450 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
wind and current. With strained and anxious eyes he 
looks out for the crescent moon to gild the western 
skies ; and full of fearful awe he watches the cloud- 
omens which hang over the misty crest of Salumbidwa. 
If perchance the dreaded deity frowns and thunders, 
flashing the transient but deadly fire from its beetling 
brows, he will turn away in terror, and with all his 
might hasten to the distant shore, there to await the 
pleasure of the mountain spirit, when the wild winds 
shall be stilled and the angry waves subdued. 
A camp was formed at the foot of the mountain, but 
we were soon again on our way. The moon shone 
brightly, lighting up the scene. Passing a large camp 
of the Portuguese army they challenged us, but we 
answered that we were Govea’s men. They warned us 
to keep a good look-out below, for we might be fired on. 
The canoes parted at this point; the Wangwana 
working so well in the coolness of the morning that the 
Leviathan was beaten. My men had worked so hard 
that I had not the heart to press them. The canoe was 
an old one, very heavy, and so unwieldy at times that 
the work of navigating was doubly difficult. 
Without the slightest appearance or sound of anything 
to warn us, firing all at once was opened on the left 
bank. We happened to be keeping in the deep stream 
on the right, and before I could even protest, the canoe 
was ashore and the men jumping out of her. 
“ Come, master,” shouted Fred. “We must get out. 
They are Mazinjiri, and will fire on us. 
The Portuguese guide, too, ran in hot haste up the 
bank, calling out, “ Quick, quick ! Mazinjiri, Mazin- 
J m ! 
A great deal of shouting was indulged in, during 
which I heartily eulogised all hands for their effective 
funk. Some time after, the words in native tongue 
came echoing across the water, “ We are Frau’s men, 
and thought you were Mazinjiri.” This adventure 
made us challenge every one we saw. Even numbers 
of the Portuguese flotilla we roared at as they passed, 
our shouts astonishing the natives very much. 
