XXIX.] DISHONESTY OF THE NOBLE SAVAGE. 375 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



Joao, the White Trader. — Putrid Fish. — Dishonesty of the Noble Savage. — Festive 

 Natives. — Scanty Apparel. — Elaborate Hair-dressing. — Cataracts. — Sha Kelembe. 

 — Alvez proves Fickle. — Exchanging a Wife for a Cow. — An Attempted Bur- 

 glary. — Baffled. — The Thief's Complaint. — Unparalleled Audacity. — Revengeful 

 Threats. — Smelting-furnace. — High-flavored Provisions. — Sambo chaffs a Chief. — 

 Forest. — A Well-dressed Caravan. — Wanted a Dairy-maid. — Friendliness of Mona 

 Peho. — A Well-ventilated Suit of Clothes. — "Sham Devils." — Blacksmiths. — Am 

 believed to be a Lunatic. — Alvez's Reputation among Traders. — I sell my Shirts 

 for Food. — A Village eaten up by a Serpent. — An Eclipse. — Kanyumba's Civility. 

 — Alvez tries to rob the Starving. — Natural Hats. — False Rumors of Fighting on 

 the Road. 



DuKiNG our stay at Katende, Alvez received information tliat 

 Joao, the white trader who had been to Urua, had lately re- 

 turned from Jenje, and was now at JBihe, fitting out a new 

 expedition, and we might therefore expect to meet him. 



Jenje, as far as I could learn, is the country of the Kaffirs, 

 over whom Sekeletu was king when Livingstone passed in that 

 direction. 



The men whom we sent to procure fish returned with only a 

 few basketfuls, and we had to continue our march with this 

 small supply, trusting to the chance of obtaining more as we 

 proceeded. Happily, we were not disappointed, but were en- 

 abled to buy as much as we required. 



The means of paying my way now consisted of two viongwa 

 and about a dozen baskets of fish. 



That these fish should be used as an article of diet is most 

 remarkable ; for, being only partially sun-dried, and then packed 

 in baskets weighing about forty or fifty pounds, they soon be- 

 come a mass of putrefaction. There can be no difference of 

 opinion as to their unfitness for human food, yet the people 

 seem to thrive on them. 



The art of cheating is very well understood by the native 

 fish-mongers ; for in the centre of some of the baskets I found 



September, 



1875. 



