260 SPINNING AND WEAVING. 



contains a population of 6530 blacks, 172 nmlattoes, and 11 

 whites, and is so named from having been the residence of 

 a former native king. The proportion of slaves is only 

 3.38 per cent, of the inhabitants. The commandant of this 

 place, Laurence Jose Marquis, is a frank old soldier and a 

 most hospitable man : he is one of the few who secure the 

 universal approbation of their fellow-men for stern unflinch- 

 ing honesty, and has risen from the ranks to be a major in 

 the army. We were accompanied thus far by our generous 

 host, Edmund Gabriel, Esq., who, by his unwearied atten- 

 tions to myself, and liberality in supporting my men, had 

 become endeared to all our hearts. My men were strongly 

 impressed with a sense of his goodness, and often spoke of 

 him in terms of admiration all the way to Linyanti. 



2Wi September, Kalungwembo. — We were still on the same 

 path by which we had come, and, there being no mosqui- 

 tos, we could now better enjoy the scenery. Eanges of 

 hills occupy both sides of our path, and the fine level road 

 is adorned with a beautiful red flower named Bolcamaria. 

 The markets or sleeping-places are well supplied with pro- 

 visions by great numbers of women, every one of whom is 

 seen spinning cotton with a spindle and distaff exactly like 

 those which were in use among the ancient Egyptians. A 

 woman is scarcely ever seen going to the fields — though 

 with a pot on her head, a child on her back, and the hoe 

 over her shoulder — but she is employed in this way. The 

 cotton was brought to the market for sale, and I bought a 

 pound for a penny. This was the price demanded, and 

 probably double what they ask from each other. We saw 

 the cotton growing luxuriantly all around the market- 

 places from seeds dropped accidentally. It is seen also 

 about the native huts, and, so far as I could learn, it was 

 the American cotton, so influenced by climate as to be 

 perennial. We met in the road natives passing with bun- 

 dles of cops, or spirviles full of cotton thread, and these 

 they were carrying i > other parts to be woven into cloth. 

 The women are the spinners, and the men perform the 



