We Have So Often, In Travelling, Heard Of War In Front,
That We Paid Little Attention To The Assertion Of
Chembi, that the
whole country to the N.W. was in flight before these Mazitu, under a
chief with the
Rather formidable name of Mowhiriwhiri; we therefore
resolved to go on to Chinsamba's, still further in the same
direction, and hear what he said about it.
The only instrument of husbandry here is the short-handled hoe; and
about Tette the labour of tilling the soil, as represented in the
woodcut, is performed entirely by female slaves. On the West Coast a
double-handled hoe is employed. Here the small hoe is seen in the
hands of both men and women. In other parts of Africa a hoe with a
handle four feet long is used, but the plough is quite unknown.
In illustration of the manner in which the native knowledge of
agriculture strikes an honest intelligent observer, it may be
mentioned that the first time good Bishop Mackenzie beheld how well
the fields of the Manganja were cultivated on the hills, he remarked
to Dr. Livingstone, then his fellow-traveller - "When telling the
people in England what were my objects in going out to Africa, I
stated that, among other things, I meant to teach these people
agriculture; but I now see that they know far more about it than I
do." This, we take it, was an honest straightforward testimony, and
we believe that every unprejudiced witness, who has an opportunity of
forming an opinion of Africans who have never been debased by
slavery, will rank them very much higher in the scale of
intelligence, industry, and manhood, than others who know them only
in a state of degradation.
On coming near Chinsamba's two stockades, on the banks of the
Lintipe, we were told that the Mazitu had been repulsed there the day
before, and we had evidence of the truth of the report of the attack
in the sad sight of the bodies of the slain. The Zulus had taken off
large numbers of women laden with corn; and, when driven back, had
cut off the ears of a male prisoner, as a sort of credential that he
had been with the Mazitu, and with grim humour sent him to tell
Chinsamba "to take good care of the corn in the stockades, for they
meant to return for it in a month or two."
Chinsamba's people were drumming with might and main on our arrival,
to express their joy at their deliverance from the Mazitu. The drum
is the chief instrument of music among the Manganja, and with it they
express both their joy and grief. They excel in beating time.
Chinsamba called us into a very large hut, and presented us with a
huge basket of beer. The glare of sunlight from which we had come
enabled him, in diplomatic fashion, to have a good view of us before
our eyes became enough accustomed to the dark inside to see him.
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