224 DEMAND FOR GUNPOWDER AND CALICO. Chap. XVIll. 



the chief afterwards by means of enchantments. The belief 

 in the power of charms for good or evil produces not onty 

 honesty, but a great amount of gentle dealing. The powerful 

 are often restrained in their despotism, from a fear that the 

 weak and helpless may injure them by their medical know- 

 ledge. They have many fears. A man at one of the villages 

 v>-e came to showed us the grave of his child, and, with much 

 apparent feeling, told us she had been burned to death in her 

 hut. He had come with all his family, and built huts around 

 it in order to weep for her, in the belief that, if the grave were 

 left unwatched, the witches would injure them by putting 

 medicines on the body. They have a more decided belief in 

 the continued existence of departed spirits than any of the 

 more southerly tribes. Even the Barotse possess it in a 

 strong degree, for one of my men of that tribe, on experiencing 

 headache, said, with a sad countenance, " My father is scold- 

 ing me because I do not give him any of the food I eat." I 

 asked where his father was. " Among the Barimo," was the 

 reply. 



When we wished to move on, Kabinje refused a guide to 

 the next village, because he was at war with it; but after 

 much persuasion he consented, provided that the guide should 

 return as soon as he came in sight of the enemy's village. 

 This we felt to be a misfortune, as the natives suspect a man 

 who comes telling his own tale ; but there being no help for 

 it, we proceeded and found the hea^-man Kangenke very 

 different from what his enemy represented him to be. 

 We found too that here the idea of buying and selling 

 superseded that of giving, and, as I had nothing with which 

 to purchase food except a parcel of beads which were reserved 

 for emergencies, I began to fear that we should soon suffer 

 severely from hunger. The people demanded gunpowder foi 

 everything, and, had we possessed a large quantity of that 

 article, we should have got on well. Next to that, English 

 calico was in great demand, and so were beads ; but money 

 was of no value whatever, trade being carried on by barter 

 alone. Gold is quite unknown, and is mistaken for brass. 

 Occasionally a large piece of copper, in the shape of a St. 

 Andrew's cross, was offered for sale. 



27th February. — Kangenke promptly furnished guides this 



