244 THE CHIEF SANSAWE. Chap. XIX. 



trees which we had not seen before, while others, which we 

 had lost sight of since leaving Shinte, reappeared. Nothing 

 struck us more than the scragginess of the trees in this hollow, 

 as compared with the tall, straight trees on the high lands ; 

 nor were they by any means so closely planted together. 



Sunday, 2nd April. — We rested beside a small stream, and, our 

 hunger being now very severe from having lived so long on 

 manioc alone, we slaughtered one of our four remaining oxen. 

 The natives of this district seem to feel the craving for animal 

 food just as much as we did, for they expend much energy in 

 digging large white larvae out of the damp soil adjacent to the 

 streams, to serve as a relish for their vegetable diet. The 

 Bashinje refused to sell any food for the poor old ornaments 

 my men had now to offer. We could get neither meal nor 

 manioc : still we should have been comfortable, had not the 

 Bashinje chief Sansawe pestered us for the customary present. 

 We told his messengers that we had nothing to offer: the 

 tusks were Sekeletu's : everything was gone, except my in- 

 struments, which could be of no use to them whatever. One 

 of them begged some meat, and, when it was refused, said to 

 my men, " You may as well give it, for we shall take it all 

 after we have killed you to-morrow." The more humbly we 

 spoke, the more insolent the Bashinje became, till at last we 

 all felt savage and sulky. They are fond of argument, and, 

 when I denied their right to demand tribute from a white 

 man who did not trade in slaves, an old white-headed negro 

 put rather a posing question: "You know that God has 

 placed chiefs among us whom we ought to support. How is 

 it that you, who have a book that tells you about Him, do not 

 come forward at once to pay this chief tribute, like every one 

 else ? " I replied by asking, " How could I know that this 

 was a chief, who had allowed me to remain a day and a half 

 near him without giving me anything to eat ? " This, which 

 may seem sophistry to the uninitiated, was quite a rational 

 question to the central African, for he at once admitted that 

 food ought to have been sent, and added, that probably his 

 chief was preparing it, and it would come scon. 



After being wearied by talking all day to different parties, 

 we were honoured by a visit from Sansawe himself, who 

 turned out to be qui+e a young man, and of rather a pleasing 



