220 THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT T Au£- 6< 1877 1
LBanzaMbukoJ
of tnumph and success, into which he deftly
and with a poet’s licence, interpolated verses
laudatory of the white men of the second sea.
The bard, extemporizing, sang much about the
great cataracts, cannibals, and pagans, hunger,
the wide wastes, great inland seas, and niggardly
tribes, and wound up by declaring that the
journey was over, that we were even then
smelling the breezes of the western ocean, and
his master’s brothers had redeemed them from
the “ hell of hunger.” And at the end of each
verse the voices rose high and clear to the
chorus—
“ Then sing-, O friends, sing; the journey is ended;
Sing aloud, O friends, sing to this great sea.”
Enough now, fall to,” said Manwa Sera, at
which the people nearly smothered him by their
numbers. Into each apron, bowl, and utensil
held out, the several captains expeditiously
tossed full measures of rice and generous quantities
of sweet potatoes and portions of fish.
The younger men and women hobbled after
water, and others set about gathering fuel, and
the camp was all animation, where but half an
hour previously all had been listless despair.
Many people were unable to wait for the food
to be cooked, but ate the rice and the fish raw.
But when the provisions had all been distributed,
and the noggin of rum had been equitably
poured into each man’s cup, and the camp was
in a state of genial excitement, and groups of
dark figures discussed with animation the prospective
food which the hospitable fires were
fast preparing, then I turned to my tent, accompanied
by Uledi, Kacheche, the capitan, and the
tent-boys, who were, I suppose, eager to witness
my transports of delight.
With profound tenderness Kacheche handed
to me the mysterious bottles, watching my face
the while with his sharp detective eyes as I
glanced at the labels, by which the cunning rogue
r e a d my pleasure. Pale ale! Sherry! Port wine!
Champagne! Several loaves of bread, wheaten
bread, sufficient for a week. Two pots of butter.
A packet of tea! Coffee! White loaf-sugar!
Sardines and salmon! Plum-pudding! Currant,
gooseberry, and raspberry jam! fe
The gracious God be praised for ever! The
long war we had maintained against famine and
the siege of woe were over, and my people and I
rejoiced in plenty! It was only an hour before
we had been living on the recollections of the
few pea-nuts and green bananas we had consumed
ip the morning, but now, in an instant, we
were transported into the presence of the luxuries
of civilization. Never did gaunt Africa appear
so unworthy and so despicable before my eyes
as now, when imperial Europe rose before my
delighted eyes and showed her boundless treasures
of life, and blessed me with her stores.