294 SHEAKONDO AND HIS PEOPLE. 



my little tent in the morning, they were sitting the pictures of 

 abject sorrow. I asked if we were to be guided by dreams, or 

 by the authority I derived from Sekeletu, and ordered them to 

 load the boats at once ; they seemed ashamed to confess their 

 fears ; the Makololo picked up courage and upbraided the others 

 for having such superstitious views, and said this was always 

 their way ; if even a certain bird called to them, they would turn 

 back from an enterprise, saying it was unlucky. They entered 

 the canoes at last, and were the better of a little scolding for be- 

 ing inclined to put dreams before authority. It rained all the 

 morning, but about eleven we reached the village of Sheakondo, on 

 a small stream named Lonkonye. We sent a message to the 

 head man, who soon appeared with two wives, bearing handsome 

 presents of manioc : Sheakondo could speak the language of the 

 Barotse well, and seemed awestruck when told some of the 

 " words of God." He manifested no fear, always spoke frankly, 

 and when he made an asseveration, did so by simply pointing up 

 to the sky above him. The Balonda cultivate the manioc or cas- 

 sava extensively ; also dura, ground-nuts, beans, maize, sweet po- 

 tatoes, and yams, here called " lekoto," but as yet we see only the 

 outlying villages. 



The people who came with Sheakondo to our bivouac had 

 their teeth filed to a point by way of beautifying them, though 

 those which were left untouched were always the whitest; they 

 are generally tattooed in various parts, but chiefly on the abdo- 

 men : the skin is raised in small elevated cicatrices, each nearly 

 half an inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter, so that a 

 number of them may constitute a star, or other device. The dark 

 color of the skin prevents any coloring matter being deposited in 

 these figures, but they love much to have the whole surface of their 

 bodies anointed with a comfortable varnish of oil. In their unas- 

 sisted state they depend on supplies of oil from the Palma Christi, 

 or castor-oil-plant, or from various other oliferous seeds, but they 

 are all excessively fond of clarified butter or ox fat. Sheakondo's 

 old wife presented some manioc roots, and then politely requested 

 to be anointed with butter : as I had been bountifully supplied by 

 the Makololo, I gave her as much as would suffice, and as they 

 have little clothing, I can readily believe that she felt her comfort 

 greatly enhanced thereby. 



