We had found that the
best plan for allaying any suspicions, that might arise in the minds
of a
People accustomed only to slave-traders, was to pay a hasty
visit, and then leave for a while, and allow the conviction to form
among the people that, though our course of action was so different
from that of others, we were not dangerous, but rather disposed to be
friendly. We had also a party at the vessel, and any indiscretion on
their part might have proved fatal to the character of the
Expedition.
The trade of Cazembe and Katanga's country, and of other parts of the
interior, crosses Nyassa and the Shire, on its way to the Arab port,
Kilwa, and the Portuguese ports of Iboe and Mozambique. At present,
slaves, ivory, malachite, and copper ornaments, are the only articles
of commerce. According to information collected by Colonel Rigby at
Zanzibar, and from other sources, nearly all the slaves shipped from
the above-mentioned ports come from the Nyassa district. By means of
a small steamer, purchasing the ivory of the Lake and River above the
cataracts, which together have a shore-line of at least 600 miles,
the slave-trade in this quarter would be rendered unprofitable, - for
it is only by the ivory being carried by the slaves, that the latter
do not eat up all the profits of a trip. An influence would be
exerted over an enormous area of country, for the Mazitu about the
north end of the Lake will not allow slave-traders to pass round that
way through their country. They would be most efficient allies to
the English, and might themselves be benefited by more intercourse.
As things are now, the native traders in ivory and malachite have to
submit to heavy exactions; and if we could give them the same prices
which they at present get after carrying their merchandise 300 miles
beyond this to the Coast, it might induce them to return without
going further. It is only by cutting off the supplies in the
interior, that we can crush the slave-trade on the Coast. The plan
proposed would stop the slave-trade from the Zambesi on one side and
Kilwa on the other; and would leave, beyond this tract, only the
Portuguese port of Inhambane on the south, and a portion of the
Sultan of Zanzibar's dominion on the north, for our cruisers to look
after. The Lake people grow abundance of cotton for their own
consumption, and can sell it for a penny a pound or even less.
Water-carriage exists by the Shire and Zambesi all the way to
England, with the single exception of a portage of about thirty-five
miles past the Murchison Cataracts, along which a road of less than
forty miles could be made at a trifling expense; and it seems
feasible that a legitimate and thriving trade might, in a short time,
take the place of the present unlawful traffic.
Colonel Rigby, Captains Wilson, Oldfield, and Chapman, and all the
most intelligent officers on the Coast, were unanimous in the belief,
that one small vessel on the Lake would have decidedly more
influence, and do more good in suppressing the slave-trade, than half
a dozen men-of-war on the ocean. By judicious operations, therefore,
on a small scale inland, little expense would be incurred, and the
English slave-trade policy on the East would have the same fair
chance of success, as on the West Coast.
After a land-journey of forty days, we returned to the ship on the
6th of October, 1859, in a somewhat exhausted condition, arising more
from a sort of poisoning, than from the usual fatigue of travel. We
had taken a little mulligatawney paste, for making soup, in case of
want of time to cook other food. Late one afternoon, at the end of
an unusually long march, we reached Mikena, near the base of Mount
Njongone to the north of Zomba, and the cook was directed to use a
couple of spoonfuls of the paste; but, instead of doing so, he put in
the whole potful. The soup tasted rather hot, but we added boiled
rice to it, and, being very hungry, partook freely of it; and, in
consequence of the overdose, we were delayed several days in severe
suffering, and some of the party did not recover till after our
return to the ship. Our illness may partly have arisen from another
cause. One kind of cassava (Jatropha maligna) is known to be, in its
raw state, poisonous, but by boiling it carefully in two waters,
which must be thrown off, the poison is extracted and the cassava
rendered fit for food. The poisonous sort is easily known by raising
a bit of the bark of the root, and putting the tongue to it. A
bitter taste shows poison, but it is probable that even the sweet
kind contains an injurious principle. The sap, which, like that of
our potatoes, is injurious as an article of food, is used in the
"Pepper-pot" of the West Indies, under the name of "Cassereep," as a
perfect preservative of meat. This juice put into an earthen vessel
with a little water and Chili pepper is said to keep meat, that is
immersed in it, good for a great length of time; even for years. No
iron or steel must touch the mixture, or it will become sour. This
"Pepper-pot," of which we first heard from the late Archbishop
Whately, is a most economical meat-safe in a hot climate; any beef,
mutton, pork, or fowl that may be left at dinner, if put into the
mixture and a little fresh cassereep added, keeps perfectly, though
otherwise the heat of the climate or flies would spoil it. Our cook,
however, boiled the cassava root as he was in the habit of cooking
meat, namely, by filling the pot with it, and then pouring in water,
which he allowed to stand on the fire until it had become absorbed
and boiled away.
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