AFRICANS RESEMBLING EGYPTIANS. 401 
joining it. The expedition commenced with short 
marches. Some of the men deserted every night, to 
return to their children at Tette ; for children are the 
strongest ties, even to slaves. By the time the party had 
reached the Kebrabasa hills, nearly a third of the natives, 
or thirty men, had turned back. At Defwe’s village, near 
where the ship lay on her first ascent, were found two 
Mfumos, or head men, the son and son-in-law of the former 
chief. A sister’s son has much more chance of succeeding 
to the chieftainship than the chief’s own offspring, it being 
unquestionable that the sister’s child has the family blood. 
The men are all marked across the nose, and up the 
middle ol the iorehead with short horizontal scars ; and a 
single brass earring, two or three inches in diameter, like 
those of the ancient Egyptians, is worn by them. Some 
wear their hair long, like the ancient Assyrians and Egyp- 
tians, and a few have e 3 'es slanting inward, like the 
Chinese. There is so little difference in the languages 
spoken by the tribes of this region, that they actually 
belong to the same family. The natives in the valley of 
Zibah they found wealthier than those they had passed ; 
they have more cloth, ornaments, food and luxuries. 
Fowls, eggs, sugar canes, sweet potatoes, ground-nuts, 
turmeric, tomatoes, chillies, rice, mapira ( Holcus sorghum), 
and maize were offered for sale in large quantities. The 
rnapira may be called the corn of the country. It is known 
as Kaffir and Guinea corn in the south and west; as dura 
* n Fgypt, and badjery in India; the grain is round and 
"bite, or reddish white, about the size of hemp seed. 
Several hundred grains form a massive ear, on a stalk as 
thick as a walking stick, and from eight to eighteen feet 
high. Tobacco, hemp and cotton were also cultivated, as 
they are all through Kebrabasa. Here, as in the Manganja 
hills, in every village men were spinning and weaving 
cotton of excellent quality. 
After passing through the thirty-five to forty miles of 
Kebrabasa hills, the party, on the 7th of June, 1860, 
