Chap. XXIV. THE LEEBA. 321 



pepper, growing in pannikins. The courts of the Balonda, 

 planted with tobacco, sugar-cane, and plants used as relishes, 

 led me to the belief that care would be taken of my little 

 nursery . They know the value of fruits, but at present have 

 only wild ones. As a proof of this I may mention that Shinte 

 eagerly accepted some of the seeds of the palm-oil tree (Elois 

 Guineensis), when told that this would produce oil in much 

 greater quantity than their native tree, which is not a palm, 

 but a wild tree, the fruit of which when boiled yields a 

 considerable quantity of oil. 



On the 6th of July we parted on the best possible terms 

 with our friend Shinte, and proceeded by our former path to 

 the village of his sister Nyamoana, who was now a widow. She 

 received us with much apparent feeling, and said, " We had 

 removed from our former abode to the place where you found 

 us, and had no idea then that it was the spot where my 

 husband was to die." As they never remain in a place 

 where death has once visited them, she had come to the river 

 Lofuje. We borrowed five small canoes from her, to proceed 

 down the Leeba. My companions purchased also a number of 

 small canoes from the Balonda. These are made quite thin 

 and light, and as sharp as racing-skiffs, in order that they ma} r 

 be used in hunting animals in the water. The price paid was 

 a string of beads equal to the length of the canoe. I thought 

 the Leeba at least a third larger than the Coanza at Massan- 

 gano, and upwards of two hundred yards wide. It had risen 

 above forty feet during the late flood, but this was probably 

 more than usual. 



In descending the Leeba we saw many herds of wild 

 animals, especially the tahetsi (Aigoceros equina), a magnificent 

 antelope, the putokuane (Anttiope niger), and two fine lions. 

 The Balobale, however, are getting well supplied with guns, 

 and will soon thin out the large game. At on© of the villages 

 we were entreated to attack some buffaloes, which destroyed 

 the manioc in the gardens every night. As we all longed to 

 have a meal of meat, we followed the footprints of a numbei 

 of old bulls. They showed a great amount of cunning, by 

 selecting the densest parts of the forest as their haunt during 

 the day. We came within six yards of them several times 

 without knowing that they were so near, and were then only 



