360 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



regarding the demand. Mohamid bin Saleh, the Arab leader at 

 this place, met Livingstone and gave him a reception by firing 

 guns, then led his party to a large shed for further ceremonies, 

 such as bowing, firing salutes, rubbing elbows, etc. After this 

 a large hut was given Living-stone for his residence until others 



O O,O 



could be built. The town is headquarters for the Arab slave- 

 trade, and there is a very large stockade for slaves, which Liv- 

 ingstone found full. 



Many of the Casern be people appeared with their ears cropped 

 and hands lopped off. Upon inquiring the cause, Livingstone 

 was told that it was the practice of the Casembe to mutilate his 

 subjects for petty offenses, and sometimes merely to gratify his 

 barbarous inclination. 



AFRICAN POMP AND SPLENDOR. 



THE third day after his arrival Livingstone was tendered a 

 reception by the Casembe, who was seated in great state in front 

 of his council chamber, while his principal chiefs squatted on the 

 ground around him. A " tom-toming " was kept up by two 

 musicians on native drums, while Casembe's wives danced up to 

 Livingstone with small branches of trees in their hands, with 

 which they swept the ground as they bowed before him. One of 

 the principal officers was instructed to present the white guest 

 with an elephant's tusk, as an evidence of the great esteem with 

 which he was regarded. The affair was one of the most stately 

 that Livingstone had ever witnessed in Africa, and he describes 

 the incident and the people at some length. 



"The present Casembe," says Livingstone, "has a heavy, 

 uninteresting countenance, without beard or whiskers, and some- 

 what of the Chinese type, and his eyes have an outward squint. 

 He smiled but once during the day, and that was pleasant enough, 

 though the cropped ears and lopped hands, with human skulls at 

 the gate, made me indisposed to look on anything with favor. 

 His principal wife came with her attendants, after he had de- 

 parted, to look at the Englishman (Moengerese). She was a fine, 

 tall, good-featured lady, with two spears in her hand. The prin- 

 cipal men who had come around made way for her, and called on 



