Chap. XVII. HUMAN SACRIFICES. 215 



as vindictive beings, whom the)* regard with more fear than 

 love. 



My men on this, as on other occasions, did a little busi 

 for themselves in the begging line ; they generally com- 

 menced every interview with new villagers by saying, " 1 

 have come from afar ; give me something to eat." I forbade 

 this at first, believing that, as the Makololo had a bad name, 

 the villagers gave food from fear. But, after some time, it was 

 evident that in many cases maize and manioc were given from 

 pure generosity. In return for this liberality my men, who 

 had nothing to offer, tried to appropriate an individual in 

 each village as " Molekane," or comrade, thus placing himself 

 under an obligation to treat his benefactor with equal kind- 

 ness should the occasion for it arise. (48) 



We here met with some people just arrived from the town 

 of Matiamvo (Muata yanvo), who had been sent to announce 

 the death of the chieftain who lately enjoyed that title.* He 

 seems to have been insane, for he sometimes indulged the 

 whim of running a muck in the town and beheading whomso- 

 ever he met, on the plea that his people were too many, and 

 that he wanted to diminish them. On inquiring whether 

 human sacrifices were still made, as in the time of Pereira, at 

 Cazembe's, we were informed that they had never been so 

 common as was represented to Pereira, but that they occa- 

 sionally happened when certain charms were needed by the 

 chief. These men were much astonished at the liberty en- 

 joyed by the Makololo ; and when they found that all my 

 people held cattle, they told us that Matiamvo alone had a 

 herd. One very intelligent man among them asked, " If he 

 should make a canoe, and take it down the river to the Mako- 

 lolo, w T ould he get a cow for it ?" This question was impor- 

 tant, as showing the knowledge of a water communicatK>n 

 from the country of Matiamvo to the Makololo. 



We left Quendende's village in company with Quendend* 

 himself, and the principal man of the ambassadors of Mati- 

 amvo, and, after two or three miLes' march to the N.W., came 

 to the ford of the Lotembwa, which flows southwards. A 

 eanoe was waiting to ferry us over, but it was very tedious 



* Matiamvo Is an hereditary title — muata meaning lord, or chief. 



