156 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. VI. 



1th December. — Went on, and passed Mesumbe's village, 

 also protected by bamboos, and came to the hill Mparawe, 

 with a village perched on its northern base and well 

 up its sides. The Babisa have begun to imitate the 

 Mazitu by attacking and plundering Manganja villages. 

 Muasi's brother was so attacked, and now is here and 

 eager to attack in return. In various villages Ave have 

 observed miniature huts, about two feet high, very neatly 

 thatched and plastered, here we noticed them in dozens. 

 On inquiring, we were told that when a child or relative 

 dies one is made, and when any pleasant food is cooked 

 or beer brewed, a little is placed in the tiny hut for the 

 departed soul, which is believed to enjoy it. 



The Lokuzhwa is here some fifty yards wide, and running. 

 Numerous large pitholes in the fine-grained schist in its bed 

 show that much water has flowed in it. 



Sth December. — A kind of bean called " chitetta " is 

 eaten here, it is an old acquaintance in the Bechuana 

 country, where it is called " mositsane," and is a mere 

 plant; here it becomes a tree, from fifteen to twenty feet 

 high. The root is used for tanning ; the bean is pounded, 

 and then put into a sieve of bark cloth to extract, by 

 repeated washings, the excessively astringent matter it 

 contains. Where the people have plenty of water, as here, 

 it is used copiously in various processes, among Bechuanas 

 it is scarce, and its many uses unknown : the pod becomes 

 from fifteen to eighteen inches long, and an inch in diameter. 



9th December. — A poor child, whose mother had died, 

 was unprovided for ; no one not a relative will nurse 

 another's child. It called out piteously for its mother by 

 name, and the women (like the servants in the case of the 

 poet Cowper when a child), said, " She is coming." I gave 

 it a piece of bread, but it was too far gone, and is dead 

 to-day. 



An alarm of Mazitu sent all the villagers up the sides of 



