554 TH £ TRIBE THAT I,OVES BI,ACK MEN. 



ox to be slaughtered, as this is a means which Sebituane 

 employed for inspiring courage. I have no doubt that 

 we should have been victorious ; indeed, my men, who 

 were far better acquainted with fighting than any of the 

 people on the Zambesi, were rejoicing in the prospect 

 of securing captives to carry the tusks for them. " We 

 shall now," said they, " get both corn and clothes in 

 plenty." They were in a sad state, poor fellows S for the 

 rains we had encountered had made their skin-clothing 

 drop off piecemeal, and they were looked upon with 

 disgust by the well-fed and well-clothed Zambesians. 

 They were, however, veterans in marauding, and the head- 

 men, instead of being depressed by fear, as the people of 

 Mpende intended should be the case in using their charms, 

 hinted broadly to me that I ought to allow them to keep 

 Mpende' s wives. The roasting of meat went on fast and 

 furious, and some of the young men said to me, " You 

 have seen us with elephants, but you don't know yet 

 what we can do with men." I believe that, had Mpende 

 struck the first blow, he would soon have found out that 

 he never made a greater mistake in his life. 



His whole tribe was assembled at about the distance of 

 half a mile. As the country is covered with trees, we did 

 not see them ; but every now and then a few came about 

 us as spies, and would answer no questions. I handed 

 a leg of the ox to two of these, and desired them to take it 

 to Mpende. After waiting a considerable time in suspense, 

 two old men made their appearance, and said they had 

 come to inquire who I was. I replied, " I am a Lekoa " 

 (an Englishman). They said, " We don't know that 

 tribe. We suppose you are a Mozunga, the tribe with 

 which we have been fighting." As I was not yet aware 

 that the term Mozunga was applied to a Portuguese, and 

 thought they meant half-castes, I showed them my hair 

 and the skin of my bosom, and asked if the Bazunga 

 had hair and skin like mine. As the Portuguese have 

 the custom of cutting the hair close, and are also some- 

 what darker than we are, they answered, " No ; we never 

 saw skin so white as that ; " and added, " Ah ! you must 

 be one of that tribe that loves (literally, has heart to) the 

 black men." I, of course, gladly responded in the affirma- 

 tive. They returned to the village, and we afterwards 

 heard that there had been a long discussion between 

 Mpende and his councillors, and that one of the men with 



