Extracts from the Diary and Letters 
 
 FREDERICK STANLEY ARNOT 
 
 1884. 
 
 JAMES E. HAWKINS, 36* BAKER STREET, W., 
 
 AND 17, PATEKNOBTER ROW, E.C. 
 
 Bath: T. Hallett, 4, Abbey Vif.w. 
 i, Glasgow : The Publishing Office, 40, Sauchiehall Street 
 
 Price 
 
 ZAMBESI TO fiENGUELL 
 
FROM THE 
 
 ZAMBESI TO BENGUELLA. 
 
 Extracts from the Diary and Letters 
 
 OF 
 
 FREDERICK STANLEY ARNOT 
 
 1884. 
 
 JAMES E. HAWKINS, 36, BAKER STREET, W., 
 
 AND 17, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 
 
 , Bath: T. Hallett, 4, Abbey View. 
 
 Glasgow : The Publishing Office, 40, Sauchiehall Street. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Mr. Arnot has been obliged to take another long 
 journey, and though the ground was traversed in the 
 opposite direction about seven years ago by an African 
 exploier, Major Serpa Pinto, of the Portuguese army, 
 Mr. Arnot IS able to tell of things from a very different 
 point of view. The route is shown on the small map 
 page 8. 
 
 His chief reason for leaving the Zambesi was, that 
 after staying eighteen months in the deadly climate of the 
 -Barotsi Valley, and suffering much in health, a chano-e 
 was absolutely necessary. The need of opening up a 
 more certain and quicker mode of communication than 
 by the south, and rumours of an approaching civil war 
 also induced him to set forth for the West Coast of 
 Africa. This journey took him over numberless rivers 
 and across an elevated region, more than 5000 feet above 
 the sea. The complete change of air, and the subsequent 
 stay on the coast, at Benguella, have been very helpful in 
 restoring his strength, and he anticipated setting out 
 again for Bihd last month, to help the American mis¬ 
 sionaries, to whom he had already been enabled to render 
 very important service. 
 
 It is perhaps well that no one set forth to join Mr. 
 Arnot m the Barotsi Valley, but we may now more 
 t ran ever ask God to thrust forth true labourers in the 
 Gospel to follow up our brother’s pioneering work. Just 
 after he left the Zambesi, M. Coillard, the French mis¬ 
 sionary from Basuto land, arrived there with his family 
 but we fear it will prove too unhealthy for them to 
 lemain, unless access to the hill country has been 
 allowed since the death of King Leboshe. 
 
 Those who have not seen the previous diaries of Mr. 
 Arnot would find them deeply interesting ; they are 
 entitled Lrom A^atal to the Upper Za 7 nbesi" '"'‘First 
 Year a 7 noiig the Barotsi.” 
 
 _ We commend the workers in these parts, and espe- 
 cially our valued young brother, to the prayers of God’s 
 children. 
 
 Further tidings will be published from time to time 
 D.V., in the little periodical edited by us, ^ . 
 
 Editors, Echoes of Service. 
 
 Feb. mth, 1885. 
 
Jfrom tl)e Zmnht^i to Bengu^IIa* 
 
 DIARY AND LETTERS, 1884. 
 
 Lealui, Jamcary \st, 1884.—Had a long talk with the 
 king this evening about the stars and the sun. The king 
 then wanted to know where God dwelt, and what did He do 
 with man when dead ? 1 answered that God was not con¬ 
 fined to one place, as we are ; that when man’s body 
 died, the spirit of him who was a child of God went above 
 and dwelt for ever in the presence of God ; those whom 
 God knew not here in this life were cast out into a place 
 of sorrow and burning. “ But why does God do so ? ” he 
 asked ; “ what reason has He for putting man from Him ? ” 
 I explained to him something of the righteousness of 
 God ; that He could in no wise clear the guilty. The 
 king argued that here they did not know God’s laws ; how 
 then could God punish them for not keeping them ? I 
 answered that God having planted His law in their hearts, 
 they all knew what was right and what was wrong. 
 “You know,” said I, “when a man lies to your face and 
 steals from you that he injures you, and you call him bad 
 and wicked. So when you to-morrow do the same thing, 
 God judges you with the same judgment with which you 
 judged your fellow-creature yesterday.” His only answer 
 was, “Yes, that is true ; that I understand.” Presently he 
 muttered something about the hardness of man’s lot, and 
 I tried to explain God’s love to him in the gift of His son, 
 and after listening for a little he suddenly bustled away, 
 saying, “ Well, well, I will call you again to speak about 
 this matter.” 
 
4 
 
 From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 frmuuz^T^s^ffrJ-WM- is the great einployment here at 
 present ; one impi (native name for army) just come in, 
 with long strings of captives, poor naked women and chil¬ 
 dren. The man who can show by the pieces of skin from 
 the bodies of his victims that he has killed a number, is 
 danced round by the women as a great hero. —The 
 
 king seems |nore afraid of the word of God since/our last 
 talk, as he i; little inclined to speak again on tha subject. 
 I was at hii i again to-day. —Candle-makmg to-day, 
 
 with bees-wax and o.x fat. i6ih. —Washing day. 20th .— 
 Down with severe headaches ; no sleep nis^t or day. 
 Senhor Porto says I must go with him to Bi/ie. 26th.—^ 
 Two men were tried for witchcraft in front of my yard this 
 morning ; they dipped their hands into the boiling water 
 as coolly as possible, for these brutal trials are so common 
 that even the victims show but little concern. In the 
 evening both were brought out of their prison hut, and 
 being found to be badly burned they were condemned to 
 the flames. 2']th. —The two men of yesterday burned this_ 
 morning.w I asked the king and'^iis people to come to my 
 yard to hear the ^spel, but he seemed annoyed at this 
 public invitation,^nd said I nn^st be content with the 
 children ; nor woiyd he allow me to speak to him there, 
 saying that the bigl people did dpt want to learn these 
 things. 2gih. —Hekdaches very pad. I fall into fits of 
 stupor, probably owing to the gr^t heat, with little rain, 
 added to the schoomvork and the jranslating ; translating 
 the twenty verses a day I have set onyself requires a great 
 deal of thought and going over. 1 
 
 Febrtiary 6th. —Mqch better ; have been keeping 
 
 in¬ 
 
 doors more during the day, and am 
 
 getting 
 
 on well with 
 
 the testament and a dictionary of Sekololo and Serotsi 
 [the languages of the Makololo and the Barotsi]. The 
 heat so affects everything that the people of the town are 
 all either asleep or lazily lying about, drinking thin beer. 
 Not even a dog is seen about; the oxen stand or lie in 
 each othePs shadow, caring little for the rich long grass 
 all round ; the king’s horses stand in the shade of a hut, 
 with their heads hanging’ wearily between their knees ; 
 scarcely a bird flutters, and the smoke from the little fire 
 at which the boys are cooking my dinner, will not rise 
 through the hot air. Such days are generally followed by 
 a tremendous thunderstorm, lightning without intermis¬ 
 sion, and startling crashes of thunder, far on into the 
 night. During a severe thunderstorm the natives do not 
 
From the Zambesi to Bengnella. 
 
 5 
 
 -eat, drink, oriwork. 12th. —The valley is now flooded, one 
 cannot go a few yards from the door without a boat, 
 2otk. —The king and the people of the town, my scholars 
 included, have gone on a grand buck-hunt, so I am left 
 .alone, with only a few women and slaves in the town. I 
 have taken advantage of the quietness to begin chair¬ 
 making and sewing, and to clean my gun for some duck 
 and goose shooting. The slaves of the town got up a 
 fight in their masters’ absence, and two men were brought 
 to me to have their wounds stanched and bound up ; the 
 one had a knife stab, the other’s head and face had been 
 laid open with an axe. 22nd. —Last night an attempt was 
 made to break into my house. To-day the king’s head 
 servant sent round the town crier, threatening with death 
 any who should attempt to steal from me. 
 
 March \\th. —Have had a run of quartan ague all this 
 month ; hearing Porto was laid up, I borrowed a boat 
 and went across the valley, and found him very ill indeed 
 with ophthalmia, ibth. —Ague very severe ; never shook 
 so much in my life ; fever all night after. 2^th .—A wagon 
 has just come in from Shoshong. M. Coillard has sent a 
 blanket to the king with a few lines dated from Basuto¬ 
 land, April, 1882, saying that he was coming on. The 
 father superior of the Jesuits has also sent a letter and a 
 blanket to the king ; \ they are very energetic and deter¬ 
 mined to succeed. 
 
 Lords Day, yoth. —Had a very few this morning, but a 
 large company in the afternoon meeting, which lasted from 
 three o’clock until suifset ; sitting in a draught I got a 
 chill, and spent most 6f the night passing through the 
 three stages of ague. 
 
 April c)th. —Found Porto had lost sight of one eye. 
 loth. —The king sits in great state on his chair under a big 
 “ Ashanti ” umbrella ; the people kneel before him and 
 roll their heads in the dust. Amongst themselves the 
 women kiss one another on the lips, and the men kiss each 
 other’s hands ; they are very respectful to their elders and 
 superiors, continually using the term “ ntate ” (my father). 
 17M.—The king is very straijige; to-day he will scold my 
 schoolboys for not learning, land to-morrow he will send 
 them away to herd oxen. Tjiere has been quite a plague 
 of serpents here lately ; within the last few days I and 
 my boys killed two in the house and three in the yard. 
 While bathing near my house I saw three serpents hang¬ 
 ing from the reeds above rriy head, and the same day 
 
6 
 
 From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 when landing from a boat the boy in front sprang back in 
 terror as he pointed out tyi'O black cobras coiled in the 
 grass in front of us. On^ big yellow fellow had been 
 sharing my bed for I do nit know how long. 
 
 A/)rit i8th. —Porto’s man wants to know whether I am 
 going on or not, but to this 1 really cannot say “ yes ” or 
 “no.” My eye has beep failing, and threatens as last 
 year. My goods are dona, or nearly so. Strange rumours 
 are afloat, and strange tilings have been going on since 
 the king’s r^urxuu- J. feaj it is the beginning of another 
 civil war. —^Cpoor old woman'wEohad'aTwaysoeenkmd 
 to me was burned this morning as a witch. She was sus¬ 
 pected of putting a crocodile’s tooth amongst the king’s 
 corn in order to bewitch him, was tried by the boiling 
 pot, and was condemned. I believe it was a trick of some 
 spiteful rascals who were her servants, in preparing corn 
 for the king, for it was they who brought the tooth to 
 one of the king’s head servants, igth .—Another old man 
 in the boiling pot to-day, supposed to have bewitched the 
 king’s brother, who, though a young man, is so fat that 
 walking is a difficulty with him ; imagining that his fat 
 was leaving him he decided that this old man must be the 
 wizard, loth .—The old man of yesterday has, strange to 
 say, come out of the trial uninjured. I saw him twice dip 
 his hands into boiling water,' allowing the water to run 
 over his wrists as he lifted his hands out, and yet the next 
 day his skin was as if there had been nothing to injure it.. 
 The only natural cause for this that I can think of is that 
 his hands are nearly a century old, and are as tough as 
 tough can be. This was flourished before me as a great 
 victory, achieved under my very eyes, in favour of the 
 boiling pot trials. The advocates for this piece of 
 barbarism declare that if the hands of an infant who 
 knew nothing of witchcraft were placed in boiling water,, 
 not a particle of skin would come off. They delight in 
 the practice, because by it the rich can get rid of their 
 poorer enemies without staining their own hands with the 
 poor man’s blood. \ 
 
 April 'iT.nd .—Gumbela and some of my friends seemed 
 to think it was well that I tehould leave just now, because 
 of the troubles brewing, sol I have told Porto that I will 
 accompany him. 27//;.—Down again with fever since my 
 last note ; it has left me weak indeed ; hope soon to be 
 out of the valley on to the fine hills to the west. 
 
 May \st .—The king sending word that a boat was ready 
 
Fro7n the, Zambesi to Betignella. 
 
 7 
 
 for me, I packed up, sent the things I had to his house, 
 and gave the key of my house to one of the king’s ser¬ 
 vants. The king bought my gun, and gave me two large 
 elephant’s teeth with which to buy a Winchester repeating 
 rifle for him. He was very sad, and said that on my 
 return I might not find him there ; for days he has been 
 shut up in a back-yard, and when bidding “ goodbye ” in 
 this place, he shook hands long and warmly, and said, 
 “ You are my friend ; come back very soon.” yd .— 
 Alarming news as to the Barotsi ; plans are laid for a 
 revolt against Leboshe, and it is intended to set up his 
 cousin Mude-a-Mongola. 4th .—I have arranged to-day 
 with Porto about my carriers, and will ride upon an ox 
 instead of being carried in a hammock, as he proposed, 
 which would be far too nice a way of travelling, and 
 might make one discontented and extravagant another 
 time. 
 
 May 8/^.—We started this morning, though not without 
 much pain and difficulty on my part, owing to an accident 
 which I met with last night, and which, but for the mercy 
 of God, might have been a very serious one. I had been 
 repairing some guns for the Barotsi, and on firing the 
 second one, a breechloader, the hinge of the block gave 
 way, and I got my face and right eye much burned with 
 gunpowder. To add to my misfortune, my riding ox was 
 sent off by mistake in the night, so I had to be led by my 
 little boy for ten weary miles, most of the way wading up 
 to the knees in water and then through rough bush. 
 Reached the town of Kangete and camped there. 10th .— 
 Started on a small ox of Porto’s; a very thick forest being 
 ahead of us, a sorry journey the ox and I made between 
 us. The foot-path was bad and narrow enough, but my 
 ox had no idea of keeping to it, and dragged me about in 
 all directions : on catching sight of the other oxen he 
 would canter straight towards them, leaving either me or 
 bits of my distressed clothing hanging in a thorn bush. 
 I managed, with difficulty, to hold on my hat, but the 
 bandage I had round my eyes was left in the thorns. At 
 last I sent the ox about his business and lay down quite 
 out of breath and, I fear, sadly out of temper. Some of 
 the carriers came to urge me on, but it was of no use, till 
 a female slave gave me a cool drink and some coarse 
 bread, which sent me on my journey, moralising on the 
 superior humanity of women. 12th .—My own ox was 
 caught this morning, and I got on much better with him. 
 
8 
 
 From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 MAPOf ArRicft South or THE Equator. 
 
 Started from Kakap long before cock-crow—Porto carries 
 a cock with him to crow—so, early in the day we reached 
 Osore, a lake of considerable size, and camped there. My 
 eyes are gradually getting better through the constant 
 application of poultices of ox-dung heated in a pan. My 
 road all the way to Bihd is the very one that Serpa Pinto 
 took coming here, so that in the map accompanying his 
 book my course may be followed. 
 
 May 13//z.—Crossed a deep running river, on the shoul¬ 
 ders of a big,.stout Mambadi, and camped by the Nyengo. 
 \/\th .-—Passed through much water on the Nyengo flat, 
 my ox swimming bravely with me on his back. Camped 
 at Relva. 15/I.—A tedious journey through a dense, 
 dark forest, which smelt like a dank dungeon, with moss 
 and lichen, but no grass growing. Camped at Ka King- 
 ga on the river Ninda, as the upper part of the Nyengo 
 
9 
 
 Front the Zambesi to Bengiiella. 
 
 is called, where the Ainbuella, a small tribe of the Bam- 
 bunda race, are living. \<^th. —Travelled along the right 
 bank of the Ninda. zoth. —A wild-looking company of 
 Bambunda hunters came to the camp ; they dress their 
 hair to imitate the horns of wild animals, and one had a 
 stick through his nose. In this part the Bambunda are 
 peaceable, but further on they form robber gangs and 
 would be dangerous to a small party. z\st. —journeyed 
 along the Ninda. Ever since leaving the Barotsi valley 
 we have been constantly ascending, so that now we are 
 travelling through high airy country, very cold at night, 
 with sharp touches of frost, but during the day the sun is 
 strong. I have tried to walk barefoot, my boots being 
 done up, but the sand was so hot that after half-an-hour’s 
 hopping along I had to give in, with four large blisters on 
 my feet ; this is whiter here. 
 
 May zznd. —To-day we reach the source of the Ninda, 
 which flows from a range of hills dividing the water-flow 
 between the Zambesi and Quando rivers : here the hills 
 are high and thickly-wooded, z^rd .—Crossed the hills 
 and reached the source of the river Shulong-go, tributary 
 to the Kumbule, which is tributary to the Ouando river. 
 Following the Shulong-go, we came to the Kumbule, a 
 large, beautiful stream, which seemed to dance along over 
 a bed of silver sand so bright that it was painful to look 
 at it. Orange, green, and other bright-coloured water- 
 weeds were growing in abundance and were beautifully 
 mixed. All the rivers and little streams have the same 
 bright appearance in this part of the country, proving that 
 “Afric’s sunny fountains” is no mere poetic dream. It is 
 a pity to see such a fertile and undoubtedly healthy coun¬ 
 try almost entirely uninhabited. 
 
 May Zi\th. —Crossed hilly country, densely wooded, and 
 reached the river Sheekoloi, running south through a 
 valley, z^th. —The oxen refusing to cross the river, they 
 were sent up stream to look for a ford. z6th. —There 
 being no signs of the oxen, we started for the Kuti river, 
 (R. Cuchibe of Serpa Pinto,) crossing four hills and three 
 valleys. z"]th. —One of the carriers who has a familiar 
 spirit being asked to divine why the oxen would not cross 
 the Sheekoloi, he called up the spirit of an old servant of 
 Porto’s, who said that he had stopped the oxen because 
 presents had not been given to his friends after his death 
 {one of his friends being amongst the company of carriers!) 
 3o//z.—Deciding to visit the string of small towns along 
 
lO 
 
 From tJie Zambcs^to Benguella. 
 
 this river belonging to the Bakuti, a people akin to the 
 Bambunda, we got a boj^ and pulled up the stream, stop¬ 
 ping at all the huts and small villages. The people showed 
 much frankness and/said how glad they were to see an 
 '■‘English” for the first time. I asked them to gather 
 together at their drief towns in two days’ time, and then I 
 would speak to/tnem. 
 
 3 IS'/'.—All day buying food, which the'people bring in 
 plenty. I ^ver saw food anywhere in Africa so cheap as 
 it is here / a piece of limbo, about the size of a handker¬ 
 chief, w)\\ buy about twenty pounds of meal or a calabash 
 of hma^y. ^ ^ 
 
 '' June 1st .—In the afternoon a goodly company had 
 assembled to be spoken to, but all ineii^ for everywhere in 
 Africa the women are the most conservative and the most 
 difficult to persuade into receiving anything new, and here 
 they had shut themselves up in their huts. These people 
 had lived in such seclusion that they knew nothing of 
 teachers living amongst other tribes, the limit of their 
 knowledge being the West-coast trader, his goods, his 
 ivory, and, in past years, his string of slaves. Speaking 
 through my interpreter, Antonia, I told them in the sim¬ 
 plest language of God the Creator, of man’s departure 
 from Him, of the sending of God’s Son as a Saviour, and 
 of His now sending messengers throughout the world to 
 call back men to Himself. The dose attention made me 
 feel that the Spirit of God was blessing the word, and at 
 the end they expressed their thanks by clapping their 
 hands. The chief then said that they could not tell how 
 happy they were that I had spoken in that way to them ; 
 he had believed in a great God who had made all things, 
 but he wanted ±p know that God, that he might pray_to_ 
 him at all times. ( Porto 'sa^s th^ these people are excep¬ 
 tionally simple ; he has neyer known them to steal any of 
 the goods entrusted to thein. They live in square houses 
 built close to the river Kuti, which forms their main street; 
 each person possesses a boat\ and, as there is a continual 
 traffic going on, the river presents a very lively appear¬ 
 ance. The country is properly called Isambuela and the 
 people Ambuella, but they ara, generally known as the 
 Bakuti (people of Kuti). Their hair receives more dressing 
 than their bodies ; the men hava a skin before and behind 
 from the girdle, but the women use cloth in dressing. 
 They have blankfets made of the inner bark of a large tree, 
 beaten soft. \ 
 
From the Zambesi to Benguella. ii 
 
 Jiine Ath .—Many gathered at the villages, and we had 
 a o-Qod time this morning ; one man showed great interest 
 and said afterwards, “This day I am a child of Jesus 
 Christ; now I will pray to God alone.” Some wished 
 me to return to-morrow, but the chief said, “ No, we will 
 tire the white man by his coming so far ; we will gather 
 together and go to his camp.” 5//z.—A goodly number 
 came to the camp to-day. 6 th .—Had a long talk with 
 the chief and the man who said he was a child of Jesus 
 Christ, and told them that though I was leaving, I would, 
 God willing, return to them. The chief replied that they 
 Avould look much for my return, that they would not for¬ 
 get the good news brought to them, and that they would 
 pray God to bring me back in safety. I have hope to¬ 
 ward God that these two men have indeed drunk of that 
 living water, of which if a man drink he shall never thirst 
 again. 
 
 Ju7ie SM.—Started for the village of Kwawewe, but 
 learning that the people had moved away and were living 
 amongst the reeds some distance off, I at last found their 
 huts, but in the chiefs absence was not allowed to visit 
 them. gth .—The chief came to-day saying that he was 
 sorry he was absent yesterday, but that now he had 
 brought his people to hear what I had to say. I spoke 
 to them all in my house, and the chief, who seems to be 
 a sensible, cautious man, thanked me repeatedly, and 
 wanted to give me a little boy as a present. 
 
 June \ith .—Left Serpa Pinto’s road and kept on by 
 the river Kuti; passed straggling towns of Bambunda 
 and Bashmoke. 13///.—Started early in the morning, 
 the main body of the carriers being behind. We passed 
 several villages of Bambunda all right, the people only 
 coming out to look at us, but coming to a large town 
 they gathered round us dancing, shouting and yelling 
 like fiends, and swinging their weapons over our heads. 
 They laid hold on some of the carriers, and drove off my 
 ox, so I ran back and kept them off the goods until Porto 
 came up with some more men. Porto sprang from his 
 hammock and seized his gun, which made the ruffians 
 fall back. I got back my ox and started off with the 
 boys and women carriers, while Porto and some armed 
 men kept the Bambundas at bay. 14///.—Reached the 
 town of Herero, who is chief of the Bambunda along the 
 Kuti, and who proved as disagreeable as his people, 
 demanding an ox and some tiger-skins. I sent word to 
 
12 From the Zambesi to Bcngiiella. 
 
 Herero that I was a man of peace, who had come from 
 far, and that I hoped to return to them shortly, i^th .— 
 Got off without further trouble, Porto having given some 
 tiger-skins to the chief. Left the Kuti and, crossing a 
 very steep hill, descended to the river Kuvangui, a rapid 
 and deep stream, which I crossed by a frail wooden 
 bridge, the carriers going further up to a ford. Keeping 
 by the Kuvangui for four hours, we passed the town of 
 Kankanga and camped at the town of Kashima’s 
 daughter. I speak of “ towns,” but though the people are 
 there in considerable numbers, gathered close together 
 under their chief, their huts are so hidden and scattered 
 in dense wood, that the only signs to a passer-by of the 
 presence of human beings are certain narrow and wind¬ 
 ing foothpaths here and there. 
 
 Jime \6th .—One of the servants being recognised as 
 the son of a man who had robbed Kashima, the old chief 
 of the Balochash, of a lot of bees-wax, Kashima’s son 
 demanded a recompense, but the lad had nothing to 
 give. The Balochash seized some of our people who 
 were in the wood, and carried theni away to the hills. 
 Porto went to a woman-chief, who succeeded in restoring 
 all the prisoners but one ; our carriers are brave fellows, 
 and are determined to have this one back. Porto is 
 very uneasy, and thinks they will have to fight ; but I 
 have asked the Lord, for the sake of His gospel in these 
 parts, to prevent any bloodshed, ijth .—I went with a 
 large company of the Bambadis to the hills where the 
 captive was, and found the Balochash ready to fight, so 
 I sat down on a stool between the two parties for a little 
 talk. An old chief ran out, shouting to the young men to 
 rise and fight; the Bambadis fell back, and each man 
 got behind a tree or stump. I called to Porto’s men not 
 to fire, and got behind the Bambadis, who were waiting 
 for the first shot from the enemy, when the cowards of 
 the Balochash, seeiug that the Bambadis meant to 
 fight, caught their chief, who was in the act of levelling 
 his gun, and tied him up, calling to the Bambadis not to 
 fire. At last, they all sat down to talk over the matter, 
 and it was decided to give up the son of the man who 
 owed the debt, until his father came to redeem him by 
 paying for the stolen wax. 19///.—^The stolen man was 
 given back to us on payment of things agreed upon. 
 2\st .—Head of Rovangui river; the Balochash attacked 
 men remaining with an ox, which had fallen behind, but 
 
13 
 
 From the Zambesi to Bengtiella. 
 
 some of the carriers ran back, and the robbers decamped. 
 Z 27 id .—Left the Kuvangui valley, crossed a high range of 
 hills, in the midst of which runs the Sinsoy river, and 
 reached the Ouando river (Livingstone’s Chobe) in the 
 •afternoon. It is nearly two years since I first came to 
 this river, below Linyanti, where it is broad and reedy, 
 taking hours to cross, while here it is but eight or ten 
 feet broad. 2y'd .—As we go up the Quando, the scenery 
 becomes more expansive and grand. The hills on each 
 side are high and wide apart, and covered on the tops 
 with dense wood. Bright, rapid streams run down every 
 kloof. It is strange to find every stream in this part of 
 the country full during the dry season ; during the rains 
 they are low.* The hills here seem to be one mass of 
 sand, firm though very porous. 
 
 Jtote 2/^th .—Reached the head of the Ouando, which 
 rises very quietly out of a pool about fifteen feet in 
 diameter. Our camp being soon crowded with the 
 people, of whom there are many here, I told one of the 
 fathers of the tribe something of my mission and of the 
 Ood I served. The old man ran off excitedly to bring 
 some other old men, who greeted me with clapping of 
 hands, and to them he retailed with great energy what I 
 had said to him. I told them I was only journeying to 
 get cloth wherewith to buy food, and would return soon. 
 But my old friend wanted to know exactly when 1 would 
 • comeback, so I showed with my hand the height that 
 his corn would be above the ground when he might look 
 for my return. 2^th ..—Crossed the Kutau and Biseque ; 
 
 ■ camped at Kambuti, at the head of the latter river. The 
 Biseque joins the Kutau, which falls into the Lunge- 
 ibungo, a tributary of the Zambesi. For some time back 
 I have been travelling almost entirely on foot, as my 
 riding-ox is quite done-up for want of grass, which the 
 frost by night and the sun by day have withered to 
 tinder. Walking fifteen miles a day through deep sand 
 and under a hot sun is no easy work, and Senhor Porto 
 was quite angry on hearing'of this, saying I was sure to 
 be ill after it ; so between us we rigged up a hammock, 
 and he has given me four of his own men to carry me; 
 to-day I found I enjoyed my hammock ride amazingly. 
 
 * This is owing to the peculiar nature of the soil, as ex- 
 ,plained at some length in the journal. 
 
14 
 
 Froin the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 261th .—Kambuti is the first place where I have seen the 
 domestic pig in native territory. 
 
 Ju7ie 2~]th .—Reached the Cansambe and camped at 
 Brutwe ; the Cansambe is a small river running and 
 not west, as Serpa Pinto has it in his map ; it joins on its 
 western side the Cuango, which runs parallel with the 
 Kutau into the Lungebungo. 28//z.— Crossed a high 
 
 range of hills and camped by the Cambimbia, flowing 
 west ; its waters go by the Nyonga and Cuito to the 
 Okovango river, which flow's into Lake Ngami. 2<^th. 
 Crossed the Nyonga river and camped on the right-hand 
 bank of the Bembe river. 30^/^.—Crossed the Cuito 
 river. The Balochash are not found further west; they 
 belong to the Ambuella race, w'hich is the same as the 
 Bambunda, their language being merely a different dia¬ 
 lect. Like all hill men, they are wild and troublesome, 
 continually roving about. With one another, however, 
 these natives are very playful and childish. Amongst 
 them live a good many Bashmock, who are everywheie 
 the tradesmen, doing beautiful w'ork in brass, iron, and 
 w'ood. 
 
 All these tribes we have passed through have one 
 common religion, if one can call it by that name. They 
 say there is one great Spirit, who rules over all the othei 
 spirits, but they worship and sacrifice to the spirits of 
 ancestors, so far as I can learn, and have a mass of 
 fetish medicines and enchantments ; the hunter takes one 
 kind of charm with him ; the warrior another. Foi 
 divining, they have a basket filled wfith bones, teeth, 
 finger-nails, claw’S, seeds, stones and such articles, w'hich 
 are rattled by the diviner till the spirit comes and speaks- 
 to him in the movement of these things ; a solemn dirge 
 being chanted by the people when the spirit is haid to 
 Ido brought up. All is attention while the diviner reads 
 off a string of short sentences in different tones, repeated 
 after him by the audience. I am persuaded that these 
 diviners are arch-rogues, and the mere hirelings of men 
 who have set themselves to oppress their neighbours. 
 There is an open door amongst all these tribes for a 
 preacher of the gospel ; every time I have been able to 
 gain their ear, unhindered by any quarrel, they have 
 shown much interest and delight even, and have acknow¬ 
 ledged that they are living in darkness, and in ignorance 
 of the great Spirit who rules above all. 
 
 July 2nd .—Following the course of the Onda nvei. 
 
15 
 
 From the Zambesi to Bengiiella. 
 
 passed through a fine open country, crossing a running 
 stream of water nearly every half hour, some large, some 
 small, but all running rapidly ; a splendid country for 
 cultivation. During the dry season the whole country 
 could be put under water by irrigation ; why it should be 
 almost entirely deserted by the Kimbande I cannot say. 
 Reached the town of Cabango, who has recently died ; 
 the Kimbande have been very civil, and cautious of giving 
 offence, yd .—Camped by the Letot river. 4//’.—Spent 
 four hours in crossing the Ouanzas river ; such confusion 
 I never saw—every one rushing into the water to get his 
 load into the boats. I stood up to the waist in water, 
 with a big stick, keeping the men back from overloading 
 the boats. We all crossed safely and camped at Yapepa, 
 close by the Cocemba river, ^th .—Crossed the Cocemba 
 in boats, and after a long day’s journey lodged at Kon- 
 yeba’s town, the same who found Cameron far in the 
 interior in very destitute circumstances, and brought 
 him out to his town at Bihd ; from here Cameron went 
 to Benguella. I am now in Bihe territory, and mark a 
 decided change for the better in the outward appearance 
 of everything. Every one is well dressed ; the men wear 
 hats and coats and a rather long cloth kilt ; the women 
 wrap themselves in cloth from the armpits downwards, 
 bright grotesque patterns being the rage amongst them. 
 Their houses are square and well built, with hinged doors 
 and native-made iron locks ; all, of course, in imitation 
 of the Portuguese. Their gardens are large, well-tilled, 
 and neatly furrowed, quite like our own fields at home. 
 They are sadly given to drink and immorality, it being 
 an undeniable fact that those tribes which live near 
 Europeans, and imitate them, are more depraved in their 
 manners than the tribes of the interior. 
 
 The manners and customs of the negro “pure and 
 simple” of the interior, remind one of Scripture passages. 
 The Barotsi have such names as “ Child of sorrow,” 
 “ Child of joy,” “ Born by -the river,” and many others 
 suggested by events occurring at birth. When a man of 
 property dies, leaving no children, his nearest kinsman 
 takes his brother’s wives, and children born of them in¬ 
 herit the dead man’s property. (See Deut. xxv. 5, 6.) 
 This custom, however, is dying out. In 2 Kings iii. ii, 
 it is said of Elisha that it was he who poured water on 
 the hands of Elijah. On the return of a man to his town 
 or house a servant regularly waits with a vessel to pour 
 
16 From the Zambesi to Bengicella. 
 
 water on his hands. The average negro is the reverse of 
 cleanly, but there are many laws and customs among 
 them as to cleansing. The better-class negro washes his 
 hands regularly before and after meals, but this is 
 because he eats with his fingers ; he may use a spoon 
 with thin porridge or thick milk, but only to ladle the 
 food into the palm of his hand, from which he drops it 
 into his mouth. Houses defiled by dead bodies must be 
 cleansed, and an unclean woman, after living so many 
 days outside the town, is washed with water, anointed 
 with oil and perfume, and the inner fat of an ox is hung 
 round her neck by her husband, after which she returns 
 home. Circumcision is very generally practised by 
 different tribes, and in different ways. 
 
 The Barotsi make offerings to the spirits of their fore¬ 
 fathers when going to pray—under a tree, bush, or 
 grove planted for the purpose ; they take a larger or 
 smaller offering according to the measure of their request. 
 If the offering be beer, they pour it upon the ground ; if 
 cloth, it is tied to a horn stuck in the ground ; if an ox be 
 slaughtered, the blood is poured over this horn, which is, 
 in fact, their altar. In times of great distress they sacrifice 
 oxen to the great spirit “Nyambe.” When the king’s 
 state-barge is built, or war-drums are made, the fingers 
 and toes of a child are cut off, and the blood is sprinkled 
 upon them, after which the living body is thrown into the 
 Zambesi. 
 
 The native manner of speech is very quaint, and the 
 mere expectation of good things causes such delight that 
 men will dance and shout all night, with empty stomachs, 
 in prospect of a feast on the morrow. Regard for decency 
 in conversation is utterly unknown. There is a city of 
 refuge among the Barotsi, and any one incurring the 
 king’s wrath, or committing a serious crime, may find 
 safety by fleeing to the town of Wynee ; if this man 
 Wynee pleads for him, he can return to his house in 
 peace. 
 
 The African native, as found in his own home, is, like 
 ourselves, a man, with all the instincts of a man, and this is 
 Jelt by the lowest slave. A poor slave having been kicked 
 out of a hut in which he had sought shelter, he folded his 
 arms and calmly said : “Yes, master, I know you think 
 me to be a dog; but, sir, I am not a dog, I am a man.” 
 There was, for the moment, a dignity and impressiveness 
 about the poor naked slave, which subdued the fellow 
 
17 
 
 Fro/n the Zambesi to Benguella, 
 
 uho/was abusing him, and’ he was told to return to the 
 h«n 
 
 H The negro has many good laws as to constancy and 
 fidelity, but his innate cruelty is, I think, without com¬ 
 parison, and makes war a terrible thing with him. On 
 returning from raids he exults in telling the horrible 
 cruelties he has committed. A man will woo a woman 
 with accounts of the devilry he has been guilty of, for the 
 women delight in it, an^ I have seen things done to 
 captives, the thought of which makes the blood run cold. 
 Among the Mashukalumbe the women and children turn 
 ^jout to applaud their brave warriors, who string up by the 
 neck to tall trees the little children they have taken 
 captive, a spectacle which gives entertainment to the 
 whole countryside. Their punishments are very cruel. 
 Burning alive is, amongst the Barotsi, of every day 
 occurrence; also tying the victim hand and foot, and 
 laying him near the nest of large black ants, which in a 
 few days pick his bones clean. 
 
 There is an old but waning belief that a chief is a demi¬ 
 god, and in heavy thunderstorms the Barotsi flock to the 
 chief’s yard for protection from the lightning. I have 
 been greatly distressed at seeing them fall on their knees 
 before the chief, entreating him to open the water-pots of 
 heaven and send rain upon their gardens ; but last year 
 the chief acknowledged to me that he knew he was 
 unable to do so : still, he keeps up the delusion for the 
 sake of power. These ancient beliefs of the negro in 
 the power of chiefs’ medicines and enchantments have 
 but very slender props to rest on, and they are kept up 
 merely to fill a want in the mind, much as a drowning 
 man will clutch at a straw in his need of something 
 to bear him up. The king’s servants declare themselves 
 to be invincible, because they are servants of God 
 (meaning the king) ; but when some discontented Barotsi 
 went to kill Sepopo, the late chief, none fled faster than 
 the king’s body-guard. Sepopo, like the present king, 
 would boast that he possessed medicines and enchant¬ 
 ments which made his body impervious to spear or bullet, 
 but Sepopo fled in haste when he heard of the insurgents, 
 and a bullet through the chest killed him. 
 
 Man is a very fragile being, and he is fully conscious 
 that he requires supernatural or divine aid. There is 
 much to prove—shall I say apart from the distinct 
 revelation given by God in the first chapter of Romans? 
 
18 From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 —that the heathen African is a man to whom the living- 
 God has aforetime revealed Himself; but he sought after 
 things of his own imagination and things of darkness, to 
 satisfy those convictions and fears which lurk in his 
 breast, and which have not been planted there by the evil 
 one, but by God. Refusing to acknowledge God (Rom. 
 i. 28, margin), they have become haters of God (verse 30). 
 The preaching of the gospel to them, however, is not a 
 mere beating of the air; there is a peg in the wall upon 
 which something can be hung, and carried away by them. 
 Often a few young men have received the message with 
 laughter and ridicule, but I have afterwards heard them 
 discuss my words amongst themselves very gravely. I 
 heard one man say to a neighbour, “ Monare’s words 
 pierce the heart.” Another remarked that the stoiy of 
 Christ’s death was very beautiful, but that he knew it was 
 not meant for him ; he was a Makalaka, and such a 
 sacrifice was only for white men and princes. 
 
 Their memories are so acute that they will come many 
 days after being spoken to, in order to discuss some 
 question which has been weighing on their mind. I 
 judge from their actions that a few amongst the Barotsi 
 have consciously received something. Malonda, who 
 was a very kind friend to me, repeatedly professed his 
 belief in the things about which we had many long talks 
 when travelling together from Shesheke ; but he is secretly 
 afraid of the king, and the putting away of his wives 
 would, in his eyes, end his career among the Barotsi. 
 Mala, of Secumba, one of the nobles of the land, when he 
 came to the king’s town used to dine and sup with me, 
 and we would be for hours together, reading and talking 
 over the Scriptures. Mamwia has suffered much from 
 her husband Gumbela, the king’s prime minister, for 
 loving to come and hear the Scriptures read, and she 
 professes to know the Lord. Our Lord knows all: He 
 who will not quench the smoking flax, nor break the 
 bruised reed, can nurture and strengthen the little spark 
 into a flame. 
 
 July 14/A—Left Belmonte (Bihd) with Senhor Porto, to 
 see the king of these parts, a man about sixty years of 
 age, who looks all fat and good humour ; he is lodged in 
 the centre of a large town, quite a city. Porto said that 
 we were fortunate in finding him sober, as his normal con¬ 
 dition is much the reverse. 16///.—Bad news has come 
 from Bailundo, to the effect that the American mission- 
 
From the Zambesi to Bengiiella. 19 
 
 aries have been robbed and turned out of house and 
 home. 19///.—The men sent to Bailundo have returned ; 
 they found the missionaries’ houses in the hands of the 
 natives, but where the missionaries had gone, or what 
 had become of them, they could not learn. I cannot 
 think of sitting here when my brethren are thus in 
 trouble, so start to-morrow to see and hear for myself. 
 22«(7’.—Crossed the Kutato river, and reached the town of 
 Dungenugo, the son of the reigning king of Bailundo, who 
 
 said that it was entirely owing to the conduct of B- 
 
 that the missionaries had left the country. B- is an 
 
 escaped murderer, who has been living a sort of brigand 
 life in native territory, stirring up the natives here and 
 there to rob and kill white men, and share the spoil 
 together. 
 
 Jtcly 2\th .—Passed many towns, the people of which 
 brought out dishes of mealie beer for me and my men to 
 drink. Two men met me at some distance from Atinda 
 to run my hammock into the town ; they ran so fast that 
 they broke the hammock-pole, and instead of having a 
 grand entrance into the town, I was landed rolling in the 
 dust just before the gate. 25/■//.—Reached the town of 
 Shekulo, the chief man in the country at present, and had 
 a long palaver with him and a few of the headmen, 
 through my interpreter, Jumbo. They had been per¬ 
 suaded by B- that the little tins containing meat, etc., 
 
 were full of fetish enchantments, intended by the mission¬ 
 aries for the destruction of the Bailundo kingdom. The 
 missionaries had to flee, seemingly taking nothing but 
 their wives and little children ; it was distressing to see 
 all around the destruction of their valuable property ; 
 books of all kinds, photographs, letters, clothing, tins of 
 sugar, tea, etc., were in every one’s hands. With all my 
 energy I spoke out to these Bailundos as to the way in 
 which they had permitted men to be turned out of house 
 and home who had come to them with a message of 
 peace from the true God; they had treated them as they 
 
 would not treat their dogs. Shekulo sent for B-, who 
 
 tried at once to make friends with me, but being in no 
 gentle mood I brought him at once to the point, and 
 asked him what charge he had against the Americans. 
 “Oh!” said he, “I thought they were Jews, and not 
 Christian missionaries.” He was compelled to explain 
 matters to the natives, and I asked Shekulo if he was 
 satisfied, to w'hich he replied that he was perfectly 
 
20 
 
 From the Zambesi to Beiiguella. 
 
 satisfied ; that B-had not a word to say against these 
 
 people, but had only been telling lies ; and that he himself 
 was willing, if I would only say the word, to lay hands on 
 
 B-there and then. I said I had come, not with any 
 
 authority or intention to punish B-, but to see justice 
 
 done to my friends, and that Shekulo must gather the 
 missionaries’ goods together and keep them in safety 
 until their return. 
 
 July 2’jth .—These Bailundo people seem to be very far 
 advanced in superstition and fetish worship ; in Shekulo’s 
 yard there is a small roughly-cut image, which I believe 
 represents the spirit of a forefather of his. A man and 
 woman came into Shekulo’s yard, and rushed up to this 
 image, dancing, howling, and foaming at the mouth, ap¬ 
 parently mad. A group gathered round and declared that 
 the spirit of Shekulo’s forefather had taken possession of 
 this man and woman, and was about to speak through 
 them. At last the demon began to grunt and groan out to 
 poor Shekulo, who was down on his knees, that he must 
 hold a hunt, the proceeds of which were to be given to 
 the people of his town ; must kill an ox, cook so many 
 large pots of beer, and proclaim a grand feast and dance. 
 Furthermore, all this was to be done cjuickly. Of course 
 ihe poor old man was thoroughly taken in, and in two 
 days’ time the hunt was gathered. So here I find, as 
 amongst the Barotsi, that divining and prophesying and 
 other religious and superstitious demands are resorted 
 to in order to secure private ends, and to offer sacrifice to 
 the one common god, the bell)'. The more I see of them 
 the more 1 am persuaded that they have no other god, 
 and this 1 tell them continually. 
 
 August 8th .—1 started again for B'ihe ; next day got to 
 the town of my friend the prince, and two more days 
 brought me to Belmonte. By the way I met a Portuguese, 
 who had heard that my friend Iwanika Leboshe, king of 
 the Barotsi, had been killed by his people. Such are the 
 Barotsi--three kings killed (if this last report be true) 
 within eight years. Outwardly, there is amongst them all 
 the show of a monarchy, every man the king’s slave, but 
 I have long since seen that in reality it was every man 
 his own king, and the king their puppet. 
 
 August 2ist .—A man came to my house the other day 
 to confer with Antonia about the purchase of an ox. He 
 said that some time ago he had killed a relation of his by 
 witchcraft, to possess himself of some of his riches, and 
 
From the Zambesi to Beriguclla. 21 
 
 that now he must sacrifice an ox to the dead man’s spirit, ^ 
 which was troubling him. This killing by witchcraft is a ’ 
 thing most sincerely believed in, and it made one under¬ 
 stand, on hearing this man’s cold-blooded confession of 
 what was at least the intent of his heart, why the Barotsi 
 put such demons into the fire. Here old and renowned 
 witches are thrown into some river, but almost every man 
 will confess that he practises witchcraft to avenge him¬ 
 self of wrong done, and to punish his enemies. One 
 process is to boil together certain fruits and roots with 
 which the wizard daubs his body in order to enlist the aid 
 of the devils, and the decoction is then thrown in the 
 direction of the victim or laid in his path. 
 
 The western tribes have none of the attachment to other 
 members of their own tribe which is seen amongst the 
 Zulu, the Bechuana, and even the Zambesi tribes, where 
 each man is his neighbour’s brother. Here they live to 
 bite and devour one another ; the most trivial mistake or 
 breach of etiquette is a crime and has to be paid for 
 dearly. A man who accidentally knocked over a small 
 pot of fat was fined thirty shillings’ worth of beeswax. A 
 stranger passing through the country is liable to be 
 entrapped into paying heavy fines. If a slave steals, say 
 a few ears of corn out of a garden, he is seized, and if not 
 redeemed by his master’s paying full market price for him, 
 he is sold at once. 
 
 Death is surrounded by many strange and absurd 
 superstitions. Amongst the Bambunda-speaking people 
 it is considered essential that a man should die in his own 
 country if not in his own town. On the way to Bailundo, 
 shortly after lea\ ing Bihe territory, I met some men run¬ 
 ning at great speed carrying a sick man tied to a pole, in 
 order that he might die in his own country. I tried to 
 stop them, but they were running as fast as their burden 
 would allow them down a steep rocky hill. By the sick 
 man’s convulsive movements I could see that he was in 
 great pain, perhaps in his death throes, hence the great 
 haste. If a Bailundo man dies in Bihd, the Bihe people 
 have to pay the Bailundos heavily for the shameful con¬ 
 duct of the Bihe demons in killing a stranger, and vice 
 versa. When a man dies at home his body is placed on 
 a rude table, and his friends meet for days round the 
 corpse, drinking, eating, shouting, and singing, until the 
 body begins actually to fall to pieces. (Senhor Porto de¬ 
 clares that these people have no sense of smell ; that the 
 
22 From the Zambesi to Bengtiella. 
 
 nose is simply a receptacle for snuff.) Then the body is 
 tied in a faggot of poles and carried on men’s shoulders 
 up and down some open space, followed by doctors and 
 drummers. The doctors demand of the dead man the 
 cause of his death, whether by poison or witchcraft, and 
 if by the latter, who was the witch ? It is never supposed 
 that a man has died from natural causes; most of the 
 deaths I have known of in negro-land were from pulmonary 
 diseases, but they are all set down to witchcraft. The 
 jerking of the bier to and fro, causing the men bearing it 
 to stumble hither and thither, is taken as the dead man’s 
 answer ; thus, as in the case of spirit-rapping at home, 
 the answer is spelled out. The result of this enquiry is 
 implicitly believed in, and if the case demands it, the 
 witch is drowned. 
 
 There might be some ground for their superstition if 
 the dead body were laid upon the ground and allowed to 
 jerk away itself, but to put the corpse on the shoulders of 
 six drunken men, and say that the jerking and stumbling 
 are caused by the inanimate body, is so thoroughly 
 ridiculous, that one cannot imagine how it ever entered 
 the mind of men to judge and condemn their fellow-crea¬ 
 tures by such a process as this. The boiling pot of 
 water is reasonable compared with this. 
 
 After all these knotty points are settled, the poor man 
 gets a decent burial, but chiefs and great men do not get 
 to rest so soon ; their bodies have been kept above ground 
 for so long as two years after death. When a chief dies, 
 they at first say that he is sick or asleep, and all the busi¬ 
 ness ot state is conducted by a man who sits in a hut 
 beside the dead body. The people have a great fear of 
 death, which they do not seem to look upon as a certainty, 
 and the natural end of life—at least to say so in conversa¬ 
 tion gives offence. They would fain believe that death 
 is a mishap, an evil brought about by fetish agencies, 
 but for which, man would be immortal. Consequently, 
 all their so-called religious observances and charms are 
 meant to counteract the influence of these evil fetishes by 
 other fetishes. Before starting on a journey a man will 
 spend perhaps a fortnight in preparing charms to over¬ 
 come evils by the way, and to enable him to destroy his 
 enemies ; if he be a trader he desires to find favour in 
 the eyes of chiefs, and a liberal price for his goods. As 
 there is no limit to a man’s fears and superstitions, and 
 ■avarice, and hatred of his enemies, so there is no limit to 
 
From the Zat>ibcsi to Benguella. 23 
 
 the number of his charms,- and at the end of his journey 
 he finds himself loaded with such things, sewn into belts 
 and hung in little horns round his neck. 
 
 As to the articles used in the composition of charms, I 
 may say that everything under the sun is used. I have 
 been told here that they can turn the hills into water with 
 some of their charms, can make an ox impervious to 
 bullet or spear, can create a living lion out of the skin of 
 a dead one, and can bring death or sickness upon anyone. 
 I have grown tired of asking to have some of these 
 wonders performed before my eyes, and have offered my 
 riding-ox to any man in Bihd who will bring an ox or 
 other animal so acted upon by charms that I cannot kill 
 it with my gun or with a spear ; but the ox has not yet 
 made its appearance. Many half-castes, and Portuguese 
 even, believe strongly in the charms of the Bambadi 
 tribes, but on questioning them closely as to cert lin of 
 the mysterious things alleged to be done, I always find 
 that the thing has happened in the night-time, and that 
 the fetish doctors will not “cast” their charms or work 
 miracles at any other time. How close the connection 
 between spiritual and literal darkness ! 
 
 In conversation with the people of Bihe about the one 
 true God, they profess to believe in His existence, and 
 say that there is and must be a great Spirit over and 
 above all, whom they call Suku, but that they do not know 
 him. They do not appear in any way to connect “Suku” 
 with the things which are daily occurring around them. 
 I cannot even say that they truly believe him to be a 
 universal God, as they always speak of the white man as 
 being under a separate set of gods and spirits from them¬ 
 selves. 
 
 Judging according to human judgment, I should say 
 that the missionary of the Gospel would find the ground 
 here very hard indeed. Besides the mass of superstition, 
 which surpasses anything I ever heard of in negro-land, 
 there have been for nearly two centuries many evil and 
 brutalising influences working upon the people, and no 
 humanising ones. During all this time rum and the slave 
 trade have had full scope. During the eighteenth century 
 there were many Roman Catholic missionaries at work all 
 along the west coast, and for some little way into the 
 interior. The only remaining traces of them or their 
 works are a few “Christian relics” added to the heap of 
 native charms, and, here and there, a wooden cross 
 
24 From the Zambesi to Be7tgttella. 
 
 standing at the head of some pagan’s grave, sharing 
 the ground with fantastic heathen images and symbols. 
 Many thoughts come into one’s mind on looking upon 
 such a scene of entanglement. Only the one confident 
 assurance that there is a God who Ihieth could strengthen 
 the heart of any servant of the Lord coming to this part. 
 
 August 2 ()th. —Letters from Mr. Sanders, full of kindest 
 words and sympathy in the work ; I was delighted to 
 find that I had such warm-hearted neighbours in these 
 American missionaries; our meeting will be a great plea¬ 
 sure to me. They had sent me two loads of the most 
 useful articles possible, and but for the shameful conduct 
 of the man who took charge of them I should have received 
 them at the Cuchibi river. 
 
 August '^oth. —Started for the king’s town and got the 
 revmaat of the two loads sent by the missionaries, after 
 promising to pay a tooth of ivory. 
 
 Septeinber i\th. —It is well that I have been kept here 
 at Bihe for this short time, as every day I am feeling 
 stronger and better for the change. My ague has left me 
 entirely, so that when the time comes for my return to the 
 interior I shall go back with a good store of animal 
 strength. 
 
 BailiiJido, October \st. —People must not think to learn 
 the language at all correctly by direct conversation with 
 the natives ; it must be learned by consta7ttly listening to 
 the natives co7iversi7ig a77io7igst the/7tselves. Their man¬ 
 ner of conversing with a European is absurd and very 
 misleading ; not only do they contort their own language 
 greatly, but they are constantly using outlandish sounds,, 
 which they think belong to the white man’s tongue, and 
 which they in their smartness have picked up. Again, if 
 he wishes to be intelligible to the raw native who has not 
 been tutored in the company of Europeans to understand 
 the sounds of their tongues, he must remember that 
 African languages are composed not only of sounds, but 
 of acceTiticated sounds. If he does not pay the closest 
 attention to this, though he may be able to speak 
 fluently to the natives in a white man’s store or town, 
 he would require a person to interpret his words to a com¬ 
 pany of raw villagers. The Bushman’s language goes to- 
 an e.Ktreme in this ; certain sounds and clicks accented 
 differently, pitched in a higher or lower note, shrill or deep¬ 
 sounding, have all their different meanings. Their lan¬ 
 guage is very musical ; to hear the little children speak- 
 
From the Zambesi to Bengiiella. 25 
 
 ing and laughing in their play is like listening to the tink¬ 
 ling of a musical box. 
 
 There are two plans before me for returning to the in¬ 
 terior. (i) To return to the Barotsi or to the Bakuti 
 on the Cuchibi river; but the Barotsi valley is very un¬ 
 healthy, and the road thither is blocked at present, and I 
 cannot get a single Seculo to contract for the journey at 
 any price. The last caravan that attempted to pass was 
 plundered, and only four men escaped being taken cap¬ 
 tive by the same crew that I met with on the Cuchibi. 
 The poor Bakuti, in whose company I had such a “good 
 time,” are sadly oppressed by the Bambunda robbers, and 
 are leaving their river and mixing with the Mashie tribes 
 on the Quando. ( 2 ) To visit the Garenganje, living to the 
 north of and adjoining the Barotsi, under the chief 
 Mosheede. They are a rice-growing people, which is an 
 advantage ; the country is said by everyone to be healthy, 
 and the road thither is reputed to be safe. By turning 
 south I could then reach Iwanika’s “dogs,” and should be 
 able to fulfil my promise of re-visiting the Barotsi. I 
 have with me as my personal attendant an excellent inter¬ 
 preter, who knows the languages and people well. This 
 would be quite a new adventure, and the Arab and west- 
 coast dealers who have visited the Garenganje and in¬ 
 fluenced them for evil, would probably have prejudiced 
 them against such people as myself. 
 
 October i6th .—I do not think there is anything so 
 essential to real work for God in a wholly heathen country 
 as an entire separation and devotion to the work, so that 
 even isolation at times has its advantages. I have found 
 that one’s time cannot be divided and laid out beforehand, 
 as at home. Amongst the Barotsi I have risen to a day, 
 say of writing, but it turned out to be an all-day meeting. 
 At festival times at Lealui crowds of people used to come 
 in from all the country round ; at such times it was, from 
 morning light until midnight, one constant stream of 
 people through my house, all curious to see, some to hear, 
 and some wanting to speak of what had been said on a 
 former visit. 
 
 Again, on making short trips amongst the villages, I 
 found the press of work almost unbearable at times, from 
 pure lack of strength. The work is trying, but is all- 
 engrossing, and needs one to be wholly free from all 
 temporal things. At home the earnest street-preacher 
 may gather a few village children around him after much 
 
26 From tJie Zambesi to Bengjiella. 
 
 noise and singing, but in heathen Africa one is sometimes 
 glad, in coming up to a village, to hide one’s self in the 
 bush. Everything is laid aside ; the child toddles out to 
 the field to call its mother ; the hunters return and call in 
 their dogs, and the cattle are driven into their enclosures 
 that the herdsmen may come and listen to the white 
 man’s words. The more isolated and ignorant the people 
 the more eager they are. Wherever I was able to make 
 the character of my errand known, their willingness, their 
 intelligent enquiry, their excitement even, quite wore me 
 out, and I was glad at times to hide behind my little camp 
 bed. 
 
 I expected to have been back to such precious work by 
 this time, but the Good Shepherd knows what is best for 
 His sheep. Meanwhile I have been getting rid of some of 
 my fever legacies. Ague now seems to be a thing of the 
 past. My spleen which was so much swollen that I could 
 not lie with comfort in any position is now almost re¬ 
 duced to its proper condition. My body has in everyway 
 picked up in this fine healthy country. 
 
 Arriving here on the 5th instant, I started again on the 
 7th, and on the fifth day reached the king’s camp, to speak 
 on behalf of the American missionaries. A small stool 
 was given to me to take my seat beside the king, a council 
 having been called, and everything was talked over ; all 
 the blame was put upon the Portuguese. The meanest 
 plans were tried to injure the missionaries, who have been 
 shamefully treated by both blacks and whites. The result 
 was, that two letters were written by me for king Kwikwi, 
 one to Senhor Porto, the other to Mr. Sanders. The letter 
 to the latter was as follows : “ I entreat of you to return. 
 I have acted very badly to you, having received you all 
 as my children, then to have turned you away so ; I have 
 been like a man demented. Come back, or, if you wish 
 to go to Bih6, send some of your people here. All my 
 people are crying because of your bad treatment.” I 
 started from the camp next morning and reached Obala, 
 the Bailundo capital, on the forenoon of the third day. 
 
 “ Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give 
 I unto thee,” is a thing hard to be understood in Africa, 
 partly owing to the pernicious practice of most mission¬ 
 aries in earlier days giving presents on all occasions to 
 the natives. Consequently, a missionary is known all 
 over Africa, where news spreads with wonderful speed, 
 as a great man—a chief, in fact, who gives away goods 
 
27 
 
 From the Zambesi to Boigiiella. 
 
 ad libitum. So a missionary ignorant of all this goes off 
 to the interior, as he thinks amongst the rawest of the 
 raw, hoping to establish a law and order of his own, only 
 to find that they have long, since established law and 
 order for him, and for such as he. All this throws almost 
 insurmountable difficulties in the way of a poor man who 
 carries with him only what is sufficient for his own food 
 and clothing. However, whereas traders before camping 
 in a country send a present to the chief, I send the fol¬ 
 lowing message : —^ “ I am a stranger passing through 
 your country ; I have not come with cloth and goods, but 
 with a message from the God of all the earth : it is for 
 you, and it speaks of peace. I wish you and your people 
 to hear it at once, ere I pass on.” This causes a great 
 stir amongst the blacks ; they rush down to the camp in 
 swarms, and generally there is not a word said about 
 presents. 
 
 October 22,rd. —Mr. and Mrs. Sanders of the American 
 B. C. F. Mission are at their old station in Bailundo, but 
 are uncertain whether to remain there now, or go on to 
 Bihe. These have been happy days in the company of 
 Mr. and Mrs. S. ; their hearts are in the work here, and 
 they mean to succeed in the name of the Lord. It had 
 a soul-stirring effect upon me as I saw these two and 
 their little caravan winding their way across the wooded 
 hill to their old home at Bailundo ; robbed, plundered, 
 forced to fly almost for life, but here again undaunted. I 
 am persuaded that all that has happened to them will be 
 for the furtherance of the work here ; it will stamp upon 
 it a character it could not have had before, and will show 
 the people here that the missionaries are not ordinary 
 residents or lodgers in their country, but are men who 
 have come with an object. Mrs. Sanders has won the 
 hearts of all at Bailundo ; the testimony regarding the 
 other ladies is also good. I am sure that much of the 
 work in Africa will yet be done by female workers. 
 
 November \st .—I met a curious sight yesterday, a com¬ 
 pany from the far interior—not that they were different 
 from the rest of the people, but in my present state of 
 mind they were naturally of interest to me. They were 
 from the chief Mosheede of Garenganje, and had been 
 sent with a letter to the king’s brother-in-law who lives at 
 Ohonjo. A few hours brought me to Ohonjo, and there 
 I met the royal brother-in-law, Coimbria, a half-caste, 
 who read to me the letter just received from Mosheede. 
 
28 
 
 From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
 
 It was dated this year, was wi'itten in a sort of wretched 
 Portuguese, possibly by some half-taught black, and con¬ 
 tained an earnest appeal to come to Garenganje, and to 
 plead with white men to eiiter that country. I looked 
 with amazement on the piece of rude, well-travelled 
 paper. Of course it was as traders that he wanted white 
 men, but I felt I had something even better than good 
 trade, which, if Mosheede only knew of, he would gladly 
 receive. The brother-in-law was delighted to hear of my 
 proposal to go thither, and sent for a black lanky slave 
 from that part; he knew exactly the place where Living¬ 
 stone died, Ilala, by Lake Bangweolo. I may yet get this 
 man to go with me, but the guide I have already em¬ 
 ployed knows all the country. 
 
 Let us look up and take courage ; the Lord reigneth. 
 Surely He has taken many ways to show me from the 
 first His desire to guide me ; He comes down to our weak 
 faith, as He did with Gideon, and repeats the signs until 
 we are filled with shame at our blindness and tardiness. 
 I think it is now clear that I must seek another way to 
 Iwanika’s (the Barotsi’s) “ dogs ; ” in this case the Lord 
 may feed the dogs before the “ children.” 
 
 I shall be at liberty, so far as I can learn, to come as 
 near to the Barotsi as possible, and yet remain outside 
 their sway ; and were I to go down among them at any 
 time, I should, humanly speaking, suffer no harm, having 
 so many friends amongst them. I might, in fact, be able 
 by going between to unite those two great countries and 
 secure a way through the Barotsi to the north, which at 
 present, through jealousy, is shut. The Garenganje grow 
 rice in large quantities ; this is a great recommendation, 
 as Europeans can live on rice when they cannot on maize, 
 corn and millet. 
 
 The governor of Benguella took the trouble to write to 
 Senhor Porto to take care of me, and bring me safely to 
 the coast ; I suppose because of the trouble the Ameri¬ 
 cans had at Bailundo the governor feared that I, being 
 English, might suffer from the Bailundos, and bring down 
 an English inquisition upon them. However, Senhor 
 Porto is my guardian in the meantime, and although I 
 have been running about to my heart’s content, I fear 
 Porto would consider me ungrateful were I running on to 
 Benguella before him, so I must wait on here for a couple 
 of days, as he has been detained on the road. Strange 
 that patience towards the end of a journey is far harder 
 
From the Zambesi to Be7iguella. 
 
 29 
 
 than patience at the beginning. Staying a whole week 
 here, within three days or so of the coast, seems intoler¬ 
 able. 
 
 A Portuguese came here to-day, and after talking for 
 some time he remarked that .at Benguella they were ex¬ 
 pecting one. Padre Arnot, from the east coast. He knew 
 that I had come from the east coast, but could not recog¬ 
 nise the Padre; I heard him laughing when told that / 
 was the Padre. 
 
 True and faithful service is not a thing thrown away, 
 as this shows—Mr. W. W. Bagster, now gone home, gave 
 three years ago a Testament to the man Coimbra, with 
 whom I am now staying, the reading of which touched 
 him, and Mr. Sanders had long talks with him. Coimbra 
 is anxious about his soul, and this morning he took down 
 his Testament, although I had not been speaking to him in 
 a personal way, and turned to Mark x., 29, saying to me, 
 “ This is my trouble ; ” he could not leave wives, children, 
 houses, and all. I told him that the Lord asked him not 
 to leave anything, but to receive^ and that when God’s love 
 tilled his heart, he would know by the power of lo\ e how 
 to serve Him. He said that he was greatly relieved, and 
 that his way seemed more clear ; he did not desire to live 
 any longer with more than one wife, but he could not turn 
 into the fields those who were the mothers of his children, 
 nor put away his children. The good Lord will not 
 quench the smoking fia.x. 
 
 I am told that Garenganje is as healthy as Bailundo ; 
 if so, there is no fever there; one might live there and not 
 merely exist. I shall make a particular request to each 
 chief by the way to have a young man ready to run with 
 my letters as they come from the interior or the coast, and 
 think this plan would work in time of peace.^ Native news 
 in this way flies like the wind, and why not my letters ? 
 The only question would be amount of pay. 
 
 November 9//^—At Cutambela at last. Waiting for 
 Senhor Porto, and a sharp attack of dysentery detained 
 me ; I ate too many bananas at once. 
 
 Bengttella^ November nth. —Mr. Walters, of the 
 American Baptis t Mission, who is stationed here as act¬ 
 ing business man for the mission, is prepared to put him¬ 
 self to any amount of trouble for me, and through him I 
 can get trade articles very cheap, imported from England 
 and America. 
 
 December gth. —Benguella is a very quiet, unbusiness- 
 
30 
 
 From the Zambesi to Dengicella. 
 
 like place. The Custom House duties are very heavy ; 
 they average twenty-five per cent, on everything, and this 
 on the value of goods here^ not on invoice value, so that 
 everything imported is of necessity expensive. I should 
 say that the place is unhealthy ; the Portuguese, at least, 
 consider it so, as the most of their “ degradadors ” (con¬ 
 victs) are sent here, and all government officials while in 
 office here are reckoned as serving double time. It is not 
 so at Loando. 
 
 It seems as if the sea had thrown up a sand dyke, form¬ 
 ing the present shore, for all the country inside seems to 
 be at a level lower than the sea ; consequently it has no 
 drainage. Fortunately, but little rain falls ; even now, 
 which is the rainy season, not a green spot is to be seen 
 e.xcept in a few hollows. The heat is very great, but 
 every afternoon a fresh breeze comes off the sea, which 
 makes the evenings pleasant. I am in the best of health. 
 
 I expect to start for Bihd in a month’s time, which may 
 seem somewhat hurried, but I would not have sent for re¬ 
 turn carriers so soon, had not the members of the Ameri¬ 
 can Mission here been very anxious for me to return as 
 soon as possible so as to help Mr. Sanders a little at 
 Bailundo. 
 
 I can only ask earnest prayer to God that He may be 
 pleased to look upon this work for His name’s sake, and 
 that I may be in His hands like moist clay, impressible. 
 Surely the one thing needful for perfect service is that we 
 be susceptible to His sympathies and to the guidings of 
 His Spirit. God will not guide and lead us into His work 
 unless we first have hearts in sympathy with Him as to 
 that work, so let us hang and wait upon God that we may 
 go forth as men “ driven of the Spirit.” 
 
 Fred. S. Arnot. 
 
 A CHAPTER IN AFRICAN HISTORY. 
 
 I will give you a slight history of the Upper Zambesi 
 tribes, so far as I can.* Somewhere between i8io and 
 1820 a large tribe of Basutos called Makololo lived in the 
 country now occupied by the Batlapins, in the south of 
 
 * This is taken from a letter written early in 1S84, and is 
 inserted here to give a general idea of the history of African 
 kingdoms. 
 
31 
 
 A Chapter in African History. 
 
 Bechuana land. Two brothers, Sebitwane and Mosheshi, 
 had a dispute about the chieftainship, so they agreed to 
 separate, Sebitwane going north, Mosheshi sometime 
 afterwards going south. Sebitwane fought his way 
 through the Bechuana tribes, taking many oxen from all 
 the tribes, and went on, greedy of more conquests. After 
 fighting and beating off the Matabele, he arrived at the 
 Zambesi in the year 1823. (I obtained this date from the 
 Portuguese.) He was soon master of the Batoka country, 
 and in that same year came up the river as far as She- 
 sheke. All the Mashi tribe and the Manyeti up the 
 Chobe river yielded to him, after great slaughter, and he 
 was soon chief of an immense country. 
 
 Just then Malunda, the chief of the Barotsi, died, and 
 as is often the case here, left no acknowledged heir to 
 the chieftainship. Two supposed heirs were going to 
 quarrel about it, when the strongest, and evidently the 
 wisest, went down the river to the great chief Sebitwane, 
 and invited him to take possession of the Barotsi king¬ 
 dom. Of course might was right in this case, and the 
 weaker party of the Barotsi fled far up the Zambesi river, 
 and I am told enjoy a very happy and peaceful little’ 
 kingdom there all to themselves in a fine healthy country. 
 Sebitwane put to death many of the old men and would- 
 be kings among the Barotsi. Malunda left three young 
 sons, too young to be kings, poor things ; their names 
 were Mokobeso, Ditia, Sepopo. Mokobeso was betrayed 
 to the Makololos while in hiding among the Manyeti 
 tribe, and killed. Ditia died somewhere of a natural 
 death, leaving three sons and three daughters that I know 
 of, and the eldest of his sons is the present king. Sepopo 
 fled among the Mambundas. 
 
 But to return to the Makololo story. Many of Sebit¬ 
 wane s headmen were much against him for taking upon 
 himself the rule of so much country and so many people. 
 “Who,” said they, (to quote the words of an old Makololo 
 woman,) “ who will you leave behind you to take charge 
 of this great nation ? We Makololo are only a handafl 
 of people compared to all these.” Sebitwane, in the ordi¬ 
 nary course of nature, died, and his son, a mere boy, 
 Sekelutu, reigned in his stead. He made a desperate 
 attempt to obtain great power, killing every one whom 
 he thought to be at all powerful in his own or other 
 tribes. A civil war at last broke out among the Mako¬ 
 lolo, Sekelutu fell sick of a grievous sickness and retired 
 
32 A Chapter in Africati History. 
 
 from the scene, leaving the scramble for power to others. 
 At this point the Barotsi came in with all their forces, (it 
 must have been about the year i86i,) and fell on the 
 Makololos, who perished to a man ; only women and 
 little girls were left alive, and one or two infant boys, 
 saved like Moses by being hid away. These Makololo 
 women still In'e an unhappy and exiled life among a 
 race of people w'hom they were ever taught to look down 
 upon as dogs and sla\ es. The Makololo are of a reddish 
 copper colour, the Barotsi of a pitchy black. 
 
 As soon as the Barotsi had got the upper hand they 
 called for their head, Sepopo, collecting their forces in the 
 Barotsi valley. Meanwhile the Batokos also called back 
 their exiled chief. Sepopo at once sent down his chal¬ 
 lenge to this man ; the result was a sharp fight, and 
 again the Barotsi w'ere victorious, and ever since the 
 Batoka have been tributary to the Barotsi. All the other 
 tribes round about gave in to Sepopo, so he reigned 
 paramount. Sepopo, though often in the Barotsi valley, 
 preferred living at Shesheke for the sake of trade with 
 the white people. 
 
 The Barotsi headmen, being left to themselves, had 
 time to foster their discontent, and make their plans 
 against Sepopo. At last, about seven or eight years ago, 
 they started from the Barotsi in great numbers for She¬ 
 sheke. Sepopo w'as told of his danger, but would not 
 believe it. At the last moment he fled for his life, 
 when a bullet from one of his own attendants killed him. 
 The Barotsi then put into the chieftainship Wanawena, 
 son of Mokobeso, elder brother of Sepopo. He laid a 
 plan to revenge Sepopo’s death, and to kill all the 
 leaders in the rebellion, and he had to flee, but tried to 
 regain power. He was met, however, by the new king 
 Leboshe or Iwanika, and after a tough fight was driven 
 back, and one of his servants killed him, to avenge him¬ 
 self of his brother’s death. Leboshe’s next exploit was 
 to kill off a number of Mabundas, who he thought were in 
 favour of some other chief than he. He next waged war 
 against the Mashukalumbas, and drove off a lot of cattle. 
 Yet Leboshe is a mean-spirited and trembling fellow ; he 
 seems to have been carried on by a crowd of leaders, but 
 is himself no leader or ruler. Almost daily he quarrels 
 with his “ officers of state,” and they taunt each other, 
 and I fear the end will be another king-killing. 
 
Price Six Pence, with Map. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION OF 
 
 From Natal to the Upper Zambesi, 
 
 AND 
 
 First Year’s Labours among the Barotsi 
 
 By F. S. ARNOT. 
 
 * This may be had separately. Price 2d. 
 
 Price One Penny, or I/- per dozen. Post Free. 
 
 SECOND EDITION OF 
 
 The Lord's Work in the Faroe Islands: 
 
 My Visit to Mr. Sloan there. 
 
 By T. McLaren, of Glasgow. 
 
 Glasgow : The Publishing Office, 40, Sauchiehall Street. 
 London ; J. E. Hawkins, 17, Paternoster Row, E.C. 
 
 Price One Penny, with small Map, now Ready. 
 
 By henry SOLTAU 
 
 The Destrriction of Bhamb and the 
 Escape of the Christians. 
 
 London : J. E. Hawkins, 3^! Baker Street, W., 
 And 17, Paternoster Row, E.C. 
 
 Bath ; T. Hallett, 4, Abbey View. 
 
 Monthly, Price One Halfpenny. 
 
 ECHOES OF SERVICE, ' 
 
 A Record of Labour for the Lord i 7 i Many Lands. 
 
 London : J. E. Hawkins, 17, Paternoster Row, E.C., 
 
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 Glasgow : The Publishing Office, 40, Sauchiehall Street. 
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