Chap. VIII. HOEEOE OF WHITE MEN. 181 



equally clear and limpid river. This practice is common in 

 the Zambesi, the Eovuma, and Lake Nyassa ; and some of the 

 Portuguese at Tette have adopted the native custom, and 

 send canoes to a low island in the middle of the river for 

 water. Chitora's people also obtained their supply from 

 shallow wells in the sandy bed of a small rivulet close to 

 the village. The habit may have arisen from observing the 

 unhealthiness of the main stream at certain seasons. During 

 nearly nine months in the year, ordure is deposited around 

 countless villages along the thousands of miles drained 

 by the Zambesi. When the heavy rains come down, and 

 sweep the vast fetid accumulation into the torrents, the 

 water is polluted with filth; and, but for the precaution 

 mentioned, the natives would prove themselves as little fas- 

 tidious as those in London who drink the abomination poured 

 into the Thames by Eeading and Oxford. It is no wonder 

 that sailors suffered so much from fever after drinking African 

 river water, before the present admirable system of condensing 

 it was adopted in our Navy. 



There must be something in the appearance of white men, 

 frightfully repulsive to the unsophisticated natives of Africa ; 

 for, on entering villages previously unvisited by Europeans, 

 if we met a child coming quietly and unsuspectingly towards 

 us, the moment he raised his eyes, and saw the men in " bags," 

 he would take to his heels in an agony of terror, such as we 

 might feel if we met a live Egyptian mummy at the door 

 of the British Museum. Alarmed by the child's wild outcries, 

 the mother rushes out of her hut, but darts back again at the 

 first glimpse of the same fearful apparition. Dogs turn tail, 

 and scour off in dismay ; and hens, abandoning their chickens, 

 fly screaming to the tops of the houses. The so latelv 

 peaceful village becomes a scene of confusion and hubbub, 



