324 SINGING BIRDS. Chap. XVII. 



meat as an earnest of their sincerity, formed many friendships 

 with the people of Katema. We went about four or five miles 

 in a N.N.W. direction, then two in a westerly one, and came 

 round the small end of Lake Dilolo. It seemed, as far as we 

 could at this time discern, to be like a river a quarter of a mile 

 wide. It is abundantly supplied with fish and hippopotami ; the 

 broad part, which we did not this time see, is about three miles 

 wide, and the lake is almost seven or eight long. If it be 

 thought strange that I did not go a few miles to see the broad 

 part, which, according to Katema, had never been visited by 

 any of the traders, it must be remembered that in consequence 

 of fever I had eaten nothing for two entire days, and, instead of 

 sleep, the whole of the nights were employed in incessant drink- 

 ing of water, and I was now so glad to get on in the journey 

 and see some of my fellow fever-patients crawling along, that I 

 could not brook the delay, which astronomical observations for 

 accurately determining the geographical position of this most 

 interesting spot, would have occasioned. 



We observed among the people of Katema a love for singing- 

 birds. One pretty little songster, named " cabazo," a species of 

 canary, is kept in very neatly made cages, having traps on the 

 top to entice its still free companions. On asking why they 

 kept them in confinement, "Because they sing sweetly," was 

 the answer. They feed them on the lotsa (Pennisetum typhoi- 

 deum), of which great quantities are cultivated as food for man, 

 and these canaries plague the gardeners here, very much in the 

 same way as our sparrows do at home. 



I was pleased to hear the long-forgotten cry of alarm of the 

 canaries in the woods, and observed one warbling forth its song, 

 and keeping in motion from side to side, as these birds do in the 

 cage. We saw also tame pigeons ; and the Barotse, who always 

 take care to exalt Santuru, reminded us that this chief had many 

 doves, and kept canaries which had reddish heads when the birds 

 attained maturity. Those we now see have the real canary 

 colour on the breast with a tinge of green ; the back, yellowish 

 green, with darker longitudinal bands meeting in the centre ; a 

 narrow dark band passes from the bill over the eye and back to 

 the bill again. 



The birds of song here set up quite a merry chorus in the 



