VILLAGES BEYOND THE LONAJE. 181 



woman takes up the roots, she thrusts a piece or two of 

 the upper stalks into the hole she has made, draws back 

 the soil, and a new crop is thereby begun. The plant grows 

 to a height of six feet, and every part of it is useful ; the 

 leaves may be cooked as a vegetable. The roots are from 

 three to four inches in diameter, and from twelve to 

 eighteen inches Ions. 



There are two varieties of the manioc or cassava, — one 

 sweet and wholesome, the other bitter and containing 

 poison, but much more speedy in its growth than the 

 former. This last property causes its perpetuation. 



Our chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages 

 around our route that Shinte's friends must have abundance 

 of provisions. Our progress was impeded by tki> time re- 

 quisite for communicating the chiefs desire and consequent 

 preparation of meal. "We received far more food from- 

 Shinte's people than from himself. Kapende, for instance, 

 presented two large baskets of meal, three of manioc-roots 

 steeped and dried in the sun and ready to be converted 

 into flour, three fowls, and seven eggs, with three smoke- 

 dried fishes; and others gave with similar liberality. I 

 gave to the head-men small bunches of my stock of beads, 

 with an apology that we were now on our way to tne 

 market for these goods. The present was always politely 

 received. 



Aft^r crossing the Lonaje, we came to some pretty vil- 

 lages, embowered, as the negro villages usually are, in 

 bananas, shrubs, and manioc, and near the banks of the 

 Leeb" we formed our encampment in a nest of serpents, 

 one '«f which bit one of our men; but the wound was 

 harmless. The people of the surrounding villages pre- 

 sented us with large quantities of food, in obedience to 

 the mandate of Shinte, without expecting any equivalent 

 One village had lately been transferred hither from the 

 country of Matiamvo. They, of course, continue to ac- 

 knowledge him as paramount chief; but the frequent in- 

 stances which occur of people changing from one part of 



16 



