hut. On two occasions after listening a little they made
haste to get out, but returned bringing in a gourd of pombe,
most of which the younger lady imbibed herself, and with
evident gusto, for she -would smack her lips heartily after
every copious draught; and then continued her conversation
in a manner which seemed to show that she was intent upon
weighing every syllable she uttered.
In whispered tones she continued to talk for hours,
constantly repeating the name Chikuse with impressive awe,
while she shook her head and drew deep sighs. I, of course,
could not understand a single word she said, whether she
was warning, consoling, or encouraging me. But there was
something very discomforting in her manner, for after
placing great stress upon some words she would sigh heavily,
ever and anon turning to her old companion evidently for
a verification of what she was telling me. Seeing that she
came in the night to whisper about the king, I inferred
th a t mischief was brewing, but I continued to nod assent
a t the end of her long sentences, until the strange visitors
took their departure.
. With the first faint flush of the morning light the air
was rent with wild shouts and cries from an assemblage of
men and women, the voices of the latter mingling shrilly
with the hoarse roar of their smoke-inhaling husbands and
brothers, a combination which gave a doleful tone to the
mournful morning chant.
I knew well what that meant, for I had often heard it
before. They were wailers who in lamentation cried for
one who was gone. The weird song of woe was kept up
until the sun stood high in the heavens, and then it died
slowly away.
Afterwards a long line of people could be seen filing out
of the town, and near to the leaders were two men who bore
suspended between them the dead body of a woman, wrapped
in the cane mat upon which she was accustomed to sleep.
There was no wailing on the line of march. All was silent.
The hut from whence the body was taken was adjacent to
mine, and on the return of the burial party a large crowd
stood in front of it, shouting with greater vigour than
before.
The circumstances of these surroundings were far from
being inspiriting, and thousands of anxious thoughts flashed
through my mind at the time, when I felt that I was so
completely at the mercy of these most heartless fiends, who
look upon killing as a pleasure, and only await the word
of their king to give them a human life for sport.
I had said to myself, “ This town cannot hold me another
nig h t; ” but, again, there fell the shadows of the opposite
huts cast by the rays of the lowering sun. To the east I
saw the imposing Manganja crags rising two thousand feet
above the plain, and the crimson and gold of their glowing
granite slopes told of another night.
Having still a few pounds of rice left, I boiled a little
for supper; and after partaking of this frugal repast, studied
the small chart by the faint light coming from the smouldering
embers of a root fire. I desired to fix my position, an
experiment I did not dare to make in the daytime, being
particularly careful not to show the sextant, watch, and
papers, in case they might excite the suspicions of these
fetich worshippers. On the sign of one error of judgment I
might be despatched without grace or ceremony.
I then began to turn over in my mind what course
should be pursued. I remembered having been told in Tette
that numbers of Maravi men had left on elephant hunting
expeditions through this country, and that a month before
my departure a Portuguese had started with a large escort