Chap. XXII. THE LADY NYASSA IN TOW. 449 



never prosper : it is used as a penal settlement, and every thing 

 must be done military fashion. " What do I care for this 

 country ? " said the most enterprising of the Tette merchants, 

 " all I want is to make money as soon as possible, and then 

 go to Bombay and enjoy it." All business at Tette was now 

 suspended. Carriers could not be found to take the goods into 

 the interior, and the merchants could barely obtain food for 

 their own families. At Mazaro more rain had fallen, and a 

 tolerable crop followed. The people of Shupanga were 

 collecting and drying different wild fruits, nearly all of which 

 are far from palatable to a European taste. The root of a 

 small creeper called " bise " is dug up and eaten. In appear- 

 ance it is not unlike the small white sweet potato, and has a 

 little of the flavour of our potato. It would be very good, if 

 it were only a little larger. From another tuber, called 

 " ulanga," very good starch can be made. A few miles from 

 Shupanga there is an abundance of large game, but the 

 people here, though fond enough of meat, are not a hunting 

 race, and seldom kill any. 



The Shire having risen, we steamed off on the 10th of 

 January, 1863, with the Lady Nyassa in tow. It was 

 not long before we came upon the ravages of the notorious 

 Mariano. The survivors of a small hamlet, at the foot of 

 Morambala, were in a state of starvation, having lost their 

 food by one of his marauding parties. The women were in 

 the fields collecting insects, roots, wild fruits, and whatever 

 could be eaten, in order to drag on their lives, if possible, 

 till the next crop should be ripe. Two canoes passed us, 

 that had been robbed by Mariano's band of everything they 

 had in them ; the owners were gathering palm-nuts for their 

 subsistence. They wore palm-leaf aprons, as the robbers had 

 stripped them of their clothing and ornaments. Dead bodies 

 floated past us daily, and in the mornings the paddles had to 



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