to Sebituane, and, now that his son Sekeletu was in his place, Shinte was not merely a friend, but a father to him; and if a son asks a favor, the father must give it.  He was highly pleased with the large calabashes of clarified butter and fat which Sekeletu had sent him, and wished to detain Kolimbota, that he might send a present back to Sekeletu by his hands.  This proposition we afterward discovered was Kolimbota’s own, as he had heard so much about the ferocity of the tribes through which we were to pass that he wished to save his skin.  It will be seen farther on that he was the only one of our party who returned with a wound.

We were particularly struck, in passing through the village, with the punctiliousness of manners shown by the Balonda.  The inferiors, on meeting their superiors in the street, at once drop on their knees and rub dust on their arms and chest; they continue the salutation of clapping the hands until the great ones have passed.  Sambanza knelt down in this manner till the son of Shinte had passed him.

We several times saw the woman who occupies the office of drawer of water for Shinte; she rings a bell as she passes along to give warning to all to keep out of her way; it would be a grave offense for any one to come near her, and exercise an evil influence by his presence on the drink of the chief.  I suspect that offenses of the slightest character among the poor are made the pretext for selling them or their children to the Mambari.  A young man of Lobale had fled into the country of Shinte, and located himself without showing himself to the chief.  This was considered an offense sufficient to warrant his being seized and offered for sale while we were there.  He had not reported himself, so they did not know the reason of his running away from his own chief, and that chief might accuse them of receiving a criminal.  It was curious to notice the effect of the slave-trade in blunting the moral susceptibility:  no chief in the south would treat a fugitive in this way.  My men were horrified at the act, even though old Shinte and his council had some show of reason on their side; and both the Barotse and the Makololo declared that, if the Balonda only knew of the policy pursued by them to fugitives, but few of the discontented would remain long with Shinte.  My men excited the wonder of his people by stating that every one of them had one cow at least in his possession.

Another incident, which occurred while we were here, may be mentioned, as of a character totally unknown in the south.  Two children, of seven and eight years old, went out to collect firewood a short distance from their parents’ home, which was a quarter of a mile from the village, and were kidnapped; the distracted parents could not find a trace of them.  This happened so close to the town, where there are no beasts of prey, that we suspect some of the high men of Shinte’s court were the guilty parties:  they can sell them by night.  The Mambari erect