408 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



courugecL Their progress was very slow, only four or five miles 

 a day Shaw was in charge of the little cart, far in the rear, 

 and he enlivened the march with a constant flow of the express- 

 ively wicked adjectives for which sailors are famous. 



On the 18th of April they met a chained slave gang, bound 

 east The slaves did not appear to be in the least down-hearted : 

 on the contrary, they seemed imbued with the philosophic jollity 

 of the jolly servant of Martin Chuzzlewit. Were it not for 

 their chains it would have been difficult to discover master from 

 slave : the physiognomic traits were alike the mild benignity 

 with which they regarded Stanley's party was equally visible on 

 all faces. The chains were ponderous, thoy might have held 

 elephants captive ; but as the slaves carried nothing but them- 

 selves, their weight could not have been insupportable. 



THE BELLES OF KISEMO. 



THE expedition encamped one evening at a prettily-situated 

 village, named Kisemo. The district was extremely populous, 

 there being five villages in a circuit of as many miles, each forti- 

 fied by stakes and thorny abattis. 



The belles of Kisemo are famed for their extraordinary natural 

 development, and their vanity finds expression in brass wire, 

 which adorns their waists and ankles, while their less attractive 

 brothers are content with such adornments as dingy cloths and 

 split ears. A more comical picture is seldom presented than 

 one of these hia;hlv-dressed females with the mas-nificent devel- 



<_J O 



opments already noted, engaged in the homely and necessary 

 task of grinding corn for herself and family. The grinding 

 apparatus consists of two portions: one, a thick pole of hard 

 wood, about six feet long, answering, for a pestle ; the other, a 

 capacious wooden mortar, three feet in height ; and the swaying 

 motion of the woman in handling this pestle forms a rare and 

 ludicrous picture, 



TIDINGS OF LIVINGSTONE. 



THE fourth caravan, which had been making up for lost time 

 by traveling ahead for several days, was come up with at the 



