Degraded state of the Manyuema. Want of writing materials.
Lion's fat a specific against tsetse. The Neggeri. Jottings
about Meréré. Various sizes of tusks. An epidemic. The strangest
disease of all! The New Year. Detention at Bambarré. Goître.
News of the cholera. Arrival of coast caravan. The
parrot's-feather challenge. Murder of James. Men arrive as
servants. They refuse to go north. Parts at last with
malcontents. Receives letters from Dr. Kirk and the Sultan.
Doubts as to the Congo or Nile. Katomba presents a young soko.
Forest scenery. Discrimination of the Manyuema. They "want to
eat a white one." Horrible bloodshed by Ujiji traders. Heartsore
and sick of blood. Approach Nyangwé. Reaches the Lualaba.
_6th December, 1870._--Oh, for Dugumbé or Syde to come! but this delay
may be all for the best. The parrots all seize their food, and hold it
with the left hand, the lion, too, is left-handed; he strikes with the
left, so are all animals left-handed save man.
I noticed a very pretty woman come past this quite jauntily about a
month ago, on marriage with Monasimba. Ten goats were given; her friends
came and asked another goat, which being refused, she was enticed away,
became sick of rheumatic fever two days afterwards, and died yesterday.
Not a syllable of regret for the beautiful young creature does one hear,
but for the goats: "Oh, our ten goats!"--they cannot grieve too
much--"Our ten goats--oh! oh!"
Basanga wail over those who die in bed, but not over those who die in
battle: the cattle are a salve for all sores. Another man was killed
within half a mile of this: they quarrelled, and there is virtually no
chief. The man was stabbed, the village burned, and the people all fled:
they are truly a bloody people!
A man died near this, Monasimba went to his wife, and after washing he
may appear among men. If no widow can be obtained, he must sit naked
behind his house till some one happens to die, all the clothes he wore
are thrown away. They are the lowest of the low, and especially in
bloodiness: the man who killed a woman without cause goes free, he
offered his grandmother to be killed in his stead, and after a great
deal of talk nothing was done to him!
_8th December, 1870._--Suleiman-bin-Juma lived on the mainland,
Mosessamé, opposite Zanzibar: it is impossible to deny his power of
foresight, except by rejecting all evidence, for he frequently foretold
the deaths of great men among Arabs, and he was pre-eminently a good
man, upright and sincere: "Thirti," none like him now for goodness and
skill. He said that two middle-sized white men, with straight noses and
flowing hair down to the girdle behind, came at times, and told him
things to come. He died twelve years ago, and left no successor; he
foretold his own decease three days beforehand by cholera. "Heresi," a
ball of hair rolled in the stomach of a lion, is a grand charm to the
animal and to Arabs. Mohamad has one.
_10th December, 1870._--I am sorely let and hindered in this Manyuema.
Rain every day, and often at night; I could not travel now, even if I
had men, but I could make some progress; this is the sorest delay I ever
had. I look above for help and mercy.
[The wearied man tried to while away the time by gaining little scraps
of information from the Arabs and the natives, but we cannot fail to see
what a serious stress was all the time put upon his constitution under
these circumstances; the reader will pardon the disjointed nature of
his narrative, written as it was under the greatest disadvantage.]
Lion's fat is regarded as a sure preventive of tsetse or bungo. This was
noted before, but I add now that it is smeared on the ox's tail, and
preserves hundreds of the Banyamwesi cattle in safety while going to the
coast; it is also used to keep pigs and hippopotami away from gardens:
the smell is probably the efficacious part in "Heresi," as they call it.
_12th December, 1870._--It may be all for the best that I am so
hindered, and compelled to inactivity.
An advance to Lohombo was the furthest point of traders for many a day,
for the slaves returning with ivory were speared mercilessly by
Manyuema, because they did not know guns could kill, and their spears
could. Katomba coming to Moenékuss was a great feat three or four years
ago; then Dugumbé went on to Lualaba, and fought his way, so I may be
restrained now in mercy till men come.
The Neggeri, an African animal, attacks the tenderest parts of man and
beast, cuts them off, and retires contented: buffaloes are often
castrated by him. Men who know it, squat down, and kill him with knife
or gun. The Zibu or mbuidé flies at the tendon Achilles; it is most
likely the Ratel.
The Fisi ea bahari, probably the seal, is abundant in the seas, but the
ratel or badger probably furnished the skins for the Tabernacle: bees
escape from his urine, and he eats their honey in safety; lions and all
other animals fear his attacks of the heel.
The Babemba mix a handful (about twenty-five to a measure) of castor-oil
seeds with the dura and meleza they grind, and usage makes them like it,
the nauseous taste is not perceptible in porridge; the oil is needed
where so much farinaceous or starchy matter exists, and the bowels are
regulated by the mixture: experience has taught them the need of a fatty
ingredient.
[Dr. Livingstone seems to have been anxious to procure all the
information possible from the Arabs respecting the powerful chief
Meréré, who is reported to live on the borders of the Salt Water Lake,
which lies between Lake Tanganyika and the East Coast. It would seem as
if Meréré held the most available road for travellers passing to the
south-west from Zanzibar, and although the Doctor did not go through his
country, he felt an interest no doubt in ascertaining as much as he
could for the benefit of others.]
Goambari is a prisoner at Meréré's, guarded by a thousand or more men,
to prevent him intriguing with Monyungo, who is known as bloodthirsty.
In the third generation Charura's descendants numbered sixty able-bodied
spearmen, Garahenga or Kimamuré killed many of them. Charura had six
white attendants with him, but all died before he did, and on becoming
chief he got all his predecessor's wives. Meréré is the son of a woman
of the royal stock, and of a common man, hence he is a shade or two
darker than Charura's descendants, who are very light coloured, and have
straight noses. They shave the head, and straight hair is all cut off;
they drink much milk, warm, from the teats of the cows, and think that
it is strengthening by its heat.
_December 23rd, 1870._--Bambarré people suffer hunger now because they
will not plant cassava; this trading party eats all the maize, and sends
to a distance for more, and the Manyuema buy from them with malofu, or
palm-toddy. Rice is all coming into ear, but the Manyuema planted none:
maize is ripening, and mice are a pest. A strong man among the Manyuema
does what he pleases, and no chief interferes: for instance, a man's
wife for ten goats was given off to a Mené man, and his child, now
grown, is given away, too; he comes to Mohamad for redress! Two
elephants killed were very large, but have only small tusks: they come
from the south in the rains. All animals, as elephants, buffaloes, and
zebras, are very large in the Basango country; tusks are full in the
hollows, and weigh very heavy, and animals are fat and good in flesh:
eleven goats are the exchange for the flesh of an elephant.
[The following details respecting ivory cannot fail to be interesting
here: they are very kindly furnished by Mr. F.D. Blyth, whose long
experience enables him to speak with authority upon the subject. He
says, England imports about 550 tons of ivory annually,--of this 280
tons pass away to other countries, whilst the remainder is used by our
manufacturers, of whom the Sheffield cutlers alone require about 170
tons. The whole annual importation is derived from the following
countries, and in the quantities given below, as near as one can
approach to actual figures:
Bombay and Zanzibar export 160 tons.
Alexandria and Malta 180 "
West Coast of Africa 140 "
Cape of Good Hope 50 "
Mozambique 20 "
The Bombay merchants collect ivory from all the southern countries of
Asia, and the East Coast of Africa, and after selecting that which is
most suited to the wants of the Indian and Chinese markets, ship the
remainder to Europe.
From Alexandria and Malta we receive ivory collected from Northern and
Central Africa, from Egypt, and the countries through which the Nile
flows.
Immediately after the Franco-German war the value of ivory increased
considerably; and when we look at the prices realized on large Zanzibar
tusks at the public sales, we can well understand the motive power which
drove the Arab ivory hunters further and further into the country from
which the chief supply was derived when Dr. Livingstone met them.
In 1867 their price varied from £39 to £42.
" 1868 " " " " 39 " 42.
" 1869 " " " " 41 " 44.
" 1870 " " " " do. " do.
" 1871 " " " " do. " do.
" 1872 " " " " 58 " 61.
" 1873 " " " " 68 " 72.
" 1874 " " " " 53 " 58.
Single tusks vary in weight from 1 lb. to 165 lbs.: the average of a
pair of tusks may be put at 28 lbs., and therefore 44,000 elephants,
large and small, must be killed yearly to supply the ivory which _comes
to England alone_, and when we remember that an enormous quantity goes
to America, to India and China, for consumption there, and of which we
have no account, some faint notion may be formed of the destruction that
goes on amongst the herds of elephants.
Although naturalists distinguish only two living species of elephants,
viz. the African and the Asiatic, nevertheless there is a great
difference in the size, character, and colour of their tusks, which may
arise from variations in climate, soil, and food. The largest tusks are
yielded by the African elephant, and find their way hither from the port
of Zanzibar: they are noted for being opaque, soft or "mellow" to work,
and free from cracks or defects.
The tusks from India, Ceylon, &c, are smaller in size, partly of an
opaque character, and partly translucent (or, as it is technically
called "bright"), and harder and more cracked, but those from Siam and
the neighbouring countries are very "bright," soft, and fine grained;
they are much sought after for carvings and ornamental work. Tusks from
Mozambique and the Cape of Good Hope seldom exceed 70 lbs. in weight
each: they are similar in character to the Zanzibar kind.
Tusks which come through Alexandria and Malta differ considerably in
quality: some resemble those from Zanzibar, whilst others are white and
opaque, harder to work, and more cracked at the points; and others again
are very translucent and hard, besides being liable to crack: this
latter description fetches a much lower price in the market.
From the West Coast of Africa we get ivory which is always translucent,
with a dark outside or coating, but partly hard and partly soft.
The soft ivory which comes from Ambriz, the Gaboon River, and the ports
south of the equator, is more highly valued than any other, and is
called "silver grey": this sort retains its whiteness when exposed to
the air, and is free from that tendency to become yellowish in time
which characterises Asiatic and East African ivory.
Hard tusks, as a rule, are proportionately smaller in diameter, sharper,
and less worn than soft ones, and they come to market much more cracked,
fetching in consequence a lower price.
In addition to the above a few tons of Mammoth ivory are received from
time to time from the Arctic regions and Siberia, and although of
unknown antiquity, some tusks are equal in every respect to ivory which
is obtained in the present day from elephants newly killed; this, no
doubt, is owing to the preservative effects of the ice in which the
animals have been imbedded for many thousands of years. In the year 1799
the entire carcase of a mammoth was taken from the ice, and the skeleton
and portions of the skin, still covered with reddish hair, are preserved
in the Museum of St. Petersburg: it is said that portions of the flesh
were eaten by the men who dug it out of the ice.]
_24th December, 1870._--Between twenty-five and thirty slaves have died
in the present epidemic, and many Manyuema; two yesterday at Kandawara.
The feet swell, then the hands and face, and in a day or two they drop
dead; it came from the East, and is very fatal, for few escape who take
it.
A woman was accused of stealing maize, and the chief here sent all his
people yesterday, plundered all she had in her house and garden, and
brought her husband bound in thongs till he shall pay a goat: she is
said to be innocent.
Monangoi does this by fear of the traders here; and, as the people tell
him, as soon as they are gone the vengeance he is earning by injustice
on all sides will be taken: I told the chief that his head would be cut
off as soon as the traders leave, and so it will be; and Kasessa's also.
Three men went from Katomba to Kasongo's to buy Viramba, and a man was
speared belonging to Kasongo, these three then fired into a mass of men
who collected, one killed two, another three, and so on; so now that
place is shut up from traders, and all this country will be closed as
soon as the Manyuema learn that guns are limited in their power of
killing, and especially in the hands of slaves, who cannot shoot, but
only make a noise. These Suaheli are the most cruel and bloodthirsty
missionaries in existence, and withal so impure in talk and acts,
spreading disease everywhere. The Lord sees it.
_28th December, 1870._--Moenembegg, the most intelligent of the two sons
of Moenékuss, in power, told us that a man was killed and eaten a few
miles from this yesterday: hunger was the reason assigned. On speaking
of tainted meat, he said that the Manyuema put meat in water for two
days to make it putrid and smell high. The love of high meat is the only
reason I know for their cannibalism, but the practice is now hidden on
account of the disgust that the traders expressed against open
man-eating when they first arrived.
Lightning was very near us last night. The Manyuema say that when it is
so loud fishes of large size fall with it, an opinion shared by the
Arabs, but the large fish is really the _Clarias Capensis_ of Smith, and
it is often seen migrating in single file along the wet grass for miles:
it is probably this that the Manyuema think falls from the lightning.
The strangest disease I have seen in this country seems really to be
broken-heartedness, and it attacks free men who have been captured and
made slaves. My attention was drawn to it when the elder brother of Syde
bin Habib was killed in Rua by a night attack, from a spear being
pitched through his tent into his side. Syde then vowed vengeance for
the blood of his brother, and assaulted all he could find, killing the
elders, and making the young men captives. He had secured a very large
number, and they endured the chains until they saw the broad River
Lualaba roll between them and their free homes; they then lost heart.
Twenty-one were unchained as being now safe; however, all ran away at
once, but eight, with many others still in chains, died in three days
after crossing. They ascribed their only pain to the heart, and placed
the hand correctly on the spot, though many think that the organ stands
high up under the breast bone. Some slavers expressed surprise to me
that they should die, seeing they had plenty to eat and no work. One
fine boy of about twelve years was carried, and when about to expire,
was kindly laid down on the side of the path, and a hole dug to deposit
the body in. He, too, said he had nothing the matter with him, except
pain in his heart: as it attacks only the free (who are captured and
never slaves), it seems to be really broken-hearts of which they die.
[Livingstone's servants give some additional particulars in answer to
questions put to them about this dreadful history. The sufferings
endured by these unfortunate captives, whilst they were hawked about in
different directions, must have been shocking indeed; many died because
it was impossible for them to carry a burden on the head whilst marching
in the heavy yoke or "taming stick," which weighs from 30 lbs. to 40
lbs. as a rule, and the Arabs knew that if once the stick were taken
off, the captive would escape on the first opportunity. Children for a
time would keep up with wonderful endurance, but it happened sometimes
that the sound of dancing and the merry tinkle of the small drums would
fall on their ears in passing near to a village; then the memory of home
and happy days proved too much for them; they cried and sobbed, the
"broken-heart" came on, and they rapidly sank.
The adults as a rule came into the slave-sticks from treachery, and had
never been slaves before. Very often the Arabs would promise a present
of dried fish to villagers if they would act as guides to some distant
point, and as soon as they were far enough away from their friends they
were seized and pinned into the yoke from which there is no escape.
These poor fellows would expire in the way the Doctor mentions, talking
to the last of their wives and children who would never know what had
become of them. On one occasion twenty captives succeeded in escaping as
follows. Chained together by the neck, and in the custody of an Arab
armed with a gun, they were sent off to collect wood; at a given signal,
one of them called the guard to look at something which he pretended he
had found: when he stooped down they threw themselves upon him and
overpowered him, and after he was dead managed to break the chain and
make off in all directions.]
Rice sown on 19th October was in ear in seventy days. A leopard killed
my goat, and a gun set for him went off at 10 P.M.--the ball broke both
hind legs and one fore leg, yet he had power to spring up and bite a man
badly afterwards; he was a male, 2 feet 4 inches at withers, and 6 feet
8 inches from tip of nose to end of tail.
_1st January, 1871._--O Father! help me to finish this work to Thy
honour.
Still detained at Bambarré, but a caravan of 500 muskets is reported
from the coast: it may bring me other men and goods.
Rain daily. A woman was murdered without cause close by the camp; the
murderer said she was a witch and speared her: the body is exposed till
the affair is settled, probably by a fine of goats.
The Manyuema are the most bloody, callous savages I know; one puts a
scarlet feather from a parrot's tail on the ground, and challenges those
near to stick it in the hair: he who does so must kill a man or woman!
Another custom is that none dare wear the skin of the musk cat, Ngawa,
unless he has murdered somebody: guns alone prevent them from killing us
all, and for no reason either.
_16th January, 1871._--Ramadân ended last night, and it is probable my
people and others from the coast will begin to travel after three days
of feasting. It has been so rainy I could have done little though I had
had people.
_22nd January, 1871._--A party is reported to be on the way hither. This
is likely enough, but reports are so often false that doubts arise.
Mohamad says he will give men when the party of Hassani comes, or when
Dugumbé arrives.
_24th January, 1871._--Mohamad mentioned this morning that Moene-mokaia,
and Moeneghera his brother, brought about thirty slaves from Katañga to
Ujiji, affected with swelled thyroid glands or "_Goître_," and that
drinking the water of Tanganyika proved a perfect cure to all in a very
few days. Sometimes the swelling went down in two days after they began
to use the water, in their ordinary way of cooking, washing, and
drinking: possibly some ingredient of the hot fountain that flows into
it affects the cure, for the people on the Lofubu, in Nsama's country,
had the swelling. The water in bays is decidedly brackish, while the
body of Tanganyika is quite fresh.
The odour of putrid elephant's meat in a house kills parrots: the
Manyuema keep it till quite rotten, but know its fatal effects on their
favourite birds.
_27th January, 1871._--Safari or caravan reported to be near, and my men
and goods at Ujiji.
_28th January, 1871._--A safari, under Hassani and Ebed, arrived with
news of great mortality by cholera (_Towny_), at Zanzibar, and my
"brother," whom I conjecture to be Dr. Kirk, has fallen. The men I wrote
for have come to Ujiji, but did not know my whereabouts; when told by
Katomba's men they will come here, and bring my much longed for letters
and goods. 70,000 victims in Zanzibar alone from cholera, and it spread
inland to the Masoi and Ugogo! Cattle shivered, and fell dead: the
fishes in the sea died in great numbers; here the fowls were first
seized and died, but not from cholera, only from its companion. Thirty
men perished in our small camp, made still smaller by all the able men
being off trading at the Metamba, and how many Manyuema died we do not
know; the survivors became afraid of eating the dead.
Formerly the Cholera kept along the sea-shore, now it goes far inland,
and will spread all over Africa; this we get from Mecca filth, for
nothing was done to prevent the place being made a perfect cesspool of
animals' guts and ordure of men.[11] A piece of skin bound round the
chest of a man, and half of it hanging down, prevents waste of strength,
and he forgets and fattens.
Ebed's party bring 200 frasilahs of all sorts of beads; they will cross
Lualaba, and open a new field on the other, or Young's Lualaba: all
Central Africa will soon be known: the evils inflicted by these Arabs
are enormous, but probably not greater than the people inflict on each
other. Meréré has turned against the Arabs, and killed one; robbing
several others of all they had, though he has ivory sufficient to send
down 7000 lbs. to the coast, and receive loads of goods for 500 men in
return. He looks as if insane, and probably is so, and will soon be
killed. His insanity may be the effect of pombe, of which he drinks
largely, and his people may have told him that the Arabs were plotting
with Goambari. He restored Mohamad's ivory and slaves, and sent for the
other traders who had fled, saying his people had spoken badly, and he
would repay all losses.
The Watuta (who are the same as the Mazitu) came stealing Banyamwezi
cattle, and Mtéza's men went out to them, and twenty-two were killed,
but the Lewale's people did nothing. The Governor's sole anxiety is to
obtain ivory, and no aid is rendered to traders. Seyed Suleiman the
Wazeer is the author of the do-nothing policy, and sent away all the
sepoys as too expensive, consequently the Wagogo plunder traders
unchecked. It is reported that Egyptian Turks came up and attacked
Mtéza, but lost many people, and fled. The report of a Moslem Mission to
his country was a falsehood, though the details given were
circumstantial: falsehood is so common, one can believe nothing the
Arabs say, unless confirmed by other evidence: they are the followers of
the Prince of lies--Mohamad, whose cool appropriation of the knowledge
gained at Damascus, and from the Jews, is perfectly disgusting. All his
deeds were done when unseen by any witnesses. It is worth noticing that
all admit the decadence of the Moslem power, and they ask how it is so
fallen? They seem sincere in their devotion and in teaching the Koran,
but its meaning is comparatively hid from most of the Suaheli. The
Persian Arabs are said to be gross idolators, and awfully impure. Earth
from a grave at Kurbelow (?) is put in the turban and worshipped: some
of the sects won't say "Amen."
Moenyegumbé never drank more than a mouthful of pombe. When young, he
could make his spear pass right through an elephant, and stick in the
ground on the other side. He was a large man, and all his members were
largely developed, his hands and fingers were all in proportion to his
great height; and he lived to old age with strength unimpaired: Goambari
inherits his white colour and sharp nose, but not his wisdom or courage.
Meréré killed five of his own people for exciting him against the Arabs.
The half-caste is the murderer of many of Charura's descendants. His
father got a daughter of Moenyegumbé for courage in fighting the Babema
of Ubena.
Cold-blooded murders are frightfully common here. Some kill people in
order to be allowed to wear the red tail feathers of a parrot in their
hair, and yet they are not ugly like the West Coast Negroes, for many
men have as finely formed heads as could be found in London. We English,
if naked, would make but poor figures beside the strapping forms and
finely shaped limbs of Manyuema men and women. Their cannibalism is
doubtful, but my observations raise grave suspicions. A Scotch jury
would say, "Not proven." The women are not guilty.
_4th February, 1871._--Ten of my men from the coast have come near to
Bambarré, and will arrive to-day. I am extremely thankful to hear it,
for it assures me that my packet of letters was not destroyed; they know
at home by this time what has detained me, and the end to which I
strain.
Only one letter reached, and forty are missing! James was killed to-day
by an arrow: the assassin was hid in the forest till my men going to buy
food came up.[12] I propose to leave on the 12th. I have sent Dr. Kirk a
cheque for Rs. 4000: great havoc was made by cholera, and in the midst
of it my friend exerted himself greatly to get men off to me with goods;
the first gang of porters all died.
_8th February, 1871._--The ten men refusing to go north are influenced
probably by Shereef, and my two ringleaders, who try this means to
compel me to take them.
_9th February, 1871._--The man who contrived the murder of James came
here, drawn by the pretence that he was needed to lead a party against
the villages, which he led to commit the outrage. His thirst for blood
is awful: he was bound, and word sent to bring the actual murderers
within three days, or he suffers death. He brought five goats, thinking
that would smooth the matter over.
_11th February, 1871._--Men struck work for higher wages: I consented to
give them six dollars a month if they behaved well; if ill I diminish
it, so we hope to start to-morrow. Another hunting quelled by Mohamad
and me.
The ten men sent are all slaves of the Banians, who are English
subjects, and they come with a lie in their mouth: they will not help
me, and swear that the Consul told them not to go forward, but to force
me back, and they spread the tale all over the country that a certain
letter has been sent to me with orders to return forthwith. They swore
so positively that I actually looked again at Dr. Kirk's letter to see
if his orders had been rightly understood by me. But for Mohamad
Bogharib and fear of pistol-shot they would gain their own and their
Banian masters' end to baffle me completely; they demand an advance of
one dollar, or six dollars a month, though this is double freeman's pay
at Zanzibar. Their two headmen, Shereef and Awathé, refused to come past
Ujiji, and are revelling on my goods there.
_13th February, 1871._--Mabruki being seized with choleraic purging
detains us to-day. I gave Mohamad five pieces Americano, five ditto
Kaniké,[13] and two frasilahs samisami beads. He gives me a note to
Hassani for twenty thick copper bracelets. Yesterday crowds came to eat
the meat of the man who misled James to his death spot: but we want the
men who set the Mbanga men to shoot him: they were much disappointed
when they found that no one was killed, and are undoubtedly cannibals.
_16th, February, 1871._--Started to-day. Mabruki making himself out
very ill, Mohamad roused him out by telling him I travelled when much
worse. The chief gave me a goat, and Mohamad another, but in coming
through the forest on the neck of the mountain the men lost three, and
have to go back for them, and return to-morrow. Simon and Ibram were
bundled out of the camp, and impudently followed me: when they came
up, I told them to be off.
_17th February, 1871._--Waiting at a village on the Western slope for
the men to come up with the goats, if they have gone back to the camp.
Mohamad would not allow the deserters to remain among his people, nor
would I. It would only be to imbue the minds of my men with their want
of respect for all English, and total disregard of honesty and honour:
they came after me with inimitable effrontery, believing that though I
said I would not take them, they were so valuable, I was only saying
what I knew to be false. The goats were brought by a Manyuema man, who
found one fallen into a pitfall and dead; he ate it, and brought one of
his own in lieu of it. I gave him ten strings of beads, and he presented
a fowl in token of goodwill.
_18th February, 1871._--Went on to a village on the Lulwa, and on the
19th reached Moenemgoi, who dissuaded me so earnestly against going to
Moenekurumbo for the cause of Molembalemba that I agreed not to venture.
_20th February, 1871._--To the ford with only one canoe now, as two men
of Katomba were swept away in the other, and drowned. They would not
sell the remaining canoe, so I go N.W. on foot to Moené Lualaba, where
fine large canoes are abundant. The grass and mud are grievous, but my
men lift me over the waters.
_21st February, 1871._--Arrived at Monandewa's village, situated on a
high ridge between two deep and difficult gullies. These people are
obliging and kind: the chief's wife made a fire for me in the evening
unbidden.
_22nd February, 1871._--On N.W. to a high hill called Chibandé a Yundé,
with a spring of white water at the village on the top. Famine from some
unknown cause here, but the people are cultivating now on the plain
below with a will.
_23rd February, 1871._--On to two large villages with many banana plants
around, but the men said they were in fear of the traders, and shifted
their villages to avoid them: we then went on to the village
Kahombogola, with a feeble old man as chief. The country is beautiful
and undulating: light-green grass covers it all, save at the brooks,
where the eye is relieved by the dark-green lines of trees. Grass tears
the hands and wets the extremities constantly. The soil is formed of the
débris of granitic rocks; rough and stony, but everywhere fertile. One
can rarely get a bare spot to sit down and rest.
_24th February, 1871._--To a village near Lolandé River. Then across
the Loengadyé, sleeping on the bank of the Luha, and so to Mamohela,
where we were welcomed by all the Arabs, and I got a letter from Dr.
Kirk and another from the Sultan, and from Mohamad bin Nassib who was
going to Karagwé: all anxious to be kind. Katomba gave flour, nuts,
fowls, and goat. A new way is opened to Kasongo's, much shorter than
that I followed. I rest a few days, and then go on.
_25th February, 1871._--So we went on, and found that it was now known
that the Lualaba flowed west-south-west, and that our course was to be
west across this other great bend of the mighty river. I had to suspend
my judgment, so as to be prepared to find it after all perhaps the
Congo. No one knew anything about it except that when at Kasongo's nine
days west, and by south it came sweeping round and flowed north and
north and by east.
Katomba presented a young soko or gorillah that had been caught while
its mother was killed; she sits eighteen inches high, has fine long
black hair all over, which was pretty so long as it was kept in order by
her dam. She is the least mischievous of all the monkey tribe I have
seen, and seems to know that in me she has a friend, and sits quietly on
the mat beside me. In walking, the first thing observed is that she does
not tread on the palms of her hands, but on the backs of the second line
of bones of the hands: in doing this the nails do not touch the ground,
nor do the knuckles; she uses the arms thus supported crutch fashion,
and hitches herself along between them; occasionally one hand is put
down before the other, and alternates with the feet, or she walks
upright and holds up a hand to any one to carry her. If refused, she
turns her face down, and makes grimaces of the most bitter human
weeping, wringing her hands, and sometimes adding a fourth hand or foot
to make the appeal more touching. Grass or leaves she draws around her
to make a nest, and resents anyone meddling with her property. She is a
most friendly little beast, and came up to me at once, making her
chirrup of welcome, smelled my clothing, and held out her hand to be
shaken. I slapped her palm without offence, though she winced. She began
to untie the cord with which she was afterwards bound, with fingers and
thumbs, in quite a systematic way, and on being interfered with by a man
looked daggers, and screaming tried to beat him with her hands: she was
afraid of his stick, and faced him, putting her back to me as a friend.
She holds out her hand for people to lift her up and carry her, quite
like a spoiled child; then bursts into a passionate cry, somewhat like
that of a kite, wrings her hands quite naturally, as if in despair. She
eats everything, covers herself with a mat to sleep, and makes a nest of
grass or leaves, and wipes her face with a leaf.
I presented my double-barrelled gun which is at Ujiji to Katomba, as he
has been very kind when away from Ujiji: I pay him thus for all his
services. He gave me the soko, and will carry it to Ujiji for me; I have
tried to refund all that the Arabs expended on me.
_1st March, 1871._--I was to start this morning, but the Arabs asked me
to take seven of their people going to buy biramba, as they know the new
way: the offer was gladly accepted.
_2nd to 5th March, 1871._--Left Mamohela, and travelled over fine grassy
plains, crossing in six hours fourteen running rills, from three to ten
or fifteen feet broad, and from calf to thigh deep. Tree-covered
mountains on both sides. The natives know the rills by names, and
readily tell their courses, and which falls into which, before all go
into the great Lualaba; but without one as a guide, no one can put them
in a map. We came to Monanbunda's villages, and spent the night. Our
next stage was at Monangongo's. A small present of a few strings of
beads satisfies, but is not asked: I give it invariably as
acknowledgment for lodgings. The headman of our next stage hid himself
in fear, as we were near to the scene of Bin Juma's unprovoked slaughter
of five men, for tusks that were not stolen, but thrown down. Our path
lay through dense forest, and again, on 5th, our march was in the same
dense jungle of lofty trees and vegetation that touch our arms on each
side. We came to some villages among beautiful tree-covered hills,
called Basilañgé or Mobasilangé. The villages are very pretty, standing
on slopes. The main street generally lies east and west, to allow the
bright sun to stream his clear hot rays from one end to the other, and
lick up quickly the moisture from the frequent showers which is not
drained off by the slopes. A little verandah is often made in front of
the door, and here at dawn the family gathers round a fire, and, while
enjoying the heat needed in the cold that always accompanies the first
darting of the light or sun's rays across the atmosphere, inhale the
delicious air, and talk over their little domestic affairs. The various
shaped leaves of the forest all around their village and near their
nestlings are bespangled with myriads of dewdrops. The cocks crow
vigorously, and strut and ogle; the kids gambol and leap on the backs of
their dams quietly chewing the cud; other goats make believe fighting.
Thrifty wives often bake their new clay pots in a fire, made by lighting
a heap of grass roots: the next morning they extract salt from the
ashes, and so two birds are killed with one stone. The beauty of this
morning scene of peaceful enjoyment is indescribable. Infancy gilds the
fairy picture with its own lines, and it is probably never forgotten,
for the young, taken up from slavers, and treated with all philanthropic
missionary care and kindness, still revert to the period of infancy as
the finest and fairest they have known. They would go back to freedom
and enjoyment as fast as would our own sons of the soil, and be heedless
to the charms of hard work and no play which we think so much better
for them if not for us.
In some cases we found all the villages deserted; the people had fled at
our approach, in dread of repetitions of the outrages of Arab slaves.
The doors were all shut: a bunch of the leaves of reeds or of green
reeds placed across them, means "no entrance here." A few stray chickens
wander about wailing, having hid themselves while the rest were caught
and carried off into the deep forest, and the still smoking fires tell
the same tale of recent flight from the slave-traders.
Many have found out that I am not one of their number, so in various
cases they stand up and call out loudly, "Bolongo, Bolongo!"
"Friendship, Friendship!" They sell their fine iron bracelets eagerly
for a few beads; for (bracelets seem out of fashion since beads came
in), but they are of the finest quality of iron, and were they nearer
Europe would be as eagerly sought and bought as horse-shoe nails are for
the best gun-barrels. I overhear the Manyuema telling each other that I
am the "good one." I have no slaves, and I owe this character to the
propagation of a good name by the slaves of Zanzibar, who are anything
but good themselves. I have seen slaves belonging to the seven men now
with us slap the cheeks of grown men who had offered food for sale; it
was done in sheer wantonness, till I threatened to thrash them if I saw
it again; but out of my sight they did it still, and when I complained
to the masters they confessed that all the mischief was done by slaves;
for the Manyuema, on being insulted, lose temper and use their spears on
the nasty curs, and then vengeance is taken with guns. Free men behave
better than slaves; the bondmen are not responsible. The Manyuema are
far more beautiful than either the bond or free of Zanzibar; I overhear
the remark often, "If we had Manyuema wives what beautiful children we
should beget." The men are usually handsome, and many of the women are
very pretty; hands, feet, limbs, and forms perfect in shape and the
colour light-brown, but the orifices of the nose are widened by
snuff-takers, who ram it up as far as they can with the finger and
thumb: the teeth are not filed, except a small space between the two
upper front teeth.
_5th March, 1871._--We heard to-day that Mohamad's people passed us on
the west, with much ivory. I lose thus twenty copper rings I was to take
from them, and all the notes they were to make for me of the rivers they
crossed.
_6th March, 1871._--Passed through very large villages, with many forges
in active work; some men followed us, as if to fight, but we got them to
turn peaceably: we don't know who are enemies, so many have been
maltreated and had relatives killed. The rain of yesterday made the
paths so slippery that the feet of all were sorely fatigued, and on
coming to Manyara's, I resolved to rest on 7th near Mount Kimazi. I gave
a cloth and beads in lieu of a fine fat goat from the chief, a clever,
good man.
_9th March, 1871._--We marched about five hours across a grassy plain
without trees--buga or prairie. The torrid sun, nearly vertical, sent
his fierce rays down, and fatigued us all: we crossed two Sokoyé streams
by bridges, and slept at a village on a ridge of woodland overlooking
Kasonga. After two hours this morning, we came to villages of this
chief, and at one were welcomed by the Safari of Salem Mokadam, and I
was given a house. Kasonga is a very fine young man, with European
features, and "very clever and good." He is clever, and is pronounced
good, because he eagerly joins the Arabs in marauding! Seeing the
advantage of firearms, he has bought four muskets. Mohamad's people were
led by his, and spent all their copper for some fifty frasilahs of good
ivory. From this party men have been sent over Lualaba, and about fifty
frasilahs obtained: all praise Kasonga. We were now only six miles from
Lualaba, and yet south of Mamohela; this great river, in fact, makes a
second great sweep to the west of some 130 miles, and there are at least
30' of southing; but now it comes rolling majestically to the north, and
again makes even easting. It is a mighty stream, with many islands in
it, and is never wadeable at any point or at any time of the year.
_10th March, 1871._--Mohamad's people are said to have gone to Luapanya,
a powerful chief, who told them they were to buy all their ivory from
him: he had not enough, and they wanted to go on to a people who have
ivory door-posts; but he said, "You shall go neither forward nor
backwards, but remain here," and he then called an immense body of
archers, and said, "You must fight these." The consequence was they
killed Luapanya and many of his people, called Bahika, then crossed a
very large river, the Morombya or Morombwé, and again the Pembo River,
but don't seem to have gone very far north. I wished to go from this in
canoes, but Kasonga has none, so I must tramp for five or six days to
Moené Lualaba to buy one, if I have credit with Abed.
_11th March, 1871._--I had a long, fierce oration from Amur, in which I
was told again and again that I should be killed and eaten--the people
wanted a "white one" to eat! I needed 200 guns; and "must not go to
die." I told him that I was thankful for advice, if given by one who had
knowledge, but his vehement threats were dreams of one who had never
gone anywhere, but sent his slaves to kill people. He was only
frightening my people, and doing me an injury. I told him that Baker had
only twelve people, and came near to this: to this he replied "Were the
people cannibals?" &c. &c.
I left this noisy demagogue, after saying I thanked him for his
warnings, but saw he knew not what he was saying. The traders from Ujiji
are simply marauders, and their people worse than themselves, they
thirst for blood more than for ivory, each longs to be able to tell a
tale of blood, and the Manyuema are an easy prey. Hassani assaulted the
people at Moené Lualaba's, and now they keep to the other bank, and I am
forced to bargain with Kasonga for a canoe, and he sends to a friend for
one to be seen on the 13th. This Hassani declared to me that he would
not begin hostilities, but he began nothing else; the prospect of
getting slaves overpowers all else, and blood flows in horrid streams.
The Lord look on it! Hassani will have some tale to tell Mohamad
Bogharib.
[At the outset of his explorations Livingstone fancied that there were
degrees in the sufferings of slaves, and that the horrors perpetrated by
the Portuguese of Tette were unknown in the system of slave hunting
which the Arabs pursue: we now see that a further acquaintance with the
slave-trade of the Interior has restored the balance of infamy, and that
the same tale of murder and destruction is common wherever the traffic
extends, no matter by whom it is carried on.]
_15th March, 1871._--Falsehood seems ingrained in their constitutions:
no wonder that in all this region they have never tried to propagate
Islamism; the natives soon learn to hate them, and slaving, as carried
on by the Kilwans and Ujijians, is so bloody, as to prove an effectual
barrier against proselytism.
My men are not come back: I fear they are engaged in some broil. In
confirmation of what I write, some of the party here assaulted a village
of Kasonga's, killed three men and captured women and children; they
pretended that they did not know them to be his people, but they did not
return the captives.
_20th March, 1871._--I am heartsore, and sick of human blood.
_21st March, 1871._--Kasongo's brother's child died, and he asked me to
remain to-day while he buried the dead, and he would give me a guide
to-morrow; being rainy I stop willingly. Dugumbé is said to purpose
going down the river to Kanagumbé River to build on the land Kanagumbé,
which is a loop formed by the river, and is large. He is believed to
possess great power of divination, even of killing unfaithful women.
_22nd March, 1871._--I am detained another day by the sickness of one of
the party. Very cold rain yesterday from the north-west. I hope to go
to-morrow towards the Lakoni, or great market of this region.
_23rd March, 1871._--Left Kasongo, who gave me a goat and a guide. The
country is gently undulating, showing green slopes fringed with wood,
with grass from four to six feet. We reached Katenga's, about five miles
off. There are many villages, and people passed us carrying loads of
provisions, and cassava, from the chitoka or market.
_24th March, 1871._--Great rain in the night and morning, and sickness
of the men prevented our march.
_25th March, 1871._--Went to Mazimwé, 7-1/2 miles off.
_26th March, 1871._--Went four miles and crossed the Kabwimaji; then a
mile beyond Kahembai, which flows into the Kunda, and it into the
Lualaba; the country is open, and low hills appear in the north. We met
a party from the traders at Kasenga, chiefly Materéka's people under
Salem and Syde bin Sultan; they had eighty-two captives, and say they
fought ten days to secure them and two of the Malongwana, and two of the
Banyamwezi. They had about twenty tusks, and carried one of their men
who broke his leg in fighting; we shall be safe only when past the
bloodshed and murder.
_27th March, 1871._--We went along a ridge of land overhanging a fine
valley of denudation, with well-cultivated hills in the distance (N.),
where Hassani's feat of bloodshed was performed. There are many villages
on the ridge, some rather tumbledown ones, which always indicate some
misrule. Our march was about seven miles. A headman who went with us
plagued another chief to give me a goat; I refused to take what was not
given willingly, but the slaves secured it; and I threatened our
companion, Kama, with dismissal from our party if he became a tool in
slave hands. The arum is common.
_28th March, 1871._--The Banian slaves are again trying compulsion--I
don't know what for. They refused to take their bead rations, and made
Chakanga spokesman: I could not listen to it, as he has been concocting
a mutiny against me. It is excessively trying, and so many difficulties
have been put in my way I doubt whether the Divine favour and will is on
my side.
We came six miles to-day, crossing many rivulets running to the Kunda,
which also we crossed in a canoe; it is almost thirty yards wide and
deep: afterwards, near the village where we slept, we crossed the Luja
about twenty yards wide, going into the Kunda and Lualaba. I am greatly
distressed because there is no law here; they probably mean to create a
disturbance at Abed's place, to which we are near: the Lord look on it.
_29th March, 1871._--Crossed the Liya, and next day the Moangoi, by two
well-made wattle bridges at an island in its bed: it is twenty yards,
and has a very strong current, which makes all the market people fear
it. We then crossed the Molembé in a canoe, which is fifteen yards, but
swelled by rains and many rills. Came 7-1/2 miles to sleep at one of the
outlying villages of Nyangwé: about sixty market people came past us
from the Chitoka or marketplace, on the banks of Lualaba; they go
thither at night, and come away about mid-day, having disposed of most of
their goods by barter. The country is open, and dotted over with trees,
chiefly a species of Bauhinia, that resists the annual grass burnings;
there are trees along the watercourses, and many villages, each with a
host of pigs. This region is low as compared with Tanganyika; about
2000 feet above the sea.
The headman's house, in which I was lodged, contained the housewife's
little conveniences, in the shape of forty pots, dishes, baskets,
knives, mats, all of which she removed to another house: I gave her four
strings of beads, and go on to-morrow. Crossed the Kunda River and seven
miles more brought us to Nyañgwé, where we found Abed and Hassani had
erected their dwellings, and sent their people over Lualaba, and as far
west as the Loéki or Lomamé. Abed said that my words against
bloodshedding had stuck into him, and he had given orders to his people
to give presents to the chiefs, but never fight unless actually
attacked.
_31st March, 1871._--I went down to take a good look at the Lualaba
here. It is narrower than it is higher up, but still a mighty river, at
least 3000 yards broad, and always deep: it can never be waded at any
point, or at any time of the year; the people unhesitatingly declare
that if any one tried to ford it, he would assuredly be lost. It has
many large islands, and at these it is about 2000 yards or one mile. The
banks are steep and deep: there is clay, and a yellow-clay schist in
their structure; the other rivers, as the Luya and Kunda, have gravelly
banks. The current is about two miles an hour away to the north.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] The epidemic here mentioned reached Zanzibar Island from the
interior of Africa by way of the Masai caravan route and Pangani. Dr.
Kirk says it again entered Africa from Zanzibar, and followed the
course of the caravans to Ujiji and Manyuema.--ED.
[12] The men give indisputable proof that his body was eaten by the
Manyuema who lay in ambush.--ED.
[13] Kaniké is a blue calico.