The General Rock
Is The Gray Soft Sandstone I Have Mentioned, But At The Rivulet Bangue
We Come Upon A Dike Of Basalt Six Yards Wide, Running North And South.
When We Cross This, We Come Upon Several Others, Some Of Which
Run More To The Eastward.
The sandstone is then found to have been disturbed,
and at the rivulet called Nake we found it tilted up and exhibiting a section,
which was coarse sandstone above, sandstone-flag, shale, and, lastly,
a thin seam of coal.
The section was only shown for a short distance,
and then became lost by a fault made by a dike of basalt,
which ran to the E.N.E. in the direction of Chicova.
This Chicova is not a kingdom, as has been stated, but a level tract,
a part of which is annually overflowed by the Zambesi,
and is well adapted for the cultivation of corn. It is said to be
below the northern end of the hill Bungwe. I was very much pleased
in discovering this small specimen of such a precious mineral as coal.
I saw no indication of silver, and, if it ever was worked by the natives,
it is remarkable that they have entirely lost the knowledge of it,
and can not distinguish between silver and tin. In connection with
these basaltic dikes, it may be mentioned that when I reached Tete
I was informed of the existence of a small rapid in the river near Chicova;
had I known this previously, I certainly would not have left the river
without examining it. It is called Kebrabasa, and is described
as a number of rocks which jut out across the stream. I have no doubt
but that it is formed by some of the basaltic dikes which we now saw,
for they generally ran toward that point. I was partly influenced
in leaving the river by a wish to avoid several chiefs in that direction,
who levy a heavy tribute on those who pass up or down. Our path lay along
the bed of the Nake for some distance, the banks being covered
with impenetrable thickets. The villages are not numerous,
but we went from one to the other, and were treated kindly.
Here they call themselves Bambiri, though the general name of the whole nation
is Banyai. One of our guides was an inveterate talker,
always stopping and asking for pay, that he might go on with a merry heart.
I thought that he led us in the most difficult paths in order to make us
feel his value, for, after passing through one thicket after another,
we always came into the bed of the Nake again, and as that
was full of coarse sand, and the water only ankle deep,
and as hot as a foot-bath from the powerful rays of the sun,
we were all completely tired out. He likewise gave us a bad character
at every village we passed, calling to them that they were to allow him
to lead us astray, as we were a bad set. Sekwebu knew every word he said,
and, as he became intolerable, I dismissed him, giving him six feet of calico
I had bought from native traders, and telling him that his tongue
was a nuisance. It is in general best, when a scolding is necessary,
to give it in combination with a present, and then end it by good wishes.
This fellow went off smiling, and my men remarked, "His tongue is cured now."
The country around the Nake is hilly, and the valleys covered
with tangled jungle. The people who live in this district have reclaimed
their gardens from the forest, and the soil is extremely fertile.
The Nake flows northerly, and then to the east. It is 50 or 60 yards wide,
but during most of the year is dry, affording water only by digging
in the sand. We found in its bed masses of volcanic rock,
identical with those I subsequently recognized as such at Aden.
13TH. The head man of these parts is named Nyampungo.
I sent the last fragment of cloth we had, with a request
that we should be furnished with a guide to the next chief.
After a long conference with his council, the cloth was returned
with a promise of compliance, and a request for some beads only.
This man is supposed to possess the charm for rain, and other tribes
send to him to beg it. This shows that what we inferred before was correct,
that less rain falls in this country than in Londa. Nyampungo behaved
in quite a gentlemanly manner, presented me with some rice,
and told my people to go among all the villages and beg for themselves.
An old man, father-in-law of the chief, told me that he had seen books before,
but never knew what they meant. They pray to departed chiefs and relatives,
but the idea of praying to God seemed new, and they heard it with reverence.
As this was an intelligent old man, I asked him about the silver,
but he was as ignorant of it as the rest, and said, "We never dug silver,
but we have washed for gold in the sands of the rivers Mazoe and Luia,
which unite in the Luenya." I think that this is quite conclusive
on the question of no silver having been dug by the natives of this district.
Nyampungo is afflicted with a kind of disease called Sesenda,
which I imagine to be a species of leprosy common in this quarter,
though they are a cleanly people. They never had cattle.
The chief's father had always lived in their present position,
and, when I asked him why he did not possess these useful animals,
he said, "Who would give us the medicine to enable us to keep them?"
I found out the reason afterward in the prevalence of tsetse,
but of this he was ignorant, having supposed that he could not keep cattle
because he had no medicine.
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