They Began To Scream To Their Companions To Give Us Chase.
Without Quickening Our Pace We Walked On, And Soon Were In A Wood,
Through Which The Footpath We Were Following Led.
The first
intimation we had of the approaching Mazitu was given by the Johanna
man, Zachariah, who always lagged behind, running up, screaming as if
for his life.
The bundles were all put in one place to be defended;
and Masiko and Dr. Livingstone walked a few paces back to meet the
coming foe. Masiko knelt down anxious to fire, but was ordered not
to do so. For a second or two dusky forms appeared among the trees,
and the Mazitu were asked, in their own tongue, "What do you want?"
Masiko adding, "What do you say?" No answer was given, but the dark
shade in the forest vanished. They had evidently taken us for
natives, and the sight of a white man was sufficient to put them to
flight. Had we been nearer the Coast, where the people are
accustomed to the slave-trade, we should have found this affair a
more difficult one to deal with; but, as a rule, the people of the
interior are much more mild in character than those on the confines
of civilization.
The above very small adventure was all the danger we were aware of in
this journey; but a report was spread from the Portuguese villages on
the Zambesi, similar to several rumours that had been raised before,
that Dr. Livingstone had been murdered by the Makololo; and very
unfortunately the report reached England before it could be
contradicted.
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