THE ZAMBESI REGION. 
309 
hands. It is only when they have been put in charge 
of some white man whom the missionaries have intro¬ 
duced as a person of importance to be protected as far 
as the Falls, that orders are given to refrain from rob¬ 
bery or violence. Such, for instance, was the case when 
Major S. was escorted through the district in 1875 ; the 
object of the king in such cases being that the traveller 
START FROM SESHEKE. 
should have no tales of cruelty to tell “ the great white 
queen ” of England on his return. 
I used to talk to a Manansa who was hired every year 
by one of the traders, and appeared to be above the 
level of his fellow-tribesmen in intelligence. Happening 
to say something about the cowardice imputed to his 
race, I saw him shake his head and smile. “No,” he 
replied, “ we are not timid pallahs, nor ever have been ; 
but we love our village life and our hunting; we catch 
our game in pits and not by arms; we give up our 
elephants’ tusks to the remorseless Matabele; we show 
