284 THE GORGE OF LUPATA. 



muskets. On one occasion, when Nyaude was attacked by 

 Kisaka, they fought for weeks ; and though Nyaude was reduced 

 to cutting up his copper anklets for balls, his enemies were not 

 able to enter. 



The gorge of Lupata was a point of considerable interest, and 

 Dr. Livingstone spent the night of the 24th on a small island 

 near its entrance that he might ascertain its latitude, which he 

 found to be 16° 34' 46" south. At this point the Zambesi 

 converges quite suddenly, and flows through a gorge in a lofty 

 range of hills which crosses it at right angles ; on the western 

 side the rock rises abruptly six or seven hundred feet, but on 

 the east the range is sloping and covered with trees. The river 

 in the gorge is about two hundred yards wide, and dashes quite 

 impetuously along its tortuous channel, and sweeps rapidly 

 around the little rocky promontories, Chifura and Kangomba, 

 forming dangerous whirlpools and eddies, and widens again to 

 miles in breadth, embracing many beautiful islands which were 

 once the homes of prosperous planters and yielded vast quanti- 

 ties of grain. 



The gorge, as might be expected, has been fixed on by the 

 natives as the abode of peculiarly turbulent deities, who are sup- 

 posed to preside over the perilous places, for the good or the 

 injury of those who attempt to pass. But whether there are 

 spirits good or bad, certain it is that the narrow pass is occupied 

 by one direful scourge : the tsetse waits there for its victims, 

 Elephants also and buffaloes frequent the spot. The country 

 on either side of the river was in anything but a peaceful state; 

 the southern shore had been ravaged recently by the Cafifres, 

 here called Laudeens or Zulus, and Kisaka, who had no love 

 for the Portuguese, was ravaging all the Maganga country on 

 the other side. 



On the 27th the party reached Senna, which was found to be 

 in a condition ten times more lamentable than Tete ; every 

 building in the village was in absolute ruin. The Laudeens 

 were in the habit of visiting the village periodically and levying 

 fines on the inhabitants, as they considered the Portuguese a 

 conquered tribe, and the half-castes, who in all the Portuguese 

 possessions constitute an important class, seemed to be in league 

 with them. 



