THE MANQANJA COUNTRY. 
40 
the natives was soon opened. The night was passed in 
the open air, there being no mosquitoes on the hills, and 
the next day they gained the upper terrace, 3000 feet 
above the sea. The plateau lies west of the Milnnje 
Mountains, and its north-eastern border slopes down to 
Lake Shirwa. After a week spent in crossing the high- 
lands in a northerly direction, the expedition descended 
into the Upper Shire valley, which is nearly 1200 feet 
above the sea level. 
The Manganja country is finely watered. The natives 
live in villages, each with its own head man, though he 
may rule over several adjacent villages. The people are 
regarded as his children. All the petty chiefs of a certain 
district owe allegiance to a paramount chief, called the 
Rondo, or Rundo They pay him an annual tribute, and 
one of the tusks of every elephant killed; and in turn, it is 
his duty to protect them when attacked. Mankokwe is 
the Rundo of the southern portion of the highlands ; but 
he is a besotted person, who never visits them as his father 
did, so that the tribute is seldom paid, notwithstanding 
that they all acknowledge that it is their duty to pay it, 
and that he is their Rondo. Part of the Upper Shire 
valley has a woman Rondo, named Ny ango ; and in her 
dominions women rank higher, and are more respectfully 
treated than elsewhere. This natural growth of a feudal 
system is most interesting, as showing the tendency of 
political development, and giving us a key to the compre- 
hension of our own political history. In Nyango’s country 
the painful subjection of women was not seen. The head 
man of the first of her villages, entered by the expedition, 
asked that his wife should come to see the compass and 
other curiosities. He always consulted her before con- 
cluding a bargain, and was greatly influenced by her 
judgment. 
The Boalo in the villages is an open place, to which the 
expedition always proceeded ; and then, seated on the mats 
■pread for the purpose, commenced the interview with Uis 
