Chap. XXXII. CAPTURE OF A REBEL STOCKADE. 
663 
On the 9tli of May sixteen of my men were employed to carry 
government goods in canoes up to Tete. They were much 
pleased at getting this work. On the 11th the whole of the 
inhabitants of Senna, with the Commandant, accompanied us to 
the boats. A venerable old man, son of a judge, said they were 
in much sorrow on account of the miserable state of decay into 
which they had sunk, and of the insolent conduct of the people 
of Kisaka, now in the village. We were abundantly supplied 
with provisions by the Commandant and Senhor Ferrao, and 
sailed pleasantly down the broad river. About tliirty miles 
below Senna, we passed the mouth of the river Zangwe on our 
right, which farther up goes by the name of Pungwe ; and about 
five miles farther on our left, close to the end of a low range into 
which Morumbala merges, we crossed the mouth of the Shire, 
which seemed to be about 200 yards broad. A little inland 
from the confluence there is another rebel stockade, which was 
attacked by Ensign Kebeiro with three European soldiers, and 
captured; they disarmed the rebels and tlmew the guns into the 
water. This Ensign and Miranda volunteered to disperse the 
people of Kisaka, who were riding roughshod over the inha¬ 
bitants of Senna ; but the offer was declined, the few real Portu¬ 
guese fearing the disloyal half-castes among whom they dwelt. 
Slavery and immorality have here done their work; nowliere 
else does the European name stand at so low an ebb; but what 
can be expected ? Few Portuguese women are ever taken to 
the colonies, and here I did not observe that honourable regard 
for the offspring wliich I noticed in Angola. The son of a late 
Governor of Tete was pointed out to me in the condition and 
habit of a slave. There is neither priest nor school at Senna, 
though there are ruins of churches and convents. 
On passing the Shire, we observed great quantities of the 
plant Alfacinya, already mentioned, floating down into the Zam¬ 
besi. It is probably the Pistia stratiotes, a gigantic “duck¬ 
weed.” It was mixed with quantities of another aquatic plant, 
which the Barotse named “ Njefu,” containing in the petiole of 
the leaf a pleasant-tasted nut. This was so esteemed by Sebitu- 
ane, that he made it part of his tribute from the subjected tribes. 
Dr. Hooker kindly informs me that the njefu “ is probably a 
species of Trapa, the nuts of which are eaten in the south of 
