Chap. I. DESCRIPTION OF SENNA. 23 



air with a rich fragrance ; its seeds produce a fine drying 

 oil, and the bark of the smaller branches yields a fibre 

 finer and stronger than flax; with which the natives 

 make their nets for fishing. Bonga, the brother of the 

 rebel Mariano, and now at the head of the revolted 

 natives, with some of his principal men came to see us, 

 and were perfectly friendly, though told of our having 

 carried the sick Governor across to Shupanga, and of our 

 having cured him of fever. On our acquainting Bonga 

 with the object of the expedition, he remarked that we 

 should suffer no hindrance from his people in our good 

 work. He sent us a present of rice, two sheep, and a 

 quantity of firewood. He never tried to make any use 

 of us in the strife ; the other side showed less confidence, 

 by carefully cross-questioning our pilot whether we had 

 sold any powder to the enemy. We managed, however, 

 to keep on good terms with both rebels and Portuguese. 



Senna is built on a low plain, on the right bank of 

 the Zambesi, with some pretty detached hills in the back- 

 ground ; it is surrounded by a stockade of living trees to 

 protect its inhabitants from their troublesome and re- 

 bellious neighbours. It contains a few large houses, some 

 ruins of others, and a weatherbeaten cross, where once 

 stood a church ; a mound shows the site of an ancient 

 monastery, and a mud fort by the river is so dilapidated, 

 that cows were grazing peacefully over its prostrate 

 walls. 



The few Senna merchants, having little or no trade in 

 the village, send parties of trusted slaves into the interior 

 to hunt for and purchase ivory. It is a dull place, and 

 very conducive to sleep. One is sure to take fever in 

 Senna on the second day, if by chance one escapes it on 

 the first day of a sojourn there ; but no place is entirely 

 bad. Senna has one redeeming feature : it is the native 

 village of the large-hearted and hospitable Senhor H. A. 



