His Arms Were Cut By The Cords,
And He Was Quite Lame From The Blows He Had Received.
These villagers supplied us abundantly with ground-nuts, maize, and corn.
All expressed great satisfaction on hearing my message,
As I directed their attention to Jesus as their Savior,
whose word is "Peace on earth, and good-will to men." They called out,
"We are tired of flight; give us rest and sleep." They of course
did not understand the full import of the message, but it was no wonder
that they eagerly seized the idea of peace. Their country has been visited
by successive scourges during the last half century, and they are now
"a nation scattered and peeled." When Sebituane came,
the cattle were innumerable, and yet these were the remnants only,
left by a chief called Pingola, who came from the northeast.
He swept across the whole territory inhabited by his cattle-loving countrymen,
devouring oxen, cows, and calves, without retaining a single head. He seems
to have been actuated by a simple love of conquest, and is an instance
of what has occurred two or three times in every century in this country,
from time immemorial. A man or more energy or ambition than his fellows
rises up and conquers a large territory, but as soon as he dies
the power he built up is gone, and his reign, having been one of terror,
is not perpetuated. This, and the want of literature, have prevented
the establishment of any great empire in the interior of Africa.
Pingola effected his conquests by carrying numbers of smith's bellows
with him. The arrow-heads were heated before shooting into a town,
and when a wound was inflicted on either man or beast, great confusion ensued.
After Pingola came Sebituane, and after him the Matebele of Mosilikatse;
and these successive inroads have reduced the Batoka to a state in which
they naturally rejoice at the prospect of deliverance and peace.
We spent Sunday, the 10th, at Monze's village, who is considered
the chief of all the Batoka we have seen. He lives near the hill Kisekise,
whence we have a view of at least thirty miles of open undulating country,
covered with short grass, and having but few trees. These open lawns
would in any other land, as well as this, be termed pastoral,
but the people have now no cattle, and only a few goats and fowls.
They are located all over the country in small villages,
and cultivate large gardens. They are said to have adopted this wide-spread
mode of habitation in order to give alarm should any enemy appear.
In former times they lived in large towns. In the distance (southeast)
we see ranges of dark mountains along the banks of the Zambesi,
and are told of the existence there of the rapid named Kansala,
which is said to impede the navigation. The river is reported
to be placid above that as far as the territory of Sinamane, a Batoka chief,
who is said to command it after it emerges smooth again below the falls.
Kansala is the only rapid reported in the river until we come to Kebrabasa,
twenty or thirty miles above Tete.
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