They
Followed The Common African Custom Of Agitating The Water, By Giving
It A Few Sharp Strokes With The Top Of The Fishing-Rod, Immediately
After Throwing In The Line, To Attract The Attention Of The Fish To
The Bait.
Having caught nothing, the reason assigned was the same as
would have been given in England under like circumstances, namely,
that "the wind made the fish cold, and they would not bite." Many
gardens of maize, pumpkins, and tobacco, fringed the marshy banks as
we went on.
They belong to natives of the hills, who come down in
the dry season, and raise a crop on parts at other times flooded.
While the crops are growing, large quantities of fish are caught,
chiefly Clarias capensis, and Mugil Africanus; they are dried for
sale or future consumption.
As we ascended, we passed a deep stream about thirty yards wide,
flowing in from a body of open water several miles broad. Numbers of
men were busy at different parts of it, filling their canoes with the
lotus root, called Nyika, which, when boiled or roasted, resembles
our chestnuts, and is extensively used in Africa as food. Out of
this lagoon, and by this stream, the chief part of the duckweed of
the Shire flows. The lagoon itself is called Nyanja ea Motope (Lake
of Mud). It is also named Nyanja Pangono (Little Lake), while the
elephant marsh goes by the name of Nyanja Mukulu (Great Lake). It is
evident from the shore line still to be observed on the adjacent
hills, that in ancient times these were really lakes, and the
traditional names thus preserved are only another evidence of the
general desiccation which Africa has undergone.
CHAPTER III.
The Steamer in difficulties - Elephant hunting - Arrival at Chibisa's -
Search for Lake Nyassa - The Manganja country - Weavers and smelters -
Lake Pamalombe.
Late in the afternoon of the first day's steaming, after we left the
wooding-place, we called at the village of Chikanda-Kadze, a female
chief, to purchase rice for our men; but we were now in the blissful
region where time is absolutely of no account, and where men may sit
down and rest themselves when tired; so they requested us to wait
till next day, and they would then sell us some food. As our forty
black men, however, had nothing to cook for supper, we were obliged
to steam on to reach a village a few miles above. When we meet those
who care not whether we purchase or let it alone, or who think men
ought only to be in a hurry when fleeing from an enemy, our ideas
about time being money, and the power of the purse, receives a shock.
The state of eager competition, which in England wears out both mind
and body, and makes life bitter, is here happily unknown. The
cultivated spots are mere dots compared to the broad fields of rich
soil which is never either grazed or tilled. Pity that the plenty in
store for all, from our Father's bountiful hands, is not enjoyed by
more.
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