NEW ATTACK OF FEVER. 197 on, another form of salutation, of Christian (?) origin, "Averie," (Ave Marie.) The salutations probably travel further than the faith. My people, when satisfied with a meal like that which they enjoy so often at home, amused themselves by an uproarious dance. Katema sent to ask what I had given them to produce so much excitement. Intemese replied it was their custom, and they meant no harm. The com panion of the ox we slaughtered refused food for two days, and went lowing about for him continually. He seemed inconsolable for his loss, and tried again and again to escape back to the Makololo country. My men remarked, "He thinks, They will kill me as well as my friend." Katema thought it the result of art, and had fears of my skill in medicine, and, of course, witchcraft. He refused to see the magic lantern. On Sunday, the 19th, both I and several of our party were seized with fever, and I could do nothing but toss about in my little tent, with the thermometer about 90°,— though this was the beginning of winter, and my men made as much shade as possible by planting branches of trees all round and over it. We have, for the first time in my experience in Africa, had a cold wind from the north. All the winds from that quarter are hot, and those from the south are cold; but they seldom blow from either direction. 20th. We were glad to get away, though not on account of any scarcity of food; for my men, by giving small presents of meat as an earnest of their sincerity, formed many friendships with the people of Katema. We went about four or five miles in a N.N.W. direction, then two in a westerly one, and came round the small end of Lake Dilolo. It seemed, as far as we could at this time discern, to be like a river a quarter of a mile wide. Immediately beyond Dilolo there is a large flat abou twenty miles in breadth. Here Shakatwala insisted on our remaining to get supplies of food from Katema's subjects before entering the uninhabited watery plains. 198 SAGACITY OF ANTS. Heavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in front (N.N.W.) in one day, and the constant wading among the grass hurt the feet of the men. There is a footpath all the way across, but, as this is worn down beneath the level of the rest of the plain, it is necessarily the deepest portion, and the men, avoiding it, make a new walk by its side. A path, however narrow, is a great convenience, as any one who has travelled on foot in Africa will admit. The virtual want of it here caused us to make slow and painful progress. Ants surely are wiser than some men, for they learn by experience. They have established themselves even on these plains, where water stands so long annually as to allow the lotus, and other aqueous plants, to come to maturity. When all the ant-horizon is submerged a foot deep. they manage to exist by ascending to little houses built of black tenacious loam on stalks of grass and placed higher than the line of inundation. This must have been the result of experience; for, if they had waited till the water actually invaded their terrestrial habitations, they would not have been able to procure materials for their aerial quarters unless they dived down to the bottom for every mouthful of clay. Some of these upper chambers are about the size of a bean, and others as large as a man's thumb. They must have built in anticipation; and, if so, let us humbly hope that the sufferers by the late inundations in France may be possessed of as much common sense as the little black ants of the Dilolo plains. DEEP VALLEY. 199 CHAPTER XVIII. DR. LIVINGSTONE ADVANCES TO THE NORTHWEST-VISITS KATENDE AND IONGA PANZA. 24th of February.-ON reaching unflooded lands beyond the plain, we found the villages there acknowledged the authority of the chief named Katénde, and we discovered, also, to our surprise, that the almost level plain we had passed forms the watershed between the southern and northern rivers, for we had now entered a district in which the rivers flowed in a northerly direction into the Kasai or Loké, near to which we now were, while the rivers we had hitherto crossed were all running southward. Having met with kind treatment and aid at the first village, Katema's guides returned, and we were led to the N.N.W. by the inhabitants, and descended into the very first really-deep valley we had seen since leaving Kolobeng. A stream ran along the bottom of a slope of three or four hundred yards from the plains above. We crossed this by a rustic bridge at present submerged thigh deep by the rains. The trees growing along the stream of this lovely valley were thickly planted and very high. Many had sixty or eighty feet of clean straight trunk, and beautiful flowers adorned the ground beneath them. Ascending the opposite side, we came, in two hours' time, to another valley, equally beautiful, and with a stream also in its centre. Reaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent as a present of tobacco, Mutokuane or "bang," (Cannabis sativa,) and maize, by the man who went forward to announce our arrival, and a message expressing satisfaction at the prospect of having trade with the coast. westing we were making brought us among people who are frequently visited by the Mambari as slave-dealers. The 200 DEMAND FOR GUNPOWDER AND CALICO. This trade causes bloodshed; for when a poor family is selected as the victims it is necessary to get rid of the older members of it, because they are supposed to be able to give annoyance to the chief afterward by means of enchantments. The belief in the power of charms for good or evil produces not only honesty, but a great amount of gentle dealing. The powerful are often restrained in their despotism from a fear that the weak and helpless may injure them by their medical knowledge. When we wished to move on, Kabinje refused a guide to the next village, because he was at war with it; but, after much persuasion, he consented, provided that the guide should be allowed to return as soon as he came in sight of the enemy's village. This we felt to be a misfortune, as the people all suspect a man who comes telling his own tale; but, there being no help for it, we went on, and found the head-man of a village on the rivulet Kalómba, called Kangénke, a very different man from what his enemy represented. We found, too, that the idea of buying and selling took the place of giving for friendship. As I had nothing with which to purchase food except a parcel of beads, which were preserved for worse times, I began to fear that we should soon be compelled to suffer more from hunger than we had done. The people demanded gunpowder for every thing. If we had possessed any quantity of that article, we should have got on well, for here it is of great value. On our return, near this spot we found a good-sized fowl was sold for a single charge of gunpowder. Next to that, English calico was in great demand, and so were beads; but money was of no value whatever. Gold is quite unknown; it is thought to be brass: trade is carried on by barter alone. The people know nothing of money. A purse-proud person would here feel the ground move from beneath his feet. Occasionally a large piece of copper, in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross, is offered for sale. February 27-Kangenke promptly furnished guides |