312 SLAVE-TRADERS. 



the town embowered in banana and other tropical trees having 

 great expansion of leaf; the streets are straight, and present 

 a complete contrast to those of the Bechuanas, which are all very 

 tortuous. Here, too, we first saw native huts with square walls 

 and round roofs. The fences or walls of the courts which sur- 

 round the huts are wonderfully straight, and made of upright 

 poles a few inches apart, with strong grass or leafy bushes neatly 

 woven between. In the courts were small plantations of tobacco, 

 and a little solanaceous plant which the Balonda use as a relish; 

 also sugar-cane and bananas. Many of the poles have grown 

 again, and trees of the Ficus Indica family have been planted 

 around, in order to give to the inhabitants a grateful shade : 

 they regard this tree with some sort of veneration as a medicine 

 or charm. Goats were browsing about, and, when we made our 

 appearance, a crowd of negroes, all fully armed, ran toward us 

 as if they would eat us up ; some had guns, but the manner 

 in which they were held showed that the owners were more 

 accustomed to bows and arrows than to white men's weapons. 

 After surrounding and staring at us for an hour, they began to 

 disperse. 



The two native Portuguese traders of whom we had heard had 

 erected a little encampment opposite the place where ours was 

 about to be made. One of them, whose spine had been injured 

 in youth — a rare sight in this country — came and visited us. I 

 returned the visit next morning. His tall companion had that 

 sickly yellow hue which made him look fairer than myself, but 

 his head was covered with a crop of unmistakable wool. They 

 had a gang of young female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground 

 in front of their encampment to clear it of weeds and grass; these 

 were purchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now 

 come. There were many Mambari with them, and the establish- 

 ment was conducted with that military order which pervades all 

 the arrangements of the Portuguese colonists. A drum was beaten 

 and trumpet sounded at certain hours, quite in military fashion. 

 It was the first time most of my men had seen slaves in chains. 

 "They are not men," they exclaimed (meaning they are beasts), 

 " who treat their children so." 



The Balonda are real negroes, having much more wool on their 

 heads and bodies than any of the Bechuana or Caffre tribes. 



