2l6 



NATURE 



{July 7, 1881 



cylinders, and furnished with clay muzzles. By incessant 

 labour, kept up night and day, the whole of the metal 

 becomes transformed, by ordinary processes, into spades, 

 axes, war-hatchets, arrow-heads, assegais, nails, knives, 

 And bullets for fire-arms, and even occasionally fire-arms 

 themselves, the iron being tempered with ox-grease and 

 salt. I have seen a good many of these guns carry as 

 ipell as the best pieces made of cast steel." 



The book contains several illustrations of the methods 

 adopted, and the double-bellows used for the furnace is 

 very curious. His observations on the animals met with 

 along his route are valuable, and he has carefully indi- 

 cated on his map where the principal animals are found. 

 Elephants seem to be abundant enough south-east of 

 Bihe, and lions were met with in considerable numbers as 

 the Zambesi was approached. He also met with the huge 

 and dangerous buffaloes familiar to readers of Living- 

 stone's First Journey. One of our illustrations gives a 

 good idea of an antelope which was met with in the 

 Cuchibi, which the Major thus describes : — 



" At one of the turns of tlie river I perceived three 

 antelopes of an unknown species, at least to me ; but 

 just as I was in the act of letting fly at them they 

 leaped into the water and disappeared beneath its 

 surface. The circumstance caused me immense surprise, 

 which was increased as I went further on, as I occa- 

 sionally came across several of these creatures, swim- 

 ming, and then rapidly diving, keeping their heads under 

 water, so that only the tips of their horns were visible. 

 This strange animal, which I afterwards found an op- 

 portunity of shooting on the Cuchibi, and of whose 

 habits I had by that time acquired some knowledge, is 

 of sufficient interest to induce me for a moment to 

 suspend my narrative to say a few words concerning it. 

 It bears among the Bihenos the name of Quichobo, 

 and among the Ambuellas that of Buzi. Its size, when 

 full grown, is that of a one-year-old steer. The colour of 

 the hair is dark grey, from one cjuarter to half an inch 

 long, and extremely smooth ; the hair is shorter on the 

 head, and a white stripe crosses the top of the nostrils. 

 The length of the horns is about two feet, the section at 

 the base being semicircular, with an almost rectilinear 

 chord. This section is retained up to about three-fourths 

 of their height, after whicli they become almost circular 

 to the tips. The mean axis of the horns is straight, and 

 they form a slight angle between them, They are twisted 

 around the axis without losing their rectilinear shape, 

 and terminate in a broad spiral. The feet are furnished 

 with long hoofs similar to those of a sheep, and are curved 

 at the points. This arrangement of its feet and its 

 sedentary habits render this remarkable ruminant unfitted 

 for running. Its life is therefore in a great measure 

 passed in the water, it never straying far from the river 

 banks, on to which it crawls for pasture, and then chiefly 

 in the night-time. It sleeps and reposes in the water. 

 Its diving-powers are equal, if not superior, to those 

 of the hippopotamus. During sleep it comes near to the 

 surface of the water, so as to show half its horns above it. 

 It is very tmiid by nature, and plunges to the bottom 

 of the river at the slightest symptom of danger. It can 

 easily be captured and killed, so that the natives hunt it 

 successfully, turning to account its magnificent skin and 

 feeding off its carcase, which is however but poor meat. 

 Upon leaving the water for pasture its little skill in 

 running allows the natives to take it alive ; and it is not 

 dangerous, even at bay, like most of the antelope tribe. 

 The female, as well as the male, is furnished with horns. 

 There are many points of contact between the life of 

 this strange ruminant and that of the hippopotamus, its 

 near neighbour. The rivers Cubangui, Cuchibi, and the 

 upper Cuando offer a refuge to thousands of Quichobos, 

 whilst they do not appear either in the lower Cuando or 

 the Zambesi. I explain this fact by the greater ferocity of 

 the crocodiles in the Zambesi and lower Cuando, which 



would make short work of so defenceless an animal if it 

 ventured to show itself in their waters." 



Major Pinto's account of the powerful kingdom of Bihd 

 is full of interest. It is evident from his narrative and 

 those of Dr. Holub and Mr. Joseph Thomson that these 

 African states are in a constant state of unstable equi- 

 Ubrium. Not only are the chiefs and dynasties frequently 

 changed, but an entire population may be removed or 

 reduced to slavery, and its dominant place taken by a 

 conquering people. The Bihenos are probably the most 

 extensive travellers in .Africa. 



" Where travelling is concerned as connected with 

 trade, nothing comes amiss to the Bihenos, who seem 

 ready for anything. If they only had the power of 

 telling where they had been and describing what they 

 had seen, the geographers of Europe would not have 

 occasion to leave blank great part of the map of South 

 Central Africa. The Biheno quits his home with the 

 utmost indifterence, and bearing a load of sixty-six pounds 

 of goods, will start for the interior, where he will remain 

 two, three, and four years ; and on his return, after that 

 lapse of time, will be received just as though he had been 

 on a journey of as many days. Silva Porto, whilst engaged 

 in doing business with the Zambesi, was despatching his 

 negroes in other directions, and was trading at the same 

 time in the Mucusso country and in the Lunda and Lua- 

 pula territories. The fame of the Bihenos has travelled 

 far and wide, and when Gra(;aattemptedhis journey to the 

 Matianvo he first proceeded to the Bihd to procure carriers. 

 These people have a certain emulation among one an- 

 other as travellers, and I met with many who prided 

 themselves on having gone where no others had ever 

 been, and which they called discovering new lands. 

 They are brought up to wandering from their very 

 infancy, and all caravans carry innumerable children, 

 who, with loads proportionate to their strength, accom- 

 pany their parents or relatives on the longest journeys ; 

 hence it is no uncommon thing to find a young fellow of 

 five-and-twenty who has travelled in the Matianvo, 

 Niangud, Luapula, Zambesi, and Mucusso districts, 

 having commenced his perigrinations at the age of nine 

 years." 



Major Pinto has a good deal to tell us of the various 

 kinds of ants he met with on his journey, though the 

 value of his observations is much decreased from his 

 want of a knowledge of entomology. Here is his account 

 of one terrible insect : — 



"When the work of cutting down the wood for our 

 encampment commenced I saw a sudden commotion 

 among my blacks, who then took to their heels in every 

 direction. Not understanding the cause of their panic, I 

 immediately proceeded to the spot to make inciuiries. On 

 the very place which 1 had selected for my camp appeared 

 issuing from the earth millions of that terrible ant called 

 by the Bihenos qidssonde, and it was the sight of these 

 formidable creatures which scattered my men. The 

 quissonde ant is one of the most redoubtable wild beasts 

 of the African continent. The natives say it will even 

 attack and kill an elephant, by swarming into his trunk 

 and ears. It is an enemy which, from its countless 

 numbers, it is quite vain to attack, and the only safety is 

 to be found in flight. The length of the quissonde is about 

 the eighth of an inch ; its colour is a light chestnut, which 

 glistens in the sun. The mandibles of this fierce hy- 

 menopterare of great strength, and utterly disproportioned 

 to the size of the trunk. It bites severely, and little 

 streams of blood issue from the wounds it makes. The 

 chiefs of these terrible warriors lead their compact pha- 

 lanxes to great distances and attack any animal they find 

 upon the way. On more than one occasion during my 

 journey I had to flee from the presence of these dreadful 

 insects. Occasionally upon my road I have seen hun- 

 dreds of them, apparently cm shed beneath the foot, get 

 up and continue their march, at first somewhat slowly, 



