The Stems Of Grass Showed The
Causes Of Certain Explosions As Loud As Pistols, Which Are Heard When
The Annual Fires Come Roaring Over The Land.
The heated air inside
expanding bursts the stalk with a loud report, and strews the
fragments on the ground.
A very great deal of native corn had been cultivated here, and we saw
buffaloes feeding in the deserted gardens, and some women, who ran
away very much faster than the beasts did.
On the 29th, seeing some people standing under a tree by a village,
we sat down, and sent Masego, one of our party, to communicate. The
headman, Matunda, came back with him, bearing a calabash with water
for us. He said that all the people had fled from the Ajawa, who had
only just desisted from their career of pillage on being paid five
persons as a fine for some offence for which they had commenced the
invasion. Matunda had plenty of grain to sell, and all the women
were soon at work grinding it into meal. We secured an abundant
supply, and four milk goats. The Manganja goat is of a very superior
breed to the general African animal, being short in the legs and
having a finely-shaped broad body. By promising the Makololo that,
when we no longer needed the milk, they should have the goats to
improve the breed of their own at home, they were induced to take the
greatest possible care of both goats and kids in driving and
pasturing.
After leaving Matunda, we came to the end of the highland valley;
and, before descending a steep declivity of a thousand feet towards
the part which may be called the heel of the Lake, we had the bold
mountains of Cape Maclear on our right, with the blue water at their
base, the hills of Tsenga in the distance in front, and Kirk's Range
on our left, stretching away northwards, and apparently becoming
lower. As we came down into a fine rich undulating valley, many
perennial streams running to the east from the hills on our left were
crossed, while all those behind us on the higher ground seemed to
unite in one named Lekue, which flowed into the Lake.
After a long day's march in the valley of the Lake, where the
temperature was very much higher than in that we had just left, we
entered the village of Katosa, which is situated on the bank of a
stream among gigantic timber trees, and found there a large party of
Ajawa - Waiau, they called themselves - all armed with muskets. We sat
down among them, and were soon called to the chiefs court, and
presented with an ample mess of porridge, buffalo meat, and beer.
Katosa was more frank than any Manganja chief we had met, and
complimented us by saying that "we must be his 'Bazimo' (good spirits
of his ancestors); for when he lived at Pamalombe, we lighted upon
him from above - men the like of whom he had never seen before, and
coming he knew not whence." He gave us one of his own large and
clean huts to sleep in; and we may take this opportunity of saying
that the impression we received, from our first journey on the hills
among the villages of Chisunse, of the excessive dirtiness of the
Manganja, was erroneous.
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