SEAMS OF COAL. 409 



and hitherto pretended to be friendly with the Portuguese, 

 scut out his men to capture as many of them as they could. 

 They killed many for the sake of their arms. This is the 

 account which both natives and Portuguese give of the 

 iffair. 



The merchants were unable to engage in trade, and com- 

 merce, which the slave-trade had rendered stagnant, was 

 now completely obstructed. The present commandant of 

 Tete, Major Sicard, having great influence among the 

 natives, from his good character, put a stop to the war 

 more than once by his mere presence on the spot. We 

 heard of him among the Banyai as a man with whom they 

 would never fight, because " he had a good heart." Had 

 [ come down to this coast instead of going to Loanda in 

 1853, I should have come among the belligerents while the 

 war was still raging, and should probably have been cut 

 off. My present approach was just at the conclusion of 

 the peace; and when the Portuguese authorities here 

 were informed, through the kind offices of Lord Clarendon 

 and Count de Lavradio, that I was expected to come this 

 way, they all declared that such was the existing state of 

 affairs that no European could possibly pass through the 

 tribes. Some natives at last came down the river to Tete 

 and said, alluding to the sextant and artificial horizon, 

 that " the Son of God had come," and that he was " able 

 to take the sun down from the heavens and place it under 

 his arm !" Major Sicard then felt sure that this was the 

 man mentioned in Lord Clarendon's despatch. 



On mentioning to the commandant that I had discovered 

 a small seam of coal, he stated that the Portuguese were 

 already aware of nine such seams, and that five cf them 

 were on the opposite bank of the river. As soon as I had 

 recovered from my fatigue I went to examine them. We 

 proceeded in a boat to the mouth of the Lofiibu or Eevubu, 

 vhich is about two miles below Tete and on the opposite 

 >r northern bank. Ascending this about four miles against 

 » strong current of beautifully-clear water, we landed near 



35 



