As the last proof of friendship, Shinte came into my tent, though it could scarcely contain more than one person, looked at all the curiosities, the quicksilver, the looking-glass, books, hair-brushes, comb, watch, etc., etc., with the greatest interest; then closing the tent, so that none of his own people might see the extravagance of which he was about to be guilty, he drew out from his clothing a string of beads, and the end of a conical shell, which is considered, in regions far from the sea, of as great value as the Lord Mayor’s badge is in London.  He hung it round my neck, and said, “There, now you have a proof of my friendship.”

My men informed me that these shells are so highly valued in this quarter, as evidences of distinction, that for two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be considered a handsome price for an elephant’s tusk worth ten pounds.  At our last interview old Shinte pointed out our principal guide, Intemese, a man about fifty, who was, he said, ordered to remain by us till we should reach the sea; that I had now left Sekeletu far behind, and must henceforth look to Shinte alone for aid, and that it would always be most cheerfully rendered.  This was only a polite way of expressing his wishes for my success.  It was the good words only of the guides which were to aid me from the next chief, Katema, on to the sea; they were to turn back on reaching him; but he gave a good supply of food for the journey before us, and, after mentioning as a reason for letting us go even now that no one could say we had been driven away from the town, since we had been several days with him, he gave a most hearty salutation, and we parted with the wish that God might bless him.

Chapter 17.

Leave Shinte—­Manioc Gardens—­Mode of preparing the poisonous kind—­Its general Use—­Presents of Food—­Punctiliousness of the Balonda—­ Their Idols and Superstition—­Dress of the Balonda—­Villages beyond Lonaje—­Cazembe—­Our Guides and the Makololo—­Night Rains—­Inquiries for English cotton Goods—­Intemese’s Fiction—­Visit from an old Man—­Theft—­Industry of our Guide—­Loss of Pontoon—­Plains covered with Water—­Affection of the Balonda for their Mothers—­A Night on an Island—­The Grass on the Plains—­Source of the Rivers—­Loan of the Roofs of Huts—­A Halt—­Fertility of the Country through which the Lokalueje flows—­Omnivorous Fish—­Natives’ Mode of catching them—­ The Village of a Half-brother of Katema, his Speech and Present—­Our Guide’s Perversity—­Mozenkwa’s pleasant Home and Family—­Clear Water of the flooded Rivers—­A Messenger from Katema—­Quendende’s Village:  his Kindness—­Crop of Wool—­Meet People from the Town of Matiamvo—­Fireside Talk—­Matiamvo’s Character and Conduct—­Presentation at Katema’s Court:  his Present, good Sense, and Appearance—­Interview on the following Day—­Cattle—­A Feast and a Makololo Dance—­Arrest of a Fugitive—­ Dignified old Courtier—­Katema’s lax Government—­Cold Wind from the North—­Canaries and other singing Birds—­Spiders, their Nests and Webs—­Lake Dilolo—­Tradition—­Sagacity of Ants.