All Of Us Rise Early
To Enjoy The Luscious Balmy Air Of The Morning.
We then have worship;
but, amid all the beauty and loveliness with which we are surrounded,
there is still
A feeling of want in the soul in viewing
one's poor companions, and hearing bitter, impure words
jarring on the ear in the perfection of the scenes of Nature,
and a longing that both their hearts and ours might be brought into harmony
with the Great Father of Spirits. I pointed out, in, as usual,
the simplest words I could employ, the remedy which God has presented to us,
in the inexpressibly precious gift of His own Son, on whom the Lord
"laid the iniquity of us all." The great difficulty in dealing
with these people is to make the subject plain. The minds of the auditors
can not be understood by one who has not mingled much with them.
They readily pray for the forgiveness of sins, and then sin again;
confess the evil of it, and there the matter ends.
I shall not often advert to their depravity. My practice has always been
to apply the remedy with all possible earnestness, but never allow my own mind
to dwell on the dark shades of men's characters. I have never been able
to draw pictures of guilt, as if that could awaken Christian sympathy.
The evil is there. But all around in this fair creation are scenes of beauty,
and to turn from these to ponder on deeds of sin can not promote a healthy
state of the faculties. I attribute much of the bodily health I enjoy
to following the plan adopted by most physicians, who, while engaged
in active, laborious efforts to assist the needy, at the same time
follow the delightful studies of some department of natural history.
The human misery and sin we endeavor to alleviate and cure may be likened
to the sickness and impurity of some of the back slums of great cities.
One contents himself by ministering to the sick and trying to remove
the causes, without remaining longer in the filth than is necessary
for his work; another, equally anxious for the public good,
stirs up every cesspool, that he may describe its reeking vapors,
and, by long contact with impurities, becomes himself infected,
sickens, and dies.
The men went about during the day, and brought back wild fruits
of several varieties, which I had not hitherto seen. One, called mogametsa,
is a bean with a little pulp round it, which tastes like sponge-cake;
another, named mawa, grows abundantly on a low bush. There are many
berries and edible bulbs almost every where. The mamosho or moshomosho,
and milo (a medlar), were to be found near our encampment.
These are both good, if indeed one can be a fair judge who felt quite disposed
to pass a favorable verdict on every fruit which had the property of being
eatable at all. Many kinds are better than our crab-apple or sloe,
and, had they the care and culture these have enjoyed, might take high rank
among the fruits of the world. All that the Africans have thought of
has been present gratification; and now, as I sometimes deposit date-seeds
in the soil, and tell them I have no hope whatever of seeing the fruit,
it seems to them as the act of the South Sea Islanders appears to us,
when they planted in their gardens iron nails received from Captain Cook.
There are many fruits and berries in the forests, the uses of which
are unknown to my companions. Great numbers of a kind of palm
I have never met with before were seen growing at and below
the confluence of the Loeti and Leeambye; the seed probably came down
the former river. It is nearly as tall as the palmyra. The fruit is larger
than of that species; it is about four inches long, and has a soft yellow pulp
round the kernel or seed; when ripe, it is fluid and stringy,
like the wild mango, and not very pleasant to eat.
Before we came to the junction of the Leeba and Leeambye
we found the banks twenty feet high, and composed of marly sandstone.
They are covered with trees, and the left bank has the tsetse and elephants.
I suspect the fly has some connection with this animal,
and the Portuguese in the district of Tete must think so too,
for they call it the `Musca da elephant' (the elephant fly).
The water of inundation covers even these lofty banks, but does not stand long
upon them; hence the crop of trees. Where it remains for any length of time,
trees can not live. On the right bank, or that in which the Loeti flows,
there is an extensive flat country called Manga, which,
though covered with grass, is destitute in a great measure of trees.
Flocks of green pigeons rose from the trees as we passed along the banks,
and the notes of many birds told that we were now among
strangers of the feathered tribe. The beautiful trogon,
with bright scarlet breast and black back, uttered a most peculiar note,
similar to that we read of as having once been emitted by Memnon,
and likened to the tuning of a lyre. The boatmen answered it
by calling "Nama, nama!" - meat, meat - as if they thought
that a repetition of the note would be a good omen for our success in hunting.
Many more interesting birds were met; but I could make no collection,
as I was proceeding on the plan of having as little luggage as possible,
so as not to excite the cupidity of those through whose country
we intended to pass.
Vast shoals of fish come down the Leeambye with the rising waters,
as we observed they also do in the Zouga. They are probably induced
to make this migration by the increased rapidity of the current
dislodging them from their old pasture-grounds higher up the river.
Insects constitute but a small portion of the food of many fish.
Fine vegetable matter, like slender mosses, growing on the bottom,
is devoured greedily; and as the fishes are dislodged from the main stream
by the force of the current, and find abundant pasture on the flooded plains,
the whole community becomes disturbed and wanders.
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