The Guides Came Over
To Bid Us Adieu, And We Sat Under A Mango-Tree Fifteen Feet In Circumference.
We Found Them More Communicative Now.
They said that the land
on both sides belonged to the Bazunga, and that they had left of old,
on the approach of Changamera, Ngaba, and Mpakane.
Sekwebu was with
the last named, but he maintained that they never came to the confluence,
though they carried off all the cattle of Mburuma. The guides confirmed this
by saying that the Bazunga were not attacked, but fled in alarm
on the approach of the enemy. This mango-tree he knew by its proper name,
and we found seven others and several tamarinds, and were informed
that the chief Mburuma sends men annually to gather the fruit,
but, like many Africans whom I have known, has not had patience
to propagate more trees. I gave them some little presents for themselves,
a handkerchief and a few beads, and they were highly pleased
with a cloth of red baize for Mburuma, which Sekeletu had given me
to purchase a canoe. We were thankful to part good friends.
Next morning we passed along the bottom of the range, called Mazanzwe,
and found the ruins of eight or ten stone houses. They all faced the river,
and were high enough up the flanks of the hill Mazanzwe to command
a pleasant view of the broad Zambesi. These establishments had all been built
on one plan - a house on one side of a large court, surrounded by a wall;
both houses and walls had been built of soft gray sandstone cemented together
with mud.
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