CHAP. XVIII. DIFFERENCE IN COLOUR OF AFRICANS. 220 



after us with meal and fowls for sale, which we might readily 

 have obtained in exchange for English manufactures. When 

 they heard that we had no cloth they turned back much dis- 

 appointed. 



The amount of population in the central parts of the country 

 may be called large, as compared with the Cape Colony or the 

 Bechuana country. The cultivated land is as nothing com- 

 pared with what might be brought under the plough. There 

 are flowing streams in abundance, which might, with little 

 labour, be turned to the purpose of irrigation. Miles of fruit- 

 ful country are now lying absolutely waste, for there is not 

 even game to eat off the fine pasturage, and to recline under 

 the evergreen shady groves which present themselves along 

 our path. The people who inhabit the central region are not 

 all quite black : many incline to a bronze hue, and others are 

 as light as the Bushmen; who, it may be remembered, were 

 cited as a proof that a black complexion is due not to heat 

 alone, but to the combination of heat and moisture. To this 

 general law there are exceptions, caused by the migrations of 

 both tribes and individuals; the Makololo for instance, who 

 have a sickly sallow hue when compared with the aboriginal 

 inhabitants ; and the Batoka, who, when seen in company with 

 the Batoka of the rivers, are so much lighter in colour that 

 they might be taken for another tribe. 



Having reached the village of Njambi, one of the chiefs of 

 the Chiboque, on the day above specified, we intended to pass 

 a quiet Sunday ; and as our provisions were quite spent, I 

 ordered an ox to be slaughtered. We sent the hump and ribs 

 to JSjambi, with the explanation that this was the customary 

 tribute to chiefs in the part whence we had come, and that we 

 always honoured men in his position. He returned thanks, 

 and promised to send food. Next morning he sent an impu- 

 dent message demanding either a man, an ox, a gun, powder, 

 cloth, or a shell ; and in the event of refusal, he intimated his 

 intention of preventing our further progress. AVe replied, 

 that, even supposing we possessed the articles demanded, he 

 ought not to impose a tribute on any but a slave-trading party. 

 The servants who brought the message said that, when sent 

 tc the Mambari, they had always got a quantity of cloth foi 



