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.
This was, of course, mere characteristic politeness, as he was
perfectly aware that every drop had been swallowed; so we proceeded
on to the Kafue, or Kafuje, accompanied by the most intelligent of
his headmen. A high ridge, just before we reached the confluence,
commands a splendid view of the two great rivers, and the rich
country beyond. Behind, on the north and east, is the high mountain-
range, along whose base we have been travelling; the whole range is
covered with trees, which appear even on the prominent peaks,
Chiarapela, Morindi, and Chiava; at this last the chain bends away to
the N.W., and we could see the distant mountains where the chief,
Semalembue, gained all our hearts in 1856.
On the 9th of July we tried to send Semalembue a present, but the
people here refused to incur the responsibility of carrying it. We,
who have the art of writing, cannot realize the danger one incurs of
being accused of purloining a portion of goods sent from one person
to another, when the carrier cannot prove that he delivered all
committed to his charge. Rumours of a foray having been made, either
by Makololo or Batoka, as far as the fork of the Kafue, were received
here by our men with great indignation, as it looked as if the
marauders were shutting up the country, which they had been trying so
much to open.
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