Their sense of the ludicrous appears to
be exquisite; they screamed with laughter at the attempts which
disturbed and angry human nature made in the dark to bring their ill-
timed merriment to a close. Unlike their prudent European cousins,
which are said to leave a sinking ship, a party of these took up
their quarters in our leaky and sinking vessel. Quiet and invisible
by day, they emerged at night, and cut their funny pranks. No sooner
were we all asleep, than they made a sudden dash over the lockers and
across our faces for the cabin door, where all broke out into a loud
He! he! he! he! he! he! showing how keenly they enjoyed the joke.
They next went forward with as much delight, and scampered over the
men. Every night they went fore and aft, rousing with impartial feet
every sleeper, and laughing to scorn the aimless blows, growls, and
deadly rushes of outraged humanity. We observed elsewhere a species
of large mouse, nearly allied to Euryotis unisulcatus (F. Cuvier),
escaping up a rough and not very upright wall, with six young ones
firmly attached to the perineum. They were old enough to be well
covered with hair, and some were not detached by a blow which
disabled the dam. We could not decide whether any involuntary
muscles were brought into play in helping the young to adhere. Their
weight seemed to require a sort of cataleptic state of the muscles of
the jaw, to enable them to hold on.
Scorpions, centipedes, and poisonous spiders also were not
unfrequently brought into the ship with the wood, and occasionally
found their way into our beds; but in every instance we were
fortunate enough to discover and destroy them before they did any
harm. Naval officers on this coast report that, when scorpions and
centipedes remain a few weeks after being taken on board in a similar
manner, their poison loses nearly all its virulence; but this we did
not verify. Snakes sometimes came in with the wood, but oftener
floated down the river to us, climbing on board with ease by the
chain-cable, and some poisonous ones were caught in the cabin. A
green snake lived with us several weeks, concealing himself behind
the casing of the deckhouse in the daytime. To be aroused in the
dark by five feet of cold green snake gliding over one's face is
rather unpleasant, however rapid the movement may be. Myriads of two
varieties of cockroaches infested the vessel; they not only ate round
the roots of our nails, but even devoured and defiled our food,
flannels, and boots. Vain were all our efforts to extirpate these
destructive pests; if you kill one, say the sailors, a hundred come
down to his funeral! In the work of Commodore Owen it is stated that
cockroaches, pounded into a paste, form a powerful carminative; this
has not been confirmed, but when monkeys are fed on them they are
sure to become lean.
On coming to Senna, we found that the Zulus had arrived in force for
their annual tribute. These men are under good discipline, and never
steal from the people. The tax is claimed on the ground of conquest,
the Zulus having formerly completely overcome the Senna people, and
chased them on to the islands in the Zambesi. Fifty-four of the
Portuguese were slain on the occasion, and, notwithstanding the mud
fort, the village has never recovered its former power. Fever was
now very prevalent, and most of the Portuguese were down with it.
For a good view of the adjacent scenery, the hill, Baramuana, behind
the village, was ascended. A caution was given about the probability
of an attack of fever from a plant that grows near the summit. Dr.
Kirk discovered it to be the Paedevia foetida, which, when smelt,
actually does give headache and fever. It has a nasty fetor, as its
name indicates. This is one instance in which fever and a foul smell
coincide. In a number of instances offensive effluvia and fever
seems to have no connection. Owing to the abundant rains, the crops
in the Senna district were plentiful; this was fortunate, after the
partial failure of the past two years. It was the 25th of April,
1860, before we reached Tette; here also the crops were luxuriant,
and the people said that they had not had such abundance since 1856,
the year when Dr. Livingstone came down the river. It is astonishing
to any one who has seen the works for irrigation in other countries,
as at the Cape and in Egypt, that no attempt has ever been made to
lead out the water either of the Zambesi or any of its tributaries;
no machinery has ever been used to raise it even from the stream, but
droughts and starvations are endured, as if they were inevitable
dispensations of Providence, incapable of being mitigated.
Feeling in honour bound to return with those who had been the
faithful companions of Dr. Livingstone, in 1856, and to whose
guardianship and services was due the accomplishment of a journey
which all the Portuguese at Tette had previously pronounced
impossible, the requisite steps were taken to convey them to their
homes.
We laid the ship alongside of the island Kanyimbe, opposite Tette;
and, before starting for the country of the Makololo, obtained a
small plot of land, to form a garden for the two English sailors who
were to remain in charge during our absence. We furnished them with
a supply of seeds, and they set to work with such zeal, that they
certainly merited success. Their first attempt at African
horticulture met with failure from a most unexpected source; every
seed was dug up and the inside of it eaten by mice. "Yes," said an
old native, next morning, on seeing the husks, "that is what happens
this month; for it is the mouse month, and the seed should have been
sown last mouth, when I sowed mine." The sailors, however, sowed
more next day; and, being determined to outwit the mice, they this
time covered the beds over with grass.
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