camp for any length of time. There was a great danger of
my party deserting at any moment through fear.
During the little hunting trip, however, I was enabled
through the medium of Sagwam to find out through our
young guide the direction in which Tette la y ; the information
convincing me that I had been perfectly, right in what
I had told the Mashona all along.
He also gave the information that the tribe which occupied
the land lying immediately to the north were called the
Bazurke. From our position at the time, as near as I could
make out, Tette lay almost due east. Therefore as the
Mashona refused to proceed, I determined that they should
no longer lead me by the nose. I could have pioneered
the way quite easily, but in that case the course would
have been easterly, and they would not go in that direction.
They had repeatedly refused to do so.
The young Makorikori promised to go with me, if the
chief would allow him. All the signs, however, went to
show that the king was of a very different type, in the power
of his ruling, from the others whom I had encountered in
recent wanderings.
On going back to the camp, I looked towards the great
mountain, and my impression was that the scene was by far
the wildest that I had ever witnessed as a position for a
town. I t completely defied attack from without; the huge
rocky mass standing nearly a thousand feet above the level
of the fields of gently waving corn which spread out from
its stupendous base.
Whispered reports of various kinds—but all unsatisfactory
—urged me to expedite the sending of a present to the
king. Between the Chibero men, and the men I had
enlisted at Igova, there now seemed to be a great difference
of opinion. This made the relations of the party more disagreeable*
certainly far from being a pleasant experience
after the night’s lugubrious incidents. Thoughts, too, which
were anything but cheering began to disturb my mind.
If our new acquaintances were hostile, and refused to
give me boys, what then ? How was I to proceed under
those circumstances ?
As I meditated upon such contingencies, there arose a
new cause for speculation if not alarm ; for, from the chiefs
kraal I could hear the sounds of the firing of guns, the
beating of drums, and a general howl of many human voices.
What the uproar meant I could not divine.
Selecting some calico of the strongest texture and of the
most seductive pattern I could choose, I gave it to Karemba
along with a message to the effect that I would like to see
the chief.*
I also said that I wished the chief to give me boys, to
escort me through his country to the next town in the
direction of the Zambesi. As I was anxious to see the
entrance to the seemingly impregnable stronghold I accompanied
my ambassador for some distance on his way.
As we were nearing the town two boys from the camp
overtook us. John had despatched them in hot haste to
say that the chief was in the camp, and that we were to
come back.
On returning to the camp I soon distinguished the
chief, who, supported by a considerable following, was
seated close to our skerm. He was a young man with an
evil countenance. Minute tattoo marks described jagged
lines down his forehead, and circled around his temples,
while his body, all over, was decorated with little stars, very
* Regarding cloth, it may be interesting to note that the Africans I
have met are not in any way particular about colours; they prefer pure
white.