country were on the Mondoro’s side, and he had little
doubt but that he would succeed in establishing his
claim.
When approached on the subject of religion,
Kalimazondo grew vague and uncommunicative. We
let him know that we had seen the Mondoro, and knew
a great deal. To all this he replied : ‘ I dare not tell
you anything, or I should become deaf. I like my gun,
and if I was to tell you anything it would be taken
away, and I should be no man.’ Kalimazondo is a
cunning man in his generation, and we saw that we
should learn no more about this "strange and primitive
community than it had pleased the priest of the lion
god to tell us.
Close to Kalimazondo’s kraal we passed the remains
of the hedges or skerms which Mr. Selous and
his followers had erected to protect their camp
when on their visit to the old ’Mtoko, and we congratulated
ourselves that it had not been our fate to
be driven thus far from headquarters.
Next day we rode through an uninteresting
waterless country, and encamped for the night by
a stream which formed the southern border of
’Mtoko’s. country.
CHAPTER XI
t e e r u i n e d c i t i e s IN MANGWENDTS, CHIPUNZA’S,
AND MAKONI'S COUNTRIES
We were now once more in the country of Mang-
wendi, a chief of considerable power, so nearly equa
u, ’Mtoko, they told me, that the two neighbours,
like well-matched dogs, growl but do not come to
close quarters.,
The noticeable characteristic of this part ol the
country and all the way down to Manicaland is the
number of ruined fortified kraals which one comes
across, culminating, as if to a central head at Chi-
punza’s. These spots have been long deserted and are
now overgrown with jungle. We visited one of these
just after entering Mangwendi’s territories, there is
something about them which recalls the Great Zimbabwe—
the triple line of fortifications, the entrances
slightly rounded; but then the stonework is uneven,
the walls being built of shapeless stones, roughly put
together with mortar. Here we see none of the even
courses, the massive workmanship, and the evidences
of years of toil displayed in the more ancient ruins ,
the walls are low, narrow, and uneven. Are we to
suppose an intermediate race between the inhabita,nts