The object proposed to the Makololo
seemed so desirable that it was resolved to proceed with it
as soon as the cooling influence of the rains should be felt in November.
The longitude and latitude of Linyanti (lat.
18d 17' 20" S.,
long. 23d 50' 9" E.) showed that St. Philip de Benguela was much nearer to us
than Loanda; and I might have easily made arrangements with the Mambari
to allow me to accompany them as far as Bihe, which is on the road
to that port; but it is so undesirable to travel in a path
once trodden by slave-traders that I preferred to find out
another line of march.
Accordingly, men were sent at my suggestion to examine all the country
to the west, to see if any belt of country free from tsetse
could be found to afford us an outlet. The search was fruitless.
The town and district of Linyanti are surrounded by forests
infested by this poisonous insect, except at a few points,
as that by which we entered at Sanshureh and another at Sesheke.
But the lands both east and west of the Barotse valley are free from
this insect plague. There, however, the slave-trade had defiled the path,
and no one ought to follow in its wake unless well armed.
The Mambari had informed me that many English lived at Loanda,
so I prepared to go thither. The prospect of meeting with countrymen
seemed to overbalance the toils of the longer march.
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