460 A FAITHLESS GUIDE. Chap. XXIII. 



times so very ludicrous, that it is difficult to maintain one's 

 gravity. 



Several of the children of the late Matiamvo came to beg from 

 me, but never to offer any food. Having spoken to one young man 

 named Liula (Heavens) about their stinginess, he soon brought 

 bananas and manioc. I liked Ins appearance and conversation ; 

 and believe that the Balonda would not be difficult to teach, but 

 their mode of life would be a drawback. The Balonda in this 

 quarter are much more agreeable-looking than any of the inha- 

 bitants nearer the coast. The women allow their teeth to remain 

 in their beautifully white state, and would be comely, but for the 

 custom of inserting pieces of reed into the cartilage of the nose. 

 They seem generally to be in good spirits, and spend their time 

 in everlasting talk, funeral ceremonies, and marriages. This flow 

 of animal spirits must be one reason why they are such an inde- 

 structible race. The habitual influence on then minds of the 

 agency of unseen spirits, may have a tendency in the same direc- 

 tion, by preserving the mental quietude of a kind of fatalism. 



We were forced to prepay our guide and his father too, and he 

 went but one day, although he promised to go with us to Katema. 

 He was not in the least ashamed at breaking his engagements, 

 and probably no disgrace will be attached to the deed by Muan- 

 zanza. Among the Bakwains he would have been punished. My 

 men would have stripped him of the wages which he wore on his 

 person, but thought that, as we had always acted on the mildest 

 principles, they would let him move off with his unearned gains. 



They frequently lamented the want of knowledge in these 

 people, saying in their own tongue, " Ah ! they don't know that 

 we are men as well as they, and that we are only bearing with 

 their insolence with patience because we are men." Then would 

 follow a hearty curse, showing that the patience was nearly ex- 

 pended ; but they seldom quarrelled in the language of the 

 Balonda. The only one who ever lost his temper, was the man 

 who struck a head-man of one of the villages on the mouth, and 

 he was the most abject individual in our company. 



The reason why we needed a guide at all, was, to secure the 

 convenience of a path, which, though generally no better than a 

 sheep-walk, is much easier than going straight in one direction, 

 through tangled forests and tropical vegetation. We knew the 



