MAKOLOLO'S VISIT TO SHIPS. 423 



me, and found the tribes near the Portuguese settlement so very 

 unfriendly, that it would be altogether impossible for my men to 

 return alone. I therefore resolved to decline the tempting offers 

 of my naval friends, and take back my Makololo companions to 

 their chief, with a view of trying to make a path from his 

 country to the east coast by means of the great river Zambesi 

 or Leeambye. 



I, however, gladly availed myself of the medical assistance of 

 Mr. Cockin, the surgeon of the "Polyphemus," at the suggestion of 

 his commander, Captain Phillips. Mr. Cockin's treatment, aided 

 by the exhilarating presence of the warm-hearted naval officers, 

 and Mr. Gabriel's unwearied hospitality and care, soon brought 

 me round again. On the 14th I was so far well as to call on the 

 bishop, in company with my party, who were arrayed in new 

 robes of striped cotton cloth and red caps, all presented to them 

 by Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head of the provisional gov- 

 ernment, in the grand hall of the palace. He put many intelligent 

 questions respecting the Makololo, and then gave them free per- 

 mission to come to Loanda as often as they pleased. This inter- 

 view pleased the Makololo extremely. 



Every one remarked the serious deportment of the Makololo. 

 They viewed the large stone houses and churches in the vicinity 

 of the great ocean with awe. A house with two stories was, until 

 now, beyond their comprehension. In explanation of this strange 

 thing, I had always been obliged to use the word for hut ; and as 

 huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth, they 

 never could comprehend how the poles of one hut could be found- 

 ed upon the roof of another, or how men could live in the upper 

 story, with the conical roof of the lower one in the middle. Some 

 Makololo, who had visited my little house at Kolobeng, in trying 

 to describe it to their countrymen at Linyanti, said, " It is not a 

 hut ; it is a mountain with several caves in it." 



Commander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited them to visit 

 their vessels, the " Pluto" and " Philomel." Knowing their fears, 

 I told them that no one need go if he entertained the least suspi- 

 cion of foul play. Nearly the whole party went ; and when on 

 deck, I pointed to the sailors, and said, " Now these are all my 

 countrymen, sent by our queen for the purpose of putting down 

 the trade of those that buy and sell black men. " They replied, 



