THE MAKONDE. 421 



Their numbers have been greatly diminished by the slave-trade; 

 only a remnant, comparatively, of them are left. Here and 

 there the traveller emerged suddenly on a little clearing adorned 

 with gardens of sorghum, maize and cassava. The people were 

 much more interested in the strange animals of the unexpected 

 visitors than in the human members of the cavalcade; even the 

 white man himself did not attract such attention as the ungainly 

 camels. The Makonde proved themselves a pleasant people 

 and industrious, ready to turn an honest yard of calico as wood- 

 choppers or carriers. They have been the prey of the Arabs 

 from Zanzibar, just as their neighbors lower down the coast 

 have been the prey of the Portuguese. They have no common 

 government. There is no paramount chief whose authority is 

 recognized. They are all independent, and bear themselves 

 independently enough. Of their personal appearance Living- 

 stone says : " Their foreheads may be called compact, narrow, 

 and rather low ; the aim nasi expanded laterally ; lips full, not 

 excessively thick ; limbs and body well formed, hands and feet 

 small ; color dark and light brown ; height middle sized and 

 bearing independent." Their language is very unlike that of 

 the half-castes who constitute the population of Kindany, 

 though their intercourse with the Arabs has extended consider- 

 able familiarity with Swaheli among the Makonde. The 

 foreign influence has done nothing toward the enlightenment of 

 the natives. There was the ruin of a mosque seen at Kindany; 

 but the Arabs are in the country for gain ; they mingle with the 

 natives in the most intimate relations ; there is no tradition of 

 their attempting to convert them. The natives might congratu- 

 late themselves, however, on the remissness of their visitors in 

 this regard; for if Dr. Livingstone judged rightly, African bar- 

 barism would be degraded by the assumption of Arab virtues. 



The trade road, which is a path only, was along the wadys, 

 frequently ascending the neighboring heights to take in a village, 

 and down again to another by the dry channel. The soil along 

 the route was remarkably fertile. As they penetrated the coun- 

 try, some of the cassava bushes were seven feet high, and the 

 pleasing sight of really heavy crops of sorghum and maize 

 awaited the surprise and delight of the observer at every clear- 

 ing. The whole region bore traces of having been open and in 



