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.
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