"no note of time." 369 



have been on the land. It was of infinite service, however, in 

 impressing their neighbors on the banks with the importance 

 of the travellers, and gave great emphasis to what they said. 

 An appearance of strength and independence helps a man won- 

 derfully in Africa, just as it does in America, and one feels 

 under no special obligation to tell the gazing throng, here or 

 there, that the ship which awes them is a leaking ship. If men 

 do not know that it leaks they may not try to sink it. 



The people along the river, of whom, in the lower part, Tan- 

 gane is the paramount chief, were found congregated in count- 

 less little villages, just as in other sections; and though at first 

 distant and a little inclined to be belligerent, generally yielded 

 to the arguments which overcame those nearest the Shire. They 

 were not quite as eager for trade when they were first visited as 

 they afterward became, and consequently the party, during the 

 first ascent of the river, were considerably annoyed by the loss 

 of time, for which, however, they censure a people who took 

 " no note of the commodity, among whom it had no " tongue." 

 It was their misfortune, not the fault of the natives, that they 

 held their notions of expeditious work in the midst of men who 

 recognize no other reason for being in a hurry except the neces- 

 sity of escaping with life from an enemy. They could not be 

 condemned because they did not know the value of money, and 

 cared too little for the advantages of a market to be eager about 

 selling food. They were willing enough, but did not see why 

 they should make haste. The state of eager competition which 

 in America wears out both mind and body, and makes life 

 bitter, is here happily unknown. The cultivated spots are 

 mere dots compared to the broad fields of rich soil which are 

 never either grazed or tilled. Pity that the plenty in store for 

 all, from our Father's bountiful hands, is not enjoyed by more. 



Rice was sold at wonderfully low rates, and when they 

 chanced to come to villages where the people were eager to 

 trade, they could not purchase a tithe of that which was brought 

 to them. This was particularly true of their experience at 

 Mbona (16° 56' 30" S.) While anchored at this village, they 

 were serenaded in the evening by a native minstrel, playing his 

 quaint tunes on a species of fiddle with one string, and singing 

 strange, wild, unmusical songs, who told some of the Makololo 

 19 



