582 
MA MBURUMA’S VILLAGE AND PEOPLE. Chap. XXVIII. 
gorge, wliich, like all others of the same nature, is called Mpata. 
There is a narrow pathway by the side of the river, but we pre¬ 
ferred a more open one in a pass among the hills to the east, 
which is called Mohango. The hills rise to a height of 800 or 
1000 feet, and are all covered with trees. The rocks were of 
various coloured mica schist; and parallel with the Zambesi lay 
a broad band of gneiss with garnets in it. It stood on edge, and 
several dykes of basalt, with dolerite, had cut through it. 
Mbiunma sent two men as guides to the Loangwa. These men 
tried to bring us to a stand, at a distance of about six miles from 
the village, by the notice, “ Mburuma says you are to sleep under 
that tree.” On declining to do this, we were told that we must 
wait at a certain village for a supply of com. As none appeared 
in an hour, I proceeded on the march. It is not quite certain 
that their intentions were hostile, but this seemed to disarrange 
their plans, and one of them was soon observed running back to 
Mburuma. They had first of all tried to separate our party, by 
volunteering the loan of a canoe to convey Sekwebu and me, 
together with our luggage, by way of the river, and, as it was 
pressed upon us, I thought that tliis was their design. The next 
attempt was to detain us in the pass, but, betraying no suspicion, 
we civilly declined to place ourselves in their power in an unfa¬ 
vourable position. We afterwards heard that a party of Babisa 
traders, who came from the north-east, bringing Enghsh goods 
from Mozambique, had been plundered by this same people. 
Elephants were still abundant, but more wild, as they fled with 
great speed as soon as we made our appearance. The country 
between Mburuma’s and his mother’s village was all hilly and 
very difficult, and prevented us from travelling more than ten 
miles a day. At the village of Ma Mburuma (mother of Mbu¬ 
ruma), the guides, who had again joined us, gave a favourable 
report, and the women and children did not flee. Here we found 
that traders, called Bazunga, have been in the habit of coming in 
canoes, and that I was named as one of them. These I supposed 
to be half-caste Portuguese, for they said that the hair of their 
heads and the skin beneath their clothing were different from 
mine. Ma Mburuma promised us canoes to cross the Loangwa 
in our front. It was pleasant to see great numbers of men, 
women, and boys come, without suspicion, to look at the books, 
