An Elephant-hunt --
Offering and Prayers to the Barimo for Success -- Native Mode of
Expression -- Working of Game-laws -- A Feast -- Laughing Hyaenas --
Numerous Insects -- Curious Notes of Birds of Song -- Caterpillars --
Butterflies -- Silica -- The Fruit Makoronga and Elephants -- Rhinoceros
Adventure -- Korwe Bird -- Its Nest -- A real Confinement -- Honey and
Beeswax -- Superstitious Reverence for the Lion -- Slow Traveling --
Grapes -- The Ue -- Monina's Village -- Native Names -- Government of the
Banyai -- Electing a Chief -- Youths instructed in "Bonyai" -- Suspected
of Falsehood -- War-dance -- Insanity and Disappearance of Monahin --
Fruitless Search -- Monina's Sympathy -- The Sand-river Tangwe -- The
Ordeal Muavi: its Victims -- An unreasonable Man -- "Woman's Rights" --
Presents -- Temperance -- A winding Course to shun Villages -- Banyai
Complexion and Hair -- Mushrooms -- The Tubers, Mokuri -- The Tree
Shekabakadzi -- Face of the Country -- Pot-holes -- Pursued by a Party of
Natives -- Unpleasant Threat -- Aroused by a Company of Soldiers -- A
civilized Breakfast -- Arrival at Tete.
14TH. We left Nyampungo
this morning. The path wound up the Molinge, another sand-river which
flows into the Nake. When we got clear of the tangled jungle which covers
the banks of these rivulets, we entered the Mopane country, where we could
walk with comfort. When we had gone on a few hours, my men espied an
elephant, and were soon in full pursuit. They were in want of meat, having
tasted nothing but grain for several days. The desire for animal food made
them all eager to slay him, and, though an old bull, he was soon killed.
The people of Nyampungo had never seen such desperadoes before. One rushed
up and hamstrung the beast, while still standing, by a blow with an axe.
Some Banyai elephant-hunters happened to be present when my men were
fighting with him. One of them took out his snuff-box, and poured out all
its contents at the root of a tree as an offering to the Barimo for
success. As soon as the animal fell, the whole of my party engaged in a
wild, savage dance round the body, which quite frightened the Banyai, and
he who made the offering said to me, "I see you are traveling with people
who don't know how to pray: I therefore offered the only thing I had in
their behalf, and the elephant soon fell." One of Nyampungo's men, who
remained with me, ran a little forward, when an opening in the trees gave
us a view of the chase, and uttered loud prayers for success in the
combat.
I admired the devout belief
they all possessed in the actual existence of unseen beings, and prayed
that they might yet know that benignant One who views us all as his own.
My own people, who are rather a degraded lot, remarked to me as I came up,
"God gave it to us. He said to the old beast, `Go up there; men are come
who will kill and eat you.'" These remarks are quoted to give the reader
an idea of the native mode of expression. As we were now in the country of
stringent game-laws, we were obliged to send all the way back to
Nyampungo, to give information to a certain person who had been left there
by the real owner of this district to watch over his property, the owner
himself living near the Zambesi. The side upon which the elephant fell had
a short, broken tusk; the upper one, which was ours, was large and thick.
The Banyai remarked on our good luck. The men sent to give notice came
back late in the afternoon of the following day. They brought a basket of
corn, a fowl, and a few strings of handsome beads, as a sort of
thank-offering for our having killed it on their land, and said they had
thanked the Barimo besides for our success, adding, "There it is; eat it
and be glad." Had we begun to cut it up before we got this permission, we
should have lost the whole. They had brought a large party to eat their
half, and they divided it with us in a friendly way. My men were delighted
with the feast, though, by lying unopened a whole day, the carcass was
pretty far gone. An astonishing number of hyaenas collected round, and
kept up a loud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make a very
good imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the hyaenas were laughing
at, as they usually give animals credit for a share of intelligence. They
said that they were laughing because we could not take the whole, and that
they would have plenty to eat as well as we.
On coming to the part where
the elephant was slain, we passed through grass so tall that it reminded
me of that in the valley of Cassange. Insects are very numerous after the
rains commence. While waiting by the elephant, I observed a great number
of insects, like grains of fine sand, moving on my boxes. On examination
with a glass, four species were apparent; one of green and gold preening
its wings, which glanced in the sun with metallic lustre; another clear as
crystal; a third of the color of vermilion; and a fourth black. These are
probably some of those which consume the seeds of every plant that grows.
Almost every kind has its own peculiar insect, and when the rains are over
very few seeds remain untouched. The rankest poisons, as the Kongwhane and
Euphorbia, are soon devoured; the former has a scarlet insect; and even
the fiery bird's-eye pepper, which will keep off many others from their
own seeds, is itself devoured by a maggot. I observed here, what I had
often seen before, that certain districts abound in centipedes. Here
they have light reddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen
crawling every where. Although they do no harm, they excite in man a
feeling of loathing. Perhaps our appearance produces a similar feeling in
the elephant and other large animals. Where they have been much disturbed,
they certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid biped that
ruins their peace. In the quietest parts of the forest there is heard a
faint but distinct hum, which tells of insect joy.
One may see many whisking
about in the clear sunshine in patches among the green glancing leaves;
but there are invisible myriads working with never-tiring mandibles on
leaves, and stalks, and beneath the soil. They are all brimful of
enjoyment. Indeed, the universality of organic life may be called a mantle
of happy existence encircling the world, and imparts the idea of its being
caused by the consciousness of our benignant Father's smile on all the
works of His hands.
The birds of the tropics
have been described as generally wanting in power of song. I was decidedly
of opinion that this was not applicable to many parts in Londa, though
birds there are remarkably scarce. Here the chorus, or body of song, was
not much smaller in volume than it is in England. It was not so
harmonious, and sounded always as if the birds were singing in a foreign
tongue. Some resemble the lark, and, indeed, there are several of that
family; two have notes not unlike those of the thrush. One brought the
chaffinch to my mind, and another the robin; but their songs are
intermixed with several curious abrupt notes unlike any thing English. One
utters deliberately "peek, pak, pok"; another has a single note like a
stroke on a violin-string.
The mokwa reza gives forth
a screaming set of notes like our blackbird when disturbed, then concludes
with what the natives say is "pula, pula" (rain, rain), but more like
"weep, weep, weep". Then we have the loud cry of francolins, the "pumpuru,
pumpuru" of turtle-doves, and the "chiken, chiken, chik, churr, churr" of
the honey-guide. Occasionally, near villages, we have a kind of
mocking-bird, imitating the calls of domestic fowls. These African birds
have not been wanting in song; they have only lacked poets to sing their
praises, which ours have had from the time of Aristophanes downward. Ours
have both a classic and a modern interest to enhance their fame. In hot,
dry weather, or at midday when the sun is fierce, all are still: let,
however, a good shower fall, and all burst forth at once into merry lays
and loving courtship. The early mornings and the cool evenings are their
favorite times for singing. There are comparatively few with gaudy
plumage, being totally unlike, in this respect, the birds of the Brazils.
The majority have decidedly a sober dress, though collectors, having
generally selected the gaudiest as the most valuable, have conveyed
the idea that the birds of the tropics for the most part possess gorgeous
plumage.
15TH. Several of my men
have been bitten by spiders and other insects, but no effect except pain
has followed. A large caterpillar is frequently seen, called lezuntabuea.
It is covered with long gray hairs, and, the body being dark, it resembles
a porcupine in miniature. If one touches it, the hairs run into the pores
of the skin, and remain there, giving sharp pricks. There are others which
have a similar means of defense; and when the hand is drawn across them,
as in passing a bush on which they happen to be, the contact resembles the
stinging of nettles. From the great number of caterpillars seen, we have a
considerable variety of butterflies. One particular kind flies more like a
swallow than a butterfly. They are not remarkable for the gaudiness of
their colors. In passing along we crossed the hills Vungue or Mvungwe,
which we found to be composed of various eruptive rocks. At one part we
have breccia of altered marl or slate in quartz, and various amygdaloids.
It is curious to observe the different forms which silica assumes. We have
it in claystone porphyry here, in minute round globules, no larger than
turnip-seed, dotted thickly over the matrix; or crystallized round the
walls of cavities, once filled with air or other elastic fluid; or it may
appear in similar cavities as tufts of yellow asbestos, or as red, yellow,
or green crystals, or in laminae so arranged as to appear like fossil
wood.
Vungue forms the watershed
between those sand rivulets which run to the N.E., and others which flow
southward, as the Kapopo, Ue, and Due, which run into the Luia. We found
that many elephants had been feeding on the fruit called Mokoronga. This
is a black-colored plum, having purple juice. We all ate it in large
quantities, as we found it delicious. The only defect it has is the great
size of the seed in comparison with the pulp. This is the chief fault of
all uncultivated wild fruits.
The Mokoronga exists
throughout this part of the country most abundantly, and the natives
eagerly devour it, as it is said to be perfectly wholesome, or, as they
express it, "It is pure fat," and fat is by them considered the best of
food. Though only a little larger than a cherry, we found that the
elephants had stood picking them off patiently by the hour. We observed
the footprints of a black rhinoceros (`Rhinoceros bicornis', Linn.) and
her calf. We saw other footprints among the hills of Semalembue, but the
black rhinoceros is remarkably scarce in all the country north of the
Zambesi. The white rhinoceros (`Rhinoceros simus' of Burchell), or Mohohu
of the Bechuanas, is quite extinct here, and will soon become unknown in
the country to the south. It feeds almost entirely on grasses, and
is of a timid, unsuspecting disposition: this renders it an easy prey, and
they are slaughtered without mercy on the introduction of fire-arms. The
black possesses a more savage nature, and, like the ill-natured in
general, is never found with an ounce of fat in its body. From its greater
fierceness and wariness, it holds its place in a district much longer than
its more timid and better-conditioned neighbor.
Mr. Oswell was once
stalking two of these beasts, and, as they came slowly to him, he, knowing
that there is but little chance of hitting the small brain of this animal
by a shot in the head, lay expecting one of them to give his shoulder till
he was within a few yards. The hunter then thought that by making a rush
to his side he might succeed in escaping, but the rhinoceros, too quick
for that, turned upon him, and, though he discharged his gun close to the
animal's head, he was tossed in the air. My friend was insensible for some
time, and, on recovering, found large wounds on the thigh and body: I saw
that on the former part still open, and five inches long. The white,
however, is not always quite safe, for one, even after it was mortally
wounded, attacked Mr. Oswell's horse, and thrust the horn through to the
saddle, tossing at the time both horse and rider. I once saw a white
rhinoceros give a buffalo, which was gazing intently at myself, a poke in
the chest, but it did not wound it, and seemed only a hint to get out of
the way.
Four varieties of the
rhinoceros are enumerated by naturalists, but my observation led me to
conclude that there are but two, and that the extra species have been
formed from differences in their sizes, ages, and the direction of the
horns, as if we should reckon the short-horned cattle a different species
from the Alderneys or the Highland breed. I was led to this from having
once seen a black rhinoceros with a horn bent downward like that of the
kuabaoba, and also because the animals of the two great varieties differ
very much in appearance at different stages of their growth. I find,
however, that Dr. Smith, the best judge in these matters, is quite decided
as to the propriety of the subdivision into three or four species. For
common readers, it is sufficient to remember that there are two
well-defined species, that differ entirely in appearance and food. The
absence of both these rhinoceroses among the reticulated rivers in the
central valley may easily be accounted for, they would be such an easy
prey to the natives in their canoes at the periods of inundation; but one
can not so readily account for the total absence of the giraffe and
ostrich on the high open lands of the Batoka, north of the Zambesi, unless
we give credence to the native report which bounds the country still
farther north by another network of waters near Lake Shuia, and suppose
that it also prevented their progress southward.
The Batoka have no name for
the giraffe or the ostrich in their language; yet, as the former
exists in considerable numbers in the angle formed by the Leeambye and
Chobe, they may have come from the north along the western ridge. The
Chobe would seem to have been too narrow to act as an obstacle to the
giraffe, supposing it to have come into that district from the south; but
the broad river into which that stream flows seems always to have
presented an impassable barrier to both the giraffe and the ostrich,
though they abound on its southern border, both in the Kalahari Desert and
the country of Mashona.
We passed through large
tracts of Mopane country, and my men caught a great many of the birds
called Korwe (`Tockus erythrorhynchus') in their breeding-places, which
were in holes in the mopane-trees. On the 19th we passed the nest of a
korwe just ready for the female to enter; the orifice was plastered on
both sides, but a space was left of a heart shape, and exactly the size of
the bird's body. The hole in the tree was in every case found to be
prolonged some distance upward above the opening, and thither the korwe
always fled to escape being caught. In another nest we found that one
white egg, much like that of a pigeon, was laid, and the bird dropped
another when captured. She had four besides in the ovarium. The first time
that I saw this bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for
some timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me and exclaimed,
"There is the nest of a korwe." I saw a slit only, about half an inch wide
and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking
the word korwe denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see
what he would extract; he broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put
his arm into the hole, and brought out a `Tockus', or `red-beaked
hornbill', which he killed.
He informed me that, when
the female enters her nest, she submits to a real confinement. The male
plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his
mate, and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a
nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with
the young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which is
stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and the
young family. The prisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is esteemed a
very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband gets
so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature which sometimes
happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies. I
never had an opportunity of ascertaining the actual length of the
confinement, but on passing the same tree at Kolobeng about eight days
afterward the hole was plastered up again, as if, in the short time that
had elapsed, the disconsolate husband had secured another wife. We did not
disturb her, and my duties prevented me from returning to the spot. This
is the month in which the female enters the nest. We had seen one of
these, as before mentioned, with the plastering not quite finished;
we saw many completed; and we received the very same account here that we
did at Kolobeng, that the bird comes forth when the young are fully
fledged, at the period when the corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance
abroad with her young is one of the signs they have for knowing when it
ought to be so. As that is about the end of April, the time is between two
and three months. She is said sometimes to hatch two eggs, and, when the
young of these are full-fledged, other two are just out of the egg-shells:
she then leaves the nest with the two elder, the orifice is again
plastered up, and both male and female attend to the wants of the young
which are left. On several occasions I observed a branch bearing the marks
of the male having often sat upon it when feeding his mate, and the
excreta had been expelled a full yard from the orifice, and often proved a
means of discovering the retreat.
The honey-guides were very
assiduous in their friendly offices, and enabled my men to get a large
quantity of honey. But, though bees abound, the wax of these parts forms
no article of trade. In Londa it may be said to be fully cared for, as you
find hives placed upon trees in the most lonesome forests. We often met
strings of carriers laden with large blocks of this substance, each 80 or
100 lbs. in weight, and pieces were offered to us for sale at every
village; but here we never saw a single artificial hive. The bees were
always found in the natural cavities of mopane-trees. It is probable that
the good market for wax afforded to Angola by the churches of Brazil led
to the gradual development of that branch of commerce there. I saw even on
the banks of the Quango as much as sixpence paid for a pound. In many
parts of the Batoka country bees exist in vast numbers, and the tribute
due to Sekeletu is often paid in large jars of honey; but, having no
market nor use for the wax, it is thrown away. This was the case also with
ivory at the Lake Ngami, at the period of its discovery. The reports
brought by my other party from Loanda of the value of wax had induced some
of my present companions to bring small quantities of it to Tete, but, not
knowing the proper mode of preparing it, it was so dark colored that no
one would purchase it; I afterward saw a little at Kilimane which had been
procured from the natives somewhere in this region.
Though we are now
approaching the Portuguese settlement, the country is still full of large
game. My men killed six buffalo calves out of a herd we met. The abundance
of these animals, and also of antelopes, shows the insufficiency of the
bow and arrow to lessen their numbers. There are also a great many lions
and hyaenas, and there is no check upon the increase of the former, for
the people, believing that the souls of their chiefs enter into them,
never attempt to kill them; they even believe that a chief may
metamorphose himself into a lion, kill any one he chooses, and then return
to the human form; therefore, when they see one, they commence clapping
their hands, which is the usual mode of salutation here. The consequence
is, that lions and hyaenas are so abundant that we see little huts made in
the trees, indicating the places where some of the inhabitants have slept
when benighted in the fields. As numbers of my men frequently left the
line of march in order to take out the korwes from their nests, or follow
the honey-guides, they excited the astonishment of our guides, who were
constantly warning them of the danger they thereby incurred from lions. I
was often considerably ahead of the main body of my men on this account,
and was obliged to stop every hour or two; but, the sun being excessively
hot by day, I was glad of the excuse for resting. We could make no such
prodigious strides as officers in the Arctic regions are able to do. Ten
or twelve miles a day were a good march for both the men and myself; and
it was not the length of the marches, but continuing day after day to
perform the same distance, that was so fatiguing. It was in this case much
longer than appears on the map, because we kept out of the way of
villages.
I drank less than the
natives when riding, but all my clothing was now constantly damp from the
moisture which was imbibed in large quantities at every pond. One does not
stay on these occasions to prepare water with alum or any thing else, but
drinks any amount without fear. I never felt the atmosphere so steamy as
on the low-lying lands of the Zambesi, and yet it was becoming cooler than
it was on the highlands. We crossed the rivulets Kapopo and Ue, now
running, but usually dry. There are great numbers of wild grape-vines
growing in this quarter; indeed, they abound every where along the banks
of the Zambesi. In the Batoka country there is a variety which yields a
black grape of considerable sweetness. The leaves are very large and
harsh, as if capable of withstanding the rays of this hot sun; but the
most common kinds -- one with a round leaf and a greenish grape, and
another with a leaf closely resembling that of the cultivated varieties,
and with dark or purple fruit -- have large seeds, which are strongly
astringent, and render it a disagreeable fruit.
The natives eat all the
varieties; and I tasted vinegar made by a Portuguese from these grapes.
Probably a country which yields the wild vines so very abundantly might be
a fit one for the cultivated species. At this part of the journey so many
of the vines had run across the little footpath we followed that one had
to be constantly on the watch to avoid being tripped. The ground was
covered with rounded shingle, which was not easily seen among the grass.
Pedestrianism may be all very well for those whose obesity requires much
exercise, but for one who was becoming as thin as a lath, through the
constant perspiration caused by marching day after day in the hot sun, the
only good I saw in it was that it gave an honest sort of man a vivid idea
of the tread-mill.
Although the rains were not
quite over, great numbers of pools were drying up, and the ground was in
many parts covered with small green cryptogamous plants, which gave it a
mouldy appearance and a strong smell. As we sometimes pushed aside the
masses of rank vegetation which hung over our path, we felt a sort of hot
blast on our faces. Every thing looked unwholesome, but we had no fever.
The Ue flows between high banks of a soft red sandstone streaked with
white, and pieces of tufa. The crumbling sandstone is evidently alluvial,
and is cut into 12 feet deep. In this region, too, we met with pot-holes
six feet deep and three or four in diameter. In some cases they form
convenient wells; in others they are full of earth; and in others still
the people have made them into graves for their chiefs.
On the 20th we came to
Monina's village (close to the sand-river Tangwe, latitude 16d 13' 38"
south, longitude 32d 32' east). This man is very popular among the tribes
on account of his liberality. Boroma, Nyampungo, Monina, Jira, Katolosa
(Monomotapa), and Susa, all acknowledge the supremacy of one called
Nyatewe, who is reported to decide all disputes respecting land. This
confederation is exactly similar to what we observed in Londa and other
parts of Africa. Katolosa is "the Emperor Monomotapa" of history, but he
is a chief of no great power, and acknowledges the supremacy of Nyatewe.
The Portuguese formerly honored Monomotapa with a guard, to fire off
numbers of guns on the occasion of any funeral, and he was also partially
subsidized. The only evidence of greatness possessed by his successor is
his having about a hundred wives. When he dies a disputed succession and
much fighting are expected.
In reference to the term
Monomotapa, it is to be remembered that Mono, Moene, Mona, Mana, or
Morena, mean simply `chief', and considerable confusion has arisen from
naming different people by making a plural of the chief's name. The names
Monomoizes, spelled also Monemuiges and Monomuizes, and Monomotapistas,
when applied to these tribes, are exactly the same as if we should call
the Scotch the Lord Douglases. Motape was the chief of the Bambiri, a
tribe of the Banyai, and is now represented in the person of Katolosa. He
was probably a man of greater energy than his successor, yet only an
insignificant chief. Monomoizes was formed from Moiza or Muiza, the
singular of the word Babisa or Aiza, the proper name of a large tribe to
the north. In the transformation of this name the same error has been
committed as in the others; and mistakes have occurred in many other names
by inattention to the meaning, and predilection for the letter R. The
River Loangwa, for instance, has been termed Arroangoa, and the Luenya the
Ruanha. The Bazizulu, or Mashona, are spoken of as the Morururus.
The government of the
Banyai is rather peculiar, being a sort of feudal republicanism. The chief
is elected, and they choose the son of the deceased chief's sister in
preference to his own offspring. When dissatisfied with one candidate,
they even go to a distant tribe for a successor, who is usually of the
family of the late chief, a brother, or a sister's son, but never his own
son or daughter. When first spoken to on the subject, he answers as if he
thought himself unequal to the task and unworthy of the honor; but, having
accepted it, all the wives, goods, and children of his predecessor belong
to him, and he takes care to keep them in a dependent position. When any
one of them becomes tired of this state of vassalage and sets up his own
village, it is not unusual for the elected chief to send a number of the
young men, who congregate about himself, to visit him. If he does not
receive them with the usual amount of clapping of hands and humility,
they, in obedience to orders, at once burn his village.
The children of the chief
have fewer privileges than common free men. They may not be sold, but,
rather than choose any one of them for a chief at any future time, the
free men would prefer to elect one of themselves, who bore only a very
distant relationship to the family. These free men are a distinct class
who can never be sold; and under them there is a class of slaves whose
appearance as well as position is very degraded. Monina had a great number
of young men about him from twelve to fifteen years of age. These were all
sons of free men, and bands of young men like them in the different
districts leave their parents about the age of puberty, and live with such
men as Monina for the sake of instruction. When I asked the nature of the
instruction, I was told "Bonyai", which I suppose may be understood as
indicating manhood, for it sounds as if we should say, "to teach an
American Americanism," or "an Englishman to be English."
While here they are kept in
subjection to rather stringent regulations. They must salute carefully by
clapping their hands on approaching a superior, and when any cooked food
is brought, the young men may not approach the dish, but an elder divides
a portion to each. They remain unmarried until a fresh set of youths is
ready to occupy their place under the same instruction. The parents send
servants with their sons to cultivate gardens to supply them with food,
and also tusks to Monina to purchase clothing for them. When the lads
return to the village of their parents, a case is submitted to them for
adjudication, and if they speak well on the point, the parents are highly
gratified.
When we told Monina that we
had nothing to present but some hoes, he replied that he was not in need
of those articles, and that he had absolute power over the country in
front, and if he prevented us from proceeding, no one would say any
thing to him. His little boy Boromo having come to the encampment to look
at us, I gave him a knife, and he went off and brought a pint of honey for
me. The father came soon afterward, and I offered him a shirt. He remarked
to his councilors, "It is evident that this man has nothing, for, if he
had, his people would be buying provisions, but we don't see them going
about for that purpose." His council did not agree in this. They evidently
believed that we had goods, but kept them hid, and we felt it rather hard
to be suspected of falsehood. It was probably at their suggestion that in
the evening a wardance was got up about a hundred yards from our
encampment, as if to put us in fear and force us to bring forth presents.
Some of Monina's young men
had guns, but most were armed with large bows, arrows, and spears. They
beat their drums furiously, and occasionally fired off a gun. As this sort
of dance is never got up unless there is an intention to attack, my men
expected an assault. We sat and looked at them for some time, and then, as
it became dark, lay down, all ready to give them a warm reception. But an
hour or two after dark the dance ceased, and, as we then saw no one
approaching us, we went to sleep. During the night, one of my head men,
Monahin, was seen to get up, look toward the village, and say to one who
was half awake, "Don't you hear what these people are saying? Go and
listen." He then walked off in the opposite direction, and never returned.
We had no guard set, but
every one lay with his spear in his hand. The man to whom he spoke appears
to have been in a dreamy condition, for it did not strike him that he
ought to give the alarm. Next morning I found to my sorrow that Monahin
was gone, and not a trace of him could be discovered. He had an attack of
pleuritis some weeks before, and had recovered, but latterly complained a
little of his head. I observed him in good spirits on the way hither, and
in crossing some of the streams, as I was careful not to wet my feet, he
aided me, and several times joked at my becoming so light. In the evening
he sat beside my tent until it was dark, and did not manifest any great
alarm.
It was probably either a
sudden fit of insanity, or, having gone a little way out from the camp, he
may have been carried off by a lion, as this part of the country is full
of them. I incline to the former opinion, because sudden insanity occurs
when there is any unusual strain upon their minds. Monahin was in command
of the Batoka of Mokwine in my party, and he was looked upon with great
dislike by all that chief's subjects. The only difficulties I had with
them arose in consequence of being obliged to give orders through him.
They said Mokwine is reported to have been killed by the Makololo, but
Monahin is the individual who put forth his hand and slew him. When one of
these people kills in battle, he seems to have no compunction afterward;
but when he makes a foray on his own responsibility, and kills a man
of note, the common people make remarks to each other, which are reported
to him, and bring the affair perpetually to his remembrance. This
iteration on the conscience causes insanity, and when one runs away in a
wide country like this, the fugitive is never heard of. Monahin had lately
become afraid of his own party from overhearing their remarks, and said
more than once to me, "They want to kill me." I believe if he ran to any
village they would take care of him. I felt his loss greatly, and spent
three days in searching for him. He was a sensible and most obliging man.
I sent in the morning to
inform Monina of this sad event, and he at once sent to all the gardens
around, desiring the people to look for him, and, should he come near, to
bring him home. He evidently sympathized with us in our sorrow, and,
afraid lest we might suspect him, added, "We never catch nor kidnap people
here. It is not our custom. It is considered as guilt among all the
tribes." I gave him credit for truthfulness, and he allowed us to move on
without farther molestation.
After leaving his village
we marched in the bed of a sand-river a quarter of a mile broad, called
Tangwe. Walking on this sand is as fatiguing as walking on snow. The
country is flat, and covered with low trees, but we see high hills in the
distance. A little to the south we have those of the Lobole. This region
is very much infested by lions, and men never go any distance into the
woods alone. Having turned aside on one occasion at midday, and gone a
short distance among grass a little taller than myself, an animal sprung
away from me which was certainly not an antelope, but I could not
distinguish whether it was a lion or a hyaena. This abundance of carnivora
made us lose all hope of Monahin. We saw footprints of many black
rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and zebras.
After a few hours we
reached the village of Nyakoba. Two men, who accompanied us from Monina to
Nyakoba's, would not believe us when we said that we had no beads. It is
very trying to have one's veracity doubted, but, on opening the boxes, and
showing them that all I had was perfectly useless to them, they consented
to receive some beads off Sekwebu's waist, and I promised to send four
yards of calico from Tete. As we came away from Monina's village, a
witch-doctor, who had been sent for, arrived, and all Monina's wives went
forth into the fields that morning fasting. There they would be compelled
to drink an infusion of a plant named "goho", which is used as an ordeal.
This ceremony is called "muavi", and is performed in this way. When a man
suspects that any of his wives has bewitched him, he sends for the
witch-doctor, and all the wives go forth into the field, and remain
fasting till that person has made an infusion of the plant. They all drink
it, each one holding up her hand to heaven in attestation of her
innocency. Those who vomit it are considered innocent, while those whom it
purges are pronounced guilty, and put to death by burning. The innocent
return to their homes, and slaughter a cock as a thank-offering to their
guardian spirits.
The practice of ordeal is
common among all the negro nations north of the Zambesi. This summary
procedure excited my surprise, for my intercourse with the natives here
had led me to believe that the women were held in so much estimation that
the men would not dare to get rid of them thus. But the explanation I
received was this. The slightest imputation makes them eagerly desire the
test; they are conscious of being innocent, and have the fullest faith in
the muavi detecting the guilty alone; hence they go willingly, and even
eagerly, to drink it. When in Angola, a half-caste was pointed out to me
who is one of the most successful merchants in that country; and the
mother of this gentleman, who was perfectly free, went, of her own accord,
all the way from Ambaca to Cassange, to be killed by the ordeal, her rich
son making no objection.
The same custom prevails
among the Barotse, Bashubia, and Batoka, but with slight variations. The
Barotse, for instance, pour the medicine down the throat of a cock or of a
dog, and judge of the innocence or guilt of the person accused according
to the vomiting or purging of the animal. I happened to mention to my own
men the water-test for witches formerly in use in Scotland: the supposed
witch, being bound hand and foot, was thrown into a pond; if she floated,
she was considered guilty, taken out, and burned; but if she sank and was
drowned, she was pronounced innocent. The wisdom of my ancestors excited
as much wonder in their minds as their custom did in mine.
The person whom Nyakoba
appointed to be our guide, having informed us of the decision, came and
bargained that his services should be rewarded with a hoe. I had no
objection to give it, and showed him the article; he was delighted with
it, and went off to show it to his wife. He soon afterward returned, and
said that, though he was perfectly willing to go, his wife would not let
him. I said, "Then bring back the hoe;" but he replied, "I want it."
"Well, go with us, and you shall have it." "But my wife won't let me." I
remarked to my men, "Did you ever hear such a fool?" They answered, "Oh,
that is the custom of these parts; the wives are the masters." And Sekwebu
informed me that he had gone to this man's house, and heard him saying to
his wife, "Do you think that I would ever leave you?" then, turning to
Sekwebu, he asked, "Do you think I would leave this pretty woman? Is she
not pretty?" Sekwebu had been making inquiries among the people, and had
found that the women indeed possessed a great deal of influence. We
questioned the guide whom we finally got from Nyakoba, an
intelligent young man, who had much of the Arab features, and found the
statements confirmed. When a young man takes a liking for a girl of
another village, and the parents have no objection to the match, he is
obliged to come and live at their village. He has to perform certain
services for the mother-in-law, such as keeping her well supplied with
firewood; and when he comes into her presence he is obliged to sit with
his knees in a bent position, as putting out his feet toward the old lady
would give her great offense. If he becomes tired of living in this state
of vassalage, and wishes to return to his own family, he is obliged to
leave all his children behind -- they belong to the wife. This is only a
more stringent enforcement of the law from which emanates the practice
which prevails so very extensively in Africa, known to Europeans as
"buying wives". Such virtually it is, but it does not appear quite in that
light to the actors.
So many head of cattle or
goats are given to the parents of the girl "to give her up", as it is
termed, i.e., to forego all claim on her offspring, and allow an entire
transference of her and her seed into another family. If nothing is given,
the family from which she has come can claim the children as part of
itself: the payment is made to sever this bond. In the case supposed, the
young man has not been able to advance any thing for that purpose; and,
from the temptations placed here before my men, I have no doubt that some
prefer to have their daughters married in that way, as it leads to the
increase of their own village. My men excited the admiration of the
Bambiri, who took them for a superior breed on account of their bravery in
elephant-hunting, and wished to get them as sons-in-law on the conditions
named, but none yielded to the temptation. We were informed that there is
a child belonging to a half-caste Portuguese in one of these tribes, and
the father had tried in vain to get him from the mother's parents. We saw
several things to confirm the impression of the higher position which
women hold here; and, being anxious to discover if I were not mistaken,
when we came among the Portuguese I inquired of them, and was told that
they had ascertained the same thing; and that, if they wished a man to
perform any service for them, he would reply, "Well, I shall go and ask my
wife." If she consented, he would go, and perform his duty faithfully; but
no amount of coaxing or bribery would induce him to do it if she refused.
The Portuguese praised the appearance of the Banyai, and they certainly
are a fine race.
We got on better with
Nyakoba than we expected. He has been so much affected by the sesenda that
he is quite decrepit, and requires to be fed. I at once showed his
messenger that we had nothing whatever to give. Nyakoba was offended with
him for not believing me, and he immediately sent a basket of maize and
another of corn, saying that he believed my statement, and would send men
with me to Tete who would not lead me to any other village.
The birds here sing very
sweetly, and I thought I heard the canary, as in Londa. We had a heavy
shower of rain, and I observed that the thermometer sank 14 Deg. in one
hour afterward. From the beginning of February we experienced a sensible
diminution of temperature. In January the lowest was 75 Deg., and that at
sunrise; the average at the same hour (sunrise) being 79 Deg.; at 3 P.M.,
90 Deg.; and at sunset, 82 Deg. In February it fell as low as 70 Deg. in
the course of the night, and the average height was 88 Deg. Only once did
it rise to 94 Deg., and a thunder-storm followed this; yet the sensation
of heat was greater now than it had been at much higher temperatures on
more elevated lands.
We passed several villages
by going roundabout ways through the forest. We saw the remains of a lion
that had been killed by a buffalo, and the horns of a putokwane (black
antelope), the finest I had ever seen, which had met its death by a lion.
The drums, beating all night in one village near which we slept, showed
that some person in it had finished his course. On the occasion of the
death of a chief, a trader is liable to be robbed, for the people consider
themselves not amenable to law until a new one is elected. We continued a
very winding course, in order to avoid the chief Katolosa, who is said to
levy large sums upon those who fall into his hands. One of our guides was
a fine, tall young man, the very image of Ben Habib the Arab. They were
carrying dried buffalo's meat to the market at Tete as a private
speculation.
A great many of the Banyai
are of a light coffee-and-milk color, and, indeed, this color is
considered handsome throughout the whole country, a fair complexion being
as much a test of beauty with them as with us. As they draw out their hair
into small cords a foot in length, and entwine the inner bark of a certain
tree round each separate cord, and dye this substance of a reddish color,
many of them put me in mind of the ancient Egyptians. The great mass of
dressed hair which they possess reaches to the shoulders, but when they
intend to travel they draw it up to a bunch, and tie it on the top of the
head. They are cleanly in their habits.
As we did not come near
human habitations, and could only take short stages on account of the
illness of one of my men, I had an opportunity of observing the expedients
my party resorted to in order to supply their wants. Large white edible
mushrooms are found on the ant-hills, and are very good. The mokuri, a
tuber which abounds in the Mopane country, they discovered by percussing
the ground with stones; and another tuber, about the size of a turnip,
called "bonga", is found in the same situations. It does not
determine to the joints like the mokuri, and in winter has a sensible
amount of salt in it. A fruit called "ndongo" by the Makololo, "dongolo"
by the Bambiri, resembles in appearance a small plum, which becomes black
when ripe, and is good food, as the seeds are small. Many trees are known
by tradition, and one receives curious bits of information in asking about
different fruits that are met with. A tree named "shekabakadzi" is
superior to all others for making fire by friction. As its name implies,
women may even readily make fire by it when benighted.
The country here is covered
over with well-rounded shingle and gravel of granite, gneiss with much
talc in it, mica schist, and other rocks which we saw `in situ' between
the Kafue and Loangwa. There are great mounds of soft red sand slightly
coherent, which crumble in the hand with ease. The gravel and the sand
drain away the water so effectually that the trees are exposed to the heat
during a portion of the year without any moisture; hence they are not
large, like those on the Zambesi, and are often scrubby. The rivers are
all of the sandy kind, and we pass over large patches between this and
Tete in which, in the dry season, no water is to be found. Close on our
south, the hills of Lokole rise to a considerable height, and beyond them
flows the Mazoe with its golden sands. The great numbers of pot-holes on
the sides of sandstone ridges, when viewed in connection with the large
banks of rolled shingle and washed sand which are met with on this side of
the eastern ridge, may indicate that the sea in former times rolled its
waves along its flanks. Many of the hills between the Kafue and Loangwa
have their sides of the form seen in mud banks left by the tide. The
pot-holes appear most abundant on low gray sandstone ridges here; and as
the shingle is composed of the same rocks as the hills west of Zumbo, it
looks as if a current had dashed along from the southeast in the line in
which the pot-holes now appear; and if the current was deflected by those
hills toward the Maravi country, north of Tete, it may have hollowed the
rounded, water-worn caverns in which these people store their corn, and
also hide themselves from their enemies.
I could detect no terraces
on the land, but, if I am right in my supposition, the form of this part
of the continent must once have resembled the curves or indentations seen
on the southern extremity of the American continent. In the indentation to
the S.E., S., S.W., and W. of this, lie the principal gold-washings; and
the line of the current, supposing it to have struck against the hills of
Mburuma, shows the washings in the N. and N.E. of Tete.
We were tolerably
successful in avoiding the villages, and slept one night on the flanks of
the hill Zimika, where a great number of deep pot-holes afforded an
abundant supply of good rain-water. Here, for the first time, we saw hills
with bare, smooth, rocky tops, and we crossed over broad dikes of gneiss
and syenitic porphyry: the directions in which they lay were N. and S. As
we were now near to Tete, we were congratulating ourselves on having
avoided those who would only have plagued us; but next morning some men
saw us, and ran off to inform the neighboring villages of our passing. A
party immediately pursued us, and, as they knew we were within call of
Katolosa (Monomotapa), they threatened to send information to that chief
of our offense, in passing through the country without leave. We were
obliged to give them two small tusks; for, had they told Katolosa of our
supposed offense, we should, in all probability, have lost the whole. We
then went through a very rough, stony country without any path. Being
pretty well tired out in the evening of the 2d of March, I remained at
about eight miles distance from Tete, Tette, or Nyungwe. My men asked me
to go on; I felt too fatigued to proceed, but sent forward to the
commandant the letters of recommendation with which I had been favored in
Angola by the bishop and others, and lay down to rest. Our food having
been exhausted, my men had been subsisting for some time on roots and
honey.
About two o'clock in the
morning of the 3d we were aroused by two officers and a company of
soldiers, who had been sent with the materials for a civilized breakfast
and a "masheela" to bring me to Tete. (Commandant's house: lat. 16d 9' 3"
S., long. 33d 28' E.) My companions thought that we were captured by the
armed men, and called me in alarm. When I understood the errand on which
they had come, and had partaken of a good breakfast, though I had just
before been too tired to sleep, all my fatigue vanished. It was the most
refreshing breakfast I ever partook of, and I walked the last eight miles
without the least feeling of weariness, although the path was so rough
that one of the officers remarked to me, "This is enough to tear a man's
life out of him." The pleasure experienced in partaking of that breakfast
was only equaled by the enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's bed on my arrival at
Loanda. It was also enhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen and
the war was finished.
Note. -- Having neglected,
in referring to the footprints of the rhinoceros, to mention what may be
interesting to naturalists, I add it here in a note; that wherever the
footprints are seen, there are also marks of the animal having plowed up
the ground and bushes with his horn. This has been supposed to indicate
that he is subject to "fits of ungovernable rage"; but, when seen, he
appears rather to be rejoicing in his strength. He acts as a bull
sometimes does when he gores the earth with his horns. The rhinoceros, in
addition to this, stands on a clump of bushes, bends his back down, and
scrapes the ground with his feet, throwing it out backward, as if to
stretch and clean his toes, in the same way that a dog may be seen to do
on a little grass: this is certainly not rage. |