PREPARATIONS FOR JOURNEY. 395 



It will not be forgotten that these men were only called 

 Makololo ; the only real member of that tribe since the death of 

 Sekeletu in the whole party was Kanyanta, on whom the leader- 

 ship now devolved, the others belonging to other tribes which 

 had been added to the dominion of Sebituane. Many of these 

 men had only added to their own vices those of the Tete slaves 

 with whom they had been in contact; others, by toiling during 

 the first two years in navigating canoes and hunting elephants, 

 had often managed to save a little to take back to their own 

 country, but had to part with it all for food to support the rest 

 in times of hunger, and, latterly, had fallen into the improvident 

 habits of slaves, and spent their surplus earnings in beer and 

 agua ardiente. 



Under such circumstances it was quite an undertaking to get 

 so many men in marching trim ; but the Makololo, who had 

 worked for the expedition, were paid for their services, and every 

 one who had come down with the doctor from the interior re- 

 ceived a present of cloth and ornaments, in order to protect them 

 from the greater cold of their own country, and to show that 

 they had not come in vain. A merchant sent three men along 

 with presents for Sekeletu. Major Sicard also furnished three 

 men to assist the party on their return, and having received the 

 loan of a couple of donkeys completed their preparations, and 

 at 2 p.m. on the 15th of May their party filed away from the 

 little village north of Tete. The journey was varied with in- 

 cidents inseparable from African life, but being along almost 

 the same route by which we have already followed the leader 

 of the expedition in his former travels, hardly justifies the minute 

 attention of those who are eager for information as extensive as 

 may be of the great continent. 



Three months after leaving Tete the party entered Sesheke ; 

 great changes had taken place during Dr. Livingstone's absence 

 of four years. The old town was in ruins, and the people had 

 built another higher up the river ; the people were all in low 

 spirits ; Sekeletu was on the opposite side of the river the victim 

 of a dreadful disease. A severe drought had cut off the crops, 

 and destroyed the pasture of Linyanti, and the people were scat- 

 tered over the country in search of wild fruits, and the hospitality 

 of those whose groundnuts (Arachis hypogcea) had not failed. 



