north end of Lake Nyassa were also very superior weapons
in form and finish.
The ‘kerry was the universal weapon. I t was carried by
every male; and was, no doubt, the implement most used
in slave raiding, in conjunction with the shield.
This popularity of the ‘kerry was disagreeably shown;
for when I walked outside the kraal, which was watched in
a most vigilant manner by some men who took up their
position at the back of my hut, and by turns would remain
and scrutinise my every action, little boys would follow
me in herds, jumping around and gesticulating wildly with
flaunting ‘kerrys, as now and then they would make sundry
■feints, as if about to throw their hard root missiles at my
devoted head. To be alone for an instant was an impossibility.
Although the sky was still overcast, the rain ceased.
With difficulty the Angoni were gathered together; the
task calling for all the strategic tactics that have a place
in the traveller’s resources. Blacks are prone to vanish to
obscure places whenever a town is reached.
On our departure from this village hundreds of people
followed us, skurrying out of the adjacent huts, all
seeming eager to see the last of the white man. Everybody
in the place appeared to have turned out to bid us
good-bye.
Women, some of them very stout, with big babies tied
on their backs, ran along briskly, evidently reluctant to
miss a chance of having a look at the wonder. Swarms
of children trooped along hopping and skipping over the
numerous ant heaps, and with shrill voices, giving noisy
life to the bustling scene.
But we hastened on, and, crossing the Revuqwe river,
left the excited crowd on the western bank. At this point
we were at the head waters of the Revuqwe, which we crossed
for a third and last time. I had seen it where, broad and
clean, it emerged into the giant Zambesi, and was lost in
the wide blue bosom of the mighty river. We now crossed
it in a single stride.
A few hours’ steady marching over bare ground, studded
with chips of disintegrated granite, winding amidst which
I could discern numerous paths well worn, doubtless by
the journeys of the slave caravans, and branching in all
directions, brought us to the environs of another village,
which nestled in a small clump of copsewood. The main
trail of the paths I refer to went in a northerly direction,
almost parallel with the mountain chain. I am inclined to
believe that the larger portion of the slaves taken from
Angoni-land go to Jumbes, at Kota-Kota on the lake;
thence they are ferried over to the eastern shore, and begin
their march to the coast, loaded with ivory.
The men were some distance ahead of me, because I had
made a short detour, my curiosity having been aroused by
the appearance of a number of slave yokes scattered about
on one side of the trail. Examining these, I found that
two were broken, but 'from their appearance I was convinced
that no long time had elapsed since they had been employed
in their torturing work. On the spur of the moment
I thought I would endeavour to take one of the yokes with
me as a trophy; and shouldering one instantly I ran on,
but soon became tired of the encumbrance, and threw it
away, thinking at the time what must be the effect of having
such a load about one’s neck for months.
I kept up a pretty lively step, for the Angoni were
marching quickly, and I had lost sight of them when they
had disappeared into a little patch of bushy covert.
Mara, however, had waited and watched for me, and on