The Lake People Grow Abundance Of Cotton For Their Own
Consumption, And Can Sell It For A Penny A Pound
Or even less.
Water-carriage exists by the Shire and Zambesi all the way to
England, with the single exception
Of a portage of about thirty-five
miles past the Murchison Cataracts, along which a road of less than
forty miles could be made at a trifling expense; and it seems
feasible that a legitimate and thriving trade might, in a short time,
take the place of the present unlawful traffic.
Colonel Rigby, Captains Wilson, Oldfield, and Chapman, and all the
most intelligent officers on the Coast, were unanimous in the belief,
that one small vessel on the Lake would have decidedly more
influence, and do more good in suppressing the slave-trade, than half
a dozen men-of-war on the ocean. By judicious operations, therefore,
on a small scale inland, little expense would be incurred, and the
English slave-trade policy on the East would have the same fair
chance of success, as on the West Coast.
After a land-journey of forty days, we returned to the ship on the
6th of October, 1859, in a somewhat exhausted condition, arising more
from a sort of poisoning, than from the usual fatigue of travel. We
had taken a little mulligatawney paste, for making soup, in case of
want of time to cook other food. Late one afternoon, at the end of
an unusually long march, we reached Mikena, near the base of Mount
Njongone to the north of Zomba, and the cook was directed to use a
couple of spoonfuls of the paste; but, instead of doing so, he put in
the whole potful. The soup tasted rather hot, but we added boiled
rice to it, and, being very hungry, partook freely of it; and, in
consequence of the overdose, we were delayed several days in severe
suffering, and some of the party did not recover till after our
return to the ship. Our illness may partly have arisen from another
cause. One kind of cassava (Jatropha maligna) is known to be, in its
raw state, poisonous, but by boiling it carefully in two waters,
which must be thrown off, the poison is extracted and the cassava
rendered fit for food. The poisonous sort is easily known by raising
a bit of the bark of the root, and putting the tongue to it. A
bitter taste shows poison, but it is probable that even the sweet
kind contains an injurious principle. The sap, which, like that of
our potatoes, is injurious as an article of food, is used in the
"Pepper-pot" of the West Indies, under the name of "Cassereep," as a
perfect preservative of meat. This juice put into an earthen vessel
with a little water and Chili pepper is said to keep meat, that is
immersed in it, good for a great length of time; even for years. No
iron or steel must touch the mixture, or it will become sour.
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