636 MPENDE'S FRIENDSHIP. 



and would answer no questions. I handed a leg of the ox to two 

 of these, and desired them to take it to Mpende. After waiting 

 a considerable time in suspense, two old men made their appear- 

 ance, and said they had come to inquire who I was. I replied, 

 "I am a Lekoa" (an Englishman). They said, " We don't know 

 that tribe. We suppose you are a Mozunga, the tribe with which 

 we have been fighting." As I was not yet aware that the term 

 Mozunga was applied to a Portuguese, and thought they meant 

 half-castes, I showed them my hair and the skin of my bosom, 

 and asked if the Bazunga had hair and skin like mine. As the 

 Portuguese have the custom of cutting the hair close, and are also 

 somewhat darker than we are, they answered, " No ; we never saw 

 skin so white as that ;" and added, " Ah ! you must be one of 

 that tribe that loves (literally, has heart to) the black men." I, 

 of course, gladly responded in the affirmative. They returned to 

 the village, and we afterward heard that there had been a long 

 discussion between Mpende and his councilors, and that one of the 

 men with whom we had remained to talk the day before had been 

 our advocate. He was named Sindese Oalea. When we were 

 passing his village, after some conversation, he said to his people, 

 "Is that the man whom they wish to stop after he has passed so 

 many tribes ? What can Mpende say to refusing him a pas- 

 sage ?" It was owing to this man, and the fact that I belonged 

 to the "friendly white tribe," that Mpende was persuaded to al- 

 low us to pass. When we knew the favorable decision of the 

 council, I sent Sekwebu to speak about the purchase of a canoe, 

 as one of my men had become very ill, and I wished to relieve 

 his companions by taking him in a canoe. Before Sekwebu 

 could finish his story, Mpende remarked, " That white man is 

 truly one of our friends. See how he lets me know his afflic- 

 tions!" Sekwebu adroitly took advantage of this turn in the 

 conversation, and said, " Ah ! if you only knew him as well as 

 we do who have lived with him, you would understand that he 

 highly values your friendship and that of Mburuma, and, as he is 

 a stranger, he trusts in you to direct him." He replied, " Well, 

 he ought to cross to the other side of the river, for this bank is 

 hilly and rough, and the way to Tete is longer on this than on 

 the opposite bank." "But who will take us across, if you do not?" 

 " Truly !" replied Mpende ; " I only wish you had come sooner to 



