Chap. XX. MAKOLOLO'S VISIT TO SHITS. 391 



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 conrpanions 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 govern- 

 ment, 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. Tins 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 

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

 upper story, with the conical roof of the lower one hi 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 

 suspicion 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 



