582 MA MBURUMA'S VILLAGE AND PEOPLE. Chap. XXVIII. 



gorge, which, like all others of the same nature, is called Mpata, 

 There is a narrow pathway by the side of the river, but we pre- 

 ferred a more open one in a pass among the hills to the east, 

 which is called Mohango. The lulls rise to a height of 800 or 

 1000 feet, and are all covered with trees. The rocks were of 

 various coloured mica schist ; and parallel with the Zambesi lay 

 a broad band of gneiss with garnets in it. It stood on edge, and 

 several dykes of basalt, with dolerite, had cut through it. 



Mburuma sent two men as guides to the Loangwa. These men 

 tried to bring us to a stand, at a distance of about six miles from 

 the village, by the notice, " Mburuma says you are to sleep under 

 that tree." On declining to do this, we were told that we must 

 wait at a certain village for a supply of com. As none appeared 

 in an hour, I proceeded on the march. It is not quite certain 

 that their intentions were hostile, but this seemed to disarrange 

 then plans, and one of them was soon observed running back to 

 Mburuma. They had first of all tried to separate our party, by 

 volunteering the loan of a canoe to convey Sekwebu and me, 

 together with our luggage, by way of the river, and, as it was 

 pressed upon us, I thought that this was their design. The next 

 attempt was to detain us in the pass, but, betraying no suspicion, 

 we civilly declined to place ourselves in then power in an unfa- 

 vourable position. We afterwards heard that a party of Babisa 

 traders, who came from the north-east, bringing English goods 

 from Mozambique, had been plundered by this same people. 



Elephants were still abundant, but more wild, as they fled with 

 great speed as soon as we made our appearance. The country 

 between Mburuma's and his mother's village was all hilly and 

 very difficult, and prevented us from travelling more than ten 

 miles a day. At the village of Ma Mburuma (mother of Mbu- 

 ruma), the guides, who had again joined us, gave a favourable 

 report., and the women and children did not flee. Here we found 

 that traders, called Bazunga, have been in the habit of coming in 

 canoes, and that I was named as one of them. These I supposed 

 to be half-caste Portuguese, for they said that the hah* of their 

 heads and the skin beneath their clothing were different from 

 mine. Ma Mburuma promised us canoes to cross the Loangwa 

 in our front. It was pleasant to see great numbers of men, 

 women, and boys come, without suspicion, to look at the books, 



