164 ACEOSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



February, tlien change round, and the junior slaps himself first under the 

 1874. igf t armpit and then under the right. But when a " swell "* 

 meets an inferior, the superior only claps his hands, and does 

 not fully return the salutation by following the motions of the 

 one who first salutes. On two commoners meeting, they pat 

 their stomachs, then clap hands at each other, and finally shake 

 hands. These greetings are observed to an unlimited extent, 

 and the sound of patting and clapping is almost unceasing. 



The people are most extensively tattooed w^ith small cuts, 

 forming spirals, circles, and straight lines, and they wear their 

 hair shaved in patches or clipped close. Their ornaments are 

 wire bracelets, sambo, beads, and little iron bells. A very small 

 amount of trade-cloth is worn, most of the people being dressed 

 in bark-cloth and skins. 



In the afternoon some fugitives brought the news that the 

 village to which they belonged had been destroyed by Miram- 

 bo, who was then only eight miles distant, and that five people 

 had been killed, and many more, with some cattle, driven oft". 



This so fully occupied the mutwale's attention that we did 

 not commence the palaver about payment for crossing the Ma- 

 lagarazi until late in the afternoon. And almost immediately 

 afterward an alarm was raised that Mirambo was coming to at- 

 tack the place : the bearer of this disquieting intelligence as- 

 serted that he was sole survivor of a large village about five 

 miles distant. 



Of course we cut short our conference, and prepared to con- 

 front our redoubtable foe. On going outside the village, I saw 

 several columns of smoke rising to the east and south-east of 

 us, and more fugitives came running in, stating that Mirambo 

 had jDarties in all directions looting and destroying. 



Every thing was arranged for meeting the anticipated attack, 

 and, as we were enjoying the hospitality of ITgaga, I told the 

 mutwale we were ready to assist him to the utmost. lie 

 smiled, and said that as Mirambo had been beaten oif with the 

 loss of many people, including his son and brother, when he 

 attacked the village some four years before, it was probable he 

 would not try it again. The mutwale was right, for IVfirambo 

 left the neighborhood during the night, after having destroyed 

 and looted seven or eight villages. 



