It is the native
village of the large-hearted and hospitable Senhor H. A. Ferrao.
The
benevolence of this gentleman is unbounded. The poor black stranger
passing through the town goes to him almost as a matter of course for
food, and is never sent away hungry. In times of famine the starving
natives are fed by his generosity; hundreds of his own people he
never sees except on these occasions; and the only benefit derived
from being their master is, that they lean on him as a patriarchal
chief, and he has the satisfaction of settling their differences, and
of saving their lives in seasons of drought and scarcity.
Senhor Ferrao received us with his usual kindness, and gave us a
bountiful breakfast. During the day the principal men of the place
called, and were unanimously of opinion that the free natives would
willingly cultivate large quantities of cotton, could they find
purchasers. They had in former times exported largely both cotton
and cloth to Manica and even to Brazil. "On their own soil," they
declared, "the natives are willing to labour and trade, provided only
they can do so to advantage: when it is for their interest, blacks
work very hard." We often remarked subsequently that this was the
opinion of men of energy; and that all settlers of activity,
enterprise, and sober habits had become rich, while those who were
much addicted to lying on their backs smoking, invariably complained
of the laziness of the negroes, and were poor, proud, and despicable.
Beyond Pita lies the little island Nyamotobsi, where we met a small
fugitive tribe of hippopotamus hunters, who had been driven by war
from their own island in front. All were busy at work; some were
making gigantic baskets for grain, the men plaiting from the inside.
With the civility so common among them the chief ordered a mat to be
spread for us under a shed, and then showed us the weapon with which
they kill the hippopotamus; it is a short iron harpoon inserted in
the end of a long pole, but being intended to unship, it is made fast
to a strong cord of milola, or hibiscus, bark, which is wound closely
round the entire length of the shaft, and secured at its opposite
end. Two men in a swift canoe steal quietly down on the sleeping
animal. The bowman dashes the harpoon into the unconscious victim,
while the quick steersman sweeps the light craft back with his broad
paddle; the force of the blow separates the harpoon from its corded
handle, which, appearing on the surface, sometimes with an inflated
bladder attached, guides the hunters to where the wounded beast hides
below until they despatch it.
These hippopotamus hunters form a separate people, called Akombwi, or
Mapodzo, and rarely - the women it is said never - intermarry with any
other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the
natives on the Zambesi is obvious enough, some having as great an
abhorrence of hippopotamus meat as Mahomedans have of swine's flesh.
Our pilot, Scissors, was one of this class; he would not even cook
his food in a pot which had contained hippopotamus meat, preferring
to go hungry till he could find another; and yet he traded eagerly in
the animal's tusks, and ate with great relish the flesh of the foul-
feeding marabout. These hunters go out frequently on long
expeditions, taking in their canoes their wives and children,
cooking-pots, and sleeping-mats. When they reach a good game
district, they erect temporary huts on the bank, and there dry the
meat they have killed. They are rather a comely-looking race, with
very black smooth skins, and never disfigure themselves with the
frightful ornaments of some of the other tribes. The chief declined
to sell a harpoon, because they could not now get the milola bark
from the coast on account of Mariano's war. He expressed some doubts
about our being children of the same Almighty Father, remarking that
"they could not become white, let them wash ever so much." We made
him a present of a bit of cloth, and he very generously gave us in
return some fine fresh fish and Indian corn.
The heat of the weather steadily increases during this month
(August), and foggy mornings are now rare. A strong breeze ending in
a gale blows up stream every night. It came in the afternoon a few
weeks ago, then later, and at present its arrival is near midnight;
it makes our frail cabin-doors fly open before it, but continues only
for a short time, and is succeeded by a dead calm. Game becomes more
abundant; near our wooding-places we see herds of zebras, both
Burchell's and the mountain variety, pallahs (Antelope melampus),
waterbuck, and wild hogs, with the spoor of buffaloes and elephants.
Shiramba Dembe, on the right bank, is deserted; a few old iron guns
show where a rebel stockade once stood; near the river above this,
stands a magnificent Baobab hollowed out into a good-sized hut, with
bark inside as well as without. The old oaks in Sherwood Forest,
when hollow, have the inside dead or rotten; but the Baobab, though
stripped of its bark outside, and hollowed to a cavity inside, has
the power of exuding new bark from its substance to both the outer
and inner surfaces; so, a hut made like that in the oak called the
"Forest Queen," in Sherwood, would soon all be lined with bark.
The portions of the river called Shigogo and Shipanga are bordered by
a low level expanse of marshy country, with occasional clumps of
palm-trees and a few thorny acacias. The river itself spreads out to
a width of from three to four miles, with many islands, among which
it is difficult to navigate, except when the river is in flood. In
front, a range of high hills from the north-east crosses and
compresses it into a deep narrow channel, called the Lupata Gorge.
The Portuguese thought the steamer would not stem the current here;
but as it was not more than about three knots, and as there was a
strong breeze in our favour, steam and sails got her through with
ease.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 9 of 134
Words from 8169 to 9221
of 136856
