1864.] LECTURE BY DR. LIVINGSTONE. 383 



which a fine oil is extracted ; cassava, from which our tapioca is 

 made ; ground-nuts, which yield an oil for cooking ; castor-oil, 

 with which they anoint their bodies; and tobacco and Indian 

 hemp for smoking. The labor in the fields seemed to be per- 

 formed by the whole family, — men, women, and children being 

 generally seen in the fields together. Each family had a patch of 

 cotton, just as our forefathers had each a patch of lint; and this 

 cotton was spun and woven by the men, while the women malted 

 and ground the corn, and made the beer. Near many of the vil- 

 lages furnaces were erected for smelting iron from the ore, and 

 excellent hoes were made very cheap. All were very eager tra- 

 ders, and very few were hunters ; so they can scarcely be called 

 savages, though, without a doubt, they were degraded enough. 

 Their life has always appeared to me to be one of fear. They may 

 be attacked by other tribes, and sold into slavery; and the idea 

 this brings is, that they will be taken away, fattened, and eaten by 

 the whites. The slave-trader calls them beasts and savages, and 

 they believe the slave-traders to be cannibals. They also live in 

 fear of witchcraft ; and suspected persons are frequently compelled 

 to drink the ordeal water, which is just about as sensible a means 

 of detecting witches as our former mode of ducking in a pond. If 

 the suspected person vomits, she is innocent ; if not, guilty : and 

 yet we laugh heartily at our forefathers believing that the woman 

 who sank in the pond was innocent, and guilty if she swam, — just 

 as monomaniacs do with their illusions. Cultivatino- lars-e tracts 

 of land for grain, a favorite way of using the produce is to convert 

 it into beer. It is not very intoxicating, but when they consume 

 large quantities they do become a little elevated. When a family 

 brews a large quantity, the friends and neighbors are invited to 

 drink, and bring their hoes with them. They let ofl" the excitement 

 in merrily hoeing their friend's field. At other times they consume 

 large quantities for the same object as our regular topers at home. 

 Weentered one village, and found the people all tipsy together. On 

 seeing us the men tried to induce the women to run away ; but the 

 ladies, too, were, as we mildly put it, " a little overcome," and 

 laughed at the idea of their running. The village doctor arranged 

 matters by bringing a large pot of the liquid, with the intention, 

 apparently, of reducing us to the general level. Well, the people 

 generally, if we except the coast tribes, are very much like these, 

 without the drunkenness. Wherever tzetze exists the people pos- 

 sess no cattle, as this insect proves fatal to all domestic animals, 



