Custom Had Rendered His Feelings Callous, And Chibisa Had To
Be Told That His Child Would Never Return.
It is this callous state
of mind which leads some of our own blood to quote Scripture in
support of slavery.
If we could afford to take a backward step in
civilization, we might find men among ourselves who would in like
manner prove Mormonism or any other enormity to be divine.
We left the ship on the 28th of August, 1859, for the discovery of
Lake Nyassa. Our party numbered forty-two in all - four whites,
thirty-six Makololo, and two guides. We did not actually need so
many, either for carriage or defence; but took them because we
believed that, human nature being everywhere the same, blacks are as
ready as whites to take advantage of the weak, and are as civil and
respectful to the powerful. We armed our men with muskets, which
gave us influence, although it did not add much to our strength, as
most of the men had never drawn a trigger, and in any conflict would
in all probability have been more dangerous to us than the enemy.
Our path crossed the valley, in a north-easterly direction, up the
course of a beautiful flowing stream. Many of the gardens had
excellent cotton growing in them. An hour's march brought us to the
foot of the Manganja hills, up which lay the toilsome road. The
vegetation soon changed; as we rose bamboos appeared, and new trees
and plants were met with, which gave such incessant employment to Dr.
Kirk, that he travelled the distance three times over. Remarkably
fine trees, one of which has oil-yielding seeds, and belongs to the
mahogany family, grow well in the hollows along the rivulet courses.
The ascent became very fatiguing, and we were glad of a rest.
Looking back from an elevation of a thousand feet, we beheld a lovely
prospect. The eye takes in at a glance the valley beneath, and the
many windings of its silver stream Makubula, or Kubvula, from the
shady hill-side, where it emerges in foaming haste, to where it
slowly glides into the tranquil Shire; then the Shire itself is seen
for many a mile above and below Chibisa's, and the great level
country beyond, with its numerous green woods; until the prospect,
west and north-west, is bounded far away by masses of peaked and
dome-shaped blue mountains, that fringe the highlands of the Maravi
country.
After a weary march we halted at Makolongwi, the village of Chitimba.
It stands in a woody hollow on the first of the three terraces of the
Manganja hills, and, like all other Manganja villages, is surrounded
by an impenetrable hedge of poisonous euphorbia. This tree casts a
deep shade, which would render it difficult for bowmen to take aim at
the villagers inside. The grass does not grow beneath it, and this
may be the reason why it is so universally used, for when dry the
grass would readily convey fire to the huts inside; moreover, the
hedge acts as a fender to all flying sparks.
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