Livingstone's generosity. 257 



other, not unlike it, called the motondo, the wood of which is 

 very highly valued by the Portuguese for building boats. 



The Zambesi all along east of the ridge is subject to frequent 

 freshets, occasioned by the rains, which were found to be of 

 almost daily occurrence. Dr. Livingstone suggests that it is 

 probably owing to these freshets that the Portuguese on the 

 coast have failed to discover the periodical overflow of the river, 

 which is discoverable in the great interior valley, where it is 

 not affected by so many tributaries, and where the dry and wet 

 seasons are more marked. And it was his opinion that if the 

 Zambesi was continued southward to the Cape, being allowed to 

 flow through the flat country of the desert, it would be seen to 

 have the same character as the Nile in Egypt. 



The generosity of the people continued to lighten the care of 

 travelling. The villagers were quite generous of supplies, and 

 whatever disposition to ask or demand gifts they manifested 

 was clearly attributable to the association with the despicable 

 class of white men who have been among them as traders : the 

 contemptible gifts which these men frequently make, such as a 

 few buttons, or some other equally worthless object, gives rise 

 to the necessity, on the part of the natives, for making demands 

 for articles of some value, which may be in some sort an equiva- 

 lent for their attentions. The custom of Dr. Livingstone, of 

 making presents of real value, as far as lay in his power, went 

 far toward elevating him in the confidence of the people, and 

 contributed no little to the honor of the English name in their 

 estimation. Those who pursue another course are greatly mis- 

 taken in counting on the ignorance of the natives to excuse 

 them. They are aware of the worthlessness of the articles, and 

 receive them with a degree of shame, and ladies may be seen to 

 hand it quickly to the attendants, and, when they retire, laugh 

 until the tears stand in their eyes, saying to those about them, 

 " Is that a white man ? then there are niggards among them 

 too. Some of them are born without hearts ! " One white 

 trader, having presented an old gun to a chief, became a stand- 

 ing joke in the tribe : " The white man who made a present of a 

 gun that was new when his grandfather was sucking his great- 

 grandmother." 



