The Secret Of Their Success
Is The Possession Of Firearms.
There were several of these Ajawa
here again, and on our arrival they proposed to Katosa that they
should
Leave; but he replied that they need not be afraid of us.
They had red beads strung so thickly on their hair that at a little
distance they appeared to have on red caps. It is curious that the
taste for red hair should be so general among the Africans here and
further north; in the south black mica, called Sebilo, and even soot
are used to deepen the colour of the hair; here many smear the head
with red-ochre, others plait the inner bark of a tree stained red
into it; and a red powder called Mukuru is employed, which some say
is obtained from the ground, and others from the roots of a tree.
It having been doubted whether sugar-cane is indigenous to this
country or not, we employed Katosa to procure the two varieties
commonly cultivated, with the intention of conveying them to Johanna.
One is yellow, and the other, like what we observed in the Barotse
Valley, is variegated with dark red and yellow patches, or all red.
We have seen it "arrow," or blossom. Bamboos also run to seed, and
the people are said to use the seed as food. The sugar-cane has
native names, which would lead us to believe it to be indigenous.
Here it is called Zimbi, further south Mesari, and in the centre of
the country Meshuati.
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