Rise abruptly out of the
lake, forming the north-east boundary of what was described to us as
an extensive table-land; well suited for pasturage and agriculture,
and now only partially occupied by a tribe of Zulus, who came from
the south some years ago. These people own large herds of cattle,
and are constantly increasing in numbers by annexing other tribes.
CHAPTER X.
The Lake tribes - The Mazitu - Quantities of elephants - Distressing
journey - Detention on the Shire.
Never before in Africa have we seen anything like the dense
population on the shores of Lake Nyassa. In the southern part there
was an almost unbroken chain of villages. On the beach of wellnigh
of every little sandy bay, dark crowds were standing, gazing at the
novel sight of a boat under sail; and wherever we landed we were
surrounded in a few seconds by hundreds of men, women, and children,
who hastened to have a stare at the "chirombo" (wild animals).
During a portion of the year, the northern dwellers on the lake have
a harvest which furnishes a singular sort of food. As we approached
our limit in that direction, clouds, as of smoke rising from miles of
burning grass, were observed bending in a south-easterly direction,
and we thought that the unseen land on the opposite side was closing
in, and that we were near the end of the lake.
