CAFFRE WAR. 379 



turned suddenly upon him, and, before he could use a tree 

 for defence, carried him. off. We shampooed him well, and 

 then went on, and in about a week he was able to engage 

 in the hunt again. 



On the morning of the 17th we were pleased to see a 

 person coming from the island of Shibanga with jacket and 

 hat on. He was quite black, but had come from the Portu- 

 guese settlement at Tete or Nyungwe ; and now, for the 

 first time, we understood that the Portuguese settlement 

 was on the other bank of the river, and that they had been 

 fighting with the natives for the last two years. We had 

 thus got into the midst of a Caffre war, without any par- 

 ticular wish to be on either side. He advised us to cross 

 the river at once, as Mpende lived on this side. We had 

 been warned by the guides of Mburuma against him, for 

 they said that if we could get past Mpende we might reach 

 the white men, but that he was determined that no white 

 man should pass him. Wishing to follow this man's advice, 

 we proposed to borrow his canoes; but, being afraid to 

 offend the lords of the river, he declined. The consequence 

 was, we were obliged to remain on the enemy's side. The 

 next island belonged to a man named Zungo, a fine, frank 

 fellow, who brought us at once a present of corn, bound in 

 a peculiar way in grass. He freely accepted our apology 

 for having no present to give in return, as he knew 

 that there were no goods in the interior, and, besides, 

 Bent forward a recommendation to his brother-in-law 

 Pangola. 



18th. — Pangola visited us and presented us with food. 

 In few other countries would one hundred and fourteen 

 sturdy vagabonds be supported by the generosity of the 

 head-men and villagers and whatever they gave be pre- 

 sented with politeness. My men got pretty well supplied 

 individually, for they went into the villages and com- 

 menced dancing. The young women were especially 

 pleased with the new steps they had to show, though 1 

 suspect many of them were invented for the occasion, and 



