376 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



September, ■ earth, stoiies, broken pottery, and gourds, so stowed as to make 

 1875. ^p ii^Q proper weight and bulk. Indeed, as far as my experi- 

 ence goes, the noble savage is not one w^hit behind his civilized 

 brethren in adulterating food and giving short measure, the 

 only difference being in the clumsiness of his method. 



We were spared any further halts until the 7th of Sejitem- 

 ber, when we arrived at the village of Sha Kelembe, chief of 

 the last district in Lovale. 



Our road lay across enormous plains — which are flooded in 

 the rains — intersected by streams having trees growing along 

 their banks ; but on the last two days of the march we entered 

 a country more thickly wooded, and broken into small hills. 



Here we had our first view of the Lumeji, a noble stream 

 over fifty yards wide and more than ten feet deep, with a swift 

 current running in a very tortuous course through a broad val- 

 ley bounded on either side by wooded hills. 



On this portion of the route the people came into camp free- 

 ly, and continued dancing, drumming, and singing all night 

 long, thus effectually banishing sleep ; and in the morning they 

 added insult to injury by expecting payment for their unwel- 

 come serenading. Their demands, however, were not exorbi- 

 tant, as they were well satisfied with a handful of fish. 



Fishing -baskets exactly similar to those in Manyuema were 

 used here, and the women carried their loads in the same man- 

 ner as those at Nyangwe, viz., in a basket secured on the back 

 with a band across the forehead. 



The women were so scantily dressed that a stick of tape 

 would have clothed the female population of half a dozen vil- 

 lages. But though they neglected to dress themselves, they 

 devoted much time to their hair, which was evidently consid- 

 ered the most important part of their toilet. It was arranged 

 most elaborately, and, when finished, was plastered with grease 

 and clay, and made smooth and shiny. 



Some formed it into a number of small lumps, like berries ; 

 others into twisted loops, which were differently disposed, being 

 sometimes separate from each other, and occasionally intermin- 

 gled in apparently inextricable confusion. In some instances, 

 the hair was twisted into a mass of stout strings, projecting an 

 inch or two beyond the poll, the ends being worked into a kind 



