Our
boat party drank the water of the river, and the three white sailors,
who had never been in an African river before, had some slight
attacks of fever.
CHAPTER XII.
Return to the Zambesi - Bishop Mackenzie's grave - Frightful scenes
with crocodiles - Death of Mr. Thornton - African poisons - Recall of
the Expedition.
We put to sea on the 18th of October, and, again touching at Johanna,
obtained a crew of Johanna men and some oxen, and sailed for the
Zambesi; but our fuel failing before we reached it, and the wind
being contrary, we ran into Quillimane for wood.
Quillimane must have been built solely for the sake of carrying on
the slave-trade, for no man in his senses would ever have dreamed of
placing a village on such a low, muddy, fever-haunted, and mosquito-
swarming site, had it not been for the facilities it afforded for
slaving. The bar may at springs and floods be easily crossed by
sailing-vessels, but, being far from the land, it is always dangerous
for boats. Slaves, under the name of "free emigrants," have gone by
thousands from Quillimane, during the last six years, to the ports a
little to the south, particularly to Massangano.
