A NATIVE DANCE. 115 



which in his imperfect -way of pronunciation became saw e iona, and, so like 

 the great sow, that I could not have the honour with becoming gravity, and 

 had to entreat him, much to the annoyance of my party, to be silent." At 

 all the villages the party met with a hearty welcome, as being to them 

 messengers of peace, which they term " sleep." After pushing his way 

 to the junction of the Leeba with the Leeambye, and failing to find a 

 suitable spot for a mission settlement, the party descended to Naliele, but 

 not before Livingstone had made a guess that there lay the high road to the 

 west coast, and that its head waters must be within a hundred and twenty 

 miles of the Coanza, which would lead them down to the coast near Loanda. 

 The Coanza, as he afterwards found, does not come from anywhere near the 

 route he afterwards followed to Loanda. 



The following extract from " The Missionary Travels" will give some 

 idea of the abundance of large game in this region, and their want of fear of man. 

 " Eighty-one buffaloes defiled in slow procession before our fire one evening, 

 within gun-shot ; and hundreds of splendid elands stood by day without fear 

 at two hundred yards' distance. They were all of the striped variety, and with 

 their fore-arm markings, large dewlaps, and sleek skins, were a beautiful sight 

 to see. The lions here roar much more than in the country further south. One 

 evening we had a good opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the animal 

 can make in that line. We had made our beds on a large sandbank, and could 

 be easily seen from all sides. A lion on the opposite shore amused himself for 

 hours by roaring as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual in such cases, his 

 mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate. . . . Wherever 

 the game abounds, these animals exist in proportionate numbers. Here they 

 were frequently seen, and two of the largest I ever saw seemed about as tall 

 as common donkeys ; but the mane made their bodies appear rather larger." 



Coming down the river to the town of Ma Sekeletu (the mother of 

 Sekeletu) they found the chief awaiting them. After a short stay, the party 

 started on their voyage down the river, and reached Linyanti after an absence 

 of nine weeks. This being the first visit paid by Sekeletu to that portion of 

 his dominions, the travellers were received with the utmost enthusiasm every- 

 where, the headmen of the villages presenting him with more eatables and 

 drinkables than even his numerous followers could devour, notwithstanding 

 their wonderful powers in that way. The enthusiasm of the people usually 

 wound up with an extraordinary dance, which Livingstone describes: " It 

 consists of the men standing, nearly naked, in a circle, with clubs or small 

 battle-axes in their hands, and each roaring at the loudest pitch of his voice, 

 while they simultaneously lift one leg, stamp heavily twice with it, then lift the 

 other, and give one stamp with that ; this is the only movement in common. 

 The arms and head are thrown about also in every direction ; and all this 

 time the roaring is kept up with the utmost possible vigour. The continued 



