94 THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. fAPril 24^6, ¡§|g
L Inkisi Falls, j
that the white man intended to fly his canoes
over the mountains.
On the other hand, the amiable Basesse, on
the left table-land across the river, had gathered
in hundreds on the cliffs overlooking the Inkisi
Falls, in expectation of seeing a catastrophe,
which certainly would have been worth seeing
had we been so suicidally inclined as to venture
over the falls in our canoes—for that undoubtedly
was their idea. It was strange with what poor
wits the aborigines of these new and exhumed
regions credited us. These people believed we
should be guilty of this last freak of madness
just as the Wana Mpungu believed we should
blindly stumble into their game-nets, and the
Wy-yanzi of Chumbiri believed that, having been
cheated out of 300 dollars’ worth of goods,
we should, upon the mere asking, be cheated
again. Indeed, I observe that, wherever I go,
savage and civilized man alike are too apt to
despise each other at first, and that, when finally
awakened to some sense of consideration for
each other, they proceed to the other extreme,
and invest one another with more attributes than
they really possess.
Having decided upon the project, it only remained
to make a road and to begin, but in
order to obtain the assistance of the aborigines,
which I was anxious for in order to relieve my
people from much of the fatigue, the first day
rioril 26.28, 1877.1 UP t h e m o u n t a in .
[ Inkisi FaUs. J
all hands were mustered for road-making. Our
numerous axes, which we had purchased in Ma-
nyema and in Uregga, came into very efficient
use now, for, by night, a bush-strewn path
l5oo yards in length had been constructed.
By 8 A .M . of the 26th our exploring-boat and
a small canoe were on the summit of the tableland
at a new camp we had formed. As the
feat was performed without ostentation and, it
need not be told, without any unnatural commotion
or event-the pigs had not been frightened,
the fowls had not cackled uneasily, goats
had not disappeared, women had not given birth
to monsters— the native chiefs were in a state
of agreeable wonder and complimentary admiration
of our industry, suitable for the commencement
of negotiations, and after an hours ‘ talk
and convivial drinking of palm-wine they agreed,
for a gift of forty cloths, to bring six hundred
men to assist us to haul up the monster canoes we
possessed, two or three of which were of heavy
teak, over 70 feet in length, and weighing over
three tons. A large number of my men were
then detailed to cut rattan canes as a substitute
for ropes, and as many were brittle and easily
broken, this involved frequent delays. Six men
under Kacheche were also despatched overland
to a distance of ten miles to explore the river,
and to prepare the natives for our appearance.
By the evening of the 28th all our vessels