496 MATIAMVO'S COUNTRY AND GOVERNMENT. 



permit any white person to visit them, as his principal supplies of 

 ivory are drawn from them. Thinking that we might descend 

 this branch of the Zambesi to Masiko, and thence to the Barotse, I 

 felt a strong inclination to make the attempt. The goods, howev- 

 er, we had brought with us to pay our way, had, by the long de- 

 tention from fever and weakness in both myself and men, dwin- 

 dled to a mere fragment ; and, being but slightly acquainted with 

 the Balonda dialect, I felt that I could neither use persuasion nor 

 presents to effect my object. From all I could hear of Matiamvo, 

 there was no chance of my being allowed to proceed through his 

 country to the southward. If I had gone merely to visit him, all 

 the goods would have been expended by the time I returned to 

 Cabango ; and we had not found mendicity so pleasant on our way 

 to the north as to induce us to desire to return to it. 



The country of Matiamvo is said to be well peopled, but they 

 have little or no trade. They receive calico, salt, gunpowder, 

 coarse earthenware, and beads, and give in return ivory and slaves. 

 They possess no cattle, Matiamvo alone having a single herd, 

 which he keeps entirely for the sake of the flesh. The present 

 chief is said to be mild in his government, and will depose an un- 

 der-chief for unjust conduct. He occasionally sends the distance 

 of a hundred miles or more to behead an offending officer. But, 

 though I was informed by the Portuguese that he possesses abso- 

 lute power, his name had less influence over his subjects with 

 whom I came in contact than that of Sekeletu has over his peo- 

 ple living at a much greater distance from the capital. 



As we thought it best to strike away to the S.E. from Cabango 

 to our old friend Katema, I asked a guide from Muanzanza as 

 soon as the funeral proceedings were over. He agreed to furnish 

 one, and also accepted a smaller present from me than usual, 

 when it was represented to him by Pascoal and Faria that I was 

 not a trader. He seemed to regard these presents as his proper 

 dues ; and as a cargo of goods had come by Senhor Pascoal, he 

 entered the house for the purpose of receiving his share, when 

 Senhor Faria gravely presented him with the commonest earthen- 

 ware vessel, of which great numbers are brought for this trade. 

 The chief received it with expressions of abundant gratitude, as 

 these vessels are highly valued, because from their depth they can 

 hold so much food or beer. The association of ideas is some- 



