318 
SUPERSTITIOUS CUSTOMS. 
Chap. XVII. 
other tribes think of their deeds. The Makololo have such a 
bad name on account of their perpetual forays, that they have 
not been known in Londa except as rutldess destroyers. The 
people in Matiamvo’s country submit to much wrong from their 
chiefs; and no voice can be raised against cruelty, because they 
are afraid to flee elsewhere. 
We left Quendende’s village in company with Quendende liim- 
self, and the principal man of the ambassadors of Matiamvo, and 
after two or three miles march to the N.W., came to the ford of 
the Lotembwa, which flows southwards. A canoe was waiting 
to ferry us over, but it was very tedious work; for though the 
river itself was only eighty yards wide, the whole valley was 
flooded, and we were obliged to paddle more than half a mile to 
get free of the water. A fire was lit to warm old Quendende, 
and enable him to dry his tobacco-leaves. The leaves are taken 
from the plant, and spread close to the fire, until they are quite 
dry and crisp; they are then put into a snuff-box, which, with a 
little pestle, serves the purpose of a mill to grind them into 
powder; it is then used as snuff. As we sat by the fire the 
ambassadors communicated their thoughts freely respecting the 
customs of their race. When a chief dies, a number of servants 
are slaughtered with him to form his company in the other world. 
The Barotse followed the same custom, and this and other usages 
show them to be genuine negroes, though neither they nor the 
Balonda resemble closely the typical form of that people. Quen¬ 
dende said if he were present on these occasions he would hide 
his people, so that they might not be slaughtered. As we go 
north, the people become more bloodily superstitious. 
We were assured that, if the late Matiamvo took a fancy to 
anything, such, for instance, as my watch-chain, which was of 
silver wire, and was a great curiosity, as they had never seen 
metal plaited before, he would order a whole village to be 
brought up to buy it from a stranger. When a slave-trader 
visited him, he took possession of all liis goods; then, after ten 
days or a fortnight, he would send out a party of men to pounce 
upon some considerable village, and, having killed the head man, 
would pay for all the goods by selling the inhabitants. This has 
frequently been the case, and nearly all the visitants he ever had 
were men of colour. On asking, if Matiamvo did not know he 
