BETWEEN ANGOLA AND THE ZAMBESI. 491 
Mucusso country and in tlie Lunda and Luapula terri¬ 
tories. 
Tire fame of the Bihenos lias travelled far and wide, 
and when Graca attempted his journey to the Matianvo, 
he first proceeded to the Bihe to procure carriers. A 
Biheno rarely deserts his caravan, or makes off with his 
load—events which are by no means uncommon among 
the natives of Zanzibar. But the Bihenos have another 
great advantage over the latter. Although much given 
to trade in slaves, they do not themselves incite internal 
wars to procure them ; they will purchase them of any 
who are willing to sell, but they never seek to get them 
by force. This of course is referable simply to their 
trade with the interior ; for in their wars with neigh¬ 
bouring countries they do pretty much as other negro 
tribes do, and commit unheard-of cruelties. Notwith¬ 
standing many high qualities, great pluck and readiness 
to undergo fatigue and danger, the Bihenos have many 
grave defects; and I do not know in Africa a race more 
profoundly vicious, more openly depraved, more per¬ 
sistently cruel and more cunningly hypocritical, than 
they. These people have a certain emulation among one 
another as travellers, and I met with many who prided 
themselves on having gone where no others had ever 
been, and which they called discovering new la?ids. 
They are brought up to 'wandering from their very 
infancy, and all caravans carry innumerable children, 
who, with loads proportionate to their strength, accom¬ 
pany their parents or relatives on the longest journeys ; 
hence, it is no uncommon thing to find a young fellow 
of five-and-twenty who has travelled in the Matianvo, 
Niangue, Luapula, Zambesi, and Mucusso districts, 
having commenced his peregrinations at the age of nine 
years.' 
A trader w r ho arrives at the Bihe with the intention 
of pushing into the interior has two means open to him 
for obtaining carriers. One is to apply to the Sova or 
the native chiefs for the required number, and make 
them presents in return ; the other to give notice of the 
journey and wait for the men themselves to apply. The 
