380 APPROACHING MrENDE's VILLAGE. 



would say, "Dance for me, and I will grind corn for you." 

 At every fresh instance of liberality, Sekwebu said, "Did 

 not I tell you that these people had hearts, while we were 

 still at Linyanti?" All agreed that the character he had 

 given was true, and some remarked, " Look ! although we 

 have been so long away from home, not one of us has 

 become lean." It was a fact that we had been all well 

 supplied either with meat by my gun or their own spears, 

 or food from the great generosity of the inhabitants. 

 Pangola promised to ferry us across the Zambesi, but 

 failed to fulfil his promise. He seemed to wish to avoid 

 offending his neighbor Mpende by aiding us to escape from 

 his hands \ so we proceeded along the bank. Although we 

 were in doubt as to our reception by Mpende, I could not 

 help admiring the beautiful country as we passed along. 

 Finding no one willing to aid us in crossing the river, we 

 proceeded to the village of the chief Mpende. When we 

 came to Mpende's village, he immediately sent to inquire 

 who we were, and then ordered the guides who had come 

 with us from the last village to go back and call their 

 masters. He sent no message to us whatever. "We had 

 travelled very slowly up to this point, the tsetse-stricken 

 oxen being now unable to go two miles an hour. "We 

 were also delayed by being obliged to stop at every village 

 and send notice of our approach to the head-man, who 

 came and received a little information and gave some food. 

 If we had passed on without taking any notice of them, 

 they would have considered it impolite, and we should 

 have appeared more as enemies than friends. I consoled 

 myself for the loss of time by the thought that these con- 

 versations tended to the opening of our future path. 



23d. — This morning, at sunrise, a party of Mpende's 

 people came close to our encampment, uttering strange cries 

 and waving some bright-red substance toward us. They 

 then lighted a fire with charms in it, and departed, utter 

 ing the same hideous screams as before. This was intended 

 to render us powerless, and probably also to frighten us 



