THE chief's mother. 171 



go and tell her of our arrival, adding that, though she 

 was an old woman, she would be sure to come and 

 see us. He was instructed to go, and in about an 

 hour, during which time I amused myself with the 

 crowd of curious darkies, the chief's mother arrived, 

 waited upon by fifteen women. She was old, infirm, 

 and much bent, walking with the assistance of a stick. 

 The old lady brought us a present, consisting of seve- 

 ral baskets of flour and two large pots of pombe, in 

 return for which she was presented with a quantity 

 of beads, and some pieces of cloth of various colours, 

 and received them with much gratitude. 



Having heard the cause of our visit, she expressed 

 her regret at the temporary absence of her son, and 

 told us that a white man (giving the usual description 

 of Livingstone) had been here about a year since, 

 and remained some days with the chief. She said 

 that he had a dog with him, which had two tails. 

 This amused us much, but she was positive it was 

 true, saying she had seen it several times, and she 

 called on her women to corroborate her statement, 

 which they did, all swearing to the two-tailed dog ! 

 She gave a similar description of the men who 

 accompanied Livingstone to that we had obtained 

 in other villages, and stated that one of his boys 

 had been left behind by his master in consequence of 

 his having sore feet. This boy's name was Waika- 

 tani. and he had accompanied Mapoonda on his jour- 

 ney. Some books and other articles had been left 

 in her charge by him ; and promising to procure 

 these for our inspection, a messenger was sent for 

 them. 



