number of trading articles, some of which I was very
reluctant to leave, but did so because I felt that the
lighter the equipment the quicker would be the progress.
A kraal, too, had to be made, into which the cattle could be
brought every night for shelter.
Amidst all the skurry and turmoil of departure, it was
painfully evident that the natives thought such a moment
an especially favourable one for begging “ presents.” Oh,
how the eternal repetition of that word “ tussa ” (present)
rang like a chronic singing in my afflicted ears! You
may talk of the “ backsheesh” of the Arabs if you like,
but I will back the duskier denizens of southern Africa for
genuine all-round begging against the world. Their greed
is insatiable, for the more you try to gratify their desires
the more they are encouraged to demand.
On the eve of our departure, Chibero, the chief, turned
up from the other town. As he sat down on a rock a ring
was immediately formed' around him, and every one of the
company clapped their hands, such being the Mashona mode
of saluting a visitor.
At length everything seemed to be ready for the start,
except, of course, the indispensable Mashona escort. My
baggage, I am afraid, would have made but a poor show
beside the enormous stores carried by some expeditions to
the interior of the dark continent; and, far away from even
the slightest evidence of civilisation, there was, as a matter
of course, no chance of replenishing should the supplies be
exhausted. Provisions taken with us from this point consisted
of some meal and rice, a small packet of tea, about
thirty pounds of sugar, three pounds of coffee, three tins of
salmon, one box of sardines, three small tins of condensed
milk, two bottles of “ three-star” brandy, two boxes of
Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, two pounds of sago, five
packets of maizena, and two bottles of lime juice. In case
the system might be overtaxed by such luxuries, relief
was to be found in the following medicines: One bottle
Eno, one small bottle of spirits of ammonia, two ounces
quinine, one ounce podophylin (the most effectively industrious
searching medicine in the whole pharmacopoeia, and
principally used to dose those who were shamming, and
who after one trial rarely called a second time at my drug
store), one small bottle of chlorodyne, and two bottles of
castor oil. The ammunition comprised two hundred and
fifty rounds of elephant-gun cartridges, five hundred rounds
of 0. L. K. brass shells, ten pounds lead, reloading apparatus,
and a few boxes of Curtis & Harvey’s best powder.
The articles for trade included cotton blankets, white
calico, blue calico, fancy handkerchiefs, four varieties of
beads, a few yards of very pretty cloth kept for extraordinary
occasions, as a gift perhaps to a cantankerous
chief or a youthful princess. I also had some books—a
small edition of Shakespeare, a Nautical Almanac, logarithmic
tables, and Proctor’s Star Atlas. The remainder
of the effects were made up by instruments for observation,
etc.
The total weight of the baggage was about four hundred
and fifty pounds, which gave to the twenty-five men about
•eighteen pounds each as their share of the burden, and even
at that many of them grumbled. What a contrast to the
Zanzibar porters, who lift and carry for immense distances
fifty pounds weight—aye, even more—without a murmur!
The body-guard consisted of the Eoyal Household of blacks,
headed by John, who was followed by a young Mashona,
also carrying a weapon. Sagwam bore upon his unwilling
shoulder the “ 80-ton gun,” which he hated with all the
intensity of a lazy man’s dislike to burthens. Karemba,