These men tried
to bring us to a stand, at a distance of about six miles from the village,
By the notice, "Mburuma says you are to sleep under that tree."
On declining to do this, we were told that we must wait at a certain village
for a supply of corn. As none appeared in an hour, I proceeded on the march.
It is not quite certain that their intentions were hostile,
but this seemed to disarrange their plans, and one of them
was soon observed running back to Mburuma. They had first of all
tried to separate our party by volunteering the loan of a canoe
to convey Sekwebu and me, together with our luggage, by way of the river,
and, as it was pressed upon us, I thought that this was their design.
The next attempt was to detain us in the pass; but, betraying no suspicion,
we civilly declined to place ourselves in their power in an
unfavorable position. We afterward heard that a party of Babisa traders,
who came from the northeast, bringing English goods from Mozambique,
had been plundered by this same people.
Elephants were still abundant, but more wild, as they fled with great speed
as soon as we made our appearance. The country between
Mburuma's and his mother's village was all hilly and very difficult,
and prevented us from traveling more than ten miles a day.
At the village of Ma Mburuma (mother of Mburuma), the guides,
who had again joined us, gave a favorable report, and the women and children
did not flee. Here we found that traders, called Bazunga, have been
in the habit of coming in canoes, and that I was named as one of them.
These I supposed to be half-caste Portuguese, for they said
that the hair of their heads and the skin beneath their clothing
were different from mine. Ma Mburuma promised us canoes
to cross the Loangwa in our front. It was pleasant to see
great numbers of men, women, and boys come, without suspicion,
to look at the books, watch, looking-glass, revolver, etc.
They are a strong, muscular race, and both men and women are seen
cultivating the ground. The soil contains so much comminuted talc and mica
from the adjacent hills that it seems as if mixed with spermaceti.
They generally eat their corn only after it has begun to sprout
from steeping it in water. The deformed lips of the women
make them look very ugly; I never saw one smile. The people in this part
seem to understand readily what is spoken about God, for they listen
with great attention, and tell in return their own ideas of departed spirits.
The position of the village of Mburuma's mother was one of great beauty,
quite inclosed by high, steep hills; and the valleys are all occupied
by gardens of native corn and maize, which grow luxuriantly.
We were obliged to hurry along, for the oxen were bitten daily by the tsetse,
which, as I have before remarked, now inhabits extensive tracts
which once supported herds of cattle that were swept off
by Mpakane and other marauders, whose devastations were well known to Sekwebu,
for he himself had been an actor in the scenes.
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