172 LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



home, the Russian war was ended, and the Indian mutiny was the absorbing 

 topic of interest and anxiety among his countrymen. This complete isolation 

 from all news from the civilized quarters of the world was not the least of the 

 trials to which his adventurous career exposed him. 



But for the prevalence of fever, which perhaps improved cultivation might 

 tend to diminish, Livingstone speaks of Angola as being " in every other 

 respect an agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich abun- 

 dance of tropical produce for the rest of the world." He further says that, 

 " had it been in the possession of England, it would now have been yielding 

 as much or more of the raw materials of her manufactures, as an equal extent 

 of territory in the cotton-growing states of America. A railway from Loanda 

 to this valley (the Quango) would receive the trade of most of the interior of 

 South Central Africa." Livingstone's men, during their passage through 

 Angola, collected better breeds of fowls and pigeons than those in their own 

 country. The native tribes of Angola are very superstitious ; and notwith- 

 standing the vigilance of the Portuguese government, practise many of their 

 inhuman rites, — notably the ordeal for witchcraft, which consists in the 

 accused party drinking the sap of a poisonous tree, a test which very 

 frequently proves fatal. 



After partaking of the hospitality of their good friends in Portuguese 



territory, they bade adieu to civilized society, and crossed the Quango, 



reducing the ferryman's charge from thirty yards of callico to six, their more 



prosperous appearance and better armament having its effect in expediting 



their progress where they had previously suffered so much. Sleeping on the 



damp ground during the incessant rains brought on a severe attack of 



rheumatic fever, which delayed his journey for twenty days, as the faithful 



Makololo would not stir during his weak state. Petty chiefs endeavoured to 



extract handsome presents for permission to pass through their small territories, 



but experience had taught the Explorer to set them at defiance, the wisdom 



of which course was shown when the party were attacked in a forest by a chief 



and his braves, whom they confronted so resolutely as to make them glad to 



be permitted to depart with whole skins. 



As the Makololo suffered from sickness, their progress was slow, — about 

 two-thirds of their time being taken up with stoppages to recruit or to collect 

 provisions. Making a detour to the south the party came in contact with 

 several tribes who had not been contaminated by connection with slave traders; 

 and amongst these they procured abundance of food on reasonable terms. The 

 men were great dandies, the oil dripping from their hair on to their shoulders, 

 until every article of clothing was saturated with it. These tribes amused them- 

 selves with various kinds of musical instruments of most primitive manufacture, 

 and never went out save armed to the teeth ; their guns and bows were ornamented 

 with strips of the hides of the various animals they had shot. Their women 



