382 MANGANJA GOVERNMENT. 



and should like to consult with his comrades before accepting 

 them, and this, after repeated examinations and much anxious 

 talk, he concluded to do. Meal and peas were then brought 

 for sale. A brisk trade sprang up at once, each being eager to 

 obtain as fine things as his neighbor, and all were in good 

 humor. Women and girls began to pound and grind meal, and 

 men and boys chased the screaming fowls over the village, until 

 they ran them down. In a few hours the market was com- 

 pletely glutted with every sort of native food ; the prices, how- 

 ever, rarely fell, as they could easily eat what was not sold. 



Every now and then, as they pursued their way along these 

 splendid ranges, they passed the native villages occupying the 

 most picturesque situations and commanding splendid views. 

 As among the tribes generally in Africa, the villages of the 

 Manganja are generally the petty kingdoms of some head man, 

 and not unfrequently a man of superior power extends his sway 

 over several. of those about him. Mankokwe was the para- 

 mount chief of the southern portion of the highlands at the time 

 of Dr. Livingstone's visits ; but while the people acknowledged 

 his authority, he rarely collected the tribute due him, being a 

 besotted man, who gave no thought to the affairs of his 

 dominion. 



The Manganja are an industrious race; and in addition to 

 working in iron, cotton, and basket-making, they cultivate the 

 soil extensively. All the people of a village turn out to labor 

 in the fields. It is no uncommon thing to see men, Avomen and 

 children hard at work, with the baby lying close by beneath a 

 shady bush. When a new piece of woodland is to be cleared, 

 they proceed exactly as farmers do in America. The trees are 

 cut down with their little axes of soft native iron ; trunks and 

 branches are piled up and burnt, and the ashes spread on the 

 soil. The corn is planted among the standing stumps, which 

 are left to rot. If grass land is to be brought under cultivation, 

 as much tall grass as the laborer can conveniently lay hold of 

 is collected together and tied into a knot. He then strikes his 

 hoe round the tufts to sever the roots, and leaving all standing, 

 proceeds until the whole ground assumes the appearance of a 

 field covered with little shocks of corn in harvest. A short 

 time before the rains begin, these grass shocks are collected in 



