +sooner or later, be transformed in like manner; a future as cheerless +for the black as the spirit-rapper's heaven is for the whites. The +gardens are separated from each other by a single row of small +stones, a few handfuls of grass, or a slight furrow made by the hoe. +Some are enclosed by a reed fence of the flimsiest construction, yet +sufficient to keep out the ever wary hippopotamus, who dreads a trap. +His extreme caution is taken advantage of by the women, who hang, as +a miniature trap-beam, a kigelia fruit with a bit of stick in the +end. This protects the maize, of which he is excessively fond. + +The quantity of hippopotamus meat eaten by our men made some of them +ill, and our marches were necessarily short. After three hours' +travel on the 13th, we spent the remainder of the day at the village +of Chasiribera, on a rivulet flowing through a beautiful valley to +the north, which is bounded by magnificent mountain-ranges. Pinkwe, +or Mbingwe, otherwise Moeu, forms the south-eastern angle of the +range. On the 16th June we were at the flourishing village of Senga, +under the headman Manyame, which lies at the foot of the mount +Motemwa. Nearly all the mountains in this country are covered with +open forest and grass, in colour, according to the season, green or +yellow. Many are between 2000 and 3000 feet high, with the sky line +fringed with trees; the rocks show just sufficiently for one to +observe their stratification, or their granitic form, and though not +covered with dense masses of climbing plants, like those in moister +eastern climates, there is still the idea conveyed that most of the +steep sides are fertile, and none give the impression of that +barrenness which, in northern mountains, suggests the idea that the +bones of the world are sticking through its skin. + +The villagers reported that we were on the footsteps of a Portuguese +half-caste, who, at Senga, lately tried to purchase ivory, but, in +consequence of his having murdered a chief near Zumbo and twenty of +his men, the people declined to trade with him. He threatened to +take the ivory by force, if they would not sell it; but that same +night the ivory and the women were spirited out of the village, and +only a large body of armed men remained. The trader, fearing that he +might come off second best if it came to blows, immediately departed. +Chikwanitsela, or Sekuanangila, is the paramount chief of some fifty +miles of the northern bank of the Zambesi in this locality. He lives +on the opposite, or southern side, and there his territory is still +more extensive. We sent him a present from Senga, and were informed +by a messenger next morning that he had a cough and could not come +over to see us. "And has his present a cough too," remarked one of +our party, "that it does not come to us? Is this the way your chief +treats strangers, receives their present, and sends them no food in +return?" Our men thought Chikwanitsela an uncommonly stingy fellow; +but, as it was possible that some of them might yet wish to return +this way, they did not like to scold him more than this, which was +sufficiently to the point. + +Men and women were busily engaged in preparing the ground for the +November planting. Large game was abundant; herds of elephants and +buffaloes came down to the river in the night, but were a long way +off by daylight. They soon adopt this habit in places where they are +hunted. + +The plains we travel over are constantly varying in breadth, +according as the furrowed and wooded hills approach or recede from +the river. On the southern side we see the hill Bungwe, and the +long, level, wooded ridge Nyangombe, the first of a series bending +from the S.E. to the N.W. past the Zambesi. We shot an old pallah on +the 16th, and found that the poor animal had been visited with more +than the usual share of animal afflictions. He was stone-blind in +both eyes, had several tumours, and a broken leg, which showed no +symptoms of ever having begun to heal. Wild animals sometimes suffer +a great deal from disease, and wearily drag on a miserable existence +before relieved of it by some ravenous beast. Once we drove off a +maneless lion and lioness from a dead buffalo, which had been in the +last stage of a decline. They had watched him staggering to the +river to quench his thirst, and sprang on him as he was crawling up +the bank. One had caught him by the throat, and the other by his +high projecting backbone, which was broken by the lion's powerful +fangs. The struggle, if any, must have been short. They had only +eaten the intestines when we frightened them off. It is curious that +this is the part that wild animals always begin with, and that it is +also the first choice of our men. Were it not a wise arrangement +that only the strongest males should continue the breed, one could +hardly help pitying the solitary buffalo expelled from the herd for +some physical blemish, or on account of the weakness of approaching +old age. Banished from female society, he naturally becomes morose +and savage; the necessary watchfulness against enemies is now never +shared by others; disgusted, he passes into a state of chronic war +with all who enjoy life, and the sooner after his expulsion that he +fills the lion's or the wild-dog's maw, the better for himself and +for the peace of the country. + +We encamped on the 20th of June at a spot where Dr. Livingstone, on +his journey from the West to the East Coast, was formerly menaced by +a chief named Mpende. No offence had been committed against him, but +he had firearms, and, with the express object of showing his power, +he threatened to attack the strangers. Mpende's counsellors having, +however, found out that Dr. Livingstone belonged to a tribe of whom +they had heard that "they loved the black man and did not make +slaves," his conduct at once changed from enmity to kindness, and, as +the place was one well selected for defence, it was perhaps quite as +well for Mpende that he decided as he did. Three of his counsellors +now visited us, and we gave them a handsome present for their chief, +who came himself next morning and made us a present of a goat, a +basket of boiled maize, and another of vetches. A few miles above +this the headman, Chilondo of Nyamasusa, apologized for not formerly +lending us canoes. "He was absent, and his children were to blame +for not telling him when the Doctor passed; he did not refuse the +canoes." The sight of our men, now armed with muskets, had a great +effect. Without any bullying, firearms command respect, and lead men +to be reasonable who might otherwise feel disposed to be troublesome. +Nothing, however, our fracas with Mpende excepted, could be more +peaceful than our passage through this tract of country in 1856. We +then had nothing to excite the cupidity of the people, and the men +maintained themselves, either by selling elephant's meat, or by +exhibiting feats of foreign dancing. Most of the people were very +generous and friendly; but the Banyai, nearer to Tette than this, +stopped our march with a threatening war-dance. One of our party, +terrified at this, ran away, as we thought, insane, and could not, +after a painful search of three days, be found. The Banyai, +evidently touched by our distress, allowed us to proceed. Through a +man we left on an island a little below Mpende's, we subsequently +learned that poor Monaheng had fled thither, and had been murdered by +the headman for no reason except that he was defenceless. This +headman had since become odious to his countrymen, and had been put +to death by them. + +On the 23rd of June we entered Pangola's principal village, which is +upwards of a mile from the river. The ruins of a mud wall showed +that a rude attempt had been made to imitate the Portuguese style of +building. We established ourselves under a stately wild fig-tree, +round whose trunk witchcraft medicine had been tied, to protect from +thieves the honey of the wild bees, which had their hive in one of +the limbs. This is a common device. The charm, or the medicine, is +purchased of the dice doctors, and consists of a strip of palm-leaf +smeared with something, and adorned with a few bits of grass, wood, +or roots. It is tied round the tree, and is believed to have the +power of inflicting disease and death on the thief who climbs over +it. Superstition is thus not without its uses in certain states of +society; it prevents many crimes and misdemeanours, which would occur +but for the salutary fear that it produces. + +Pangola arrived, tipsy and talkative.--"We are friends, we are great +friends; I have brought you a basket of green maize--here it is!" We +thanked him, and handed him two fathoms of cotton cloth, four times +the market-value of his present. No, he would not take so small a +present; he wanted a double-barrelled rifle--one of Dixon's best. +"We are friends, you know; we are all friends together." But +although we were willing to admit that, we could not give him our +best rifle, so he went off in high dudgeon. Early next morning, as +we were commencing Divine service, Pangola returned, sober. We +explained to him that we wished to worship God, and invited him to +remain; he seemed frightened, and retired: but after service he +again importuned us for the rifle. It was of no use telling him that +we had a long journey before us, and needed it to kill game for +ourselves.--"He too must obtain meat for himself and people, for they +sometimes suffered from hunger." He then got sulky, and his people +refused to sell food except at extravagant prices. Knowing that we +had nothing to eat, they felt sure of starving us into compliance. +But two of our young men, having gone off at sunrise, shot a fine +water-buck, and down came the provision market to the lower figure; +they even became eager to sell, but our men were angry with them for +trying compulsion, and would not buy. Black greed had outwitted +itself, as happens often with white cupidity; and not only here did +the traits of Africans remind us of Anglo-Saxons elsewhere: the +notoriously ready world-wide disposition to take an unfair advantage +of a man's necessities shows that the same mean motives are pretty +widely diffused among all races. It may not be granted that the same +blood flows in all veins, or that all have descended from the same +stock; but the traveller has no doubt that, practically, the white +rogue and black are men and brothers. + +Pangola is the child or vassal of Mpende. Sandia and Mpende are the +only independent chiefs from Kebrabasa to Zumbo, and belong to the +tribe Manganja. The country north of the mountains here in sight +from the Zambesi is called Senga, and its inhabitants Asenga, or +Basenga, but all appear to be of the same family as the rest of the +Manganja and Maravi. Formerly all the Manganja were united under the +government of their great chief, Undi, whose empire extended from +Lake Shirwa to the River Loangwa; but after Undi's death it fell to +pieces, and a large portion of it on the Zambesi was absorbed by +their powerful southern neighbours the Banyai. This has been the +inevitable fate of every African empire from time immemorial. A +chief of more than ordinary ability arises and, subduing all his less +powerful neighbours, founds a kingdom, which he governs more or less +wisely till he dies. His successor not having the talents of the +conqueror cannot retain the dominion, and some of the abler under- +chiefs set up for themselves, and, in a few years, the remembrance +only of the empire remains. This, which may be considered as the +normal state of African society, gives rise to frequent and +desolating wars, and the people long in vain for a power able to make +all dwell in peace. In this light, a European colony would be +considered by the natives as an inestimable boon to intertropical +Africa. Thousands of industrious natives would gladly settle round +it, and engage in that peaceful pursuit of agriculture and trade of +which they are so fond, and, undistracted by wars or rumours of wars, +might listen to the purifying and ennobling truths of the gospel of +Jesus Christ. The Manganja on the Zambesi, like their countrymen on +the Shire, are fond of agriculture; and, in addition to the usual +varieties of food, cultivate tobacco and cotton in quantities more +than equal to their wants. To the question, "Would they work for +Europeans?" an affirmative answer may be given, if the Europeans +belong to the class which can pay a reasonable price for labour, and +not to that of adventurers who want employment for themselves. All +were particularly well clothed from Sandia's to Pangola's; and it was +noticed that all the cloth was of native manufacture, the product of +their own looms. In Senga a great deal of iron is obtained from the +ore and manufactured very cleverly. + +As is customary when a party of armed strangers visits the village, +Pangola took the precaution of sleeping in one of the outlying +hamlets. No one ever knows, or at any rate will tell, where the +chief sleeps. He came not next morning, so we went our way; but in a +few moments we saw the rifle-loving chief approaching with some armed +men. Before meeting us, he left the path and drew up his "following" +under a tree, expecting us to halt, and give him a chance of +bothering us again; but, having already had enough of that, we held +right on: he seemed dumbfoundered, and could hardly believe his own +eyes. For a few seconds he was speechless, but at last recovered so +far as to be able to say, "You are passing Pangola. Do you not see +Pangola?" Mbia was just going by at the time with the donkey, and, +proud of every opportunity of airing his small stock of English, +shouted in reply, "All right! then get on." "Click, click, click." + +On the 26th June we breakfasted at Zumbo, on the left bank of the +Loangwa, near the ruins of some ancient Portuguese houses. The +Loangwa was too deep to be forded, and there were no canoes on our +side. Seeing two small ones on the opposite shore, near a few +recently erected huts of two half-castes from Tette, we halted for +the ferry-men to come over. From their movements it was evident that +they were in a state of rollicking drunkenness. Having a waterproof +cloak, which could be inflated into a tiny boat, we sent Mantlanyane +across in it. Three half-intoxicated slaves then brought us the +shaky canoes, which we lashed together and manned with our own canoe- +men. Five men were all that we could carry over at a time; and after +four trips had been made the slaves began to clamour for drink; not +receiving any, as we had none to give, they grew more insolent, and +declared that not another man should cross that day. Sininyane was +remonstrating with them, when a loaded musket was presented at him by +one of the trio. In an instant the gun was out of the rascal's +hands, a rattling shower of blows fell on his back, and he took an +involuntary header into the river. He crawled up the bank a sad and +sober man, and all three at once tumbled from the height of saucy +swagger to a low depth of slavish abjectness. The musket was found +to have an enormous charge, and might have blown our man to pieces, +but for the promptitude with which his companions administered +justice in a lawless land. We were all ferried safely across by 8 +o'clock in the evening. + +In illustration of what takes place where no government, or law +exists, the two half-castes, to whom these men belonged, left Tette, +with four hundred slaves, armed with the old Sepoy Brown Bess, to +hunt elephants and trade in ivory. On our way up, we heard from +natives of their lawless deeds, and again, on our way down, from +several, who had been eyewitnesses of the principal crime, and all +reports substantially agreed. The story is a sad one. After the +traders reached Zumbo, one of them, called by the natives Sequasha, +entered into a plot with the disaffected headman, Namakusuru, to kill +his chief, Mpangwe, in order that Namakusuru might seize upon the +chieftainship; and for the murder of Mpangwe the trader agreed to +receive ten large tusks of ivory. Sequasha, with a picked party of +armed slaves, went to visit Mpangwe who received him kindly, and +treated him with all the honour and hospitality usually shown to +distinguished strangers, and the women busied themselves in cooking +the best of their provisions for the repast to be set before him. Of +this, and also of the beer, the half-caste partook heartily. Mpangwe +was then asked by Sequasha to allow his men to fire their guns in +amusement. Innocent of any suspicion of treachery, and anxious to +hear the report of firearms, Mpangwe at once gave his consent; and +the slaves rose and poured a murderous volley into the merry group of +unsuspecting spectators, instantly killing the chief and twenty of +his people. The survivors fled in horror. The children and young +women were seized as slaves, and the village sacked. Sequasha sent +the message to Namakusuru: "I have killed the lion that troubled +you; come and let us talk over the matter." He came and brought the +ivory. "No," said the half-caste, "let us divide the land:" and he +took the larger share for himself, and compelled the would-be usurper +to deliver up his bracelets, in token of subjection on becoming the +child or vassal of Sequasha. These were sent in triumph to the +authorities at Tette. The governor of Quillimane had told us that he +had received orders from Lisbon to take advantage of our passing to +re-establish Zumbo; and accordingly these traders had built a small +stockade on the rich plain of the right bank of Loangwa, a mile above +the site of the ancient mission church of Zumbo, as part of the royal +policy. The bloodshed was quite unnecessary, because, the land at +Zumbo having of old been purchased, the natives would have always of +their own accord acknowledged the right thus acquired; they pointed +it out to Dr. Livingstone in 1856 that, though they were cultivating +it, is was not theirs, but white man's land. Sequasha and his mate +had left their ivory in charge of some of their slaves, who, in the +absence of their masters, were now having a gay time of it, and +getting drunk every day with the produce of the sacked villages. The +head slave came and begged for the musket of the delinquent ferryman, +which was returned. He thought his master did perfectly right to +kill Mpangwe, when asked to do it for the fee of ten tusks, and he +even justified it thus: "If a man invites you to eat, will you not +partake?" + +We continued our journey on the 28th of June. Game was extremely +abundant, and there were many lions. Mbia drove one off from his +feast on a wild pig, and appropriated what remained of the pork to +his own use. Lions are particularly fond of the flesh of wild pigs +and zebras, and contrive to kill a large number of these animals. In +the afternoon we arrived at the village of the female chief, Ma- +mburuma, but she herself was now living on the opposite side of the +river. Some of her people called, and said she had been frightened +by seeing her son and other children killed by Sequasha, and had fled +to the other bank; but when her heart was healed, she would return +and live in her own village, and among her own people. She +constantly inquired of the black traders, who came up the river, if +they had any news of the white man who passed with the oxen. "He has +gone down into the sea," was their reply, "but we belong to the same +people." "Oh no; you need not tell me that; he takes no slaves, but +wishes peace: you are not of his tribe." This antislavery character +excites such universal attention, that any missionary who winked at +the gigantic evils involved in the slave-trade would certainly fail +to produce any good impression on the native mind. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +Illness--The Honey-guide--Abundance of game--The Baenda pezi--The +Batoka. + +We left the river here, and proceeded up the valley which leads to +the Mburuma or Mohango pass. The nights were cold, and on the 30th +of June the thermometer was as low as 39 degrees at sunrise. We +passed through a village of twenty large huts, which Sequasha had +attacked on his return from the murder of the chief, Mpangwe. He +caught the women and children for slaves, and carried off all the +food, except a huge basket of bran, which the natives are wont to +save against a time of famine. His slaves had broken all the water- +pots and the millstones for grinding meal. + +The buaze-trees and bamboos are now seen on the hills; but the jujube +or zisyphus, which has evidently been introduced from India, extends +no further up the river. We had been eating this fruit, which, +having somewhat the taste of apples, the Portuguese call Macaas, all +the way from Tette; and here they were larger than usual, though +immediately beyond they ceased to be found. No mango-tree either is +to be met with beyond this point, because the Portuguese traders +never established themselves anywhere beyond Zumbo. Tsetse flies are +more numerous and troublesome than we have ever before found them. +They accompany us on the march, often buzzing round our heads like a +swarm of bees. They are very cunning, and when intending to bite, +alight so gently that their presence is not perceived till they +thrust in their lance-like proboscis. The bite is acute, but the +pain is over in a moment; it is followed by a little of the +disagreeable itching of the mosquito's bite. This fly invariably +kills all domestic animals except goats and donkeys; man and the wild +animals escape. We ourselves were severely bitten on this pass, and +so were our donkeys, but neither suffered from any after effects. + +Water is scarce in the Mburuma pass, except during the rainy season. +We however halted beside some fine springs in the bed of the now dry +rivulet, Podebode, which is continued down to the end of the pass, +and yields water at intervals in pools. Here we remained a couple of +days in consequence of the severe illness of Dr. Kirk. He had +several times been attacked by fever; and observed that when we were +on the cool heights he was comfortable, but when we happened to +descend from a high to a lower altitude, he felt chilly, though the +temperature in the latter case was 25 degrees higher than it was +above; he had been trying different medicines of reputed efficacy +with a view to ascertain whether other combinations might not be +superior to the preparation we generally used; in halting by this +water he suddenly became blind, and unable to stand from faintness. +The men, with great alacrity, prepared a grassy bed, on which we laid +our companion, with the sad forebodings which only those who have +tended the sick in a wild country can realize. We feared that in +experimenting he had over-drugged himself; but we gave him a dose of +our fever pills; on the third day he rode the one of the two donkeys +that would allow itself to be mounted, and on the sixth he marched as +well as any of us. This case is mentioned in order to illustrate +what we have often observed, that moving the patient from place to +place is most conducive to the cure; and the more pluck a man has-- +the less he gives in to the disease--the less likely he is to die. + +Supplied with water by the pools in the Podebode, we again joined the +Zambesi at the confluence of the rivulet. When passing through a dry +district the native hunter knows where to expect water by the animals +he sees. The presence of the gemsbuck, duiker or diver, springbucks, +or elephants, is no proof that water is near; for these animals roam +over vast tracts of country, and may be met scores of miles from it. +Not so, however, the zebra, pallah, buffalo, and rhinoceros; their +spoor gives assurance that water is not far off, as they never stray +any distance from its neighbourhood. But when amidst the solemn +stillness of the woods, the singing of joyous birds falls upon the +ear, it is certain that water is close at hand. + +Our men in hunting came on an immense herd of buffaloes, quietly +resting in the long dry grass, and began to blaze away furiously at +the astonished animals. In the wild excitement of the hunt, which +heretofore had been conducted with spears, some forgot to load with +ball, and, firing away vigorously with powder only, wondered for the +moment that the buffaloes did not fall. The slayer of the young +elephant, having buried his four bullets in as many buffaloes, fired +three charges of No. 1 shot he had for killing guinea-fowl. The +quaint remarks and merriment after these little adventures seemed to +the listener like the pleasant prattle of children. Mbia and +Mantlanyane, however, killed one buffalo each; both the beasts were +in prime condition; the meat was like really excellent beef, with a +smack of venison. A troop of hungry, howling hyenas also thought the +savour tempting, as they hung round the camp at night, anxious to +partake of the feast. They are, fortunately, arrant cowards, and +never attack either men or beasts except they can catch them asleep, +sick, or at some other disadvantage. With a bright fire at our feet +their presence excites no uneasiness. A piece of meat hung on a +tree, high enough to make him jump to reach it, and a short spear, +with its handle firmly planted in the ground beneath, are used as a +device to induce the hyena to commit suicide by impalement. + +The honey-guide is an extraordinary bird; how is it that every member +of its family has learned that all men, white or black, are fond of +honey? The instant the little fellow gets a glimpse of a man, he +hastens to greet him with the hearty invitation to come, as Mbia +translated it, to a bees' hive, and take some honey. He flies on in +the proper direction, perches on a tree, and looks back to see if you +are following; then on to another and another, until he guides you to +the spot. If you do not accept his first invitation he follows you +with pressing importunities, quite as anxious to lure the stranger to +the bees' hive as other birds are to draw him away from their own +nest. Except while on the march, our men were sure to accept the +invitation, and manifested the same by a peculiar responsive whistle, +meaning, as they said, "All right, go ahead; we are coming." The +bird never deceived them, but always guided them to a hive of bees, +though some had but little honey in store. Has this peculiar habit +of the honey-guide its origin, as the attachment of dogs, in +friendship for man, or in love for the sweet pickings of the plunder +left on the ground? Self-interest aiding in preservation from danger +seems to be the rule in most cases, as, for instance, in the bird +that guards the buffalo and rhinoceros. The grass is often so tall +and dense that one could go close up to these animals quite +unperceived; but the guardian bird, sitting on the beast, sees the +approach of danger, flaps its wings and screams, which causes its +bulky charge to rush off from a foe he has neither seen nor heard; +for his reward the vigilant little watcher has the pick of the +parasites on his fat friend. In other cases a chance of escape must +be given even by the animal itself to its prey; as in the rattle- +snake, which, when excited to strike, cannot avoid using his rattle, +any more than the cat can resist curling its tail when excited in the +chase of a mouse, or the cobra can refrain from inflating the loose +skin of the neck and extending it laterally, before striking its +poison fangs into its victim. There are many snakes in parts of this +pass; they basked in the warm sunshine, but rustled off through the +leaves as we approached. We observed one morning a small one of a +deadly poisonous species, named Kakone, on a bush by the wayside, +quietly resting in a horizontal position, digesting a lizard for +breakfast. Though openly in view, its colours and curves so closely +resembled a small branch that some failed to see it, even after being +asked if they perceived anything on the bush. Here also one of our +number had a glance at another species, rarely seen, and whose swift +lightning-like motion has given rise to the native proverb, that when +a man sees this snake he will forthwith become a rich man. + +We slept near the ruined village of the murdered chief, Mpangwe, a +lovely spot, with the Zambesi in front, and extensive gardens behind, +backed by a semicircle of hills receding up to lofty mountains. Our +path kept these mountains on our right, and crossed several +streamlets, which seemed to be perennial, and among others the +Selole, which apparently flows past the prominent peak Chiarapela. +These rivulets have often human dwellings on their banks; but the +land can scarcely be said to be occupied. The number of all sorts of +game increases wonderfully every day. As a specimen of what may be +met with where there are no human habitations, and where no firearms +have been introduced, we may mention what at times has actually been +seen by us. On the morning of July 3rd a herd of elephants passed +within fifty yards of our sleeping-place, going down to the river +along the dry bed of a rivulet. Starting a few minutes before the +main body, we come upon large flocks of guinea-fowl, shoot what may +be wanted for dinner, or next morning's breakfast, and leave them in +the path to be picked up by the cook and his mates behind. As we +proceed, francolins of three varieties run across the path, and +hundreds of turtle-doves rise, with great blatter of wing, and fly +off to the trees. Guinea-fowls, francolins, turtle-doves, ducks, and +geese are the game birds of this region. At sunrise a herd of +pallahs, standing like a flock of sheep, allow the first man of our +long Indian file to approach within about fifty yards; but having +meat, we let them trot off leisurely and unmolested. Soon afterwards +we come upon a herd of waterbucks, which here are very much darker in +colour, and drier in flesh, than the same species near the sea. They +look at us and we at them; and we pass on to see a herd of doe +koodoos, with a magnificently horned buck or two, hurrying off to the +dry hill-sides. We have ceased shooting antelopes, as our men have +been so often gorged with meat that they have become fat and dainty. +They say that they do not want more venison, it is so dry and +tasteless, and ask why we do not give them shot to shoot the more +savoury guinea-fowl. + +About eight o'clock the tsetse commence to buzz about us, and bite +our hands and necks sharply. Just as we are thinking of breakfast, +we meet some buffaloes grazing by the path; but they make off in a +heavy gallop at the sight of man. We fire, and the foremost, badly +wounded, separates from the herd, and is seen to stop amongst the +trees; but, as it is a matter of great danger to follow a wounded +buffalo, we hold on our way. It is this losing of wounded animals +which makes firearms so annihilating to these beasts of the field, +and will in time sweep them all away. The small Enfield bullet is +worse than the old round one for this. It often goes through an +animal without killing him, and he afterwards perishes, when he is of +no value to man. After breakfast we draw near a pond of water; a +couple of elephants stand on its bank, and, at a respectful distance +behind these monarchs of the wilderness, is seen a herd of zebras, +and another of waterbucks. On getting our wind the royal beasts make +off at once; but the zebras remain till the foremost man is within +eighty yards of them, when old and young canter gracefully away. The +zebra has a great deal of curiosity; and this is often fatal to him, +for he has the habit of stopping to look at the hunter. In this +particular he is the exact opposite of the diver antelope, which +rushes off like the wind, and never for a moment stops to look +behind, after having once seen or smelt danger. The finest zebra of +the herd is sometimes shot, our men having taken a sudden fancy to +the flesh, which all declare to be the "king of good meat." On the +plains of short grass between us and the river many antelopes of +different species are calmly grazing, or reposing. Wild pigs are +common, and walk abroad during the day; but are so shy as seldom to +allow a close approach. On taking alarm they erect their slender +tails in the air, and trot off swiftly in a straight line, keeping +their bodies as steady as a locomotive on a railroad. A mile beyond +the pool three cow buffaloes with their calves come from the woods, +and move out into the plain. A troop of monkeys, on the edge of the +forest, scamper back to its depths on hearing the loud song of +Singeleka, and old surly fellows, catching sight of the human party, +insult it with a loud and angry bark. Early in the afternoon we may +see buffaloes again, or other animals. We camp on the dry higher +ground, after, as has happened, driving off a solitary elephant. The +nights are warmer now, and possess nearly as much of interest and +novelty as the days. A new world awakes and comes forth, more +numerous, if we may judge by the noise it makes, than that which is +abroad by sunlight. Lions and hyenas roar around us, and sometimes +come disagreeably near, though they have never ventured into our +midst. Strange birds sing their agreeable songs, while others scream +and call harshly as if in fear or anger. Marvellous insect-sounds +fall upon the ear; one, said by natives to proceed from a large +beetle, resembles a succession of measured musical blows upon an +anvil, while many others are perfectly indescribable. A little lemur +was once seen to leap about from branch to branch with the agility of +a frog; it chirruped like a bird, and is not larger than a robin red- +breast. Reptiles, though numerous, seldom troubled us; only two men +suffered from stings, and that very slightly, during the entire +journey, the one supposed that he was bitten by a snake, and the +other was stung by a scorpion. + +Grass-burning has begun, and is producing the blue hazy atmosphere of +the American Indian summer, which in Western Africa is called the +"smokes." Miles of fire burn on the mountain-sides in the evenings, +but go out during the night. From their height they resemble a broad +zigzag line of fire in the heavens. + +We slept on the night of the 6th of July on the left bank of the +Chongwe, which comes through a gap in the hills on our right, and is +twenty yards wide. A small tribe of the Bazizulu, from the south, +under Dadanga, have recently settled here and built a village. Some +of their houses are square, and they seem to be on friendly terms +with the Bakoa, who own the country. They, like the other natives, +cultivate cotton, but of a different species from any we have yet +seen in Africa, the staple being very long, and the boll larger than +what is usually met with; the seeds cohere as in the Pernambuco kind. +They brought the seed with them from their own country, the distant +mountains of which in the south, still inhabited by their fellow- +countrymen, who possess much cattle and use shields, can be seen from +this high ground. These people profess to be children of the great +paramount chief, Kwanyakarombe, who is said to be lord of all the +Bazizulu. The name of this tribe is known to geographers, who derive +their information from the Portuguese, as the Morusurus, and the +hills mentioned above are said to have been the country of +Changamira, the warrior-chief of history, whom no Portuguese ever +dared to approach. The Bazizulu seem, by report, to be brave +mountaineers; nearer the river, the Sidima inhabit the plains; just +as on the north side, the Babimpe live on the heights, about two days +off, and the Makoa on or near the river. The chief of the Bazizulu +we were now with was hospitable and friendly. A herd of buffaloes +came trampling through the gardens and roused up our men; a feat that +roaring lions seldom achieved. + +Our course next day passed over the upper terrace and through a dense +thorn jungle. Travelling is always difficult where there is no path, +but it is even more perplexing where the forest is cut up by many +game-tracks. Here we got separated from one another, and a +rhinoceros with angry snort dashed at Dr. Livingstone as he stooped +to pick up a specimen of the wild fruit morula; but she strangely +stopped stock-still when less than her own length distant, and gave +him time to escape; a branch pulled out his watch as he ran, and +turning half round to grasp it, he got a distant glance of her and +her calf still standing on the selfsame spot, as if arrested in the +middle of her charge by an unseen hand. When about fifty yards off, +thinking his companions close behind, he shouted "Look out there!" +when off she rushed, snorting loudly, in another direction. The +Doctor usually went unarmed before this, but never afterwards. + +A fine eland was shot by Dr. Kirk this afternoon, the first we have +killed. It was in first-rate condition, and remarkably fat; but the +meat, though so tempting in appearance, severely deranged all who +partook of it heartily, especially those who ate of the fat. Natives +who live in game countries, and are acquainted with the different +kinds of wild animals, have a prejudice against the fat of the eland, +the pallah, the zebra, hippopotamus, and pig; they never reject it, +however, the climate making the desire for all animal food very +strong; but they consider that it causes ulcers and leprosy, while +the fat of sheep and of oxen never produces any bad effects, unless +the animal is diseased. + +On the morning of the 9th, after passing four villages, we +breakfasted at an old friend's, Tombanyama, who lives now on the +mainland, having resigned the reedy island, where he was first seen, +to the buffaloes, which used to take his crops and show fight to his +men. He keeps a large flock of tame pigeons, and some fine fat +capons, one of which he gave us, with a basket of meal. They have +plenty of salt in this part of the country, obtaining it from the +plains in the usual way. + +The half-caste partner of Sequasha and a number of his men were +staying near. The fellow was very munch frightened when he saw us, +and trembled so much when he spoke, that the Makololo and other +natives noticed and remarked on it. His fears arose from a sense of +guilt, as we said nothing to frighten him, and did not allude to the +murder till a few minutes before starting; when it was remarked that +Dr. Livingstone having been accredited to the murdered chief, it +would be his duty to report on it; and that not even the Portuguese +Government would approve of the deed. He defended it by saying that +they had put in the right man, the other was a usurper. He was +evidently greatly relieved when we departed. In the afternoon we +came to an outlying hamlet of Kambadzo, whose own village is on an +island, Nyampungo, or Nyangalule, at the confluence of the Kafue. +The chief was on a visit here, and they had been enjoying a regular +jollification. There had been much mirth, music, drinking, and +dancing. The men, and women too, had taken "a wee drap too much," +but had not passed the complimentary stage. The wife of the headman, +after looking at us a few moments, called out to the others, "Black +traders have come before, calling themselves Bazungu, or white men, +but now, for the first time, have we seen the real Bazungu." +Kambadzo also soon appeared; he was sorry that we had not come before +the beer was all done, but he was going back to see if it was all +really and entirely finished, and not one little potful left +somewhere. + +This was, of course, mere characteristic politeness, as he was +perfectly aware that every drop had been swallowed; so we proceeded +on to the Kafue, or Kafuje, accompanied by the most intelligent of +his headmen. A high ridge, just before we reached the confluence, +commands a splendid view of the two great rivers, and the rich +country beyond. Behind, on the north and east, is the high mountain- +range, along whose base we have been travelling; the whole range is +covered with trees, which appear even on the prominent peaks, +Chiarapela, Morindi, and Chiava; at this last the chain bends away to +the N.W., and we could see the distant mountains where the chief, +Semalembue, gained all our hearts in 1856. + +On the 9th of July we tried to send Semalembue a present, but the +people here refused to incur the responsibility of carrying it. We, +who have the art of writing, cannot realize the danger one incurs of +being accused of purloining a portion of goods sent from one person +to another, when the carrier cannot prove that he delivered all +committed to his charge. Rumours of a foray having been made, either +by Makololo or Batoka, as far as the fork of the Kafue, were received +here by our men with great indignation, as it looked as if the +marauders were shutting up the country, which they had been trying so +much to open. Below the junction of the rivers, on a shallow +sandbank, lay a large herd of hippopotami, their bodies out of the +water, like masses of black rock. Kambadzo's island, called +Nyangalule, a name which occurs again at the mouth of the Zambesi, +has many choice Motsikiri (Trachelia) trees on it; and four very +conspicuous stately palms growing out of a single stem. The Kafue +reminds us a little of the Shire, flowing between steep banks, with +fertile land on both sides. It is a smaller river, and has less +current. Here it seems to come from the west. The headman of the +village, near which we encamped, brought a present of meal, fowls, +and sweet potatoes. They have both the red and white varieties of +this potato. We have, on several occasions during this journey, felt +the want of vegetables, in a disagreeable craving which our diet of +meat and native meal could not satisfy. It became worse and worse +till we got a meal of potatoes, which allayed it at once. A great +scarcity of vegetables prevails in these parts of Africa. The +natives collect several kinds of wild plants in the woods, which they +use no doubt for the purpose of driving off cravings similar to those +we experienced. + +Owing to the strength of the wind, and the cranky state of the +canoes, it was late in the afternoon of the 11th before our party was +ferried over the Kafue. After crossing, we were in the Bawe country. +Fishhooks here, of native workmanship, were observed to have barbs +like the European hooks: elsewhere the point of the hook is merely +bent in towards the shank, to have the same effect in keeping on the +fish as the barb. We slept near a village a short distance above the +ford. The people here are of Batoka origin, the same as many of our +men, and call themselves Batonga (independents), or Balengi, and +their language only differs slightly from that of the Bakoa, who live +between the two rivers Kafue and Loangwa. The paramount chief of the +district lives to the west of this place, and is called Nchomokela-- +an hereditary title: the family burying-place is on a small hill +near this village. The women salute us by clapping their hands and +lullilooing as we enter and leave a village, and the men, as they +think, respectfully clap their hands on their hips. Immense crops of +mapira (holcus sorghum) are raised; one species of it forms a natural +bend on the seed-stalk, so that the massive ear hangs down. The +grain was heaped up on wooden stages, and so was a variety of other +products. The men are skilful hunters, and kill elephants and +buffaloes with long heavy spears. We halted a few minutes on the +morning of the 12th July, opposite the narrow island of Sikakoa, +which has a village on its lower end. We were here told that +Moselekatse's chief town is a month's distance from this place. They +had heard, moreover, that the English had come to Moselekatse, and +told him it was wrong to kill men; and he had replied that he was +born to kill people, but would drop the habit; and, since the English +came, he had sent out his men, not to kill as of yore, but to collect +tribute of cloth and ivory. This report referred to the arrival of +the Rev. R. Moffat, of Kuruman, who, we afterwards found, had +established a mission. The statement is interesting as showing that, +though imperfectly expressed, the purport of the missionaries' +teaching had travelled, in a short time, over 300 miles, and we know +not how far the knowledge of the English operations on the coast +spread inland. + +When abreast of the high wooded island Kalabi we came in contact with +one of the game-laws of the country, which has come down from the +most ancient times. An old buffalo crossed the path a few yards in +front of us; our guide threw his small spear at its hip, and it was +going off scarcely hurt, when three rifle balls knocked it over. "It +is mine," said the guide. He had wounded it first, and the +established native game-law is that the animal belongs to the man who +first draws blood; the two legs on one side, by the same law, +belonged to us for killing it. This beast was very old, blind of one +eye, and scabby; the horns, mere stumps, not a foot long, must have +atrophied, when by age he lost the strength distinctive of his sex; +some eighteen or twenty inches of horn could not well be worn down by +mere rubbing against the trees. We saw many buffaloes next day, +standing quietly amidst a thick thorn-jungle, through which we were +passing. They often stood until we were within fifty or a hundred +yards of them. + +On the 14th July we left the river at the mountain-range, which, +lying north-east and south-west across the river, forms the Kariba +gorge. Near the upper end of the Kariba rapids, the stream Sanyati +enters from the south, and is reported to have Moselekatse's +principal cattle-posts at its sources; our route went round the end +of the mountains, and we encamped beside the village of the generous +chief Moloi, who brought us three immense baskets of fine mapira +meal, ten fowls, and two pots of beer. On receiving a present in +return, he rose, and, with a few dancing gestures, said or sang, +"Motota, Motota, Motota," which our men translated into "thanks." He +had visited Moselekatse a few months before our arrival, and saw the +English missionaries, living in their wagons. "They told +Moselekatse," said he, "they were of his family, or friends, and +would plough the land and live at their own expense;" and he had +replied, "The land is before you, and I shall come and see you +plough." This again was substantially what took place, when Mr. +Moffat introduced the missionaries to his old friend, and shows still +further that the notion of losing their country by admitting +foreigners does not come as the first idea to the native mind. One +might imagine that, as mechanical powers are unknown to the heathen, +the almost magic operations of machinery, the discoveries of modern +science and art, or the presence of the prodigious force which, for +instance, is associated with the sight of a man-of-war, would have +the effect which miracles once had of arresting the attention and +inspiring awe. But, though we have heard the natives exclaim in +admiration at the sight of even small illustrations of what science +enables us to do--"Ye are gods, and not men"--the heart is +unaffected. In attempting their moral elevation, it is always more +conducive to the end desired, that the teacher should come +unaccompanied by any power to cause either jealousy or fear. The +heathen, who have not become aware of the greed and hate which too +often characterize the advancing tide of emigration, listen with most +attention to the message of Divine love when delivered by men who +evidently possess the same human sympathies with themselves. A chief +is rather envied his good fortune in first securing foreigners in his +town. Jealousy of strangers belongs more to the Arab than to the +African character; and if the women are let alone by the traveller, +no danger need be apprehended from any save the slave-trading tribes, +and not often even from them. + +We passed through a fertile country, covered with open forest, +accompanied by the friendly Bawe. They are very hospitable; many of +them were named, among themselves, "the Baenda pezi," or "Go-nakeds," +their only clothing being a coat of red ochre. Occasionally stopping +at their villages we were duly lullilooed, and regaled with sweet +new-made beer, which, being yet unfermented, was not intoxicating. +It is in this state called Liting or Makonde. Some of the men carry +large shields of buffalo-hide, and all are well supplied with heavy +spears. The vicinity of the villages is usually cleared and +cultivated in large patches; but nowhere can the country be said to +be stocked with people. At every village stands were erected, and +piles of the native corn, still unthrashed, placed upon them; some +had been beaten out, put into oblong parcels made of grass, and +stacked in wooden frames. + +We crossed several rivulets in our course, as the Mandora, the Lofia, +the Manzaia (with brackish water), the Rimbe, the Chibue, the Chezia, +the Chilola (containing fragments of coal), which did little more +than mark our progress. The island and rapid of Nakansalo, of which +we had formerly heard, were of no importance, the rapid being but +half a mile long, and only on one side of the island. The island +Kaluzi marks one of the numerous places where astronomical +observations were made; Mozia, a station where a volunteer poet left +us; the island Mochenya, and Mpande island, at the mouth of the +Zungwe rivulet, where we left the Zambesi. + +When favoured with the hospitality and company of the "Go-nakeds," we +tried to discover if nudity were the badge of a particular order +among the Bawe, but they could only refer to custom. Some among them +had always liked it for no reason in particular: shame seemed to lie +dormant, and the sense could not be aroused by our laughing and +joking them on their appearance. They evidently felt no less decent +than we did with our clothes on; but, whatever may be said in favour +of nude statues, it struck us that man, in a state of nature, is a +most ungainly animal. Could we see a number of the degraded of our +own lower classes in like guise, it is probable that, without the +black colour which acts somehow as a dress, they would look worse +still. + +In domestic contentions the Bawe are careful not to kill each other; +but, when one village goes to war with another, they are not so +particular. The victorious party are said to quarter one of the +bodies of the enemies they may have killed, and to perform certain +ceremonies over the fragments. The vanquished call upon their +conquerors to give them a portion also; and, when this request is +complied with, they too perform the same ceremonies, and lament over +their dead comrade, after which the late combatants may visit each +other in peace. Sometimes the head of the slain is taken and buried +in an ant-hill, till all the flesh is gone; and the lower jaw is then +worn as a trophy by the slayer; but this we never saw, and the +foregoing information was obtained only through an interpreter. + +We left the Zambesi at the mouth of the Zungwe or Mozama or Dela +rivulet, up which we proceeded, first in a westerly and then in a +north-westerly direction. The Zungwe at this time had no water in +its sandy channel for the first eight or ten miles. Willows, +however, grow on the banks, and water soon began to appear in the +hollows; and a few miles further up it was a fine flowing stream +deliciously cold. As in many other streams from Chicova to near +Sinamane shale and coal crop out in the bank; and here the large +roots of stigmaria or its allied plants were found. We followed the +course of the Zungwe to the foot of the Batoka highlands, up whose +steep and rugged sides of red and white quartz we climbed till we +attained an altitude of upwards of 3000 feet. Here, on the cool and +bracing heights, the exhilaration of mind and body was delightful, as +we looked back at the hollow beneath covered with a hot sultry glare, +not unpleasant now that we were in the mild radiance above. We had a +noble view of the great valley in which the Zambesi flows. The +cultivated portions are so small in comparison to the rest of the +landscape that the valley appears nearly all forest, with a few +grassy glades. We spent the night of the 28th July high above the +level of the sea, by the rivulet Tyotyo, near Tabacheu or +Chirebuechina, names both signifying white mountain; in the morning +hoar frost covered the ground, and thin ice was on the pools. +Skirting the southern flank of Tabacheu, we soon passed from the +hills on to the portion of the vast table-land called Mataba, and +looking back saw all the way across the Zambesi valley to the lofty +ridge some thirty miles off, which, coming from the Mashona, a +country in the S.E., runs to the N.W. to join the ridge at the angle +of which are the Victoria Falls, and then bends far to the N.E. from +the same point. Only a few years since these extensive highlands +were peopled by the Batoka; numerous herds of cattle furnished +abundance of milk, and the rich soil amply repaid the labour of the +husbandman; now large herds of buffaloes, zebras, and antelopes +fatten on the excellent pasture; and on that land, which formerly +supported multitudes, not a man is to been seen. In travelling from +Monday morning till late on Saturday afternoon, all the way from +Tabacheu to Moachemba, which is only twenty-one miles of latitude +from the Victoria Falls, and constantly passing the ruined sites of +utterly deserted Botoka villages, we did not fall in with a single +person. The Batoka were driven out of their noble country by the +invasions of Moselekatse and Sebetuane. Several tribes of Bechuana +and Basutu, fleeing from the Zulu or Matebele chief Moselekatse +reached the Zambesi above the Falls. Coming from a land without +rivers, none of them knew how to swim; and one tribe, called the +Bamangwato, wishing to cross the Zambesi, was ferried over, men and +women separately, to different islands, by one of the Batoka chiefs; +the men were then left to starve and the women appropriated by the +ferryman and his people. Sekomi, the present chief of the +Bamangwato, then an infant in his mother's arms, was enabled, through +the kindness of a private Batoka, to escape. This act seems to have +made an indelible impression on Sekomi's heart, for though otherwise +callous, he still never fails to inquire after the welfare of his +benefactor. + +Sebetuane, with his wonted ability, outwitted the treacherous Batoka, +by insisting in the politest manner on their chief remaining at his +own side until the people and cattle were all carried safe across; +the chief was then handsomely rewarded, both with cattle and brass +rings off Sebetuane's own wives. No sooner were the Makololo, then +called Basuto, safely over, than they were confronted by the whole +Batoka nation; and to this day the Makololo point with pride to the +spot on the Lekone, near to which they were encamped, where +Sebetuane, with a mere handful of warriors in comparison to the vast +horde that surrounded him, stood waiting the onslaught, the warriors +in one small body, the women and children guarding the cattle behind +them. The Batoka, of course, melted away before those who had been +made veterans by years of continual fighting, and Sebetuane always +justified his subsequent conquests in that country by alleging that +the Batoka had come out to fight with a man fleeing for his life, who +had never done them any wrong. They seem never to have been a +warlike race; passing through their country, we once observed a large +stone cairn, and our guide favoured us with the following account of +it:- "Once upon a time, our forefathers were going to fight another +tribe, and here they halted and sat down. After a long consultation, +they came to the unanimous conclusion that, instead of proceeding to +fight and kill their neighbours, and perhaps be killed themselves, it +would be more like men to raise this heap of stones, as their protest +against the wrong the other tribe had done them, which, having +accomplished, they returned quietly home." Such men of peace could +not stand before the Makololo, nor, of course, the more warlike +Matebele, who coming afterwards, drove even their conquerors, the +Makololo, out of the country. Sebetuane, however, profiting by the +tactics which he had learned of the Batoka, inveigled a large body of +this new enemy on to another island, and after due starvation there +overcame the whole. A much greater army of "Moselekatse's own" +followed with canoes, but were now baffled by Sebetuane's placing all +his people and cattle on an island and so guarding it that none could +approach. Dispirited, famished, borne down by fever, they returned +to the Falls, and all except five were cut off. + +But though the Batoka appear never to have had much inclination to +fight with men, they are decidedly brave hunters of buffaloes and +elephants. They go fearlessly close up to these formidable animals, +and kill them with large spears. The Banyai, who have long bullied +all Portuguese traders, were amazed at the daring and bravery of the +Batoka in coming at once to close quarters with the elephant; and +Chisaka, a Portuguese rebel, having formerly induced a body of this +tribe to settle with him, ravaged all the Portuguese villas around +Tette. They bear the name of Basimilongwe, and some of our men found +relations among them. Sininyane and Matenga also, two of our party, +were once inveigled into a Portuguese expedition against Mariano, by +the assertion that the Doctor had arrived and had sent for them to +come down to Senna. On finding that they were entrapped to fight, +they left, after seeing an officer with a large number of Tette +slaves killed. + +The Batoka had attained somewhat civilized ideas, in planting and +protecting various fruit and oil-seed yielding trees of the country. +No other tribe either plants or abstains from cutting down fruit +trees, but here we saw some which had been planted in regular rows, +and the trunks of which were quite two feet in diameter. The grand +old Mosibe, a tree yielding a bean with a thin red pellicle, said to +be very fattening, had probably seen two hundred summers. Dr. Kirk +found that the Mosibe is peculiar, in being allied to a species met +with only in the West Indies. The Motsikiri, sometimes called +Mafuta, yields a hard fat, and an oil which is exported from +Inhambane. It is said that two ancient Batoka travellers went down +as far as the Loangwa, and finding the Macaa tree (jujube or +zisyphus) in fruit, carried the seed all the way back to the great +Falls, in order to plant them. Two of these trees are still to be +seen there, the only specimens of the kind in that region. + +The Batoka had made a near approach to the custom of more refined +nations and had permanent graveyards, either on the sides of hills, +thus rendered sacred, or under large old shady trees; they reverence +the tombs of their ancestors, and plant the largest elephants' tusks, +as monuments at the head of the grave, or entirely enclose it with +the choicest ivory. Some of the other tribes throw the dead body +into the river to be devoured by crocodiles, or, sewing it up in a +mat, place it on the branch of a baobab, or cast it in some lonely +gloomy spot, surrounded by dense tropical vegetation, where it +affords a meal to the foul hyenas; but the Batoka reverently bury +their dead, and regard the spot henceforth as sacred. The ordeal by +the poison of the muave is resorted to by the Batoka, as well as by +the other tribes; but a cock is often made to stand proxy for the +supposed witch. Near the confluence of the Kafue the Mambo, or +chief, with some of his headmen, came to our sleeping-place with a +present; their foreheads were smeared with white flour, and an +unusual seriousness marked their demeanour. Shortly before our +arrival they had been accused of witchcraft; conscious of innocence, +they accepted the ordeal, and undertook to drink the poisoned muave. +For this purpose they made a journey to the sacred hill of +Nchomokela, on which repose the bodies of their ancestors; and, after +a solemn appeal to the unseen spirits to attest the innocence of +their children, they swallowed the muave, vomited, and were therefore +declared not guilty. It is evident that they believe that the soul +has a continued existence; and that the spirits of the departed know +what those they have left behind them are doing, and are pleased or +not according as their deeds are good or evil; this belief is +universal. The owner of a large canoe refused to sell it, because it +belonged to the spirit of his father, who helped him when he killed +the hippopotamus. Another, when the bargain for his canoe was nearly +completed, seeing a large serpent on a branch of the tree overhead, +refused to complete the sale, alleging that this was the spirit of +his father come to protest against it. + +Some of the Batoka chiefs must have been men of considerable +enterprise; the land of one, in the western part of this country, was +protected by the Zambesi on the S., and on the N. and E. lay an +impassable reedy marsh, filled with water all the year round, leaving +only his western border open to invasion: he conceived the idea of +digging a broad and deep canal nearly a mile in length, from the +reedy marsh to the Zambesi, and, having actually carried the scheme +into execution, he formed a large island, on which his cattle grazed +in safety, and his corn ripened from year to year secure from all +marauders. + +Another chief, who died a number of years ago, believed that he had +discovered a remedy for tsetse-bitten cattle; his son Moyara showed +us a plant, which was new to our botanist, and likewise told us how +the medicine was prepared; the bark of the root, and, what might +please our homoeopathic friends, a dozen of the tsetse are dried, and +ground together into a fine powder. This mixture is administered +internally; and the cattle are fumigated by burning under them the +rest of the plant collected. The treatment must be continued for +weeks, whenever the symptoms of poison appear. This medicine, he +frankly admitted, would not cure all the bitten cattle. "For," said +he, "cattle, and men too, die in spite of medicine; but should a herd +by accident stray into a tsetse district and be bitten, by this +medicine of my father, Kampa-kampa, some of them could be saved, +while, without it, all would inevitably die." He stipulated that we +were not to show the medicine to other people, and if ever we needed +it in this region we must employ him; but if we were far off we might +make it ourselves; and when we saw it cure the cattle think of him, +and send him a present. + +Our men made it known everywhere that we wished the tribes to live in +peace, and would use our influence to induce Sekeletu to prevent the +Batoka of Moshobotwane and the Makololo under-chiefs making forays +into their country: they had already suffered severely, and their +remonstrances with their countryman, Moshobotwane, evoked only the +answer, "The Makololo have given me a spear; why should I not use +it?" He, indeed, it was who, being remarkably swift of foot, first +guided the Makololo in their conquest of the country. In the +character of peacemakers, therefore, we experienced abundant +hospitality; and, from the Kafue to the Falls, none of our party was +allowed to suffer hunger. The natives sent to our sleeping-places +generous presents of the finest white meal, and fat capons to give it +a relish, great pots of beer to comfort our hearts, together with +pumpkins, beans, and tobacco, so that we "should sleep neither hungry +nor thirsty." + +In travelling from the Kafue to the Zungwe we frequently passed +several villages in the course of a day's march. In the evening came +deputies from the villages, at which we could not stay to sleep, with +liberal presents of food. It would have pained them to have allowed +strangers to pass without partaking of their hospitality; repeatedly +were we hailed from huts, and asked to wait a moment and drink a +little of the beer, which was brought with alacrity. Our march +resembled a triumphant procession. We entered and left every village +amidst the cheers of its inhabitants; the men clapping their hands, +and the women lullilooing, with the shrill call, "Let us sleep," or +"Peace." Passing through a hamlet one day, our guide called to the +people, "Why do you not clap your hands and salute when you see men +who are wishing to bring peace to the land?" When we halted for the +night it was no uncommon thing for the people to prepare our camp +entirely of their own accord; some with hoes quickly smoothed the +ground for our beds, others brought dried grass and spread it +carefully over the spot; some with their small axes speedily made a +bush fence to shield us from the wind; and if, as occasionally +happened, the water was a little distance off, others hastened and +brought it with firewood to cook our food with. They are an +industrious people, and very fond of agriculture. For hours together +we marched through unbroken fields of mapira, or native corn, of a +great width; but one can give no idea of the extent of land under the +hoe as compared with any European country. The extent of surface is +so great that the largest fields under culture, when viewed on a wide +landscape, dwindle to mere spots. When taken in connection with the +wants of the people, the cultivation on the whole is most creditable +to their industry. They erect numerous granaries which give their +villages the appearance of being large; and, when the water of the +Zambesi has subsided, they place large quantities of grain, tied up +in bundles of grass, and well plastered over with clay, on low sand +islands for protection from the attacks of marauding mice and men. +Owing to the ravages of the weevil, the native corn can hardly be +preserved until the following crop comes in. However largely they +may cultivate, and however abundant the harvest, it must all be +consumed in a year. This may account for their making so much of it +into beer. The beer these Batoka or Bawe brew is not the sour and +intoxicating boala or pombe found among some other tribes, but sweet, +and highly nutritive, with only a slight degree of acidity, +sufficient to render it a pleasant drink. The people were all plump, +and in good condition; and we never saw a single case of intoxication +among them, though all drank abundance of this liting, or sweet beer. +Both men and boys were eager to work for very small pay. Our men +could hire any number of them to carry their burdens for a few beads +a day. Our miserly and dirty ex-cook had an old pair of trousers +that some one had given to him; after he had long worn them himself, +with one of the sorely decayed legs he hired a man to carry his heavy +load a whole day; a second man carried it the next day for the other +leg, and what remained of the old garment, without the buttons, +procured the labour of another man for the third day. + +Men of remarkable ability have risen up among the Africans from time +to time, as amongst other portions of the human family. Some have +attracted the attention, and excited the admiration of large +districts by their wisdom. Others, apparently by the powers of +ventriloquism, or by peculiar dexterity in throwing the spear, or +shooting with the bow, have been the wonder of their generation; but +the total absence of literature leads to the loss of all former +experience, and the wisdom of the wise has not been handed down. +They have had their minstrels too, but mere tradition preserves not +their effusions. One of these, and apparently a genuine poet, +attached himself to our party for several days, and whenever we +halted, sang our praises to the villagers, in smooth and harmonious +numbers. It was a sort of blank verse, and each line consisted of +five syllables. The song was short when it first began, but each day +he picked up more information about us, and added to the poem until +our praises became an ode of respectable length. When distance from +home compelled his return he expressed his regret at leaving us, and +was, of course, paid for his useful and pleasant flatteries. +Another, though a less gifted son of song, belonged to the Batoka of +our own party. Every evening, while the others were cooking, +talking, or sleeping, he rehearsed his songs, containing a history of +everything he had seen in the land of the white men, and on the way +back. In composing, extempore, any new piece, he was never at a +loss; for if the right word did not come he halted not, but eked out +the measure with a peculiar musical sound meaning nothing at all. He +accompanied his recitations on the sansa, an instrument figured in +the woodcut, the nine iron keys of which are played with the thumbs, +while the fingers pass behind to hold it. The hollow end and +ornaments face the breast of the player. Persons of a musical turn, +if too poor to buy a sansa, may be seen playing vigorously on an +instrument made with a number of thick corn-stalks sewn together, as +a sansa frame, and keys of split bamboo, which, though making but +little sound, seems to soothe the player himself. When the +instrument is played with a calabash as a sounding board, it emits a +greater volume of sound. Pieces of shells and tin are added to make +a jingling accompaniment, and the calabash is also ornamented. + +After we had passed up, a party of slaves, belonging to the two +native Portuguese who assassinated the chief, Mpangwe, and took +possession of his lands at Zumbo, followed on our footsteps, and +representing themselves to be our "children," bought great quantities +of ivory from the Bawe, for a few coarse beads a tusk. They also +purchased ten large new canoes to carry it, at the rate of six +strings of red or white beads, or two fathoms of grey calico, for +each canoe, and, at the same cheap rate, a number of good-looking +girls. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +The Victoria Falls of the Zambesi--Marvellous grandeur of the +Cataracts--The Makololo's town--The Chief Sekeletu. + +During the time we remained at Motunta a splendid meteor was observed +to lighten the whole heavens. The observer's back was turned to it, +but on looking round the streak of light was seen to remain on its +path some seconds. This streak is usually explained to be only the +continuance of the impression made by the shining body on the retina. +This cannot be, as in this case the meteor was not actually seen and +yet the streak was clearly perceived. The rays of planets and stars +also require another explanation than that usually given. + +Fruit-trees and gigantic wild fig-trees, and circles of stones on +which corn safes were placed, with worn grindstones, point out where +the villages once stood. The only reason now assigned for this fine +country remaining desolate is the fear of fresh visitations by the +Matebele. The country now slopes gradually to the west into the +Makololo Valley. Two days' march from the Batoka village nearest the +highlands, we met with some hunters who were burning the dry grass, +in order to attract the game by the fresh vegetation which speedily +springs up afterwards. The grass, as already remarked, is excellent +for cattle. One species, with leaves having finely serrated edges, +and of a reddish-brown colour, we noticed our men eating: it tastes +exactly like liquorice-root, and is named kezu-kezu. The tsetse, +known to the Batoka by the name "ndoka," does not exist here, though +buffaloes and elephants abound. + +A small trap in the path, baited with a mouse, to catch spotted cats +(F. Genetta), is usually the first indication that we are drawing +near to a village; but when we get within the sounds of pounding +corn, cockcrowing, or the merry shouts of children at play, we know +that the huts are but a few yards off, though the trees conceal them +from view. We reached, on the 4th of August, Moachemba, the first of +the Batoka villages which now owe allegiance to Sekeletu, and could +see distinctly with the naked eye, in the great valley spread out +before us, the columns of vapour rising from the Victoria Falls, +though upwards of 20 miles distant. We were informed that, the rains +having failed this year, the corn crops had been lost, and great +scarcity and much hunger prevailed from Sesheke to Linyanti. Some of +the reports which the men had heard from the Batoka of the hills +concerning their families, were here confirmed. Takelang's wife had +been killed by Mashotlane, the headman at the Falls, on a charge, as +usual, of witchcraft. Inchikola's two wives, believing him to be +dead, had married again; and Masakasa was intensely disgusted to hear +that two years ago his friends, upon a report of his death, threw his +shield over the Falls, slaughtered all his oxen, and held a species +of wild Irish wake, in honour of his memory: he said he meant to +disown them, and to say, when they come to salute him, "I am dead. I +am not here. I belong to another world, and should stink if I came +among you." + +All the sad news we had previously heard, of the disastrous results +which followed the attempt of a party of missionaries, under the Rev. +H. Helmore, to plant the gospel at Linyanti, were here fully +confirmed. Several of the missionaries and their native attendants, +from Kuruman, had succumbed to the fever, and the survivors had +retired some weeks before our arrival. We remained the whole of the +7th beside the village of the old Batoka chief, Moshobotwane, the +stoutest man we have seen in Africa. The cause of our delay here was +a severe attack of fever in Charles Livingstone. He took a dose of +our fever pills; was better on the 8th, and marched three hours; then +on the 9th marched eight miles to the Great Falls, and spent the rest +of the day in the fatiguing exercise of sight-seeing. We were in the +very same valley as Linyanti, and this was the same fever which +treated, or rather maltreated, with only a little Dover's powder, +proved so fatal to poor Helmore; the symptoms, too, were identical +with those afterwards described by non-medical persons as those of +poison. + +We gave Moshobotwane a present, and a pretty plain exposition of what +we thought of his bloody forays among his Batoka brethren. A +scolding does most good to the recipient, when put alongside some +obliging act. He certainly did not take it ill, as was evident from +what he gave us in return; which consisted of a liberal supply of +meal, milk, and an ox. He has a large herd of cattle, and a tract of +fine pasture-land on the beautiful stream Lekone. A home-feeling +comes over one, even in the interior of Africa, at seeing once more +cattle grazing peacefully in the meadows. The tsetse inhabits the +trees which bound the pasture-land on the west; so, should the +herdsman forget his duty, the cattle straying might be entirely lost. +The women of this village were more numerous than the men, the result +of the chief's marauding. The Batoko wife of Sima came up from the +Falls, to welcome her husband back, bringing a present of the best +fruits of the country. Her husband was the only one of the party who +had brought a wife from Tette, namely, the girl whom he obtained from +Chisaka for his feats of dancing. According to our ideas, his first +wife could hardly have been pleased at seeing the second and younger +one; but she took her away home with her, while the husband remained +with us. In going down to the Fall village we met several of the +real Makololo. They are lighter in colour than the other tribes, +being of a rich warm brown; and they speak in a slow deliberate +manner, distinctly pronouncing every word. On reaching the village +opposite Kalai, we had an interview with the Makololo headman, +Mashotlane: he came to the shed in which we were seated, a little +boy carrying his low three-legged stool before him: on this he sat +down with becoming dignity, looked round him for a few seconds, then +at us, and, saluting us with "Rumela" (good morning, or hail), he +gave us some boiled hippopotamus meat, took a piece himself, and then +handed the rest to his attendants, who soon ate it up. He defended +his forays on the ground that, when he went to collect tribute, the +Batoka attacked him, and killed some of his attendants. The excuses +made for their little wars are often the very same as those made by +Caesar in his "Commentaries." Few admit, like old Moshobotwane, that +they fought because they had the power, and a fair prospect of +conquering. We found here Pitsane, who had accompanied the Doctor to +St. Paul de Loanda. He had been sent by Sekeletu to purchase three +horses from a trading party of Griquas from Kuruman, who charged nine +large tusks apiece for very wretched animals. + +In the evening, when all was still, one of our men, Takelang, fired +his musket, and cried out, "I am weeping for my wife: my court is +desolate: I have no home;" and then uttered a loud wail of anguish. + +We proceeded next morning, 9th August, 1860, to see the Victoria +Falls. Mosi-oa-tunya is the Makololo name and means smoke sounding; +Seongo or Chongwe, meaning the Rainbow, or the place of the Rainbow, +was the more ancient term they bore. We embarked in canoes, +belonging to Tuba Mokoro, "smasher of canoes," an ominous name; but +he alone, it seems, knew the medicine which insures one against +shipwreck in the rapids above the Falls. For some miles the river +was smooth and tranquil, and we glided pleasantly over water clear as +crystal, and past lovely islands densely covered with a tropical +vegetation. Noticeable among the many trees were the lofty Hyphaene +and Borassus palms; the graceful wild date-palm, with its fruit in +golden clusters, and the umbrageous mokononga, of cypress form, with +its dark-green leaves and scarlet fruit. Many flowers peeped out +near the water's edge, some entirely new to us, and others, as the +convolvulus, old acquaintances. + +But our attention was quickly called from the charming islands to the +dangerous rapids, down which Tuba might unintentionally shoot us. To +confess the truth, the very ugly aspect of these roaring rapids could +scarcely fail to cause some uneasiness in the minds of new-comers. +It is only when the river is very low, as it was now, that any one +durst venture to the island to which we were bound. If one went +during the period of flood, and fortunately hit the island, he would +be obliged to remain there till the water subsided again, if he lived +so long. Both hippopotami and elephants have been known to be swept +over the Falls, and of course smashed to pulp. + +Before entering the race of waters, we were requested not to speak, +as our talking might diminish the virtue of the medicine; and no one +with such boiling eddying rapids before his eyes, would think of +disobeying the orders of a "canoe-smasher." It soon became evident +that there was sound sense in this request of Tuba's, although the +reason assigned was not unlike that of the canoe-man from Sesheke, +who begged one of our party not to whistle, because whistling made +the wind come. It was the duty of the man at the bow to look out +ahead for the proper course, and when he saw a rock or snag, to call +out to the steersman. Tuba doubtless thought that talking on board +might divert the attention of his steersman, at a time when the +neglect of an order, or a slight mistake, would be sure to spill us +all into the chafing river. There were places where the utmost +exertions of both men had to be put forth in order to force the canoe +to the only safe part of the rapid, and to prevent it from sweeping +down broadside on, where in a twinkling we should have found +ourselves floundering among the plotuses and cormorants, which were +engaged in diving for their breakfast of small fish. At times it +seemed as if nothing could save us from dashing in our headlong race +against the rocks which, now that the river was low, jutted out of +the water; but just at the very nick of time, Tuba passed the word to +the steersman, and then with ready pole turned the canoe a little +aside, and we glided swiftly past the threatened danger. Never was +canoe more admirably managed: once only did the medicine seem to +have lost something of its efficacy. We were driving swiftly down, a +black rock over which the white foam flew, lay directly in our path, +the pole was planted against it as readily as ever, but it slipped, +just as Tuba put forth his strength to turn the bow off. We struck +hard, and were half-full of water in a moment; Tuba recovered himself +as speedily, shoved off the bow, and shot the canoe into a still +shallow place, to bale out the water. Here we were given to +understand that it was not the medicine which was at fault; that had +lost none of its virtue; the accident was owing entirely to Tuba +having started without his breakfast. Need it be said we never let +Tuba go without that meal again? + +We landed at the head of Garden Island, which is situated near the +middle of the river and on the lip of the Falls. On reaching that +lip, and peering over the giddy height, the wondrous and unique +character of the magnificent cascade at once burst upon us. + +It is rather a hopeless task to endeavour to convey an idea of it in +words, since, as was remarked on the spot, an accomplished painter, +even by a number of views, could but impart a faint impression of the +glorious scene. The probable mode of its formation may perhaps help +to the conception of its peculiar shape. Niagara has been formed by +a wearing back of the rock over which the river falls; and during a +long course of ages, it has gradually receded, and left a broad, +deep, and pretty straight trough in front. It goes on wearing back +daily, and may yet discharge the lakes from which its river--the St. +Lawrence--flows. But the Victoria Falls have been formed by a crack +right across the river, in the hard, black, basaltic rock which there +formed the bed of the Zambesi. The lips of the crack are still quite +sharp, save about three feet of the edge over which the river rolls. +The walls go sheer down from the lips without any projecting crag, or +symptoms of stratification or dislocation. When the mighty rift +occurred, no change of level took place in the two parts of the bed +of the river thus rent asunder, consequently, in coming down the +river to Garden Island, the water suddenly disappears, and we see the +opposite side of the cleft, with grass and trees growing where once +the river ran, on the same level as that part of its bed on which we +sail. The first crack is, in length, a few yards more than the +breadth of the Zambesi, which by measurement we found to be a little +over 1860 yards, but this number we resolved to retain as indicating +the year in which the Fall was for the first time carefully examined. +The main stream here runs nearly north and south, and the cleft +across it is nearly east and west. The depth of the rift was +measured by lowering a line, to the end of which a few bullets and a +foot of white cotton cloth were tied. One of us lay with his head +over a projecting crag, and watched the descending calico, till, +after his companions had paid out 310 feet, the weight rested on a +sloping projection, probably 50 feet from the water below, the actual +bottom being still further down. The white cloth now appeared the +size of a crown-piece. On measuring the width of this deep cleft by +sextant, it was found at Garden Island, its narrowest part, to be +eighty yards, and at its broadest somewhat more. Into this chasm, of +twice the depth of Niagara-fall, the river, a full mile wide, rolls +with a deafening roar; and this is Mosi-oa-tunya, or the Victoria +Falls. + +Looking from Garden Island, down to the bottom of the abyss, nearly +half a mile of water, which has fallen over that portion of the Falls +to our right, or west of our point of view, is seen collected in a +narrow channel twenty or thirty yards wide, and flowing at exactly +right angles to its previous course, to our left; while the other +half, or that which fell over the eastern portion of the Falls, is +seen in the left of the narrow channel below, coming towards our +right. Both waters unite midway, in a fearful boiling whirlpool, and +find an outlet by a crack situated at right angles to the fissure of +the Falls. This outlet is about 1170 yards from the western end of +the chasm, and some 600 from its eastern end; the whirlpool is at its +commencement. The Zambesi, now apparently not more than twenty or +thirty yards wide, rushes and surges south, through the narrow +escape-channel for 130 yards; then enters a second chasm somewhat +deeper, and nearly parallel with the first. Abandoning the bottom of +the eastern half of this second chasm to the growth of large trees, +it turns sharply off to the west, and forms a promontory, with the +escape-channel at its point, of 1170 yards long, and 416 yards broad +at the base. After reaching this base, the river runs abruptly round +the head of another promontory, and flows away to the east, in a +third chasm; then glides round a third promontory, much narrower than +the rest, and away back to the west, in a fourth chasm; and we could +see in the distance that it appeared to round still another +promontory, and bend once more in another chasm towards the east. In +this gigantic, zigzag, yet narrow trough, the rocks are all so +sharply cut and angular, that the idea at once arises that the hard +basaltic trap must have been riven into its present shape by a force +acting from beneath, and that this probably took place when the +ancient inland seas were let off by similar fissures nearer the +ocean. + +The land beyond, or on the south of the Falls, retains, as already +remarked, the same level as before the rent was made. It is as if +the trough below Niagara were bent right and left, several times +before it reached the railway bridge. The land in the supposed bends +being of the same height as that above the Fall, would give standing- +places, or points of view, of the same nature as that from the +railway-bridge, but the nearest would be only eighty yards, instead +of two miles (the distance to the bridge) from the face of the +cascade. The tops of the promontories are in general flat, smooth, +and studded with trees. The first, with its base on the east, is at +one place so narrow, that it would be dangerous to walk to its +extremity. On the second, however, we found a broad rhinoceros path +and a hut; but, unless the builder were a hermit, with a pet +rhinoceros, we cannot conceive what beast or man ever went there for. +On reaching the apex of this second eastern promontory we saw the +great river, of a deep sea-green colour, now sorely compressed, +gliding away, at least 400 feet below us. + +Garden Island, when the river is low, commands the best view of the +Great Fall chasm, as also of the promontory opposite, with its grove +of large evergreen trees, and brilliant rainbows of three-quarters of +a circle, two, three, and sometimes even four in number, resting on +the face of the vast perpendicular rock, down which tiny streams are +always running to be swept again back by the upward rushing vapour. +But as, at Niagara, one has to go over to the Canadian shore to see +the chief wonder--the Great Horse-shoe Fall--so here we have to cross +over to Moselekatse's side to the promontory of evergreens, for the +best view of the principal Falls of Mosi-oa-tunya. Beginning, +therefore, at the base of this promontory, and facing the Cataract, +at the west end of the chasm, there is, first, a fall of thirty-six +yards in breadth, and of course, as they all are, upwards of 310 feet +in depth. Then Boaruka, a small island, intervenes, and next comes a +great fall, with a breadth of 573 yards; a projecting rock separates +this from a second grand fall of 325 yards broad; in all, upwards of +900 yards of perennial Falls. Further east stands Garden Island; +then, as the river was at its lowest, came a good deal of the bare +rock of its bed, with a score of narrow falls, which, at the time of +flood, constitute one enormous cascade of nearly another half-mile. +Near the east end of the chasm are two larger falls, but they are +nothing at low water compared to those between the islands. + +The whole body of water rolls clear over, quite unbroken; but, after +a descent of ten or more feet, the entire mass suddenly becomes like +a huge sheet of driven snow. Pieces of water leap off it in the form +of comets with tails streaming behind, till the whole snowy sheet +becomes myriads of rushing, leaping, aqueous comets. This +peculiarity was not observed by Charles Livingstone at Niagara, and +here it happens, possibly from the dryness of the atmosphere, or +whatever the cause may be which makes every drop of Zambesi water +appear to possess a sort of individuality. It runs off the ends of +the paddles, and glides in beads along the smooth surface, like drops +of quicksilver on a table. Here we see them in a conglomeration, +each with a train of pure white vapour, racing down till lost in +clouds of spray. A stone dropped in became less and less to the eye, +and at last disappeared in the dense mist below. + +Charles Livingstone had seen Niagara, and gave Mosi-oa-tunya the +palm, though now at the end of a drought, and the river at its very +lowest. Many feel a disappointment on first seeing the great +American Falls, but Mosi-oa-tunya is so strange, it must ever cause +wonder. In the amount of water, Niagara probably excels, though not +during the months when the Zambesi is in flood. The vast body of +water, separating in the comet-like forms described, necessarily +encloses in its descent a large volume of air, which, forced into the +cleft, to an unknown depth, rebounds, and rushes up loaded with +vapour to form the three or even six columns, as if of steam, visible +at the Batoka village Moachemba, twenty-one miles distant. On +attaining a height of 200, or at most 300 feet from the level of the +river above the cascade, this vapour becomes condensed into a +perpetual shower of fine rain. Much of the spray, rising to the west +of Garden Island, falls on the grove of evergreen trees opposite; and +from their leaves, heavy drops are for ever falling, to form sundry +little rills, which, in running down the steep face of rock, are +blown off and turned back, or licked off their perpendicular bed, up +into the column from which they have just descended. + +The morning sun gilds these columns of watery smoke with all the +glowing colours of double or treble rainbows. The evening sun, from +a hot yellow sky, imparts a sulphureous hue, and gives one the +impression that the yawning gulf might resemble the mouth of the +bottomless pit. No bird sits and sings on the branches of the grove +of perpetual showers, or ever builds its nest there. We saw +hornbills and flocks of little black weavers flying across from the +mainland to the islands, and from the islands to the points of the +promontories and back again, but they uniformly shunned the region of +perpetual rain, occupied by the evergreen grove. The sunshine, +elsewhere in this land so overpowering, never penetrates the deep +gloom of that shade. In the presence of the strange Mosi-oa-tunya, +we can sympathize with those who, when the world was young, peopled +earth, air, and river, with beings not of mortal form. Sacred to +what deity would be this awful chasm and that dark grove, over which +hovers an ever-abiding "pillar of cloud"? + +The ancient Batoka chieftains used Kazeruka, now Garden Island, and +Boaruka, the island further west, also on the lip of the Falls, as +sacred spots for worshipping the Deity. It is no wonder that under +the cloudy columns, and near the brilliant rainbows, with the +ceaseless roar of the cataract, with the perpetual flow, as if +pouring forth from the hand of the Almighty, their souls should be +filled with reverential awe. It inspired wonder in the native mind +throughout the interior. Among the first questions asked by +Sebituane of Mr. Oswell and Dr. Livingstone, in 1851, was, "Have you +any smoke soundings in your country," and "what causes the smoke to +rise for ever so high out of water?" In that year its fame was heard +200 miles off, and it was approached within two days; but it was seen +by no European till 1855, when Dr. Livingstone visited it on his way +to the East Coast. Being then accompanied as far as this Fall by +Sekeletu and 200 followers, his stay was necessarily short; and the +two days there were employed in observations for fixing the +geographical position of the place, and turning the showers, that at +times sweep from the columns of vapour across the island, to account, +in teaching the Makololo arboriculture, and making that garden from +which the natives named the island; so that he did not visit the +opposite sides of the cleft, nor see the wonderful course of the +river beyond the Falls. The hippopotami had destroyed the trees +which were then planted; and, though a strong stockaded hedge was +made again, and living orange-trees, cashew-nuts, and coffee seeds +put in afresh, we fear that the perseverance of the hippopotami will +overcome the obstacle of the hedge. It would require a resident +missionary to rear European fruit-trees. The period at which the +peach and apricot come into blossom is about the end of the dry +season, and artificial irrigation is necessary. The Batoka, the only +arboriculturists in the country, rear native fruit-trees alone--the +mosibe, the motsikiri, the boma, and others. When a tribe takes an +interest in trees, it becomes more attached to the spot on which they +are planted, and they prove one of the civilizing influences. + +Where one Englishman goes, others are sure to follow. Mr. Baldwin, a +gentleman from Natal, succeeded in reaching the Falls guided by his +pocket-compass alone. On meeting the second subject of Her Majesty, +who had ever beheld the greatest of African wonders, we found him a +sort of prisoner at large. He had called on Mashotlane to ferry him +over to the north side of the river, and, when nearly over, he took a +bath, by jumping in and swimming ashore. "If," said Mashotlane, "he +had been devoured by one of the crocodiles which abound there, the +English would have blamed us for his death. He nearly inflicted a +great injury upon us, therefore, we said, he must pay a fine." As +Mr. Baldwin had nothing with him wherewith to pay, they were taking +care of him till he should receive beads from his wagon, two days +distant. + +Mashotlane's education had been received in the camp of Sebituane, +where but little regard was paid to human life. He was not yet in +his prime, and his fine open countenance presented to us no +indication of the evil influences which unhappily, from infancy, had +been at work on his mind. The native eye was more penetrating than +ours; for the expression of our men was, "He has drunk the blood of +men--you may see it in his eyes." He made no further difficulty +about Mr. Baldwin; but the week after we left he inflicted a severe +wound on the head of one of his wives with his rhinoceros-horn club. +She, being of a good family, left him, and we subsequently met her +and another of his wives proceeding up the country. + +The ground is strewn with agates for a number of miles above the +Falls; but the fires, which burn off the grass yearly, have injured +most of those on the surface. Our men were delighted to hear that +they do as well as flints for muskets; and this with the new ideas of +the value of gold (dalama) and malachite, that they had acquired at +Tette, made them conceive that we were not altogether silly in +picking up and looking at stones. + +Marching up the river, we crossed the Lekone at its confluence, about +eight miles above the island Kalai, and went on to a village opposite +the Island Chundu. Nambowe, the headman, is one of the Matebele or +Zulus, who have had to flee from the anger of Moselekatse, to take +refuge with the Makololo. + +We spent Sunday, the 12th, at the village of Molele, a tall old +Batoka, who was proud of having formerly been a great favourite with +Sebituane. In coming hither we passed through patches of forest +abounding in all sorts of game. The elephants' tusks, placed over +graves, are now allowed to decay, and the skulls, which the former +Batoka stuck on poles to ornament their villages, not being renewed, +now crumble into dust. Here the famine, of which we had heard, +became apparent, Molele's people being employed in digging up the +tsitla root out of the marshes, and cutting out the soft core of the +young palm-trees, for food. + +The village, situated on the side of a wooded ridge, commands an +extensive view of a great expanse of meadow and marsh lying along the +bank of the river. On these holmes herds of buffaloes and waterbucks +daily graze in security, as they have in the reedy marshes a refuge +into which they can run on the approach of danger. The pretty little +tianyane or ourebi is abundant further on, and herds of blue +weldebeests or brindled gnus (Katoblepas Gorgon) amused us by their +fantastic capers. They present a much more ferocious aspect than the +lion himself, but are quite timid. We never could, by waving a red +handkerchief, according to the prescription, induce them to venture +near to us. It may therefore be that the red colour excites their +fury only when wounded or hotly pursued. Herds of lechee or lechwe +now enliven the meadows; and they and their younger brother, the +graceful poku, smaller, and of a rounder contour, race together +towards the grassy fens. We venture to call the poku after the late +Major Vardon, a noble-hearted African traveller; but fully anticipate +that some aspiring Nimrod will prefer that his own name should go +down to posterity on the back of this buck. + +Midway between Tabacheu and the Great Falls the streams begin to flow +westward. On the other side they begin to flow east. Large round +masses of granite, somewhat like old castles, tower aloft about the +Kalomo. The country is an elevated plateau, and our men knew and +named the different plains as we passed them by. + +On the 13th we met a party from Sekeletu, who was now at Sesheke. +Our approach had been reported, and they had been sent to ask the +Doctor what the price of a horse ought to be; and what he said, that +they were to give and no more. In reply they were told that by their +having given nine large tusks for one horse before the Doctor came, +the Griquas would naturally imagine that the price was already +settled. It was exceedingly amusing to witness the exact imitation +they gave of the swagger of a certain white with whom they had been +dealing, and who had, as they had perceived, evidently wished to +assume an air of indifference. Holding up the head and scratching +the beard it was hinted might indicate not indifference, but vermin. +It is well that we do not always know what they say about us. The +remarks are often not quite complimentary, and resemble closely what +certain white travellers say about the blacks. + +We made our camp in the afternoon abreast of the large island called +Mparira, opposite the mouth of the Chobe. Francolins, quails, and +guinea-fowls, as well as larger game, were abundant. The Makololo +headman, Mokompa, brought us a liberal present; and in the usual way, +which is considered politeness, regretted he had no milk, as his cows +were all dry. We got some honey here from the very small stingless +bee, called, by the Batoka, moandi, and by others, the kokomatsane. +This honey is slightly acid, and has an aromatic flavour. The bees +are easily known from their habit of buzzing about the eyes, and +tickling the skin by sucking it as common flies do. The hive has a +tube of wax like a quill, for its entrance, and is usually in the +hollows of trees. + +Mokompa feared that the tribe was breaking up, and lamented the +condition into which they had fallen in consequence of Sekeletu's +leprosy; he did not know what was to become of them. He sent two +canoes to take us up to Sesheke; his best canoe had taken ivory up to +the chief, to purchase goods of some native traders from Benguela. +Above the Falls the paddlers always stand in the canoes, using long +paddles, ten feet in length, and changing from side to side without +losing the stroke. + +Mochokotsa, a messenger from Sekeletu, met us on the 17th, with +another request for the Doctor to take ivory and purchase a horse. +He again declined to interfere. None were to come up to Sekeletu but +the Doctor; and all the men who had had smallpox at Tette, three +years ago, were to go back to Moshobotwane, and he would sprinkle +medicine over them, to drive away the infection, and prevent it +spreading in the tribe. Mochokotsa was told to say to Sekeletu that +the disease was known of old to white men, and we even knew the +medicine to prevent it; and, were there any danger now, we should be +the first to warn him of it. Why did not he go himself to have +Moshobotwane sprinkle medicine to drive away his leprosy. We were +not afraid of his disease, nor of the fever that had killed the +teachers and many Makololo at Linyanti. As this attempt at +quarantine was evidently the suggestion of native doctors to increase +their own importance, we added that we had no food, and would hunt +next day for game, and the day after; and, should we be still ordered +purification by their medicine, we should then return to our own +country. + +The message was not all of our dictation, our companions interlarded +it with their own indignant protests, and said some strong things in +the Tette dialect about these "doctor things" keeping them back from +seeing their father; when to their surprise Mochokotsa told them he +knew every word they were saying, as he was of the tribe Bazizulu, +and defied them to deceive him by any dialect, either of the Mashona +on the east, or of the Mambari on the west. Mochokotsa then repeated +our message twice, to be sure that he had it every word, and went +back again. These chiefs' messengers have most retentive memories; +they carry messages of considerable length great distances, and +deliver them almost word for word. Two or three usually go together, +and when on the way the message is rehearsed every night, in order +that the exact words may be kept to. One of the native objections to +learning to write is, that these men answer the purpose of +transmitting intelligence to a distance as well as a letter would; +and, if a person wishes to communicate with any one in the town, the +best way to do so is either to go to or send for him. And as for +corresponding with friends very far off, that is all very well for +white people, but the blacks have no friends to whom to write. The +only effective argument for the learning to read is, that it is their +duty to know the revelation from their Father in Heaven, as it stands +in the Book. + +Our messenger returned on the evening of the following day with "You +speak truly," says Sekeletu, "the disease is old, come on at once, do +not sleep in the path; for I am greatly desirous (tlologelecoe) to +see the Doctor." + +After Mochokotsa left us, we met some of Mokompa's men bringing back +the ivory, as horses were preferred to the West-Coast goods. They +were the bearers of instructions to Mokompa, and as these +instructions illustrate the government of people who have learned +scarcely anything from Europeans, they are inserted, though otherwise +of no importance. Mashotlane had not behaved so civilly to Mr. +Baldwin as Sekeletu had ordered him to do to all Englishmen. He had +been very uncivil to the messengers sent by Moselekatse with letters +from Mr. Moffat, treated them as spies, and would not land to take +the bag until they moved off. On our speaking to him about this, he +justified his conduct on the plea that he was set at the Falls for +the very purpose of watching these, their natural enemies; and how +was he to know that they had been sent by Mr. Moffat? Our men +thereupon reported at head-quarters that Mashotlane had cursed the +Doctor. The instructions to Mokompa, from Sekeletu, were to "go and +tell Mashotlane that he had offended greatly. He had not cursed +Monare (Dr. Livingstone) but Sebituane, as Monare was now in the +place of Sebituane, and he reverenced him as he had done his father. +Any fine taken from Mr. Baldwin was to be returned at once, as he was +not a Boer but an Englishman. Sekeletu was very angry, and Mokompa +must not conceal the message." + +On finding afterwards that Mashotlane's conduct had been most +outrageous to the Batoka, Sekeletu sent for him to come to Sesheke, +in order that he might have him more under his own eye; but +Mashotlane, fearing that this meant the punishment of death, sent a +polite answer, alleging that he was ill and unable to travel. +Sekeletu tried again to remove Mashotlane from the Falls, but without +success. In theory the chief is absolute and quite despotic; in +practice his authority is limited, and he cannot, without +occasionally putting refractory headmen to death, force his +subordinates to do his will. + +Except the small rapids by Mparira island, near the mouth of the +Chobe, the rest of the way to Sesheke by water is smooth. Herds of +cattle of two or three varieties graze on the islands in the river: +the Batoka possessed a very small breed of beautiful shape, and +remarkably tame, and many may still be seen; a larger kind, many of +which have horns pendent, and loose at the roots; and a still larger +sort, with horns of extraordinary dimensions,--apparently a burden +for the beast to carry. This breed was found in abundance at Lake +Ngami. We stopped at noon at one of the cattle-posts of Mokompa, and +had a refreshing drink of milk. Men of his standing have usually +several herds placed at different spots, and the owner visits each in +turn, while his head-quarters are at his village. His son, a boy of +ten, had charge of the establishment during his father's absence. +According to Makololo ideas, the cattle-post is the proper school in +which sons should be brought up. Here they receive the right sort of +education--the knowledge of pasture and how to manage cattle. + +Strong easterly winds blow daily from noon till midnight, and +continue till the October or November rains set in. Whirlwinds, +raising huge pillars of smoke from burning grass and weeds, are +common in the forenoon. We were nearly caught in an immense one. It +crossed about twenty yards in front of us, the wind apparently +rushing into it from all points of the compass. Whirling round and +round in great eddies, it swept up hundreds of feet into the air a +continuous dense dark cloud of the black pulverized soil, mixed with +dried grass, off the plain. Herds of the new antelopes, lechwe, and +poku, with the kokong, or gnus, and zebras stood gazing at us as we +passed. The mirage lifted them at times halfway to the clouds, and +twisted them and the clumps of palms into strange unearthly forms. +The extensive and rich level plains by the banks, along the sides of +which we paddled, would support a vast population, and might be +easily irrigated from the Zambesi. If watered, they would yield +crops all the year round, and never suffer loss by drought. The +hippopotamus is killed here with long lance-like spears. We saw two +men, in a light canoe, stealing noiselessly down on one of these +animals thought to be asleep; but it was on the alert, and they had +quickly to retreat. Comparatively few of these animals now remain +between Sesheke and the Falls, and they are uncommonly wary, as it is +certain death for one to be caught napping in the daytime. + +On the 18th we entered Sesheke. The old town, now in ruins, stands +on the left bank of the river. The people have built another on the +same side, a quarter of a mile higher up, since their headman +Moriantsiane was put to death for bewitching the chief with leprosy. +Sekeletu was on the right bank, near a number of temporary huts. A +man hailed us from the chiefs quarters, and requested us to rest +under the old Kotla, or public meeting-place tree. A young Makololo, +with the large thighs which Zulus and most of this tribe have, +crossed over to receive orders from the chief, who had not shown +himself to the people since he was affected with leprosy. On +returning he ran for Mokele, the headman of the new town, who, after +going over to Sekeletu, came back and conducted us to a small but +good hut, and afterwards brought us a fine fat ox, as a present from +the chief. "This is a time of hunger," he said, "and we have no +meat, but we expect some soon from the Barotse Valley." We were +entirely out of food when we reached Sesheke. Never was better meat +than that of the ox Sekeletu sent, and infinitely above the flesh of +all kinds of game is beef! + +A constant stream of visitors rolled in on us the day after our +arrival. Several of them, who had suffered affliction during the +Doctor's absence, seemed to be much affected on seeing him again. +All were in low spirits. A severe drought had cut off the crops, and +destroyed the pasture of Linyanti, and the people were scattered over +the country in search of wild fruits, and the hospitality of those +whose ground-nuts (Arachis hypogoea) had not failed. Sekeletu's +leprosy brought troops of evils in its train. Believing himself +bewitched, he had suspected a number of his chief men, and had put +some, with their families, to death; others had fled to distant +tribes, and were living in exile. The chief had shut himself up, and +allowed no one to come into his presence but his uncle Mamire. +Ponwane, who had been as "head and eyes" to him, had just died; +evidence, he thought, of the potent spells of those who hated all who +loved the chief. The country was suffering grievously, and +Sebituane's grand empire was crumbling to pieces. A large body of +young Barotse had revolted and fled to the north; killing a man by +the way, in order to put a blood-feud between Masiko, the chief to +whom they were going, and Sekeletu. The Batoka under Sinamane, and +Muemba, were independent, and Mashotlane at the Falls was setting +Sekeletu's authority virtually at defiance. Sebituane's wise policy +in treating the conquered tribes on equal terms with his own +Makololo, as all children of the chief, and equally eligible to the +highest honours, had been abandoned by his son, who married none but +Makololo women, and appointed to office none but Makololo men. He +had become unpopular among the black tribes, conquered by the spear +but more effectually won by the subsequent wise and just government +of his father. + +Strange rumours were afloat respecting the unseen Sekeletu; his +fingers were said to have grown like eagle's claws, and his face so +frightfully distorted that no one could recognize him. Some had +begun to hint that he might not really be the son of the great +Sebituane, the founder of the nation, strong in battle, and wise in +the affairs of state. "In the days of the Great Lion" (Sebituane), +said his only sister, Moriantsiane's widow, whose husband Sekeletu +had killed, "we had chiefs and little chiefs and elders to carry on +the government, and the great chief, Sebituane, knew them all, and +everything they did, and the whole country was wisely ruled; but now +Sekeletu knows nothing of what his underlings do, and they care not +for him, and the Makololo power is fast passing away." {3} + +The native doctors had given the case of Sekeletu up. They could not +cure him, and pronounced the disease incurable. An old doctress from +the Manyeti tribe had come to see what she could do for him, and on +her skill he now hung his last hopes. She allowed no one to see him, +except his mother and uncle, making entire seclusion from society an +essential condition of the much longed-for cure. He sent, +notwithstanding, for the Doctor; and on the following day we all +three were permitted to see him. He was sitting in a covered wagon, +which was enclosed by a high wall of close-set reeds; his face was +only slightly disfigured by the thickening of the skin in parts, +where the leprosy had passed over it; and the only peculiarity about +his hands was the extreme length of his finger-nails, which, however, +was nothing very much out of the way, as all the Makololo gentlemen +wear them uncommonly long. He has the quiet, unassuming manners of +his father, Sebituane, speaks distinctly, in a low pleasant voice, +and appears to be a sensible man, except perhaps on the subject of +his having been bewitched; and in this, when alluded to, he exhibits +as firm a belief as if it were his monomania. "Moriantsiane, my +aunt's husband, tried the bewitching medicine first on his wife, and +she is leprous, and so is her head-servant; then, seeing that it +succeeded, he gave me a stronger dose in the cooked flesh of a goat, +and I have had the disease ever since. They have lately killed +Ponwane, and, as you see, are now killing me." Ponwane had died of +fever a short time previously. Sekeletu asked us for medicine and +medical attendance, but we did not like to take the case out of the +hands of the female physician already employed, it being bad policy +to appear to undervalue any of the profession; and she, being anxious +to go on with her remedies, said "she had not given him up yet, but +would try for another month; if he was not cured by that time, then +she would hand him over to the white doctors." But we intended to +leave the country before a month was up; so Mamire, with others, +induced the old lady to suspend her treatment for a little. She +remained, as the doctors stipulated, in the chief's establishment, +and on full pay. + +Sekeletu was told plainly that the disease was unknown in our +country, and was thought exceedingly obstinate of cure; that we did +not believe in his being bewitched, and we were willing to do all we +could to help him. This was a case for disinterested benevolence; no +pay was expected, but considerable risk incurred; yet we could not +decline it, as we had the trading in horses. Having, however, none +of the medicines usually employed in skin diseases with us, we tried +the local application of lunar caustic, and hydriodate of potash +internally; and with such gratifying results, that Mamire wished the +patient to be smeared all over with a solution of lunar caustic, +which he believed to be of the same nature as the blistering fluid +formerly applied to his own knee by Mr. Oswell. ITS power he +considered irresistible, and he would fain have had anything like it +tried on Sekeletu. + +It was a time of great scarcity and hunger, but Sekeletu treated us +hospitably, preparing tea for us at every visit we paid him. With +the tea we had excellent American biscuit and preserved fruits, which +had been brought to him all the way from Benguela. The fruits he +most relished were those preserved in their own juices; plums, +apples, pears, strawberries, and peaches, which we have seen only +among Portuguese and Spaniards. It made us anxious to plant the +fruit-tree seeds we had brought, and all were pleased with the idea +of having these same fruits in their own country. + +Mokele, the headman of Sesheke, and Sebituane's sister, Manchunyane, +were ordered to provide us with food, as Sekeletu's wives, to whom +this duty properly belonged, were at Linyanti. We found a black +trader from the West Coast, and some Griqua traders from the South, +both in search of ivory. Ivory is dear at Sesheke; but cheaper in +the Batoka country, from Sinamane's to the Kafue, than anywhere else. +The trader from Benguela took orders for goods for his next year's +trip, and offered to bring tea, coffee, and sugar at cent. per cent. +prices. As, in consequence of a hint formerly given, the Makololo +had secured all the ivory in the Batoga country to the east, by +purchasing it with hoes, the Benguela traders found it unprofitable +to go thither for slaves. They assured us that without ivory the +trade in slaves did not pay. In this way, and by the orders of +Sekeletu, an extensive slave-mart was closed. These orders were +never infringed except secretly. We discovered only two or three +cases of their infraction. + +Sekeletu was well pleased with the various articles we brought for +him, and inquired if a ship could not bring his sugar-mill and the +other goods we had been obliged to leave behind at Tette. On hearing +that there was a possibility of a powerful steamer ascending as far +as Sinamane's, but never above the Grand Victoria Falls, he asked, +with charming simplicity, if a cannon could not blow away the Falls, +so as to allow the vessel to come up to Sesheke. + +To save the tribe from breaking up, by the continual loss of real +Makololo, it ought at once to remove to the healthy Batoka highlands, +near the Kafue. Fully aware of this, Sekeletu remarked that all his +people, save two, were convinced that, if they remained in the +lowlands, a few years would suffice to cut off all the real Makololo; +they came originally from the healthy South, near the confluence of +the Likwa and Namagari, where fever is almost unknown, and its +ravages had been as frightful among them here, as amongst Europeans +on the Coast. Sebituane's sister described its first appearance +among the tribe, after their settling in the Barotse Valley on the +Zambesi. Many of them were seized with a shivering sickness, as if +from excessive cold; they had never seen the like before. They made +great fires, and laid the shivering wretches down before them; but, +pile on wood as they might, they could not raise heat enough to drive +the cold out of the bodies of the sufferers, and they shivered on +till they died. But, though all preferred the highlands, they were +afraid to go there, lest the Matebele should come and rob them of +their much-loved cattle. Sebituane, with all his veterans, could not +withstand that enemy; and how could they be resisted, now that most +of the brave warriors were dead? The young men would break, and run +away the moment they saw the terrible Matebele, being as much afraid +of them as the black conquered tribes are of the Makololo. "But if +the Doctor and his wife," said the chiefs and counsellors, "would +come and live with us, we would remove to the highlands at once, as +Moselekatse would not attack a place where the daughter of his +friend, Moffat, was living." + +The Makololo are by far the most intelligent and enterprising of the +tribes we have met. None but brave and daring men remained long with +Sebituane, his stern discipline soon eradicated cowardice from his +army. Death was the inevitable doom of the coward. If the chief saw +a man running away from the fight, he rushed after him with amazing +speed, and cut him down; or waited till he returned to the town, and +then summoned the deserter into his presence. "You did not wish to +die on the field, you wished to die at home, did you? you shall have +your wish!" and he was instantly led off and executed. The present +race of young men are inferior in most respects to their fathers. +The old Makololo had many manly virtues; they were truthful, and +never stole, excepting in what they considered the honourable way of +lifting cattle in fair fight. But this can hardly be said of their +sons; who, having been brought up among the subjected tribes, have +acquired some of the vices peculiar to a menial and degraded race. A +few of the old Makololo cautioned us not to leave any of our property +exposed, as the blacks were great thieves; and some of our own men +advised us to be on our guard, as the Makololo also would steal. A +very few trifling articles were stolen by a young Makololo; and he, +on being spoken to on the subject, showed great ingenuity in excusing +himself, by a plausible and untruthful story. The Makololo of old +were hard workers, and did not consider labour as beneath them; but +their sons never work, regarding it as fit only for the Mashona and +Makalaka servants. Sebituane, seeing that the rival tribes had the +advantage over his, in knowing how to manage canoes, had his warriors +taught to navigate; and his own son, with his companions, paddled the +chief's canoe. All the dishes, baskets, stools, and canoes are made +by the black tribes called Manyeti and Matlotlora. The houses are +built by the women and servants. The Makololo women are vastly +superior to any we have yet seen. They are of a light warm brown +complexion, have pleasant countenances, and are remarkably quick of +apprehension. They dress neatly, wearing a kilt and mantle, and have +many ornaments. Sebituane's sister, the head lady of Sesheke, wore +eighteen solid brass rings, as thick as one's finger, on each leg, +and three of copper under each knee; nineteen brass rings on her left +arm, and eight of brass and copper on her right, also a large ivory +ring above each elbow. She had a pretty bead necklace, and a bead +sash encircled her waist. The weight of the bright brass rings round +her legs impeded her walking, and chafed her ankles; but, as it was +the fashion, she did not mind the inconvenience, and guarded against +the pain by putting soft rag round the lower rings. + +Justice appears upon the whole to be pretty fairly administered among +the Makololo. A headman took some beads and a blanket from one of +his men who had been with us; the matter was brought before the +chief, and he immediately ordered the goods to be restored, and +decreed, moreover, that no headman should take the property of the +men who had returned. In theory, all the goods brought back belonged +to the chief; the men laid them at his feet, and made a formal offer +of them all; he looked at the articles, and told the men to keep +them. This is almost invariably the case. Tuba Mokoro, however, +fearing lest Sekeletu might take a fancy to some of his best goods, +exhibited only a few of his old and least valuable acquisitions. +Masakasa had little to show; he had committed some breach of native +law in one of the villages on the way, and paid a heavy fine rather +than have the matter brought to the Doctor's ears. Each carrier is +entitled to a portion of the goods in his bundle, though purchased by +the chief's ivory, and they never hesitate to claim their rights; but +no wages can be demanded from the chief, if he fails to respond to +the first application. + +Our men, accustomed to our ways, thought that the English system of +paying a man for his labour was the only correct one, and some even +said it would be better to live under a government where life and +labour were more secure and valuable than here. While with us, they +always conducted themselves with propriety during Divine service, and +not only maintained decorum themselves, but insisted on other natives +who might be present doing the same. When Moshobotwane, the Batoka +chief, came on one occasion with a number of his men, they listened +in silence to the reading of the Bible in the Makololo tongue; but, +as soon as we all knelt down to pray, they commenced a vigorous +clapping of hands, their mode of asking a favour. Our indignant +Makololo soon silenced their noisy accompaniment, and looked with +great contempt on this display of ignorance. Nearly all our men had +learned to repeat the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed in their +own language, and felt rather proud of being able to do so; and when +they reached home, they liked to recite them to groups of admiring +friends. Their ideas of right and wrong differ in no respect from +our own, except in their professed inability to see how it can be +improper for a man to have more than one wife. A year or two ago +several of the wives of those who had been absent with us petitioned +the chief for leave to marry again. They thought that it was of no +use waiting any longer, their husbands must be dead; but Sekeletu +refused permission; he himself had bet a number of oxen that the +Doctor would return with their husbands, and he had promised the +absent men that their wives should be kept for them. The impatient +spouses had therefore to wait a little longer. Some of them, +however, eloped with other men; the wife of Mantlanyane, for +instance, ran off and left his little boy among strangers. +Mantlanyane was very angry when he heard of it, not that he cared +much about her deserting him, for he had two other wives at Tette, +but he was indignant at her abandoning his boy. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +Life amongst the Makololo--Return journey--Native hospitality--A +canoe voyage on the Zambesi. + +While we were at Sesheke, an ox was killed by a crocodile; a man +found the carcass floating in the river, and appropriated the meat. +When the owner heard of this, he requested him to come before the +chief, as he meant to complain of him; rather than go, the delinquent +settled the matter by giving one of his own oxen in lieu of the lost +one. A headman from near Linyanti came with a complaint that all his +people had run off, owing to the "hunger." Sekeletu said, "You must +not be left to grow lean alone, some of them must come back to you." +He had thus an order to compel their return, if he chose to put it in +force. Families frequently leave their own headman and flee to +another village, and sometimes a whole village decamps by night, +leaving the headman by himself. Sekeletu rarely interfered with the +liberty of the subject to choose his own headman, and, as it is often +the fault of the latter which causes the people to depart, it is +punishment enough for him to be left alone. Flagrant disobedience to +the chief's orders is punished with death. A Moshubia man was +ordered to cut some reeds for Sekeletu: he went off, and hid himself +for two days instead. For this he was doomed to die, and was carried +in a canoe to the middle of the river, choked, and tossed into the +stream. The spectators hooted the executioners, calling out to them +that they too would soon be carried out and strangled. Occasionally +when a man is sent to beat an offender, he tells him his object, +returns, and assures the chief he has nearly killed him. The +transgressor then keeps for a while out of sight, and the matter is +forgotten. The river here teems with monstrous crocodiles, and women +are frequently, while drawing water, carried off by these reptiles. + +We met a venerable warrior, sole survivor, probably, of the Mantatee +host which threatened to invade the colony in 1824. He retained a +vivid recollection of their encounter with the Griquas: "As we +looked at the men and horses, puffs of smoke arose, and some of us +dropped down dead!" "Never saw anything like it in my life, a man's +brains lying in one place and his body in another!" They could not +understand what was killing them; a ball struck a man's shield at an +angle; knocked his arm out of joint at the shoulder; and leaving a +mark, or burn, as he said, on the shield, killed another man close +by. We saw the man with his shoulder still dislocated. Sebetuane +was present at the fight, and had an exalted opinion of the power of +white people ever afterwards. + +The ancient costume of the Makololo consisted of the skin of a lamb, +kid, jackal, ocelot, or other small animal, worn round and below the +loins: and in cold weather a kaross, or skin mantle, was thrown over +the shoulders. The kaross is now laid aside, and the young men of +fashion wear a monkey-jacket and a skin round the hips; but no +trousers, waistcoat, or shirt. The river and lake tribes are in +general very cleanly, bathing several times a day. The Makololo +women use water rather sparingly, rubbing themselves with melted +butter instead: this keeps off parasites, but gives their clothes a +rancid odour. One stage of civilization often leads of necessity to +another--the possession of clothes creates a demand for soap; give a +man a needle, and he is soon back to you for thread. + +This being a time of mourning, on account of the illness of the +chief, the men were negligent of their persons, they did not cut +their hair, or have merry dances, or carry spear and shield when they +walked abroad. The wife of Pitsane was busy making a large hut, +while we were in the town: she informed us that the men left house- +building entirely to the women and servants. A round tower of stakes +and reeds, nine or ten feet high, is raised and plastered; a floor is +next made of soft tufa, or ant-hill material and cowdung. This +plaster prevents the poisonous insects, called tumpans, whose bite +causes fever in some, and painful sores in all, from harbouring in +the cracks or soil. The roof, which is much larger in diameter than +the tower, is made on the ground, and then, many persons assisting, +lifted up and placed on the tower, and thatched. A plastered reed +fence is next built up to meet the outer part of the roof, which +still projects a little over this fence, and a space of three feet +remains between it and the tower. We slept in this space, instead of +in the tower, as the inner door of the hut we occupied was +uncomfortably small, being only nineteen inches high, and twenty-two +inches wide at the floor. A foot from the bottom it measured +seventeen inches in breadth, and close to the top only twelve inches, +so it was a difficult matter to get through it. The tower has no +light or ventilation, except through this small door. The reason a +lady assigned for having the doors so very small was to keep out the +mice! + +The children have merry times, especially in the cool of the evening. +One of their games consists of a little girl being carried on the +shoulders of two others. She sits with outstretched arms, as they +walk about with her, and all the rest clap their hands, and stopping +before each hut sing pretty airs, some beating time on their little +kilts of cowskin, others making a curious humming sound between the +songs. Excepting this and the skipping-rope, the play of the girls +consists in imitation of the serious work of their mothers, building +little huts, making small pots, and cooking, pounding corn in +miniature mortars, or hoeing tiny gardens. The boys play with spears +of reeds pointed with wood, and small shields, or bows and arrows; or +amuse themselves in making little cattle-pens, or in moulding cattle +in clay; they show great ingenuity in the imitation of various-shaped +horns. Some too are said to use slings, but as soon as they can +watch the goats, or calves, they are sent to the field. We saw many +boys riding on the calves they had in charge, but this is an +innovation since the arrival of the English with their horses. +Tselane, one of the ladies, on observing Dr. Livingstone noting +observations on the wet and dry bulb thermometers, thought that he +too was engaged in play; for on receiving no reply to her question, +which was rather difficult to answer, as the native tongue has no +scientific terms, she said with roguish glee, "Poor thing, playing +like a little child!" + +Like other Africans, the Makololo have great faith in the power of +medicine; they believe that there is an especial medicine for every +ill that flesh is heir to. Mamire is anxious to have children; he +has six wives, and only one boy, and he begs earnestly for "child +medicine." The mother of Sekeletu came from the Barotse Valley to +see her son. Thinks she has lost flesh since Dr. Livingstone was +here before, and asks for "the medicine of fatness." The Makololo +consider plumpness an essential part of beauty in women, but the +extreme stoutness, mentioned by Captain Speke, in the north, would be +considered hideous here, for the men have been overheard speaking of +a lady whom we call "inclined to embonpoint," as "fat unto ugliness." + +Two packages from the Kuruman, containing letters and newspapers, +reached Linyanti previous to our arrival, and Sekeletu, not knowing +when we were coming, left them there; but now at once sent a +messenger for them. This man returned on the seventh day, having +travelled 240 geographical miles. One of the packages was too heavy +for him, and he left it behind. As the Doctor wished to get some +more medicine and papers out of the wagon left at Linyanti in 1853, +he decided upon going thither himself. The chief gave him his own +horse, now about twelve years old, and some men. He found everything +in his wagon as safe as when he left it seven years before. The +headmen, Mosale and Pekonyane, received him cordially, and lamented +that they had so little to offer him. Oh! had he only arrived the +year previous, when there was abundance of milk and corn and beer. + +Very early the next morning the old town-crier, Ma-Pulenyane, of his +own accord made a public proclamation, which, in the perfect +stillness of the town long before dawn, was striking: "I have +dreamed! I have dreamed! I have dreamed! Thou Mosale and thou +Pekonyane, my lords, be not faint-hearted, nor let your hearts be +sore, but believe all the words of Monare (the Doctor) for his heart +is white as milk towards the Makololo. I dreamed that he was coming, +and that the tribe would live, if you prayed to God and give heed to +the word of Monare." Ma-Pulenyane showed Dr. Livingstone the +burying-place where poor Helmore and seven others were laid, +distinguishing those whom he had put to rest, and those for whom +Mafale had performed that last office. Nothing whatever marked the +spot, and with the native idea of HIDING the dead, it was said, "it +will soon be all overgrown with bushes, for no one will cultivate +there." None but Ma-Pulenyane approached the place, the others stood +at a respectful distance; they invariably avoid everything connected +with the dead, and no such thing as taking portions of human bodies +to make charms of, as is the custom further north, has ever been +known among the Makololo. + +Sekeletu's health improved greatly during our visit, the melancholy +foreboding left his spirits, and he became cheerful, but resolutely +refused to leave his den, and appear in public till he was perfectly +cured, and had regained what he considered his good looks. He also +feared lest some of those who had bewitched him originally might +still be among the people, and neutralize our remedies. {4} + +As we expected another steamer to be at Kongone in November, it was +impossible for us to remain in Sesheke more than one month. Before +our departure, the chief and his principal men expressed in a formal +manner their great desire to have English people settled on the +Batoka highlands. At one time he proposed to go as far as Phori, in +order to select a place of residence; but as he afterwards saw +reasons for remaining where he was, till his cure was completed, he +gave orders to those sent with us, in the event of our getting, on +our return, past the rapids near Tette, not to bring us to Sesheke, +but to send forward a messenger, and he with the whole tribe would +come to us. Dr. Kirk being of the same age, Sekeletu was +particularly anxious that he should come and live with him. He said +that he would cut off a section of the country for the special use of +the English; and on being told that in all probability their +descendants would cause disturbance in his country, he replied, +"These would be only domestic feuds, and of no importance." The +great extent of uncultivated land on the cool and now unpeopled +highlands has but to be seen to convince the spectator how much room +there is, and to spare, for a vastly greater population than ever, in +our day, can be congregated there. + +On the last occasion of our holding Divine service at Sesheke, the +men were invited to converse on the subject on which they had been +addressed. So many of them had died since we were here before, that +not much probability existed of our all meeting again, and this had +naturally led to the subject of a future state. They replied that +they did not wish to offend the speaker, but they could not believe +that all the dead would rise again: "Can those who have been killed +in the field and devoured by the vultures; or those who have been +eaten by the hyenas or lions; or those who have been tossed into the +river, and eaten by more than one crocodile,--can they all be raised +again to life?" They were told that men could take a leaden bullet, +change it into a salt (acetate of lead), which could be dissolved as +completely in water as our bodies in the stomachs of animals, and +then reconvert it into lead; or that the bullet could be transformed +into the red and white paint of our wagons, and again be reconverted +into the original lead; and that if men exactly like themselves could +do so much, how much more could He do who has made the eye to see, +and the ear to hear! We added, however, that we believed in a +resurrection, not because we understood how it would be brought +about, but because our Heavenly Father assured us of it in His Book. +The reference to the truth of the Book and its Author seems always to +have more influence on the native mind than the cleverness of the +illustration. The knowledge of the people is scanty, but their +reasoning is generally clear as far as their information goes. + +We left Sesheke on the 17th September, 1860, convoyed by Pitsane and +Leshore with their men. Pitsane was ordered by Sekeletu to make a +hedge round the garden at the Falls, to protect the seeds we had +brought; and also to collect some of the tobacco tribute below the +Falls. Leshore, besides acting as a sort of guard of honour to us, +was sent on a diplomatic mission to Sinamane. No tribute was exacted +by Sekeletu from Sinamane; but, as he had sent in his adhesion, he +was expected to act as a guard in case of the Matebele wishing to +cross and attack the Makololo. As we intended to purchase canoes of +Sinamane in which to descend the river, Leshore was to commend us to +whatever help this Batoka chief could render. It must be confessed +that Leshore's men, who were all of the black subject tribes, really +needed to be viewed by us in the most charitable light; for Leshore, +on entering any village, called out to the inhabitants, "Look out for +your property, and see that my thieves don't steal it." + +Two young Makololo with their Batoka servants accompanied us to see +if Kebrabasa could be surmounted, and to bring a supply of medicine +for Sekeletu's leprosy; and half a dozen able canoe-men, under +Mobito, who had previously gone with Dr. Livingstone to Loanda, were +sent to help us in our river navigation. Some men on foot drove six +oxen which Sekeletu had given us as provisions for the journey. It +was, as before remarked, a time of scarcity; and, considering the +dearth of food, our treatment had been liberal. + +By day the canoe-men are accustomed to keep close under the river's +bank from fear of the hippopotami; by night, however, they keep in +the middle of the stream, as then those animals are usually close to +the bank on their way to their grazing grounds. Our progress was +considerably impeded by the high winds, which at this season of the +year begin about eight in the morning, and blow strongly up the river +all day. The canoes were poor leaky affairs, and so low in parts of +the gunwale, that the paddlers were afraid to follow the channel when +it crossed the river, lest the waves might swamp us. A rough sea is +dreaded by all these inland canoe-men; but though timid, they are by +no means unskilful at their work. The ocean rather astonished them +afterwards; and also the admirable way that the Nyassa men managed +their canoes on a rough lake, and even amongst the breakers, where no +small boat could possibly live. + +On the night of the 17th we slept on the left bank of the Majeele, +after having had all the men ferried across. An ox was slaughtered, +and not an ounce of it was left next morning. Our two young Makololo +companions, Maloka and Ramakukane, having never travelled before, +naturally clung to some of the luxuries they had been accustomed to +at home. When they lay down to sleep, their servants were called to +spread their blankets over their august persons, not forgetting their +feet. This seems to be the duty of the Makololo wife to her husband, +and strangers sometimes receive the honour. One of our party, having +wandered, slept at the village of Nambowe. When he laid down, to his +surprise two of Nambowe's wives came at once, and carefully and +kindly spread his kaross over him. + +A beautiful silvery fish with reddish fins, called Ngwesi, is very +abundant in the river; large ones weigh fifteen or twenty pounds +each. Its teeth are exposed, and so arranged that, when they meet, +the edges cut a hook like nippers. The Ngwesi seems to be a very +ravenous fish. It often gulps down the Konokono, a fish armed with +serrated bones more than an inch in length in the pectoral and dorsal +fins, which, fitting into a notch at the roots, can be put by the +fish on full cock or straight out,--they cannot be folded down, +without its will, and even break in resisting. The name "Konokono," +elbow-elbow, is given it from a resemblance its extended fins are +supposed to bear to a man's elbows stuck out from his body. It often +performs the little trick of cocking its fins in the stomach of the +Ngwesi, and, the elbows piercing its enemy's sides, he is frequently +found floating dead. The fin bones seem to have an acrid secretion +on them, for the wound they make is excessively painful. The +Konokono barks distinctly when landed with the hook. Our canoe-men +invariably picked up every dead fish they saw on the surface of the +water, however far gone. An unfragrant odour was no objection; the +fish was boiled and eaten, and the water drunk as soup. It is a +curious fact that many of the Africans keep fish as we do woodcocks, +until they are extremely offensive, before they consider them fit to +eat. Our paddlers informed us on our way down that iguanas lay their +eggs in July and August, and crocodiles in September. The eggs +remain a month or two under the sand where they are laid, and the +young come out when the rains have fairly commenced. The canoe-men +were quite positive that crocodiles frequently stun men by striking +them with their tails, and then squat on them till they are drowned. +We once caught a young crocodile, which certainly did use its tail to +inflict sharp blows, and led us to conclude that the native opinion +is correct. They believed also that, if a person shuts the beast's +eyes, it lets go its hold. Crocodiles have been known to unite and +kill a large one of their own species and eat it. Some fishermen +throw the bones of the fish into the river but in most of the fishing +villages there are heaps of them in various places. The villagers +can walk over them without getting them into their feet; but the +Makololo, from having softer soles, are unable to do so. The +explanation offered was, that the fishermen have a medicine against +fish-bones, but that they will not reveal it to the Makololo. + +We spent a night on Mparira island, which is four miles long and +about one mile broad. Mokompa, the headman, was away hunting +elephants. His wife sent for him on our arrival, and he returned +next morning before we left. Taking advantage of the long-continued +drought, he had set fire to the reeds between the Chobe and Zambesi, +in such a manner as to drive the game out at one corner, where his +men laid in wait with their spears. He had killed five elephants and +three buffaloes, wounding several others which escaped. + +On our land party coming up, we were told that the oxen were bitten +by the tsetse: they could see a great difference in their looks. +One was already eaten, and they now wished to slaughter another. A +third fell into a buffalo-pit next day, so our stock was soon +reduced. + +The Batoka chief, Moshobotwane, again treated us with his usual +hospitality, giving us an ox, some meal, and milk. We took another +view of the grand Mosi-oa-tunya, and planted a quantity of seeds in +the garden on the island; but, as no one will renew the hedge, the +hippopotami will, doubtless, soon destroy what we planted. +Mashotlane assisted us. So much power was allowed to this under- +chief, that he appeared as if he had cast off the authority of +Sekeletu altogether. He did not show much courtesy to his +messengers; instead of giving them food, as is customary, he took the +meat out of a pot in their presence, and handed it to his own +followers. This may have been because Sekeletu's men bore an order +to him to remove to Linyanti. He had not only insulted Baldwin, but +had also driven away the Griqua traders; but this may all end in +nothing. Some of the natives here, and at Sesheke, know a few of the +low tricks of more civilized traders. A pot of milk was brought to +us one evening, which was more indebted to the Zambesi than to any +cow. Baskets of fine-looking white meal, elsewhere, had occasionally +the lower half filled with bran. Eggs are always a perilous +investment. The native idea of a good egg differs as widely from our +own as is possible on such a trifling subject. An egg is eaten here +with apparent relish, though an embryo chick be inside. + +We left Mosi-oa-tunya on the 27th, and slept close to the village of +Bakwini. It is built on a ridge of loose red soil, which produces +great crops of mapira and ground-nuts; many magnificent mosibe-trees +stand near the village. Machimisi, the headman of the village, +possesses a herd of cattle and a large heart; he kept us company for +a couple of days to guide us on our way. + +We had heard a good deal of a stronghold some miles below the Falls, +called Kalunda. Our return path was much nearer the Zambesi than +that of our ascent,--in fact, as near as the rough country would +allow,--but we left it twice before we reached Sinamane's, in order +to see Kalunda and a Fall called Moomba, or Moamba. The Makololo had +once dispossessed the Batoka of Kalunda, but we could not see the +fissure, or whatever it is, that rendered it a place of security, as +it was on the southern bank. The crack of the Great Falls was here +continued: the rocks are the same as further up, but perhaps less +weather-worn--and now partially stratified in great thick masses. +The country through which we were travelling was covered with a +cindery-looking volcanic tufa, and might be called "Katakaumena." + +The description we received of the Moamba Falls seemed to promise +something grand. They were said to send up "smoke" in the wet +season, like Mosi-oa-tunya; but when we looked down into the cleft, +in which the dark-green narrow river still rolls, we saw, about 800 +or 1000 feet below us, what, after Mosi-oa-tunya, seemed two +insignificant cataracts. It was evident that Pitsane, observing our +delight at the Victoria Falls, wished to increase our pleasure by a +second wonder. One Mosi-oa-tunya, however, is quite enough for a +continent. + +We had now an opportunity of seeing more of the Batoka, than we had +on the highland route to our north. They did not wait till the +evening before offering food to the strangers. The aged wife of the +headman of a hamlet, where we rested at midday, at once kindled a +fire, and put on the cooking-pot to make porridge. Both men and +women are to be distinguished by greater roundness of feature than +the other natives, and the custom of knocking out the upper front +teeth gives at once a distinctive character to the face. Their +colour attests the greater altitude of the country in which many of +them formerly lived. Some, however, are as dark as the Bashubia and +Barotse of the great valley to their west, in which stands Sesheke, +formerly the capital of the Balui, or Bashubia. + +The assertion may seem strange, yet it is none the less true, that in +all the tribes we have visited we never saw a really black person. +Different shades of brown prevail, and often with a bright bronze +tint, which no painter, except Mr. Angus, seems able to catch. Those +who inhabit elevated, dry situations, and who are not obliged to work +much in the sun, are frequently of a light warm brown, "dark but +comely." Darkness of colour is probably partly caused by the sun, +and partly by something in the climate or soil which we do not yet +know. We see something of the same sort in trout and other fish +which take their colour from the ponds or streams in which they live. +The members of our party were much less embrowned by free exposure to +the sun for years than Dr. Livingstone and his family were by passing +once from Kuruman to Cape Town, a journey which occupied only a +couple of months. + +We encamped on the Kalomo, on the 1st of October, and found the +weather very much warmer than when we crossed this stream in August. +At 3 p.m. the thermometer, four feet from the ground, was 101 degrees +in the shade; the wet bulb only 61 degrees: a difference of 40 +degrees. Yet, notwithstanding this extreme dryness of the +atmosphere, without a drop of rain having fallen for months, and +scarcely any dew, many of the shrubs and trees were putting forth +fresh leaves of various hues, while others made a profuse display of +lovely blossoms. + +Two old and very savage buffaloes were shot for our companions on the +3rd October. Our Volunteers may feel an interest in knowing that +balls sometimes have but little effect: one buffalo fell, on +receiving a Jacob's shell; it was hit again twice, and lost a large +amount of blood; and yet it sprang up, and charged a native, who, by +great agility, had just time to climb a tree, before the maddened +beast struck it, battering-ram fashion, hard enough almost to have +split both head and tree. It paused a few seconds--drew back several +paces--glared up at the man--and then dashed at the tree again and +again, as if determined to shake him out of it. It took two more +Jacob's shells, and five other large solid rifle-balls to finish the +beast at last. These old surly buffaloes had been wandering about in +a sort of miserable fellowship; their skins were diseased and scabby, +as if leprous, and their horns atrophied or worn down to stumps--the +first was killed outright, by one Jacob's shell, the second died +hard. There is so much difference in the tenacity of life in wounded +animals of the same species, that the inquiry is suggested where the +seat of life can be?--We have seen a buffalo live long enough, after +a large bullet had passed right through the heart, to allow firm +adherent clots to be formed in the two holes. + +One day's journey above Sinamane's, a mass of mountain called +Gorongue, or Golongwe, is said to cross the river, and the rent +through which the river passes is, by native report, quite fearful to +behold. The country round it is so rocky, that our companions +dreaded the fatigue, and were not much to blame, if, as is probably +the case, the way be worse than that over which we travelled. As we +trudged along over the black slag-like rocks, the almost leafless +trees affording no shade, the heat was quite as great as Europeans +could bear. It was 102 degrees in the shade, and a thermometer +placed under the tongue or armpit showed that our blood was 99.5 +degrees, or 1.5 degrees hotter than that of the natives, which stood +at 98 degrees. Our shoes, however, enable us to pass over the hot +burning soil better than they can. Many of those who wear sandals +have corns on the sides of the feet, and on the heels, where the +straps pass. We have seen instances, too, where neither sandals nor +shoes were worn, of corns on the soles of the feet. It is, moreover, +not at all uncommon to see toes cocked up, as if pressed out of their +proper places; at home, we should have unhesitatingly ascribed this +to the vicious fashions perversely followed by our shoemakers. + +On the 5th, after crossing some hills, we rested at the village of +Simariango. The bellows of the blacksmith here were somewhat +different from the common goatskin bags, and more like those seen in +Madagascar. They consisted of two wooden vessels, like a lady's +bandbox of small dimensions, the upper ends of which were covered +with leather, and looked something like the heads of drums, except +that the leather bagged in the centre. They were fitted with long +nozzles, through which the air was driven by working the loose +covering of the tops up and down by means of a small piece of wood +attached to their centres. The blacksmith said that tin was obtained +from a people in the north, called Marendi, and that he had made it +into bracelets; we had never heard before of tin being found in the +country. + +Our course then lay down the bed of a rivulet, called Mapatizia, in +which there was much calc spar, with calcareous schist, and then the +Tette grey sandstone, which usually overlies coal. On the 6th we +arrived at the islet Chilombe, belonging to Sinamane, where the +Zambesi runs broad and smooth again, and were well received by +Sinamane himself. Never was Sunday more welcome to the weary than +this, the last we were to spend with our convoy. + +We now saw many good-looking young men and women. The dresses of the +ladies are identical with those of Nubian women in Upper Egypt. To a +belt on the waist a great number of strings are attached to hang all +round the person. These fringes are about six or eight inches long. +The matrons wear in addition a skin cut like the tails of the coatee +formerly worn by our dragoons. The younger girls wear the waist-belt +exhibited in the woodcut, ornamented with shells, and have the +fringes only in front. Marauding parties of Batoka, calling +themselves Makololo, have for some time had a wholesome dread of +Sinamane's "long spears." Before going to Tette our Batoka friend, +Masakasa, was one of a party that came to steal some of the young +women; but Sinamane, to their utter astonishment, attacked them so +furiously that the survivors barely escaped with their lives. +Masakasa had to flee so fast that he threw away his shield, his +spear, and his clothes, and returned home a wiser and a sadder man. + +Sinamane's people cultivate large quantities of tobacco, which they +manufacture into balls for the Makololo market. Twenty balls, +weighing about three-quarters of a pound each, are sold for a hoe. +The tobacco is planted on low moist spots on the banks of the +Zambesi; and was in flower at the time we were there, in October. +Sinamane's people appear to have abundance of food, and are all in +good condition. He could sell us only two of his canoes; but lent us +three more to carry us as far as Moemba's, where he thought others +might be purchased. They were manned by his own canoe-men, who were +to bring them back. The river is about 250 yards wide, and flows +serenely between high banks towards the North-east. Below Sinamane's +the banks are often worn down fifty feet, and composed of shingle and +gravel of igneous rocks, sometimes set in a ferruginous matrix. The +bottom is all gravel and shingle, how formed we cannot imagine, +unless in pot-holes in the deep fissure above. The bottom above the +Falls, save a few rocks close by them, is generally sandy or of soft +tufa. Every damp spot is covered with maize, pumpkins, water-melons, +tobacco, and hemp. There is a pretty numerous Batoka population on +both sides of the river. As we sailed slowly down, the people +saluted us from the banks, by clapping their hands. A headman even +hailed us, and brought a generous present of corn and pumpkins. + +Moemba owns a rich island, called Mosanga, a mile in length, on which +his village stands. He has the reputation of being a brave warrior, +and is certainly a great talker; but he gave us strangers something +better than a stream of words. We received a handsome present of +corn, and the fattest goat we had ever seen; it resembled mutton. +His people were as liberal as their chief. They brought two large +baskets of corn, and a lot of tobacco, as a sort of general +contribution to the travellers. One of Sinamane's canoe-men, after +trying to get his pay, deserted here, and went back before the +stipulated time, with the story, that the Englishman had stolen the +canoes. Shortly after sunrise next morning, Sinamane came into the +village with fifty of his "long spears," evidently determined to +retake his property by force; he saw at a glance that his man had +deceived him. Moemba rallied him for coming on a wildgoose chase. +"Here are your canoes left with me, your men have all been paid, and +the Englishmen are now asking me to sell my canoes." Sinamane said +little to us; only observing that he had been deceived by his +follower. A single remark of his chief's caused the foolish fellow +to leave suddenly, evidently much frightened and crestfallen. +Sinamane had been very kind to us, and, as he was looking on when we +gave our present to Moemba, we made him also an additional offering +of some beads, and parted good friends. Moemba, having heard that we +had called the people of Sinamane together to tell them about our +Saviour's mission to man, and to pray with them, associated the idea +of Sunday with the meeting, and, before anything of the sort was +proposed, came and asked that he and his people might be "sundayed" +as well as his neighbours; and be given a little seed wheat, and +fruit-tree seeds; with which request of course we very willingly +complied. The idea of praying direct to the Supreme Being, though +not quite new to all, seems to strike their minds so forcibly that it +will not be forgotten. Sinamane said that he prayed to God, Morungo, +and made drink-offerings to him. Though he had heard of us, he had +never seen white men before. + +Beautiful crowned cranes, named from their note "ma-wang," were seen +daily, and were beginning to pair. Large flocks of spur-winged +geese, or machikwe, were common. This goose is said to lay her eggs +in March. We saw also pairs of Egyptian geese, as well as a few of +the knob-nosed, or, as they are called in India, combed geese. When +the Egyptian geese, as at the present time, have young, the goslings +keep so steadily in the wake of their mother, that they look as if +they were a part of her tail; and both parents, when on land, +simulate lameness quite as well as our plovers, to draw off pursuers. +The ostrich also adopts the lapwing fashion, but no quadrupeds do: +they show fight to defend their young instead. In some places the +steep banks were dotted with the holes which lead into the nests of +bee-eaters. These birds came out in hundreds as we passed. When the +red-breasted species settle on the trees, they give them the +appearance of being covered with red foliage. + +On the morning of the 12th October we passed through a wild, hilly +country, with fine wooded scenery on both sides, but thinly +inhabited. The largest trees were usually thorny acacias, of great +size and beautiful forms. As we sailed by several villages without +touching, the people became alarmed, and ran along the banks, spears +in hand. We employed one to go forward and tell Mpande of our +coming. This allayed their fears, and we went ashore, and took +breakfast near the large island with two villages on it, opposite the +mouth of the Zungwe, where we had left the Zambesi on our way up. +Mpande was sorry that he had no canoes of his own to sell, but he +would lend us two. He gave us cooked pumpkins and a water-melon. +His servant had lateral curvature of the spine. We have often seen +cases of humpback, but this was the only case of this kind of +curvature we had met with. Mpande accompanied us himself in his own +vessel, till we had an opportunity of purchasing a fine large canoe +elsewhere. We paid what was considered a large price for it: twelve +strings of blue cut glass neck beads, an equal number of large blue +ones of the size of marbles, and two yards of grey calico. Had the +beads been coarser, they would have been more valued, because such +were in fashion. Before concluding the bargain the owner said "his +bowels yearned for his canoe, and we must give a little more to stop +their yearning." This was irresistible. The trading party of +Sequasha, which we now met, had purchased ten large new canoes for +six strings of cheap coarse white beads each, or their equivalent, +four yards of calico, and had bought for the merest trifle ivory +enough to load them all. They were driving a trade in slaves also, +which was something new in this part of Africa, and likely soon to +change the character of the inhabitants. These men had been living +in clover, and were uncommonly fat and plump. When sent to trade, +slaves wisely never stint themselves of beer or anything else, which +their master's goods can buy. + +The temperature of the Zambesi had increased 10 degrees since August, +being now 80 degrees. The air was as high as 96 degrees after +sunset; and, the vicinity of the water being the coolest part, we +usually made our beds close by the river's brink, though there in +danger of crocodiles. Africa differs from India in the air always +becoming cool and refreshing long before the sun returns, and there +can be no doubt that we can in this country bear exposure to the sun, +which would be fatal in India. It is probably owing to the greater +dryness of the African atmosphere that sunstroke is so rarely met +with. In twenty-two years Dr. Livingstone never met or heard of a +single case, though the protective head-dresses of India are rarely +seen. + +When the water is nearly at its lowest, we occasionally meet with +small rapids which are probably not in existence during the rest of +the year. Having slept opposite the rivulet Bume, which comes from +the south, we passed the island of Nakansalo, and went down the +rapids of the same name on the 17th, and came on the morning of the +19th to the more serious ones of Nakabele, at the entrance to Kariba. +The Makololo guided the canoes admirably through the opening in the +dyke. When we entered the gorge we came on upwards of thirty +hippopotami: a bank near the entrance stretches two-thirds across +the narrowed river, and in the still place behind it they were +swimming about. Several were in the channel, and our canoe-men were +afraid to venture down among them, because, as they affirm, there is +commonly an ill-natured one in a herd, which takes a malignant +pleasure in upsetting canoes. Two or three boys on the rocks +opposite amused themselves by throwing stones at the frightened +animals, and hit several on the head. It would have been no +difficult matter to have shot the whole herd. We fired a few shots +to drive them off; the balls often glance off the skull, and no more +harm is done than when a schoolboy gets a bloody nose; we killed one, +which floated away down the rapid current, followed by a number of +men on the bank. A native called to us from the left bank, and said +that a man on his side knew how to pray to the Kariba gods, and +advised us to hire him to pray for our safety, while we were going +down the rapids, or we should certainly all be drowned. No one ever +risked his life in Kariba without first paying the river-doctor, or +priest, for his prayers. Our men asked if there was a cataract in +front, but he declined giving any information; they were not on his +side of the river; if they would come over, then he might be able to +tell them. We crossed, but he went off to the village. We then +landed and walked over the hills to have a look at Karaba before +trusting our canoes in it. The current was strong, and there was +broken water in some places, but the channel was nearly straight, and +had no cataract, so we determined to risk it. Our men visited the +village while we were gone, and were treated to beer and tobacco. +The priest who knows how to pray to the god that rules the rapids +followed us with several of his friends, and they were rather +surprised to see us pass down in safety, without the aid of his +intercession. The natives who followed the dead hippopotamus caught +it a couple of miles below, and, having made it fast to a rock, were +sitting waiting for us on the bank beside the dead animal. As there +was a considerable current there, and the rocky banks were unfit for +our beds, we took the hippopotamus in tow, telling the villagers to +follow, and we would give them most of the meat. The crocodiles +tugged so hard at the carcass, that we were soon obliged to cast it +adrift, to float down in the current, to avoid upsetting the canoe. +We had to go on so far before finding a suitable spot to spend the +night in, that the natives concluded we did not intend to share the +meat with them, and returned to the village. We slept two nights at +the place where the hippopotamus was cut up. The crocodiles had a +busy time of it in the dark, tearing away at what was left in the +river, and thrashing the water furiously with their powerful tails. +The hills on both sides of Kariba are much like those of Kebrabasa, +the strata tilted and twisted in every direction, with no level +ground. + +Although the hills confine the Zambesi within a narrow channel for a +number of miles, there are no rapids beyond those near the entrance. +The river is smooth and apparently very deep. Only one single human +being was seen in the gorge, the country being too rough for culture. +Some rocks in the water, near the outlet of Kariba, at a distance +look like a fort; and such large masses dislocated, bent, and even +twisted to a remarkable degree, at once attest some tremendous +upheaving and convulsive action of nature, which probably caused +Kebrabasa, Kariba, and the Victoria Falls to assume their present +forms; it took place after the formation of the coal, that mineral +having then been tilted up. We have probably nothing equal to it in +the present quiet operations of nature. + +On emerging we pitched our camp by a small stream, the Pendele, a few +miles below the gorge. The Palabi mountain stands on the western +side of the lower end of the Kariba strait; the range to which it +belongs crosses the river, and runs to the south-east. Chikumbula, a +hospitable old headman, under Nchomokela, the paramount chief of a +large district, whom we did not see, brought us next morning a great +basket of meal, and four fowls, with some beer, and a cake of salt, +"to make it taste good." Chikumbula said that the elephants plagued +them, by eating up the cotton-plants; but his people seem to be well +off. + +A few days before we came, they caught three buffaloes in pitfalls in +one night, and, unable to eat them all, left one to rot. During the +night the wind changed and blew from the dead buffalo to our +sleeping-place; and a hungry lion, not at all dainty in his food, +stirred up the putrid mass, and growled and gloated over his feast, +to the disturbance of our slumbers. Game of all kinds is in most +extraordinary abundance, especially from this point to below the +Kafue, and so it is on Moselekatso's side, where there are no +inhabitants. The drought drives all the game to the river to drink. +An hour's walk on the right bank, morning or evening, reveals a +country swarming with wild animals: vast herds of pallahs, many +waterbucks, koodoos, buffaloes, wild pigs, elands, zebras, and +monkeys appear; francolins, guinea-fowls, and myriads of turtledoves +attract the eye in the covers, with the fresh spoor of elephants and +rhinoceroses, which had been at the river during the night. Every +few miles we came upon a school of hippopotami, asleep on some +shallow sandbank; their bodies, nearly all out of the water, appeared +like masses of black rock in the river. When these animals are +hunted much, they become proportionably wary, but here no hunter ever +troubles them, and they repose in security, always however taking the +precaution of sleeping just above the deep channel, into which they +can plunge when alarmed. When a shot is fired into a sleeping herd, +all start up on their feet, and stare with peculiar stolid looks of +hippopotamic surprise, and wait for another shot before dashing into +deep water. A few miles below Chikumbula's we saw a white +hippopotamus in a herd. Our men had never seen one like it before. +It was of a pinkish white, exactly like the colour of the Albino. It +seemed to be the father of a number of others, for there were many +marked with large light patches. The so-called WHITE elephant is +just such a pinkish Albino as this hippopotamus. A few miles above +Kariba we observed that, in two small hamlets, many of the +inhabitants had a similar affection of the skin. The same influence +appeared to have affected man and beast. A dark coloured +hippopotamus stood alone, as if expelled from the herd, and bit the +water, shaking his head from side to side in a most frantic manner. +When the female has twins, she is said to kill one of them. + +We touched at the beautiful tree-covered island of Kalabi, opposite +where Tuba-mokoro lectured the lion in our way up. The ancestors of +the people who now inhabit this island possessed cattle. The tsetse +has taken possession of the country since "the beeves were lifted." +No one knows where these insects breed; at a certain season all +disappear, and as suddenly come back, no one knows whence. The +natives are such close observers of nature, that their ignorance in +this case surprised us. A solitary hippopotamus had selected the +little bay in which we landed, and where the women drew water, for +his dwelling-place. Pretty little lizards, with light blue and red +tails, run among the rocks, catching flies and other insects. These +harmless--though to new-comers repulsive--creatures sometimes perform +good service to man, by eating great numbers of the destructive white +ants. + +At noon on the 24th October, we found Sequasha in a village below the +Kafue, with the main body of his people. He said that 210 elephants +had been killed during his trip; many of his men being excellent +hunters. The numbers of animals we saw renders this possible. He +reported that, after reaching the Kafue, he went northwards into the +country of the Zulus, whose ancestors formerly migrated from the +south and set up a sort of Republican form of government. Sequasha +is the greatest Portuguese traveller we ever became acquainted with, +and he boasts that he is able to speak a dozen different dialects; +yet, unfortunately, he can give but a very meagre account of the +countries and people he has seen, and his statements are not very +much to be relied on. But considering the influence among which he +has been reared, and the want of the means of education at Tette, it +is a wonder that he possesses the good traits that he sometimes +exhibits. Among his wares were several cheap American clocks; a +useless investment rather, for a part of Africa where no one cares +for the artificial measurement of time. These clocks got him into +trouble among the Banyai: he set them all agoing in the presence of +a chief, who became frightened at the strange sounds they made, and +looked upon them as so many witchcraft agencies at work to bring all +manner of evils upon himself and his people. Sequasha, it was +decided, had been guilty of a milando, or crime, and he had to pay a +heavy fine of cloth and beads for his exhibition. He alluded to our +having heard that he had killed Mpangwe, and he denied having +actually done so; but in his absence his name had got mixed up in the +affair, in consequence of his slaves, while drinking beer one night +with Namakusuru, the man who succeeded Mpangwe, saying that they +would kill the chief for him. His partner had not thought of this +when we saw him on the way up, for he tried to excuse the murder, by +saying that now they had put the right man into the chieftainship. + +After three hours' sail, on the morning of the 29th, the river was +narrowed again by the mountains of Mburuma, called Karivua, into one +channel, and another rapid dimly appeared. It was formed by two +currents guided by rocks to the centre. In going down it, the men +sent by Sekeletu behaved very nobly. The canoes entered without +previous survey, and the huge jobbling waves of mid-current began at +once to fill them. With great presence of mind, and without a +moment's hesitation, two men lightened each by jumping overboard; +they then ordered a Botoka man to do the same, as "the white men must +be saved." "I cannot swim," said the Batoka. "Jump out, then, and +hold on to the canoe;" which he instantly did. Swimming alongside, +they guided the swamping canoes down the swift current to the foot of +the rapid, and then ran them ashore to bale them out. A boat could +have passed down safely, but our canoes were not a foot above the +water at the gunwales. + +Thanks to the bravery of these poor fellows, nothing was lost, +although everything was well soaked. This rapid is nearly opposite +the west end of the Mburuma mountains or Karivua. Another soon +begins below it. They are said to be all smoothed over when the +river rises. The canoes had to be unloaded at this the worst rapid, +and the goods carried about a hundred yards. By taking the time in +which a piece of stick floated past 100 feet, we found the current to +be running six knots, by far the greatest velocity noted in the +river. As the men were bringing the last canoe down close to the +shore, the stern swung round into the current, and all except one man +let go, rather than be dragged off. He clung to the bow, and was +swept out into the middle of the stream. Having held on when he +ought to have let go, he next put his life in jeopardy by letting go +when he ought to have held on; and was in a few seconds swallowed up +by a fearful whirlpool. His comrades launched out a canoe below, and +caught him as he rose the third time to the surface, and saved him, +though much exhausted and very cold. + +The scenery of this pass reminded us of Kebrabasa, although it is +much inferior. A band of the same black shining glaze runs along the +rocks about two feet from the water's edge. There was not a blade of +grass on some of the hills, it being the end of the usual dry season +succeeding a previous severe drought; yet the hill-sides were dotted +over with beautiful green trees. A few antelopes were seen on the +rugged slopes, where some people too appeared lying down, taking a +cup of beer. The Karivua narrows are about thirty miles in length. +They end at the mountain Roganora. Two rocks, twelve or fifteen feet +above the water at the time we were there, may in flood be covered +and dangerous. Our chief danger was the wind, a very slight ripple +being sufficient to swamp canoes. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + +The waterbuck--Disaster in Kebrabasa rapids--The "Ma Robert" +founders--Arrival of the "Pioneer" and Bishop Mackenzie's party-- +Portuguese slave-trade--Interference and liberation. + +We arrived at Zumbo, at the mouth of the Loangwa, on the 1st of +November. The water being scarcely up to the knee, our land party +waded this river with ease. A buffalo was shot on an island opposite +Pangola's, the ball lodging in the spleen. It was found to have been +wounded in the same organ previously, for an iron bullet was imbedded +in it, and the wound entirely healed. A great deal of the plant +Pistia stratiotes was seen floating in the river. Many people +inhabit the right bank about this part, yet the game is very +abundant. + +As we were taking our breakfast on the morning of the 2nd, the Mambo +Kazai, of whom we knew nothing, and his men came with their muskets +and large powder-horns to levy a fine, and obtain payment for the +wood we used in cooking. But on our replying to his demand that we +were English, "Oh! are you?" he said; "I thought you were Bazungu +(Portuguese). They are the people I take payments from:" and he +apologized for his mistake. Bazungu, or Azungu, is a term applied to +all foreigners of a light colour, and to Arabs; even to trading +slaves if clothed; it probably means foreigners, or visitors,--from +zunga, to visit or wander,--and the Portuguese were the only +foreigners these men had ever seen. As we had no desire to pass for +people of that nation--quite the contrary--we usually made a broad +line of demarcation by saying that we were English, and the English +neither bought, sold, nor held black people as slaves, but wished to +put a stop to the slave-trade altogether. + +We called upon our friend, Mpende, in passing. He provided a hut for +us, with new mats spread on the floor. Having told him that we were +hurrying on because the rains were near, "Are they near?" eagerly +inquired an old counsellor, "and are we to have plenty of rain this +year?" We could only say that it was about the usual time for the +rains to commence; and that there were the usual indications in great +abundance of clouds floating westwards, but that we knew nothing more +than they did themselves. + +The hippopotami are more wary here than higher up, as the natives +hunt them with guns. Having shot one on a shallow sandbank, our men +undertook to bring it over to the left bank, in order to cut it up +with greater ease. It was a fine fat one, and all rejoiced in the +hope of eating the fat for butter, with our hard dry cakes of native +meal. Our cook was sent over to cut a choice piece for dinner, but +returned with the astonishing intelligence that the carcass was gone. +They had been hoodwinked, and were very much ashamed of themselves. +A number of Banyai came to assist in rolling it ashore, and asserted +that it was all shallow water. They rolled it over and over towards +the land, and, finding the rope we had made fast to it, as they said, +an encumbrance, it was unloosed. All were shouting and talking as +loud as they could bawl, when suddenly our expected feast plumped +into a deep hole, as the Banyai intended it should do. When sinking, +all the Makololo jumped in after it. One caught frantically at the +tail; another grasped a foot; a third seized the hip; "but, by +Sebituane, it would go down in spite of all that we could do." +Instead of a fat hippopotamus we had only a lean fowl for dinner, and +were glad enough to get even that. The hippopotamus, however, +floated during the night, and was found about a mile below. The +Banyai then assembled on the bank, and disputed our right to the +beast: "It might have been shot by somebody else." Our men took a +little of it and then left it, rather than come into collision with +them. + +A fine waterbuck was shot in the Kakolole narrows, at Mount +Manyerere; it dropped beside the creek where it was feeding; an +enormous crocodile, that had been watching it at the moment, seized +and dragged it into the water, which was not very deep. The mortally +wounded animal made a desperate plunge, and hauling the crocodile +several yards tore itself out of the hideous jaws. To escape the +hunter, the waterbuck jumped into the river, and was swimming across, +when another crocodile gave chase, but a ball soon sent it to the +bottom. The waterbuck swam a little longer, the fine head dropped, +the body turned over, and one of the canoes dragged it ashore. Below +Kakolole, and still at the base of Manyerere mountain, several coal- +seams, not noticed on our ascent, were now seen to crop out on the +right bank of the Zambesi. + +Chitora, of Chicova, treated us with his former hospitality. Our men +were all much pleased with his kindness, and certainly did not look +upon it as a proof of weakness. They meant to return his +friendliness when they came this way on a marauding expedition to eat +the sheep of the Banyai, for insulting them in the affair of the +hippopotamus; they would then send word to Chitora not to run away, +for they, being his friends, would do such a good-hearted man no +harm. + +We entered Kebrabasa rapids, at the east end of Chicova, in the +canoes, and went down a number of miles, until the river narrowed +into a groove of fifty or sixty yards wide, of which we have already +spoken in describing the flood-bed and channel of low water. The +navigation then became difficult and dangerous. A fifteen feet fall +of the water in our absence had developed many cataracts. Two of our +canoes passed safely down a narrow channel, which, bifurcating, had +an ugly whirlpool at the rocky partition between the two branches, +the deep hole in the whirls at times opening and then shutting. The +Doctor's canoe came next, and seemed to be drifting broadside into +the open vortex, in spite of the utmost exertions of the paddlers. +The rest were expecting to have to pull to the rescue; the men +saying, "Look where these people are going!--look, look!"--when a +loud crash burst on our ears. Dr. Kirk's canoe was dashed on a +projection of the perpendicular rocks, by a sudden and mysterious +boiling up of the river, which occurs at irregular intervals. Dr. +Kirk was seen resisting the sucking-down action of the water, which +must have been fifteen fathoms deep, and raising himself by his arms +on to the ledge, while his steersman, holding on to the same rocks, +saved the canoe; but nearly all its contents were swept away down the +stream. Dr. Livingstone's canoe, meanwhile, which had distracted the +men's attention, was saved by the cavity in the whirlpool filling up +as the frightful eddy was reached. A few of the things in Dr. Kirk's +canoe were left; but all that was valuable, including a chronometer, +a barometer, and, to our great sorrow, his notes of the journey and +botanical drawings of the fruit-trees of the interior, perished. + +We now left the river, and proceeded on foot, sorry that we had not +done so the day before. The men were thoroughly frightened, they had +never seen such perilous navigation. They would carry all the loads, +rather than risk Kebrabasa any longer; but the fatigue of a day's +march over the hot rocks and burning sand changed their tune before +night; and then they regretted having left the canoes; they thought +they should have dragged them past the dangerous places, and then +launched them again. One of the two donkeys died from exhaustion +near the Luia. Though the men eat zebras and quaggas, blood +relations of the donkey, they were shocked at the idea of eating the +ass; "it would be like eating man himself, because the donkey lives +with man, and is his bosom companion." We met two large trading +parties of Tette slaves on their way to Zumbo, leading, to be sold +for ivory, a number of Manganja women, with ropes round their necks, +and all made fast to one long rope. + +Panzo, the headman of the village east of Kebrabasa, received us with +great kindness. After the usual salutation he went up the hill, and, +in a loud voice, called across the valley to the women of several +hamlets to cook supper for us. About eight in the evening he +returned, followed by a procession of women, bringing the food. +There were eight dishes of nsima, or porridge, six of different sorts +of very good wild vegetables, with dishes of beans and fowls; all +deliciously well cooked, and scrupulously clean. The wooden dishes +were nearly as white as the meal itself: food also was brought for +our men. Ripe mangoes, which usually indicate the vicinity of the +Portuguese, were found on the 21st November; and we reached Tette +early on the 23rd, having been absent a little over six months. + +The two English sailors, left in charge of the steamer, were well, +had behaved well, and had enjoyed excellent health all the time we +were away. Their farm had been a failure. We left a few sheep, to +be slaughtered when they wished for fresh meat, and two dozen fowls. +Purchasing more, they soon had double the number of the latter, and +anticipated a good supply of eggs; but they also bought two monkeys, +and THEY ate all the eggs. A hippopotamus came up one night, and +laid waste their vegetable garden; the sheep broke into their cotton +patch, when it was in flower, and ate it all, except the stems; then +the crocodiles carried off the sheep, and the natives stole the +fowls. Nor were they more successful as gun-smiths: a Portuguese +trader, having an exalted opinion of the ingenuity of English +sailors, showed them a double-barrelled rifle, and inquired if they +could put on the BROWNING, which had rusted off. "I think I knows +how," said one, whose father was a blacksmith, "it's very easy; you +have only to put the barrels in the fire." A great fire of wood was +made on shore, and the unlucky barrels put over it, to secure the +handsome rifle colour. To Jack's utter amazement the barrels came +asunder. To get out of the scrape, his companion and he stuck the +pieces together with resin, and sent it to the owner, with the +message, "It was all they could do for it, and they would not charge +him anything for the job!" They had also invented an original mode +of settling a bargain; having ascertained the market price of +provisions, they paid that, but no more. If the traders refused to +leave the ship till the price was increased, a chameleon, of which +the natives have a mortal dread, was brought out of the cabin; and +the moment the natives saw the creature, they at once sprang +overboard. The chameleon settled every dispute in a twinkling. + +But besides their good-humoured intercourse, they showed humanity +worthy of English sailors. A terrible scream roused them up one +night, and they pushed off in a boat to the rescue. A crocodile had +caught a woman, and was dragging her across a shallow sandbank. Just +as they came up to her, she gave a fearful shriek: the horrid +reptile had snapped off her leg at the knee. They took her on board, +bandaged the limb as well as they could, and, not thinking of any +better way of showing their sympathy, gave her a glass of rum, and +carried her to a hut in the village. Next morning they found the +bandages torn off, and the unfortunate creature left to die. "I +believe," remarked Rowe, one of the sailors, "her master was angry +with us for saving her life, seeing as how she had lost her leg." + +The Zambesi being unusually low, we remained at Tette till it rose a +little, and then left on the 3rd of December for the Kongone. It was +hard work to keep the vessel afloat; indeed, we never expected her to +remain above water. New leaks broke out every day; the engine pump +gave way; the bridge broke down; three compartments filled at night; +except the cabin and front compartment all was flooded; and in a few +days we were assured by Rowe that "she can't be worse than she is, +sir." He and Hutchins had spent much of their time, while we were +away, in patching her bottom, puddling it with clay, and shoring it, +and it was chiefly to please them that we again attempted to make use +of her. We had long been fully convinced that the steel plates were +thoroughly unsuitable. On the morning of the 21st the uncomfortable +"Asthmatic" grounded on a sandbank and filled. She could neither be +emptied nor got off. The river rose during the night, and all that +was visible of the worn-out craft next day was about six feet of her +two masts. Most of the property we had on board was saved; and we +spent the Christmas of 1860 encamped on the island of Chimba. Canoes +were sent for from Senna; and we reached it on the 27th, to be again +hospitably entertained by our friend, Senhor Ferrao. + +We reached the Kongone on the 4th of January, 1861. A flagstaff and +a Custom-house had been erected during our absence; a hut, also, for +a black lance-corporal and three privates. By the kind permission of +the lance-corporal, who came to see us as soon as he had got into his +trousers and shirt, we took up our quarters in the Custom-house, +which, like the other buildings, is a small square floorless hut of +mangrove stakes overlaid with reeds. The soldiers complained of +hunger, they had nothing to eat but a little mapira, and were making +palm wine to deaden their cravings. While waiting for a ship, we had +leisure to read the newspapers and periodicals we found in the mail +which was waiting our arrival at Tette. Several were a year and a +half old. + +Our provisions began to run short; and towards the end of the month +there was nothing left but a little bad biscuit and a few ounces of +sugar. Coffee and tea were expended, but scarcely missed, as our +sailors discovered a pretty good substitute in roasted mapira. Fresh +meat was obtained in abundance from our antelope preserves on the +large island made by a creek between the Kongone and East Luabo. + +In this focus of decaying vegetation, nothing is so much to be +dreaded as inactivity. We had, therefore, to find what exercise and +amusement we could, when hunting was not required, in peering about +in the fetid swamps; to have gone mooning about, in listless +idleness, would have ensured fever in its worst form, and probably +with fatal results. + +A curious little blenny-fish swarms in the numerous creeks which +intersect the mangrove topes. When alarmed, it hurries across the +surface of the water in a series of leaps. It may be considered +amphibious, as it lives as much out of the water as in it, and its +most busy time is during low water. Then it appears on the sand or +mud, near the little pools left by the retiring tide; it raises +itself on its pectoral fins into something of a standing attitude, +and with its large projecting eyes keeps a sharp look-out for the +light-coloured fly, on which it feeds. Should the fly alight at too +great a distance for even a second leap, the blenny moves slowly +towards it like a cat to its prey, or like a jumping spider; and, as +soon as it gets within two or three inches of the insect, by a sudden +spring contrives to pop its underset mouth directly over the unlucky +victim. He is, moreover, a pugnacious little fellow; and rather +prolonged fights may be observed between him and his brethren. One, +in fleeing from an apparent danger, jumped into a pool a foot square, +which the other evidently regarded as his by right of prior +discovery; in a twinkling the owner, with eyes flashing fury, and +with dorsal fin bristling up in rage, dashed at the intruding foe. +The fight waxed furious, no tempest in a teapot ever equalled the +storm of that miniature sea. The warriors were now in the water, and +anon out of it, for the battle raged on sea and shore. They struck +hard, they bit each other; until, becoming exhausted, they seized +each other by the jaws like two bull-dogs, then paused for breath, +and at it again as fiercely as before, until the combat ended by the +precipitate retreat of the invader. + +The muddy ground under the mangrove-trees is covered with soldier- +crabs, which quickly slink into their holes on any symptom of danger. +When the ebbing tide retires, myriads of minute crabs emerge from +their underground quarters, and begin to work like so many busy bees. +Soon many miles of the smooth sand become rough with the results of +their labour. They are toiling for their daily bread: a round bit +of moist sand appears at the little labourer's mouth, and is quickly +brushed off by one of the claws; a second bit follows the first; and +another, and still another come as fast as they can be laid aside. +As these pellets accumulate, the crab moves sideways, and the work +continues. The first impression one receives is, that the little +creature has swallowed a great deal of sand, and is getting rid of it +as speedily as possible: a habit he indulges in of darting into his +hole at intervals, as if for fresh supplies, tends to strengthen this +idea; but the size of the heaps formed in a few seconds shows that +this cannot be the case, and leads to the impression that, although +not readily seen, at the distance at which he chooses to keep the +observer, yet that possibly he raises the sand to his mouth, where +whatever animalcule it may contain is sifted out of it, and the +remainder rejected in the manner described. At times the larger +species of crabs perform a sort of concert; and from each +subterranean abode strange sounds arise, as if, in imitation of the +songsters of the groves, for very joy they sang! + +We found some natives pounding the woody stems of a poisonous +climbing-plant (Dirca palustris) called Busungu, or poison, which +grows abundantly in the swamps. When a good quantity was bruised, it +was tied up in bundles. The stream above and below was obstructed +with bushes, and with a sort of rinsing motion the poison was +diffused through the water. Many fish were soon affected, swain in +shore, and died, others were only stupefied. The plant has pink, +pea-shaped blossoms, and smooth, pointed, glossy leaves, and the +brown bark is covered with minute white points. The knowledge of it +might prove of use to a shipwrecked party by enabling them to catch +the fish. + +The poison is said to be deleterious to man if the water is drunk; +but not when the fish is cooked. The Busungu is repulsive to some +insects, and is smeared round the shoots of the palm-trees to prevent +the ants from getting into the palm wine while it is dropping from +the tops of the palm-trees into the little pots suspended to collect +it. + +We were in the habit of walking from our beds into the salt water at +sunrise, for a bath, till a large crocodile appeared at the bathing- +place, and from that time forth we took our dip in the sea, away from +the harbour, about midday. This is said to be unwholesome, but we +did not find it so. It is certainly better not to bathe in the +mornings, when the air is colder than the water--for then, on +returning to the cooler air, one is apt to get a chill and fever. In +the mouth of the river, many saw-fish are found. Rowe saw one while +bathing--caught it by the tail, and shoved it, "snout on," ashore. +The saw is from a foot to eighteen inches long. We never heard of +any one being wounded by this fish; nor, though it goes hundreds of +miles up the river in fresh water, could we learn that it was eaten +by the people. The hippopotami delighted to spend the day among the +breakers, and seemed to enjoy the fun as much as we did. + +Severe gales occurred during our stay on the Coast, and many small +sea-birds (Prion Banksii, Smith) perished: the beach was strewn with +their dead bodies, and some were found hundreds of yards inland; many +were so emaciated as to dry up without putrefying. We were plagued +with myriads of mosquitoes, and had some touches of fever; the men we +brought from malarious regions of the interior suffered almost as +much from it here as we did ourselves. This gives strength to the +idea that the civilized withstand the evil influences of strange +climates better than the uncivilized. When negroes return to their +own country from healthy lands, they suffer as severely as foreigners +ever do. + +On the 31st of January, 1861, our new ship, the "Pioneer," arrived +from England, and anchored outside the bar; but the weather was +stormy, and she did not venture in till the 4th of February. + +Two of H.M. cruisers came at the same time, bringing Bishop +Mackenzie, and the Oxford and Cambridge Mission to the tribes of the +Shire and Lake Nyassa. The Mission consisted of six Englishmen, and +five coloured men from the Cape. It was a puzzle to know what to do +with so many men. The estimable Bishop, anxious to commence his work +without delay, wished the "Pioneer" to carry the Mission up the +Shire, as far as Chibisa's, and there leave them. But there were +grave objections to this. The "Pioneer" was under orders to explore +the Rovuma, as the Portuguese Government had refused to open the +Zambesi to the ships of other nations, and their officials were very +effectually pursuing a system, which, by abstracting the labour, was +rendering the country of no value either to foreigners or to +themselves. She was already two months behind her time, and the +rainy season was half over. Then, if the party were taken to +Chibisa's, the Mission would he left without a medical attendant, in +an unhealthy region, at the beginning of the most sickly season of +the year, and without means of reaching the healthy highlands, or of +returning to the sea. We dreaded that, in the absence of medical aid +and all knowledge of the treatment of fever, there might be a +repetition of the sorrowful fate which befell the similar non-medical +Mission at Linyanti. + +On the 25th of February the "Pioneer" anchored in the mouth of the +Rovuma, which, unlike most African rivers, has a magnificent bay and +no bar. We wooded, and then waited for the Bishop till the 9th of +March, when he came in the "Lyra." On the 11th we proceeded up the +river, and saw that it had fallen four or five feet during our +detention. The scenery on the lower part of the Rovuma is superior +to that on the Zambesi, for we can see the highlands from the sea. +Eight miles from the mouth the mangroves are left behind, and a +beautiful range of well-wooded hills on each bank begins. On these +ridges the tree resembling African blackwood, of finer grain than +ebony, grows abundantly, and attains a large size. Few people were +seen, and those were of Arab breed, and did not appear to be very +well off. The current of the Rovuma was now as strong as that of the +Zambesi, but the volume of water is very much less. Several of the +crossings had barely water enough for our ship, drawing five feet, to +pass. When we were thirty miles up the river, the water fell +suddenly seven inches in twenty-four hours. As the March flood is +the last of the season, and it appeared to be expended, it was +thought prudent to avoid the chance of a year's detention, by getting +the ship back to the sea without delay. Had the Expedition been +alone, we would have pushed up in boats, or afoot, and done what we +could towards the exploration of the river and upper end of the lake; +but, though the Mission was a private one, and entirely distinct from +our own, a public one, the objects of both being similar, we felt +anxious to aid our countrymen in their noble enterprise; and, rather +than follow our own inclination, decided to return to the Shire, see +the Mission party settled safely, and afterwards explore Lake Nyassa +and the Rovuma, from the Lake downwards. Fever broke out on board +the "Pioneer," at the mouth of the Rovuma, as we thought from our +having anchored close to a creek coming out of the mangroves; and it +remained in her until we completely isolated the engine-room from the +rest of the ship. The coal-dust rotting sent out strong effluvia, +and kept up the disease for more than a twelvemonth. + +Soon after we started the fever put the "Pioneer" almost entirely +into the hands of the original Zambesi Expedition, and not long +afterwards the leader had to navigate the ocean as well as the river. +The habit of finding the geographical positions on land renders it an +easy task to steer a steamer with only three or four sails at sea; +where, if one does not run ashore, no one follows to find out an +error, and where a current affords a ready excuse for every blunder. + +Touching at Mohilla, one of the Comoro Islands, on our return, we +found a mixed race of Arabs, Africans, and their conquerors, the +natives of Madagascar. Being Mahometans, they have mosques and +schools, in which we were pleased to see girls as well as boys taught +to read the Koran. The teacher said he was paid by the job, and +received ten dollars for teaching each child to read. The clever +ones learn in six months; but the dull ones take a couple of years. +We next went over to Johanna for our friends; and, after a sojourn of +a few days at the beautiful Comoro Islands, we sailed for the Kongone +mouth of the Zambesi with Bishop Mackenzie and his party. We reached +the coast in seven days, and passed up the Zambesi to the Shire. + +The "Pioneer," constructed under the skilful supervision of Admiral +Sir Baldwin Walker and the late Admiral Washington, warm-hearted and +highly esteemed friends of the Expedition, was a very superior +vessel, and well suited for our work in every respect, except in her +draught of water. Five feet were found to be too much for the +navigation of the upper part of the Shire. Designed to draw three +feet only, the weight necessary to impart extra strength, and fit her +for the ocean, brought her down two feet more, and caused us a great +deal of hard and vexatious work, in laying out anchors, and toiling +at the capstan to get her off sandbanks. We should not have minded +this much, but for the heavy loss of time which might have been more +profitably, and infinitely more pleasantly, spent in intercourse with +the people, exploring new regions, and otherwise carrying out the +objects of the Expedition. Once we were a fortnight on a bank of +soft yielding sand, having only two or three inches less water than +the ship drew; this delay was occasioned by the anchors coming home, +and the current swinging the ship broadside on the bank, which, +immediately on our touching, always formed behind us. We did not +like to leave the ship short of Chibisa's, lest the crew should +suffer from the malaria of the lowland around; and it would have been +difficult to have got the Mission goods carried up. We were daily +visited by crowds of natives, who brought us abundance of provisions +far beyond our ability to consume. In hauling the "Pioneer" over the +shallow places, the Bishop, with Horace Waller and Mr. Scudamore, +were ever ready and anxious to lend a hand, and worked as hard as any +on board. Had our fine little ship drawn but three feet, she could +have run up and down the river at any time of the year with the +greatest ease, but as it was, having once passed up over a few +shallow banks, it was impossible to take her down again until the +river rose in December. She could go up over a bank, but not come +down over it, as a heap of sand always formed instantly astern, while +the current washed it away from under her bows. + +On at last reaching Chibisa's, we heard that there was war in the +Manganja country, and the slave-trade was going on briskly. A +deputation from a chief near Mount Zomba had just passed on its way +to Chibisa, who was in a distant village, to implore him to come +himself, or send medicine, to drive off the Waiao, Waiau, or Ajawa, +whose marauding parties were desolating the land. A large gang of +recently enslaved Manganja crossed the river, on their way to Tette, +a few days before we got the ship up. Chibisa's deputy was civil, +and readily gave us permission to hire as many men to carry the +Bishop's goods up to the hills as were willing to go. With a +sufficient number, therefore, we started for the highlands on the +15th of July, to show the Bishop the country, which, from its +altitude and coolness, was most suitable for a station. Our first +day's march was a long and fatiguing one. The few hamlets we passed +were poor, and had no food for our men, and we were obliged to go on +till 4 p.m., when we entered the small village of Chipindu. The +inhabitants complained of hunger, and said they had no food to sell, +and no hut for us to sleep in; but, if we would only go on a little +further, we should come to a village where they had plenty to eat; +but we had travelled far enough, and determined to remain where we +were. Before sunset as much food was brought as we cared to +purchase, and, as it threatened to rain, huts were provided for the +whole party. + +Next forenoon we halted at the village of our old friend Mbame, to +obtain new carriers, because Chibisa's men, never before having been +hired, and not having yet learned to trust us, did not choose to go +further. After resting a little, Mbame told us that a slave party on +its way to Tette would presently pass through his village. "Shall we +interfere?" we inquired of each other. We remembered that all our +valuable private baggage was in Tette, which, if we freed the slaves, +might, together with some Government property, be destroyed in +retaliation; but this system of slave-hunters dogging us where +previously they durst not venture, and, on pretence of being "our +children," setting one tribe against another, to furnish themselves +with slaves, would so inevitably thwart all the efforts, for which we +had the sanction of the Portuguese Government, that we resolved to +run all risks, and put a stop, if possible, to the slave-trade, which +had now followed on the footsteps of our discoveries. A few minutes +after Mbame had spoken to us, the slave party, a long line of +manacled men, women, and children, came wending their way round the +hill and into the valley, on the side of which the village stood. +The black drivers, armed with muskets, and bedecked with various +articles of finery, marched jauntily in the front, middle, and rear +of the line; some of them blowing exultant notes out of long tin +horns. They seemed to feel that they were doing a very noble thing, +and might proudly march with an air of triumph. But the instant the +fellows caught a glimpse of the English, they darted off like mad +into the forest; so fast, indeed, that we caught but a glimpse of +their red caps and the soles of their feet. The chief of the party +alone remained; and he, from being in front, had his hand tightly +grasped by a Makololo! He proved to be a well-known slave of the +late Commandant at Tette, and for some time our own attendant while +there. On asking him how he obtained these captives, he replied he +had bought them; but on our inquiring of the people themselves, all, +save four, said they had been captured in war. While this inquiry +was going on, he bolted too. The captives knelt down, and, in their +way of expressing thanks, clapped their hands with great energy. +They were thus left entirely on our hands, and knives were soon busy +at work cutting the women and children loose. It was more difficult +to cut the men adrift, as each had his neck in the fork of a stout +stick, six or seven feet long, and was kept in by an iron rod which +was riveted at both ends across the throat. With a saw, luckily in +the Bishop's baggage, one by one the men were sawn out into freedom. +The women, on being told to take the meal they were carrying and cook +breakfast for themselves and the children, seemed to consider the +news too good to be true; but after a little coaxing went at it with +alacrity, and made a capital fire by which to boil their pots with +the slave sticks and bonds, their old acquaintances through many a +sad night and weary day. Many were mere children about five years of +age and under. One little boy, with the simplicity of childhood, +said to our men, "The others tied and starved us, you cut the ropes +and tell us to eat; what sort of people are you?--Where did you come +from?" Two of the women had been shot the day before for attempting +to untie the thongs. This, the rest were told, was to prevent them +from attempting to escape. One woman had her infant's brains knocked +out, because she could not carry her load and it. And a man was +dispatched with an axe, because he had broken down with fatigue. +Self-interest would have set a watch over the whole rather than +commit murder; but in this traffic we invariably find self-interest +overcome by contempt of human life and by bloodthirstiness. + +The Bishop was not present at this scene, having gone to bathe in a +little stream below the village; but on his return he warmly approved +of what had been done; he at first had doubts, but now felt that, had +he been present, he would have joined us in the good work. Logic is +out of place when the question with a true-hearted man is, whether +his brother man is to be saved or not. Eighty-four, chiefly women +and children, were liberated; and on being told that they were now +free, and might go where they pleased, or remain with us, they all +chose to stay; and the Bishop wisely attached them to his Mission, to +be educated as members of a Christian family. In this way a great +difficulty in the commencement of a Mission was overcome. Years are +usually required before confidence is so far instilled into the +natives' mind as to induce them, young or old, to submit to the +guidance of strangers professing to be actuated by motives the +reverse of worldly wisdom, and inculcating customs strange and +unknown to them and their fathers. + +We proceeded next morning to Soche's with our liberated party, the +men cheerfully carrying the Bishop's goods. As we had begun, it was +of no use to do things by halves, so eight others were freed in a +hamlet on our path; but a party of traders, with nearly a hundred +slaves, fled from Soche's on hearing of our proceedings. Dr. Kirk +and four Makololo followed them with great energy, but they made +clear off to Tette. Six more captives were liberated at Mongazi's, +and two slave-traders detained for the night, to prevent them from +carrying information to a large party still in front. Of their own +accord they volunteered the information that the Governor's servants +had charge of the next party; but we did not choose to be led by +them, though they offered to guide us to his Excellency's own agents. +Two of the Bishop's black men from the Cape, having once been slaves, +were now zealous emancipators, and volunteered to guard the prisoners +during the night. So anxious were our heroes to keep them safe, that +instead of relieving each other, by keeping watch and watch, both +kept watch together, till towards four o'clock in the morning, when +sleep stole gently over them both; and the wakeful prisoners, seizing +the opportunity, escaped: one of the guards, perceiving the loss, +rushed out of the hut, shouting, "They are gone, the prisoners are +off, and they have taken my rifle with them, and the women too! +Fire! everybody fire!" The rifle and the women, however, were all +safe enough, the slave-traders being only too glad to escape alone. +Fifty more slaves were freed next day in another village; and, the +whole party being stark-naked, cloth enough was left to clothe them, +better probably than they had ever been clothed before. The head of +this gang, whom we knew as the agent of one of the principal +merchants of Tette, said that they had the license of the Governor +for all they did. This we were fully aware of without his stating +it. It is quite impossible for any enterprise to be undertaken there +without the Governor's knowledge and connivance. + +The portion of the highlands which the Bishop wished to look at +before deciding on a settlement belonged to Chiwawa, or Chibaba, the +most manly and generous Manganja chief we had met with on our +previous journey. On reaching Nsambo's, near Mount Chiradzuru, we +heard that Chibaba was dead, and that Chigunda was chief instead. +Chigunda, apparently of his own accord, though possibly he may have +learnt that the Bishop intended to settle somewhere in the country, +asked him to come and live with him at Magomero, adding that there +was room enough for both. This hearty and spontaneous invitation had +considerable influence on the Bishop's mind, and seemed to decide the +question. A place nearer the Shire would have been chosen had he +expected his supplies to come up that river; but the Portuguese, +claiming the river Shire, though never occupying even its mouth, had +closed it, as well as the Zambesi. + +Our hopes were turned to the Rovuma, as a free highway into Lake +Nyassa and the vast interior. A steamer was already ordered for the +Lake, and the Bishop, seeing the advantageous nature of the highlands +which stretch an immense way to the north, was more anxious to be +near the Lake and the Rovuma, than the Shire. When he decided to +settle at Magomero, it was thought desirable, to prevent the country +from being depopulated, to visit the Ajawa chief, and to try and +persuade him to give up his slaving and kidnapping courses, and turn +the energies of his people to peaceful pursuits. + +On the morning of the 22nd we were informed that the Ajawa were near, +and were burning a village a few miles off. Leaving the rescued +slaves, we moved off to seek an interview with these scourges of the +country. On our way we met crowds of Manganja fleeing from the war +in front. These poor fugitives from the slave hunt had, as usual, to +leave all the food they possessed, except the little they could carry +on their heads. We passed field after field of Indian corn or beans, +standing ripe for harvesting, but the owners were away. The villages +were all deserted: one where we breakfasted two years before, and +saw a number of men peacefully weaving cloth, and, among ourselves, +called it the "Paisley of the hills," was burnt; the stores of corn +were poured out in cartloads, and scattered all over the plain, and +all along the paths, neither conquerors nor conquered having been +able to convey it away. About two o'clock we saw the smoke of +burning villages, and heard triumphant shouts, mingled with the wail +of the Manganja women, lamenting over their slain. The Bishop then +engaged us in fervent prayer; and, on rising from our knees, we saw a +long line of Ajawa warriors, with their captives, coming round the +hill-side. The first of the returning conquerors were entering their +own village below, and we heard women welcoming them back with +"lillilooings." The Ajawa headman left the path on seeing us, and +stood on an anthill to obtain a complete view of our party. We +called out that we had come to have an interview with them, but some +of the Manganja who followed us shouted "Our Chibisa is come:" +Chibisa being well known as a great conjurer and general. The Ajawa +ran off yelling and screaming, "Nkondo! Nkondo!" (War! War!) We +heard the words of the Manganja, but they did not strike us at the +moment as neutralizing all our assertions of peace. The captives +threw down their loads on the path, and fled to the hills: and a +large body of armed men came running up from the village, and in a +few seconds they were all around us, though mostly concealed by the +projecting rocks and long grass. In vain we protested that we had +not come to fight, but to talk with them. They would not listen, +having, as we remembered afterwards, good reason, in the cry of "Our +Chibisa." Flushed with recent victory over three villages, and +confident of an easy triumph over a mere handful of men, they began +to shoot their poisoned arrows, sending them with great force upwards +of a hundred yards, and wounding one of our followers through the +arm. Our retiring slowly up the ascent from the village only made +them more eager to prevent our escape; and, in the belief that this +retreat was evidence of fear, they closed upon us in bloodthirsty +fury. Some came within fifty yards, dancing hideously; others having +quite surrounded us, and availing themselves of the rocks and long +grass hard by, were intent on cutting us off, while others made off +with their women and a large body of slaves. Four were armed with +muskets, and we were obliged in self-defence to return their fire and +drive them off. When they saw the range of rifles, they very soon +desisted, and ran away; but some shouted to us from the hills the +consoling intimation, that they would follow, and kill us where we +slept. Only two of the captives escaped to us, but probably most of +those made prisoners that day fled elsewhere in the confusion. We +returned to the village which we had left in the morning, after a +hungry, fatiguing, and most unpleasant day. + +Though we could not blame ourselves for the course we had followed, +we felt sorry for what had happened. It was the first time we had +ever been attacked by the natives or come into collision with them; +though we had always taken it for granted that we might be called +upon to act in self-defence, we were on this occasion less prepared +than usual, no game having been expected here. The men had only a +single round of cartridge each; their leader had no revolver, and the +rifle he usually fired with was left at the ship to save it from the +damp of the season. Had we known better the effect of slavery and +murder on the temper of these bloodthirsty marauders, we should have +tried messages and presents before going near them. + +The old chief, Chinsunse, came on a visit to us next day, and pressed +the Bishop to come and live with him. "Chigunda," he said, "is but a +child, and the Bishop ought to live with the father rather than with +the child." But the old man's object was so evidently to have the +Mission as a shield against the Ajawa, that his invitation was +declined. While begging us to drive away the marauders, that he +might live in peace, he adopted the stratagem of causing a number of +his men to rush into the village, in breathless haste, with the news +that the Ajawa were close upon us. And having been reminded that we +never fought, unless attacked, as we were the day before, and that we +had come among them for the purpose of promoting peace, and of +teaching them to worship the Supreme, to give up selling His +children, and to cultivate other objects for barter than each other, +he replied, in a huff, "Then I am dead already." + +The Bishop, feeling, as most Englishmen would, at the prospect of the +people now in his charge being swept off into slavery by hordes of +men-stealers, proposed to go at once to the rescue of the captive +Manganja, and drive the marauding Ajawa out of the country. All were +warmly in favour of this, save Dr. Livingstone, who opposed it on the +ground that it would be better for the Bishop to wait, and see the +effect of the check the slave-hunters had just experienced. The +Ajawa were evidently goaded on by Portuguese agents from Tette, and +there was no bond of union among the Manganja on which to work. It +was possible that the Ajawa might be persuaded to something better, +though, from having long been in the habit of slaving for the +Quillimane market, it was not very probable. But the Manganja could +easily be overcome piecemeal by any enemy; old feuds made them glad +to see calamities befall their next neighbours. We counselled them +to unite against the common enemies of their country, and added +distinctly that we English would on no account enter into their +quarrels. On the Bishop inquiring whether, in the event of the +Manganja again asking aid against the Ajawa, it would be his duty to +accede to their request,--"No," replied Dr. Livingstone, "you will be +oppressed by their importunities, but do not interfere in native +quarrels." This advice the good man honourably mentions in his +journal. We have been rather minute in relating what occurred during +the few days of our connection with the Mission of the English +Universities, on the hills, because, the recorded advice having been +discarded, blame was thrown on Dr. Livingstone's shoulders, as if the +missionaries had no individual responsibility for their subsequent +conduct. This, unquestionably, good Bishop Mackenzie had too much +manliness to have allowed. The connection of the members of the +Zambesi Expedition, with the acts of the Bishop's Mission, now +ceased, for we returned to the ship and prepared for our journey to +Lake Nyassa. We cheerfully, if necessary, will bear all +responsibility up to this point; and if the Bishop afterwards made +mistakes in certain collisions with the slavers, he had the votes of +all his party with him, and those who best knew the peculiar +circumstances, and the loving disposition of this good-hearted man, +will blame him least. In this position, and in these circumstances, +we left our friends at the Mission Station. + +As a temporary measure the Bishop decided to place his Mission +Station on a small promontory formed by the windings of the little, +clear stream of Magomero, which was so cold that the limbs were quite +benumbed by washing in it in the July mornings. The site chosen was +a pleasant spot to the eye, and completely surrounded by stately, +shady trees. It was expected to serve for a residence, till the +Bishop had acquired an accurate knowledge of the adjacent country, +and of the political relations of the people, and could select a +healthy and commanding situation, as a permanent centre of Christian +civilization. Everything promised fairly. The weather was +delightful, resembling the pleasantest part of an English summer; +provisions poured in very cheap and in great abundance. The Bishop, +with characteristic ardour, commenced learning the language, Mr. +Waller began building, and Mr. Scudamore improvised a sort of infant +school for the children, than which there is no better means for +acquiring an unwritten tongue. + +On the 6th of August, 1861, a few days after returning from Magomero, +Drs. Livingstone and Kirk, and Charles Livingstone started for Nyassa +with a light four-oared gig, a white sailor, and a score of +attendants. We hired people along the path to carry the boat past +the forty miles of the Murchison Cataracts for a cubit of cotton +cloth a day. This being deemed great wages, more than twice the men +required eagerly offered their services. The chief difficulty was in +limiting their numbers. Crowds followed us; and, had we not taken +down in the morning the names of the porters engaged, in the evening +claims would have been made by those who only helped during the last +ten minutes of the journey. The men of one village carried the boat +to the next, and all we had to do was to tell the headman that we +wanted fresh men in the morning. He saw us pay the first party, and +had his men ready at the time appointed, so there was no delay in +waiting for carriers. They often make a loud noise when carrying +heavy loads, but talking and bawling does not put them out of breath. +The country was rough and with little soil on it, but covered with +grass and open forest. A few small trees were cut down to clear a +path for our shouting assistants, who were good enough to consider +the boat as a certificate of peaceful intentions at least to them. +Several small streams were passed, the largest of which were the +Mukuru-Madse and Lesungwe. The inhabitants on both banks were now +civil and obliging. Our possession of a boat, and consequent power +of crossing independently of the canoes, helped to develop their good +manners, which were not apparent on our previous visit. + +There is often a surprising contrast between neighbouring villages. +One is well off and thriving, having good huts, plenty of food, and +native cloth; and its people are frank, trusty, generous, and eager +to sell provisions; while in the next the inhabitants may be ill- +housed, disobliging, suspicious, ill-fed, and scantily clad, and with +nothing for sale, though the land around is as fertile as that of +their wealthier neighbours. We followed the river for the most part +to avail ourselves of the still reaches for sailing; but a +comparatively smooth country lies further inland, over which a good +road could be made. Some of the five main cataracts are very grand, +the river falling 1200 feet in the 40 miles. After passing the last +of the cataracts, we launched our boat for good on the broad and deep +waters of the Upper Shire, and were virtually on the lake, for the +gentle current shows but little difference of level. The bed is +broad and deep, but the course is rather tortuous at first, and makes +a long bend to the east till it comes within five or six miles of the +base of Mount Zomba. The natives regarded the Upper Shire as a +prolongation of Lake Nyassa; for where what we called the river +approaches Lake Shirwa, a little north of the mountains, they said +that the hippopotami, "which are great night travellers," pass from +ONE LAKE INTO THE OTHER. There the land is flat, and only a short +land journey would be necessary. Seldom does the current here exceed +a knot an hour, while that of the Lower Shire is from two to two-and- +a-half knots. Our land party of Makololo accompanied us along the +right bank, and passed thousands of Manganja fugitives living in +temporary huts on that side, who had recently been driven from their +villages on the opposite hills by the Ajawa. + +The soil was dry and hard, and covered with mopane-trees; but some of +the Manganja were busy hoeing the ground and planting the little corn +they had brought with them. The effects of hunger were already +visible on those whose food had been seized or burned by the Ajawa +and Portuguese slave-traders. The spokesman or prime minister of one +of the chiefs, named Kalonjere, was a humpbacked dwarf, a fluent +speaker, who tried hard to make us go over and drive off the Ajawa; +but he could not deny that by selling people Kalonjere had invited +these slave-hunters to the country. This is the second humpbacked +dwarf we have found occupying the like important post, the other was +the prime minister of a Batonga chief on the Zambesi. + +As we sailed along, we disturbed many white-breasted cormorants; we +had seen the same species fishing between the cataracts. Here, with +many other wild-fowls, they find subsistence on the smooth water by +night, and sit sleepily on trees and in the reeds by day. Many +hippopotami were seen in the river, and one of them stretched its +wide jaws, as if to swallow the whole stern of the boat, close to Dr. +Kirk's back; the animal was so near that, in opening its mouth, it +lashed a quantity of water on to the stern-sheets, but did no damage. +To avoid large marauding parties of Ajawa, on the left bank of the +Shire, we continued on the right, or western side, with our land +party, along the shore of the small lake Pamalombe. This lakelet is +ten or twelve miles in length, and five or six broad. It is nearly +surrounded by a broad belt of papyrus, so dense that we could +scarcely find an opening to the shore. The plants, ten or twelve +feet high, grew so closely together that air was excluded, and so +much sulphuretted hydrogen gas evolved that by one night's exposure +the bottom of the boat was blackened. Myriads of mosquitoes showed, +as probably they always do, the presence of malaria. + +We hastened from this sickly spot, trying to take the attentions of +the mosquitoes as hints to seek more pleasant quarters on the healthy +shores of Lake Nyassa; and when we sailed into it, on the 2nd +September, we felt refreshed by the greater coolness of the air off +this large body of water. The depth was the first point of interest. +This is indicated by the colour of the water, which, on a belt along +the shore, varying from a quarter to half a mile in breadth, is light +green, and this is met by the deep blue or indigo tint of the Indian +Ocean, which is the colour of the great body of Nyassa. We found the +Upper Shire from nine to fifteen feet in depth; but skirting the +western side of the lake about a mile from the shore the water +deepened from nine to fifteen fathoms; then, as we rounded the grand +mountainous promontory, which we named Cape Maclear, after our +excellent friend the Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, we +could get no bottom with our lead-line of thirty-five fathoms. We +pulled along the western shore, which was a succession of bays, and +found that where the bottom was sandy near the beach, and to a mile +out, the depth varied from six to fourteen fathoms. In a rocky bay +about latitude 11 degrees 40 minutes we had soundings at 100 fathoms, +though outside the same bay we found none with a fishing-line of 116 +fathoms; but this cast was unsatisfactory, as the line broke in +coming up. According to our present knowledge, a ship could anchor +only near the shore. + +Looking back to the southern end of Lake Nyassa, the arm from which +the Shire flows was found to be about thirty miles long and from ten +to twelve broad. Rounding Cape Maclear, and looking to the south- +west, we have another arm, which stretches some eighteen miles +southward, and is from six to twelve miles in breadth. These arms +give the southern end a forked appearance, and with the help of a +little imagination it may be likened to the "boot-shape" of Italy. +The narrowest part is about the ankle, eighteen or twenty miles. +From this it widens to the north, and in the upper third or fourth it +is fifty or sixty miles broad. The length is over 200 miles. The +direction in which it lies is as near as possible due north and +south. Nothing of the great bend to the west, shown in all the +previous maps, could be detected by either compass or chronometer, +and the watch we used was an excellent one. The season of the year +was very unfavourable. The "smokes" filled the air with an +impenetrable haze, and the equinoctial gales made it impossible for +us to cross to the eastern side. When we caught a glimpse of the sun +rising from behind the mountains to the east, we made sketches and +bearings of them at different latitudes, which enabled us to secure +approximate measurements of the width. These agreed with the times +taken by the natives at the different crossing-places--as Tsenga and +Molamba. About the beginning of the upper third the lake is crossed +by taking advantage of the island Chizumara, which name in the native +tongue means the "ending;" further north they go round the end +instead, though that takes several days. + +The lake appeared to be surrounded by mountains, but it was +afterwards found that these beautiful tree-covered heights were, on +the west, only the edges of high table-lands. Like all narrow seas +encircled by highlands, it is visited by sudden and tremendous +storms. We were on it in September and October, perhaps the +stormiest season of the year, and were repeatedly detained by gales. +At times, while sailing pleasantly over the blue water with a gentle +breeze, suddenly and without any warning was heard the sound of a +coming storm, roaring on with crowds of angry waves in its wake. We +were caught one morning with the sea breaking all around us, and, +unable either to advance or recede, anchored a mile from shore, in +seven fathoms. The furious surf on the beach would have shivered our +boat to atoms, had we tried to land. The waves most dreaded came +rolling on in threes, with their crests, driven into spray, streaming +behind them. A short lull followed each triple charge. Had one of +these seas struck our boat, nothing could have saved us; for they +came on with resistless force; seaward, in shore, and on either side +of us, they broke in foam, but we escaped. For six weary hours we +faced those terrible trios. A low, dark, detached, oddly shaped +cloud came slowly from the mountains, and hung for hours directly +over our heads. A flock of night-jars (Cometornis vexillarius), +which on no other occasion come out by day, soared above us in the +gale, like birds of evil omen. Our black crew became sea-sick and +unable to sit up or keep the boat's head to the sea. The natives and +our land party stood on the high cliffs looking at us and exclaiming, +as the waves seemed to swallow up the boat, "They are lost! they are +all dead!" When at last the gale moderated and we got safely ashore, +they saluted us warmly, as after a long absence. From this time we +trusted implicitly to the opinions of our seaman, John Neil, who, +having been a fisherman on the coast of Ireland, understood boating +on a stormy coast, and by his advice we often sat cowering on the +land for days together waiting for the surf to go down. He had never +seen such waves before. We had to beach the boat every night to save +her from being swamped at anchor; and, did we not believe the gales +to be peculiar to one season of the year, would call Nyassa the "Lake +of Storms." + +Distinct white marks on the rocks showed that, for some time during +the rainy season, the water of the lake is three feet above the point +to which it falls towards the close of the dry period of the year. +The rains begin here in November, and the permanent rise of the Shire +does not take place till January. The western side of Lake Nyassa, +with the exception of the great harbour to the west of Cape Maclear, +is, as has been said before, a succession of small bays of nearly +similar form, each having an open sandy beach and pebbly shore, and +being separated from its neighbour by a rocky headland, with detached +rocks extending some distance out to sea. The great south-western +bay referred to would form a magnificent harbour, the only really +good one we saw to the west. + +The land immediately adjacent to the lake is low and fertile, though +in some places marshy and tenanted by large flocks of ducks, geese, +herons, crowned cranes, and other birds. In the southern parts we +have sometimes ten or a dozen miles of rich plains, bordered by what +seem high ranges of well-wooded hills, running nearly parallel with +the lake. Northwards the mountains become loftier and present some +magnificent views, range towering beyond range, until the dim, lofty +outlines projected against the sky bound the prospect. Still further +north the plain becomes more narrow, until, near where we turned, it +disappears altogether, and the mountains rise abruptly out of the +lake, forming the north-east boundary of what was described to us as +an extensive table-land; well suited for pasturage and agriculture, +and now only partially occupied by a tribe of Zulus, who came from +the south some years ago. These people own large herds of cattle, +and are constantly increasing in numbers by annexing other tribes. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + +The Lake tribes--The Mazitu--Quantities of elephants--Distressing +journey--Detention on the Shire. + +Never before in Africa have we seen anything like the dense +population on the shores of Lake Nyassa. In the southern part there +was an almost unbroken chain of villages. On the beach of wellnigh +of every little sandy bay, dark crowds were standing, gazing at the +novel sight of a boat under sail; and wherever we landed we were +surrounded in a few seconds by hundreds of men, women, and children, +who hastened to have a stare at the "chirombo" (wild animals). + +During a portion of the year, the northern dwellers on the lake have +a harvest which furnishes a singular sort of food. As we approached +our limit in that direction, clouds, as of smoke rising from miles of +burning grass, were observed bending in a south-easterly direction, +and we thought that the unseen land on the opposite side was closing +in, and that we were near the end of the lake. But next morning we +sailed through one of the clouds on our own side, and discovered that +it was neither smoke nor haze, but countless millions of minute +midges called "kungo" (a cloud or fog). They filled the air to an +immense height, and swarmed upon the water, too light to sink in it. +Eyes and mouth had to be kept closed while passing through this +living cloud: they struck upon the face like fine drifting snow. +Thousands lay in the boat when she emerged from the cloud of midges. +The people gather these minute insects by night, and boil them into +thick cakes, to be used as a relish--millions of midges in a cake. A +kungo cake, an inch thick, and as large as the blue bonnet of a +Scotch ploughman, was offered to us; it was very dark in colour, and +tasted not unlike caviare, or salted locusts. + +Abundance of excellent fish is found in the lake, and nearly all were +new to us. The mpasa, or sanjika, found by Dr. Kirk to be a kind of +carp, was running up the rivers to spawn, like our salmon at home: +the largest we saw was over two feet in length; it is a splendid +fish, and the best we have ever eaten in Africa. They were ascending +the rivers in August and September, and furnished active and +profitable employment to many fishermen, who did not mind their being +out of season. Weirs were constructed full of sluices, in each of +which was set a large basket-trap, through whose single tortuous +opening the fish once in has but small chance of escape. A short +distance below the weir, nets are stretched across from bank to bank, +so that it seemed a marvel how the most sagacious sanjika could get +up at all without being taken. Possibly a passage up the river is +found at night; but this is not the country of Sundays or "close +times" for either men or fish. The lake fish are caught chiefly in +nets, although men, and even women with babies on their backs, are +occasionally seen fishing from the rocks with hooks. + +A net with small meshes is used for catching the young fry of a +silvery kind like pickerel, when they are about two inches long; +thousands are often taken in a single haul. We had a present of a +large bucketful one day for dinner: they tasted as if they had been +cooked with a little quinine, probably from their gall-bladders being +left in. In deep water, some sorts are taken by lowering fish- +baskets attached by a long cord to a float, around which is often +tied a mass of grass or weeds, as an alluring shade for the deep-sea +fish. Fleets of fine canoes are engaged in the fisheries. The men +have long paddles, and stand erect while using them. They sometimes +venture out when a considerable sea is running. Our Makololo +acknowledge that, in handling canoes, the Lake men beat them; they +were unwilling to cross the Zambesi even, when the wind blew fresh. + +Though there are many crocodiles in the lake, and some of an +extraordinary size, the fishermen say that it is a rare thing for any +one to be carried off by these reptiles. When crocodiles can easily +obtain abundance of fish--their natural food--they seldom attack men; +but when unable to see to catch their prey, from the muddiness of the +water in floods, they are very dangerous. + +Many men and boys are employed in gathering the buaze, in preparing +the fibre, and in making it into long nets. The knot of the net is +different from ours, for they invariably use what sailors call the +reef knot, but they net with a needle like that we use. From the +amount of native cotton cloth worn in many of the southern villages, +it is evident that a great number of hands and heads must be employed +in the cultivation of cotton, and in the various slow processes +through which it has to pass, before the web is finished in the +native loom. In addition to this branch of industry, an extensive +manufacture of cloth, from the inner bark of an undescribed tree, of +the botanical group, Caesalpineae, is ever going on, from one end of +the lake to the other; and both toil and time are required to procure +the bark, and to prepare it by pounding and steeping it to render it +soft and pliable. The prodigious amount of the bark clothing worn +indicates the destruction of an immense number of trees every year; +yet the adjacent heights seem still well covered with timber. + +The Lake people are by no means handsome: the women are VERY plain; +and really make themselves hideous by the means they adopt to render +themselves attractive. The pelele, or ornament for the upper lip, is +universally worn by the ladies; the most valuable is of pure tin, +hammered into the shape of a small dish; some are made of white +quartz, and give the wearer the appearance of having an inch or more +of one of Price's patent candles thrust through the lip, and +projecting beyond the tip of the nose. + +In character, the Lake tribes are very much like other people; there +are decent men among them, while a good many are no better than they +should be. They are open-handed enough: if one of us, as was often +the case, went to see a net drawn, a fish was always offered. +Sailing one day past a number of men, who had just dragged their nets +ashore, at one of the fine fisheries at Pamalombe, we were hailed and +asked to stop, and received a liberal donation of beautiful fish. +Arriving late one afternoon at a small village on the lake, a number +of the inhabitants manned two canoes, took out their seine, dragged +it, and made us a present of the entire haul. The northern chief, +Marenga, a tall handsome man, with a fine aquiline nose, whom we +found living in his stockade in a forest about twenty miles north of +the mountain Kowirwe, behaved like a gentleman to us. His land +extended from Dambo to the north of Makuza hill. He was specially +generous, and gave us bountiful presents of food and beer. "Do they +wear such things in your country?" he asked, pointing to his iron +bracelet, which was studded with copper, and highly prized. The +Doctor said he had never seen such in his country, whereupon Marenga +instantly took it off, and presented it to him, and his wife also did +the same with hers. On our return south from the mountains near the +north end of the lake, we reached Marenga's on the 7th October. When +he could not prevail upon us to forego the advantage of a fair wind +for his invitation to "spend the whole day drinking his beer, which +was," he said, "quite ready," he loaded us with provisions, all of +which he sent for before we gave him any present. In allusion to the +boat's sail, his people said that they had no Bazimo, or none worth +having, seeing they had never invented the like for them. The chief, +Mankambira, likewise treated us with kindness; but wherever the +slave-trade is carried on, the people are dishonest and uncivil; that +invariably leaves a blight and a curse in its path. The first +question put to us at the lake crossing-places, was, "Have you come +to buy slaves?" On hearing that we were English, and never purchased +slaves, the questioners put on a supercilious air, and sometimes +refused to sell us food. This want of respect to us may have been +owing to the impressions conveyed to them by the Arabs, whose dhows +have sometimes been taken by English cruisers when engaged in lawful +trade. Much foreign cloth, beads, and brass-wire were worn by these +ferrymen--and some had muskets. + +By Chitanda, near one of the slave crossing-places, we were robbed +for the first time in Africa, and learned by experience that these +people, like more civilized nations, have expert thieves among them. +It might be only a coincidence; but we never suffered from impudence, +loss of property, or were endangered, unless among people familiar +with slaving. We had such a general sense of security, that never, +save when we suspected treachery, did we set a watch at night. Our +native companions had, on this occasion, been carousing on beer, and +had removed to a distance of some thirty yards, that we might not +overhear their free and easy after-dinner remarks, and two of us had +a slight touch of fever; between three and four o'clock in the +morning some thieves came, while we slept ingloriously--rifles and +revolvers all ready,--and relieved us of most of our goods. The +boat's sail, under which we slept, was open all around, so the feat +was easy. + +Awaking as honest men do, at the usual hour, the loss of one was +announced by "My bag is gone--with all my clothes; and my boots too!" +"And mine!" responded a second. "And mine also!" chimed in the +third, "with the bag of beads, and the rice!" "Is the cloth taken?" +was the eager inquiry, as that would have been equivalent to all our +money. It had been used for a pillow that night, and thus saved. +The rogues left on the beach, close to our beds, the Aneroid +Barometer and a pair of boots, thinking possibly that they might be +of use to us, or, at least, that they could be of none to them. They +shoved back some dried plants and fishes into one bag, but carried +off many other specimens we had collected; some of our notes also, +and nearly all our clothing. + +We could not suspect the people of the village near which we lay. We +had probably been followed for days by the thieves watching for an +opportunity. And our suspicions fell on some persons who had come +from the East Coast; but having no evidence, and expecting to hear if +our goods were exposed for sale in the vicinity, we made no fuss +about it, and began to make new clothing. That our rifles and +revolvers were left untouched was greatly to our advantage: yet we +felt it was most humiliating for armed men to have been so thoroughly +fleeced by a few black rascals. + +Some of the best fisheries appear to be private property. We found +shelter from a storm one morning in a spacious lagoon, which +communicated with the lake by a narrow passage. Across this strait +stakes were driven in, leaving only spaces for the basket fish-traps. +A score of men were busily engaged in taking out the fish. We tried +to purchase some, but they refused to sell. The fish did not belong +to them, they would send for the proprietor of the place. The +proprietor arrived in a short time, and readily sold what we wanted. + +Some of the burying-grounds are very well arranged, and well cared +for; this was noticed at Chitanda, and more particularly at a village +on the southern shore of the fine harbour at Cape Maclear. Wide and +neat paths were made in the burying-ground on its eastern and +southern sides. A grand old fig-tree stood at the north-east corner, +and its wide-spreading branches threw their kindly shade over the +last resting-place of the dead. Several other magnificent trees grew +around the hallowed spot. Mounds were raised as they are at home, +but all lay north and south, the heads apparently north. The graves +of the sexes were distinguished by the various implements which the +buried dead had used in their different employments during life; but +they were all broken, as if to be employed no more. A piece of +fishing-net and a broken paddle told where a fisherman lay. The +graves of the women had the wooden mortar, and the heavy pestle used +in pounding the corn, and the basket in which the meal is sifted, +while all had numerous broken calabashes and pots arranged around +them. The idea that the future life is like the present does not +appear to prevail; yet a banana-tree had been carefully planted at +the head of several of the graves; the fruit might be considered an +offering to those who still possess human tastes. The people of the +neighbouring villages were friendly and obliging, and willingly +brought us food for sale. + +Pursuing our exploration, we found that the northern part of the lake +was the abode of lawlessness and bloodshed. The Mazite, or Mazitu, +live on the highlands, and make sudden swoops on the villages of the +plains. They are Zulus who came originally from the south, inland of +Sofalla and Inhambane; and are of the same family as those who levy +annual tribute from the Portuguese on the Zambesi. All the villages +north of Mankambira's (lat. 11 degrees 44 minutes south) had been +recently destroyed by these terrible marauders, but they were foiled +in their attacks upon that chief and Marenga. The thickets and +stockades round their villages enabled the bowmen to pick off the +Mazitu in security, while they were afraid to venture near any place +where they could not use their shields. Beyond Mankambira's we saw +burned villages, and the putrid bodies of many who had fallen by +Mazitu spears only a few days before. Our land party were afraid to +go further. This reluctance to proceed without the presence of a +white man was very natural, because bands of the enemy who had +ravaged the country were supposed to be still roaming about; and if +these marauders saw none but men of their own colour, our party might +forthwith be attacked. Compliance with their request led to an event +which might have been attended by very serious consequences. Dr. +Livingstone got separated from the party in the boat for four days. +Having taken the first morning's journey along with them, and +directing the boat to call for him in a bay in sight, both parties +proceeded north. In an hour Dr. Livingstone and his party struck +inland, on approaching the foot of the mountains which rise abruptly +from the lake. Supposing that they had heard of a path behind the +high range which there forms the shore, those in the boat held on +their course; but it soon began to blow so fresh that they had to run +ashore for safety. While delayed a couple of hours, two men were +sent up the hills to look for the land party, but they could see +nothing of them, and the boat party sailed as soon as it was safe to +put to sea, with the conviction that the missing ones would regain +the lake in front. + +In a short time a small island or mass of rocks was passed, on which +were a number of armed Mazitu with some young women, apparently their +wives. The headman said that he had been wounded in the foot by +Mankambira, and that they were staying there till he could walk to +his chief, who lived over the hills. They had several large canoes, +and it was evident that this was a nest of lake pirates, who sallied +out by night to kill and plunder. They reported a path behind the +hills, and, the crew being reassured, the boat sailed on. A few +miles further, another and still larger band of pirates were fallen +in with, and hundreds of crows and kites hovered over and round the +rocks on which they lived. Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone, though +ordered in a voice of authority to come ashore, kept on their course. +A number of canoes then shot out from the rocks and chased them. One +with nine strong paddlers persevered for some time after all the +others gave up the chase. A good breeze, however, enabled the gig to +get away from them with ease. After sailing twelve or fifteen miles, +north of the point where Dr. Livingstone had left them, it was +decided that he must be behind; but no sooner had the boat's head +been turned south, than another gale compelled her to seek shelter in +a bay. Here a number of wretched fugitives from the slave-trade on +the opposite shore of the lake were found; the original inhabitants +of the place had all been swept off the year before by the Mazitu. +In the deserted gardens beautiful cotton was seen growing, much of it +had the staple an inch and a half long, and of very fine quality. +Some of the plants were uncommonly large, deserving to be ranked with +trees. + +On their trying to purchase food, the natives had nothing to sell +except a little dried cassava-root, and a few fish: and they +demanded two yards of calico for the head only of a large fish. When +the gale admitted of their return, their former pursuers tried to +draw them ashore by asserting that they had quantities of ivory for +sale. Owing to a succession of gales, it was the fourth day from +parting that the boat was found by Dr. Livingstone, who was coming on +in search of it with only two of his companions. + +After proceeding a short distance up the path in which they had been +lost sight of, they learned that it would take several days to go +round the mountains, and rejoin the lake; and they therefore turned +down to the bay, expecting to find the boat, but only saw it +disappearing away to the north. They pushed on as briskly as +possible after it, but the mountain flank which forms the coast +proved excessively tedious and fatiguing; travelling all day, the +distance made, in a straight line, was under five miles. As soon as +day dawned, the march was resumed; and, after hearing at the first +inhabited rock that their companions had passed it the day before, a +goat was slaughtered out of the four which they had with them, when +suddenly, to the evident consternation of the men, seven Mazitu +appeared armed with spears and shields, with their heads dressed +fantastically with feathers. To hold a parley, Dr. Livingstone and +Moloka, a Makololo man who spoke Zulu, went unarmed to meet them. On +Dr. Livingstone approaching them, they ordered him to stop, and sit +down in the sun, while they sat in the shade. No, no!" was the +reply, "if you sit in the shade, so will we." They then rattled +their shields with their clubs, a proceeding which usually inspires +terror; but Moloka remarked, "It is not the first time we have heard +shields rattled." And all sat down together. They asked for a +present, to show their chief that they had actually met strangers-- +something as evidence of having seen men who were not Arabs. And +they were requested in turn to take these strangers to the boat, or +to their chief. All the goods were in the boat, and to show that no +present such as they wanted was in his pockets, Dr. Livingstone +emptied them, turning out, among other things, a note-book: thinking +it was a pistol they started up, and said, "Put that in again." The +younger men then became boisterous, and demanded a goat. That could +not be spared, as they were the sole provisions. When they insisted, +they were asked how many of the party they had killed, that they thus +began to divide the spoil; this evidently made them ashamed. The +elders were more reasonable; they dreaded treachery, and were as much +afraid of Dr. Livingstone and his party as his men were of them; for +on leaving they sped away up the hills like frightened deer. One of +them, and probably the leader, was married, as seen by portions of +his hair sewn into a ring; all were observed by their teeth to be +people of the country, who had been incorporated into the Zulu tribe. + +The way still led over a succession of steep ridges with ravines of +from 500 to 1000 feet in depth; some of the sides had to be scaled on +hands and knees, and no sooner was the top reached than the descent +began again. Each ravine had a running stream; and the whole +country, though so very rugged, had all been cultivated, and densely +peopled. Many banana-trees, uncared for patches of corn, and Congo- +bean bushes attested former cultivation. The population had all been +swept away; ruined villages, broken utensils, and human skeletons, +met with at every turn, told a sad tale. So numerous were the slain, +that it was thought the inhabitants had been slaughtered in +consequence of having made raids on the Zulus for cattle. + +Continuing the journey that night as long as light served, they slept +unconsciously on the edge of a deep precipice, without fire, lest the +Mazitu should see it. Next morning most of the men were tired out, +the dread of the apparition of the day before tending probably to +increase the lameness of which they complained. When told, however, +that all might return to Mankambira's save two, Moloka and Charlie, +they would not, till assured that the act would not be considered one +of cowardice. Giving them one of the goats as provision, another was +slaughtered for the remainder of the party who, having found on the +rocks a canoe which had belonged to one of the deserted villages, +determined to put to sea again; but the craft was very small, and the +remaining goat, spite of many a threat of having its throat cut, +jumped and rolled about so, as nearly to capsize it; so Dr. +Livingstone took to the shore again, and after another night spent +without fire, except just for cooking, was delighted to see the boat +coming back. + +We pulled that day to Mankambira's, a distance that on shore, with +the most heartbreaking toil, had taken three days to travel. This +was the last latitude taken, 11 degrees 44 minutes S. The boat had +gone about 24 minutes further to the north, the land party probably +half that distance, but fever prevented the instruments being used. +Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone were therefore furthest up the lake, +and they saw about 20 minutes beyond their turning-point, say into +the tenth degree of south latitude. From the heights of at least a +thousand feet, over which the land party toiled, the dark mountain +masses on both sides of the lake were seen closing in. At this +elevation the view extended at least as far as that from the boats, +and it is believed the end of the lake lies on the southern borders +of 10 degrees, or the northern limits of 11 degrees south latitude. + +Elephants are numerous on the borders of the lake, and surprisingly +tame, being often found close to the villages. Hippopotami swarm +very much at their ease in the creeks and lagoons, and herds are +sometimes seen in the lake itself. Their tameness arises from the +fact that poisoned arrows have no effect on either elephant or +hippopotamus. Five of each were shot for food during our journey. +Two of the elephants were females, and had only a single tusk apiece, +and were each killed by the first shot. It is always a case of +famine or satiety when depending on the rifle for food--a glut of +meat or none at all. Most frequently it is scanty fare, except when +game is abundant, as it is far up the Zambesi. We had one morning +two hippopotami and an elephant, perhaps in all some eight tons of +meat, and two days after the last of a few sardines only for dinner. + +One morning when sailing past a pretty thickly-inhabited part, we +were surprised at seeing nine large bull-elephants standing near the +beach quietly flapping their gigantic ears. Glad of an opportunity +of getting some fresh meat, we landed and fired into one. They all +retreated into a marshy piece of ground between two villages. Our +men gave chase, and fired into the herd. Standing on a sand hummock, +we could see the bleeding animals throwing showers of water with +their trunks over their backs. The herd was soon driven back upon +us, and a wounded one turned to bay. Yet neither this one, nor any +of the others, ever attempted to charge. Having broken his legs with +a rifle-ball, we fired into him at forty yards as rapidly as we could +load and discharge the rifles. He simply shook his head at each +shot, and received at least sixty Enfield balls before he fell. Our +excellent sailor from the north of Ireland happened to fire the last, +and, as soon as he saw the animal fall, he turned with an air of +triumph to the Doctor and exclaimed, "It was MY shot that done it, +sir!" + +In a few minutes upwards of a thousand natives were round the +prostrate king of beasts; and, after our men had taken all they +wanted, an invitation was given to the villagers to take the +remainder. They rushed at it like hungry hyenas, and in an +incredibly short time every inch of it was carried off. It was only +by knowing that the meat would all be used that we felt justified in +the slaughter of this noble creature. The tusks weighed 62 lbs. +each. A large amount of ivory might be obtained from the people of +Nyassa, and we were frequently told of their having it in their huts. + +While detained by a storm on the 17th October at the mouth of the +Kaombe, we were visited by several men belonging to an Arab who had +been for fourteen years in the interior at Katanga's, south of +Cazembe's. They had just brought down ivory, malachite, copper +rings, and slaves to exchange for cloth at the lake. The malachite +was said to be dug out of a large vein on the side of a hill near +Katanga's. They knew Lake Tanganyika well, but had not heard of the +Zambesi. They spoke quite positively, saying that the water of Lake +Tanganyika flowed out by the opposite end to that of Nyassa. As they +had seen neither of the overflows, we took it simply as a piece of +Arab geography. We passed their establishment of long sheds next +day, and were satisfied that the Arabs must be driving a good trade. + +The Lake slave-trade was going on at a terrible rate. Two +enterprising Arabs had built a dhow, and were running her, crowded +with slaves, regularly across the Lake. We were told she sailed the +day before we reached their head-quarters. This establishment is in +the latitude of the Portuguese slave-exporting town of Iboe, and +partly supplies that vile market; but the greater number of the +slaves go to Kilwa. We did not see much evidence of a wish to +barter. Some ivory was offered for sale; but the chief traffic was +in human chattels. Would that we could give a comprehensive account +of the horrors of the slave-trade, with an approximation to the +number of lives it yearly destroys! for we feel sure that were even +half the truth told and recognized, the feelings of men would be so +thoroughly roused, that this devilish traffic in human flesh would be +put down at all risks; but neither we, nor any one else, have the +statistics necessary for a work of this kind. Let us state what we +do know of one portion of Africa, and then every reader who believes +our tale can apply the ratio of the known misery to find out the +unknown. We were informed by Colonel Rigby, late H.M. Political +Agent, and Consul at Zanzibar, that 19,000 slaves from this Nyassa +country alone pass annually through the Custom-house of that island. +This is exclusive of course of those sent to Portuguese slave-ports. +Let it not be supposed for an instant that this number, 19,000, +represents all the victims. Those taken out of the country are but a +very small section of the sufferers. We never realized the atrocious +nature of the traffic, until we saw it at the fountain-head. There +truly "Satan has his seat." Besides those actually captured, +thousands are killed and die of their wounds and famine, driven from +their villages by the slave raid proper. Thousands perish in +internecine war waged for slaves with their own clansmen and +neighbours, slain by the lust of gain, which is stimulated, be it +remembered always, by the slave purchasers of Cuba and elsewhere. +The many skeletons we have seen, amongst rocks and woods, by the +little pools, and along the paths of the wilderness, attest the awful +sacrifice of human life, which must be attributed, directly or +indirectly, to this trade of hell. We would ask our countrymen to +believe us when we say, as we conscientiously can, that it is our +deliberate opinion, from what we know and have seen, that not one- +fifth of the victims of the slave-trade ever become slaves. Taking +the Shire Valley as an average, we should say not even one-tenth +arrive at their destination. As the system, therefore, involves such +an awful waste of human life,--or shall we say of human labour?--and +moreover tends directly to perpetuate the barbarism of those who +remain in the country, the argument for the continuance of this +wasteful course because, forsooth, a fraction of the enslaved may +find good masters, seems of no great value. This reasoning, if not +the result of ignorance, may be of maudlin philanthropy. A small +armed steamer on Lake Nyassa could easily, by exercising a control, +and furnishing goods in exchange for ivory and other products, break +the neck of this infamous traffic in that quarter; for nearly all +must cross the Lake or the Upper Shire. + +Our exploration of the Lake extended from the 2nd September to the +27th October, 1861; and, having expended or lost most of the goods we +had brought, it was necessary to go back to the ship. When near the +southern end, on our return, we were told that a very large slave- +party had just crossed to the eastern side. We heard the fire of +three guns in the evening, and judged by the report that they must be +at least six-pounders. They were said to belong to an Ajawa chief +named Mukata. + +In descending the Shire, we found concealed in the broad belt of +papyrus round the lakelet Pamalombe, into which the river expands, a +number of Manganja families who had been driven from their homes by +the Ajawa raids. So thickly did the papyrus grow, that when beat +down it supported their small temporary huts, though when they walked +from one hut to another, it heaved and bent beneath their feet as +thin ice does at home. + +A dense and impenetrable forest of the papyrus was left standing +between them and the land, and no one passing by on the same side +would ever have suspected that human beings lived there. They came +to this spot from the south by means of their canoes, which enabled +them to obtain a living from the fine fish which abound in the +lakelet. They had a large quantity of excellent salt sewed up in +bark, some of which we bought, our own having run out. We anchored +for the night off their floating camp, and were visited by myriads of +mosquitoes. Some of the natives show a love of country quite +surprising. We saw fugitives on the mountains, in the north of the +lake, who were persisting in clinging to the haunts of their boyhood +and youth, in spite of starvation and the continual danger of being +put to death by the Mazitu. + +A few miles below the lakelet is the last of the great slave- +crossings. Since the Ajawa invasion the villages on the left bank +had been abandoned, and the people, as we saw in our ascent, were +living on the right or western bank. + +As we were resting for a few minutes opposite the valuable fishery at +Movunguti, a young effeminate-looking man from some sea-coast tribe +came in great state to have a look at us. He walked under a large +umbrella, and was followed by five handsome damsels gaily dressed and +adorned with a view to attract purchasers. One was carrying his pipe +for smoking bang, here called "chamba;" another his bow and arrows; a +third his battle-axe; a fourth one of his robes; while the last was +ready to take his umbrella when he felt tired. This show of his +merchandise was to excite the cupidity of any chief who had ivory, +and may be called the lawful way of carrying on the slave-trade. +What proportion it bears to the other ways in which we have seen this +traffic pursued, we never found means of forming a judgment. He sat +and looked at us for a few minutes, the young ladies kneeling behind +him; and having satisfied himself that we were not likely to be +customers, he departed. + +On our first trip we met, at the landing opposite this place, a +middle-aged woman of considerable intelligence, and possessing more +knowledge of the country than any of the men. Our first definite +information about Lake Nyassa was obtained from her. Seeing us +taking notes, she remarked that she had been to the sea, and had +there seen white men writing. She had seen camels also, probably +among the Arabs. She was the only Manganja woman we ever met who was +ashamed of wearing the "pelele," or lip-ring. She retired to her +hut, took it out, and kept her hand before her mouth to hide the +hideous hole in the lip while conversing with us. All the villagers +respected her, and even the headmen took a secondary place in her +presence. On inquiring for her now, we found that she was dead. We +never obtained sufficient materials to estimate the relative +mortality of the highlands and lowlands; but, from many very old +white-headed blacks having been seen on the highlands, we think it +probable that even native races are longer lived the higher their +dwelling-places are. + +We landed below at Mikena's and took observations for longitude, to +verify those taken two years before. The village was deserted, +Mikena and his people having fled to the other side of the river. A +few had come across this morning to work in their old gardens. After +completing the observations we had breakfast; and, as the last of the +things were being carried into the boat, a Manganja man came running +down to his canoe, crying out, "The Ajawa have just killed my +comrade!" We shoved off, and in two minutes the advanced guard of a +large marauding party were standing with their muskets on the spot +where we had taken breakfast. They were evidently surprised at +seeing us there, and halted; as did also the main body of perhaps a +thousand men. "Kill them," cried the Manganja; "they are going up to +the hills to kill the English," meaning the missionaries we had left +at Magomero. But having no prospect of friendly communication with +them, nor confidence in Manganja's testimony, we proceeded down the +river; leaving the Ajawa sitting under a large baobab, and the +Manganja cursing them most energetically across the river. + +On our way up, we had seen that the people of Zimika had taken refuge +on a long island in the Shire, where they had placed stores of grain +to prevent it falling into the hands of the Ajawa; supposing +afterwards that the invasion and war were past, they had removed back +again to the mainland on the east, and were living in fancied +security. On approaching the chief's village, which was built in the +midst of a beautiful grove of lofty wild-fig and palm trees, sounds +of revelry fell upon our ears. The people were having a merry time-- +drumming, dancing, and drinking beer--while a powerful enemy was +close at hand, bringing death or slavery to every one in the village. +One of our men called out to several who came to the bank to look at +us, that the Ajawa were coming and were even now at Mikena's village; +but they were dazed with drinking, and took no notice of the warning. + +Crowds of carriers offered their services after we left the river. +Several sets of them placed so much confidence in us, as to decline +receiving payment at the end of the first day; they wished to work +another day, and so receive both days' wages in one piece. The young +headman of a new village himself came on with his men. The march was +a pretty long one, and one of the men proposed to lay the burdens +down beside a hut a mile or more from the next village. The headman +scolded the fellow for his meanness in wishing to get rid of our +goods where we could not procure carriers, and made him carry them +on. The village, at the foot of the cataracts, had increased very +much in size and wealth since we passed it on our way up. A number +of large new huts had been built; and the people had a good stock of +cloth and beads. We could not account for this sudden prosperity, +until we saw some fine large canoes, instead of the two old, leaky +things which lay there before. This had become a crossing-place for +the slaves that the Portuguese agents were carrying to Tette, because +they were afraid to take them across nearer to where the ship lay, +about seven miles off. Nothing was more disheartening than this +conduct of the Manganja, in profiting by the entire breaking up of +their nation. + +We reached the ship on the 8th of November, 1861, in a very weak +condition, having suffered more from hunger than on any previous +trip. Heavy rains commenced on the 9th, and continued several days; +the river rose rapidly, and became highly discoloured. Bishop +Mackenzie came down to the ship on the 14th, with some of the +"Pioneer's" men, who had been at Magomero for the benefit of their +health, and also for the purpose of assisting the Mission. The +Bishop appeared to be in excellent spirits, and thought that the +future promised fair for peace and usefulness. The Ajawa having been +defeated and driven off while we were on the Lake, had sent word that +they desired to live at peace with the English. Many of the Manganja +had settled round Magomero, in order to be under the protection of +the Bishop; and it was hoped that the slave-trade would soon cease in +the highlands, and the people be left in the secure enjoyment of +their industry. The Mission, it was also anticipated, might soon +become, to a considerable degree, self-supporting, and raise certain +kinds of food, like the Portuguese of Senna and Quillimane. Mr. +Burrup, an energetic young man, had arrived at Chibisa's the day +before the Bishop, having come up the Shire in a canoe. A surgeon +and a lay brother followed behind in another canoe. The "Pioneer's" +draught being too much for the upper part of the Shire, it was not +deemed advisable to bring her up, on the next trip, further than the +Ruo; the Bishop, therefore, resolved to explore the country from +Magomero to the mouth of that river, and to meet the ship with his +sisters and Mrs. Burrup, in January. This was arranged before +parting, and then the good Bishop and Burrup, whom we were never to +meet again, left us; they gave and received three hearty English +cheers as they went to the shore, and we steamed off. + +The rains ceased on the 14th, and the waters of the Shire fell, even +more rapidly than they had risen. A shoal, twenty miles below +Chibisa's, checked our further progress, and we lay there five weary +weeks, till the permanent rise of the river took place. During this +detention, with a large marsh on each side, the first death occurred +in the Expedition which had now been three-and-a-half years in the +country. The carpenter's mate, a fine healthy young man, was seized +with fever. The usual remedies had no effect; he died suddenly while +we were at evening prayers, and was buried on shore. He came out in +the "Pioneer," and, with the exception of a slight touch of fever at +the mouth of the Rovuma, had enjoyed perfect health all the time he +had been with us. The Portuguese are of opinion that the European +who has immunity from this disease for any length of time after he +enters the country is more likely to be cut off by it when it does +come, than the man who has it frequently at first. + +The rains became pretty general towards the close of December, and +the Shire was in flood in the beginning of January, 1862. At our +wooding-place, a mile above the Ruo, the water was three feet higher +than it was when we were here in June; and on the night of the 6th it +rose eighteen inches more, and swept down an immense amount of +brushwood and logs which swarmed with beetles and the two kinds of +shells which are common all over the African continent. Natives in +canoes were busy spearing fish in the meadows and creeks, and +appeared to be taking them in great numbers. Spur-winged geese, and +others of the knob-nosed species, took advantage of the low gardens +being flooded, and came to pilfer the beans. As we passed the Ruo, +on the 7th, and saw nothing of the Bishop, we concluded that he had +heard from his surgeon of our detention, and had deferred his +journey. He arrived there five days after, on the 12th. + +After paying our Senna men, as they wished to go home, we landed them +here. All were keen traders, and had invested largely in native +iron-hoes, axes, and ornaments. Many of the hoes and spears had been +taken from the slaving parties whose captives we liberated; for on +these occasions our Senna friends were always uncommonly zealous and +active. The remainder had been purchased with the old clothes we had +given them and their store of hippopotamus meat: they had no fear of +losing them, or of being punished for aiding us. The system, in +which they had been trained, had eradicated the idea of personal +responsibility from their minds. The Portuguese slaveholders would +blame the English alone, they said; they were our servants at the +time. No white man on board could purchase so cheaply as these men +could. Many a time had their eloquence persuaded a native trader to +sell for a bit of dirty worn cloth things for which he had, but a +little before, refused twice the amount of clean new calico. +"Scissors" being troubled with a cough at night, received a present +of a quilted coverlet, which had seen a good deal of service. A few +days afterwards, a good chance of investing in hoes offering itself, +he ripped off both sides, tore them into a dozen pieces, and +purchased about a dozen hoes with them. + +We entered the Zambesi on the 11th of January, and steamed down +towards the coast, taking the side on which we had come up; but the +channel had changed to the other side during the summer, as it +sometimes does, and we soon grounded. A Portuguese gentleman, +formerly a lieutenant in the army, and now living on Sangwisa, one of +the islands of the Zambesi, came over with his slaves, to aid us in +getting the ship off. He said frankly, that his people were all +great thieves, and we must be on our guard not to leave anything +about. He next made a short speech to his men, told them he knew +what thieves they were, but implored them not to steal from us, as we +would give them a present of cloth when the work was done. "The +natives of this country," he remarked to us, "think only of three +things, what they shall eat and drink, how many wives they can have, +and what they may steal from their master, if not how they may murder +him." He always slept with a loaded musket by his side. This +opinion may apply to slaves, but decidedly does not in our experience +apply to freemen. We paid his men for helping us, and believe that +even they, being paid, stole nothing from us. Our friend farms +pretty extensively the large island called Sangwisa,--lent him for +nothing by Senhor Ferrao,--and raises large quantities of mapira and +beans, and also beautiful white rice, grown from seed brought a few +years ago from South Carolina. He furnished us with some, which was +very acceptable; for though not in absolute want, we were living on +beans, salt pork, and fowls, all the biscuit and flour on board +having been expended. + +We fully expected that the owners of the captives we had liberated +would show their displeasure, at least by their tongues; but they +seemed ashamed; only one ventured a remark, and he, in the course of +common conversation, said, with a smile, "You took the Governor's +slaves, didn't you?" "Yes, we did free several gangs that we met in +the Manganja country." The Portuguese of Tette, from the Governor +downwards, were extensively engaged in slaving. The trade is partly +internal and partly external: they send some of the captives, and +those bought, into the interior, up the Zambesi: some of these we +actually met on their way up the river. The young women were sold +there for ivory: an ordinary-looking one brought two arrobas, sixty- +four pounds weight, and an extra beauty brought twice that amount. +The men and boys were kept as carriers, to take the ivory down from +the interior to Tette, or were retained on farms on the Zambesi, +ready for export if a slaver should call: of this last mode of +slaving we were witnesses also. The slaves were sent down the river +chained, and in large canoes. This went on openly at Tette, and more +especially so while the French "Free Emigration" system was in full +operation. This double mode of disposing of the captives pays better +than the single system of sending them down to the coast for +exportation. One merchant at Tette, with whom we were well +acquainted, sent into the interior three hundred Manganja women to be +sold for ivory, and another sent a hundred and fifty. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + +Arrival of H.M.S. "Gorgon"--Dr. Livingstone's new steamer and Mrs. +Livingstone--Death of Mrs. Livingstone--Voyage to Johanna and the +Rovuma--An attack upon the "Pioneer's" boats. + +We anchored on the Great Luabo mouth of the Zambesi, because wood was +much more easily obtained there than at the Kongone. + +On the 30th, H.M.S. "Gorgon" arrived, towing the brig which brought +Mrs. Livingstone, some ladies about to join their relatives in the +Universities' Mission, and the twenty-four sections of a new iron +steamer intended for the navigation of Lake Nyassa. The "Pioneer" +steamed out, and towed the brig into the Kongone harbour. The new +steamer was called the "Lady of the Lake," or the "Lady Nyassa," and +as much as could be carried of her in one trip was placed, by the +help of the officers and men of the "Gorgon," on board the "Pioneer," +and the two large paddle-box boats of H.M.'s ship. We steamed off +for Ruo on the 10th of February, having on board Captain Wilson, with +a number of his officers and men to help us to discharge the cargo. +Our progress up was distressingly slow. The river was in flood, and +we had a three-knot current against us in many places. These delays +kept us six months in the delta, instead of, as we anticipated, only +six days; for, finding it impossible to carry the sections up to the +Ruo without great loss of time, it was thought best to land them at +Shupanga, and, putting the hull of the "Lady Nyassa" together there, +to tow her up to the foot of the Murchison Cataracts. + +A few days before the "Pioneer" reached Shupanga, Captain Wilson, +seeing the hopeless state of affairs, generously resolved to hasten +with the Mission ladies up to those who, we thought, were anxiously +awaiting their arrival, and therefore started in his gig for the Ruo, +taking Miss Mackenzie, Mrs. Burrup, and his surgeon, Dr. Ramsay. +They were accompanied by Dr. Kirk and Mr. Sewell, paymaster of the +"Gorgon," in the whale-boat of the "Lady Nyassa." As our slow-paced- +launch, "Ma Robert," had formerly gone up to the foot of the +cataracts in nine days' steaming, it was supposed that the boats +might easily reach the expected meeting-place at the Ruo in a week; +but the Shire was now in flood, and in its most rapid state; and they +were longer in getting up about half the distance, than it was hoped +they would be in the whole navigable part of the river. They could +hear nothing of the Bishop from the chief of the island, Malo, at the +mouth of the Ruo. "No white man had ever come to his village," he +said. They proceeded on to Chibisa's, suffering terribly from +mosquitoes at night. Their toil in stemming the rapid current made +them estimate the distance, by the windings, as nearer 300 than 200 +miles. The Makololo who had remained at Chibisa's told them the sad +news of the death of the good Bishop and of Mr. Burrup. Other +information received there awakened fresh anxiety on behalf of the +survivors; so, leaving the ladies with Dr. Ramsay and the Makololo, +Captain Wilson and Dr. Kirk went up the hills, in hopes of being able +to render assistance, and on the way they met some of the Mission +party at Soche's. The excessive fatigue that our friends had +undergone in the voyage up to Chibisa's in no wise deterred them from +this further attempt for the benefit of their countrymen, but the +fresh labour, with diminished rations, was too much for their +strength. They were reduced to a diet of native beans and an +occasional fowl. Both became very ill of fever, Captain Wilson so +dangerously that his fellow-sufferer lost all hopes of his recovery. +His strong able-bodied cockswain did good service in cheerfully +carrying his much-loved Commander, and they managed to return to the +boat, and brought the two bereaved and sorrow-stricken ladies back to +the "Pioneer." + +We learnt that the Bishop, wishing to find a shorter route down to +the Shire, had sent two men to explore the country between Magomero +and the junction of the Ruo; and in December Messrs. Proctor and +Scudamore, with a number of Manganja carriers, left Magomero for the +same purpose. They were to go close to Mount Choro, and then skirt +the Elephant Marsh, with Mount Clarendon on their left. Their guides +seem to have led them away to the east, instead of south; to the +upper waters of the Ruo in the Shirwa valley, instead of to its +mouth. Entering an Anguru slave-trading village, they soon began to +suspect that the people meant mischief, and just before sunset a +woman told some of their men that if they slept there they would all +be killed. On their preparing to leave, the Anguru followed them and +shot their arrows at the retreating party. Two of the carriers were +captured, and all the goods were taken by these robbers. An arrow- +head struck deep into the stock of Proctor's gun; and the two +missionaries, barely escaping with their lives, swam a deep river at +night, and returned to Magomero famished and exhausted. + +The wives of the captive carriers came to the Bishop day after day +weeping and imploring him to rescue their husbands from slavery. The +men had been caught while in his service, no one else could be +entreated; there was no public law nor any power superior to his own, +to which an appeal could be made; for in him Church and State were, +in the disorganized state of the country, virtually united. It +seemed to him to be clearly his duty to try and rescue these +kidnapped members of the Mission family. He accordingly invited the +veteran Makololo to go with him on this somewhat hazardous errand. +Nothing could have been proposed to them which they would have liked +better, and they went with alacrity to eat the sheep of the Anguru, +only regretting that the enemy did not keep cattle as well. Had the +matter been left entirely in their hands, they would have made a +clean sweep of that part of the country; but the Bishop restrained +them, and went in an open manner, thus commending the measure to all +the natives, as one of justice. This deliberation, however, gave the +delinquents a chance of escape. + +The missionaries were successful; the offending village was burned, +and a few sheep and goats were secured which could not be considered +other than a very mild punishment for the offence committed; the +headman, Muana-somba, afraid to retain the prisoners any longer, +forthwith liberated them, and they returned to their homes. This +incident took place at the time we were at the Ruo and during the +rains, and proved very trying to the health of the missionaries; they +were frequently wetted, and had hardly any food but roasted maize. +Mr. Scudamore was never well afterwards. Directly on their return to +Magomero, the Bishop and Mr. Burrup, both suffering from diarrhoea in +consequence of wet, hunger, and exposure, started for Chibisa's to go +down to the Ruo by the Shire. So fully did the Bishop expect a +renewal of the soaking wet from which he had just returned, that on +leaving Magomero he walked through the stream. The rivulets were so +swollen that it took five days to do a journey that would otherwise +have occupied only two days and a half. + +None of the Manganja being willing to take them down the river during +the flood, three Makololo canoe-men agreed to go with them. After +paddling till near sunset, they decided to stop and sleep on shore; +but the mosquitoes were so numerous that they insisted on going on +again; the Bishop, being a week behind the time he had engaged to be +at the Ruo, reluctantly consented, and in the darkness the canoe was +upset in one of the strong eddies or whirlpools, which suddenly boil +up in flood time near the outgoing branches of the river; clothing, +medicines, tea, coffee, and sugar were all lost. Wet and weary, and +tormented by mosquitoes, they lay in the canoe till morning dawned, +and then proceeded to Malo, an island at the mouth of the Ruo, where +the Bishop was at once seized with fever. + +Had they been in their usual health, they would doubtless have pushed +on to Shupanga, or to the ship; but fever rapidly prostrates the +energies, and induces a drowsy stupor, from which, if not roused by +medicine, the patient gradually sinks into the sleep of death. Still +mindful, however, of his office, the Bishop consoled himself by +thinking that he might gain the friendship of the chief, which would +be of essential service to him in his future labours. That heartless +man, however, probably suspicious of all foreigners from the +knowledge he had acquired of white slave-traders, wanted to turn the +dying Bishop out of the hut, as he required it for his corn, but +yielded to the expostulations of the Makololo. Day after day for +three weeks did these faithful fellows remain beside his mat on the +floor; till, without medicine or even proper food, he died. They dug +his grave on the edge of the deep dark forest where the natives +buried their dead. Mr. Burrup, himself far gone with dysentery, +staggered from the hut, and, as in the dusk of evening they committed +the Bishop's body to the grave, repeated from memory portions of our +beautiful service for the Burial of the Dead--"earth to earth, ashes +to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection +of the dead through our Lord Jesus Christ." And in this sad way +ended the earthly career of one, of whom it can safely be said that +for unselfish goodness of heart, and earnest devotion to the noble +work he had undertaken, none of the commendations of his friends can +exceed the reality. The grave in which his body rests is about a +hundred yards from the confluence of the Ruo, on the left bank of the +Shire, and opposite the island of Malo. The Makololo then took Mr. +Burrup up in the canoe as far as they could, and, making a litter of +branches, carried him themselves, or got others to carry him, all the +way back to his countrymen at Magomero. They hurried him on lest he +should die in their hands, and blame be attached to them. Soon after +his return he expired, from the disease which was on him when he +started to meet his wife. + +Captain Wilson arrived at Shupanga on the 11th of March, having been +three weeks on the Shire. On the 15th the "Pioneer" steamed down to +the Kongone. The "Gorgon" had been driven out to sea in a gale, and +had gone to Johanna for provisions, and it was the 2nd of April +before she returned. It was fortunate for us that she had obtained a +supply, as our provisions were exhausted, and we had to buy some from +the master of the brig. The "Gorgon" left for the Cape on the 4th, +taking all, except one, of the Mission party who had come in January. +We take this opportunity of expressing our heartfelt gratitude to the +gallant Captain I. C. Wilson and his officers for innumerable acts of +kindness and hearty co-operation. Our warmest thanks are also due to +Captain R. B. Oldfield and the other officers from the Admiral +downwards, and we beg to assure them that nothing could be more +encouraging to us in our difficulties and trials, than the knowledge +that we possessed their friendship and sympathy in our labours. + +The Rev. James Stewart, of the Free Church of Scotland, arrived in +the "Gorgon." He had wisely come out to inspect the country, before +deciding on the formation of a Mission in the interior. To this +object he devoted many months of earnest labour. This Mission was +intended to embrace both the industrial and the religious element; +and as the route by the Zambesi and Shire forms the only one at +present known, with but a couple of days' land journey to the +highlands, which stretch to an unknown distance into the continent, +and as no jealousy was likely to be excited in the mind of a man of +Bishop Mackenzie's enlarged views--there being moreover room for +hundreds of Missions--we gladly extended the little aid in our power +to an envoy from the energetic body above mentioned, but recommended +him to examine the field with his own eyes. + +During our subsequent detention at Shupanga, he proceeded as far up +the Shire as the Upper Cataracts, and saw the mere remnants of that +dense population, which we at first had found living in peace and +plenty, but which was now scattered and destroyed by famine and +slave-hunting. The land, which both before and after we found so +fair and fruitful, was burned up by a severe drought; in fact, it was +at its very worst. With most praiseworthy energy, and in spite of +occasional attacks of fever, he then ascended the Zambesi as far as +Kebrabasa; and, what may be of interest to some, compared it, in +parts, to the Danube. His estimate of the highlands would naturally +be lower than ours. The main drawbacks in his opinion, however, were +the slave-trade, and the power allowed the effete Portuguese of +shutting up the country from all except a few convicts of their own +nation. The time of his coming was inopportune; the disasters which, +from inexperience, had befallen the Mission of the Universities, had +a depressing effect on the minds of many at home, and rendered a new +attempt unadvisable; though, had the Scotch perseverance and energy +been introduced, it is highly probable that they would have reacted, +most beneficially, on the zeal of our English brethren, and desertion +would never have been heard of. After examining the country, Mr. +Stewart descended the Zambesi in the beginning of the following year, +and proceeded homewards with his report, by Mosambique and the Cape. + +On the 7th of April we had only one man fit for duty; all the rest +were down with fever, or with the vile spirit secretly sold to them +by the Portuguese officer of customs, in spite of our earnest request +to him to refrain from the pernicious traffic. + +We started on the 11th for Shupanga with another load of the "Lady +Nyassa." As we steamed up the delta, we observed many of the natives +wearing strips of palm-leaf, the signs of sickness and mourning; for +they too suffer from fever. This is the unhealthy season; the rains +are over, and the hot sun draws up malaria from the decayed +vegetation; disease seemed peculiarly severe this year. On our way +up we met Mr. Waller, who had come from Magomero for provisions; the +missionaries were suffering severely from want of food; the liberated +people were starving, and dying of diarrhoea, and loathsome sores. +The Ajawa, stimulated in their slave raids by supplies of ammunition +and cloth from the Portuguese, had destroyed the large crops of the +past year; a drought had followed, and little or no food could be +bought. With his usual energy, Mr. Waller hired canoes, loaded them +with stores, and took them up the long weary way to Chibisa's. +Before he arrived he was informed that the Mission of the +Universities, now deprived of its brave leader, had retired from the +highlands down to the Low Shire Valley. This appeared to us, who +knew the danger of leading a sedentary life, the greatest mistake +they could have made, and was the result of no other counsel or +responsibility than their own. Waller would have reascended at once +to the higher altitude, but various objections stood in the way. The +loss of poor Scudamore and Dickinson, in this low-lying situation, +but added to the regret that the highlands had not received a fair +trial. + +When the news of the Bishop's unfortunate collisions with the +natives, and of his untimely end, reached England, much blame was +imputed to him. The policy, which with the formal sanction of all +his companions he had adopted, being directly contrary to the advice +which Dr. Livingstone tendered, and to the assurances of the +peaceable nature of the Mission which the Doctor had given to the +natives, a friendly disapproval of a bishop's engaging in war was +ventured on, when we met him at Chibisa's in November. But when we +found his conduct regarded with so much bitterness in England, +whether from a disposition to "stand by the down man," or from having +an intimate knowledge of the peculiar circumstances of the country in +which he was placed, or from the thorough confidence which intimacy +caused us to repose in his genuine piety, and devout service of God, +we came to think much more leniently of his proceedings, than his +assailants did. He never seemed to doubt but that he had done his +duty; and throughout he had always been supported by his associates. + +The question whether a Bishop, in the event of his flock being torn +from his bosom, may make war to rescue them, requires serious +consideration. It seems to narrow itself into whether a Christian +man may lawfully use the civil power or the sword at all in defensive +war, as police or otherwise. We would do almost anything to avoid a +collision with degraded natives; but in case of an invasion--our +blood boils at the very thought of our wives, daughters, or sisters +being touched--we, as men with human feelings, would unhesitatingly +fight to the death, with all the fury in our power. + +The good Bishop was as intensely averse to using arms, before he met +the slave-hunters, as any man in England. In the course he pursued +he may have made a mistake, but it is a mistake which very few +Englishmen on meeting bands of helpless captives, or members of his +family in bonds, would have failed to commit likewise. + +During unhealthy April, the fever was more severe in Shupanga and +Mazaro than usual. We had several cases on board--they were quickly +cured, but, from our being in the delta, as quickly returned. About +the middle of the month Mrs. Livingstone was prostrated by this +disease; and it was accompanied by obstinate vomiting. Nothing is +yet known that can allay this distressing symptom, which of course +renders medicine of no avail, as it is instantly rejected. She +received whatever medical aid could be rendered from Dr. Kirk, but +became unconscious, and her eyes were closed in the sleep of death as +the sunset on the evening of the Christian Sabbath, the 27th April, +1862. A coffin was made during the night, a grave was dug next day +under the branches of the great baobab-tree, and with sympathizing +hearts the little band of his countrymen assisted the bereaved +husband in burying his dead. At his request, the Rev. James Stewart +read the burial-service; and the seamen kindly volunteered to mount +guard for some nights at the spot where her body rests in hope. +Those who are not aware how this brave, good, English wife made a +delightful home at Kolobeng, a thousand miles inland from the Cape, +and as the daughter of Moffat and a Christian lady exercised most +beneficial influence over the rude tribes of the interior, may wonder +that she should have braved the dangers and toils of this down- +trodden land. She knew them all, and, in the disinterested and +dutiful attempt to renew her labours, was called to her rest instead. +"Fiat, Domine, voluntas tua!" + +On the 5th of May Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone started in the +boat for Tette, in order to see the property of the Expedition +brought down in canoes. They took four Mazaro canoe-men to manage +the boat, and a white sailor to cook for them; but, unfortunately, he +caught fever the very day after leaving the ship, and was ill most of +the trip; so they had to cook for themselves, and to take care of him +besides. + +We now proceeded with preparations for the launch of the "Lady +Nyassa." Ground was levelled on the bank at Shupanga, for the +purpose of arranging the compartments in order: she was placed on +palm-trees which were brought from a place lower down the river for +ways, and the engineer and his assistants were soon busily engaged; +about a fortnight after they were all brought from Kongone, the +sections were screwed together. The blacks are more addicted to +stealing where slavery exists than elsewhere. We were annoyed by +thieves who carried off the iron screw-bolts, but were gratified to +find that strychnine saved us from the man-thief as well as the +hyena-thief. A hyena was killed by it, and after the natives saw the +dead animal and knew how we had destroyed it, they concluded that it +was not safe to steal from men who possessed a medicine so powerful. +The half-caste, who kept Shupanga-house, said he wished to have some +to give to the Zulus, of whom he was mortally afraid, and to whom he +had to pay an unwilling tribute. + +The "Pioneer" made several trips to the Kongone, and returned with +the last load on the 12th of June. On the 23rd the "Lady Nyassa" was +safely launched, the work of putting her together having been +interrupted by fever and dysentery, and many other causes which it +would only weary the reader to narrate in detail. Natives from all +parts of the country came to see the launch, most of them quite +certain that, being made of iron, she must go to the bottom as soon +as she entered the water. Earnest discussions had taken place among +them with regard to the propriety of using iron for ship-building. +The majority affirmed that it would never answer. They said, "If we +put a hoe into the water, or the smallest bit of iron, it sinks +immediately. How then can such a mass of iron float? it must go to +the bottom." The minority answered that this might be true with +them, but white men had medicine for everything. "They could even +make a woman, all except the speaking; look at that one on the +figure-head of the vessel." The unbelievers were astonished, and +could hardly believe their eyes, when they saw the ship float lightly +and gracefully on the river, instead of going to the bottom, as they +so confidently predicted. "Truly," they said, "these men have +powerful medicine." + +Birds are numerous on the Shupanga estate. Some kinds remain all the +year round, while many others are there only for a few months. +Flocks of green pigeons come in April to feed on the young fruit of +the wild fig-trees, which is also eaten by a large species of bat in +the evenings. The pretty little black weaver, with yellow shoulders, +appears to enjoy life intensely after assuming his wooing dress. A +hearty breakfast is eaten in the mornings and then come the hours for +making merry. A select party of three or four perch on the bushes +which skirt a small grassy plain, and cheer themselves with the music +of their own quiet and self-complacent song. A playful performance +on the wind succeeds. Expanding his soft velvet-like plumage, one +glides with quivering pinions to the centre of the open space, +singing as he flies, then turns with a rapid whirring sound from his +wings--somewhat like a child's rattle--and returns to his place +again. One by one the others perform the same feat, and continue the +sport for hours, striving which can produce the loudest brattle while +turning. These games are only played during the season of courting +and of the gay feathers; the merriment seems never to be thought of +while the bird wears his winter suit of sober brown. + +We received two mules from the Cape to aid us in transporting the +pieces of the "Lady Nyassa" past the cataracts and landed them at +Shupanga, but they soon perished. A Portuguese gentleman kindly +informed us, AFTER both the mules were dead, that he knew they would +die; for the land there had been often tried, and nothing would live +on it--not even a pig. He said he had not told us so before, because +he did not like to appear officious! + +By the time everything had been placed on board the "Lady Nyassa," +the waters of the Zambesi and the Shire had fallen so low that it was +useless to attempt taking her up to the cataracts before the rains in +December. Draught oxen and provisions also were required, and could +not be obtained nearer than the Island of Johanna. The Portuguese, +without refusing positively to let trade enter the Zambesi, threw +impediments in the way; they only wanted a small duty! They were +about to establish a river police, and rearrange the Crown lands, +which have long since become Zulu lands; meanwhile they were making +the Zambesi, by slaving, of no value to any one. + +The Rovuma, which was reported to come from Lake Nyassa, being out of +their claims and a free river, we determined to explore it in our +boats immediately on our return from Johanna, for which place, after +some delay at the Kongone, in repairing engines, paddle-wheel, and +rudder, we sailed on the 6th of August. A store of naval provisions +had been formed on a hulk in Pomone Bay of that island for the supply +of the cruisers, and was in charge of Mr. Sunley, the Consul, from +whom we always received the kindest attentions and assistance. He +now obliged us by parting with six oxen, trained for his own use in +sugar-making. Though sadly hampered in his undertaking by being +obliged to employ slave labour, he has by indomitable energy overcome +obstacles under which most persons would have sunk. He has done all +that under the circumstances could be done to infuse a desire for +freedom, by paying regular wages; and has established a large +factory, and brought 300 acres of rich soil under cultivation with +sugar-cane. We trust he will realize the fortune which he so well +deserves to earn. Had Mr. Sunley performed the same experiment on +the mainland, where people would have flocked to him for the wages he +now gives, he would certainly have inaugurated a new era on the East +Coast of Africa. On a small island where the slaveholders have +complete power over the slaves, and where there is no free soil such +as is everywhere met with in Africa, the experiment ought not to be +repeated. Were Mr. Sunley commencing again, it should neither be in +Zanzibar nor Johanna, but on African soil, where, if even a slave is +ill-treated, he can easily by flight become free. On an island under +native rule a joint manufacture by Arabs and Englishmen might only +mean that the latter were to escape the odium of flogging the slaves. + +On leaving Johanna and our oxen for a time, H.M.S. "Orestes" towed us +thence to the mouth of the Rovuma at the beginning of September. +Captain Gardner, her commander, and several of his officers, +accompanied us up the river for two days in the gig and cutter. The +water was unusually low, and it was rather dull work for a few hours +in the morning; but the scene became livelier and more animated when +the breeze began to blow. Our four boats they swept on under full +sail, the men on the look out in the gig and cutter calling, "Port, +sir!" "Starboard, sir!" "As you go, sir!" while the black men in +the bows of the others shouted the practical equivalents, "Pagombe! +Pagombe!" "Enda quete!" "Berane! Berane!" Presently the leading- +boat touches on a sandbank; down comes the fluttering sail; the men +jump out to shove her off, and the other boats, shunning the +obstruction, shoot on ahead to be brought up each in its turn by +mistaking a sandbank for the channel, which had often but a very +little depth of water. + +A drowsy herd of hippopotami were suddenly startled by a score of +rifle-shots, and stared in amazement at the strange objects which had +invaded their peaceful domains, until a few more bullets compelled +them to seek refuge at the bottom of the deep pool, near which they +had been quietly reposing. On our return, one of the herd +retaliated. He followed the boat, came up under it, and twice tried +to tear the bottom out of it; but fortunately it was too flat for his +jaws to get a good grip, so he merely damaged one of the planks with +his tusks, though he lifted the boat right up, with ten men and a ton +of ebony in it. + +We slept, one of the two nights Captain Gardner was with us, opposite +the lakelet Chidia, which is connected with the river in flood time, +and is nearly surrounded by hills some 500 or 600 feet high, dotted +over with trees. A few small groups of huts stood on the hill-sides, +with gardens off which the usual native produce had been reaped. The +people did not seem much alarmed by the presence of the large party +which had drawn up on the sandbanks below their dwellings. There is +abundance of large ebony in the neighbourhood. The pretty little +antelope (Cephalophus caeruleus), about the size of a hare, seemed to +abound, as many of their skins were offered for sale. Neat figured +date-leaf mats of various colours are woven here, the different dyes +being obtained from the barks of trees. Cattle could not live on the +banks of the Rovuma on account of the tsetse, which are found from +near the mouth, up as far as we could take the boats. The navigation +did not improve as we ascended; snags, brought down by the floods, +were common, and left in the channel on the sudden subsidence of the +water. In many places, where the river divided into two or three +channels, there was not water enough in any of them for a boat +drawing three feet, so we had to drag ours over the shoals; but we +saw the river at its very lowest, and it may be years before it is so +dried up again. + +The valley of the Rovuma, bounded on each side by a range of +highlands, is from two to four miles in width, and comes in a pretty +straight course from the W.S.W.; but the channel of the river is +winding, and now at its lowest zigzagged so perversely, that +frequently the boats had to pass over three miles to make one in a +straight line. With a full stream it must of course be much easier +work. Few natives were seen during the first week. Their villages +are concealed in the thick jungle on the hill-sides, for protection +from marauding slave-parties. Not much of interest was observed on +this part of the silent and shallow river. Though feeling convinced +that it was unfit for navigation, except for eight months of the +year, we pushed on, resolved to see if, further inland, the accounts +we had received from different naval officers of its great +capabilities would prove correct; or if, by communication with Lake +Nyassa, even the upper part could be turned to account. Our +exploration showed us that the greatest precaution is required in +those who visit new countries. + +The reports we received from gentlemen, who had entered the river and +were well qualified to judge, were that the Rovuma was infinitely +superior to the Zambesi, in the absence of any bar at its mouth, in +its greater volume of water, and in the beauty of the adjacent lands. +We probably came at a different season from that in which they +visited it, and our account ought to be taken with theirs to arrive +at the truth. It might be available as a highway for commerce during +three quarters of each year; but casual visitors, like ourselves and +others, are all ill able to decide. The absence of animal life was +remarkable. Occasionally we saw pairs of the stately jabirus, or +adjutant-looking marabouts, wading among the shoals, and spur-winged +geese, and other water-fowl, but there was scarcely a crocodile or a +hippopotamus to be seen. + +At the end of the first week, an old man called at our camp, and said +he would send a present from his village, which was up among the +hills. He appeared next morning with a number of his people, +bringing meal, cassava-root, and yams. The language differs +considerably from that on the Zambesi, but it is of the same family. +The people are Makonde, and are on friendly terms with the Mabiha, +and the Makoa, who live south of the Rovuma. When taking a walk up +the slopes of the north bank, we found a great variety of trees we +had seen nowhere else. Those usually met with far inland seem here +to approach the coast. African ebony, generally named mpingu, is +abundant within eight miles of the sea; it attains a larger size, and +has more of the interior black wood than usual. A good timber tree +called mosoko is also found; and we saw half-caste Arabs near the +coast cutting up a large log of it into planks. Before reaching the +top of the rise we were in a forest of bamboos. On the plateau +above, large patches were cleared and cultivated. A man invited us +to take a cup of beer; on our complying with his request, the fear +previously shown by the bystanders vanished. Our Mazaro men could +hardly understand what they said. Some of them waded in the river +and caught a curious fish in holes in the claybank. Its ventral fin +is peculiar, being unusually large, and of a circular shape, like +boys' playthings called "suckers." We were told that this fish is +found also in the Zambesi, and is called Chirire. Though all its +fins are large, it is asserted that it rarely ventures out into the +stream, but remains near its hole, where it is readily caught by the +hand. + +The Zambesi men thoroughly understood the characteristic marks of +deep or shallow water, and showed great skill in finding out the +proper channel. The Molimo is the steersman at the helm, the +Mokadamo is the head canoe-man, and he stands erect on the bows with +a long pole in his hands, and directs the steersman where to go, +aiding the rudder, if necessary, with his pole. The others preferred +to stand and punt our boat, rather than row with our long oars, being +able to shove her ahead faster than they could pull her. They are +accustomed to short paddles. Our Mokadamo was affected with moon- +blindness, and could not see at all at night. His comrades then led +him about, and handed him his food. They thought that it was only +because his eyes rested all night, that he could see the channel so +well by day. At difficult places the Mokadamo sometimes, however, +made mistakes, and ran us aground; and the others, evidently imbued +with the spirit of resistance to constituted authority, and led by +Joao an aspirant for the office, jeered him for his stupidity. "Was +he asleep? Why did he allow the boat to come there? Could he not +see the channel was somewhere else?" At last the Mokadamo threw down +the pole in disgust, and told Joao he might be a Mokadamo himself. +The office was accepted with alacrity; but in a few minutes he too +ran us into a worse difficulty than his predecessor ever did, and was +at once disrated amidst the derision of his comrades. + +On the 16th September, we arrived at the inhabited island of +Kichokomane. The usual way of approaching an unknown people is to +call out in a cheerful tone "Malonda!" Things for sale, or do you +want to sell anything? If we can obtain a man from the last village, +he is employed, though only useful in explaining to the next that we +come in a friendly way. The people here were shy of us at first, and +could not be induced to sell any food; until a woman, more +adventurous than the rest, sold us a fowl. This opened the market, +and crowds came with fowls and meal, far beyond our wants. The women +are as ugly as those on Lake Nyassa, for who can be handsome wearing +the pelele, or upper-lip ring, of large dimensions? We were once +surprised to see young men wearing the pelele, and were told that in +the tribe of the Mabiha, on the south bank, men as well as women wore +them. + +Along the left bank, above Kichokomane, is an exceedingly fertile +plain, nearly two miles broad, and studded with a number of deserted +villages. The inhabitants were living in temporary huts on low naked +sandbanks; and we found this to be the case as far as we went. They +leave most of their property and food behind, because they are not +afraid of these being stolen, but only fear being stolen themselves. +The great slave-route from Nyassa to Kilwa passes to N.E. from S.W., +just beyond them; and it is dangerous to remain in their villages at +this time of year, when the kidnappers are abroad. In one of the +temporary villages, we saw, in passing, two human heads lying on the +ground. We slept a couple of miles above this village. + +Before sunrise next morning, a large party armed with bows and arrows +and muskets came to the camp, two or three of them having a fowl +each, which we refused to purchase, having bought enough the day +before. They followed us all the morning, and after breakfast those +on the left bank swam across and joined the main party on the other +side. It was evidently their intention to attack us at a chosen +spot, where we had to pass close to a high bank, but their plan was +frustrated by a stiff breeze sweeping the boat past, before the +majority could get to the place. They disappeared then, but came out +again ahead of us, on a high wooded bank, walking rapidly to the +bend, near which we were obliged to sail. An arrow was shot at the +foremost boat; and seeing the force at the bend, we pushed out from +the side, as far as the shoal water would permit, and tried to bring +them to a parley, by declaring that we had not come to fight, but to +see the river. "Why did you fire a gun, a little while ago?" they +asked. "We shot a large puff-adder, to prevent it from killing men; +you may see it lying dead on the beach." With great courage, our +Mokadamo waded to within thirty yards of the bank, and spoke with +much earnestness, assuring them that we were a peaceable party, and +had not come for war, but to see the river. We were friends, and our +countrymen bought cotton and ivory, and wished to come and trade with +them. All we wanted was to go up quietly to look at the river, and +then return to the sea. While he was talking with those on the +shore, the old rogue, who appeared to be the ringleader, stole up the +bank, and with a dozen others, waded across to the island, near which +the boats lay, and came down behind us. Wild with excitement, they +rushed into the water, and danced in our rear, with drawn bows, +taking aim, and making various savage gesticulations. Their leader +urged them to get behind some snags, and then shoot at us. The party +on the bank in front had many muskets--and those of them, who had +bows, held them with arrows ready set in the bowstrings. They had a +mass of thick bush and trees behind them, into which they could in a +moment dart, after discharging their muskets and arrows, and be +completely hidden from our sight; a circumstance that always gives +people who use bows and arrows the greatest confidence. +Notwithstanding these demonstrations, we were exceedingly loath to +come to blows. We spent a full half-hour exposed at any moment to be +struck by a bullet or poisoned arrow. We explained that we were +better armed than they were, and had plenty of ammunition, the +suspected want of which often inspires them with courage, but that we +did not wish to shed the blood of the children of the same Great +Father with ourselves; that if we must fight, the guilt would be all +theirs. + +This being a common mode of expostulation among themselves, we so far +succeeded, that with great persuasion the leader and others laid down +their arms, and waded over from the bank to the boats to talk the +matter over. "This was their river; they did not allow white men to +use it. We must pay toll for leave to pass." It was somewhat +humiliating to do so, but it was pay or fight; and, rather than +fight, we submitted to the humiliation of paying for their +friendship, and gave them thirty yards of cloth. They pledged +themselves to be our friends ever afterwards, and said they would +have food cooked for us on our return. We then hoisted sail, and +proceeded, glad that the affair had been amicably settled. Those on +shore walked up to the bend above to look at the boat, as we +supposed; but the moment she was abreast of them, they gave us a +volley of musket-balls and poisoned arrows, without a word of +warning. Fortunately we were so near, that all the arrows passed +clear over us, but four musket-balls went through the sail just above +our heads. All our assailants bolted into the bushes and long grass +the instant after firing, save two, one of whom was about to +discharge a musket and the other an arrow, when arrested by the fire +of the second boat. Not one of them showed their faces again, till +we were a thousand yards away. A few shots were then fired over +their heads, to give them an idea of the range of our rifles, and +they all fled into the woods. Those on the sandbank rushed off too, +with the utmost speed; but as they had not shot at us, we did not +molest them, and they went off safely with their cloth. They +probably expected to kill one of our number, and in the confusion rob +the boats. It is only where the people are slavers that the natives +of this part of Africa are bloodthirsty. + +These people have a bad name in the country in front, even among +their own tribe. A slave-trading Arab we met above, thinking we were +then on our way down the river, advised us not to land at the +villages, but to stay in the boats, as the inhabitants were +treacherous, and attacked at once, without any warning or +provocation. Our experience of their conduct fully confirmed the +truth of what he said. There was no trade on the river where they +lived, but beyond that part there was a brisk canoe-trade in rice and +salt; those further in the interior cultivating rice, and sending it +down the river to be exchanged for salt, which is extracted from the +earth in certain places on the banks. Our assailants hardly +anticipated resistance, and told a neighbouring chief that, if they +had known who we were, they would not have attacked English, who can +"bite hard." They offered no molestations on our way down, though we +were an hour in passing their village. Our canoe-men plucked up +courage on finding that we had come off unhurt. One of them, named +Chiku, acknowledging that he had been terribly frightened, said. +"His fear was not the kind which makes a man jump overboard and run +away; but that which brings the heart up to the mouth, and renders +the man powerless, and no more able to fight than a woman." + +In the country of Chonga Michi, about 80 or 90 miles up the river, we +found decent people, though of the same tribe, who treated strangers +with civility. A body of Makoa had come from their own country in +the south, and settled here. The Makoa are known by a cicatrice in +the forehead shaped like the new moon with the horns turned +downwards. The tribe possesses all the country west of Mosambique; +and they will not allow any of the Portuguese to pass into their +country more than two hours' distance from the fort. A hill some ten +or twelve miles distant, called Pau, has been visited during the +present generation only by one Portuguese and one English officer, +and this visit was accomplished only by the influence of the private +friendship of a chief for this Portuguese gentleman. Our allies have +occupied the Fort of Mosambique for three hundred years, but in this, +as in all other cases, have no power further than they can see from a +gun-carriage. + +The Makoa chief, Matingula, was hospitable and communicative, telling +us all he knew of the river and country beyond. He had been once to +Iboe and once at Mosambique with slaves. Our men understood his +language easily. A useless musket he had bought at one of the above +places was offered us for a little cloth. Having received a present +of food from him, a railway rug was handed to him: he looked at it-- +had never seen cloth like that before--did not approve of it, and +would rather have cotton cloth. "But this will keep you warm at +night."--"Oh, I do not wish to be kept warm at night."--We gave him a +bit of cotton cloth, not one-third the value of the rug, but it was +more highly prized. His people refused to sell their fowls for our +splendid prints and drab cloths. They had probably been taken in +with gaudy-patterned sham prints before. They preferred a very +cheap, plain, blue stuff of which they had experience. A great +quantity of excellent honey is collected all along the river, by bark +hives being placed for the bees on the high trees on both banks. +Large pots of it, very good and clear, were offered in exchange for a +very little cloth. No wax was brought for sale; there being no +market for this commodity, it is probably thrown away as useless. + +At Michi we lose the tableland which, up to this point, bounds the +view on both sides of the river, as it were, with ranges of flat- +topped hills, 600 or 800 feet high; and to this plateau a level +fertile plain succeeds, on which stand detached granite hills. That +portion of the tableland on the right bank seems to bend away to the +south, still preserving the appearance of a hill range. The height +opposite extends a few miles further west, and then branches off in a +northerly direction. A few small pieces of coal were picked up on +the sandbanks, showing that this useful mineral exists on the Rovuma, +or on some of its tributaries: the natives know that it will burn. +At the lakelet Chidia, we noticed the same sandstone rock, with +fossil wood on it, which we have on the Zambesi, and knew to be a +sure evidence of coal beneath. We mentioned this at the time to +Captain Gardner, and our finding coal now seemed a verification of +what we then said; the coal-field probably extends from the Zambesi +to the Rovuma, if not beyond it. Some of the rocks lower down have +the permanent water-line three feet above the present height of the +water. + +A few miles west of the Makoa of Matingula, we came again among the +Makonde, but now of good repute. War and slavery have driven them to +seek refuge on the sand-banks. A venerable-looking old man hailed us +as we passed, and asked us if we were going by without speaking. We +landed, and he laid down his gun and came to us; he was accompanied +by his brother, who shook hands with every one in the boat, as he had +seen people do at Kilwa. "Then you have seen white men before?" we +said. "Yes," replied the polite African, "but never people of your +quality." These men were very black, and wore but little clothing. +A young woman, dressed in the highest style of Makonde fashion, +punting as dexterously as a man could, brought a canoe full of girls +to see us. She wore an ornamental head-dress of red beads tied to +her hair on one side of her head, a necklace of fine beads of various +colours, two bright figured brass bracelets on her left arm, and +scarcely a farthing's worth of cloth, though it was at its cheapest. + +As we pushed on westwards, we found that the river makes a little +southing, and some reaches were deeper than any near the sea; but +when we had ascended about 140 miles by the river's course from the +sea, soft tufa rocks began to appear; ten miles beyond, the river +became more narrow and rocky, and when, according to our measurement, +we had ascended 156 miles, our further progress was arrested. We +were rather less than two degrees in a straight line from the Coast. +The incidents worth noticing were but few: seven canoes with loads +of salt and rice kept company with us for some days, and the further +we went inland, the more civil the people became. + +When we came to a stand, just below the island of Nyamatolo, Long. 38 +degrees 36 minutes E., and Lat. 11 degrees 53 minutes, the river was +narrow, and full of rocks. Near the island there is a rocky rapid +with narrow passages fit only for native canoes; the fall is small, +and the banks quite low; but these rocks were an effectual barrier to +all further progress in boats. Previous reports represented the +navigable part of this river as extending to the distance of a +month's sail from its mouth; we found that, at the ordinary heights +of the water, a boat might reach the obstructions which seem peculiar +to all African rivers in six or eight days. The Rovuma is remarkable +for the high lands that flank it for some eighty miles from the +ocean. The cataracts of other rivers occur in mountains, those of +the Rovuma are found in a level part, with hills only in the +distance. Far away in the west and north we could see high blue +heights, probably of igneous origin from their forms, rising out of a +plain. + +The distance from Ngomano, a spot thirty miles further up, to the +Arab crossing-places of Lake Nyassa Tsenga or Kotakota was said to be +twelve days. The way we had discovered to Lake Nyassa by Murchison's +Cataracts had so much less land carriage, that we considered it best +to take our steamer thither, by the route in which we were well +known, instead of working where we were strangers; and accordingly we +made up our minds to return. + +The natives reported a worse place above our turning-point--the +passage being still narrower than this. An Arab, they said, once +built a boat above the rapids, and sent it down full of slaves; but +it was broken to pieces in these upper narrows. Many still +maintained that the Rovuma came from Nyassa, and that it is very +narrow as it issues out of the lake. One man declared that he had +seen it with his own eyes as it left the lake, and seemed displeased +at being cross-questioned, as if we doubted his veracity. + +More satisfactory information, as it appeared to us, was obtained +from others. Two days, or thirty miles, beyond where we turned back, +the Rovuma is joined by the Liende, which, coming from the south- +west, rises in the mountains on the east side of Nyassa. The great +slave route to Kilwa runs up the banks of this river, which is only +ankle-deep at the dry season of the year. The Rovuma itself comes +from the W.N.W., and after the traveller passes the confluence of the +Liende at Ngomano or "meeting-place," the chief of which part is +named Ndonde, he finds the river narrow, and the people Ajawa. + +Crocodiles in the Rovuma have a sorry time of it. Never before were +reptiles so persecuted and snubbed. They are hunted with spears, and +spring traps are set for them. If one of them enters an inviting +pool after fish, he soon finds a fence thrown round it, and a spring +trap set in the only path out of the enclosure. Their flesh is +eaten, and relished. The banks, on which the female lays her eggs by +night, are carefully searched by day, and all the eggs dug out and +devoured. The fish-hawk makes havoc among the few young ones that +escape their other enemies. Our men were constantly on the look-out +for crocodiles' nests. One was found containing thirty-five newly- +laid eggs, and they declared that the crocodile would lay as many +more the second night in another place. The eggs were a foot deep in +the sand on the top of a bank ten feet high. The animal digs a hole +with its foot, covers the eggs, and leaves them till the river rises +over the nest in about three months afterwards, when she comes back, +and assists the young ones out. We once saw opposite Tette young +crocodiles in December, swimming beside an island in company with an +old one. The yolk of the egg is nearly as white as the real white. +In taste they resemble hen's eggs with perhaps a smack of custard, +and would be as highly relished by whites as by blacks, were it not +for their unsavoury origin in men-eaters. + +Hunting the Senze (Aulacodus Swindernianus), an animal the size of a +large cat, but in shape more like a pig, was the chief business of +men and boys as we passed the reedy banks and low islands. They set +fire to a mass of reeds, and, armed with sticks, spears, bows and +arrows, stand in groups guarding the outlets through which the seared +Senze may run from the approaching flames. Dark dense volumes of +impenetrable smoke now roll over on the lee side of the islet, and +shroud the hunters. At times vast sheets of lurid flames bursting +forth, roaring, crackling and exploding, leap wildly far above the +tall reeds. Out rush the terrified animals, and amid the smoke are +seen the excited hunters dancing about with frantic gesticulations, +and hurling stick, spear, and arrow at their burned out victims. +Kites hover over the smoke, ready to pounce on the mantis and locusts +as they spring from the fire. Small crows and hundreds of swallows +are on eager wing, darting into the smoke and out again, seizing +fugitive flies. Scores of insects, in their haste to escape from the +fire, jump into the river, and the active fish enjoy a rare feast. + +We returned to the "Pioneer" on the 9th of October, having been away +one month. The ship's company had used distilled water, a condenser +having been sent out from England; and there had not been a single +case of sickness on board since we left, though there were so many +cases of fever the few days she lay in the same spot last year. Our +boat party drank the water of the river, and the three white sailors, +who had never been in an African river before, had some slight +attacks of fever. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + +Return to the Zambesi--Bishop Mackenzie's grave--Frightful scenes +with crocodiles--Death of Mr. Thornton--African poisons--Recall of +the Expedition. + +We put to sea on the 18th of October, and, again touching at Johanna, +obtained a crew of Johanna men and some oxen, and sailed for the +Zambesi; but our fuel failing before we reached it, and the wind +being contrary, we ran into Quillimane for wood. + +Quillimane must have been built solely for the sake of carrying on +the slave-trade, for no man in his senses would ever have dreamed of +placing a village on such a low, muddy, fever-haunted, and mosquito- +swarming site, had it not been for the facilities it afforded for +slaving. The bar may at springs and floods be easily crossed by +sailing-vessels, but, being far from the land, it is always dangerous +for boats. Slaves, under the name of "free emigrants," have gone by +thousands from Quillimane, during the last six years, to the ports a +little to the south, particularly to Massangano. Some excellent +brick-houses still stand in the place, and the owners are generous +and hospitable: among them our good friend, Colonel Nunez. His +disinterested kindness to us and to all our countrymen can never be +forgotten. He is a noble example of what energy and uprightness may +accomplish even here. He came out as a cabin-boy, and, without a +single friend to help him, he has persevered in an honourable course +until he is the richest man on the East Coast. When Dr. Livingstone +came down the Zambesi in 1856, Colonel Nunez was the chief of the +only four honourable, trustworthy men in the country. But while he +has risen a whole herd has sunk, making loud lamentations, through +puffs of cigar-smoke, over negro laziness; they might add, their own. + +All agricultural enterprise is virtually discouraged by Quillimane +Government. A man must purchase a permit from the Governor, when he +wishes to visit his country farm; and this tax, in a country where +labour is unpopular, causes the farms to be almost entirely left in +the hands of a head slave, who makes returns to his master as +interest or honesty prompts him. A passport must also be bought +whenever a man wishes to go up the river to Mazaro, Senna, or Tette, +or even to reside for a month at Quillimane. With a soil and a +climate well suited for the growth of the cane, abundance of slave +labour, and water communication to any market in the world, they have +never made their own sugar. All they use is imported from Bombay. +"The people of Quillimane have no enterprise," said a young European +Portuguese, "they do nothing, and are always wasting their time in +suffering, or in recovering from fever." + +We entered the Zambesi about the end of November and found it +unusually low, so we did not get up to Shupanga till the 19th of +December. The friends of our Mazaro men, who had now become good +sailors and very attentive servants, turned out and gave them a +hearty welcome back from the perils of the sea: they had begun to +fear that they would never return. We hired them at a sixteen-yard +piece of cloth a month--about ten shillings' worth, the Portuguese +market-price of the cloth being then sevenpence halfpenny a yard,-- +and paid them five pieces each, for four-and-a-half months' work. A +merchant at the same time paid other Mazaro men three pieces for +seven months, and they were with him in the interior. If the +merchants do not prosper, it is not because labour is dear, but +because it is scarce, and because they are so eager on every occasion +to sell the workmen out of the country. Our men had also received +quantities of good clothes from the sailors of the "Pioneer" and of +the "Orestes," and were now regarded by their neighbours and by +themselves as men of importance. Never before had they possessed so +much wealth: they believed that they might settle in life, being now +of sufficient standing to warrant their entering the married state; +and a wife and a hut were among their first investments. Sixteen +yards were paid to the wife's parents, and a hut cost four yards. We +should have liked to have kept them in the ship, for they were well- +behaved and had learned a great deal of the work required. Though +they would not themselves go again, they engaged others for us; and +brought twice as many as we could take, of their brothers and +cousins, who were eager to join the ship and go with us up the Shire, +or anywhere else. They all agreed to take half-pay until they too +had learned to work; and we found no scarcity of labour, though all +that could be exported is now out of the country. + +There had been a drought of unusual severity during the past season +in the country between Lupata and Kebrabasa, and it had extended +north-east to the Manganja highlands. All the Tette slaves, except a +very few household ones, had been driven away by hunger, and were now +far off in the woods, and wherever wild fruit, or the prospect of +obtaining anything whatever to keep the breath of life in them, was +to be found. Their masters were said never to expect to see them +again. There have been two years of great hunger at Tette since we +have been in the country, and a famine like the present prevailed in +1854, when thousands died of starvation. If men like the Cape +farmers owned this country, their energy and enterprise would soon +render the crops independent of rain. There being plenty of slope or +fall, the land could be easily irrigated from the Zambesi and its +tributary streams. A Portuguese colony can never prosper: it is +used as a penal settlement, and everything must be done military +fashion. "What do I care for this country?" said the most +enterprising of the Tette merchants, "all I want is to make money as +soon possible, and then go to Bombay and enjoy it." All business at +Tette was now suspended. Carriers could not be found to take the +goods into the interior, and the merchants could barely obtain food +for their own families. At Mazaro more rain had fallen, and a +tolerable crop followed. The people of Shupanga were collecting and +drying different wild fruits, nearly all of which are far from +palatable to a European taste. The root of a small creeper called +"bise" is dug up and eaten. In appearance it is not unlike the small +white sweet potato, and has a little of the flavour of our potato. +It would be very good, if it were only a little larger. From another +tuber, called "ulanga," very good starch can be made. A few miles +from Shupanga there is an abundance of large game, but the people +here, though fond enough of meat, are not a hunting race, and seldom +kill any. + +The Shire having risen, we steamed off on the 10th of January, 1863, +with the "Lady Nyassa" in tow. It was not long before we came upon +the ravages of the notorious Mariano. The survivors of a small +hamlet, at the foot of Morambala, were in a state of starvation, +having lost their food by one of his marauding parties. The women +were in the fields collecting insects, roots, wild fruits, and +whatever could be eaten, in order to drag on their lives, if +possible, till the next crop should be ripe. Two canoes passed us, +that had been robbed by Mariano's band of everything they had in +them; the owners were gathering palm-nuts for their subsistence. +They wore palm-leaf aprons, as the robbers had stripped them of their +clothing and ornaments. Dead bodies floated past us daily, and in +the mornings the paddles had to be cleared of corpses, caught by the +floats during the night. For scores of miles the entire population +of the valley was swept away by this scourge Mariano, who is again, +as he was before, the great Portuguese slave-agent. It made the +heart ache to see the widespread desolation; the river-banks, once so +populous, all silent; the villages burned down, and an oppressive +stillness reigning where formerly crowds of eager sellers appeared +with the various products of their industry. Here and there might be +seen on the bank a small dreary deserted shed, where had sat, day +after day, a starving fisherman, until the rising waters drove the +fish from their wonted haunts, and left him to die. Tingane had been +defeated; his people had been killed, kidnapped, and forced to flee +from their villages. There were a few wretched survivors in a +village above the Ruo; but the majority of the population was dead. +The sight and smell of dead bodies was everywhere. Many skeletons +lay beside the path, where in their weakness they had fallen and +expired. Ghastly living forms of boys and girls, with dull dead +eyes, were crouching beside some of the huts. A few more miserable +days of their terrible hunger, and they would be with the dead. + +Oppressed with the shocking scenes around, we visited the Bishop's +grave; and though it matters little where a good Christian's ashes +rest, yet it was with sadness that we thought over the hopes which +had clustered around him, as he left the classic grounds of +Cambridge, all now buried in this wild place. How it would have torn +his kindly heart to witness the sights we now were forced to see! + +In giving vent to the natural feelings of regret, that a man so +eminently endowed and learned, as was Bishop Mackenzie, should have +been so soon cut off, some have expressed an opinion that it was +wrong to use an instrument so valuable MERELY to convert the heathen. +If the attempt is to be made at all, it is "penny wise and pound +foolish" to employ any but the very best men, and those who are +specially educated for the work. An ordinary clergyman, however well +suited for a parish, will not, without special training, make a +Missionary; and as to their comparative usefulness, it is like that +of the man who builds an hospital, as compared with that of the +surgeon who in after years only administers for a time the remedies +which the founder had provided in perpetuity. Had the Bishop +succeeded in introducing Christianity, his converts might have been +few, but they would have formed a continuous roll for all time to +come. + +The Shire fell two feet, before we reached the shallow crossing where +we had formerly such difficulty, and we had now two ships to take up. +A hippopotamus was shot two miles above a bank on which the ship lay +a fortnight: it floated in three hours. As the boat was towing it +down, the crocodiles were attracted by the dead beast, and several +shots had to be fired to keep them off. The bullet had not entered +the brain of the animal, but driven a splinter of bone into it. A +little moisture with some gas issued from the wound, and this was all +that could tell the crocodiles down the stream of a dead +hippopotamus; and yet they came up from miles below. Their sense of +smell must be as acute as their hearing; both are quite +extraordinary. Dozens fed on the meat we left. Our Krooman, Jumbo, +used to assert that the crocodile never eats fresh meat, but always +keeps it till it is high and tender--and the stronger it smells the +better he likes it. There seems to be some truth in this. They can +swallow but small pieces at a time, and find it difficult to tear +fresh meat. In the act of swallowing, which is like that of a dog, +the head is raised out of the water. We tried to catch some, and one +was soon hooked; it required half-a-dozen hands to haul him up the +river, and the shark-hook straightened, and he got away. A large +iron hook was next made, but, as the creatures could not swallow it, +their jaws soon pressed it straight--and our crocodile-fishing was a +failure. As one might expect,--from the power even of a salmon--the +tug of a crocodile was terribly strong. + +The corpse of a boy floated past the ship; a monstrous crocodile +rushed at it with the speed of a greyhound, caught it and shook it, +as a terrier dog does a rat. Others dashed at the prey, each with +his powerful tail causing the water to churn and froth, as he +furiously tore off a piece. In a few seconds it was all gone. The +sight was frightful to behold. The Shire swarmed with crocodiles; we +counted sixty-seven of these repulsive reptiles on a single bank, but +they are not as fierce as they are in some rivers. "Crocodiles," +says Captain Tuckey, "are so plentiful in the Congo, near the rapids, +and so frequently carry off the women, who at daylight go down to the +river for water, that, while they are filling their calabashes, one +of the party is usually employed in throwing large stones into the +water outside." Here, either a calabash on a long pole is used in +drawing water, or a fence is planted. The natives eat the crocodile, +but to us the idea of tasting the musky-scented, fishy-looking flesh +carried the idea of cannibalism. Humboldt remarks, that in South +America the alligators of some rivers are more dangerous than in +others. Alligators differ from crocodiles in the fourth or canine +tooth going into a hole or socket in the upper jaw, while in the +crocodile it fits into a notch. The forefoot of the crocodile has +five toes not webbed, the hindfoot has four toes which are webbed; in +the alligator the web is altogether wanting. They are so much alike +that they would no doubt breed together. + +One of the crocodiles which was shot had a piece snapped off the end +of his tail, another had lost a forefoot in fighting; we saw actual +leeches between the teeth, such as are mentioned by Herodotus, but we +never witnessed the plover picking them out. Their greater +fierceness in one part of the country than another is doubtless owing +to a scarcity of fish; in fact, Captain Tuckey says, of that part of +the Congo, mentioned above, "There are no fish here but catfish," and +we found that the lake crocodiles, living in clear water, and with +plenty of fish, scarcely ever attacked man. The Shire teems with +fish of many different kinds. The only time, as already remarked, +when its crocodiles are particularly to be dreaded, is when the river +is in flood. Then the fish are driven from their usual haunts, and +no game comes down to the river to drink, water being abundant in +pools inland. Hunger now impels the crocodile to lie in wait for the +women who come to draw water, and on the Zambesi numbers are carried +off every year. The danger is not so great at other seasons; though +it is never safe to bathe, or to stoop to drink, where one cannot see +the bottom, especially in the evening. One of the Makololo ran down +in the dusk of the river; and, as he was busy tossing the water to +his mouth with his hand, in the manner peculiar to the natives, a +crocodile rose suddenly from the bottom, and caught him by the hand. +The limb of a tree was fortunately within reach, and he had presence +of mind to lay hold of it. Both tugged and pulled; the crocodile for +his dinner, and the man for dear life. For a time it appeared +doubtful whether a dinner or a life was to be sacrificed; but the man +held on, and the monster let the hand go, leaving the deep marks of +his ugly teeth in it. + +During our detention, in expectation of the permanent rise of the +river in March, Dr. Kirk and Mr. C. Livingstone collected numbers of +the wading-birds of the marshes--and made pleasant additions to our +salted provisions, in geese, ducks, and hippopotamus flesh. One of +the comb or knob-nosed geese, on being strangled in order to have its +skin preserved without injury, continued to breathe audibly by the +broken humerus, or wing-bone, and other means had to be adopted to +put it out of pain. This was as if a man on the gallows were to +continue to breathe by a broken armbone, and afforded us an +illustration of the fact, that in birds, the vital air penetrates +every part of the interior of their bodies. The breath passes +through and round about the lungs--bathes the surfaces of the +viscera, and enters the cavities of the bones; it even penetrates +into some spaces between the muscles of the neck--and thus not only +is the most perfect oxygenation of the blood secured, but, the +temperature of the blood being very high, the air in every part is +rarefied, and the great lightness and vigour provided for, that the +habits of birds require. Several birds were found by Dr. Kirk to +have marrow in the tibiae, though these bones are generally described +as hollow. + +During the period of our detention on the shallow part of the river +in March, Mr. Thornton came up to us from Shupanga: he had, as +before narrated, left the Expedition in 1859, and joined Baron van +der Decken, in the journey to Kilimanjaro, when, by an ascent of the +mountain to the height of 8000 feet, it was first proved to be +covered with perpetual snow, and the previous information respecting +it, given by the Church of England Missionaries, Krapf and Rebman, +confirmed. It is now well known that the Baron subsequently ascended +the Kilimanjaro to 14,000 feet, and ascertained its highest peak to +be at least 20,000 feet above the sea. Mr. Thornton made the map of +the first journey, at Shupanga, from materials collected when with +the Baron; and when that work was accomplished, followed us. He was +then directed to examine geologically the Cataract district, but not +to expose himself to contact with the Ajawa until the feelings of +that tribe should be ascertained. + +The members of Bishop Mackenzie's party, on the loss of their head, +fell back from Magomero on the highlands, to Chibisa's, in the low- +lying Shire Valley; and Thornton, finding them suffering from want of +animal food, kindly volunteered to go across thence to Tette, and +bring a supply of goats and sheep. We were not aware of this step, +to which the generosity of his nature prompted him, till two days +after he had started. In addition to securing supplies for the +Universities' Mission, he brought some for the Expedition, and took +bearings, by which he hoped to connect his former work at Tette with +the mountains in the Shire district. The toil of this journey was +too much for his strength, as with the addition of great scarcity of +water, it had been for that of Dr. Kirk and Rae, and he returned in a +sadly haggard and exhausted condition; diarrhoea supervened, and that +ended in dysentery and fever, which terminated fatally on the 21st of +April, 1863. He received the unremitting attentions of Dr. Kirk, and +Dr. Meller, surgeon of the "Pioneer," during the fortnight of his +illness; and as he had suffered very little from fever, or any other +disease, in Africa, we had entertained strong hopes that his youth +and unimpaired constitution would have carried him through. During +the night of the 20th his mind wandered so much, that we could not +ascertain his last wishes; and on the morning of the 21st, to our +great sorrow, he died. He was buried on the 22nd, near a large tree +on the right bank of the Shire, about five hundred yards from the +lowest of the Murchison Cataracts--and close to a rivulet, at which +the "Lady Nyassa" and "Pioneer" lay. + +No words can convey an adequate idea of the scene of widespread +desolation which the once pleasant Shire Valley now presented. +Instead of smiling villages and crowds of people coming with things +for sale, scarcely a soul was to be seen; and, when by chance one +lighted on a native, his frame bore the impress of hunger, and his +countenance the look of a cringing broken-spiritedness. A drought +had visited the land after the slave-hunting panic swept over it. +Had it been possible to conceive the thorough depopulation which had +ensued, we should have avoided coming up the river. Large masses of +the people had fled down to the Shire, only anxious to get the river +between them and their enemies. Most of the food had been left +behind; and famine and starvation had cut off so many, that the +remainder were too few to bury the dead. The corpses we saw floating +down the river were only a remnant of those that had perished, whom +their friends, from weakness, could not bury, nor over-gorged +crocodiles devour. It is true that famine caused a great portion of +this waste of human life: but the slave-trade must be deemed the +chief agent in the ruin, because, as we were informed, in former +droughts all the people flocked from the hills down to the marshes, +which are capable of yielding crops of maize in less than three +months, at any time of the year, and now they were afraid to do so. +A few, encouraged by the Mission in the attempt to cultivate, had +their little patches robbed as successive swarms of fugitives came +from the hills. Who can blame these outcasts from house and home for +stealing to save their wretched lives, or wonder that the owners +protected the little all, on which their own lives depended, with +club and spear? We were informed by Mr. Waller of the dreadful +blight which had befallen the once smiling Shire Valley. His words, +though strong, failed to impress us with the reality. In fact, they +were received, as some may accept our own, as tinged with +exaggeration; but when our eyes beheld the last mere driblets of this +cup of woe, we for the first time felt that the enormous wrongs +inflicted on our fellow-men by slaving are beyond exaggeration. + +Wherever we took a walk, human skeletons were seen in every +direction, and it was painfully interesting to observe the different +postures in which the poor wretches had breathed their last. A whole +heap had been thrown down a slope behind a village, where the +fugitives often crossed the river from the east; and in one hut of +the same village no fewer than twenty drums had been collected, +probably the ferryman's fees. Many had ended their misery under +shady trees--others under projecting crags in the hills--while others +lay in their huts, with closed doors, which when opened disclosed the +mouldering corpse with the poor rags round the loins--the skull +fallen off the pillow--the little skeleton of the child, that had +perished first, rolled up in a mat between two large skeletons. The +sight of this desert, but eighteen months ago a well peopled valley, +now literally strewn with human bones, forced the conviction upon us, +that the destruction of human life in the middle passage, however +great, constitutes but a small portion of the waste, and made us feel +that unless the slave-trade--that monster iniquity, which has so long +brooded over Africa--is put down, lawful commerce cannot be +established. + +We believed that, if it were possible to get a steamer upon the Lake, +we could by her means put a check on the slavers from the East Coast; +and aid more effectually still in the suppression of the slave-trade, +by introducing, by way of the Rovuma, a lawful traffic in ivory. We +therefore unscrewed the "Lady Nyassa" at a rivulet about five hundred +yards below the first cataract, and began to make a road over the +thirty-five or forty miles of land portage, by which to carry her up +piecemeal. After mature consideration, we could not imagine a more +noble work of benevolence, than thus to introduce light and liberty +into a quarter of this fair earth, which human lust has converted +into the nearest possible resemblance of what we conceive the +infernal regions to be--and we sacrificed much of our private +resources as an offering for the promotion of so good a cause. + +The chief part of the labour of road-making consisted in cutting down +trees and removing stones. The country being covered with open +forest, a small tree had to be cut about every fifty or sixty yards. +The land near the river was so very much intersected by ravines, that +search had to be made, a mile from its banks, for more level ground. +Experienced Hottentot drivers would have taken Cape wagons without +any other trouble than that of occasionally cutting down a tree. No +tsetse infested this district, and the cattle brought from Johanna +flourished on the abundant pasture. The first half-mile of road led +up, by a gradual slope, to an altitude of two hundred feet above the +ship, and a sensible difference of climate was felt even there. For +the remainder of the distance the height increased,--till, at the +uppermost cataract, we were more than 1200 feet above the sea. The +country here, having recovered from the effects of the drought, was +bright with young green woodland, and mountains of the same +refreshing hue. But the absence of the crowds, which had attended us +as we carried up the boat, when the women followed us for miles with +fine meal, vegetables, and fat fowls for sale, and the boys were ever +ready for a little job--and the oppressive stillness bore heavily on +our spirits. The Portuguese of Tette had very effectually removed +our labourers. Not an ounce of fresh provisions could be obtained, +except what could be shot, and even the food for our native crew had +to be brought one hundred and fifty miles from the Zambesi. + +The diet of salt provisions and preserved meats without vegetables, +with the depression of spirits caused by seeing how effectually a few +wretched convicts, aided by the connivance of officials, of whom +better might have been hoped, could counteract our best efforts, and +turn intended good to certain evil, brought on attacks of dysentery, +which went the round of the Expedition--and, Dr. Kirk and Charles +Livingstone having suffered most severely, it was deemed advisable +that they should go home. This measure was necessary, though much to +the regret of all--for having done so much, they were naturally +anxious to be present, when, by the establishing ourselves on the +Lake, all our efforts should be crowned with success. After it had +been decided that these two officers, and all the whites who could be +spared, should be sent down to the sea for a passage to England, Dr. +Livingstone was seized in May with a severe attack of dysentery, +which continued for a month, and reduced him to a shadow. Dr. Kirk +kindly remained in attendance till the worst was passed. The parting +took place on the 19th of May. + +After a few miles of road were completed, and the oxen broken in, we +resolved to try and render ourselves independent of the south for +fresh provisions, by going in a boat up the Shire, above the +Cataracts, to the tribes at the foot of Lake Nyassa, who were still +untouched by the Ajawa invasion. In furtherance of this plan Dr. +Livingstone and Mr. Rae determined to walk up to examine, and, if +need be, mend the boat which had been left two seasons previously +hung up to the limb of a large shady tree, before attempting to carry +another past the Cataracts. The "Pioneer," which was to be left in +charge of our active and most trustworthy gunner, Mr. Edward D. +Young, R.N., was thoroughly roofed over with euphorbia branches and +grass, so as completely to protect her decks from the sun: she also +received daily a due amount of man-of-war scrubbing and washing; and, +besides having everything put in shipshape fashion, was every evening +swung out into the middle of the river, for the sake of the greater +amount of air which circulated there. In addition to their daily +routine work of the ship, the three stokers, one sailor, and one +carpenter--now our complement--were encouraged to hunt for guinea- +fowl, which in June, when the water inland is dried up, come in large +flocks to the river's banks, and roost on the trees at night. +Everything that can be done to keep mind and body employed tends to +prevent fever. + +While we were employed in these operations, some of the poor starved +people about had been in the habit of crossing the river, and reaping +the self-sown mapira, in the old gardens of their countrymen. In the +afternoon of the 9th, a canoe came floating down empty, and shortly +after a woman was seen swimming near the other side, which was about +two hundred yards distant from us. Our native crew manned the boat, +and rescued her; when brought on board, she was found to have an +arrow-head, eight or ten inches long, in her back, below the ribs, +and slanting up through the diaphragm and left lung, towards the +heart--she had been shot from behind when stooping. Air was coming +out of the wound, and, there being but an inch of the barbed arrow- +head visible, it was thought better not to run the risk of her dying +under the operation necessary for its removal; so we carried her up +to her own hut. One of her relatives was less scrupulous, for he cut +out the arrow and part of the lung. Mr. Young sent her occasionally +portions of native corn, and strange to say found that she not only +became well, but stout. The constitution of these people seems to +have a wonderful power of self-repair--and it could be no slight +privation which had cut off the many thousands that we saw dead +around us. + +We regretted that, in consequence of Dr. Meller having now sole +medical charge, we could not have his company in our projected trip; +but he found employment in botany and natural history, after the +annual sickly season of March, April, and May was over; and his +constant presence was not so much required at the ship. Later in the +year, when he could be well spared, he went down the river to take up +an appointment he had been offered in Madagascar; but unfortunately +was so severely tried by illness while detained at the coast, that +for nearly two years he was not able to turn his abilities as a +naturalist to account by proceeding to that island. We have no doubt +but he will yet distinguish himself in that untrodden field. + +On the 16th of June we started for the Upper Cataracts, with a mule- +cart, our road lying a distance of a mile west from the river. We +saw many of the deserted dwellings of the people who formerly came to +us; and were very much struck by the extent of land under +cultivation, though that, compared with the whole country, is very +small. Large patches of mapira continued to grow,--as it is said it +does from the roots for three years. The mapira was mixed with tall +bushes of the Congo-bean, castor-oil plants, and cotton. The largest +patch of this kind we paced, and found it to be six hundred and +thirty paces on one side--the rest were from one acre to three, and +many not more than one-third of an acre. The cotton--of very +superior quality--was now dropping off the bushes, to be left to rot- +-there was no one to gather what would have been of so much value in +Lancashire. The huts, in the different villages we entered, were +standing quite perfect. The mortars for pounding corn--the stones +for grinding it--the water and beer pots--the empty corn-safes and +kitchen utensils, were all untouched; and most of the doors were +shut, as if the starving owners had gone out to wander in search of +roots or fruits in the forest, and had never returned. When opened, +several huts revealed a ghastly sight of human skeletons. Some were +seen in such unnatural positions, as to give the idea that they had +expired in a faint, when trying to reach something to allay the +gnawings of hunger. + +We took several of the men as far as the Mukuru-Madse for the sake of +the change of air and for occupation, and also to secure for the +ships a supply of buffalo meat--as those animals were reported to be +in abundance on that stream. But though it was evident from the +tracks that the report was true, it was impossible to get a glimpse +of them. The grass being taller than we were, and pretty thickly +planted, they always knew of our approach before we saw them. And +the first intimation we had of their being near was the sound they +made in rushing over the stones, breaking the branches, and knocking +their horns against each other. Once, when seeking a ford for the +cart, at sunrise, we saw a herd slowly wending up the hill-side from +the water. Sending for a rifle, and stalking with intense eagerness +for a fat beefsteak, instead of our usual fare of salted provisions, +we got so near that we could hear the bulls uttering their hoarse +deep low, but could see nothing except the mass of yellow grass in +front; suddenly the buffalo-birds sounded their alarm-whistle, and +away dashed the troop, and we got sight of neither birds nor beasts. +This would be no country for a sportsman except when the grass is +short. The animals are wary, from the dread they have of the +poisoned arrows. Those of the natives who do hunt are deeply imbued +with the hunting spirit, and follow the game with a stealthy +perseverance and cunning, quite extraordinary. The arrow making no +noise, the herd is followed up until the poison takes effect, and the +wounded animal falls out. It is then patiently watched till it +drops--a portion of meat round the wound is cut away, and all the +rest eaten. + +Poisoned arrows are made in two pieces. An iron barb is firmly +fastened to one end of a small wand of wood, ten inches or a foot +long, the other end of which, fined down to a long point, is nicely +fitted, though not otherwise secured, in the hollow of the reed, +which forms the arrow shaft. The wood immediately below the iron +head is smeared with the poison. When the arrow is shot into an +animal, the reed either falls to the ground at once, or is very soon +brushed off by the bushes; but the iron barb and poisoned upper part +of the wood remain in the wound. If made in one piece, the arrow +would often be torn out, head and all, by the long shaft catching in +the underwood, or striking against trees. The poison used here, and +called kombi, is obtained from a species of strophanthus, and is very +virulent. Dr. Kirk found by an accidental experiment on himself that +it acts by lowering the pulse. In using his tooth-brush, which had +been in a pocket containing a little of the poison, he noticed a +bitter taste, but attributed it to his having sometimes used, the +handle in taking quinine. Though the quantity was small, it +immediately showed its power by lowering his pulse which at the time +had been raised by a cold, and next day he was perfectly restored. +Not much can be inferred from a single case of this kind, but it is +possible that the kombi may turn out a valuable remedy; and as +Professor Sharpey has conducted a series of experiments with this +substance, we look with interest for the results. An alkaloid has +been obtained from it similar to strychnine. There is no doubt that +all kinds of wild animals die from the effects of poisoned arrows, +except the elephant and hippopotamus. The amount of poison that this +little weapon can convey into their systems being too small to kill +those huge beasts, the hunters resort to the beam trap instead. + +Another kind of poison was met with on Lake Nyassa, which was said to +be used exclusively for killing men. It was put on small wooden +arrow-heads, and carefully protected by a piece of maize-leaf tied +round it. It caused numbness of the tongue when the smallest +particle was tasted. The Bushmen of the northern part of the +Kalahari were seen applying the entrails of a small caterpillar which +they termed 'Nga to their arrows. This venom was declared to be so +powerful in producing delirium, that a man in dying returned in +imagination to a state of infancy, and would call for his mother's +breast. Lions when shot with it are said to perish in agonies. The +poisonous ingredient in this case may be derived from the plant on +which the caterpillar feeds. It is difficult to conceive by what +sort of experiments the properties of these poisons, known for +generations, were proved. Probably the animal instincts, which have +become so obtuse by civilization, that children in England eat the +berries of the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) without +suspicion, were in the early uncivilized state much more keen. In +some points instinct is still retained among savages. It is related +that in the celebrated voyage of the French navigator, Bougainville, +a young lady, who had assumed the male attire, performed all the hard +duties incident to the calling of a common sailor; and, even as +servant to the geologist, carried a bag of stones and specimens over +hills and dales without a complaint, and without having her sex +suspected by her associates; but on landing among the savages of one +of the South Sea Islands, she was instantly recognized as a female. +They began to show their impressions in a way that compelled her to +confess her sex, and throw herself on the protection of the +commander, which of course was granted. In like manner, the earlier +portions of the human family may have had their instincts as to +plants more highly developed than any of their descendants--if indeed +much more knowledge than we usually suppose be not the effect of +direct revelation from above. + +The Mukuru-Madse has a deep rocky bed. The water is generally about +four feet deep, and fifteen or twenty yards broad. Before reaching +it, we passed five or six gullies; but beyond it the country, for two +or three miles from the river, was comparatively smooth. The long +grass was overrunning all the native paths, and one species (sanu), +which has a sharp barbed seed a quarter of an inch in length, enters +every pore of woollen clothing and highly irritates the skin. From +its hard, sharp point a series of minute barbs are laid back, and +give the seed a hold wherever it enters: the slightest touch gives +it an entering motion, and the little hooks prevent its working out. +These seeds are so abundant in some spots, that the inside of the +stocking becomes worse than the roughest hair shirt. It is, however, +an excellent self-sower, and fine fodder; it rises to the height of +common meadow-grass in England, and would be a capital plant for +spreading over a new country not so abundantly supplied with grasses +as this is. + +We have sometimes noticed two or three leaves together pierced +through by these seeds, and thus made, as it were, into wings to +carry them to any soil suited to their growth. + +We always follow the native paths, though they are generally not more +than fifteen inches broad, and so often have deep little holes in +them, made for the purpose of setting traps for small animals, and +are so much obscured by the long grass, that one has to keep one's +eyes on the ground more than is pleasant. In spite, however, of all +drawbacks, it is vastly more easy to travel on these tracks than to +go straight over uncultivated ground, or virgin forest. A path +usually leads to some village, though sometimes it turns out to be a +mere game track leading nowhere. + +In going north, we came into a part called Mpemba where Chibisa was +owned as chief, but the people did not know that he had been +assassinated by the Portuguese Terera. A great deal of grain was +lying round the hut, where we spent the night. Very large numbers of +turtledoves feasted undisturbed on the tall stalked mapira ears, and +we easily secured plenty of fine fat guinea-fowls--now allowed to +feed leisurely in the deserted gardens. The reason assigned for all +this listless improvidence was "There are no women to grind the corn- +-all are dead." + +The cotton patches in all cases seemed to have been so well cared +for, and kept so free of weeds formerly, that, though now untended, +but few weeds had sprung up; and the bushes were thus preserved in +the annual grass burnings. Many baobab-trees grow in different +spots, and the few people seen were using the white pulp found +between the seeds to make a pleasant subacid drink. + +On passing Malango, near the uppermost cataract, not a soul was to be +seen; but, as we rested opposite a beautiful tree-covered island, the +merry voices of children at play fell on our ears--the parents had +fled thither for protection from the slave-hunting Ajawa, still urged +on by the occasional visits of the Portuguese agents from Tette. The +Ajawa, instead of passing below the Cataracts, now avoided us, and +crossed over to the east side near to the tree on which we had hung +the boat. Those of the Manganja, to whom we could make ourselves +known, readily came to us; but the majority had lost all confidence +in themselves, in each other, and in every one else. The boat had +been burned about three months previously, and the Manganja were very +anxious that we should believe that this had been the act of the +Ajawa; but on scanning the spot we saw that it was more likely to +have caught fire in the grass-burning of the country. Had we +intended to be so long in returning to it, we should have hoisted it +bottom upwards; for, as it was, it is probable that a quantity of +dried leaves lay inside, and a spark ignited the whole. All the +trees within fifty yards were scorched and killed, and the nails, +iron, and copper sheathing, all lay undisturbed beneath. Had the +Ajawa done the deed, they would have taken away the copper and iron. + +Our hopes of rendering ourselves independent of the south for +provisions, by means of this boat, being thus disappointed, we turned +back with the intention of carrying another up to the same spot; and, +in order to find level ground for this, we passed across from the +Shire at Malango to the upper part of the stream Lesungwe. A fine, +active, intelligent fellow, called Pekila, guided us, and was +remarkable as almost the only one of the population left with any +spirit in him. The depressing effect which the slave-hunting scourge +has upon the native mind, though little to be wondered at, is sad, +very sad to witness. Musical instruments, mats, pillows, mortars for +pounding meal, were lying about unused, and becoming the prey of the +white ants. With all their little comforts destroyed, the survivors +were thrown still further back into barbarism. + +It is of little importance perhaps to any but travellers to notice +that in occupying one night a well-built hut, which had been shut up +for some time, the air inside at once gave us a chill, and an attack +of fever; both of which vanished when the place was well-ventilated +by means of a fire. We have frequently observed that lighting a fire +early in the mornings, even in the hottest time of the year, gives +freshness to the whole house, and removes that feeling of closeness +and langour, which a hot climate induces. + +On the night of the 1st July, 1863, several loud peals of thunder +awoke us; the moon was shining brightly, and not a cloud to be seen. +All the natives remarked on the clearness of the sky at the time, and +next morning said, "We thought it was God" (Morungo). + +On arriving at the ship on the 2nd July, we found a despatch from +Earl Russell, containing instructions for the withdrawal of the +Expedition. The devastation caused by slave-hunting and famine lay +all around. The labour had been as completely swept away from the +Great Shire Valley, as it had been from the Zambesi, wherever +Portuguese intrigue or power extended. The continual forays of +Mariano had spread ruin and desolation on our south-east as far as +Mount Clarendon. + +While this was going on in our rear, the Tette slave-hunters from the +West had stimulated the Ajawa to sweep all the Manganja off the hills +on our East; and slaving parties for this purpose were still passing +the Shire above the Cataracts. In addition to the confession of the +Governor of Tette, of an intention to go on with this slaving in +accordance with the counsel of his elder brother at Mosambique, we +had reason to believe that slavery went on under the eye of his +Excellency, the Governor-General himself; and this was subsequently +corroborated by our recognizing two women at Mosambique who had lived +within a hundred yards of the Mission-station at Magomero. They were +well known to our attendants, and had formed a part of a gang of +several hundreds taken to Mosambique by the Ajawa at the very time +when his Excellency was entertaining English officers with anti- +slavery palavers. To any one who understands how minute the +information is, which Portuguese governors possess by means of their +own slaves, and through gossiping traders who seek to curry their +favour, it is idle to assert that all this slaving goes on without +their approval and connivance. + +If more had been wanted to prove the hopelessness of producing any +change in the system which has prevailed ever since our allies, the +Portuguese, entered the country, we had it in the impunity with which +the freebooter, Terera, who had murdered Chibisa, was allowed to +carry on his forays. Belchoir, another marauder, had been checked, +but was still allowed to make war, as they term slave-hunting. + +Mr. Horace Waller was living for some five months on Mount Morambala, +a position from which the whole process of the slave-trade, and +depopulation of the country around could be well noted. The mountain +overlooks the Shire, the beautiful meanderings of which are +distinctly seen, on clear days, for thirty miles. This river was for +some time supposed to be closed against Mariano, who, as a mere +matter of form, was declared a rebel against the Portuguese flag. +When, however, it became no longer possible to keep up the sham, the +river was thrown open to him; and Mr. Waller has seen in a single day +from fifteen to twenty canoes of different sizes going down, laden +with slaves, to the Portuguese settlements from the so-called rebel +camp. These cargoes were composed entirely of women and children. +For three months this traffic was incessant, and at last, so +completely was the mask thrown off, that one of the officials came to +pay a visit to Bishop Tozer on another part of the same mountain, +and, combining business with pleasure, collected payment for some +canoe work done for the Missionary party, and with this purchased +slaves from the rebels, who had only to be hailed from the bank of +the river. When he had concluded the bargain he trotted the slaves +out for inspection in Mr. Waller's presence. This official, Senhor +Mesquita, was the only officer who could be forced to live at the +Kongone. From certain circumstances in his life, he had fallen under +the power of the local Government; all the other Custom-house +officers refused to go to Kongone, so here poor Mesquita must live on +a miserable pittance--must live, and perhaps slave, sorely against +his will. His name is not brought forward with a view of throwing +any odium on his character. The disinterested kindness which he +showed to Dr. Meller, and others, forbids that he should be mentioned +by us with anything like unkindness. + +Under all these considerations, with the fact that we had not found +the Rovuma so favourable for navigation at the time of our visit as +we expected, it was impossible not to coincide in the wisdom of our +withdrawal; but we deeply regretted that we had ever given credit to +the Portuguese Government for any desire to ameliorate the condition +of the African race; for, with half the labour and expense anywhere +else, we should have made an indelible mark of improvement on a +section of the Continent. Viewing Portuguese statesmen in the light +of the laws they have passed for the suppression of slavery and the +slave-trade, and by the standard of the high character of our own +public men, it cannot be considered weakness to have believed in the +sincerity of the anxiety to aid our enterprise, professed by the +Lisbon Ministry. We hoped to benefit both Portuguese and Africans by +introducing free-trade and Christianity. Our allies, unfortunately, +cannot see the slightest benefit in any measure that does not imply +raising themselves up by thrusting others down. The official paper +of the Lisbon Government has since let us know "that their policy was +directed to frustrating the grasping designs of the British +Government to the dominion of Eastern Africa." We, who were on the +spot, and behind the scenes, knew that feelings of private +benevolence had the chief share in the operations undertaken for +introducing the reign of peace and good will on the Lakes and central +regions, which for ages have been the abodes of violence and +bloodshed. But that great change was not to be accomplished. The +narrow-minded would ascribe all that was attempted to the grasping +propensity of the English. But the motives that actuate many in +England, both in public and private life, are much more noble than +the world gives them credit for. + +Seeing, then, that we were not yet arrived at "the good time coming," +and that it was quite impossible to take the "Pioneer" down to the +sea till the floods of December, we made arrangements to screw the +"Lady Nyassa" together; and, in order to improve the time +intervening, we resolved to carry a boat past the Cataracts a second +time, sail along the eastern shore of the Lake, and round the +northern end, and also collect data by which to verify the +information collected by Colonel Rigby, that the 19,000 slaves, who +go through the Custom-house of Zanzibar annually, are chiefly drawn +from Lake Nyassa and the Valley of the Shire. + +Our party consisted of twenty natives, some of whom were Johanna men, +and were supposed to be capable of managing the six oxen which drew +the small wagon with a boat on it. A team of twelve Cape oxen, with +a Hottentot driver and leader, would have taken the wagon over the +country we had to pass through with the greatest ease; but no sooner +did we get beyond the part of the road already made, than our drivers +encountered obstructions in the way of trees and gullies, which it +would have been a waste of time to have overcome by felling timber +and hauling out the wagon by block and tackle purchases. The Ajawa +and Manganja settled at Chibisa's were therefore sent for, and they +took the boat on their shoulders and carried it briskly, in a few +days, past all the Cataracts except one; then coming to a +comparatively still reach of the river, they took advantage of it to +haul her up a couple of miles. The Makololo had her then entirely in +charge; for, being accustomed to rapids in their own country, no +better boatmen could be desired. The river here is very narrow, and +even in what are called still places, the current is very strong, and +often obliged them to haul the boat along by the reeds on the banks, +or to hand a tow-rope ashore. The reeds are full of cowitch +(Dolichos pruriens), the pods of which are covered with what looks a +fine velvety down, but is in reality a multitude of fine prickles, +which go in by the million, and caused an itching and stinging in the +naked bodies of those who were pulling the tow-rope, that made them +wriggle as if stung by a whole bed of nettles. Those on board +required to be men of ready resource with oars and punting-poles, and +such they were. But, nevertheless, they found, after attempting to +pass by a rock, round which the water rushed in whirls, that the +wiser plan would be to take the boat ashore, and carry her past the +last Cataract. When this was reported, the carriers were called from +the various shady trees under which they had taken refuge from the +sun. This was midwinter, but the sun is always hot by day here, +though the nights are cold. Five Zambesi men, who had been all their +lives accustomed to great heavy canoes,--the chief recommendation of +which is said to be, that they can be run against a rock with the +full force of the current without injury--were very desirous to show +how much better they could manage our boat than the Makololo; three +jumped into her when our backs were turned, and two hauled her up a +little way; the tide caught her bow, we heard a shout of distress, +the rope was out of their hands in a moment, and there she was, +bottom upwards; a turn or two in an eddy, and away she went, like an +arrow, down the Cataracts. One of the men in swimming ashore saved a +rifle. The whole party ran with all their might along the bank, but +never more did we see our boat. + +The five performers in this catastrophe approached with penitential +looks. They had nothing to say, nor had we. They bent down slowly, +and touched our feet with both hands. "Ku kuata moendo"--"to catch +the foot"--is their way of asking forgiveness. It was so like what +we have seen a little child do--try to bring a dish unbidden to its +papa, and letting it fall, burst into a cry of distress--that they +were only sentenced to go back to the ship, get provisions, and, in +the ensuing journey on foot, carry as much as they could, and thus +make up for the loss of the boat. + +It was excessively annoying to lose all this property, and be +deprived of the means of doing the work proposed, on the east and +north of the Lake; but it would have been like crying over spilt milk +to do otherwise now than make the best use we could of our legs. The +men were sent back to the ship for provisions, cloth, and beads; and +while they are gone, we may say a little of the Cataracts which +proved so fatal to our boating plan. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + +Dr. Livingstone's further explorations--Effects of slave-trade-- +Kirk's range--Ajawa migration--Native fishermen--Arab slave-crossing- +-Splendid highlands. + +The Murchison Cataracts of the Shire river begin in 15 degrees 20 +minutes S., and end in lat. 15 degrees 55 minutes S., the difference +of latitude is therefore 35 minutes. The river runs in this space +nearly north and south, till we pass Malango; so the entire distance +is under 40 miles. The principal Cataracts are five in number, and +are called Pamofunda or Pamozima, Morewa, Panoreba or Tedzane, +Pampatamanga, and Papekira. Besides these, three or four smaller +ones might be mentioned; as, for instance, Mamvira, where in our +ascent we first met the broken water, and heard that gushing sound +which, from the interminable windings of some 200 miles of river +below, we had come to believe the tranquil Shire could never make. +While these lesser cataracts descend at an angle of scarcely 20 +degrees, the greater fall 100 feet in 100 yards, at an angle of about +45 degrees, and one at an angle of 70 degrees. One part of Pamozima +is perpendicular, and, when the river is in flood, causes a cloud of +vapour to ascend, which, in our journey to Lake Shirwa, we saw at a +distance of at least eight miles. The entire descent from the Upper +to the Lower Shire is 1200 feet. Only on one spot in all that +distance is the current moderate--namely, above Tedzane. The rest is +all rapid, and much of it being only fifty or eighty yards wide, and +rushing like a mill-race, it gives the impression of water-power, +sufficient to drive all the mills in Manchester, running to waste. +Pamofunda, or Pamozima, has a deep shady grove on its right bank. +When we were walking alone through its dark shade, we were startled +by a shocking smell like that of a dissecting-room; and on looking up +saw dead bodies in mats suspended from the branches of the trees, a +mode of burial somewhat similar to that which we subsequently saw +practised by the Parsees in their "towers of silence" at Poonah, near +Bombay. The name Pamozima means, "the departed spirits or gods"--a +fit name for a place over which, according to the popular belief, the +disembodied souls continually hover. + +The rock lowest down in the series is dark reddish-grey syenite. +This seems to have been an upheaving agent, for the mica schists +above it are much disturbed. Dark trappean rocks full of hornblende +have in many places burst through these schists, and appear in +nodules on the surface. The highest rock seen is a fine sandstone of +closer grain than that at Tette, and quite metamorphosed where it +comes into contact with the igneous rocks below it. It sometimes +gives place to quartz and reddish clay schists, much baked by heat. +This is the usual geological condition on the right bank of the +Cataracts. On the other side we pass over masses of porphyritic +trap, in contact with the same mica schists, and these probably give +to the soil the great fertility we observed. The great body of the +mountains is syenite. So much mica is washed into the river, that on +looking attentively on the stream one sees myriads of particles +floating and glancing in the sun; and this, too, even at low water. + +It was the 15th of August before the men returned from the ship, +accompanied by Mr. Rae and the steward of the "Pioneer." They +brought two oxen, one of which was instantly slaughtered to put +courage into all hearts, and some bottles of wine, a present from +Waller and Alington. We never carried wine before, but this was +precious as an expression of kindheartedness on the part of the +donors. If one attempted to carry either wine or spirits, as a +beverage, he would require a whole troop of followers for nothing +else. Our greatest luxury in travelling was tea or coffee. We never +once carried sugar enough to last a journey, but coffee is always +good, while the sugarless tea is only bearable, because of the +unbearable gnawing feeling of want and sinking which ensues if we +begin to travel in the mornings without something warm in the +stomach. Our drink generally was water, and if cool, nothing can +equal it in a hot climate. We usually carried a bottle of brandy +rolled up in our blankets, but that was used only as a medicine; a +spoonful in hot water before going to bed, to fend off a chill and +fever. Spirits always do harm, if the fever has fairly begun; and it +is probable that brandy-and-water has to answer for a good many of +the deaths in Africa. + +Mr. Rae had made gratifying progress in screwing together the "Lady +Nyassa." He had the zealous co-operation of three as fine steady +workmen as ever handled tools; and, as they were noble specimens of +English sailors, we would fain mention the names of men who are an +honour to the British navy--John Reid, John Pennell, and Richard +Wilson. The reader will excuse our doing so, but we desire to record +how much they were esteemed, and how thankful we felt for their good +behaviour. The weather was delightfully cool; and, with full +confidence in those left behind, it was with light hearts we turned +our faces north. Mr. Rae accompanied us a day in front; and, as all +our party had earnestly advised that at least two Europeans should be +associated together on the journey, the steward was at the last +moment taken. Mr. Rae returned to get the "Lady Nyassa" ready for +sea; and, as she drew less water than the "Pioneer," take her down to +the ocean in October. One reason for taking the steward is worth +recording. Both he and a man named King, {5} who, though only a +leading stoker in the Navy, had been a promising student in the +University of Aberdeen, had got into that weak bloodless-looking +state which residence in the lowlands without much to do or think +about often induces. The best thing for this is change and an active +life. A couple of days' march only as far as the Mukuru-Madse, +infused so much vigour into King that he was able to walk briskly +back. Consideration for the steward's health led to his being +selected for this northern journey, and the measure was so completely +successful that it was often, in the hard march, a subject of regret +that King had not been taken too. A removal of only a hundred yards +is sometimes so beneficial that it ought in severe cases never to be +omitted. + +Our object now was to get away to the N.N.W., proceed parallel with +Lake Nyassa, but at a considerable distance west of it, and thus pass +by the Mazitu or Zulus near its northern end without contact-- +ascertain whether any large river flowed into the Lake from the west- +-visit Lake Moelo, if time permitted, and collect information about +the trade on the great slave route, which crosses the Lake at its +southern end, and at Tsenga and Kota-kota. The Makololo were eager +to travel fast, because they wanted to be back in time to hoe their +fields before the rains, and also because their wives needed looking +after. + +In going in the first instance N.E. from the uppermost Cataract, we +followed in a measure the great bend of the river towards the foot of +Mount Zomba. Here we had a view of its most imposing side, the west, +with the plateau some 3000 feet high, stretching away to its south, +and Mounts Chiradzuru and Mochiru towering aloft to the sky. From +that goodly highland station, it was once hoped by the noble +Mackenzie, who, for largeness of heart and loving disposition, really +deserved to be called the "Bishop of Central Africa," that light and +liberty would spread to all the interior. We still think it may be a +centre for civilizing influences; for any one descending from these +cool heights, and stepping into a boat on the Upper Shire, can sail +three hundred miles without a check into the heart of Africa. + +We passed through a tract of country covered with mopane trees, where +the hard baked soil refused to let the usual thick crops of grass +grow; and here we came upon very many tracks of buffaloes, elephants, +antelopes, and the spoor of one lion. An ox we drove along with us, +as provision for the way, was sorely bitten by the tsetse. The +effect of the bite was, as usual, quite apparent two days afterwards, +in the general flaccidity of the muscles, the drooping ears, and +looks of illness. It always excited our wonder that we, who were +frequently much bitten too by the same insects, felt no harm from +their attacks. Man shares the immunity of the wild animals. + +Finding a few people on the evening of the 20th of August, who were +supporting a wretched existence on tamarinds and mice, we ascertained +that there was no hope of our being able to buy food anywhere nearer +than the Lakelet Pamalombe, where the Ajawa chief, Kainka, was now +living; but that plenty could be found with the Maravi female chief, +Nyango. We turned away north-westwards, and struck the stream Ribve- +ribve, or Rivi-rivi, which rises in the Maravi range, and flows into +the Shire. + +As the Rivi-rivi came from the N.W. we continued to travel along its +banks, until we came to people who had successfully defended +themselves against the hordes of the Ajawa. By employing the men of +one village to go forward and explain who we were to the next, we +managed to prevent the frightened inhabitants from considering us a +fresh party of Ajawa, or of Portuguese slaving agents. Here they had +cultivated maize, and were willing to sell, but no persuasion could +induce them to give us guides to the chieftainess, Nyango. They +evidently felt that we were not to be trusted; though, as we had to +certify to our own character, our companions did not fail "to blow +our own trumpet," with blasts in which modesty was quite out of the +question. To allay suspicion, we had at last to refrain from +mentioning the lady's name. + +It would be wearisome to repeat the names of the villages we passed +on our way to the north-west. One was the largest we ever saw in +Africa, and quite deserted, with the usual sad sight of many +skeletons lying about. Another was called Tette. We know three +places of this name, which fact shows it to be a native word; it +seems to mean a place where the water rushes over rocks. A third +village was called Chipanga (a great work), a name identical with the +Shupanga of the Portuguese. This repetition of names may indicate +that the same people first took these epithets in their traditional +passage from north to south. + +At this season of the year the nights are still cold, and the people, +having no crops to occupy their attention, do not stir out till long +after the sun is up. At other times they are off to their fields +before the day dawns, and the first sound one hears is the loud +talking of men and women, in which they usually indulge in the dark +to scare off beasts by the sound of the human voice. When no work is +to be done, the first warning of approaching day is the hemp-smoker's +loud ringing cough. + +Having been delayed one morning by some negotiation about guides, who +were used chiefly to introduce us to other villages, we two whites +walked a little way ahead, taking the direction of the stream. The +men having been always able to find out our route by the prints of +our shoes, we went on for a number of miles. This time, however, +they lost our track, and failed to follow us. The path was well +marked by elephants, hyenas, pallahs, and zebras, but for many a day +no human foot had trod it. When the sun went down a deserted hamlet +was reached, where we made comfortable beds for ourselves of grass. +Firing muskets to attract the attention of those who have strayed is +the usual resource in these cases. On this occasion the sound of +firearms tended to mislead us; for, hearing shots next morning, a +long weary march led us only to some native hunters, who had been +shooting buffaloes. Returning to a small village, we met with some +people who remembered our passing up to the Lake in the boat; they +were as kind as they could be. The only food they possessed was +tamarinds, prepared with ashes, and a little cowitch meal. The +cowitch, as mentioned before, has a velvety brown covering of minute +prickles, which, if touched, enter the pores of the skin and cause a +painful tingling. The women in times of scarcity collect the pods, +kindle a fire of grass over them to destroy the prickles, then steep +the beans till they begin to sprout, wash them in pure water, and +either boil them or pound them into meal, which resembles our bean- +meal. This plant climbs up the long grass, and abounds in all reedy +parts, and, though a plague to the traveller who touches its pods, it +performs good service in times of famine by saving many a life from +starvation. Its name here is Kitedzi. + +Having travelled at least twenty miles in search of our party that +day, our rest on a mat in the best hut of the village was very sweet. +We had dined the evening before on a pigeon each, and had eaten only +a handful of kitedzi porridge this afternoon. The good wife of the +village took a little corn which she had kept for seed, ground it +after dark, and made it into porridge. This, and a cup of wild +vegetables of a sweetish taste for a relish, a little boy brought in +and put down, with several vigorous claps of his hands, in the manner +which is esteemed polite, and which is strictly enjoined on all +children. + +On the third day of separation, Akosanjere, the headman of this +village, conducted us forward to our party who had gone on to Nseze, +a district to the westward. This incident is mentioned, not for any +interest it possesses, apart from the idea of the people it conveys. +We were completely separated from our men for nearly three days, and +had nothing wherewith to purchase food. The people were sorely +pressed by famine and war, and their hospitality, poor as it was, did +them great credit, and was most grateful to us. Our own men had +become confused and wandered, but had done their utmost to find us; +on our rejoining them, the ox was slain, and all, having been on +short commons, rejoiced in this "day of slaughter." Akosanjere was, +of course, rewarded to his heart's content. + +As we pursued our way, we came close up to a range of mountains, the +most prominent peak of which is called Mvai. This is a great, bare, +rounded block of granite shooting up from the rest of the chain. It +and several other masses of rock are of a light grey colour, with +white patches, as if of lichens; the sides and summits are generally +thinly covered with rather scraggy trees. There are several other +prominent peaks--one, for instance, still further north, called +Chirobve. Each has a name, but we could never ascertain that there +was an appellation which applied to the whole. This fact, and our +wish to commemorate the name of Dr. Kirk, induced us afterwards, when +we could not discover a particular peak mentioned to us formerly as +Molomo-ao-koku, or Cock's-bill, to call the whole chain from the west +of the Cataracts up to the north end of the Lake, "Kirk's Range." +The part we slept at opposite Mvai was named Paudio, and was +evidently a continuation of the district of one of our stations on +the Shire, at which observations for latitude were formerly taken. + +Leaving Paudio, we had Kirk's Range close on our left and at least +3000 feet above us, and probably not less than 5000 feet above the +sea. Far to our right extended a long green wooded country rising +gradually up to a ridge, ornamented with several detached mountains, +which bounded the Shire Valley. In front, northwards, lay a valley +as rich and lovely as we ever saw anywhere, terminating at the +mountains, which, stretched away some thirty miles beyond our range +of vision and ended at Cape Maclear. The groups of trees had never +been subjected to the landscape gardener's art; but had been cut down +mercilessly, just as suited the convenience of the cultivator; yet +the various combinations of open forest, sloping woodland, grassy +lawns, and massive clumps of dark green foliage along the running +streams, formed as beautiful a landscape as could be seen on the +Thames. This valley is named Goa or Gova, and as we moved through it +we found that what was smooth to the eye was very much furrowed by +running streams winding round innumerable knolls. These little +brooklets came down from the range on our left, and the water was +deliciously cool. + +When we came abreast of the peak Chirobve, the people would no longer +give us guides. They were afraid of their enemies, whose dwellings +we now had on our east; and, proceeding without any one to lead us, +or to introduce us to the inhabitants, we were perplexed by all the +paths running zigzag across instead of along the valley. They had +been made by the villagers going from the hamlets on the slopes to +their gardens in the meadows below. To add to our difficulties, the +rivulets and mountain-torrents had worn gullies some thirty or forty +feet deep, with steep sides that could not be climbed except at +certain points. The remaining inhabitants on the flank of the range +when they saw strangers winding from side to side, and often +attempting to cross these torrent beds at impossible places, screamed +out their shrill war-alarm, and made the valley ring with their wild +outcries. It was war, and war alone, and we were too deep down in +the valley to make our voices heard in explanation. Fortunately, +they had burned off the long grass to a great extent. It only here +and there hid them from us. Selecting an open spot, we spent a night +regarded by all around us as slave-hunters, but were undisturbed, +though the usual way of treating an enemy in this part of the country +is by night attack. + +The nights at the altitude of the valley were cool, the lowest +temperature shown being 37 degrees; at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. it was 58 +degrees, about the average temperature of the day; at mid-day 82 +degrees, and sunset 70 degrees. Our march was very much hindered by +the imperfectly burned corn and grass stalks having fallen across the +paths. To a reader in England this will seem a very small obstacle. +But he must fancy the grass stems as thick as his little finger, and +the corn-stalks like so many walkingsticks lying in one direction, +and so supporting each other that one has to lift his feet up as when +wading through deep high heather. The stems of grass showed the +causes of certain explosions as loud as pistols, which are heard when +the annual fires come roaring over the land. The heated air inside +expanding bursts the stalk with a loud report, and strews the +fragments on the ground. + +A very great deal of native corn had been cultivated here, and we saw +buffaloes feeding in the deserted gardens, and some women, who ran +away very much faster than the beasts did. + +On the 29th, seeing some people standing under a tree by a village, +we sat down, and sent Masego, one of our party, to communicate. The +headman, Matunda, came back with him, bearing a calabash with water +for us. He said that all the people had fled from the Ajawa, who had +only just desisted from their career of pillage on being paid five +persons as a fine for some offence for which they had commenced the +invasion. Matunda had plenty of grain to sell, and all the women +were soon at work grinding it into meal. We secured an abundant +supply, and four milk goats. The Manganja goat is of a very superior +breed to the general African animal, being short in the legs and +having a finely-shaped broad body. By promising the Makololo that, +when we no longer needed the milk, they should have the goats to +improve the breed of their own at home, they were induced to take the +greatest possible care of both goats and kids in driving and +pasturing. + +After leaving Matunda, we came to the end of the highland valley; +and, before descending a steep declivity of a thousand feet towards +the part which may be called the heel of the Lake, we had the bold +mountains of Cape Maclear on our right, with the blue water at their +base, the hills of Tsenga in the distance in front, and Kirk's Range +on our left, stretching away northwards, and apparently becoming +lower. As we came down into a fine rich undulating valley, many +perennial streams running to the east from the hills on our left were +crossed, while all those behind us on the higher ground seemed to +unite in one named Lekue, which flowed into the Lake. + +After a long day's march in the valley of the Lake, where the +temperature was very much higher than in that we had just left, we +entered the village of Katosa, which is situated on the bank of a +stream among gigantic timber trees, and found there a large party of +Ajawa--Waiau, they called themselves--all armed with muskets. We sat +down among them, and were soon called to the chiefs court, and +presented with an ample mess of porridge, buffalo meat, and beer. +Katosa was more frank than any Manganja chief we had met, and +complimented us by saying that "we must be his 'Bazimo' (good spirits +of his ancestors); for when he lived at Pamalombe, we lighted upon +him from above--men the like of whom he had never seen before, and +coming he knew not whence." He gave us one of his own large and +clean huts to sleep in; and we may take this opportunity of saying +that the impression we received, from our first journey on the hills +among the villages of Chisunse, of the excessive dirtiness of the +Manganja, was erroneous. This trait was confined to the cool +highlands. Here crowds of men and women were observed to perform +their ablutions daily in the stream that ran past their villages; and +this we have observed elsewhere to be a common custom with both +Manganja and Ajawa. + +Before we started on the morning of the 1st September, Katosa sent an +enormous calabash of beer, containing at least three gallons, and +then came and wished us to "stop a day and eat with him." On +explaining to him the reasons for our haste, he said that he was in +the way by which travellers usually passed, he never stopped them in +their journeys, but would like to look at us for a day. On our +promising to rest a little with him on our return, he gave us about +two pecks of rice, and three guides to conduct us to a subordinate +female chief, Nkwinda, living on the borders of the Lake in front. + +The Ajawa, from having taken slaves down to Quillimane and +Mosambique, knew more of us than Katosa did. Their muskets were +carefully polished, and never out of these slaver's hands for a +moment, though in the chiefs presence. We naturally felt +apprehensive that we should never see Katosa again. A migratory +afflatus seems to have come over the Ajawa tribes. Wars among +themselves, for the supply of the Coast slave-trade, are said to have +first set them in motion. The usual way in which they have advanced +among the Manganja has been by slave-trading in a friendly way. +Then, professing to wish to live as subjects, they have been welcomed +as guests, and the Manganja, being great agriculturists, have been +able to support considerable bodies of these visitors for a time. +When the provisions became scarce, the guests began to steal from the +fields; quarrels arose in consequence, and, the Ajawa having +firearms, their hosts got the worst of it, and were expelled from +village after village, and out of their own country. The Manganja +were quite as bad in regard to slave-trading as the Ajawa, but had +less enterprise, and were much more fond of the home pursuits of +spinning, weaving, smelting iron, and cultivating the soil, than of +foreign travel. The Ajawa had little of a mechanical turn, and not +much love for agriculture, but were very keen traders and travellers. +This party seemed to us to be in the first or friendly stage of +intercourse with Katosa; and, as we afterwards found, he was fully +alive to the danger. + +Our course was shaped towards the N.W., and we traversed a large +fertile tract of rich soil extensively cultivated, but dotted with +many gigantic thorny acacias which had proved too large for the +little axes of the cultivators. After leaving Nkwinda, the first +village we spent a night at in the district Ngabi was that of Chembi, +and it had a stockade around it. The Azitu or Mazitu were said to be +ravaging the country to the west of us, and no one was safe except in +a stockade. We have so often, in travelling, heard of war in front, +that we paid little attention to the assertion of Chembi, that the +whole country to the N.W. was in flight before these Mazitu, under a +chief with the rather formidable name of Mowhiriwhiri; we therefore +resolved to go on to Chinsamba's, still further in the same +direction, and hear what he said about it. + +The only instrument of husbandry here is the short-handled hoe; and +about Tette the labour of tilling the soil, as represented in the +woodcut, is performed entirely by female slaves. On the West Coast a +double-handled hoe is employed. Here the small hoe is seen in the +hands of both men and women. In other parts of Africa a hoe with a +handle four feet long is used, but the plough is quite unknown. + +In illustration of the manner in which the native knowledge of +agriculture strikes an honest intelligent observer, it may be +mentioned that the first time good Bishop Mackenzie beheld how well +the fields of the Manganja were cultivated on the hills, he remarked +to Dr. Livingstone, then his fellow-traveller--"When telling the +people in England what were my objects in going out to Africa, I +stated that, among other things, I meant to teach these people +agriculture; but I now see that they know far more about it than I +do." This, we take it, was an honest straightforward testimony, and +we believe that every unprejudiced witness, who has an opportunity of +forming an opinion of Africans who have never been debased by +slavery, will rank them very much higher in the scale of +intelligence, industry, and manhood, than others who know them only +in a state of degradation. + +On coming near Chinsamba's two stockades, on the banks of the +Lintipe, we were told that the Mazitu had been repulsed there the day +before, and we had evidence of the truth of the report of the attack +in the sad sight of the bodies of the slain. The Zulus had taken off +large numbers of women laden with corn; and, when driven back, had +cut off the ears of a male prisoner, as a sort of credential that he +had been with the Mazitu, and with grim humour sent him to tell +Chinsamba "to take good care of the corn in the stockades, for they +meant to return for it in a month or two." + +Chinsamba's people were drumming with might and main on our arrival, +to express their joy at their deliverance from the Mazitu. The drum +is the chief instrument of music among the Manganja, and with it they +express both their joy and grief. They excel in beating time. +Chinsamba called us into a very large hut, and presented us with a +huge basket of beer. The glare of sunlight from which we had come +enabled him, in diplomatic fashion, to have a good view of us before +our eyes became enough accustomed to the dark inside to see him. He +has a Jewish cast of countenance, or rather the ancient Assyrian +face, as seen in the monuments brought to the British Museum by Mr. +Layard. This form of face is very common in this country, and leads +to the belief that the true type of the negro is not that met on the +West Coast, from which most people have derived their ideas of the +African. + +Chinsamba had many Abisa or Babisa in his stockade, and it was +chiefly by the help of their muskets that he had repulsed the Mazitu: +these Babisa are great travellers and traders. + +We liked Chinsamba very well, and found that he was decidedly opposed +to our risking our lives by going further to the N.W. The Mazitu +were believed to occupy all the hills in that direction, so we spent +the 4th of September with him. + +It is rather a minute thing to mention, and it will only be +understood by those who have children of their own, but the cries of +the little ones, in their infant sorrows, are the same in tone, at +different ages, here as all over the world. We have been perpetually +reminded of home and family by the wailings which were once familiar +to parental ears and heart, and felt thankful that to the sorrows of +childhood our children would never have superadded the heartrending +woes of the slave-trade. + +Taking Chinsamba's advice to avoid the Mazitu in their marauding, we +started on the 5th September away to the N.E., and passed mile after +mile of native cornfields, with an occasional cotton-patch. + +After a long march, we passed over a waterless plain about N.N.W. of +the hills of Tsenga to a village on the Lake, and thence up its +shores to Chitanda. The banks of the Lake were now crowded with +fugitives, who had collected there for the poor protection which the +reeds afforded. For miles along the water's edge was one continuous +village of temporary huts. The people had brought a little corn with +them; but they said, "What shall we eat when that is done? When we +plant corn, the wild beasts (Zinyama, as they call the Mazitu) come +and take it. When we plant cassava, they do the same. How are we to +live?" A poor blind woman, thinking we were Mazitu, rushed off in +front of us with outspread arms, lifting the feet high, in the manner +peculiar to those who have lost their sight, and jumped into the +reeds of a stream for safety. + +In our way along the shores we crossed several running rivulets of +clear cold water, which, from having reeds at their confluences, had +not been noticed in our previous exploration in the boat. One of +these was called Mokola, and another had a strong odour of +sulphuretted hydrogen. We reached Molamba on the 8th September, and +found our old acquaintance, Nkomo, there still. One of the +advantages of travelling along the shores of the Lake was, that we +could bathe anywhere in its clear fresh water. To us, who had been +obliged so often to restrain our inclination in the Zambesi and Shire +for fear of crocodiles, this was pleasant beyond measure. The water +now was of the same temperature as it was on our former visit, or 72 +degrees Fahr. The immense depth of the Lake prevents the rays of the +sun from raising the temperature as high as that of the Shire and +Zambesi; and the crocodiles, having always clear water in the Lake, +and abundance of fish, rarely attack man; many of these reptiles +could be seen basking on the rocks. + +A day's march beyond Molamba brought us to the lakelet Chia, which +lies parallel with the Lake. It is three or four miles long, by from +one to one and a half broad, and communicates with the Lake by an arm +of good depth, but with some rocks in it. As we passed up between +the Lake and the eastern shore of this lakelet, we did not see any +streams flowing into it. It is quite remarkable for the abundance of +fish; and we saw upwards of fifty large canoes engaged in the +fishery, which is carried on by means of hand-nets with side-frame +poles about seven feet long. These nets are nearly identical with +those now in use in Normandy--the difference being that the African +net has a piece of stick lashed across the handle-ends of the side +poles to keep them steady, which is a great improvement. The fish +must be very abundant to be scooped out of the water in such +quantities as we saw, and by so many canoes. There is quite a trade +here in dried fish. + +The country around is elevated, undulating, and very extensively +planted with cassava. The hoe in use has a handle of four feet in +length, and the iron part is exactly of the same form as that in the +country of the Bechuanas. The baskets here, which are so closely +woven together as to hold beer, are the same with those employed to +hold milk in Kaffirland--a thousand miles distant. + +Marching on foot is peculiarly conducive to meditation--one is glad +of any subject to occupy the mind, and relieve the monotony of the +weary treadmill-like trudge-trudging. This Chia net brought to our +mind that the smith's bellows made here of a goatskin bag, with +sticks along the open ends, are the same as those in use in the +Bechuana country far to the south-west. These, with the long-handled +hoe, may only show that each successive horde from north to south +took inventions with it from the same original source. Where that +source may have been is probably indicated by another pair of +bellows, which we observed below the Victoria Falls, being found in +Central India and among the Gipsies of Europe. + +Men in remote times may have had more highly-developed instincts, +which enabled them to avoid or use poisons; but the late Archbishop +Whately has proved, that wholly untaught savages never could invent +anything, or even subsist at all. Abundant corroboration of his +arguments is met with in this country, where the natives require but +little in the way of clothing, and have remarkably hardy stomachs. +Although possessing a knowledge of all the edible roots and fruits in +the country, having hoes to dig with, and spears, bows, and arrows to +kill the game,--we have seen that, notwithstanding all these +appliances and means to boot, they have perished of absolute +starvation. + +The art of making fire is the same in India as in Africa. The +smelting furnaces, for reducing iron and copper from the ores, are +also similar. Yellow haematite, which bears not the smallest +resemblance either in colour or weight to the metal, is employed near +Kolobeng for the production of iron. Malachite, the precious green +stone used in civilized life for vases, would never be suspected by +the uninstructed to be a rich ore of copper, and yet it is +extensively smelted for rings and other ornaments in the heart of +Africa. A copper bar of native manufacture four feet long was +offered to us for sale at Chinsamba's. These arts are monuments +attesting the fact, that some instruction from above must at some +time or other have been supplied to mankind; and, as Archbishop +Whately says, "the most probable conclusion is, that man when first +created, or very shortly afterwards, was advanced, by the Creator +Himself, to a state above that of a mere savage." + +The argument for an original revelation to man, though quite +independent of the Bible history, tends to confirm that history. It +is of the same nature with this, that man could not have MADE +himself, and therefore must have had a Divine CREATOR. Mankind could +not, in the first instance, have CIVILIZED themselves, and therefore +must have had a superhuman INSTRUCTOR. + +In connection with this subject, it is remarkable that throughout +successive generations no change has taken place in the form of the +various inventions. Hammers, tongs, hoes, axes, adzes, handles to +them; needles, bows and arrows, with the mode of feathering the +latter; spears, for killing game, with spear-heads having what is +termed "dish" on both sides to give them, when thrown, the rotatory +motion of rifle-balls; the arts of spinning and weaving, with that of +pounding and steeping the inner bark of a tree till it serves as +clothing; millstones for grinding corn into meal; the manufacture of +the same kind of pots or chatties as in India; the art of cooking, of +brewing beer and straining it as was done in ancient Egypt; fish- +hooks, fishing and hunting nets, fish-baskets, and weirs, the same as +in the Highlands of Scotland; traps for catching animals, etc., +etc.,--have all been so very permanent from age to age, and some of +them of identical patterns are so widely spread over the globe, as to +render it probable that they were all, at least in some degree, +derived from one Source. The African traditions, which seem +possessed of the same unchangeability as the arts to which they +relate, like those of all other nations refer their origin to a +superior Being. And it is much more reasonable to receive the hints +given in Genesis, concerning direct instruction from God to our first +parents or their children in religious or moral duty, and probably in +the knowledge of the arts of life, {6} than to give credence to the +theory that untaught savage man subsisted in a state which would +prove fatal to all his descendants, and that in such helpless state +he made many inventions which most of his progeny retained, but never +improved upon during some thirty centuries. + +We crossed in canoes the arm of the Lake, which joins Chia to Nyassa, +and spent the night on its northern bank. The whole country adjacent +to the Lake, from this point up to Kota-kota Bay, is densely peopled +by thousands who have fled from the forays of the Mazitu in hopes of +protection from the Arabs who live there. In three running rivulets +we saw the Shuare palm, and an oil palm which is much inferior to +that on the West Coast. Though somewhat similar in appearance, the +fruit is not much larger than hazel-nuts, and the people do not use +them, on account of the small quantity of oil which they afford. + +The idea of using oil for light never seems to have entered the +African mind. Here a bundle of split and dried bamboo, tied together +with creeping plants, as thick as a man's body, and about twenty feet +in length, is employed in the canoes as a torch to attract the fish +at night. It would be considered a piece of the most wasteful +extravagance to burn the oil they obtain from the castor-oil bean and +other seeds, and also from certain fish, or in fact to do anything +with it but anoint their heads and bodies. + +We arrived at Kota-kota Bay in the afternoon of the 10th September, +1863; and sat down under a magnificent wild fig-tree with leaves ten +inches long, by five broad, about a quarter of a mile from the +village of Juma ben Saidi, and Yakobe ben Arame, whom we had met on +the River Kaombe, a little north of this, in our first exploration of +the Lake. We had rested but a short time when Juma, who is evidently +the chief person here, followed by about fifty people, came to salute +us and to invite us to take up our quarters in his village. The hut +which, by mistake, was offered, was so small and dirty, that we +preferred sleeping in an open space a few hundred yards off. + +Juma afterwards apologized for the mistake, and presented us with +rice, meal, sugar-cane, and a piece of malachite. We returned his +visit on the following day, and found him engaged in building a dhow +or Arab vessel, to replace one which he said had been wrecked. This +new one was fifty feet long, twelve feet broad, and five feet deep. +The planks were of a wood like teak, here called Timbati, and the +timbers of a closer grained wood called Msoro. The sight of this +dhow gave us a hint which, had we previously received it, would have +prevented our attempting to carry a vessel of iron past the +Cataracts. The trees around Katosa's village were Timbati, and they +would have yielded planks fifty feet long and thirty inches broad. +With a few native carpenters a good vessel could be built on the Lake +nearly as quickly as one could be carried past the Cataracts, and at +a vastly less cost. Juma said that no money would induce him to part +with this dhow. He was very busy in transporting slaves across the +Lake by means of two boats, which we saw returning from a trip in the +afternoon. As he did not know of our intention to visit him, we came +upon several gangs of stout young men slaves, each secured by the +neck to one common chain, waiting for exportation, and several more +in slave-sticks. These were all civilly removed before our interview +was over, because Juma knew that we did not relish the sight. + +When we met the same Arabs in 1861, they had but few attendants: +according to their own account, they had now, in the village and +adjacent country, 1500 souls. It is certain that tens of thousands +had flocked to them for protection, and all their power and influence +must be attributed to the possession of guns and gunpowder. This +crowding of refugees to any point where there is a hope for security +for life and property is very common in this region, and the +knowledge of it made our hopes beat high for the success of a +peaceful Mission on the shores of the Lake. The rate, however, in +which the people here will perish by the next famine, or be exported +by Juma and others, will, we fear, depopulate those parts which we +have just described as crowded with people. Hunger will ere long +compel them to sell each other. An intelligent man complained to us +of the Arabs often seizing slaves, to whom they took a fancy, without +the formality of purchase; but the price is so low--from two to four +yards of calico--that one can scarcely think this seizure and +exportation without payment worth their while. The boats were in +constant employment, and, curiously enough, Ben Habib, whom we met at +Linyanti in 1855, had been taken across the Lake, the day before our +arrival at this Bay, on his way from Sesheke to Kilwa, and we became +acquainted with a native servant of the Arabs, called Selele +Saidallah, who could speak the Makololo language pretty fairly from +having once spent some months in the Barotse Valley. + +From boyhood upwards we have been accustomed, from time to time, to +read in books of travels about the great advances annually made by +Mohammedanism in Africa. The rate at which this religion spreads was +said to be so rapid, that in after days, in our own pretty extensive +travels, we have constantly been on the look out for the advancing +wave from North to South, which, it was prophesied, would soon reduce +the entire continent to the faith of the false prophet. The only +foundation that we can discover for the assertions referred to, and +for others of more recent date, is the fact that in a remote corner +of North-Western Africa the Fulahs, and Mandingoes, and some others +in Northern Africa, as mentioned by Dr. Barth, have made conquests of +territory; but even they care so very little for the extension of +their faith, that after the conquest no pains whatever are taken to +indoctrinate the adults of the tribe. This is in exact accordance +with the impression we have received from our intercourse with +Mohammedans and Christians. The followers of Christ alone are +anxious to propagate their faith. A quasi philanthropist would +certainly never need to recommend the followers of Islam, whom we +have met, to restrain their benevolence by preaching that "Charity +should begin at home." + +Though Selele and his companions were bound to their masters by +domestic ties, the only new idea they had imbibed from Mohammedanism +was, that it would be wrong to eat meat killed by other people. They +thought it would be "unlucky." Just as the inhabitants of Kolobeng, +before being taught the requirements of Christianity, refrained from +hoeing their gardens on Sundays, lest they should reap an unlucky +crop. So far as we could learn, no efforts had been made to convert +the natives, though these two Arabs, and about a dozen half-castes, +had been in the country for many years; and judging from our +experience with a dozen Mohammedans in our employ at high wages for +sixteen months, the Africans would be the better men in proportion as +they retained their native faith. This may appear only a harsh +judgment from a mind imbued with Christian prejudices; but without +any pretention to that impartiality, which leaves it doubtful to +which side the affections lean, the truth may be fairly stated by one +who viewed all Mohammedans and Africans with the sincerest good will. + +Our twelve Mohammedans from Johanna were the least open of any of our +party to impression from kindness. A marked difference in general +conduct was apparent. The Makololo, and other natives of the +country, whom we had with us, invariably shared with each other the +food they had cooked, but the Johanna men partook of their meals at a +distance. This, at first, we attributed to their Moslem prejudices; +but when they saw the cooking process of the others nearly complete, +they came, sat beside them, and ate the portion offered without ever +remembering to return the compliment when their own turn came to be +generous. The Makololo and the others grumbled at their greediness, +yet always followed the common custom of Africans of sharing their +food with all who sit around them. What vexed us most in the Johanna +men was their indifference to the welfare of each other. Once, when +they were all coming to the ship after sleeping ashore, one of them +walked into the water with the intention of swimming off to the boat, +and while yet hardly up to his knees was seized by a horrid crocodile +and dragged under; the poor fellow gave a shriek, and held up his +hand for aid, but none of his countrymen stirred to his assistance, +and he was never seen again. On asking his brother-in-law why he did +not help him, he replied, "Well, no one told him to go into the +water. It was his own fault that he was killed." The Makololo on +the other hand rescued a woman at Senna by entering the water, and +taking her out of the crocodile's mouth. + +It is not assumed that their religion had much to do in the matter. +Many Mohammedans might contrast favourably with indifferent +Christians; but, so far as our experience in East Africa goes, the +moral tone of the follower of Mahomed is pitched at a lower key than +that of the untutored African. The ancient zeal for propagating the +tenets of the Koran has evaporated, and been replaced by the most +intense selfishness and grossest sensuality. The only known efforts +made by Mohammedans, namely, those in the North-West and North of the +continent, are so linked with the acquisition of power and plunder, +as not to deserve the name of religious propagandism; and the only +religion that now makes proselytes is that of Jesus Christ. To those +who are capable of taking a comprehensive view of this subject, +nothing can be adduced of more telling significance than the well- +attested fact, that while the Mohammedans, Fulahs, and others towards +Central Africa, make a few proselytes by a process which gratifies +their own covetousness, three small sections of the Christian +converts, the Africans in the South, in the West Indies, and on the +West Coast of Africa actually contribute for the support and spread +of their religion upwards of 15,000 pounds annually. {7} That +religion which so far overcomes the selfishness of the human heart +must be Divine. + +Leaving Kota-kota Bay, we turned away due West on the great slave +route to Katanga's and Cazembe's country in Londa. Juma lent us his +servant, Selele, to lead us the first day's march. He said that the +traders from Kilwa and Iboe cross the Lake either at this bay, or at +Tsenga, or at the southern end of the Lake; and that wherever they +may cross they all go by this path to the interior. They have slaves +with them to carry their goods, and when they reach a spot where they +can easily buy others, they settle down and begin the traffic, and at +once cultivate grain. So much of the land lies waste, that no +objection is ever made to any one taking possession of as much as he +needs; they can purchase a field of cassava for their present wants +for very little, and they continue trading in the country for two or +three years, and giving what weight their muskets possess to the +chief who is most liberal to them. + +The first day's march led us over a rich, well-cultivated plain. +This was succeeded by highlands, undulating, stony, and covered with +scraggy trees. Many banks of well rounded shingle appear. The +disintegration of the rocks, now going on, does not round off the +angles; they are split up by the heat and cold into angular +fragments. On these high downs we crossed the River Kaombe. Beyond +it we came among the upland vegetation--rhododendrons, proteas, the +masuko, and molompi. At the foot of the hill, Kasuko-suko, we found +the River Bua running north to join the Kaombe. We had to go a mile +out of our way for a ford; the stream is deep enough in parts for +hippopotami. The various streams not previously noticed, crossed in +this journey, had before this led us to the conclusion, independently +of the testimony of the natives, that no large river ran into the +north end of the Lake. No such affluent was needed to account for +the Shire's perennial flow. + +On September 15th we reached the top of the ascent which, from its +many ups and downs, had often made us puff and blow as if broken- +winded. The water of the streams we crossed was deliciously cold, +and now that we had gained the summit at Ndonda, where the boiling- +point of water showed an altitude of 3440 feet above the sea, the air +was delightful. Looking back we had a magnificent view of the Lake, +but the haze prevented our seeing beyond the sea horizon. The scene +was beautiful, but it was impossible to dissociate the lovely +landscape whose hills and dales had so sorely tried our legs and +lungs, from the sad fact that this was part of the great slave route +now actually in use. By this road many "Ten thousands" have here +seen "the Sea," "the Sea," but with sinking hearts; for the universal +idea among the captive gangs is, that they are going to be fattened +and eaten by the whites. They cannot of course be so much shocked as +we should be--their sensibilities are far from fine, their feelings +are more obtuse than ours--in fact, "the live eels are used to being +skinned," perhaps they rather like it. We who are not philosophic, +blessed the Providence which at Thermopylae in ancient days rolled +back the tide of Eastern conquest from the West, and so guided the +course of events that light and liberty and gospel truth spread to +our distant isle, and emancipating our race freed them from the fear +of ever again having to climb fatiguing heights and descend wearisome +hollows in a slave-gang, as we suppose they did when the fair English +youths were exposed for sale at Rome. + +Looking westwards we perceived that, what from below had the +appearance of mountains, was only the edge of a table-land which, +though at first undulating, soon became smooth, and sloped towards +the centre of the country. To the south a prominent mountain called +Chipata, and to the south-west another named Ngalla, by which the Bua +is said to rise, gave character to the landscape. In the north, +masses of hills prevented our seeing more than eight or ten miles. + +The air which was so exhilarating to Europeans had an opposite effect +on five men who had been born and reared in the malaria of the Delta +of the Zambesi. No sooner did they reach the edge of the plateau at +Ndonda, than they lay down prostrate, and complained of pains all +over them. The temperature was not much lower than that on the +shores of the Lake below, 76 degrees being the mean temperature of +the day, 52 degrees the lowest, and 82 degrees the highest during the +twenty-four hours; at the Lake it was about l0 degrees higher. Of +the symptoms they complained of--pains everywhere--nothing could be +made. And yet it was evident that they had good reason for saying +that they were ill. They scarified almost every part of their bodies +as a remedial measure; medicines, administered on the supposition +that their malady was the effect of a sudden chill, had no effect, +and in two days one of them actually died in consequence of, as far +as we could judge, a change from a malarious to a purer and more +rarefied atmosphere. + +As we were on the slave route, we found the people more churlish than +usual. On being expostulated with about it, they replied, "We have +been made wary by those who come to buy slaves." The calamity of +death having befallen our party, seemed, however, to awaken their +sympathies. They pointed out their usual burying-place, lent us +hoes, and helped to make the grave. When we offered to pay all +expenses, they showed that they had not done these friendly offices +without fully appreciating their value; for they enumerated the use +of the hut, the mat on which the deceased had lain, the hoes, the +labour, and the medicine which they had scattered over the place to +make him rest in peace. + +The primitive African faith seems to be that there is one Almighty +Maker of heaven and earth; that he has given the various plants of +earth to man to be employed as mediators between him and the spirit +world, where all who have ever been born and died continue to live; +that sin consists in offences against their fellow-men, either here +or among the departed, and that death is often a punishment of guilt, +such as witchcraft. Their idea of moral evil differs in no respect +from ours, but they consider themselves amenable only to inferior +beings, not to the Supreme. Evil-speaking--lying--hatred-- +disobedience to parents--neglect of them--are said by the intelligent +to have been all known to be sin, as well as theft, murder, or +adultery, before they knew aught of Europeans or their teaching. The +only new addition to their moral code is, that it is wrong to have +more wives than one. This, until the arrival of Europeans, never +entered into their minds even as a doubt. + +Everything not to be accounted for by common causes, whether of good +or evil, is ascribed to the Deity. Men are inseparably connected +with the spirits of the departed, and when one dies he is believed to +have joined the hosts of his ancestors. All the Africans we have met +with are as firmly persuaded of their future existence as of their +present life. And we have found none in whom the belief in the +Supreme Being was not rooted. He is so invariably referred to as the +Author of everything supernatural, that, unless one is ignorant of +their language, he cannot fail to notice this prominent feature of +their faith. When they pass into the unseen world, they do not seem +to be possessed with the fear of punishment. The utensils placed +upon the grave are all broken as if to indicate that they will never +be used by the departed again. The body is put into the grave in a +sitting posture, and the hands are folded in front. In some parts of +the country there are tales which we could translate into faint +glimmerings of a resurrection; but whether these fables, handed down +from age to age, convey that meaning to the natives themselves we +cannot tell. The true tradition of faith is asserted to be "though a +man die he will live again;" the false that when he dies he is dead +for ever. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + +Important geographical discoveries in the Wabisa countries--Cruelty +of the slave-trade--The Mazitu--Serious illness of Dr. Livingstone-- +Return to the ship. + +In our course westwards, we at first passed over a gently undulating +country, with a reddish clayey soil, which, from the heavy crops, +appeared to be very fertile. Many rivulets were crossed, some +running southwards into the Bua, and others northwards into the +Loangwa, a river which we formerly saw flowing into the Lake. +Further on, the water was chiefly found in pools and wells. Then +still further, in the same direction, some watercourses were said to +flow into that same "Loangwa of the Lake," and others into the +Loangwa, which flows to the south-west, and enters the Zambesi at +Zumbo, and is here called the "Loangwa of the Maravi." The trees +were in general scraggy, and covered, exactly as they are in the damp +climate of the Coast, with lichens, resembling orchilla-weed. The +maize, which loves rather a damp soil, had been planted on ridges to +allow the superfluous moisture to run off. Everything indicated a +very humid climate, and the people warned us that, as the rains were +near, we were likely to be prevented from returning by the country +becoming flooded and impassable. + +Villages, as usual encircled by euphorbia hedges, were numerous, and +a great deal of grain had been cultivated around them. Domestic +fowls, in plenty, and pigeons with dovecots like those in Egypt were +seen. The people call themselves Matumboka, but the only difference +between them and the rest of the Manganja is in the mode of tattooing +the face. Their language is the same. Their distinctive mark +consists of four tattooed lines diverging from the point between the +eyebrows, which, in frowning, the muscles form into a furrow. The +other lines of tattooing, as in all Manganja, run in long seams, +which crossing each other at certain angles form a great number of +triangular spaces on the breast, back, arms, and thighs. The cuticle +is divided by a knife, and the edges of the incision are drawn apart +till the true skin appears. By a repetition of this process, lines +of raised cicatrices are formed, which are thought to give beauty, no +matter how much pain the fashion gives. + +It would not be worth while to advert for a moment to the routine of +travelling, or the little difficulties that beset every one who +attempts to penetrate into a new country, were it not to show the +great source of the power here possessed by slave-traders. We needed +help in carrying our goods, while our men were ill, though still able +to march. When we had settled with others for hire, we were often +told, that the dealers in men had taken possession of some, and had +taken them away altogether. Other things led us to believe that the +slave-traders carry matters with a high hand; and no wonder, for the +possession of gunpowder gives them almost absolute power. The mode +by which tribes armed with bows and arrows carry on warfare, or +defend themselves, is by ambuscade. They never come out in open +fight, but wait for the enemy ensconced behind trees, or in the long +grass of the country, and shoot at him unawares. Consequently, if +men come against them with firearms, when, as is usually the case, +the long grass is all burned off, the tribe attacked are as helpless +as a wooden ship, possessing only signal guns, would be before an +iron-clad steamer. The time of year selected for this kind of +warfare is nearly always that in which the grass is actually burnt +off, or is so dry as readily to take fire. The dry grass in Africa +looks more like ripe English wheat late in the autumn, than anything +else we can compare it to. Let us imagine an English village +standing in a field of this sort, bounded only by the horizon, and +enemies setting fire to a line of a mile or two, by running along +with bunches of burning straw in their hands, touching here and there +the inflammable material,--the wind blowing towards the doomed +village--the inhabitants with only one or two old muskets, but ten to +one no powder,--the long line of flames, leaping thirty feet into the +air with dense masses of black smoke--and pieces of charred grass +falling down in showers. Would not the stoutest English villager, +armed only with the bow and arrow against the enemy's musket, quail +at the idea of breaking through that wall of fire? When at a +distance, we once saw a scene like this, and had the charred grass, +literally as thick as flakes of black snow, falling around us, there +was no difficulty in understanding the secret of the slave-trader's +power. + +On the 21st of September, we arrived at the village of the chief +Muasi, or Muazi; it is surrounded by a stockade, and embowered in +very tall euphorbia-trees; their height, thirty or forty feet, shows +that it has been inhabited for at least one generation. A visitation +of disease or death causes the headmen to change the site of their +villages, and plant new hedges; but, though Muazi has suffered from +the attacks of the Mazitu, he has evidently clung to his birthplace. +The village is situated about two miles south-west of a high hill +called Kasungu, which gives the name to a district extending to the +Loangwa of the Maravi. Several other detached granite hills have +been shot up on the plain, and many stockaded villages, all owing +allegiance to Muazi, are scattered over it. + +On our arrival, the chief was sitting in the smooth shady place, +called Boalo, where all public business is transacted, with about two +hundred men and boys around him. We paid our guides with due +ostentation. Masiko, the tallest of our party, measured off the +fathom of cloth agreed upon, and made it appear as long as possible, +by facing round to the crowd, and cutting a few inches beyond what +his outstretched arms could reach, to show that there was no +deception. This was by way of advertisement. The people are +mightily gratified at having a tall fellow to measure the cloth for +them. It pleases them even better than cutting it by a tape-line-- +though very few men of six feet high can measure off their own length +with their outstretched arms. Here, where Arab traders have been, +the cubit called mokono, or elbow, begins to take the place of the +fathom in use further south. The measure is taken from the point of +the bent elbow to the end of the middle finger. + +We found, on visiting Muazi on the following day, that he was as +frank and straightforward as could reasonably be expected. He did +not wish us to go to the N.N.W., because he carries on a considerable +trade in ivory there. We were anxious to get off the slave route, to +people not visited before by traders; but Muazi naturally feared, +that if we went to what is said to be a well-watered country, +abounding in elephants, we might relieve him of the ivory which he +now obtains at a cheap rate, and sells to the slave-traders as they +pass Kasungu to the east; but at last he consented, warning us that +"great difficulty would be experienced in obtaining food--a district +had been depopulated by slave wars--and a night or two must be spent +in it; but he would give us good guides, who would go three days with +us, before turning, and then further progress must depend on +ourselves." Some of our men having been ill ever since we mounted +this highland plain, we remained two days with Muazi. + +A herd of fine cattle showed that no tsetse existed in the district. +They had the Indian hump, and were very fat, and very tame. The boys +rode on both cows and bulls without fear, and the animals were so fat +and lazy, that the old ones only made a feeble attempt to kick their +young tormentors. Muazi never milks the cows; he complained that, +but for the Mazitu having formerly captured some, he should now have +had very many. They wander over the country at large, and certainly +thrive. + +After leaving Muazi's, we passed over a flat country sparsely covered +with the scraggy upland trees, but brightened with many fine flowers. +The grass was short, reaching no higher than the knee, and growing in +tufts with bare spaces between, though the trees were draped with +many various lichens, and showed a moist climate. A high and very +sharp wind blew over the flats; its piercing keenness was not caused +by low temperature, for the thermometer stood at 80 degrees. + +We were now on the sources of the Loangwa of the Maravi, which enters +the Zambesi at Zumbo, and were struck by the great resemblance which +the boggy and sedgy streams here presented to the sources of the +Leeba, an affluent of the Zambesi formerly observed in Londa, and of +the Kasai, which some believe to be the principal branch of the Congo +or Zaire. + +We had taken pains to ascertain from the travelled Babisa and Arabs +as much as possible about the country in front, which, from the +lessening time we had at our disposal, we feared we could scarcely +reach, and had heard a good deal of a small lake called Bemba. As we +proceeded west, we passed over the sources not only of the Loangwa, +but of another stream, called Moitawa or Moitala, which was +represented to be the main feeder of Lake Bemba. This would be of +little importance, but for the fact that the considerable river +Luapula, or Loapula is said to flow out of Bemba to the westward, and +then to spread out into another and much larger lake, named Moero, or +Moelo. Flowing still further in the same direction, the Loapula +forms Lake Mofue, or Mofu, and after this it is said to pass the town +of Cazembe, bend to the north, and enter Lake Tanganyika. Whither +the water went after it entered the last lake, no one would venture +an assertion. But that the course indicated is the true watershed of +that part of the country, we believe from the unvarying opinion of +native travellers. There could be no doubt that our informants had +been in the country beyond Cazembe's, for they knew and described +chiefs whom we afterwards met about thirty-five or forty miles west +of his town. The Lualaba is said to flow into the Loapula--and when, +for the sake of testing the accuracy of the travelled, it was +asserted that all the water of the region round the town of Cazembe +flowed into the Luambadzi, or Luambezi (Zambesi), they remarked with +a smile, "He says, that the Loapula flows into the Zambesi--did you +ever hear such nonsense?" or words to that effect. We were forced to +admit, that according to native accounts, our previous impression of +the Zambesi's draining the country about Cazembe's had been a +mistake. Their geographical opinions are now only stated, without +any further comment than that the itinerary given by the Arabs and +others shows that the Loapula is twice crossed on the way to +Cazembe's; and we may add that we have never found any difficulty +from the alleged incapacity of the negro to tell which way a river +flows. + +The boiling-point of water showed a descent, from the edge of the +plateau to our furthest point west, of 170 feet; but this can only be +considered as an approximation, and no dependence could have been +placed on it, had we not had the courses of the streams to confirm +this rather rough mode of ascertaining altitudes. The slope, as +shown by the watershed, was to the "Loangwa of the Maravi," and +towards the Moitala, or south-west, west, and north-west. After we +leave the feeders of Lake Nyassa, the water drains towards the centre +of the continent. The course of the Kasai, a river seen during Dr. +Livingstone's journey to the West Coast, and its feeders was to the +north-east, or somewhat in the same direction. Whether the water +thus drained off finds its way out by the Congo, or by the Nile, has +not yet been ascertained. Some parts of the continent have been said +to resemble an inverted dinner-plate. This portion seems more of the +shape, if shape it has, of a wide-awake hat, with the crown a little +depressed. The altitude of the brim in some parts is considerable; +in others, as at Tette and the bottom of Murchison's Cataracts, it is +so small that it could be ascertained only by eliminating the daily +variations of the barometer, by simultaneous observations on the +Coast, and at points some two or three hundred miles inland. So long +as African rivers remain in what we may call the brim, they present +no obstructions; but no sooner do they emerge from the higher lands +than their utility is impaired by cataracts. The low lying belt is +very irregular. At times sloping up in the manner of the rim of an +inverted dinner-plate--while in other cases, a high ridge rises near +the sea, to be succeeded by a lower district inland before we reach +the central plateau. The breadth of the low lands is sometimes as +much as three hundred miles, and that breadth determines the limits +of navigation from the seaward. + +We made three long marches beyond Muazi's in a north-westerly +direction; the people were civil enough, but refused to sell us any +food. We were travelling too fast, they said; in fact, they were +startled, and before they recovered their surprise, we were obliged +to depart. We suspected that Muazi had sent them orders to refuse us +food, that we might thus be prevented from going into the depopulated +district; but this may have been mere suspicion, the result of our +own uncharitable feelings. + +We spent one night at Machambwe's village, and another at Chimbuzi's. +It is seldom that we can find the headman on first entering a +village. He gets out of the way till he has heard all about the +strangers, or he is actually out in the fields looking after his +farms. We once thought that when the headman came in from a visit of +inspection, with his spear, bow and arrows, they had been all taken +up for the occasion, and that he had all the while been hidden in +some hut slily watching till he heard that the strangers might be +trusted; but on listening to the details given by these men of the +appearances of the crops at different parts, and the astonishing +minuteness of the speakers' topography, we were persuaded that in +some cases we were wrong, and felt rather humiliated. Every knoll, +hill, mountain, and every peak on a range has a name; and so has +every watercourse, dell, and plain. In fact, every feature and +portion of the country is so minutely distinguished by appropriate +names, that it would take a lifetime to decipher their meaning. It +is not the want, but the superabundance of names that misleads +travellers, and the terms used are so multifarious that good scholars +will at times scarcely know more than the subject of conversation. +Though it is a little apart from the topic of the attention which the +headmen pay to agriculture, yet it may be here mentioned, while +speaking of the fulness of the language, that we have heard about a +score of words to indicate different varieties of gait--one walks +leaning forward, or backward, swaying from side to side, loungingly, +or smartly, swaggeringly, swinging the arms, or only one arm, head +down or up, or otherwise; each of these modes of walking was +expressed by a particular verb; and more words were used to designate +the different varieties of fools than we ever tried to count. + +Mr. Moffat has translated the whole Bible into the language of the +Bechuana, and has diligently studied this tongue for the last forty- +four-years; and, though knowing far more of the language than any of +the natives who have been reared on the Mission-station of Kuruman, +he does not pretend to have mastered it fully even yet. However +copious it may be in terms of which we do not feel the necessity, it +is poor in others, as in abstract terms, and words used to describe +mental operations. + +Our third day's march ended in the afternoon of the 27th September, +1863, at the village of Chinanga on the banks of a branch of the +Loangwa. A large, rounded mass of granite, a thousand feet high, +called Nombe rume, stand on the plain a few miles off. It is quite +remarkable, because it has so little vegetation on it. Several other +granitic hills stand near it, ornamented with trees, like most +heights of this country, and a heap of blue mountains appears away in +the north. + +The effect of the piercing winds upon the men had never been got rid +of. Several had been unable to carry a load ever since we ascended +to the highlands; we had lost one, and another poor lad was so ill as +to cause us great anxiety. By waiting in this village, which was so +old that it was full of vermin, all became worse. Our European food +was entirely expended, and native meal, though finely ground, has so +many sharp angular particles in it, that it brought back dysentery, +from which we had suffered so much in May. We could scarcely obtain +food for the men. The headman of this village of Chinanga was off in +a foray against some people further north to supply slaves to the +traders expected along the slave route we had just left; and was +said, after having expelled the inhabitants, to be living in their +stockade, and devouring their corn. The conquered tribe had +purchased what was called a peace by presenting the conqueror with +three women. + +This state of matters afforded us but a poor prospect of finding more +provisions in that direction than we could with great difficulty and +at enormous prices obtain here. But neither want of food, dysentery, +nor slave wars would have prevented our working our way round the +Lake in some other direction, had we had time; but we had received +orders from the Foreign Office to take the "Pioneer" down to the sea +in the previous April. The salaries of all the men in her were +positively "in any case to cease by the 31st of December." + +We were said to be only ten days' distant from Lake Bemba. We might +speculate on a late rise of the river. A month or six weeks would +secure a geographical feat, but the rains were near. We had been +warned by different people that the rains were close at hand, and +that we should then be bogged and unable to travel. The flood in the +river might be an early one, or so small in volume as to give but one +chance of the "Pioneer" descending to the ocean. The Makololo too +were becoming dispirited by sickness and want of food, and were +naturally anxious to be back to their fields in time for sowing. But +in addition to all this and more, it was felt that it would not be +dealing honestly with the Government, were we, for the sake of a +little eclat, to risk the detention of the "Pioneer" up the river +during another year; so we decided to return; and though we had +afterwards the mortification to find that we were detained two full +months at the ship waiting for the flood which we expected +immediately after our arrival there, the chagrin was lessened by a +consciousness of having acted in a fair, honest, above-board manner +throughout. + +On the night of the 29th of September a thief came to the sleeping- +place of our men and stole a leg of a goat. On complaining to the +deputy headman, he said that the thief had fled, but would be caught. +He suggested a fine, and offered a fowl and her eggs; but wishing +that the thief alone should be punished, it was advised that HE +should be found and fined. The Makololo thought it best to take the +fowl as a means of making the punishment certain. After settling +this matter on the last day of September, we commenced our return +journey. We had just the same time to go back to the ship, that we +had spent in coming to this point, and there is not much to interest +one in marching over the same ground a second time. + +While on our journey north-west, a cheery old woman, who had once +been beautiful, but whose white hair now contrasted strongly with her +dark complexion, was working briskly in her garden as we passed. She +seemed to enjoy a hale, hearty old age. She saluted us with what +elsewhere would be called a good address; and, evidently conscious +that she deserved the epithet, "dark but comely," answered each of us +with a frank "Yes, my child." Another motherly-looking woman, +sitting by a well, began the conversation by "You are going to visit +Muazi, and you have come from afar, have you not?" But in general +women never speak to strangers unless spoken to, so anything said by +them attracts attention. Muazi once presented us with a basket of +corn. On hinting that we had no wife to grind our corn, his buxom +spouse struck in with roguish glee, and said, "I will grind it for +you; and leave Muazi, to accompany and cook for you in the land of +the setting sun." As a rule the women are modest and retiring in +their demeanour, and, without being oppressed with toil, show a great +deal of industry. The crops need about eight months' attention. +Then when the harvest is home, much labour is required to convert it +into food as porridge, or beer. The corn is pounded in a large +wooden mortar, like the ancient Egyptian one, with a pestle six feet +long and about four inches thick. The pounding is performed by two +or even three women at one mortar. Each, before delivering a blow +with her pestle, gives an upward jerk of the body, so as to put +strength into the stroke, and they keep exact time, so that two +pestles are never in the mortar at the same moment. The measured +thud, thud, thud, and the women standing at their vigorous work, are +associations inseparable from a prosperous African village. By the +operation of pounding, with the aid of a little water, the hard +outside scale or husk of the grain is removed, and the corn is made +fit for the millstone. The meal irritates the stomach unless cleared +from the husk; without considerable energy in the operator, the husk +sticks fast to the corn. Solomon thought that still more vigour than +is required to separate the hard husk or bran from wheat would fail +to separate "a fool from his folly." "Though thou shouldst bray a +fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, YET will not his +foolishness depart from him." The rainbow, in some parts, is called +the "pestle of the Barimo," or gods. Boys and girls, by constant +practice with the pestle, are able to plant stakes in the ground by a +somewhat similar action, in erecting a hut, so deftly that they never +miss the first hole made. + +Let any one try by repeatedly jobbing a pole with all his force to +make a deep hole in the ground, and he will understand how difficult +it is always to strike it into the same spot. + +As we were sleeping one night outside a hut, but near enough to hear +what was going on within, an anxious mother began to grind her corn +about two o'clock in the morning. "Ma," inquired a little girl, "why +grind in the dark?" Mamma advised sleep, and administered material +for a sweet dream to her darling, by saying, "I grind meal to buy a +cloth from the strangers, which will make you look a little lady." +An observer of these primitive races is struck continually with such +little trivial touches of genuine human nature. + +The mill consists of a block of granite, syenite, or even mica +schist, fifteen or eighteen inches square and five or six thick, with +a piece of quartz or other hard rock about the size of a half brick, +one side of which has a convex surface, and fits into a concave +hollow in the larger and stationary stone. The workwoman kneeling, +grasps this upper millstone with both hands, and works it backwards +and forwards in the hollow of the lower millstone, in the same way +that a baker works his dough, when pressing it and pushing from him. +The weight of the person is brought to bear on the movable stone, and +while it is pressed and pushed forwards and backwards, one hand +supplies every now and then a little grain to be thus at first +bruised and then ground on the lower stone, which is placed on the +slope so that the meal when ground falls on to a skin or mat spread +for the purpose. This is perhaps the most primitive form of mill, +and anterior to that in oriental countries, where two women grind at +one mill, and may have been that used by Sarah of old when she +entertained the Angels. + +On 2nd October we applied to Muazi for guides to take us straight +down to Chinsamba's at Mosapo, and thus cut off an angle, which we +should otherwise make, by going back to Kota-kota Bay. He replied +that his people knew the short way to Chinsamba's that we desired to +go, but that they all were afraid to venture there, on account of the +Zulus, or Mazitu. We therefore started back on our old route, and, +after three hours' march, found some Babisa in a village who promised +to lead us to Chinsamba. + +We meet with these keen traders everywhere. They are easily known by +a line of horizontal cicatrices, each half an inch long, down the +middle of the forehead and chin. They often wear the hair collected +in a mass on the upper and back part of the head, while it is all +shaven off the forehead and temples. The Babisa and Waiau or Ajawa +heads have more of the round bullet-shape than those of the Manganja, +indicating a marked difference in character; the former people being +great traders and travellers, the latter being attached to home and +agriculture. The Manganja usually intrust their ivory to the Babisa +to be sold at the Coast, and complain that the returns made never +come up to the high prices which they hear so much about before it is +sent. In fact, by the time the Babisa return, the expenses of the +journey, in which they often spend a month or two at a place where +food abounds, usually eat up all the profits. + +Our new companions were trading in tobacco, and had collected +quantities of the round balls, about the size of nine pounder shot, +into which it is formed. One of them owned a woman, whose child had +been sold that morning for tobacco. The mother followed him, weeping +silently, for hours along the way we went; she seemed to be well +known, for at several hamlets, the women spoke to her with evident +sympathy; we could do nothing to alleviate her sorrow--the child +would be kept until some slave-trader passed, and then sold for +calico. The different cases of slave-trading observed by us are +mentioned, in order to give a fair idea of its details. + +We spent the first night, after leaving the slave route, at the +village of Nkoma, among a section of Manganja, called Machewa, or +Macheba, whose district extends to the Bua. + +The next village at which we slept was also that of a Manganja smith. +It was a beautiful spot, shaded with tall euphorbia-trees. The +people at first fled, but after a short time returned, and ordered us +off to a stockade of Babisa, about a mile distant. We preferred to +remain in the smooth shady spot outside the hamlet, to being pent up +in a treeless stockade. Twenty or thirty men came dropping in, all +fully armed with bows and arrows, some of them were at least six feet +four in height, yet these giants were not ashamed to say, "We thought +that you were Mazitu, and, being afraid, ran away." Their orders to +us were evidently inspired by terror, and so must the refusal of the +headman to receive a cloth, or lend us a hut have been; but as we +never had the opportunity of realizing what feelings a successful +invasion would produce, we did not know whether to blame them or not. +The headman, a tall old smith, with an enormous, well-made knife of +his own workmanship, came quietly round, and, inspecting the shelter, +which, from there being abundance of long grass and bushes near, our +men put up for us in half an hour, gradually changed his tactics, +and, in the evening, presented us with a huge pot of porridge and a +deliciously well-cooked fowl, and made an apology for having been so +rude to strangers, and a lamentation that he had been so foolish as +to refuse the fine cloth we had offered. Another cloth was of course +presented, and we had the pleasure of parting good friends next day. + +Our guide, who belonged to the stockade near to which we had slept, +declined to risk himself further than his home. While waiting to +hire another, Masiko attempted to purchase a goat, and had nearly +concluded the bargain, when the wife of the would-be seller came +forward, and said to her husband, "You appear as if you were +unmarried; selling a goat without consulting your wife; what an +insult to a woman! What sort of man are you?" Masiko urged the man, +saying, "Let us conclude the bargain, and never mind her;" but he +being better instructed, replied, "No, I have raised a host against +myself already," and refused. + +We now pushed on to the east, so as to get down to the shores of the +Lake, and into the parts where we were known. The country was +beautiful, well wooded, and undulating, but the villages were all +deserted; and the flight of the people seemed to have been quite +recent, for the grain was standing in the corn-safes untouched. The +tobacco, though ripe, remained uncut in the gardens, and the whole +country was painfully quiet: the oppressive stillness quite unbroken +by the singing of birds, or the shrill calls of women watching their +corn. + +On passing a beautiful village, called Bangwe, surrounded by shady +trees, and placed in a valley among mountains, we were admiring the +beauty of the situation, when some of the much dreaded Mazitu, with +their shields, ran out of the hamlet, from which we were a mile +distant. They began to scream to their companions to give us chase. +Without quickening our pace we walked on, and soon were in a wood, +through which the footpath we were following led. The first +intimation we had of the approaching Mazitu was given by the Johanna +man, Zachariah, who always lagged behind, running up, screaming as if +for his life. The bundles were all put in one place to be defended; +and Masiko and Dr. Livingstone walked a few paces back to meet the +coming foe. Masiko knelt down anxious to fire, but was ordered not +to do so. For a second or two dusky forms appeared among the trees, +and the Mazitu were asked, in their own tongue, "What do you want?" +Masiko adding, "What do you say?" No answer was given, but the dark +shade in the forest vanished. They had evidently taken us for +natives, and the sight of a white man was sufficient to put them to +flight. Had we been nearer the Coast, where the people are +accustomed to the slave-trade, we should have found this affair a +more difficult one to deal with; but, as a rule, the people of the +interior are much more mild in character than those on the confines +of civilization. + +The above very small adventure was all the danger we were aware of in +this journey; but a report was spread from the Portuguese villages on +the Zambesi, similar to several rumours that had been raised before, +that Dr. Livingstone had been murdered by the Makololo; and very +unfortunately the report reached England before it could be +contradicted. + +One benefit arose from the Mazitu adventure. Zachariah, and others +who had too often to be reproved for lagging behind, now took their +places in the front rank; and we had no difficulty in making very +long marches for several days, for all believed that the Mazitu would +follow our footsteps, and attack us while we slept. + +A party of Babisa tobacco-traders came from the N.W. to Molamba, +while we were there; and one of them asserted several times that the +Loapula, after emerging from Moelo, received the Lulua, and then +flowed into Lake Mofu, and thence into Tanganyika; and from the last- +named Lake into the sea. This is the native idea of the geography of +the interior; and, to test the general knowledge of our informant, we +asked him about our acquaintances in Londa; as Moene, Katema, Shinde +or Shinte, who live south-west of the rivers mentioned, and found +that our friends there were perfectly well-known to him and to others +of these travelled natives. In the evening two of the Babisa came +in, and reported that the Mazitu had followed us to the village +called Chigaragara, at which we slept at the bottom of the descent. +The whole party of traders set off at once, though the sun had set. +We ourselves had given rise to the report, for the women of +Chigaragara, supposing us in the distance to be Mazitu, fled, with +all their household utensils on their heads, and had no opportunity +afterwards of finding out their mistake. We spent the night where we +were, and next morning, declining Nkomo's entreaty to go and kill +elephants, took our course along the shores of the Lake southwards. + +We have only been at the Lake at one season of the year: then the +wind blows strongly from the east, and indeed this is its prevailing +direction hence to the Orange River; a north or a south wind is rare, +and seldom lasts more than three days. As the breeze now blew over a +large body of water, towards us, it was delightful; but when facing +it on the table-land it was so strong as materially to impede our +progress, and added considerably to the labour of travelling. Here +it brought large quantities of the plant (Vallisneriae), from which +the natives extract salt by burning, and which, if chewed, at once +shows its saline properties by the taste. Clouds of the kungo, or +edible midges, floated on the Lake, and many rested on the bushes on +land. + +The reeds along the shores of the Lake were still crowded with +fugitives, and a great loss of life must since have taken place; for, +after the corn they had brought with them was expended, famine would +ensue. Even now we passed many women and children digging up the +roots, about the size of peas, of an aromatic grass; and their wasted +forms showed that this poor hard fare was to allay, if possible, the +pangs of hunger. The babies at the breast crowed to us as we passed, +their mothers kneeling and grubbing for the roots; the poor little +things still drawing nourishment from the natural fountain were +unconscious of that sinking of heart which their parents must have +felt in knowing that the supply for the little ones must soon fail. +No one would sell a bit of food to us: fishermen, even, would not +part with the produce of their nets, except in exchange for some +other kind of food. Numbers of newly-made graves showed that many +had already perished, and hundreds were so emaciated that they had +the appearance of human skeletons swathed in brown and wrinkled +leather. In passing mile after mile, marked with these sad proofs +that "man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn," one +experiences an overpowering sense of helplessness to alleviate human +woe, and breathes a silent prayer to the Almighty to hasten the good +time coming when "man and man the world o'er, shall brothers be for +all that." One small redeeming consideration in all this misery +could not but be felt; these ills were inflicted by heathen Mazitu, +and not by, or for, those who say to Him who is higher than the +highest, "We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge." + +We crossed the Mokole, rested at Chitanda, and then left the Lake, +and struck away N.W. to Chinsamba's. Our companions, who were so +much oppressed by the rarefied air of the plateau, still showed signs +of exhaustion, though now only 1300 feet above the sea, and did not +recover flesh and spirits till we again entered the Lower Shire +Valley, which is of so small an altitude, that, without simultaneous +observations with the barometer there and on the sea-coast, the +difference would not be appreciable. + +On a large plain on which we spent one night, we had the company of +eighty tobacco traders on their way from Kasungu to Chinsamba's. The +Mazitu had attacked and killed two of them, near the spot where the +Zulus fled from us without answering our questions. The traders were +now so frightened that, instead of making a straight course with us, +they set off by night to follow the shores of the Lake to Tsenga, and +then turn west. It is the sight of shields, or guns that inspires +terror. The bowmen feel perfectly helpless when the enemy comes with +even the small protection the skin shield affords, or attacks them in +the open field with guns. They may shoot a few arrows, but they are +such poor shots that ten to one if they hit. The only thing that +makes the arrow formidable is the poison; for if the poisoned barb +goes in nothing can save the wounded. A bow is in use in the lower +end of Lake Nyassa, but is more common in the Maravi country, from +six to eight inches broad, which is intended to be used as a shield +as well as a bow; but we never saw one with the mark on it of an +enemy's arrow. It certainly is no match for the Zulu shield, which +is between four and five feet long, of an oval shape, and about two +feet broad. So great is the terror this shield inspires that we +sometimes doubted whether the Mazitu here were Zulus at all, and +suspected that the people of the country took advantage of that fear, +and, assuming shields, pretended to belong to that nation. + +On the 11th October we arrived at the stockade of Chinsamba in +Mosapo, and had reason to be very well satisfied with his kindness. +A paraffin candle was in his eyes the height of luxury, and the +ability to make a light instantaneously by a lucifer match, a marvel +that struck him with wonder. He brought all his relatives in +different groups to see the strange sights,--instantaneous fire- +making, and a light, without the annoyance of having fire and smoke +in the middle of the floor. When they wish to look for anything in +the dark, a wisp of dried grass is lighted. + +Chinsamba gave us a great deal of his company during our visits. As +we have often remarked in other cases, a chief has a great deal to +attend to in guiding the affairs of his people. He is consulted on +all occasions, and gives his advice in a stream of words, which show +a very intimate acquaintance with the topography of his district; he +knows every rood cultivated, every weir put in the river, every +hunting-net, loom, gorge, and every child of his tribe. Any addition +made to the number of these latter is notified to him; and he sends +thanks and compliments to the parents. + +The presents which, following the custom of the country, we gave to +every headman, where we either spent a night or a longer period, +varied from four to eight yards of calico. We had some Manchester +cloths made in imitation of the native manufactured robes of the West +Coast, each worth five or six shillings. To the more important of +the chiefs, for calico we substituted one of these strong gaudy +dresses, iron spoons, a knife, needles, a tin dish, or pannikin, and +found these presents to be valued more than three times their value +in cloth would have been. Eight or ten shillings' worth gave +abundant satisfaction to the greediest; but this is to be understood +as the prime cost of the articles, and a trader would sometimes have +estimated similar generosity as equal to from 30 to 50 pounds. In +some cases the presents we gave exceeded the value of what was +received in return; in others the excess of generosity was on the +native side. + +We never asked for leave to pass through the country; we simply told +where we were going, and asked for guides; if they were refused, or +if they demanded payment beforehand, we requested to be put into the +beginning of the path, and said that we were sorry we could not agree +about the guides, and usually they and we started together. Greater +care would be required on entering the Mazitu or Zulu country, for +there the Government extends over very large districts, while among +the Manganja each little district is independent of every other. The +people here have not adopted the exacting system of the Banyai, or of +the people whose country was traversed by Speke and Grant. + +In our way back from Chinsamba's to Chembi's and from his village to +Nkwinda's, and thence to Katosa's, we only saw the people working in +their gardens, near to the stockades. These strongholds were +strengthened with branches of acacias, covered with strong hooked +thorns; and were all crowded with people. The air was now clearer +than when we went north, and we could see the hills of Kirk's Range +five or six miles to the west of our path. The sun struck very hot, +and the men felt it most in their feet. Every one who could get a +bit of goatskin made it into a pair of sandals. + +While sitting at Nkwinda's, a man behind the court hedge-wall said, +with great apparent glee, that an Arab slaving party on the other +side of the confluence of the Shire and Lake were "giving readily two +fathoms of calico for a boy, and two and a half for a girl; never saw +trade so brisk, no haggling at all." This party was purchasing for +the supply of the ocean slave-trade. One of the evils of this +traffic is that it profits by every calamity that happens in a +country. The slave-trader naturally reaps advantage from every +disorder, and though in the present case some lives may have been +saved that otherwise would have perished, as a rule he intensifies +hatreds, and aggravates wars between the tribes, because the more +they fight and vanquish each other the richer his harvest becomes. +Where slaving and cattle are unknown the people live in peace. As we +sat leaning against that hedge, and listened to the harangue of the +slave-trader's agent, it glanced across our mind that this was a +terrible world; the best in it unable, from conscious imperfections, +to say to the worst "Stand by! for I am holier than thou." The +slave-trader, imbued no doubt with certain kindly feelings, yet +pursuing a calling which makes him a fair specimen of a human fiend, +stands grouped with those by whom the slave-traders are employed, and +with all the workers of sin and misery in more highly-favoured lands, +an awful picture to the All-seing Eye. + +We arrived at Katosa's village on the 15th October, and found about +thirty young men and boys in slave-sticks. They had been bought by +other agents of the Arab slavers, still on the east side of the +Shire. They were resting in the village, and their owners soon +removed them. The weight of the goree seemed very annoying when they +tried to sleep. This taming instrument is kept on, until the party +has crossed several rivers and all hope of escape has vanished from +the captive's mind. + +On explaining to Katosa the injury he was doing in selling his people +as slaves, he assured us that those whom we had seen belonged to the +Arabs, and added that he had far too few people already. He said he +had been living in peace at the lakelet Pamalombe; that the Ajawa, or +Machinga, under Kainka and Karamba, and a body of Babisa, under +Maonga, had induced him to ferry them over the Shire; that they had +lived for a considerable time at his expense, and at last stole his +sheep, which induced him to make his escape to the place where he now +dwelt, and in this flight he had lost many of his people. His +account of the usual conduct of the Ajawa quite agrees with what +these people have narrated themselves, and gives but a low idea of +their moral tone. They have repeatedly broken all the laws of +hospitality by living for months on the bounty of the Manganja, and +then, by a sudden uprising, overcoming their hosts, and killing or +chasing them out of their inheritances. The secret of their success +is the possession of firearms. There were several of these Ajawa +here again, and on our arrival they proposed to Katosa that they +should leave; but he replied that they need not be afraid of us. +They had red beads strung so thickly on their hair that at a little +distance they appeared to have on red caps. It is curious that the +taste for red hair should be so general among the Africans here and +further north; in the south black mica, called Sebilo, and even soot +are used to deepen the colour of the hair; here many smear the head +with red-ochre, others plait the inner bark of a tree stained red +into it; and a red powder called Mukuru is employed, which some say +is obtained from the ground, and others from the roots of a tree. + +It having been doubted whether sugar-cane is indigenous to this +country or not, we employed Katosa to procure the two varieties +commonly cultivated, with the intention of conveying them to Johanna. +One is yellow, and the other, like what we observed in the Barotse +Valley, is variegated with dark red and yellow patches, or all red. +We have seen it "arrow," or blossom. Bamboos also run to seed, and +the people are said to use the seed as food. The sugar-cane has +native names, which would lead us to believe it to be indigenous. +Here it is called Zimbi, further south Mesari, and in the centre of +the country Meshuati. Anything introduced in recent times, as maize, +superior cotton, or cassava, has a name implying its foreign origin. + +Katosa's village was embowered among gigantic trees of fine timber: +several caffiaceous bushes, with berries closely resembling those of +the common coffee, grew near, but no use had ever been made of them. +There are several cinchonaceous trees also in the country; and some +of the wild fruits are so good as to cause a feeling of regret that +they have not been improved by cultivation, or whatever else brought +ours to their present perfection. Katosa lamented that this locality +was so inferior to his former place at Pamalombe; there he had maize +at the different stages of growth throughout the year. To us, +however, he seemed, by digging holes, and taking advantage of the +moisture beneath, to have succeeded pretty well in raising crops at +this the driest time. The Makololo remarked that "here the maize had +no season,"--meaning that the whole year was proper for its growth +and ripening. By irrigation a succession of crops of grain might be +raised anywhere within the south intertropical region of Africa. + +When we were with Motunda, on the 20th October, he told us frankly +that all the native provisions were hidden in Kirk's Range, and his +village being the last place where a supply of grain could be +purchased before we reached the ship, we waited till he had sent to +his hidden stores. The upland country, beyond the mountains now on +our right, is called Deza, and is inhabited by Maravi, who are only +another tribe of Manganja. The paramount chief is called Kabambe, +and he, having never been visited by war, lives in peace and plenty. +Goats and sheep thrive; and Nyango, the chieftainess further to the +south, has herds of horned cattle. The country being elevated is +said to be cold, and there are large grassy plains on it which are +destitute of trees. The Maravi are reported to be brave, and good +marksmen with the bow; but, throughout all the country we have +traversed, guns are enabling the trading tribes to overcome the +agricultural and manufacturing classes. + +On the ascent at the end of the valley just opposite Mount Mvai, we +looked back for a moment to impress the beauties of the grand vale on +our memory. The heat of the sun was now excessive, and Masiko, +thinking that it was overpowering, proposed to send forward to the +ship and get a hammock, in which to carry any one who might knock up. +He was truly kind and considerate. Dr. Livingstone having fallen +asleep after a fatiguing march, a hole in the roof of the hut he was +in allowed the sun to beat on his head, and caused a splitting +headache and deafness: while he was nearly insensible, he felt +Masiko repeatedly lift him back to the bed off which he had rolled, +and cover him up. + +On the 24th we were again in Banda, at the village of Chasundu, and +could now see clearly the hot valley in which the Shire flows, and +the mountains of the Manganja beyond to our south-east. Instead of +following the road by which we had come, we resolved to go south +along the Lesungwe, which rises at Zunje, a peak on the same ridge as +Mvai, and a part of Kirk's Range, which bounds the country of the +Maravi on our west. This is about the limit of the beat of the +Portuguese native traders, and it is but recently that, following our +footsteps, they have come so far. It is not likely that their +enterprise will lead them further north, for Chasundu informed us +that the Babisa under-sell the agents from Tette. He had tried to +deal with the latter when they first came; but they offered only ten +fathoms of calico for a tusk, for which the Babisa gave him twenty +fathoms and a little powder. Ivory was brought to us for sale again +and again, and, as far as we could judge, the price expected would be +about one yard of calico per pound, or possibly more, for there is no +scale of prices known. The rule seems to be that buyer and seller +shall spend a good deal of time in trying to cheat each other before +coming to any conclusion over a bargain. + +We found the Lesungwe a fine stream near its source, and about forty +feet wide and knee-deep, when joined by the Lekudzi, which comes down +from the Maravi country. + +Guinea-fowl abounded, but no grain could be purchased, for the people +had cultivated only the holmes along the banks with maize and +pumpkins. Time enough had not elapsed since the slave-trader's +invasion, and destruction of their stores, for them to raise crops of +grain on the adjacent lands. To deal with them for a few heads of +maize was the hungry bargaining with the famished, so we hastened on +southwards as fast as the excessive heat would allow us. It was +impossible to march in the middle of the day, the heat was so +intolerable; and we could not go on at night, because, if we had +chanced to meet any of the inhabitants, we should have been taken for +marauders. + +We had now thunder every afternoon; but while occasional showers +seemed to fall at different parts, none fell on us. The air was +deliciously clear, and revealed all the landscape covered everywhere +with forest, and bounded by beautiful mountains. On the 31st October +we reached the Mukuru-Madse, after having travelled 660 geographical +miles, or 760 English miles in a straight line. This was +accomplished in fifty-five travelling days, twelve miles per diem on +an average. If the numerous bendings and windings, and ups and downs +of the paths could have been measured too, the distance would have +been found at least fifteen miles a day. + +The night we slept at the Mukuru-Madse it thundered heavily, but, as +this had been the case every afternoon, and no rain had followed, we +erected no shelter, but during this night a pouring rain came on. +When very tired a man feels determined to sleep in spite of +everything, and the sound of dropping water is said to be conducive +to slumber, but that does not refer to an African storm. If, when +half asleep in spite of a heavy shower on the back of the head, he +unconsciously turns on his side, the drops from the branches make +such capital shots into his ear, that the brain rings again. + +We were off next morning, the 1st of November, as soon as the day +dawned. In walking about seven miles to the ship, our clothes were +thoroughly dried by the hot sun, and an attack of fever followed. We +relate this little incident to point out the almost certain +consequence of getting wet in this climate, and allowing the clothes +to dry on the person. Even if we walk in the mornings when the dew +is on the grass, and only get our feet and legs wet, a very uneasy +feeling and partial fever with pains in the limbs ensue, and continue +till the march onwards bathes them in perspiration. Had Bishop +Mackenzie been aware of this, which, before experience alone had +taught us, entailed many a severe lesson, we know no earthly reason +why his valuable life might not have been spared. The difference +between getting the clothes soaked in England and in Africa is this: +in the cold climate the patient is compelled, or, at any rate, +warned, by discomfort to resort at once to a change of raiment; while +in Africa it is cooling and rather pleasant to allow the clothes to +dry on the person. A Missionary in proportion as he possesses an +athletic frame, hardened by manly exercises, in addition to his other +qualifications, will excel him who is not favoured with such bodily +endowments; but in a hot climate efficiency mainly depends on +husbanding the resources. He must never forget that, in the tropics, +he is an exotic plant. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + +Confidence of natives--Bishop Tozer--Withdrawal of the Mission party- +-The English leave--Hazardous voyage to Mosambique--Dr. Livingstone's +voyage to Bombay--Return to England. + +We were delighted and thankful to find all those left at the ship in +good health, and that from the employments in which they had been +occupied they had suffered less from fever than usual during our +absence. My companion, Thomas Ward, the steward, after having +performed his part in the march right bravely, rejoined his comrades +stronger than he had ever been before. + +An Ajawa chief, named Kapeni, had so much confidence in the English +name that he, with most of his people, visited the ship; and asserted +that nothing would give his countrymen greater pleasure than to +receive the associates of Bishop Mackenzie as their teachers. This +declaration, coupled with the subsequent conduct of the Ajawa, was +very gratifying, inasmuch as it was clear that no umbrage had been +taken at the check which the Bishop had given to their slaving; their +consciences had told them that the course he had pursued was right. + +When we returned, the contrast between the vegetation about Muazi's +and that near the ship was very striking. We had come so quickly +down, that while on the plateau in latitude 12 degrees S., the young +leaves had in many cases passed from the pink or other colour they +have on first coming out to the light fresh green which succeeds it, +here, on the borders of 16 degrees S., or from 150 to 180 miles +distant, the trees were still bare, the grey colour of the bark +predominating over every other hue. The trees in the tropics here +have a very well-marked annual rest. On the Rovuma even, which is +only about ten degrees from the equator, in September the slopes up +from the river some sixty miles inland were of a light ashy-grey +colour; and on ascending them, we found that the majority of the +trees were without leaves; those of the bamboo even lay crisp and +crumpled on the ground. As the sun is usually hot by day, even in +the winter, this withering process may be owing to the cool nights; +Africa differing so much from Central India in the fact that, in +Africa, however hot the day may be, the air generally cools down +sufficiently by the early morning watches to render a covering or +even a blanket agreeable. + +The first fortnight after our return to the ship was employed in the +delightful process of resting, to appreciate which a man must have +gone through great exertions. In our case the muscles of the limbs +were as hard as boards, and not an ounce of fat existed on any part +of the body. We now had frequent showers; but, these being only the +earlier rains, the result on the rise of the river was but a few +inches. The effect of these rains on the surrounding scenery was +beautiful in the extreme. All trace of the dry season was soon +obliterated, and hills and mountains from base to summit were covered +with a mantle of living green. The sun passed us on his way south +without causing a flood, so all our hopes of a release were centred +on his return towards the Equator, when, as a rule, the waters of +inundation are made to flow. Up to this time the rains descended +simply to water the earth, fill the pools, and make ready for the +grand overflow for which we had still to wait six weeks. It is of no +use to conceal that we waited with much chagrin; for had we not been +forced to return from the highlands west of Nyassa we might have +visited Lake Bemba; but unavailing regrets are poor employment for +the mind; so we banished them to the best of our power. + +About the middle of December, 1863, we were informed that Bishop +Mackenzie's successor, after spending a few months on the top of a +mountain about as high as Ben Nevis in Scotland, at the mouth of the +Shire, where there were few or no people to be taught, had determined +to leave the country. This unfortunate decision was communicated to +us at the same time that six of the boys reared by Bishop Mackenzie +were sent back into heathenism. The boys were taken to a place about +seven miles from the ship, but immediately found their way up to us. +We told them that if they wished to remain in the country they had +better so arrange at once, for we were soon to leave. The sequel +will show their choice. + +As soon as the death of Bishop Mackenzie was known at the Cape, Dr. +Gray, the excellent Bishop there, proceeded at once to England, with +a view of securing an early appointment of another head to the +Mission, which in its origin owed so much to his zeal for the spread +of the gospel among the heathen, and whose interests he had +continually at heart. About the middle of 1862 we heard that Dr. +Gray's efforts had been successful, and that another clergyman would +soon take the place of our departed friend. This pleasing +intelligence was exceedingly cheering to the Missionaries, and +gratifying also to the members of the Expedition. About the +beginning of 1863 the new Bishop arrived at the mouth of the river in +a man-of-war, and after some delay proceeded inland. The Bishop of +the Cape had taken a voyage home at considerable inconvenience to +himself, for the sole object of promoting this Mission to the +heathen; and it was somehow expected that the man he would secure +would be an image of himself; and we must say, that whatever others, +from the representations that have gone abroad, may think of his +character, we invariably found Dr. Gray to be a true, warm-hearted +promoter of the welfare of his fellow-men; a man whose courage and +zeal have provoked very many to good works. + +It was hoped that the presence of a new head to the Mission would +infuse new energy and life into the small band of Missionaries, whose +ranks had been thinned by death; and who, though discouraged by the +disasters which the slave war and famine had induced, and also +dispirited by the depressing influences of a low and unhealthy +position in the swampy Shire Valley, were yet bravely holding out +till the much-needed moral and material aid should arrive. + +We believe that we are uttering the sentiments of many devout members +of different sections of Christians, when we say, it was a pity that +the Mission of the Universities was abandoned. The ground had been +consecrated in the truest sense by the lives of those brave men who +first occupied it. In bare justice to Bishop Mackenzie, who was the +first to fall, it must be said, that the repudiation of all he had +done, and the sudden abandonment of all that had cost so much life +and money to secure, was a serious line of conduct for one so +unversed in Missionary operations as his successor, to inaugurate. +It would have been no more than fair that Bishop Tozer, before +winding up the affairs of the Mission, should actually have examined +the highlands of the Upper Shire; he would thus have gratified the +associates of his predecessor, who believed that the highlands had +never had a fair trial, and he would have gained from personal +observation a more accurate knowledge of the country and the people +than he could possibly have become possessed of by information +gathered chiefly on the coast. With this examination, rather than +with a stay of a few months on the humid, dripping top of misty +Morambala, we should have felt much more satisfied. + +In January, 1864, the natives all confidently asserted that at next +full moon the river would have its great and permanent flood. It had +several times risen as much as a foot, but fell again as suddenly. +It was curious that their observation coincided exactly with ours, +that the flood of inundation happens when the sun comes overhead on +his way back to the Equator. We mention this more minutely because, +from the observation of several years, we believe that in this way +the inundation of the Nile is to be explained. On the 19th the Shire +suddenly rose several feet, and we started at once; and stopping only +for a short time at Chibisa's to bid adieu to the Ajawa and Makololo, +who had been extremely useful to us of late in supplying maize and +fresh provisions, we hastened on our way to the ocean. In order to +keep a steerage way on the "Pioneer," we had to go quicker than the +stream, and unfortunately carried away her rudder in passing suddenly +round a bank. The delay required for the repairs prevented our +reaching Morambala till the 2nd of February. + +The flood-water ran into a marsh some miles above the mountain, and +became as black as ink; and when it returned again to the river +emitted so strong an effluvium of sulphuretted hydrogen, that one +could not forget for an instant that the air was most offensive. The +natives said this stench did not produce disease. We spent one night +in it, and suffered no ill effects, though we fully expected an +attack of fever. Next morning every particle of white paint on both +ships was so deeply blackened, that it could not be cleaned by +scrubbing with soap and water. The brass was all turned to a bronze +colour, and even the iron and ropes had taken a new tint. This is an +additional proof that malaria and offensive effluvia are not always +companions. We did not suffer more from fever in the mangrove +swamps, where we inhaled so much of the heavy mousey smell that it +was distinguishable in the odour of our shirts and flannels, than we +did elsewhere. + +We tarried in the foul and blackening emanations from the marsh +because we had agreed to receive on board about thirty poor orphan +boys and girls, and a few helpless widows whom Bishop Mackenzie had +attached to his Mission. All who were able to support themselves had +been encouraged by the Missionaries to do so by cultivating the +ground, and they now formed a little free community. But the boys +and girls who were only from seven to twelve years of age, and +orphans without any one to help them, could not be abandoned without +bringing odium on the English name. The effect of an outcry by some +persons in England, who knew nothing of the circumstances in which +Bishop Mackenzie was placed, and who certainly had not given up their +own right of appeal to the sword of the magistrate, was, that the new +head of the Mission had gone to extremes in the opposite direction +from his predecessor; not even protesting against the one monstrous +evil of the country, the slave-trade. We believed that we ought to +leave the English name in the same good repute among the natives that +we had found it; and in removing the poor creatures, who had lived +with Mackenzie as children with a father, to a land where the +education he began would be completed, we had the aid and sympathy of +the best of the Portuguese, and of the whole population. The +difference between shipping slaves and receiving these free orphans +struck us as they came on board. As soon as permission to embark was +given, the rush into the boat nearly swamped her--their eagerness to +be safe on the "Pioneer's" deck had to be repressed. + +Bishop Tozer had already left for Quillimane when we took these +people and the last of the Universities' Missionaries on board and +proceeded to the Zambesi. It was in high flood. We have always +spoken of this river as if at its lowest, for fear lest we should +convey an exaggerated impression of its capabilities for navigation. +Instead of from five to fifteen feet, it was now from fifteen to +thirty feet, or more, deep. All the sandbanks and many of the +islands had disappeared, and before us rolled a river capable, as one +of our naval friends thought, of carrying a gunboat. Some of the +sandy islands are annually swept away, and the quantities of sand +carried down are prodigious. + +The process by which a delta, extending eighty or one hundred miles +from the sea, has been formed may be seen going on at the present +day--the coarser particles of sand are driven out into the ocean, +just in the same way as we see they are over banks in the beds of +torrents. The finer portions are caught by the returning tide, and, +accumulating by successive ebbs and flows, become, with the decaying +vegetation, arrested by the mangrove roots. The influence of the +tide in bringing back the finer particles gives the sea near the +mouth of the Zambesi a clean and sandy bottom. This process has been +going on for ages, and as the delta has enlarged eastwards, the river +has always kept a channel for itself behind. Wherever we see an +island all sand, or with only one layer of mud in it, we know it is +one of recent formation, and that it may be swept away at any time by +a flood; while those islands which are all of mud are the more +ancient, having in fact existed ever since the time when the ebbing +and flowing tides originally formed them as parts of the delta. This +mud resists the action of the river wonderfully. It is a kind of +clay on which the eroding power of water has little effect. Were +maps made, showing which banks and which islands are liable to +erosion, it would go far to settle where the annual change of the +channel would take place; and, were a few stakes driven in year by +year to guide the water in its course, the river might be made of +considerable commercial value in the hands of any energetic European +nation. No canal or railway would ever be thought of for this part +of Africa. A few improvements would make the Zambesi a ready means +of transit for all the trade that, with a population thinned by +Portuguese slaving, will ever be developed in our day. Here there is +no instance on record of the natives flocking in thousands to the +colony, as they did at Natal, and even to the Arabs on Lake Nyassa. +This keeping aloof renders it unlikely that in Portuguese hands the +Zambesi will ever be of any more value to the world than it has been. + +After a hurried visit to Senna, in order to settle with Major Sicard +and Senhor Ferrao for supplies we had drawn thence after the +depopulation of the Shire, we proceeded down to the Zambesi's mouth, +and were fortunate in meeting, on the 13th February, with H.M.S. +"Orestes." She was joined next day by H.M.S. "Ariel." The "Orestes" +took the "Pioneer," and the "Ariel" the "Lady Nyassa" in tow, for +Mosambique. On the 16th a circular storm proved the sea-going +qualities of the "Lady of the Lake;" for on this day a hurricane +struck the "Ariel," and drove her nearly backwards at a rate of six +knots. The towing hawser wound round her screw and stopped her +engines. No sooner had she recovered from this shock than she was +again taken aback on the other tack, and driven stem on towards the +"Lady Nyassa's" broadside. We who were on board the little vessel +saw no chance of escape unless the crew of the "Ariel" should think +of heaving ropes when the big ship went over us; but she glided past +our bow, and we breathed freely again. We had now an opportunity of +witnessing man-of-war seamanship. Captain Chapman, though his +engines were disabled, did not think of abandoning us in the heavy +gale, but crossed the bows of the "Lady Nyassa" again and again, +dropping a cask with a line by which to give us another hawser. We +might never have picked it up, had not a Krooman jumped overboard and +fastened a second line to the cask; and then we drew the hawser on +board, and were again in tow. During the whole time of the hurricane +the little vessel behaved admirably, and never shipped a single green +sea. When the "Ariel" pitched forwards we could see a large part of +her bottom, and when her stern went down we could see all her deck. +A boat, hung at her stern davits, was stove in by the waves. The +officers on board the "Ariel" thought that it was all over with us: +we imagined that they were suffering more than we were. Nautical men +may suppose that this was a serious storm only to landsmen; but the +"Orestes," which was once in sight, and at another time forty miles +off during the same gale, split eighteen sails; and the "Pioneer" had +to be lightened of parts of a sugar-mill she was carrying; her round- +house was washed away, and the cabin was frequently knee-deep in +water. When the "Orestes" came into Mosambique harbour nine days +after our arrival there, our vessel, not being anchored close to the +"Ariel," for we had run in under the lee of the fort, led to the +surmise on board the "Orestes" that we had gone to the bottom. +Captain Chapman and his officers pronounced the "Lady Nyassa" to be +the finest little sea-boat they had ever seen. She certainly was a +contrast to the "Ma-Robert," and did great credit to her builders, +Ted and Macgregor of Glasgow. We can but regret that she was not +employed on the Lake after which she was named, and for which she was +intended and was so well adapted. + +What struck us most, during the trip from the Zambesi to Mosambique, +was the admirable way in which Captain Chapman handled the "Ariel" in +the heavy sea of the hurricane; the promptitude and skill with which, +when we had broken three hawsers, others were passed to us by the +rapid evolutions of a big ship round a little one; and the ready +appliance of means shown in cutting the hawser off the screw nine +feet under water with long chisels made for the occasion; a task +which it took three days to accomplish. Captain Chapman very kindly +invited us on board the "Ariel," and we accepted his hospitality +after the weather had moderated. + +The little vessel was hauled through and against the huge seas with +such force that two hawsers measuring eleven inches each in +circumference parted. Many of the blows we received from the billows +made every plate quiver from stem to stern, and the motion was so +quick that we had to hold on continually to avoid being tossed from +one side to the other or into the sea. Ten of the late Bishop's +flock whom we had on board became so sick and helpless that do what +we could to aid them they were so very much in the way that the idea +broke in upon us, that the close packing resorted to by slavers is +one of the necessities of the traffic. If this is so, it would +account for the fact that even when the trade was legal the same +injurious custom was common, if not universal. If, instead of ten +such passengers, we had been carrying two hundred, with the wind +driving the rain and spray, as by night it did, nearly as hard as +hail against our faces, and nothing whatever to be seen to windward +but the occasional gleam of the crest of a wave, and no sound heard +save the whistling of the storm through the rigging, it would have +been absolutely necessary for the working of the ship and safety of +the whole that the live cargo should all have been stowed down below, +whatever might have been the consequences. + +Having delivered the "Pioneer" over to the Navy, she was towed down +to the Cape by Captain Forsyth of the "Valorous," and after +examination it was declared that with repairs to the amount of 300 +pounds she would be as serviceable as ever. Those of the Bishop's +flock whom we had on board were kindly allowed a passage to the Cape. +The boys went in the "Orestes," and we are glad of the opportunity to +record our heartfelt thanks to Captains Forsyth, Gardner, and Chapman +for rendering us, at various times, every aid in their power. Mr. +Waller went in the "Pioneer," and continued his generous services to +all connected with the Mission, whether white or black, till they +were no longer needed; and we must say that his conduct to them +throughout was truly noble, and worthy of the highest praise. + +After beaching the "Lady Nyassa" at Caboceira, opposite the house of +a Portuguese gentleman well known to all Englishmen, Joao da Costa +Soares, we put in brine cocks, and cleaned and painted her bottom. +Mr. Soares appeared to us to have been very much vilified in a +publication in England a few years ago; our experience proved him to +be extremely kind and obliging. All the members of the Expedition +who passed Mosambique were unanimous in extolling his generosity and, +from the general testimony of English visitors in his favour, we very +much regret that his character was so grievously misrepresented. To +the authorities at Mosambique our thanks are also due for obliging +accommodation; and though we differ entirely from the Portuguese +officials as to the light in which we regard the slave-trade, we +trust our exposure of the system, in which unfortunately they are +engaged, will not be understood as indicating any want of kindly +feeling and good will to them personally. Senhor Canto e Castro, who +arrived at Mosambique two days after our departure to take the office +of Governor-General, was well known to us in Angola. We lived two +months in his house when he was Commandant of Golungo Alto; and, +knowing him thoroughly, believe that no better man could have been +selected for the office. We trust that his good principles may +enable him to withstand the temptations of his position; but we +should be sorry to have ours tried in a den of slave-traders with the +miserable pittance he receives for his support. + +While at Mosambique, a species of Pedalia called by Mr. Soares +Dadeleira, and by the natives--from its resemblance to Gerzilin, or +sesamum--"wild sesamum," was shown to us, and is said to be well +known among native nurses as a very gentle and tasteless aperient for +children. A few leaves of it are stirred in a cup of cold water for +eight or nine seconds, and a couple of teaspoonfuls of the liquid +given as a dose. The leaves form a sort of mucilage in the water by +longer stirring, which is said to have diuretic properties besides. + +On the 16th April we steamed out from Mosambique; and, the currents +being in our favour, in a week reached Zanzibar. Here we experienced +much hospitality from our countrymen, and especially from Dr. Seward, +then acting consul and political agent for Colonel Playfair. + +Dr. Seward was very doubtful if we could reach Bombay before what is +called the break of the monsoon took place. This break occurs +usually between the end of May and the 12th of June. The wind still +blows from Africa to India, but with so much violence, and with such +a murky atmosphere, that few or no observations for position can be +taken. We were, however, at the time very anxious to dispose of the +"Lady Nyassa," and, the only market we could reach being Bombay, we +resolved to run the risk of getting there before the stormy period +commenced; and, after taking fourteen tons of coal on board, we +started on the 30th April from Zanzibar. + +Our complement consisted of seven native Zambesians, two boys, and +four Europeans; namely, one stoker, one sailor, one carpenter, whose +names have been already mentioned, and Dr. Livingstone, as navigator. +The "Lady Nyassa" had shown herself to be a good sea-boat. The +natives had proved themselves capital sailors, though before +volunteering not one of them had ever seen the sea. They were not +picked men, but, on paying a dozen whom we had in our employment for +fifteen months, they were taken at random from several hundreds who +offered to accompany us. Their wages were ten shillings per mensem, +and it was curious to observe, that so eager were they to do their +duty, that only one of them lay down from sea-sickness during the +whole voyage. They took in and set sail very cleverly in a short +time, and would climb out along a boom, reeve a rope through the +block, and come back with the rope in their teeth, though at each +lurch the performer was dipped in the sea. The sailor and carpenter, +though anxious to do their utmost, had a week's severe illness each, +and were unfit for duty. + +It is pleasant enough to take the wheel for an hour or two, or even +for a watch, but when it comes to be for every alternate four hours, +it is utterly wearisome. We set our black men to steer, showing them +which arm of the compass needle was to be kept towards the vessel's +head, and soon three of them could manage very well, and they only +needed watching. In going up the East Coast to take advantage of the +current of one hundred miles a day, we would fain have gone into the +Juba or Webbe River, the mouth of which is only 15 minutes south of +the line, but we were too shorthanded. We passed up to about ten +degrees north of the Equator, and then steamed out from the coast. +Here Maury's wind chart showed that the calm-belt had long been +passed, but we were in it still; and, instead of a current carrying +us north, we had a contrary current which bore us every day four +miles to the south. We steamed as long as we dared, knowing as we +did that we must use the engines on the coast of India. + +After losing many days tossing on the silent sea, with innumerable +dolphins, flying-fish, and sharks around us, we had six days of +strong breezes, then calms again tried our patience; and the near +approach of that period, "the break of the monsoon," in which it was +believed no boat could live, made us sometimes think our epitaph +would be "Left Zanzibar on 30th April, 1864, and never more heard +of." At last, in the beginning of June, the chronometers showed that +we were near the Indian coast. The black men believed it was true +because we told them it was so, but only began to dance with joy when +they saw sea-weed and serpents floating past. These serpents are +peculiar to these parts, and are mentioned as poisonous in the +sailing directions. We ventured to predict that we should see land +next morning, and at midday the high coast hove in sight, wonderfully +like Africa before the rains begin. Then a haze covered all the +land, and a heavy swell beat towards it. A rock was seen, and a +latitude showed it to be the Choule rock. Making that a fresh +starting-point, we soon found the light-ship, and then the forest of +masts loomed through the haze in Bombay harbour. We had sailed over +2500 miles. + + + +Footnotes: + +{1} A remedy composed of from six to eight grains of resin of jalap, +the same of rhubarb, and three each of calomel and quinine, made up +into four pills, with tincture of cardamoms, usually relieved all the +symptoms in five or six hours. Four pills are a full dose for a man- +-one will suffice for a woman. They received from our men the name +of "rousers," from their efficacy in rousing up even those most +prostrated. When their operation is delayed, a dessert-spoonful of +Epsom salts should be given. Quinine after or during the operation +of the pills, in large doses every two or three hours, until deafness +or cinchonism ensued, completed the cure. The only cases in which, +we found ourselves completely helpless, were those in which obstinate +vomiting ensued. + +{2} The late Mr. Robson. + +{3} In 1865, four years after these forebodings were penned, we +received intelligence that they had all come to pass. Sekeletu died +in the beginning of 1864--a civil war broke out about the succession +to the chieftainship; a large body of those opposed to the late +chief's uncle, Impololo, being regent, departed with their cattle to +Lake Ngami; an insurrection by the black tribes followed; Impololo +was slain, and the kingdom, of which, under an able sagacious +mission, a vast deal might have been made, has suffered the usual +fate of African conquests. That fate we deeply deplore; for, +whatever other faults the Makololo might justly be charged with, they +did not belong to the class who buy and sell each other, and the +tribes who have succeeded them do. + +{4} It was with sorrow that we learned by a letter from Mr. Moffat, +in 1864, that poor Sekeletu was dead. As will be mentioned further +on, men were sent with us to bring up more medicine. They preferred +to remain on the Shire, and, as they were free men, we could do no +more than try and persuade them to hasten back to their chief with +iodine and other remedies. They took the parcel, but there being +only two real Makololo among them, these could neither return +themselves alone or force their attendants to leave a part of the +country where they were independent, and could support themselves +with ease. Sekeletu, however, lived long enough to receive and +acknowledge goods to the value of 50 pounds, sent, in lieu of those +which remained in Tette, by Robert Moffat, jun., since dead. + +{5} A brother, we believe, of one who accompanied Burke and Willis in +the famous but unfortunate Australian Expedition. + +{6} Genesis, chap. iii., verses 21 and 23, "make coats of skins, and +clothed them"--"sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the +ground" imply teaching. Vide Archbishop Whately's "History of +Religious Worship." John W. Parker, West Strand, London, 1849. + +{7} "In 1854 the native church at Sierra-Leone undertook to pay for +their primary schools, and thereby effected a saving to the Church +Missionary Society of 800 pounds per annum. In 1861 the +contributions of this one section of native Christians had amounted +to upwards of 10,000 pounds."--"Manual of Church Missionary Society's +African Missions." + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eText The Zambesi and Its Tributaries diff --git a/old/zambs10.zip b/old/zambs10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa9f171 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/zambs10.zip |