300 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. XL 



south end of Mofwe, which forms a little lagoon there fifty 

 yards broad and thigh deep ; but this is not the important 

 feeder of the Lagoon, which is from two to three miles 

 broad, and nearly four long : that has many large flat sedgy 

 islands in it, and its water is supplied by the Mbereze from 

 south-east. 



31st May. — Old Kapika sold his young and good-looking 

 wife for unfaithfulness, as he alleged. The sight of a lady 

 in the chain-gang shocked the ladies of Lunda, who ran to 

 her, and having ascertained from her own mouth what was 

 sufficiently apparent, that she was a slave now, clapped 

 their hands on their mouths in the way that they express 

 wonder, surprise, and horror : the hand is placed so that 

 the fingers are on one cheek and the thumb on the other. 



The case of the chieftainess excited great sympathy 

 among the people ; some brought her food, Kapika's 

 daughters brought her pombe and bananas ; one man 

 offered to redeem her with two, another with three slaves, 

 but Casembe, who is very strict in punishing infidelity, 

 said, " No, though ten slaves be offered she must go." He 

 is probably afraid of his own beautiful queen should the 

 law be relaxed. Old Kapika came and said to her, " You 

 refused me, and I now refuse you." A young wife of old 

 Perembe was also sold as a punishment, but redeemed. 



There is a very large proportion of very old and very 

 tall men in this district. The slave-trader is a means of 

 punishing the wives which these old fogies ought never to 

 have had. 



Casembe sent me about a hundredweight of the small 

 fish Nsipo, which seems to be the whitebait of our country ; 

 it is a little bitter when cooked alone, but with ground- 

 nuts is a tolerable relish : we can buy flour with these at 

 Chikumbi's. 





