460 WIKATANI FINDS EELATIVES. 



before being discovered. The fatigues of travel were affecting 

 very seriously the dispositions of his followers ; they were be- 

 coming more and more dissatisfied, and harassing the doctor 

 sadly enough. Before reaching Mponda's village he had lost 

 one of the company whom he esteemed very highly. Wika- 

 tani had been a favorite with Bishop Mackenzie; he had 

 been liberated from bondage into which his friends had 

 sold him ; he found some relatives in the neighborhood. 

 Concerning the incident Dr. Livingstone wrote about that time 

 as follows : 



" He met with a brother, and found that he had two brothers 

 and one or two sisters living down at the western shore of Lake 

 Pamelombe under Kabinga. He thought that his relatives 

 would not again sell him. I had asked him if he wished to re- 

 main, and he at once said ' Yes/ so I did not attempt to dissuade 

 him : his excessive fevity will perhaps be cooled by marriage. 

 I think he may do good by telling some of what he has seen 

 and heard. I asked him if he would obey an order from his 

 chief to hunt the Manganja, and he said, ' No.' I hope he 

 won't. In the event of any mission coming into the country 

 of Mataka, he will go there. I gave him paper to write to you, 

 and, commending him to the chiefs, bade the poor boy farewell. 

 I was sorry to part with him, but the Arabs tell the Waiyau 

 chiefs that our object in liberating slaves is to make them our 

 own and turn them to our religion. I had declared to them, 

 through Wikatani as interpreter, that they never became our 

 slaves, and were at liberty to go back to their relatives if they 

 liked ; and now it was impossible to object to Wikatani going 

 without stultifying my own statements." 



Before reaching Mponda's Dr. Livingstone mentions having 

 seen several hundred people making salt on a plain impregnated 

 with it. They elixate the soil and filter it through a bunch of 

 grass in a hole in the bottom of the pot until all is evaporated. 

 Speaking of the country Livingstone says : 



" We held along the plain till we came to Mponda's, a large 

 village, with a stream running past. The plain at the village 

 is very fertile, and has many large trees on it. The cattle of 

 Mponda are like fatted Madagascar beasts, and the hump seems 

 as if it would weigh one hundred pounds. The size of body is 



