Chap. V. INTOXICATION OF THE MANGANJA. 117 



imagined. The pressure should be applied to the upper gum 

 more than to the teeth. 



The Manganja are not a sober people : they brew large 

 quantities of beer, and like it well. Having no hops, or other 

 means of checking fermentation, they are obliged to drink the 

 whole brew in a few days, or it becomes unfit for use. Great 

 merry-makings take place on these occasions, and drinking, 

 drumming, and dancing continue day and night, till the beer 

 is gone. In crossing the hills we sometimes found whole vil- 

 lages enjoying this kind of mirth. The veteran traveller of the 

 party remarked, that he had not seen so much drunkenness 

 during all the sixteen years he had spent in Africa. As we 

 entered a village one afternoon, not a man was to be seen ; 

 but some women were drinking beer under a tree. In a few 

 moments the native doctor, one of the innocents, "nobody's 

 enemy but his own," staggered out of a hut, with his cupping- 

 horn dangling from his neck, and began to scold us for a 

 breach of etiquette. " Is this the way to come into a man's 

 village, without sending him word that you are coming ?" 

 Our men soon pacified the fuddled but good-humoured 

 medico, Avho, entering his beer-cellar, called on two of 

 them to help him to carry out a huge pot of beer, which 

 he generously presented to us. While the " medical prac- 

 titioner" was thus hospitably employed, the Chief awoke 

 in a fright, and shouted to the women to run away, or 

 they would all be killed. The ladies laughed at the idea 

 of their being able to run away, and remained beside 

 the beer-pots. We selected a spot for our camp, our men 

 cooked the dinner as usual, and we were quietly eating it, 

 when scores of armed men, streaming with perspiration, 

 came pouring into the village. They looked at us, then 

 at each other, and turning to the Chief upbraided him for 



