390 MEET THE MAZITU. CHAP. XIV. 



We now pushed on to the east, so as to get down to 

 the shores of the Lake, and into the parts where we were 

 known. The country was beautiful, well wooded, and 

 undulating, but the villages were all deserted ; and the 

 flight of the people seemed to have been quite recent, for 

 the grain was standing in the corn-safes untouched. The 

 tobacco, though ripe, remained uncut in the gardens, and 

 the whole country was painfully quiet : the oppressive 

 stillness quite unbroken by the singing of birds, or the 

 shrill calls of women watching their corn. 



On passing a beautiful village, called Bangwe, sur- 

 rounded by shady trees, and placed in a valley among 

 mountains, we were admiring the beauty of the situation, 

 when some of the much dreaded Mazitu, with their shields, 

 ran out of the hamlet, from which we were a mile distant. 

 They began to scream to their companions to give us 

 chase. Without quickening our pace we walked on, and 

 soon were in a wood, through which the footpath we 

 were following led. The first intimation we had of the 

 approaching Mazitu was given by the Johanna man, 

 Zachariah, who always lagged behind, running up, 

 screaming as if for his life. The bundles were all put 

 in one place to be defended ; and Masiko and Dr. Living- 

 stone walked a few paces back to meet the coming foe. 

 Masiko knelt down anxious to fire, but was ordered not to 

 do so. For a second or two dusky forms appeared among 

 the trees, and the Mazitu were asked, in their own tongue, 

 "What do you want?" Masiko adding, "What do you 

 say ? " No answer was given, but the dark shade in the 

 forest vanished. They had evidently taken us for natives, 

 and the sight of a white man was sufficient to put them to 

 flight. Had we been nearer the Coast, where the people 

 are accustomed to the slave-trade, we should have found 

 this affair a more difficult one to deal with ; but, as a rule, 

 the people of the interior are much more mild in character 

 than those on the confines of civilization. 



