This Method Did Not Expel The Poisonous Properties
Of The Root, Or Render It Wholesome; For, Notwithstanding Our
Systematic Caution
In purchasing only the harmless sort, we suffered
daily from its effects, and it was only just before the end
Of our
trip that this pernicious mode of boiling it was discovered by us.
In ascending 3000 feet from the lowlands to the highlands, or on
reaching the low valley of the Shire from the higher grounds, the
change of climate was very marked. The heat was oppressive below,
the thermometer standing at from 84 degrees to 103 degrees in the
shade; and our spirits were as dull and languid as they had been
exhilarated on the heights in a temperature cooler by some 20
degrees. The water of the river was sometimes 84 degrees or higher,
whilst that we had been drinking in the hill streams was only 65
degrees.
It was found necessary to send two of our number across from the
Shire to Tette; and Dr. Kirk, with guides from Chibisa, and
accompanied by Mr. Rae, the engineer, accomplished the journey. We
had found the country to the north and east so very well watered,
that no difficulty was anticipated in this respect in a march of less
than a hundred miles; but on this occasion our friends suffered
severely. The little water to be had at this time of the year, by
digging in the beds of dry watercourses, was so brackish as to
increase thirst - some of the natives indeed were making salt from it;
and when at long intervals a less brackish supply was found, it was
nauseous and muddy from the frequent visits of large game. The
tsetse abounded. The country was level, and large tracts of it
covered with mopane forest, the leaves of which afford but scanty
shade to the baked earth, so that scarcely any grass grows upon it.
The sun was so hot, that the men frequently jumped from the path, in
the vain hope of cooling, for a moment, their scorched feet under the
almost shadeless bushes; and the native who carried the provision of
salt pork got lost, and came into Tette two days after the rest of
the party, with nothing but the fibre of the meat left, the fat,
melted by the blazing sun, having all run down his back. This path
was soon made a highway for slaving parties by Captain Raposo, the
Commandant. The journey nearly killed our two active young friends;
and what the slaves must have since suffered on it no one can
conceive; but slaving probably can never be conducted without
enormous suffering and loss of life.
Mankokwe now sent a message to say that he wished us to stop at his
village on our way down. He came on board on our arrival there with
a handsome present, and said that his young people had dissuaded him
from visiting us before; but now he was determined to see what every
one else was seeing. A bald square-headed man, who had been his
Prime Minister when we came up, was now out of office, and another
old man, who had taken his place accompanied the chief. In passing
the Elephant Marsh, we saw nine large herds of elephants; they
sometimes formed a line two miles long.
On the 2nd of November we anchored off Shamoara, and sent the boat to
Senna for biscuit and other provisions. Senhor Ferrao, with his
wonted generosity, gave us a present of a bullock, which he sent to
us in a canoe. Wishing to know if a second bullock would be
acceptable to us, he consulted his Portuguese and English dictionary,
and asked the sailor in charge if he would take ANOTHER; but Jack,
mistaking the Portuguese pronunciation of the letter h, replied, "Oh
no, sir, thank you, I don't want an OTTER in the boat, they are such
terrible biters!"
We had to ground the vessel on a shallow sandbank every night; she
leaked so fast, that in deep water she would have sunk, and the pump
had to be worked all day to keep her afloat. Heavy rains fell daily,
producing the usual injurious effects in the cabin; and, unable to
wait any longer for our associates, who had gone overland from the
Shire to Tette, we ran down the Kongone and beached her for repairs.
Her Majesty's ship "Lynx," Lieut. Berkeley commanding, called shortly
afterwards with supplies; the bar, which had been perfectly smooth
for some time before, became rather rough just before her arrival, so
that it was two or three days before she could communicate with us.
Two of her boats tried to come in on the second day, and one of them,
mistaking the passage, capsized in the heavy breakers abreast of the
island. Mr. Hunt, gunner, the officer in charge of the second boat,
behaved nobly, and by his skilful and gallant conduct succeeded in
rescuing every one of the first boat's crew. Of course the things
that they were bringing to us were lost, but we were thankful that
all the men were saved. The loss of the mail-bags, containing
Government despatches and our friends' letters for the past year, was
felt severely, as we were on the point of starting on an expedition
into the interior, which might require eight or nine months; and
twenty months is a weary time to be without news of friends and
family. In the repairing of our crazy craft, we received kind and
efficient aid from Lieutenant Berkeley, and we were enabled to leave
for Tette on December 16th.
We had now frequent rains, and the river rose considerably; our
progress up the stream was distressingly slow, and it was not until
the 2nd of February, 1860, that we reached Tette. Mr. Thornton
returned on the same day from a geological tour, by which some
Portuguese expected that a fabulous silver-mine would be
rediscovered. The tradition in the country is, that the Jesuits
formerly knew and worked a precious lode at Chicova.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 32 of 134
Words from 31677 to 32691
of 136856
