Thinking That We Might Descend This Branch Of The Zambesi
To Masiko, And Thence To The Barotse, I Felt A Strong Inclination To Make
The Attempt.
The goods, however, we had brought with us to pay our way,
had, by the long detention from fever
And weakness in both myself and men,
dwindled to a mere fragment; and, being but slightly acquainted with
the Balonda dialect, I felt that I could neither use persuasion nor presents
to effect my object. From all I could hear of Matiamvo,
there was no chance of my being allowed to proceed through his country
to the southward. If I had gone merely to visit him, all the goods
would have been expended by the time I returned to Cabango;
and we had not found mendicity so pleasant on our way to the north
as to induce us to desire to return to it.
The country of Matiamvo is said to be well peopled, but they have
little or no trade. They receive calico, salt, gunpowder,
coarse earthenware, and beads, and give in return ivory and slaves.
They possess no cattle, Matiamvo alone having a single herd, which he keeps
entirely for the sake of the flesh. The present chief is said to be mild
in his government, and will depose an under-chief for unjust conduct.
He occasionally sends the distance of a hundred miles or more
to behead an offending officer. But, though I was informed by the Portuguese
that he possesses absolute power, his name had less influence
over his subjects with whom I came in contact than that of Sekeletu has
over his people living at a much greater distance from the capital.
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Words from 196020 to 196301
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