Chap. XIX. GARDENS *ND VILLAGES. 241 



ease. Food abounds, and very little labour is required for its 

 cultivation , the soil is so rich that no manure is required ; 

 and when a garden becomes worn out the owner removes a 

 little farther into the forest, kills the larger trees by fire, cuts 

 down the smaller ones, and has at once a new rich garden 

 ready for the seed. Hence the gardens usually present the 

 appearance of a great number of tall dead trees standing 

 without bark, and maize growing between them. The old 

 gardens continue to yield manioc for years after the owners 

 have removed to other spots for the sake of millet and maize. 

 But while vegetable aliment is abundant, there is a want of 

 salt, and also of animal food, so much so that numberless 

 mouse-traps are seen in all the forests of Londa. 



The villages differed considerably in character : some were 

 models of neatness : others were buried in a wilderness of 

 weeds so high that, when sitting on ox-back in the middle of 

 the village, we could only see the tops of the huts. If we 

 entered such a one at midda} 7 , the owners would come lazily 

 forth, pipe in hand, and leisurely puff away in dreamy 

 indifference. In some villages weeds are not allowed to 

 grow ; cotton, tobacco, and different plants used as relishes, 

 surround the huts ; fowls are kept in cages ; and the gardens 

 present the pleasant spectacle of different kinds of grain and 

 pulse at various stages of growth. Every village swarms 

 with children, who turned out to see the white man pass, and 

 sometimes scampered alongside our party for miles at a time, 

 with strange cries and antics. We usually made a little 

 hedge around our sheds ; crowds of women came to the 

 entrance of it, with children on their backs and long pipes in 

 their mouths, gazing at us for hours, and it was common to 

 hear a man in running off say to them, "I am going to tell 

 my mama to come and see the white man's oxen." 



In continuing our W.N.W. course we met many parties of 

 native traders, each carrying pieces of cloth and salt, with a 

 few beads to barter for bees'-wax. They were all armed with 

 Portuguese guns, and had cartridges with iron balls. AYheii 

 we met we usually halted for a few minutes, exchanged 

 trifling presents, and then parted with mutual good wishes. 

 The hide of the oxen we slaughtered had been a valuable 

 addition to our resources, for we found it in such request for 



