The Five Performers In This Catastrophe Approached With Penitential
Looks.
They had nothing to say, nor had we.
They bent down slowly,
and touched our feet with both hands. "Ku kuata moendo" - "to catch
the foot" - is their way of asking forgiveness. It was so like what
we have seen a little child do - try to bring a dish unbidden to its
papa, and letting it fall, burst into a cry of distress - that they
were only sentenced to go back to the ship, get provisions, and, in
the ensuing journey on foot, carry as much as they could, and thus
make up for the loss of the boat.
It was excessively annoying to lose all this property, and be
deprived of the means of doing the work proposed, on the east and
north of the Lake; but it would have been like crying over spilt milk
to do otherwise now than make the best use we could of our legs. The
men were sent back to the ship for provisions, cloth, and beads; and
while they are gone, we may say a little of the Cataracts which
proved so fatal to our boating plan.
CHAPTER XIII.
Dr. Livingstone's further explorations - Effects of slave-trade -
Kirk's range - Ajawa migration - Native fishermen - Arab slave-crossing-
-Splendid highlands.
The Murchison Cataracts of the Shire river begin in 15 degrees 20
minutes S., and end in lat. 15 degrees 55 minutes S., the difference
of latitude is therefore 35 minutes. The river runs in this space
nearly north and south, till we pass Malango; so the entire distance
is under 40 miles. The principal Cataracts are five in number, and
are called Pamofunda or Pamozima, Morewa, Panoreba or Tedzane,
Pampatamanga, and Papekira. Besides these, three or four smaller
ones might be mentioned; as, for instance, Mamvira, where in our
ascent we first met the broken water, and heard that gushing sound
which, from the interminable windings of some 200 miles of river
below, we had come to believe the tranquil Shire could never make.
While these lesser cataracts descend at an angle of scarcely 20
degrees, the greater fall 100 feet in 100 yards, at an angle of about
45 degrees, and one at an angle of 70 degrees. One part of Pamozima
is perpendicular, and, when the river is in flood, causes a cloud of
vapour to ascend, which, in our journey to Lake Shirwa, we saw at a
distance of at least eight miles. The entire descent from the Upper
to the Lower Shire is 1200 feet. Only on one spot in all that
distance is the current moderate - namely, above Tedzane. The rest is
all rapid, and much of it being only fifty or eighty yards wide, and
rushing like a mill-race, it gives the impression of water-power,
sufficient to drive all the mills in Manchester, running to waste.
Pamofunda, or Pamozima, has a deep shady grove on its right bank.
When we were walking alone through its dark shade, we were startled
by a shocking smell like that of a dissecting-room; and on looking up
saw dead bodies in mats suspended from the branches of the trees, a
mode of burial somewhat similar to that which we subsequently saw
practised by the Parsees in their "towers of silence" at Poonah, near
Bombay. The name Pamozima means, "the departed spirits or gods" - a
fit name for a place over which, according to the popular belief, the
disembodied souls continually hover.
The rock lowest down in the series is dark reddish-grey syenite.
This seems to have been an upheaving agent, for the mica schists
above it are much disturbed. Dark trappean rocks full of hornblende
have in many places burst through these schists, and appear in
nodules on the surface. The highest rock seen is a fine sandstone of
closer grain than that at Tette, and quite metamorphosed where it
comes into contact with the igneous rocks below it. It sometimes
gives place to quartz and reddish clay schists, much baked by heat.
This is the usual geological condition on the right bank of the
Cataracts. On the other side we pass over masses of porphyritic
trap, in contact with the same mica schists, and these probably give
to the soil the great fertility we observed. The great body of the
mountains is syenite. So much mica is washed into the river, that on
looking attentively on the stream one sees myriads of particles
floating and glancing in the sun; and this, too, even at low water.
It was the 15th of August before the men returned from the ship,
accompanied by Mr. Rae and the steward of the "Pioneer." They
brought two oxen, one of which was instantly slaughtered to put
courage into all hearts, and some bottles of wine, a present from
Waller and Alington. We never carried wine before, but this was
precious as an expression of kindheartedness on the part of the
donors. If one attempted to carry either wine or spirits, as a
beverage, he would require a whole troop of followers for nothing
else. Our greatest luxury in travelling was tea or coffee. We never
once carried sugar enough to last a journey, but coffee is always
good, while the sugarless tea is only bearable, because of the
unbearable gnawing feeling of want and sinking which ensues if we
begin to travel in the mornings without something warm in the
stomach. Our drink generally was water, and if cool, nothing can
equal it in a hot climate. We usually carried a bottle of brandy
rolled up in our blankets, but that was used only as a medicine; a
spoonful in hot water before going to bed, to fend off a chill and
fever. Spirits always do harm, if the fever has fairly begun; and it
is probable that brandy-and-water has to answer for a good many of
the deaths in Africa.
Mr. Rae had made gratifying progress in screwing together the "Lady
Nyassa." He had the zealous co-operation of three as fine steady
workmen as ever handled tools; and, as they were noble specimens of
English sailors, we would fain mention the names of men who are an
honour to the British navy - John Reid, John Pennell, and Richard
Wilson.
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