CKOSSING THE ZAMBESI. 637 



tell me about him ; but you shall cross." Mpende said frequent- 

 ly he was sorry he had not known me sooner, but that he had 

 been prevented by his enchanter from coming near me ; and he 

 lamented that the same person had kept him from eating the meat 

 which I had presented. He did every thing he could afterward to 

 aid us on our course, and our departure was as different as possi- 

 ble from our approach to his village. I was very much pleased 

 to find the English name spoken of with such great respect so far 

 from the coast, and most thankful that no collision occurred to 

 damage its influence. 



24t/i. Mpende sent two of his principal men to order the 

 people of a large island below to ferry us across. The river is 

 very broad, and, though my men were well acquainted with the 

 management of canoes, we could not all cross over before dark. 

 It is 1200 yards from bank to bank, and between 700 and 800 

 of deep water, flowing at the rate of 3| miles per hour. We 

 landed first on an island ; then, to prevent our friends playing 

 false with us, hauled the canoes up to our bivouac, and slept in 

 them. Next morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety. 

 We observed, as we came along the Zambesi, that it had fallen two 

 feet below the height at which we first found it, and the water, 

 though still muddy enough to deposit a film at the bottom of ves- 

 sels in a few hours, is not nearly so red as it was, nor is there so 

 much wreck on its surface. It is therefore not yet the period of 

 the central Zambesi inundation, as we were aware also from our 

 knowledge of the interior. The present height of the water has 

 been caused by rains outside the eastern ridge. The peoj>le here 

 seem abundantly supplied with English cotton goods. The Ba- 

 bisa are the medium of trade, for we were informed that the Ba- 

 zunga, who formerly visited these parts, have been prevented by 

 the war from coming for the last two years. The Babisa are said 

 to be so fond of a tusk that they will even sell a newly-married 

 wife for one. As we were now not far from the latitude of Mozam- 

 bique, I was somewhat tempted to strike away from the river to that 

 port, instead of going to the S.E., in the direction the river flows ; 

 but, the great object of my journey being to secure water-carriage, 

 I resolved to continue along the Zambesi, though it did lead me 

 among the enemies of the Portuguese. The region to the north 

 of the ranges of hills on our left is called Senga, from being the 



