MOFFAT AND MOSELEKATSE. 179 



bag of ground nuts, by frying them in cream with a little salt, as a sort of 

 sandwich for the journey ; and every one seemed anxious to contribute some- 

 thing for the use of the party. One hundred and fourteen men, principally 

 volunteers, were selected to accompany him and carry the ivory, with which 

 they were to pay their way to the coast, and purchase the articles they meant 

 to bring back. Sekwebu, who had been captured by the Matabele when a boy, 

 had travelled along with the tribe in which he was captive to the district near 

 Tete, and was intimately acquainted with the country on both sides of the 

 Zambesi and the dialects spoken, was appointed the head of the expedition. 

 Mamire, a chief who had married the mother of Sekeletu, since Livingstone's 

 departure for the west coast, a man of great wisdom and prudence, on bidding 

 Livingstone farewell, said, "You are now going among a people who cannot be 

 trusted because we have used them badly ; but you go with a different message 

 from any they have ever heard before ; and Jesus will be with you, and help 

 you, though among enemies ; and if He carries you safely, and brings you and 

 Ma-Robert back again, I shall say he has bestowed a great favour upon me. 

 May we obtain a path whereby we may visit, and be visited by other tribes, 

 and by white men ! " On Livingstone mentioning his inability to pay the 

 men who would accompany him, the sagacious chief replied, " A man wishes, 

 of course, to appear among his friends after a long absence, with something 

 of his own to show ; the whole of the ivory in the country is yours, so you 

 must take as much as you can, and Sekeletu will furnish men to carry it." 



As the wives of many of his companions in the journey to Loanda had 

 given their husbands up as lost and taken to themselves other helpmeets, 

 Livingstone had some difficult questions as to possession to settle. In cases 

 where the man had only one wife, he decided without hesitation that she 

 should go back to the original husband ; but when a man had more than one he 

 declined to decide what should be done, in case it should be thought that he 

 favoured polygamy. Some of the men consoled themselves for the loss of 

 their wives by taking others. 



Soon after his arrival a picho was held to consider the propriety of settling 

 in the Barotse valley, to be nearer the west coast for the purpose of trade 

 with the new market the expedition had opened to them. At this " picho" 

 Sekeletu said, addressing Livingstone, " I am perfectly satisfied as to the 

 great advantages for trade of the path which you have opened, and think 

 that we ought to go to the Barotse, in order to make the way for us to Lo- 

 anda shorter ; but with whom am I to live there ? If you were coming with 

 us, I would remove to-morrow ; but now you are going to the white man's 

 country to bring Ma-Robert (Mrs. Livingstone) ; and when you return you 

 will find me near to the spot on which you wish to dwell." 



Dr. Moffat's account of his expedition through the country of Mosele- 

 katse, and his intercourse with that great chief and his people, already alluded 



