"We Shall Now," Said They,
"Get Both Corn And Clothes In Plenty." They Were In A Sad State,
Poor Fellows; For The Rains We Had Encountered Had Made Their Skin-Clothing
Drop Off Piecemeal, And They Were Looked Upon With Disgust
By The Well-Fed And Well-Clothed Zambesians.
They were, however,
veterans in marauding, and the head men, instead of being depressed by fear,
as the people
Of Mpende intended should be the case in using their charms,
hinted broadly to me that I ought to allow them to keep Mpende's wives.
The roasting of meat went on fast and furious, and some of the young men
said to me, "You have seen us with elephants, but you don't know yet
what we can do with men." I believe that, had Mpende struck the first blow,
he would soon have found out that he never made a greater mistake in his life.
His whole tribe was assembled at about the distance of half a mile.
As the country is covered with trees, we did not see them;
but every now and then a few came about us as spies, and would answer
no questions. I handed a leg of the ox to two of these, and desired them
to take it to Mpende. After waiting a considerable time in suspense,
two old men made their appearance, and said they had come to inquire
who I was. I replied, "I am a Lekoa" (an Englishman). They said,
"We don't know that tribe.
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