304 ISLAND OF KICHOKOMANE. CHAP. XI. 



an unknown people is to call out in a cheerful tone 

 " Malonda ! " Things for sale, or do you want to sell any- 

 thing ? If we can obtain a man from the last village, he is 

 employed, though only useful in explaining to the next 

 that we come in a friendly way. The people here were 

 shy of us at first, and could not he induced to sell any 

 food ; until a woman, more adventurous than the rest, 

 sold us a fowl. This opened the market, and crowds came 

 with fowls and meal, far beyond our wants. The women 

 are as ugly as those on Lake Nyassa, for who can be 

 handsome wearing the pelele, or upper-lip ring, of large 

 dimensions? We were once surprised to see young men 

 wearing the pelele, and were told that in the tribe of the 

 Mabiha, on the south bank, men as well as women wore 

 them. 



Along the left bank, above Kichokomane, is an exceed- 

 ingly fertile plain, nearly two miles broad, and studded 

 with a number of deserted villages. The inhabitants 

 were living in temporary huts on low naked sandbanks ; 

 and we found this to be the case as far as we went. They 

 leave most of their property and food behind, because they 

 are not afraid of these being stolen, but only fear being 

 stolen themselves. The great slave-route from Nyassa to 

 Kilwa passes to N.E. from S.W., just beyond them ; and it 

 is dangerous to remain in their villages at this time of 

 year, when the kidnappers are abroad. In one of the 

 temporary villages, we saw, in passing, two human heads 

 lying on the ground. We slept a couple of miles above 

 this village. 



Before sunrise next morning, a large party armed with 

 bows and arrows and muskets came to the camp, two or 

 three of them having a fowl each, which we refused to 

 purchase, having bought enough the day before. They 

 followed us all the morning, and after breakfast those on 

 the left bank swam across and joined the main party on 



