Chap. YJ. EXACTIONS OF THE BANYAI. 141 



mine would be rediscovered. The tradition in the country is, 

 that the Jesuits formerly knew and worked a precious lode 

 at Chicova. Mr. Thornton had gone beyond Zumbo, in com- 

 pany with a trader of colour ; he soon after this left the 

 Zambesi, and, joining the expedition of the Baron van der 

 Decken, explored the snow mountain Kilimanjaro, north-west 

 of Zanzibar. Mr. Thornton's companion, the trader, brought 

 back much ivory, having found it both abundant and cheap. 

 He was obliged, however, to pay heavy fines to the Banyai and 

 other tribes, in the country which is coolly claimed in Europe 

 as Portuguese. During this trip of six months 200 pieces of 

 cotton cloth of sixteen yards each, besides beads and brass 

 wire, were paid to the different Chiefs, for leave to pass through 

 then- country. In addition to these sufficiently weighty exac- 

 tions, the natives of this dominion have got into the habit 

 of imposing fines for alleged milandos, or crimes, which the 

 trader's men may have unwittingly committed. The mer- 

 chants, however, submit rather than run the risk of fighting. 

 The ivory is cheap enough to admit of the payment. 

 Each merchant of Tette is said to be obliged to pay for 

 the maintenance of a certain number of the soldiers in 

 the garrison ; and he who had just returned from the 

 interior had to support five, although no services were 

 rendered to him. The usual way of bringing, the ivory 

 down is by canoes from Zumbo to Chicova ; there the canoes 

 are left and land carriage takes their place past Kebrabasa. 

 This trader hired the Banyai to carry the ivory past the rapids. 

 They agreed to do so for three yards of cloth each a trip, but 

 threw down their loads on the path repeatedly, demanding 

 more and more until they raised their claims to ten yards. " I 

 could have fought and beaten them all with my own men," said 

 the trader, " but on reaching Tette the Governor would have 



