Crosses the Loangwa. Distressing march. The king-hunter. Great
hunger. Christmas feast necessarily postponed. Loss of goats.
Honey-hunters. A meal at last. The Babisa. The Mazitu again.
Chitembo's. End of 1866. The new year. The northern brim of the
great Loangwa Valley. Accident to chronometers. Meal gives out.
Escape from a Cobra capella. Pushes for the Chambezé. Death of
Chitané. Great pinch for food. Disastrous loss of medicine
chest. Bead currency. Babisa. The Chambezé. Beaches
Chitapangwa's town. Meets Arab traders from Zanzibar. Sends off
letters. Chitapangwa and his people. Complications.
_16th December, 1866._--We could get no food at any price on 15th, so
we crossed the Loangwa, and judged it to be from seventy to a hundred
yards wide: it is deep at present, and it must always be so, for some
Atumboka submitted to the Mazitu, and ferried them over and back
again. The river is said to rise in the north; it has alluvial banks
with large forest trees along them, bottom sandy, and great sandbanks
are in it like the Zambesi. No guide would come, so we went on without
one. The "lazies" of the party seized the opportunity of remaining
behind--wandering, as they said, though all the cross paths were
marked.[36] This evening we secured the latitude 12° 40' 48" S., which
would make our crossing place about 12° 45' S. Clouds prevented
observations, as they usually do in the rainy season.
_17 December, 1866._--We went on through a bushy country without
paths, and struck the Pamazi, a river of sixty yards wide, in steep
banks and in flood, and held on as well as we could through a very
difficult country, the river forcing us north-west: I heard
hippopotami in it. Game is abundant but wild; we shot two poku
antelopes[37] here, called "tsébulas," which drew a hunter to us, who
consented for meat and pay to show us a ford. He said that the Pamazi
rises in a range of mountains we can now see (in general we could see
no high ground during our marches for the last fortnight), we forded
it, thigh deep on one side and breast deep on the other. We made only
about three miles of northing, and found the people on the left bank
uncivil: they would not lend a hut, so we soon put up a tent of
waterproof cloth and branches.
_18th December, 1866._--As the men grumbled at their feet being
pierced by thorns in the trackless portions we had passed I was
anxious to get a guide, but the only one we could secure would go to
Molenga's only; so I submitted, though this led us east instead of
north. When we arrived we were asked what we wanted, seeing we brought
neither slaves nor ivory: I replied it was much against our will that
we came; but the guide had declared that this was the only way to
Casembe's, our next stage. To get rid of us they gave a guide, and we
set forward northwards. The Mopané Forest is perfectly level, and
after rains the water stands in pools; but during most of the year it
is dry. The trees here were very large, and planted some twenty or
thirty yards apart: as there are no branches on their lower parts
animals see very far. I shot a gnu, but wandered in coming back to the
party, and did not find them till it was getting dark. Many parts of
the plain are thrown up into heaps, of about the size of one's cap
(probably by crabs), which now, being hard, are difficult to walk
over; under the trees it is perfectly smooth. The Mopané-tree
furnishes the iron wood of the Portuguese Pao Ferro: it is pretty to
travel in and look at the bright sunshine of early morning; but the
leaves hang perpendicularly as the sun rises high, and afford little
or no shade through the day,[38] so as the land is clayey, it becomes
hard-baked thereby.
We observed that the people had placed corn-granaries at
different parts of this forest, and had been careful to leave no
track to them--a provision in case of further visits of Mazitu.
King-hunters[39] abound, and make the air resound with their
stridulous notes, which commence with a sharp, shrill cheep, and then
follows a succession of notes, which resembles a pea in a whistle.
Another bird is particularly conspicuous at present by its chattering
activity, its nest consists of a bundle of fine seed-stalks of grass
hung at the end of a branch, the free ends being left untrimmed, and
no attempt at concealment made. Many other birds are now active, and
so many new notes are heard, that it is probable this is a richer
ornithological region than the Zambesi. Guinea-fowl and francolins are
in abundance, and so indeed are all the other kinds of game, as
zebras, pallahs, gnus.
_19th December, 1866._--I got a fine male kudu. We have no grain, and
live on meat alone, but I am better off than the men, inasmuch as I
get a little goat's-milk besides. The kudu stood five feet six inches
high; horns, three feet on the straight.
_20th December, 1866._--Reached Casembe,[40] a miserable hamlet of a
few huts. The people here are very suspicious, and will do nothing but
with a haggle for prepayment; we could get no grain, nor even native
herbs, though we rested a day to try.
After a short march we came to the Nyamazi, another considerable
rivulet coming from the north to fall into the Loangwa. It has the
same character, of steep alluvial banks, as Pamazi, and about the same
width, but much shallower; loin deep, though somewhat swollen; from
fifty to sixty yards wide. We came to some low hills, of coarse
sandstone, and on crossing these we could see, by looking back, that
for many days we had been travelling over a perfectly level valley,
clothed with a mantle of forest. The barometers had shown no
difference of level from about 1800 feet above the sea. We began our
descent into this great valley when we left the source of the Bua; and
now these low hills, called Ngalé or Ngaloa, though only 100 feet or
so above the level we had left, showed that we had come to the shore
of an ancient lake, which probably was let off when the rent of
Kebra-basa on the Zambesi was made, for we found immense banks of
well-rounded shingle above--or, rather, they may be called mounds of
shingle--all of hard silicious schist with a few pieces of fossil-wood
among them. The gullies reveal a stratum of this well-rounded shingle,
lying on a soft greenish sandstone, which again lies on the coarse
sandstone first observed. This formation is identical with that
observed formerly below the Victoria Falls. We have the mountains
still on our north and north-west (the so-called mountains of Bisa, or
Babisa), and from them the Nyamazi flows, while Pamazi comes round the
end, or what appears to be the end, of the higher portion. _(22nd
December, 1866.)_ Shot a bush-buck; and slept on the left bank of
Nyamazi.
_23rd December, 1866._--Hunger sent us on; for a meat diet is far from
satisfying: we all felt very weak on it, and soon tired on a march,
but to-day we hurried on to Kavimba, who successfully beat off the
Mazitu. It is very hot, and between three and four hours is a good
day's march. On sitting down to rest before entering the village we
were observed, and all the force of the village issued to kill us as
Mazitu, but when we stood up the mistake was readily perceived, and
the arrows were placed again in their quivers. In the hut four Mazitu
shields show that they did not get it all their own way; they are
miserable imitations of Zulu shields, made of eland and water-buck's
hides, and ill sewn.
A very small return present was made by Kavimba, and nothing could be
bought except at exorbitant prices. We remained all day on the 24th
haggling and trying to get some grain. He took a fancy to a shirt, and
left it to his wife to bargain for. She got the length of cursing and
swearing, and we bore it, but could get only a small price for it. We
resolved to hold our Christmas some other day, and in a better place.
The women seem ill-regulated here--Kavimba's brother had words with
his spouse, and at the end of every burst of vociferation on both
sides called out, "Bring the Muavi! bring the Muavi!" or ordeal.
_Christmas-day, 1866._--No one being willing to guide us to Moerwa's,
I hinted to Kavimba that should we see a rhinoceros I would kill it.
He came himself, and led us on where he expected to find these
animals, but we saw only their footsteps. We lost our four goats
somewhere--stolen or strayed in the pathless forest, we do not know
which, but the loss I felt very keenly, for whatever kind of food we
had, a little milk made all right, and I felt strong and well, but
coarse food hard of digestion without it was very trying. We spent the
26th in searching for them, but all in vain. Kavimba had a boy
carrying two huge elephant spears, with these he attacks that large
animal single-handed. We parted from him, as I thought, good friends,
but a man who volunteered to act as guide saw him in the forest
afterwards, and was counselled by him to leave us as we should not
pay him. This hovering near us after we parted makes me suspect
Kavimba of taking the goats, but I am not certain. The loss affected
me more than I could have imagined. A little indigestible porridge, of
scarcely any taste, is now my fare, and it makes me dream of better.
_27th December, 1866._--Our guide asked for his cloth to wear on the
way, as it was wet and raining, and his bark cloth was a miserable
covering. I consented, and he bolted on the first opportunity; the
forest being so dense he was soon out of reach of pursuit: he had been
advised to this by Kavimba, and nothing else need have been expected.
We then followed the track of a travelling party of Babisa, but the
grass springs up over the paths, and it was soon lost: the rain had
fallen early in these parts, and the grass was all in seed. In the
afternoon we came to the hills in the north where Nyamazi rises, and
went up the bed of a rivulet for some time, and then ascended out of
the valley. At the bottom of the ascent and in the rivulet the shingle
stratum was sometimes fifty feet thick, then as we ascended we met
mica schist tilted on edge, then grey gneiss, and last an igneous trap
among quartz rocks, with a great deal of bright mica and talc in them.
On resting near the top of the first ascent two honey hunters came to
us. They were using the honey-guide as an aid, the bird came to us as
they arrived, waited quietly during the half-hour they smoked and
chatted, and then went on with them.[41]
The tsetse flies, which were very numerous at the bottom, came up the
ascent with us, but as we increased our altitude by another thousand
feet they gradually dropped off and left us: only one remained in the
evening, and he seemed out of spirits. Near sunset we encamped by
water on the cool height, and made our shelters with boughs of leafy
trees; mine was rendered perfect by Dr. Stenhouse's invaluable patent
cloth, which is very superior to mackintosh: indeed the india-rubber
cloth is not to be named in the same day with it.
_28th December, 1866._--Three men, going to hunt bees, came to us as
we were starting and assured us that Moerwa's was near. The first
party had told us the same thing, and so often have we gone long
distances as "_pafupi_" (near), when in reality they were "_patari_"
(far), that we begin to think _pafupi_ means "I wish you to go there,"
and _patari_ the reverse. In this case _near_ meant an hour and
three-quarters from our sleeping-place to Moerwa's!
When we look back from the height to which we have ascended we see a
great plain clothed with dark green forest except at the line of
yellowish grass, where probably the Loangwa flows. On the east and
south-east this plain is bounded at the extreme range of our vision by
a wall of dim blue mountains forty or fifty miles off. The Loangwa is
said to rise in the Chibalé country due north of this Malambwé (in
which district Moerwa's village is situated), and to flow S.E., then
round to where we found it.
Moerwa came to visit me in my hut, a rather stupid man, though he has
a well-shaped and well-developed forehead, and tried the usual little
arts of getting us to buy all we need here though the prices are
exorbitant. "No people in front, great hunger there." "We must buy
food here and carry it to support us." On asking the names of the next
headman he would not inform me, till I told him to try and speak like
a man; he then told us that the first Lobemba chief was Motuna, and
the next Chafunga. We have nothing, as we saw no animals in our way
hither, and hunger is ill to bear. By giving Moerwa a good large cloth
he was induced to cook a mess of maëre or millet and elephant's
stomach; it was so good to get a full meal that I could have given
him another cloth, and the more so as it was accompanied by a message
that he would cook more next day and in larger quantity. On inquiring
next evening he said "the man had told lies," he had cooked nothing
more: he was prone to lie himself, and was a rather bad specimen of a
chief.
The Babisa have round bullet heads, snub noses, often high
cheek-bones, an upward slant of the eyes, and look as if they had a
lot of Bushman blood in them, and a good many would pass for Bushmen
or Hottentots. Both Babisa and Waiyau may have a mixture of the race,
which would account for their roving habits. The women have the
fashion of exposing the upper part of the buttocks by letting a very
stiff cloth fall down behind. Their teeth are filed to points, they
wear no lip-ring, and the hair is parted so as to lie in a net at the
back part of the head. The mode of salutation among the men is to lie
down nearly on the back, clapping the hands, and making a rather
inelegant half-kissing sound with the lips.
_29th December, 1866._--We remain a day at Malambwé, but get nothing
save a little maëre,[42] which grates in the teeth and in the stomach.
To prevent the Mazitu starving them they cultivate small round patches
placed at wide intervals in the forest, with which the country is
covered. The spot, some ten yards or a little more in diameter, is
manured with ashes and planted with this millet and pumpkins, in order
that should Mazitu come they may be unable to carry off the pumpkins,
or gather the millet, the seed of which is very small. They have no
more valour than the other Africans, but more craft, and are much
given to falsehood. They will not answer common questions except by
misstatements, but this may arise in our case from our being in
disfavour, because we will not sell all our goods to them for ivory.
_30th December, 1866._--Marched for Chitemba's, because it is said he
has not fled from the Mazitu, and therefore has food to spare. While
resting, Moerwa, with all his force of men, women, and dogs, came up,
on his way to hunt elephants. The men were furnished with big spears,
and their dogs are used to engage the animal's attention while they
spear it; the women cook the meat and make huts, and a smith goes with
them to mend any spear that may be broken.
We pass over level plateaux on which the roads are wisely placed, and
do not feel that we are travelling in a mountainous region. It is all
covered with dense forest, which in many cases is pollarded, from
being cut for bark cloth or for hunting purposes. Masuko fruit
abounds. From the cisalpinae and gum-copal trees bark cloth is made.
We now come to large masses of haematite, which is often ferruginous:
there is conglomerate too, many quartz pebbles being intermixed. It
seems as if when the lakes existed in the lower lands, the higher
levels gave forth great quantities of water from chalybeate fountains,
which deposited this iron ore. Grey granite or quartz with talc in it
or gneiss lie under the haematite.
The forest resounds with singing birds, intent on nidification.
Francolins abound, but are wild. "Whip-poor-wills," and another bird,
which has a more laboured treble note and voice--"Oh, oh, oh!" Gay
flowers blush unseen, but the people have a good idea of what is
eatable and what not. I looked at a woman's basket of leaves which she
had collected for supper, and it contained eight or ten kinds, with
mushrooms and orchidaceous flowers. We have a succession of showers
to-day, from N.E. and E.N.E. We are uncertain when we shall come to a
village, as the Babisa will not tell us where they are situated. In
the evening we encamped beside a little rill, and made our shelters,
but we had so little to eat that I dreamed the night long of dinners I
had eaten, and might have been eating.
I shall make this beautiful land better known, which is an essential
part of the process by which it will become the "pleasant haunts of
men." It is impossible to describe its rich luxuriance, but most of it
is running to waste through the slave-trade and internal wars.
_31st December, 1866._--When we started this morning after rain, all
the trees and grass dripping, a lion roared, but we did not see him. A
woman had come a long way and built a neat miniature hut in the
burnt-out ruins of her mother's house: the food-offering she placed in
it, and the act of filial piety, no doubt comforted this poor
mourner's heart!
We arrived at Chitembo's village and found it deserted. The Babisa
dismantle their huts and carry off the thatch to their gardens, where
they live till harvest is over. This fallowing of the framework
destroys many insects, but we observed that wherever Babisa and Arab
slavers go they leave the breed of the domestic bug: it would be well
if that were all the ill they did! Chitembo was working in his garden
when we arrived, but soon came, and gave us the choice of all the
standing huts: he is an old man, much more frank and truthful than our
last headman, and says that Chitapanga is paramount chief of all the
Abemba.
Three or four women whom we saw performing a rain dance at Moerwa's
were here doing the same; their faces smeared with meal, and axes in
their hands, imitating as well as they could the male voice. I got
some maëre or millet here and a fowl.
We now end 1866. It has not been so fruitful or useful as I intended.
Will try to do better in 1867, and be better--more gentle and loving;
and may the Almighty, to whom I commit my way, bring my desires to
pass, and prosper me! Let all the sins of '66 be blotted out for
Jesus' sake.
* * * * *
_1st January, 1867._--May He who was full of grace and truth impress
His character on mine. Grace--eagerness to show favour;
truth--truthfulness, sincerity, honour--for His mercy's sake.
We remain to-day at Mbulukuta-Chitembo's district, by the boys'
desire, because it is New Year's day, and also because we can get some
food.
_2nd and 3rd January, 1867._--Remain on account of a threatened
_set-in_ rain. Bought a senzé _(Aulocaudatus Swindernianus)_, a
rat-looking animal; but I was glad to get anything in the shape of
meat.
_4th January, 1867._--It is a _set-in_ rain. The boiling-point
thermometer shows an altitude of 3565 feet above the sea. Barometer,
3983 feet ditto. We get a little maëre here, and prefer it to being
drenched and our goods spoiled. We have neither sugar nor salt, so
there are no soluble goods; but cloth and gunpowder get damaged
easily. It is hard fare and scanty; I feel always hungry, and am
constantly dreaming of better food when I should be sleeping. Savoury
viands of former times come vividly up before the imagination, even in
my waking hours; this is rather odd as I am not a dreamer; indeed I
scarcely ever dream but when I am going to be ill or actually so.[43]
We are on the northern brim (or north-western rather) of the great
Loangwa Valley we lately crossed: the rain coming from the east
strikes it, and is deposited both above and below, while much of the
valley itself is not yet well wetted. Here all the grasses have run up
to seed, and yet they are not more than two feet or so in the
seed-stalks. The pasturage is very fine. The people employ these
continuous or _set-in_ rains for hunting the elephant, which gets
bogged, and sinks in from fifteen to eighteen inches in soft mud,
then even he, the strong one, feels it difficult to escape.[44]
_5th January, 1867._--Still storm-stayed. We shall be off as soon as
we get a fair day and these heavy rains cease.
_6th January, 1867._--After service two men came and said that they
were going to Lobemba, and would guide us to Motuna's village; another
came a day or two ago, but he had such a villainous look we all shrank
from him. These men's faces pleased us, but they did not turn out all
we expected, for they guided us away westwards without a path: it was
a drizzling rain, and this made us averse to striking off in the
forest without them. No inhabitants now except at wide intervals, and
no animals either. In the afternoon we came to a deep ravine full of
gigantic timber trees and bamboos, with the Mavoché River at the
bottom. The dampness had caused the growth of lichens all over the
trees, and the steep descent was so slippery that two boys fell, and
he who carried the chronometers, twice: this was a misfortune, as it
altered the rates, as was seen by the first comparison of them
together in the evening. No food at Motuna's village, yet the headman
tried to extort two fathoms of calico on the ground that he was owner
of the country: we offered to go out of his village and make our own
sheds on "God's land," that is, where it is uncultivated, rather than
have any words about it: he then begged us to stay. A very high
mountain called Chikokwé appeared W.S.W. from this village; the people
who live on it are called Matumba; this part is named Lokumbi, but
whatever the name, all the people are Babisa, the dependants of the
Babemba, reduced by their own slaving habits to a miserable jungly
state. They feed much on wild fruits, roots, and leaves; and yet are
generally plump. They use a wooden hoe for sowing their maëre, it is
a sort of V-shaped implement, made from a branch with another
springing out of it, about an inch in diameter at the sharp point, and
with it they claw the soil after scattering the seed; about a dozen
young men were so employed in the usual small patches as we passed in
the morning.
The country now exhibits the extreme of leafiness and the undulations
are masses of green leaves; as far as the eye can reach with
distinctness it rests on a mantle of that hue, and beyond the scene
becomes dark blue. Near at hand many gay flowers peep out. Here and
there the scarlet martagón (_Lilium chalcedonicum_), bright blue or
yellow gingers; red, orange, yellow, and pure white orchids; pale
lobelias, &c.; but they do not mar the general greenness. As we
ascended higher on the plateau, grasses, which have pink and reddish
brown seed-vessels imparted distinct shades of their colours to the
lawns, and were grateful to the eye. We turned aside early in our
march to avoid being wetted by rains, and took shelter in some old
Babisa sheds; these, when the party is a slaving one, are built so as
to form a circle, with but one opening: a ridge pole, or rather a
succession of ridge poles, form one long shed all round, with no
partitions in the roof-shaped hut.
On the _9th of January_ we ascended a hardened sandstone range. Two
men who accompanied our guide called out every now and then to attract
the attention of the honey-guide, but none appeared. A water-buck had
been killed and eaten at one spot, the ground showing marks of a
severe struggle, but no game was to be seen. Buffaloes and elephants
come here at certain seasons; at present they have migrated elsewhere.
The valleys are very beautiful: the oozes are covered with a species
of short wiry grass, which gives the valleys the appearance of
well-kept gentlemen's parks; but they are full of water to
overflowing--immense sponges in fact;--and one has to watch carefully
in crossing them to avoid plunging into deep water-holes, made by the
feet of elephants or buffaloes. In the ooze generally the water comes
half-way up the shoe, and we go plash, plash, plash, in the lawn-like
glade. There are no people here now in these lovely wild valleys; but
to-day we came to mounds made of old for planting grain, and slag from
iron furnaces. The guide was rather offended because he did not get
meat and meal, though he is accustomed to leaves at home, and we had
none to give except by wanting ourselves: he found a mess without much
labour in the forest. My stock of meal came to an end to-day, but
Simon gave me some of his. It is not the unpleasantness of eating
unpalatable food that teases one, but we are never satisfied; I could
brace myself to dispose of a very unsavoury mess, and think no more
about it; but this maëre engenders a craving which plagues day and
night incessantly.
_10th January, 1867._--We crossed the Muasi, flowing strongly to the
east to the Loangwa River.
In the afternoon an excessively heavy thunderstorm wetted us all to
the skin before any shelter could be made. Two of our men wandered,
and other two remained behind lost, as our track was washed out by the
rains. The country is a succession of enormous waves, all covered with
jungle, and no traces of paths; we were in a hollow, and our firing
was not heard till this morning, when we ascended a height and were
answered. I am thankful that up one was lost, for a man might wander a
long time before reaching a village. Simon gave me a little more of
his meal this morning, and went without himself: I took my belt up
three holes to relieve hunger. We got some wretched wild fruit like
that called "jambos" in India, and at midday reached the village of
Chafunga. Famine here too, but some men had killed an elephant and
came to sell the dried meat: it was high, and so were their prices;
but we are obliged to give our best from this craving hunger.
_12th January, 1867._--Sitting down this morning near a tree my head
was just one yard off a good-sized cobra, coiled up in the sprouts at
its root, but it was benumbed with cold: a very pretty little
puff-adder lay in the path, also benumbed; it is seldom that any harm
is done by these reptiles here, although it is different in India. We
bought up all the food we could get; but it did not suffice for the
marches we expect to make to get to the Chambezé, where food is said
to be abundant, we were therefore again obliged to travel on Sunday.
We had prayers before starting; but I always feel that I am not doing
fight, it lessens the sense of obligation in the minds of my
companions; but I have no choice. We went along a rivulet till it
ended in a small lake, Mapampa or Chimbwé, about five miles long, and
one and a half broad. It had hippopotami, and the poku fed on its
banks.
_15th January, 1867._--We had to cross the Chimbwé at its eastern end,
where it is fully a mile wide. The guide refused to show another and
narrower ford up the stream, which emptied into it from the east; and
I, being the first to cross, neglected to give orders about the poor
little dog, Chitané. The water was waist deep, the bottom soft peaty
stuff with deep holes in it, and the northern side infested by
leeches. The boys were--like myself--all too much engaged with
preserving their balance to think of the spirited little beast, and he
must have swam till he sunk. He was so useful in keeping all the
country curs off our huts; none dare to approach and steal, and he
never stole himself. He shared the staring of the people with his
master, then in the march he took charge of the whole party, running
to the front, and again to the rear, to see that all was right. He was
becoming yellowish-red in colour; and, poor thing, perished in what
the boys all call Chitané's water.
_16th January, 1867._--March through the mountains, which are of
beautiful white and pink dolomite, scantily covered with upland trees
and vegetation. The rain, as usual, made us halt early, and wild
fruits helped to induce us to stay.
In one place we lighted on a party of people living on Masuko fruit,
and making mats of the Shuaré[45] palm petioles. We have hard lines
ourselves; nothing but a little maëre porridge and dampers. We roast a
little grain, and boil it, to make believe it is coffee. The guide, a
maundering fellow, turned because he was not fed better than at home,
and because he knew that but for his obstinacy we should not have lost
the dog. It is needless to repeat that it is all forest on the
northern slopes of the mountains--open glade and miles of forest;
ground at present all sloppy; oozes full and overflowing--feet
constantly wet. Rivulets rush strongly with _clear_ water, though they
are in flood: we can guess which are perennial and which mere torrents
that dry up; they flow northwards and westwards to the Chambezé.
_17th January, 1867._--Detained in an old Babisa slaving encampment by
set-in rain till noon, then set off in the midst of it. Came to hills
of dolomite, but all the rocks were covered with white lichens
(ash-coloured). The path took us thence along a ridge, which separates
the Lotiri, running westwards, and the Lobo, going northwards, and we
came at length to the Lobo, travelling along its banks till we reached
the village called Lisunga, which was about five yards broad, and very
deep, in flood, with clear water, as indeed are all the rivulets now;
they can only be crossed by felling a tree on the bant and letting it
fall across. They do not abrade their banks--vegetation protects them.
I observed that the brown ibis, a noisy bird, took care to restrain
his loud, harsh voice when driven from the tree in which his nest was
placed, and when about a quarter of a mile off, then commenced his
loud "Ha-ha-ha!"
_18th January, 1867._--The headman of Lisunga, Chaokila, took our
present, and gave nothing in return. A deputy from Chitapangwa came
afterwards and demanded a larger present, as he was the greater man,
and said that if we gave him two fathoms of calico, he would order all
the people to bring plenty of food, not here only, but all the way to
the paramount chief of Lobemba, Chitapangwa. I proposed that he should
begin by ordering Chaokila to give us some in return for our present.
This led, as Chaokila told us, to the cloth being delivered to the
deputy, and we saw that all the starvelings south of the Chambezé were
poor dependants on the Babemba, or rather their slaves, who cultivate
little, and then only in the rounded patches above mentioned, so as to
prevent their conquerors from taking away more than a small share. The
subjects are Babisa--a miserable lying lot of serfs. This tribe is
engaged in the slave-trade, and the evil effects are seen in their
depopulated country and utter distrust of every one.
_19th January, 1867._--Raining most of the day. Worked out the
longitude of the mountain-station said to be Mpini, but it will be
better to name it Chitané's, as I could not get the name from our
maundering guide; he probably did not know it. Lat, 11° 9' 2" S.;
long. 32° 1' 30" E.
Altitude above sea (barometer) 5353 feet;
Altitude above sea (boiling-point) 5385 feet.
----
Diff. 32.[46]
Nothing but famine and famine prices, the people living on mushrooms
and leaves. Of mushrooms we observed that they choose five or six
kinds, and rejected ten sorts. One species becomes as large as the
crown of a man's hat; it is pure white, with a blush of brown in the
middle of the crown, and is very good roasted; it is named "Motenta;"
another, Mofeta; 3rd, Boséfwé; 4th, Nakabausa; 5th, Chisimbé,
lobulated, green outside, and pink and fleshy inside; as a relish to
others: some experience must have been requisite to enable them to
distinguish the good from the noxious, of which they reject ten sorts.
We get some elephants' meat from the people, but high is no name for
its condition. It is very bitter, but we used it as a relish to the
maëre porridge: none of the animal is wasted; skin and all is cut up
and sold, not one of us would touch it with the hand if we had aught
else, for the gravy in which we dip our porridge is like an aqueous
solution of aloes, but it prevents the heartburn, which maëre causes
when taken alone. I take mushrooms boiled instead; but the meat is
never refused when we can purchase it, as it seems to ease the feeling
of fatigue which jungle-fruit and fare engenders. The appetite in this
country is always very keen, and makes hunger worse to bear: the want
of salt, probably, makes the gnawing sensation worse.
* * * * *
[We now come to a disaster which cannot be exaggerated in importance
when we witness its after effects month by month on Dr. Livingstone.
There can be little doubt that the severity of his subsequent
illnesses mainly turned upon it, and it is hardly too much to believe
that his constitution from this time was steadily sapped by the
effects of fever-poison which he was powerless to counteract, owing to
the want of quinine. In his allusion to Bishop Mackenzie's death, we
have only a further confirmation of the one rule in all such cases
which must be followed, or the traveller in Africa goes--not with his
life in his hand, but in some luckless box, put in the charge of
careless servants. Bishop Mackenzie had all his drugs destroyed by the
upsetting of a canoe, in which was his case of medicines, and in a
moment everything was soaked and spoilt.
It cannot be too strongly urged on explorers that they should divide
their more important medicines in such a way that a _total loss_ shall
become well-nigh impossible. Three or four tin canisters containing
some calomel, Dover's powder, colocynth, and, above all, a supply of
quinine, can be distributed in different packages, and then, if a
mishap occurs similar to that which Livingstone relates, the disaster
is not beyond remedy.]
* * * * *
_20th January, 1867._--A guide refused, so we marched without one. The
two Waiyau, who joined us at Kandé's village, now deserted. They had
been very faithful all the way, and took our part in every case.
Knowing the language well, they were extremely useful, and no one
thought that they would desert, for they were free men--their masters
had been killed by the Mazitu--and this circumstance, and their
uniform good conduct, made us trust them more than we should have done
any others who had been slaves. But they left us in the forest, and
heavy rain came on, which obliterated every vestige of their
footsteps. To make the loss the more galling, they took what we could
least spare--the medicine-box, which they would only throw away as
soon as they came to examine their booty. One of these deserters
exchanged his load that morning with a boy called Baraka, who had
charge of the medicine-box, because he was so careful. This was done,
because with the medicine-chest were packed five large cloths and all
Baraka's clothing and beads, of which he was very careful. The Waiyau
also offered to carry this burden a stage to help Baraka, while he
gave his own load, in which there was no cloth, in exchange. The
forest was so dense and high, there was no chance of getting a glimpse
of the fugitives, who took all the dishes, a large box of powder, the
flour we had purchased dearly to help us as far as the Chambezé, the
tools, two guns, and a cartridge-pouch; but the medicine-chest was the
sorest loss of all! I felt as if I had now received the sentence of
death, like poor Bishop Mackenzie.
All the other goods I had divided in case of loss or desertion, but
had never dreamed of losing the precious quinine and other remedies;
other losses and annoyances I felt as just parts of that undercurrent
of vexations which is not wanting in even the smoothest life, and
certainly not worthy of being moaned over in the experience of an
explorer anxious to benefit a country and people--but this loss I feel
most keenly. Everything of this kind happens by the permission of One
who watches over us with most tender care; and this may turn out for
the best by taking away a source of suspicion among more
superstitious, charm-dreading people further north. I meant it as a
source of benefit to my party and to the heathen.
We returned to Lisunga, and got two men off to go back to Chafunga's
village, and intercept the deserters if they went there; but it is
likely that, having our supply of flour, they will give our route a
wide berth and escape altogether. It is difficult to say from the
heart, "Thy will be done;" but I shall try. These Waiyau had few
advantages: sold into slavery in early life, they were in the worst
possible school for learning to be honest and honourable, they behaved
well for a long time; but, having had hard and scanty fare in Lobisa,
wet and misery in passing through dripping forests, hungry nights and
fatiguing days, their patience must have been worn out, and they had
no sentiments of honour, or at least none so strong as we ought to
have; they gave way to the temptation which their good conduct had led
us to put in their way. Some we have come across in this journey
seemed born essentially mean and base--a great misfortune to them and
all who have to deal with them, but they cannot be so blamable as
those who have no natural tendency to meanness, and whose education
has taught them to abhor it. True; yet this loss of the medicine-box
gnaws at the heart terribly.
_21st and 22nd January, 1867._--Remained at Lisunga--raining nearly
all day; and we bought all the maëre the chief would sell. We were now
forced to go on and made for the next village to buy food. Want of
food and rain are our chief difficulties now, more rain falls here on
this northern slope of the upland than elsewhere; clouds come up from
the north and pour down their treasures in heavy thunder-showers,
which deluge the whole country south of the edge of the plateau: the
rain-clouds come from the west chiefly.
_23rd January, 1867._--A march of five and three-quarter hours brought
us yesterday to a village, Chibanda's stockade, where "no food" was
the case, as usual. We crossed a good-sized rivulet, the Mapampa
(probably ten yards wide), dashing along to the east; all the rest of
the way was in dark forest. I sent off the boys to the village of
Muasi to buy food, if successful, to-morrow we march for the Chambezé,
on the other side of which all the reports agree in the statement that
there plenty of food is to be had. We all feel weak and easily tired,
and an incessant hunger teases us, so it is no wonder if so large a
space of this paper is occupied by stomach affairs. It has not been
merely want of nice dishes, but real biting hunger and faintness.
_24th January, 1867._--Four hours through unbroken, dark forest
brought us to the Movushi, which here is a sluggish stream, winding
through and filling a marshy valley a mile wide. It comes from
south-east, and falls into the Chambezé, about 2' north of our
encampment. The village of Moaba is on the east side of the marshy
valley of the Movuhi, and very difficult to be approached, as the
water is chin-deep in several spots. I decided to make sheds on the
west side, and send over for food, which, thanks to the Providence
which watches over us, we found at last in a good supply of maëre and
some ground-nuts; but through, all this upland region the trees
yielding bark-cloth, or _nyanda_, are so abundant, that the people
are all well-clothed with it, and care but little for our cloth. Red
and pink beads are in fashion, and fortunately we have red.
* * * * *
[We may here add a few particulars concerning beads, which form such
an important item of currency all through Africa. With a few
exceptions they are all manufactured in Venice. The greatest care must
be exercised, or the traveller--ignorant of the prevailing fashion in
the country he is about to explore--finds himself with an accumulation
of beads of no more value than tokens would be if tendered in this
country for coin of the realm.
Thanks to the kindness of Messrs. Levin & Co., the bead merchants, of
Bevis Marks, E.C., we have been able to get some idea of the more
valuable beads, through a selection made by Susi and Chuma in their
warehouse. The Waiyou prefer exceedingly small beads, the size of
mustard-seed, and of various colours, but they must be opaque: amongst
them dull white chalk varieties, called "Catchokolo," are valuable,
besides black and pink, named, respectively, "Bububu" and
"Sekundereché" = the "dregs of pombe." One red bead, of various sizes,
which has a white centre, is always valuable in every part of Africa.
It is called "Sami-sami" by the Suahélé, "Chitakaraka" by the Waiyou,
"Mangazi," = "blood," by the Nyassa, and was found popular even
amongst the Manyuema, under the name of "Maso-kantussi", "bird's
eyes." Whilst speaking of this distant tribe, it is interesting to
observe that one peculiar long bead, recognised as common in the
Manyuema land, is only sent to the West Coast of Africa, and _never_
to the East. On Chuma pointing to it as a sort found at the extreme
limit explored by Livingstone, it was at once seen that he must have
touched that part of Africa which begins to be within the reach of the
traders in the Portuguese settlements. "Machua Kanga" = "guinea fowl's
eyes," is another popular variety; and the "Moiompio" = "new heart,"
a large pale blue bead, is a favourite amongst the Wabisa; but by far
the most valuable of all is a small white oblong bead, which, when
strung, looks like the joints of the cane root, from which it takes
its name, "Salani" = cane. Susi says that 1 lb. weight of these beads
would buy a tusk of ivory, at the south end of Tanganyika, so big that
a strong man could not carry it more than two hours.]
* * * * *
_25th January, 1867._--Remain and get our maëre ground into flour.
Moaba has cattle, sheep, and goats. The other side of the Chambezé has
everything in still greater abundance; so we may recover our lost
flesh. There are buffaloes in this quarter, but we have not got a
glimpse of any. If game was to be had, I should have hunted; but the
hopo way of hunting prevails, and we pass miles of hedges by which
many animals must have perished. In passing-through the forests it is
surprising to see none but old footsteps of the game; but the hopo
destruction accounts for its absence. When the hedges are burned, then
the manured space is planted with pumpkins and calabashes.
I observed at Chibanda's a few green mushrooms, which, on being
peeled, showed a pink, fleshy inside; they are called "chisimba;" and
only one or two are put into the mortar, in which the women pound the
other kinds, to give relish, it was said, to the mass: I could not
ascertain what properties chisimba had when taken alone; but mushroom
diet, in our experience, is good only for producing dreams of the
roast beef of bygone days. The saliva runs from the mouth in these
dreams, and the pillow is wet with it in the mornings.
These Babisa are full of suspicion; everything has to be paid for
accordingly in advance, and we found that giving a present to a chief
is only putting it in his power to cheat us out of a supper. They give
nothing to each other for nothing, and if this is enlargement of mind
produced by commerce, commend me to the untrading African!
Fish now appear in the rivulets. Higher altitudes have only small
things, not worth catching.
An owl makes the woods resound by night and early morning with his
cries, which consist of a loud, double-initial note, and then a
succession of lower descending notes. Another new bird, or at least
new to me, makes the forests ring.
When the vultures see us making our sheds, they conclude that we have
killed some animal; but after watching awhile, and seeing no meat,
they depart. This is suggestive of what other things prove, that it is
only by sight they are guided.[47]
With respect to the native head-dresses the colouring-matter, "nkola,"
which seems to be camwood, is placed as an ornament on the head, and
some is put on the bark-cloth to give it a pleasant appearance. The
tree, when cut, is burned to bring out the strong colour, and then,
when it is developed, the wood is powdered.
The gum-copal trees now pour out gum where wounded, and I have seen
masses of it fallen on the ground.
_26th January, 1867._--Went northwards along the Movushi, near to its
confluence with Chambezé, and then took lodging in a deserted
temporary village. In the evening I shot a poku, or tsébula,
full-grown male. It measured from snout to insertion of tail, 5 feet
3 inches; tail, 1 foot; height at withers, 3 feet; circumference of
chest, 5 feet; face to insertion of horns, 9-1/2 inches; horns
measured on curve, 16 inches. Twelve rings on horns, and one had a
ridge behind, 1/2 inch broad, 1/2 inch high, and tapering up the horn;
probably accidental. Colour: reddish-yellow, dark points in front of
foot and on the ears, belly nearly white. The shell went through from
behind the shoulder to the spleen, and burst on the other side, yet he
ran 100 yards. I felt very thankful to the Giver of all good for this
meat.
_27th January, 1867._--A set-in rain all the morning, but having meat
we were comfortable in the old huts. In changing my dress this morning
I was frightened at my own emaciation.
_28th January, 1867._--- We went five miles along the Movushi and the
Chambezé to a crossing-place said to avoid three rivers on the other
side, which require canoes just now, and have none. Our lat. 10° 34'
S. The Chambezé was flooded with clear water, but the lines of bushy
trees, which showed its real banks, were not more than forty yards
apart, it showed its usual character of abundant animal life in its
waters and on its banks, as it wended its way westwards. The canoe-man
was excessively suspicious; when prepayment was acceded to, he asked a
piece more, and although he was promised full payment as soon as we
were all safely across he kept the last man on the south side as a
hostage for this bit of calico: he then ran away. They must cheat each
other sadly.
Went northwards, wading across two miles of flooded flats on to which
the _Clarias Capensis_, a species of siluris, comes to forage out of
the river. We had the Likindazi, a sedgy stream, with hippopotami, on
our right. Slept in forest without seeing anyone. Then next day we met
with a party who had come from their village to look for us. We were
now in Lobemba, but these villagers had nothing but hopes of plenty at
Chitapangwa's. This village had half a mile of ooze and sludgy marsh
in front of it, and a stockade as usual. We observed that the people
had great fear of animals at night, and shut the gates carefully, of
even temporary villages. When at Molemba (Chitapangwa's village)
afterwards, two men were killed by a lion, and great fear of
crocodiles was expressed by our canoe-man at the Chambezé, when one
washed in the margin of that river. There was evidence of abundance of
game, elephants, and buffaloes, but we saw none.
_29th January, 1867._--When near our next stage end we were shown
where lightning had struck; it ran down a gum-copal tree without
damaging it, then ten yards horizontally, and dividing there into two
streams it went up an anthill; the withered grass showed its course
very plainly, and next day (31st), on the banks of the Mabula, we saw
a dry tree which had been struck; large splinters had been riven off
and thrown a distance of sixty yards in one direction and thirty yards
in another: only a stump was left, and patches of withered grass where
it had gone horizontally.
_30th January, 1867._--Northwards through almost trackless dripping
forests and across oozing bogs.
_31st January, 1867._--Through forest, but gardens of larger size than
in Lobisa now appear. A man offered a thick bar of copper for sale, a
foot by three inches. The hard-leafed acacia and mohempi abound. The
valleys, with the oozes, have a species of grass, having pink
seed-stalks and yellow seeds: this is very pretty. At midday we came
to the Lopiri, the rivulet which waters Chitapanga's stockade, and
soon after found that his village has a triple stockade, the inner
being defended also by a deep broad ditch and hedge of a solanaceous
thorny shrub. It is about 200 yards broad and 500 long. The huts not
planted very closely.
The rivulets were all making for the Chambezé. They contain no fish,
except very small ones--probably fry. On the other, or western side
of the ridge, near which "Malemba" is situated, fish abound worth
catching.
[Illustration: Chitapangwa]
Chitapangwa, or Motoka, as he is also called, sent to inquire if we
wanted an audience. "We must take something in our hands the first
time we came before so great a man." Being tired from marching, I
replied, "Not till the evening," and sent notice at 5 P.M. of my
coming. We passed through the inner stockade, and then on to an
enormous hut, where sat Chitapangwa, with three drummers and ten or
more men, with two rattles in their hands. The drummers beat
furiously, and the rattlers kept time to the drums, two of them
advancing and receding in a stooping posture, with rattles near the
ground, as if doing the chief obeisance, but still keeping time with
the others. I declined to sit on the ground, and an enormous tusk was
brought for me. The chief saluted courteously. He has a fat jolly
face, and legs loaded with brass and copper leglets. I mentioned our
losses by the desertion of the Waiyau, but his power is merely
nominal, and he could do nothing. After talking awhile he came along
with us to a group of cows, and pointed out one. "That is yours," said
he. The tusk on which I sat was sent after me too as being mine,
because I had sat upon it. He put on my cloth as token of acceptance,
and sent two large baskets of sorghum to the hut afterwards, and then
sent for one of the boys to pump him after dark.
[Illustration: Chitapangwa's Wives.]
_1st February, 1867._--We found a small party of black Arab
slave-traders here from Bagamoio on the coast, and as the chief had
behaved handsomely as I thought, I went this morning and gave him one
of our best cloths; but when we were about to kill the cow, a man
interfered and pointed out a smaller one. I asked if this was by the
orders of the chief. The chief said that the man had lied, but I
declined to take any cow at all if he did not give it willingly.
The slavers, the headman of whom was Magaru Mafupi, came and said that
they were going off on the 2nd; (_2nd February, 1867_) but by payment
I got them to remain a day, and was all day employed in writing
despatches.
_3rd February, 1867._--Magaru Mafupi left this morning with a packet
of letters, for which he is to get Rs. 10 at Zanzibar.[48] They came
by a much shorter route than we followed, in fact, nearly due west or
south-west; but not a soul would tell us of this way of coming into
the country when we were at Zanzibar. Bagamoio is only six hours north
of Kurdary Harbour. It is possible that the people of Zanzibar did not
know of it themselves, as this is the first time they have come so
far. The route is full of villages and people who have plenty of
goats, and very cheap. They number fifteen stations, or sultans, as
they call the chiefs, and will be at Bagamoio in two months:--1.
Chasa; 2. Lombé; 3. Ucheré; 4. Nyamiro; 5. Zonda; 6. Zambi; 7. Lioti;
8. Méreré; 9. Kirangabana; 10. Nkongozi; 11. Sombogo; 12. Suré; 13.
Lomolasenga; 14. Kapass; 15, Chanzé. They are then in the country
adjacent to Bagamoio. Some of these places are two or three days apart
from each other.
They came to three large rivers: 1. Wembo; 2. Luaha; 3. Luvo; but I
had not time to make further inquiries. They had one of Speke's
companions to Tanganyika with them, named Janjé, or Janja, who could
imitate a trumpet by blowing into the palm of his hand. I ordered
another supply of cloth and beads, and I sent for a small quantity of
coffee, sugar, candles, French preserved meats, a cheese in tin, six
bottles of port-wine, quinine, calomel, and resin of jalap, to be sent
to Ujiji.
I proposed to go a little way east with this route to buy goats, but
Chitapangwa got very angry, saying, I came only to show my things, and
would buy nothing: he then altered his tone, and requested me to take
the cow first presented and eat it, and as we were all much in need I
took it. We were to give only what we liked in addition; but this was
a snare, and when I gave two more cloths he sent them back, and
demanded a blanket. The boys alone have blankets; so I told him these
were not slaves, and I could not take from them what I had once given.
Though it is disagreeable to be thus victimized, it is the first time
we have tasted fat for six weeks and more.
_6th February, 1867._--Chitapangwa came with his wife to see the
instruments which I explained to them as well as I could, and the
books, as well as the Book of Books, and to my statements he made
intelligent remarks. The boys are sorely afraid of him. When Abraham
does not like to say what I state, he says to me "I don't know the
proper word;" but when I speak without him, he soon finds them. He and
Simon thought that talking in a cringing manner was the way to win him
over, so I let them try it with a man he sent to communicate with us,
and the result was this fellow wanted to open their bundles, pulled
them about, and kept them awake most of the night. Abraham came at
night: "Sir, what shall I do? they won't let me sleep." "You have had
your own way," I replied, "and must abide by it." He brought them over
to me in the morning, but I soon dismissed both him and them.
_7th February, 1867._--I sent to the chief either to come to me or say
Avhen I should come to him and talk; the answer I got was that he
would come when shaved, but he afterwards sent a man to hear what I
had to advance--this I declined, and when the rain ceased I went
myself.
On coming into his hut I stated that I had given him four times the
value of his cow, but if he thought otherwise, let us take the four
cloths to his brother Moamba, and if he said that I had not given
enough, I would buy a cow and send it back. This he did not relish at
all. "Oh, great Englishman! why should we refer a dispute to an
inferior. I am the great chief of all this country. Ingleze mokolu,
you are sorry that you have to give so much for the ox you have eaten.
You would not take a smaller, and therefore I gratified your heart by
giving the larger; and why should not you gratify my heart by giving
cloth sufficient to cover me, and please me?"
I said that my cloths would cover him, and his biggest wife too all
over, he laughed at this, but still held out; and as we have meat, and
he sent maize and calabashes, I went away. He turns round now, and
puts the blame of greediness on me. I cannot enter into his ideas, or
see his point of view; cannot, in fact, enter into his ignorance, his
prejudices, or delusions, so it is impossible to pronounce a true
judgment. One who has no humour cannot understand one who has: this is
an equivalent case.
Rain and clouds so constantly, I could not get our latitude till last
night, 10° 14' 6" S. On 8th got lunars. Long. 31° 46' 45" E. Altitude
above sea, 4700 feet, by boiling-point and barometer.
_8th February, 1867._--The chief demands one of my boxes and a
blanket; I explain that one day's rain would spoil the contents, and
the boys who have blankets, not being slaves, I cannot take from them
what I have given. I am told that he declares that he will take us
back to the Loangwa; make war and involve us in it, deprive us of
food, &c.: this succeeds in terrifying the boys. He thinks that we
have some self-interest to secure in passing through the country, and
therefore he has a right to a share in the gain. When told it was for
a public benefit, he pulled down the underlid of the right eye.[49] He
believes we shall profit by our journey, though he knows not in what
way.
It is possibly only a coincidence, but no sooner do we meet with one
who accompanied Speke and Burton to Tanganyika, than the system of
mulcting commences. I have no doubt but that Janjé told this man how
his former employers paid down whatever was demanded of them.
_10th February, 1867._--I had service in the open air, many looking
on, and spoke afterwards to the chief, but he believes nothing save
what Speke and Burton's man has told him. He gave us a present of corn
and ground-nuts, and says he did not order the people not to sell
grain to us. We must stop and eat green maize. He came after evening
service, and I explained a little to him, and showed him woodcuts in
the 'Bible Dictionary,' which he readily understood.
_11th February, 1867._--The chief sent us a basket of hippopotamus
flesh from the Chambezé, and a large one of green maize. He says the
three cloths I offered are still mine: all he wants is a box and
blanket; if not a blanket, a box must be given, a tin one. He keeps
out of my way, by going to the gardens every morning. He is
good-natured, and our intercourse is a laughing one; but the boys
betray their terrors in their tone of voice, and render my words
powerless.
The black and white, and the brownish-grey water wagtails are
remarkably tame. They come about the huts and even into them, and no
one ever disturbs them. They build their nests about the huts. In the
Bechuana country, a fine is imposed on any man whose boys kill one,
but why, no one can tell me. The boys with me aver that they are not
killed, because the meat is not eaten! or because they are so tame!!
_13th February, 1867._--I gave one of the boxes at last, Chitapangwa
offering a heavy Arab wooden one to preserve our things, which I
declined to take, as I parted with our own partly to lighten a load.
Abraham unwittingly told me that he had not given me the chiefs
statement in full when he pressed me to take his cow. It was, "Take
and eat the one you like, and give me a blanket." Abraham said "He has
no blanket." Then he said to me, "Take it and eat it, and give him any
pretty thing you like." I was thus led to mistake the chief, and he,
believing that he had said explicitly he wanted a blanket for it,
naturally held out. It is difficult to get these lads to say what one
wants uttered: either with enormous self-conceit, they give different,
and, as they think, better statements, suppress them altogether, or
return false answers: this is the great and crowning difficulty of my
intercourse.
I got ready to go, but the chief was very angry, and came with all his
force, exclaiming that I wanted to leave against his will and power,
though he wished to adjust matters, and send me away nicely. He does
not believe that we have no blankets. It is hard to be kept waiting
here, but all may be for the best: it has always turned out so, and I
trust in Him on whom I can cast all my cares. The Lord look on this
and help me. Though I have these nine boys, I feel quite alone.
I gave the chief some seeds, peas, and beans, for which he seemed
thankful, and returned little presents of food and beer frequently.
The beer of maëre is stuffed full of the growing grain as it begins to
sprout, it is as thick as porridge, very strong and bitter, and goes
to the head, requiring a strong digestion to overcome it.
_February, 1867._--I showed the chief one of the boys' blankets,
which he is willing to part with for two of our cloths, each of which
is larger than it, but he declines to receive it, because we have new
ones. I invited him, since he disbelieved my assertions, to look in
our bales, and if he saw none, to pay us a fine for the insult: he
consented in a laughing way to give us an ox. All our personal
intercourse has been of the good-natured sort. It is the
communications to the boys, by three men who are our protectors, or
rather spies, that is disagreeable; I won't let them bring those
fellows near me.
_10th February, 1867._--He came early in the morning, and I showed
that I had no blanket, and he took the old one, and said that the
affair was ended. A long misunderstanding would have been avoided, had
Abraham told me fully what the chief said at first.
_16th February, 1867._--The chief offered me a cow for à piece of red
serge, and after a deal of talk and Chitapangwa swearing that no
demand would be made after the bargain was concluded, I gave the
serge, a cloth, and a few beads for a good fat cow. The serge was two
fathoms, a portion of that which Miss Coutts gave me when leaving
England in 1858.
The chief is not so bad, as the boys are so cowardly. They assume a
chirping, piping tone of voice in speaking to him, and do not say what
at last has to be said, because in their cringing souls they believe
they know what should be said better than I do. It does not strike
them in the least that I have grown grey amongst these people; and it
is immense conceit in mere boys to equal themselves to me. The
difficulty is greater, because when I do ask their opinions I only
receive the reply, "It is as you please, sir." Very likely some men of
character may arise and lead them; but such as I have would do little
to civilise.
_17th February, 1867._--Too ill with rheumatic-fever to have service;
this is the first attack of it I ever had--and no medicine! but I
trust in the Lord, who healeth His people.
_18th February, 1867._--This cow we divided at once. The last one we
cooked, and divided a full, hearty meal to all every evening.
The boom--booming of water dashing against or over the rocks is heard
at a good distance from most of the burns in this upland region; hence
it is never quite still.
The rocks here are argillaceous schist, red and white. _(Keel,
Scotticé.)_
_19th February, 1867._--Chitapangwa begged me to stay another day,
that one of the boys might mend his blanket; it has been worn every
night since April, and I, being weak and giddy, consented. A glorious
day of bright sunlight after a night's rain. We scarcely ever have a
twenty-four hours without rain, and never half that period without
thunder.
The camwood (?) is here called molombwa, and grows very abundantly.
The people take the bark, boil, and grind it fine: it is then a
splendid blood-red, and they use it extensively as an ornament,
sprinkling it on the bark-cloth, or smearing it on the head. It is in
large balls, and is now called mkola. The tree has pinnated, alternate
lanceolate, leaves, and attains a height of 40 or 50 feet, with a
diameter of 15 or 18 inches finely and closely veined above, more
widely beneath.
I am informed by Abraham that the Nyumbo (Numbo or Mumbo) is easily
propagated by cuttings, or by cuttings of the roots. A bunch of the
stalks is preserved in the soil for planting next year, and small
pieces are cut off, and take root easily; it has a pea-shaped flower,
but we never saw the seed. It is very much better here than I have
seen it elsewhere; and James says that in his country it is quite
white and better still; what I have seen is of a greenish tinge after
it is boiled.
[Amongst the articles brought to the coast the men took care not to
lose a number of seeds which they found in Dr. Livingstone's boxes
after his death. These have been placed in the hands of the
authorities at Kew, and we may hope that in some instances they have
maintained vitality.
It is a great pity that there is such a lack of enterprise in the
various European settlements on the East Coast of Africa. Were it
otherwise a large trade in valuable woods and other products would
assuredly spring up. Ebony and lignum vitae abound; Dr. Livingstone
used hardly any other fuel when he navigated the _Pioneer_, and no
wood was found to make such "good steam." India-rubber may be had for
the collecting, and we see that even the natives know some of the
dye-woods, besides which the palm-oil tree is found, indigo is a weed
everywhere, and coffee is indigenous.]
FOOTNOTES:
[36] In coming to cross roads it is the custom of the leader to "mark"
all side paths and wrong turnings by making a scratch across them with
his spear, or by breaking a branch and laying it across: in this way
those who follow are able to avoid straying off the proper road.--ED.
[37] Heleotragus Vardonii.
[38] The tamarind does the same thing in the heat of the day.
[39] A species of kingfisher, which stands flapping its wings and
attempting to sing in a ridiculous manner. It never was better
described than by one observer who, after watching it through its
performance, said it was "a toy-shoppy bird."--ED.
[40] Not the great chief near Lake Moero of the same name.
[41] This extraordinary bird flies from tree to tree in front of the
hunter, chirrupping loudly, and will not be content till he arrives at
the spot where the bees'-nest is; it then waits quietly till the honey
is taken, and feeds on the broken morsels of comb which fall to its
share.
[42] Eleusine Coracana.
[43] It may not be altogether without interest to state that
Livingstone could fall asleep when he wished at the very shortest
notice. A mat, and a shady tree under which to spread it, would at any
time afford him a refreshing sleep, and this faculty no doubt
contributed much to his great powers of endurance.--ED.
[44] When the elephant becomes confused by the yelping pack of dogs
with which he is surrounded, the hunter stealthily approaches behind,
and with one blow of a sharp axe hamstrings the huge beast.--ED.
[45] Raphia.
[46] Top of mountain (barometer) 6338 feat.
[47] The experience of all African sportsmen tends towards the same
conclusion. Vultures probably have their beats high overhead in the
sky, too far to be seen by the eye. From this altitude they can watch
a vast tract of country, and whenever the disturbed movements of game
are observed they draw together, and for the first time are seen
wheeling, about at a great height over the spot. So soon as an animal
is killed, every tree is filled with them, but the hunter has only to
cover the meat with boughs or reeds and the vultures are entirely at a
loss--hidden, from view it is hidden altogether: the idea that they
are attracted by their keen sense of smell is altogether
erroneous,--ED.
[48] These letters reached England safely.
[49] It seems almost too ridiculous to believe that we have here the
exact equivalent of the schoolboy's demonstrative "Do you see any
green in my eye?" nevertheless it looks wonderfully like it!--ED.