460 
A FAITHLESS GUIDE. 
Chap. XXIII. 
times so very ludicrous, that it is difficult to maintain one’s 
gravity. 
Several of the children of the late Matiamvo came to beg from 
me, but never to offer any food. Having spoken to one young man 
named Liula (Heavens) about their stinginess, he soon brought 
bananas and manioc. I liked his appearance and conversation; 
and beheve that the Balonda would not be difficult to teach, but 
their mode of life would be a drawback. The Balonda in tliis 
quarter are much more agreeable-looking than any of the inha¬ 
bitants nearer the coast. The women allow their teeth to remain 
in their beautifully white state, and would be comely, but for the 
custom of inserting pieces of reed into the cartilage of the nose. 
They seem generally to be in good spirits, and spend their tune 
in everlasting talk, funeral ceremonies, and marriages. This flow 
of animal sphits must be one reason why they are such an uide- 
structible race. The habitual influence on then’ minds of the 
agency of unseen spirits, may have a tendency in the same direc¬ 
tion, by preserving the mental quietude of a kind of fatahsm. 
We were forced' to prepay oirr guide and his father too, and he 
went but one day, although he promised to go with us to Katema. • 
He was not in the least ashamed at breaking his engagements, 
and probably no disgrace wiU be attached to the deed by Muan- 
zanza. Among the Bakwains he would have been punished. My 
men would have stripped him of the wages which he wore on his 
person, but thought that, as we had always acted on the mildest 
principles, they would let him move off with liis unearned gains. 
They frequently lamented the want of knowledge in these 
people, saying in their o^vn tongue, ‘‘ Ah! they don’t know that 
we are men as well as they, and that we are only bearing with 
their insolence with patience because we are men,” Then would 
follow a hearty cimse, showing that the patience was nearly ex¬ 
pended ; but they seldom quarrelled in the language of the 
Balonda. The only one who ever lost his temper, was the man 
who struck a head-man of one of the villages on the mouth, and 
he was the most abject individual in our company. 
The reason why we needed a guide at all, was, to secm-e the 
convenience of a path, which, though generally no better than a 
sheep-walk, is much easier than going straight in one direction, 
tlirough tangled forests and tropical vegetation. We knew the 
