Chap. XXVI. 
EEMEDY AGAINST TSETSE. 
531 
troj)liy; the different chiefs vieing with each other as to wliich 
should mount the gTeatest number of skulls in his village. 
If, as has been asserted, the Portuguese ever had a chain of 
trading stations across the country from Caconda to Tete, it must 
have passed through these people, but the total ignorance of the 
Zambesi flowing from north to south in the centre of the country, 
and the want of knowledge of the astonislnng falls of Victoria 
which excite the wonder of even the natives, together with the 
absence of any tradition of such a chain of stations, compel me 
to beheve, that they existed only on paper. Tliis conviction is 
strengthened by the fact that, when a late attempt was made 
to claim the honour of crossing the continent for the Portu¬ 
guese, the only proof advanced was the journey of two black 
traders formerly mentioned, adorned with the name of Portu- 
guese^ If a chain of stations had existed, a few hmidred names 
of the same sort might easily have been brought forward; and 
such is the love of barter among aU the central Africans that, 
had there existed a market for ivory, its value would have become 
known, and even that on the graves of the cliiefs, would not have 
been safe. 
When about to leave Moyara on the 25th, he brought a root 
which, when pounded and spruxlded over the oxen, is beheved to 
disgust the tsetse, so that it flies off without sucking the blood. 
He promised to show me the plant or tree if I would give him 
an ox; but as we were travelling, and could not afford the time 
required for the experiment, so as not to be cheated (as I had too 
often been by my medical friends), I deferred the investigation 
tiU I returned. It is probably but an evanescent remedy, and 
capable of rendering the cattle safe during one night only. 
Moyara is now quite a dependant of the Makololo, and my new 
party, not being thoroughly drilled, forced him to carry a tusk 
for them. When I relieved him, he poured forth a shower of 
thanlis, at being allowed to go back to sleep beneath his skulls. 
Next day we came to Namilanga, or ‘‘The Well of Joy.” It 
is a small well dug beneath a very large flg-tree, the shade of 
which renders the water dehghtfuUy cool. The temperatoe 
through the day was 104° in the shade and 94^ after sunset, but 
the air was not at aU oppressive. This well received its name 
from the fact, that in former times marauding parties, in returning 
2 M 2 
