Grass-Burning Has Begun, And Is Producing The Blue Hazy Atmosphere Of
The American Indian Summer, Which In Western Africa Is Called The
"Smokes." Miles Of Fire Burn On The Mountain-Sides In The Evenings,
But Go Out During The Night.
From their height they resemble a broad
zigzag line of fire in the heavens.
We slept on the night of the 6th of July on the left bank of the
Chongwe, which comes through a gap in the hills on our right, and is
twenty yards wide. A small tribe of the Bazizulu, from the south,
under Dadanga, have recently settled here and built a village. Some
of their houses are square, and they seem to be on friendly terms
with the Bakoa, who own the country. They, like the other natives,
cultivate cotton, but of a different species from any we have yet
seen in Africa, the staple being very long, and the boll larger than
what is usually met with; the seeds cohere as in the Pernambuco kind.
They brought the seed with them from their own country, the distant
mountains of which in the south, still inhabited by their fellow-
countrymen, who possess much cattle and use shields, can be seen from
this high ground. These people profess to be children of the great
paramount chief, Kwanyakarombe, who is said to be lord of all the
Bazizulu. The name of this tribe is known to geographers, who derive
their information from the Portuguese, as the Morusurus, and the
hills mentioned above are said to have been the country of
Changamira, the warrior-chief of history, whom no Portuguese ever
dared to approach. The Bazizulu seem, by report, to be brave
mountaineers; nearer the river, the Sidima inhabit the plains; just
as on the north side, the Babimpe live on the heights, about two days
off, and the Makoa on or near the river. The chief of the Bazizulu
we were now with was hospitable and friendly. A herd of buffaloes
came trampling through the gardens and roused up our men; a feat that
roaring lions seldom achieved.
Our course next day passed over the upper terrace and through a dense
thorn jungle. Travelling is always difficult where there is no path,
but it is even more perplexing where the forest is cut up by many
game-tracks. Here we got separated from one another, and a
rhinoceros with angry snort dashed at Dr. Livingstone as he stooped
to pick up a specimen of the wild fruit morula; but she strangely
stopped stock-still when less than her own length distant, and gave
him time to escape; a branch pulled out his watch as he ran, and
turning half round to grasp it, he got a distant glance of her and
her calf still standing on the selfsame spot, as if arrested in the
middle of her charge by an unseen hand. When about fifty yards off,
thinking his companions close behind, he shouted "Look out there!"
when off she rushed, snorting loudly, in another direction. The
Doctor usually went unarmed before this, but never afterwards.
A fine eland was shot by Dr. Kirk this afternoon, the first we have
killed. It was in first-rate condition, and remarkably fat; but the
meat, though so tempting in appearance, severely deranged all who
partook of it heartily, especially those who ate of the fat. Natives
who live in game countries, and are acquainted with the different
kinds of wild animals, have a prejudice against the fat of the eland,
the pallah, the zebra, hippopotamus, and pig; they never reject it,
however, the climate making the desire for all animal food very
strong; but they consider that it causes ulcers and leprosy, while
the fat of sheep and of oxen never produces any bad effects, unless
the animal is diseased.
On the morning of the 9th, after passing four villages, we
breakfasted at an old friend's, Tombanyama, who lives now on the
mainland, having resigned the reedy island, where he was first seen,
to the buffaloes, which used to take his crops and show fight to his
men. He keeps a large flock of tame pigeons, and some fine fat
capons, one of which he gave us, with a basket of meal. They have
plenty of salt in this part of the country, obtaining it from the
plains in the usual way.
The half-caste partner of Sequasha and a number of his men were
staying near. The fellow was very munch frightened when he saw us,
and trembled so much when he spoke, that the Makololo and other
natives noticed and remarked on it. His fears arose from a sense of
guilt, as we said nothing to frighten him, and did not allude to the
murder till a few minutes before starting; when it was remarked that
Dr. Livingstone having been accredited to the murdered chief, it
would be his duty to report on it; and that not even the Portuguese
Government would approve of the deed. He defended it by saying that
they had put in the right man, the other was a usurper. He was
evidently greatly relieved when we departed. In the afternoon we
came to an outlying hamlet of Kambadzo, whose own village is on an
island, Nyampungo, or Nyangalule, at the confluence of the Kafue.
The chief was on a visit here, and they had been enjoying a regular
jollification. There had been much mirth, music, drinking, and
dancing. The men, and women too, had taken "a wee drap too much,"
but had not passed the complimentary stage. The wife of the headman,
after looking at us a few moments, called out to the others, "Black
traders have come before, calling themselves Bazungu, or white men,
but now, for the first time, have we seen the real Bazungu."
Kambadzo also soon appeared; he was sorry that we had not come before
the beer was all done, but he was going back to see if it was all
really and entirely finished, and not one little potful left
somewhere.
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