We Were Assured That If The Late Matiamvo Took A Fancy To Any Thing,
Such, For Instance, As My Watch-
Chain, which was of silver wire,
and was a great curiosity, as they had never seen metal plaited before,
he
Would order a whole village to be brought up to buy it from a stranger.
When a slave-trader visited him, he took possession of all his goods;
then, after ten days or a fortnight, he would send out a party of men
to pounce upon some considerable village, and, having killed the head man,
would pay for all the goods by selling the inhabitants. This has frequently
been the case, and nearly all the visitants he ever had were men of color.
On asking if Matiamvo did not know he was a man, and would be judged,
in company with those he destroyed, by a Lord who is no respector of persons?
the embassador replied, "We do not go up to God, as you do;
we are put into the ground." I could not ascertain that even those who have
such a distinct perception of the continued existence of departed spirits
had any notion of heaven; they appear to imagine the souls
to be always near the place of sepulture.
After crossing the River Lotembwa we traveled about eight miles,
and came to Katema's straggling town (lat. 11d 35' 49" S., long. 22d 27' E.).
It is more a collection of villages than a town. We were led out
about half a mile from the houses, that we might make for ourselves
the best lodging we could of the trees and grass, while Intemese
was taken to Katema to undergo the usual process of pumping
as to our past conduct and professions.
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