436 
SOUTHERN AFRICA, 
for when we came nearer Cassange, we found 
our route obstructed by the M'Bangala, who 
demanded payment of "a man, an ox, or a 
gun," for leave to pass at all : a refusal on our 
part was sometimes followed by a whole tribe 
/ surrounding us, brandishing their swords, ar- 
rows, and guns, and tumultuously vociferating 
their demands. The more we yielded, the more 
unreasonable the mob became, till, at last, 
in order not to aid in robbing ourselves, we 
ceased speaking, after telling them that they 
must strike the first blow. My men, who were 
inured to fighting by Sebituane, quietly sur- 
rounded the chief and councillors ; these felt 
their danger, and usually became more amica- 
ble. They never disputed the proposition that 
the ground they cultivated alone belonged to 
them, and all the rest of the country to God. 
This being the idea in the native mind, they 
readily admitted that they had no right to de- 
mand payment for trading on the soil of our 
common Father. But they pleaded custom; 
slavetraders always gave them a slave : my 
companions being all free subjects of Sekeletu, 
had as good a right to give me, as I had to 
give one of them ; and the affair usually ended 
by our agreeing to give, to each other, food in 
token of friendship. I had to part with an ox ; 
and their part of the contract was sometimes 
