The Old Chief, Chinsunse, Came On A Visit To Us Next Day, And Pressed
The Bishop To Come And Live With Him.
"Chigunda," he said, "is but a
child, and the Bishop ought to live with the father rather than with
the child." But the old man's object was so evidently to have the
Mission as a shield against the Ajawa, that his invitation was
declined.
While begging us to drive away the marauders, that he
might live in peace, he adopted the stratagem of causing a number of
his men to rush into the village, in breathless haste, with the news
that the Ajawa were close upon us. And having been reminded that we
never fought, unless attacked, as we were the day before, and that we
had come among them for the purpose of promoting peace, and of
teaching them to worship the Supreme, to give up selling His
children, and to cultivate other objects for barter than each other,
he replied, in a huff, "Then I am dead already."
The Bishop, feeling, as most Englishmen would, at the prospect of the
people now in his charge being swept off into slavery by hordes of
men-stealers, proposed to go at once to the rescue of the captive
Manganja, and drive the marauding Ajawa out of the country. All were
warmly in favour of this, save Dr. Livingstone, who opposed it on the
ground that it would be better for the Bishop to wait, and see the
effect of the check the slave-hunters had just experienced. The
Ajawa were evidently goaded on by Portuguese agents from Tette, and
there was no bond of union among the Manganja on which to work. It
was possible that the Ajawa might be persuaded to something better,
though, from having long been in the habit of slaving for the
Quillimane market, it was not very probable. But the Manganja could
easily be overcome piecemeal by any enemy; old feuds made them glad
to see calamities befall their next neighbours. We counselled them
to unite against the common enemies of their country, and added
distinctly that we English would on no account enter into their
quarrels. On the Bishop inquiring whether, in the event of the
Manganja again asking aid against the Ajawa, it would be his duty to
accede to their request, - "No," replied Dr. Livingstone, "you will be
oppressed by their importunities, but do not interfere in native
quarrels." This advice the good man honourably mentions in his
journal. We have been rather minute in relating what occurred during
the few days of our connection with the Mission of the English
Universities, on the hills, because, the recorded advice having been
discarded, blame was thrown on Dr. Livingstone's shoulders, as if the
missionaries had no individual responsibility for their subsequent
conduct. This, unquestionably, good Bishop Mackenzie had too much
manliness to have allowed. The connection of the members of the
Zambesi Expedition, with the acts of the Bishop's Mission, now
ceased, for we returned to the ship and prepared for our journey to
Lake Nyassa.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 159 of 263
Words from 82646 to 83160
of 136856