Chap. XX. 
MAKOLOLO’S VISIT TO SHITS. 
391 
me, and found the tribes near the Portuguese settlement so very- 
unfriendly, that it would be altogether impossible for my men to 
return alone. I therefore resolved to decline the tempting offers 
of my naval friends, and take back my Makololo companions to 
their cliief, with a view of trying to make a path from his 
country to the east coast by means of the great river Zambesi 
or Leeambye. 
I however gladly availed myself of the medical assistance of Mr. 
Cockin, the sm’geon of the ‘‘Polyphemus,” at the suggestion of 
his commander. Captain Pliillips. Mr. Cockin’s treatment, aided 
by the exhilarating presence of the warm-hearted naval officers, 
and Mr. Gabriel’s unwearied hospitality and care, soon brought 
me round again. On the 14th I was so far well as to call on the 
bishop, in company with my party, who were arrayed in new robes 
of striped cotton cloth and red caps, all presented to them by 
Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head of the provisional govern¬ 
ment, in the grand hall of the palace. He put many inteUigent 
questions respecting the Makololo ; and then gave them free per¬ 
mission to come to Loanda as often as they pleased. Tliis inter¬ 
view pleased the Makololo extremely. 
Every one remarked the serious deportment of the Makololo. 
They viewed the large stone houses and churches in the vicinity 
of the great ocean with awe. A house with two stories was, until 
now, beyond then’ comprehension. In explanation of this strange 
thing, I had always been obliged to use the word for hut; and as 
huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth, they 
never could comprehend how the poles of one hut could be 
founded upon the roof of another, or how men could live in the 
upper story, with the conical roof of the lower one in the middle. 
Some Makololo, who had visited my little house at Kolobeng, 
in trying to describe it to their countrymen at Linyanti, said, 
“ It is not a hut; it is a mountain with several caves in it.” 
Commander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited them to 
visit their vessels, the “ Pluto ” and “ Philomel.” Knowing their 
fears, I told them that no one need go if he entertained the least 
suspicion of foul play. Nearly the whole party went; and when 
on deck, I pointed to the sailors, and said, “ Now these are all 
my countrymen, sent by our Queen for the purpose of putting 
down the trade of those that buy and sell black men.” They 
