Message to Masiko, the
Barotse Chief, regarding the Captives -- Navigation of the Leeambye --
Capabilities of this District -- The Leeba -- Flowers and Bees --
Buffalo-hunt -- Field for a Botanist -- Young Alligators; their savage
Nature -- Suspicion of the Balonda -- Sekelenke's Present -- A Man and his
two Wives -- Hunters -- Message from Manenko, a female Chief -- Mambari
Traders -- A Dream -- Sheakondo and his People -- Teeth-filing -- Desire
for Butter -- Interview with Nyamoana, another female Chief -- Court
Etiquette -- Hair versus Wool -- Increase of Superstition -- Arrival of
Manenko; her Appearance and Husband -- Mode of Salutation -- Anklets --
Embassy, with a Present from Masiko -- Roast Beef -- Manioc -- Magic
Lantern -- Manenko an accomplished Scold: compels us to wait --
Unsuccessful Zebra-hunt.
On the 27th of December we
were at the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye (lat. 14d 10' 52" S.,
long. 23d 35' 40" E.). Masiko, the Barotse chief, for whom we had some
captives, lived nearly due east of this point. They were two little boys,
a little girl, a young man, and two middle-aged women. One of these was a
member of a Babimpe tribe, who knock out both upper and lower front teeth
as a distinction. As we had been informed by the captives on the previous
Sunday that Masiko was in the habit of seizing all orphans, and those who
have no powerful friend in the tribe whose protection they can claim, and
selling them for clothing to the Mambari, we thought the objection of the
women to go first to his town before seeing their friends quite
reasonable, and resolved to send a party of our own people to see them
safely among their relatives. I told the captive young man to inform
Masiko that he was very unlike his father Santuru, who had refused to sell
his people to Mambari. He will probably be afraid to deliver such a
message himself, but it is meant for his people, and they will circulate
it pretty widely, and Masiko may yet feel a little pressure from without.
We sent Mosantu, a Batoka man, and his companions, with the captives. The
Barotse whom we had were unwilling to go to Masiko, since they owe him
allegiance as the son of Santuru, and while they continue with the
Makololo are considered rebels. The message by Mosantu was, that "I was
sorry to find that Santuru had not borne a wiser son. Santuru loved to
govern men, but Masiko wanted to govern wild beasts only, as he sold his
people to the Mambari;" adding an explanation of the return of the
captives, and an injunction to him to live in peace, and prevent his
people kidnapping the children and canoes of the Makololo, as a
continuance in these deeds would lead to war, which I wished to prevent.
He was also instructed to say, if Masiko wanted fuller explanation of my
views, he must send a sensible man to talk with me at the first town of
the Balonda, to which I was about to proceed.
We ferried Mosantu over to
the left bank of the Leeba. The journey required five days, but it could
not have been at a quicker rate than ten or twelve miles per day; the
children were between seven and eight years of age, and unable to walk
fast in a hot sun. Leaving Mosantu to pursue his course, we shall take but
one glance down the river, which we are now about to leave, for it comes
at this point from the eastward, and our course is to be directed to the
northwest, as we mean to go to Loanda in Angola. From the confluence,
where we now are, down to Mosioatunya, there are many long reaches, where
a vessel equal to the Thames steamers plying between the bridges could run
as freely as they do on the Thames. It is often, even here, as broad as
that river at London Bridge, but, without accurate measurement of the
depth, one could not say which contained most water. There are, however,
many and serious obstacles to a continued navigation for hundreds of miles
at a stretch. About ten miles below the confluence of the Loeti, for
instance, there are many large sand-banks in the stream; then you have a
hundred miles to the River Simah, where a Thames steamer could ply
at all times of the year; but, again, the space between Simah and
Katima-molelo has five or six rapids with cataracts, one of which, Gonye,
could not be passed at any time without portage. Between these rapids
there are reaches of still, deep water, of several miles in length. Beyond
Katima-molelo to the confluence of the Chobe you have nearly a hundred
miles again, of a river capable of being navigated in the same way as in
the Barotse valley.
Now I do not say that this
part of the river presents a very inviting prospect for extemporaneous
European enterprise; but when we have a pathway which requires only the
formation of portages to make it equal to our canals for hundreds of
miles, where the philosophers supposed there was naught but an extensive
sandy desert, we must confess that the future partakes at least of the
elements of hope. My deliberate conviction was and is that the part of the
country indicated is as capable of supporting millions of inhabitants as
it is of its thousands. The grass of the Barotse valley, for instance, is
such a densely-matted mass that, when "laid", the stalks bear each other
up, so that one feels as if walking on the sheaves of a hay-stack, and the
leches nestle under it to bring forth their young. The soil which produces
this, if placed under the plow, instead of being mere pasturage,
would yield grain sufficient to feed vast multitudes.
We now began to ascend the
Leeba. The water is black in color as compared with the main stream, which
here assumes the name of Kabompo. The Leeba flows placidly, and, unlike
the parent river, receives numbers of little rivulets from both sides. It
winds slowly through the most charming meadows, each of which has either a
soft, sedgy centre, large pond, or trickling rill down the middle. The
trees are now covered with a profusion of the freshest foliage, and seem
planted in groups of such pleasant, graceful outline that art could give
no additional charm. The grass, which had been burned off and was growing
again after the rains, was short and green, and all the scenery so like
that of a carefully-tended gentleman's park, that one is scarcely reminded
that the surrounding region is in the hands of simple nature alone. I
suspect that the level meadows are inundated annually, for the spots on
which the trees stand are elevated three or four feet above them, and
these elevations, being of different shapes, give the strange variety of
outline of the park-like woods. Numbers of a fresh-water shell are
scattered all over these valleys. The elevations, as I have observed
elsewhere, are of a soft, sandy soil, and the meadows of black, rich
alluvial loam. There are many beautiful flowers, and many bees to sip
their nectar. We found plenty of honey in the woods, and saw the stages on
which the Balonda dry their meat, when they come down to hunt and gather
the produce of the wild hives. In one part we came upon groups of lofty
trees as straight as masts, with festoons of orchilla-weed hanging from
the branches. This, which is used as a dye-stuff, is found nowhere in the
dry country to the south. It prefers the humid climate near the west
coast.
A large buffalo was
wounded, and ran into the thickest part of the forest, bleeding profusely.
The young men went on his trail; and, though the vegetation was so dense
that no one could have run more than a few yards, most of them went along
quite carelessly, picking and eating a fruit of the melon family called
Mponko. When the animal heard them approach he always fled, shifting his
stand and doubling on his course in the most cunning manner. In other
cases I have known them to turn back to a point a few yards from their own
trail, and then lie down in a hollow waiting for the hunter to come up.
Though a heavy, lumbering-looking animal, his charge is then rapid and
terrific. More accidents happen by the buffalo and the black rhinoceros
than by the lion. Though all are aware of the mischievous nature of the
buffalo when wounded, our young men went after him quite carelessly. They
never lose their presence of mind, but, as a buffalo charges back in a
forest, dart dexterously out of his way behind a tree, and, wheeling
round, stab him as he passes.
A tree in flower brought
the pleasant fragrance of hawthorn hedges back to memory; its leaves,
flowers, perfumes, and fruit resembled those of the hawthorn, only the
flowers were as large as dog-roses, and the "haws" like boys' marbles.
Here the flowers smell sweetly, while few in the south emit any scent at
all, or only a nauseous odor. A botanist would find a rich harvest on the
banks of the Leeba. This would be his best season, for the flowers all run
rapidly to seed, and then insects of every shape spring into existence to
devour them. The climbing plants display great vigor of growth, being not
only thick in the trunk, but also at the very point, in the manner of
quickly-growing asparagus. The maroro or malolo now appears, and is
abundant in many parts between this and Angola. It is a small bush with a
yellow fruit, and in its appearance a dwarf "anona". The taste is sweet,
and the fruit is wholesome: it is full of seeds, like the custard-apple.
On the 28th we slept at a
spot on the right bank from which had just emerged two broods of
alligators. We had seen many young ones as we came up, so this seems to be
their time of coming forth from the nests, for we saw them sunning
themselves on sand-banks in company with the old ones. We made our fire in
one of the deserted nests, which were strewed all over with the broken
shells. At the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken out of one such nest alone.
They are about the size of those of a goose, only the eggs of the
alligator are of the same diameter at both ends, and the white shell is
partially elastic, from having a strong internal membrane and but little
lime in its composition. The distance from the water was about ten feet,
and there were evidences of the same place having been used for a similar
purpose in former years. A broad path led up from the water to the nest,
and the dam, it was said by my companions, after depositing the eggs,
covers them up, and returns afterward to assist the young out of the place
of confinement and out of the egg. She leads them to the edge of the
water, and then leaves them to catch small fish for themselves. Assistance
to come forth seems necessary, for here, besides the tough membrane of the
shell, they had four inches of earth upon them; but they do not require
immediate aid for food, because they all retain a portion of yolk, equal
to that of a hen's egg, in a membrane in the abdomen, as a stock of
nutriment, while only beginning independent existence by catching fish.
Fish is the principal food of both small and large, and they are much
assisted in catching them by their broad, scaly tails. Sometimes an
alligator, viewing a man in the water from the opposite bank, rushes
across the stream with wonderful agility, as is seen by the high
ripple he makes on the surface caused by his rapid motion at the bottom;
but in general they act by stealth, sinking underneath as soon as they see
man. They seldom leave the water to catch prey, but often come out by day
to enjoy the pleasure of basking in the sun.
In walking along the bank
of the Zouga once, a small one, about three feet long, made a dash at my
feet, and caused me to rush quickly in another direction; but this is
unusual, for I never heard of a similar case. A wounded leche, chased into
any of the lagoons in the Barotse valley, or a man or dog going in for the
purpose of bringing out a dead one, is almost sure to be seized, though
the alligators may not appear on the surface. When employed in looking for
food they keep out of sight; they fish chiefly by night. When eating, they
make a loud, champing noise, which when once heard is never forgotten. The
young, which had come out of the nests where we spent the night, did not
appear wary; they were about ten inches long, with yellow eyes, and pupil
merely a perpendicular slit. They were all marked with transverse slips of
pale green and brown, half an inch broad. When speared, they bit the
weapon savagely, though their teeth were but partially developed, uttering
at the same time a sharp bark like that of a whelp when it first begins to
use its voice. I could not ascertain whether the dam devours them, as
reported, or whether the ichneumon has the same reputation here as in
Egypt. Probably the Barotse and Bayeiye would not look upon it as a
benefactor; they prefer to eat the eggs themselves, and be their own
ichneumons. The white of the egg does not coagulate, but the yolk does,
and this is the only part eaten.
As the population
increases, the alligators will decrease, for their nests will be oftener
found; the principal check on their inordinate multiplication seems to be
man. They are more savage and commit more mischief in the Leeambye than in
any other river. After dancing long in the moonlight nights, young men run
down to the water to wash off the dust and cool themselves before going to
bed, and are thus often carried away. One wonders they are not afraid; but
the fact is, they have as little sense of danger impending over them as
the hare has when not actually pursued by the hound, and in many
rencounters, in which they escape, they had not time to be afraid, and
only laugh at the circumstance afterward: there is a want of calm
reflection. In many cases, not referred to in this book, I feel more
horror now in thinking on dangers I have run than I did at the time of
their occurrence.
When we reached the part of
the river opposite to the village of Manenko, the first female chief whom
we encountered, two of the people called Balunda, or Balonda, came to us
in their little canoe. From them we learned that Kolimbota, one of our
party, who had been in the habit of visiting these parts, was believed by
the Balonda to have acted as a guide to the marauders under Lerimo, whose
captives we were now returning. They very naturally suspected this, from
the facility with which their villages had been found, and, as they had
since removed them to some distance from the river, they were unwilling to
lead us to their places of concealment. We were in bad repute, but, having
a captive boy and girl to show in evidence of Sekeletu and ourselves not
being partakers in the guilt of inferior men, I could freely express my
desire that all should live in peace. They evidently felt that I ought to
have taught the Makololo first, before coming to them, for they remarked
that what I advanced was very good, but guilt lay at the door of the
Makololo for disturbing the previously existing peace. They then went away
to report us to Manenko.
When the strangers visited
us again in the evening, they were accompanied by a number of the people
of an Ambonda chief named Sekelenke. The Ambonda live far to the N.W.;
their language, the Bonda, is the common dialect in Angola. Sekelenke had
fled, and was now living with his village as a vassal of Masiko. As
notices of such men will perhaps convey the best idea of the state of the
inhabitants to the reader, I shall hereafter allude to the conduct of
Sekelenke, whom I at present only introduce. Sekelenke had gone with his
villagers to hunt elephants on the right bank of the Leeba, and was now on
his way back to Masiko. He sent me a dish of boiled zebra's flesh, and a
request that I should lend him a canoe to ferry his wives and family
across the river to the bank on which we were encamped. Many of
Sekelenke's people came to salute the first white man they ever had an
opportunity of seeing; but Sekelenke himself did not come near. We heard
he was offended with some of his people for letting me know he was among
the company. He said that I should be displeased with him for not coming
and making some present. This was the only instance in which I was shunned
in this quarter.
As it would have been
impolitic to pass Manenko, or any chief, without at least showing so much
respect as to call and explain the objects of our passing through the
country, we waited two entire days for the return of the messengers to
Manenko; and as I could not hurry matters, I went into the adjacent
country to search for meat for the camp. The country is furnished largely
with forest, having occasionally open lawns covered with grass, not in
tufts as in the south, but so closely planted that one can not see the
soil. We came upon a man and his two wives and children, burning coarse
rushes and the stalks of tsitla, growing in a brackish marsh, in order to
extract a kind of salt from the ashes. They make a funnel of branches of
trees, and line it with grass rope, twisted round until it is, as it were,
a beehive-roof inverted. The ashes are put into water, in a calabash, and
then it is allowed to percolate through the small hole in the bottom and
through the grass. When this water is evaporated in the sun, it yields
sufficient salt to form a relish with food. The women and children fled
with precipitation, but we sat down at a distance, and allowed the man
time to gain courage enough to speak. He, however, trembled excessively at
the apparition before him; but when we explained that our object was to
hunt game, and not men, he became calm, and called back his wives. We soon
afterward came to another party on the same errand with ourselves. The man
had a bow about six feet long, and iron-headed arrows about thirty inches
in length; he had also wooden arrows neatly barbed, to shoot in cases
where he might not be quite certain of recovering them again. We soon
afterward got a zebra, and gave our hunting acquaintances such a liberal
share that we soon became friends. All whom we saw that day then came with
us to the encampment to beg a little meat; and as they have so little
salt, I have no doubt they felt grateful for what we gave.
Sekelenke and his people,
twenty-four in number, defiled past our camp carrying large bundles of
dried elephants' meat. Most of them came to say good-by, and Sekelenke
himself sent to say that he had gone to visit a wife living in the village
of Manenko. It was a mere African manoeuvre to gain information, and not
commit himself to either one line of action or another with respect to our
visit. As he was probably in the party before us, I replied that it was
all right, and when my people came up from Masiko I would go to my wife
too.
Another zebra came to our
camp, and, as we had friends near, it was shot. It was the `Equus
montanus', though the country is perfectly flat, and was finely marked
down to the feet, as all the zebras are in these parts. To our first
message, offering a visit of explanation to Manenko, we got an answer,
with a basket of manioc roots, that we must remain where we were till she
should visit us. Having waited two days already for her, other messengers
arrived with orders for me to come to her. After four days of rains and
negotiation, I declined going at all, and proceeded up the river to the
small stream Makondo (lat. 13d 23' 12" S.), which enters the Leeba from
the east, and is between twenty and thirty yards broad.
JANUARY 1ST, 1854. We had
heavy rains almost every day; indeed, the rainy season had fairly set in.
Baskets of the purple fruit called mawa were frequently brought to us by
the villagers; not for sale, but from a belief that their chiefs would be
pleased to hear that they had treated us well; we gave them pieces of meat
in return. When crossing at the confluence of the Leeba and Makondo, one
of my men picked up a bit of a steel watch-chain of English manufacture,
and we were informed that this was the spot where the Mambari cross in
coming to Masiko. Their visits explain why Sekelenke kept his tusks so
carefully. These Mambari are very enterprising merchants: when they mean
to trade with a town, they deliberately begin the affair by building huts,
as if they knew that little business could be transacted without a liberal
allowance of time for palaver. They bring Manchester goods into the heart
of Africa; these cotton prints look so wonderful that the Makololo could
not believe them to be the work of mortal hands. On questioning the
Mambari they were answered that English manufactures came out of the sea,
and beads were gathered on its shore.
To Africans our cotton
mills are fairy dreams. "How can the irons spin, weave, and print so
beautifully?" Our country is like what Taprobane was to our ancestors -- a
strange realm of light, whence came the diamond, muslin, and peacocks; an
attempt at explanation of our manufactures usually elicits the expression,
"Truly ye are gods!"
When about to leave the
Makondo, one of my men had dreamed that Mosantu was shut up a prisoner in
a stockade: this dream depressed the spirits of the whole party, and when
I came out of my little tent in the morning, they were sitting the
pictures of abject sorrow. I asked if we were to be guided by dreams, or
by the authority I derived from Sekeletu, and ordered them to load the
boats at once; they seemed ashamed to confess their fears; the Makololo
picked up courage and upbraided the others for having such superstitious
views, and said this was always their way; if even a certain bird called
to them, they would turn back from an enterprise, saying it was unlucky.
They entered the canoes at last, and were the better of a little scolding
for being inclined to put dreams before authority. It rained all the
morning, but about eleven we reached the village of Sheakondo, on a small
stream named Lonkonye. We sent a message to the head man, who soon
appeared with two wives, bearing handsome presents of manioc: Sheakondo
could speak the language of the Barotse well, and seemed awestruck when
told some of the "words of God". He manifested no fear, always spoke
frankly, and when he made an asseveration, did so by simply pointing up to
the sky above him. The Balonda cultivate the manioc or cassava
extensively; also dura, ground-nuts, beans, maize, sweet potatoes, and
yams, here called "lekoto", but as yet we see only the outlying villages.
The people who came with
Sheakondo to our bivouac had their teeth filed to a point by way of
beautifying them, though those which were left untouched were always the
whitest; they are generally tattooed in various parts, but chiefly on the
abdomen: the skin is raised in small elevated cicatrices, each nearly half
an inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter, so that a number of
them may constitute a star, or other device. The dark color of the skin
prevents any coloring matter being deposited in these figures, but they
love much to have the whole surface of their bodies anointed with a
comfortable varnish of oil. In their unassisted state they depend on
supplies of oil from the Palma Christi, or castor-oil plant, or from
various other oliferous seeds, but they are all excessively fond of
clarified butter or ox fat. Sheakondo's old wife presented some manioc
roots, and then politely requested to be anointed with butter: as I had
been bountifully supplied by the Makololo, I gave her as much as would
suffice, and as they have little clothing, I can readily believe that she
felt her comfort greatly enhanced thereby. The favorite wife, who was also
present, was equally anxious for butter. She had a profusion of iron rings
on her ankles, to which were attached little pieces of sheet iron, to
enable her to make a tinkling as she walked in her mincing African style;
the same thing is thought pretty by our own dragoons in walking
jauntingly.
We had so much rain and
cloud that I could not get a single observation for either longitude or
latitude for a fortnight. Yet the Leeba does not show any great rise, nor
is the water in the least discolored. It is slightly black, from the
number of mossy rills which fall into it. It has remarkably few birds and
fish, while the Leeambye swarms with both. It is noticeable that
alligators here possess more of the fear of man than in the Leeambye. The
Balonda have taught them, by their poisoned arrows, to keep out of sight.
We did not see one basking in the sun. The Balonda set so many little
traps for birds that few appear. I observed, however, many (to me) new
small birds of song on its banks. More rain has been falling in the east
than here, for the Leeambye was rising fast and working against the sandy
banks so vigorously that a slight yellow tinge was perceptible in it One
of our men was bitten by a non-venomous serpent, and of course felt no
harm. The Barotse concluded that this was owing to many of them being
present and seeing it, as if the sight of human eyes could dissolve the
poison and act as a charm.
On the 6th of January we
reached the village of another female chief, named Nyamoana, who is said
to be the mother of Manenko, and sister of Shinte or Kabompo, the greatest
Balonda chief in this part of the country. Her people had but recently
come to the present locality, and had erected only twenty huts. Her
husband, Samoana, was clothed in a kilt of green and red baize, and was
armed with a spear and a broadsword of antique form, about eighteen inches
long and three broad. The chief and her husband were sitting on skins
placed in the middle of a circle thirty paces in diameter, a little raised
above the ordinary level of the ground, and having a trench round it.
Outside the trench sat about a hundred persons of all ages and both sexes.
The men were well armed with bows, arrows, spears, and broadswords. Beside
the husband sat a rather aged woman, having a bad outward squint in the
left eye. We put down our arms about forty yards off, and I walked up to
the centre of the circular bench, and saluted him in the usual way by
clapping the hands together in their fashion. He pointed to his wife, as
much as to say, the honor belongs to her. I saluted her in the same way,
and a mat having been brought, I squatted down in front of them. The
talker was then called, and I was asked who was my spokesman. Having
pointed to Kolimbota, who knew their dialect best, the palaver began in
due form. I explained the real objects I had in view, without any attempt
to mystify or appear in any other character than my own, for I have always
been satisfied that, even though there were no other considerations, the
truthful way of dealing with the uncivilized is unquestionably the best.
Kolimbota repeated to Nyamoana's talker what I had said to him. He
delivered it all verbatim to her husband, who repeated it again to her. It
was thus all rehearsed four times over, in a tone loud enough to be heard
by the whole party of auditors. The response came back by the same
roundabout route, beginning at the lady to her husband, etc.
After explanations and
re-explanations, I perceived that our new friends were mixing up my
message of peace and friendship with Makololo affairs, and stated that it
was not delivered on the authority of any one less than that of their
Creator, and that if the Makololo did again break His laws and attack the
Balonda, the guilt would rest with the Makololo and not with me. The
palaver then came to a close. By way of gaining their confidence, I showed
them my hair, which is considered a curiosity in all this region. They
said, "Is that hair? It is the mane of a lion, and not hair at all." Some
thought that I had made a wig of lion's mane, as they sometimes do with
fibres of the "ife", and dye it black, and twist it so as to resemble a
mass of their own wool. I could not return the joke by telling them that
theirs was not hair, but the wool of sheep, for they have none of these in
the country; and even though they had, as Herodotus remarked, "the African
sheep are clothed with hair, and men's heads with wool." So I had to be
content with asserting that mine was the real original hair, such as
theirs would have been had it not been scorched and frizzled by the sun.
In proof of what the sun could do, I compared my own bronzed face and
hands, then about the same in complexion as the lighter-colored Makololo,
with the white skin of my chest. They readily believed that, as they go
nearly naked and fully exposed to that influence, we might be of common
origin after all. Here, as every where, when heat and moisture are
combined, the people are very dark, but not quite black. There is always a
shade of brown in the most deeply colored. I showed my watch and pocket
compass, which are considered great curiosities; but, though the lady was
called on by her husband to look, she would not be persuaded to approach
near enough.
These people are more
superstitious than any we had yet encountered; though still only building
their village, they had found time to erect two little sheds at the chief
dwelling in it, in which were placed two pots having charms in them. When
asked what medicine they contained, they replied, "Medicine for the
Barimo;" but when I rose and looked into them, they said they were
medicine for the game. Here we saw the first evidence of the existence of
idolatry in the remains of an old idol at a deserted village. It was
simply a human head carved on a block of wood. Certain charms mixed with
red ochre and white pipe-clay are dotted over them when they are in use;
and a crooked stick is used in the same way for an idol when they have no
professional carver.
As the Leeba seemed still
to come from the direction in which we wished to go, I was desirous of
proceeding farther up with the canoes; but Nyamoana was anxious that we
should allow her people to conduct us to her brother Shinte; and when I
explained the advantage of water-carriage, she represented that her
brother did not live near the river, and, moreover, there was a cataract
in front, over which it would be difficult to convey the canoes. She was
afraid, too, that the Balobale, whose country lies to the west of the
river, not knowing the objects for which we had come, would kill us. To my
reply that I had been so often threatened with death if I visited a new
tribe that I was now more afraid of killing any one than of being killed,
she rejoined that the Balobale would not kill me, but the Makololo would
all be sacrificed as their enemies. This produced considerable effect on
my companions, and inclined them to the plan of Nyamoana, of going to the
town of her brother rather than ascending the Leeba. The arrival of
Manenko herself on the scene threw so much weight into the scale on their
side that I was forced to yield the point.
Manenko was a tall,
strapping woman about twenty, distinguished by a profusion of ornaments
and medicines hung round her person; the latter are supposed to act as
charms. Her body was smeared all over with a mixture of fat and red ochre,
as a protection against the weather; a necessary precaution, for, like
most of the Balonda ladies, she was otherwise in a state of frightful
nudity. This was not from want of clothing, for, being a chief, she might
have been as well clad as any of her subjects, but from her peculiar ideas
of elegance in dress. When she arrived with her husband, Sambanza, they
listened for some time to the statements I was making to the people of
Nyamoana, after which the husband, acting as spokesman, commenced an
oration, stating the reasons for their coming, and, during every two or
three seconds of the delivery, he picked up a little sand, and rubbed it
on the upper part of his arms and chest. This is a common mode of
salutation in Londa; and when they wish to be excessively polite, they
bring a quantity of ashes or pipe-clay in a piece of skin, and, taking up
handfuls, rub it on the chest and upper front part of each arm; others, in
saluting, drum their ribs with their elbows; while others still touch the
ground with one cheek after the other, and clap their hands. The chiefs go
through the manoeuvre of rubbing the sand on the arms, but only make a
feint at picking up some. When Sambanza had finished his oration, he rose
up, and showed his ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings; had
they been very heavy, they would have made him adopt a straggling walk.
Some chiefs have really so
many as to be forced, by the weight and size, to keep one foot apart from
the other, the weight being a serious inconvenience in walking. The
gentlemen like Sambanza, who wish to imitate their betters, do so in their
walk; so you see men, with only a few ounces of ornament on their legs,
strutting along as if they had double the number of pounds. When I smiled
at Sambanza's walk, the people remarked, "That is the way in which they
show off their lordship in these parts."
Manenko was quite decided
in the adoption of the policy of friendship with the Makololo which we
recommended; and, by way of cementing the bond, she and her counselors
proposed that Kolimbota should take a wife among them. By this expedient
she hoped to secure his friendship, and also accurate information as to
the future intentions of the Makololo. She thought that he would visit the
Balonda more frequently afterward, having the good excuse of going to see
his wife; and the Makololo would never, of course, kill the villagers
among whom so near a relative of one of their own children dwells.
Kolimbota, I found, thought favorably of the proposition, and it afterward
led to his desertion from us.
On the evening of the day
in which Manenko arrived, we were delighted by the appearance of Mosantu
and an imposing embassy from Masiko. It consisted of all his under-chiefs,
and they brought a fine elephant's tusk, two calabashes of honey, and a
large piece of blue baize, as a present. The last was intended perhaps to
show me that he was a truly great chief, who had such stores of white
men's goods at hand that he could afford to give presents of them; it
might also be intended for Mosantu, for chiefs usually remember the
servants; I gave it to him. Masiko expressed delight, by his principal
men, at the return of the captives, and at the proposal of peace and
alliance with the Makololo. He stated that he never sold any of his own
people to the Mambari, but only captives whom his people kidnapped from
small neighboring tribes. When the question was put whether his people had
been in the habit of molesting the Makololo by kidnapping their servants
and stealing canoes, it was admitted that two of his men, when hunting,
had gone to the Makololo gardens, to see if any of their relatives were
there. As the great object in all native disputes is to get both parties
to turn over a new leaf, I explained the desirableness of forgetting past
feuds, accepting the present Makololo professions as genuine, and avoiding
in future to give them any cause for marauding. I presented Masiko with an
ox, furnished by Sekeletu as provision for ourselves. All these people are
excessively fond of beef and butter, from having been accustomed to them
in their youth, before the Makololo deprived them of cattle. They have
abundance of game, but I am quite of their opinion that, after all, there
is naught in the world equal to roast beef, and that in their love for it
the English show both good taste and sound sense. The ox was intended for
Masiko, but his men were very anxious to get my sanction for slaughtering
it on the spot. I replied that when it went out of my hands I had no more
to do with it. They, however, wished the responsibility of slaughtering it
to rest with me; if I had said they might kill it, not many ounces would
have remained in the morning. I would have given permission, but had
nothing else to offer in return for Masiko's generosity.
We were now without any
provisions except a small dole of manioc roots each evening from Nyamoana,
which, when eaten raw, produce poisonous effects. A small loaf, made from
nearly the last morsel of maize-meal from Libonta, was my stock, and our
friends from Masiko were still more destitute; yet we all rejoiced so much
at their arrival that we resolved to spend a day with them. The Barotse of
our party, meeting with relatives and friends among the Barotse of Masiko,
had many old tales to tell; and, after pleasant hungry converse by day, we
regaled our friends with the magic lantern by night, and, in order to make
the thing of use to all, we removed our camp up to the village of
Nyamoana. This is a good means of arresting the attention, and conveying
important facts to the minds of these people.
When erecting our sheds at
the village, Manenko fell upon our friends from Masiko in a way that left
no doubt on our minds but that she is a most accomplished scold. Masiko
had, on a former occasion, sent to Samoana for a cloth, a common way of
keeping up intercourse, and, after receiving it, sent it back, because it
had the appearance of having had "witchcraft medicine" on it; this was a
grave offense, and now Manenko had a good excuse for venting her spleen,
the embassadors having called at her village, and slept in one of the huts
without leave. If her family was to be suspected of dealing in evil
charms, why were Masiko's people not to be thought guilty of leaving the
same in her hut? She advanced and receded in true oratorical style,
belaboring her own servants as well for allowing the offense, and, as
usual in more civilized feminine lectures, she leaned over the objects of
her ire, and screamed forth all their faults and failings ever since they
were born, and her despair of ever seeing them become better, until they
were all "killed by alligators". Masiko's people followed the plan of
receiving this torrent of abuse in silence, and, as neither we nor they
had any thing to eat, we parted next morning.
In reference to Masiko
selling slaves to the Mambari, they promised to explain the relationship
which exists between even the most abject of his people and our common
Father; and that no more kidnapping ought to be allowed, as he ought to
give that peace and security to the smaller tribes on his eastern borders
which he so much desired to obtain himself from the Makololo. We promised
to return through his town when we came back from the sea-coast. Manenko
gave us some manioc roots in the morning, and had determined to carry our
baggage to her uncle's, Kabompo or Shinte.
We had heard a sample of
what she could do with her tongue; and as neither my men nor myself had
much inclination to encounter a scolding from this black Mrs. Caudle, we
made ready the packages; but she came and said the men whom she had
ordered for the service had not yet come; they would arrive to-morrow.
Being on low and disagreeable diet, I felt annoyed at this further delay,
and ordered the packages to be put into the canoes to proceed up the river
without her servants; but Manenko was not to be circumvented in this way;
she came forward with her people, and said her uncle would be angry if she
did not carry forward the tusks and goods of Sekeletu, seized the luggage,
and declared that she would carry it in spite of me. My men succumbed
sooner to this petticoat government than I felt inclined to do, and left
me no power; and, being unwilling to encounter her tongue, I was moving
off to the canoes, when she gave me a kind explanation, and, with her hand
on my shoulder, put on a motherly look, saying, "Now, my little man, just
do as the rest have done." My feelings of annoyance of course vanished,
and I went out to try and get some meat.
The only game to be found
in these parts are the ZEBRA, the KUALATA or tahetsi (`Aigoceros equina'),
kama (`Bubalus caama'), buffaloes, and the small antelope hakitenwe
(`Philantomba'). The animals can be seen here only by following on their
trail for many miles. Urged on by hunger, we followed that of some zebras
during the greater part of the day: when within fifty yards of them, in a
dense thicket, I made sure of one, but, to my infinite disgust, the gun
missed fire, and off they bounded. The climate is so very damp, from daily
heavy rains, that every thing becomes loaded with moisture, and the powder
in the gun-nipples can not be kept dry. It is curious to mark the
intelligence of the game; in districts where they are much annoyed by
fire-arms, they keep out on the most open spots of country they can find,
in order to have a widely-extended range of vision, and a man armed is
carefully shunned. From the frequency with which I have been allowed to
approach nearer without than with a gun, I believe they know the
difference between safety and danger in the two cases. But here, where
they are killed by the arrows of the Balonda, they select for safety the
densest forest, where the arrow can not be easily shot. The variation in
the selection of standing-spots during the day may, however, be owing
partly to the greater heat of the sun, for here it is particularly sharp
and penetrating. However accounted for, the wild animals here do select
the forests by day, while those farther south generally shun these covers,
and, on several occasions, I have observed there was no sunshine to cause
them to seek for shade. |