32 
THE NEW AFRICA 
the native above the level of his fellows; for his knowledge 
makes him discontented with the lot of an ordinary savage, 
and he seeks by means of the art he has learned to support 
himself on a more civilised scale. The religion of these priests 
seemed to be practical, and they laid little stress on the dog¬ 
matic side of it—a matter that should be left to grow on the 
savage by degrees as he advances in learning. It was very 
amusing to observe the ways of the little fellows the mission¬ 
aries had in hand, as they filed past the assembled fathers in 
the early morning to make their salutation before proceeding to 
their allotted tasks. Coming up in succession, each one fronted 
his tutors, and, scraping his right foot on the ground, with a 
polite bow made use of the expression, ‘ Good morroh, fadirr,’ 
and scurried off with a grin, exposing a row of white teeth in 
his little jolly black face that showed the kind feeling existing 
between master and pupil. The good fathers explained to us 
that these children were waifs and strays whom they had 
picked up. They had no other pupils, for the king in the 
Barotzi valley and the smaller chiefs around placed every 
obstacle in the way of their obtaining legitimate children to 
educate. 
The history of this last attempt of the Jesuits to establish 
themselves on the Zambesi teems with disasters. On the first 
visit of their former leader to the Barotzi king, some three years 
ago, the boat in which he returned down the river capsized near 
the Gona falls, and three of the mission, including' the Father 
Superior, were swept under, never to be seen again. The rest 
of them succumbed to the malarial influences of the climate in 
dreary succession, and I am informed that the mission is now 
extinct. Relics of former attempts made by the Jesuits to 
establish themselves during the early stages of South African 
development on the Zambesi are not wanting, Zumbo having 
been one of their centres. 
As we were very anxious to reach the Victoria falls, fifty- 
eight miles distant, on the 24th, George Westbeech immediately 
supplied us with guides and carriers to take a few necessaries 
