CHAPTER XXV. 



A MONTH WITH CASEMBE. 



Moero — Bound for Casembe — Kalongosi — Abundance of Fish — Dr. Lacerda — 

 The Balonda — Enter Casembe's Village — Graciously Received — Mohamad bin 

 Saleh — Notes from Journal — Zofu, King's Fool — " Casembe," General — His 

 Character — Customs — Land Claims — Hand-Shaking — Letter to Lord Claren- 

 don — Descriptive Resume — Sickness — Leaves Casembe — Bound for Ujiji — 

 Mohamad bin Saleh his Companion — Hunger — Illness — Last Day of 1867 — A 

 Touching Record. 



Leaving the special observation of Moero for the present, 

 Livingstone reascended the eastern flanking ridge and turned 

 southward towards the town of Casembe. There were only 

 nine persons in the party ; yet the people of the villages seemed 

 to fear them, and frequently closed their gates as they ap- 

 j>roached. Almost daily, as they advanced southward, they 

 met parties of salt traders, and learned that quite a trade is car- 

 ried on from the salt springs and mud about the lake to Lunda, 

 and elsewhere. These salt traders in their salutations brought 

 to mind a custom which will not be new — the rubbing earth on 

 the arms. The route lay across numberless streams and rivu- 

 lets ; and about half way they crossed the Kalongosi, or, as the 

 Arabs and Portuguese pronounce it, Karungwesi, about sixty 

 yards wide, and flowing fast over stones. It is deep enough, 

 even now when the rainy season is not commenced, to require 

 canoes. It is said to rise in Kumbi, or Afar, a country to the 

 southeast of our ford. Fish in great numbers are caught when 

 ascending to spawn : they are secured by weirs, nets, hooks. 

 Large strong baskets are placed in the rapids, and filled with 

 stones : when the water rises, these baskets are standing-places 

 for the fishermen to angle or throw their nets. Having crossed 

 the Kalongosi they were now in Lunda, or Londa. 



It was noticed that the Kalongosi went north till it met a 

 large meadow on the shores of Moero, and, turning westwards, 

 it entered there. The fishermen gave the names of thirty-nine 



535 



