themselves buy or sell slaves, but purchased them at
Msenga.
Masecha, as I have said before, was very dirty. The
street was a litter of débris. Ashes and rubbish of all
kinds, the sweepings of years, formed huge piles of abominable
filth on all hands. The vile condition of the place
must in some measure, if not wholly, account for the odious
diseases which prevail among the inhabitants.
The watch and compass surprised the people vastly.
When I made the magnetic needle follow my knife, turning
it first in one direction and then in another, until the-
card spun round, the people were beside themselves with
unfeigned amazement. No doubt they thought I was a
highly-gifted spectre from the ghostly world.
The country we had latterly passed through had a poor
and sandy soil, encumbered with thorn bush, wait-a-bit
thorns, and other wild shrubs. Birds were scarce.
When we left Masecha, we crossed the watershed, and
found all the rivers flowing in a south-easterly direction to
the Amazoe. The principal affluent—the Kangudzi—was
like most of the other channels we had been crossing : that
is to say, a bed of sand where water flowed only during the
rainy months.
Throughout all this district our experiences, Ijke the
scenery, were monotonous in the extreme. At odd intervals
the dismal course of progress was relieved by our meetings
with sundry parties of natives en route to the Upper
Zambesi. One morning we heard the booming of batukas,
which, it turned out, heralded the advent of a large party of
Mtavara people from a town called Mauntonda, which they
were deserting in order to find better land.
The exodus was tolerably large, and its numbers marched
along with a merry but tremendous noise. Drum beating
throbbed the air, and wild singing sounded' high. A motley
throng, indeed, they were. Some of them wore ostrich
feather caps, others hats and feathers j the old men carrying
guns, and the women heavy loads of eatables, neatly packed
in palm leaves and grass.
All seemed to be genuinely happy. Probably it has not
yet come home to them, what a struggle they have for the
privilege of mere existence in a sorrowful life of toil.
The tribes in this locality are constantly changing their
towns, migrating from place to place in search of richer
lands, as the soil is poor and soon becomes exhausted.
Villages, therefore, are, very makeshift affairs.- The
people generally, whom we saw in the Zambesi valley,
seemed to be more indolent than any we had hitherto,
passed. Skin diseases, such as X have spoken of, were very
prevalent, and swellings of the ankles and legs were also
noticeable on many occasions.
The country is subject to lengthened and excessive
droughts. The tsetse abounds throughout the wide-spread
valley. I t has been remarked that the goat will live in
the “ fly .country.” But to me it was singular that
wherever, goats were found in any considerable numbers
the fly was not observed. Where the fly was prevalent,
goats were sometimes kept as pets which had been born
in the “ fly country ” (their mothers having died), and
physicked, when very young, by the women.
Large trees, which flourished here, produced a stony,
apple-like fruit. These trees, called Mazua by the natives,
were dotted here and there through the forest. In flavour^
the fruit resembled the apple, and the stone was like that
of a large cherry.
Not infrequently a small bush fence encloses this highly-
valued tree, showing that some enterprizing individual
VOL. II.