298 FATAL EFFECTS OF MALARIA. СНАР. ХІІІ. the whole party consisted of twenty-two persons, of whom nine were Europeans, and thirteen people of color; of these, five Europeans and four natives perished by fever in less than three months. The missionary associate of Helmore was then left in a somewhat trying position. Four out of the nine Europeans had succumbed to the disease, and his own wife was lying ill, and soon to be the fifth victim. He had been but a short time in Africa; his knowledge of the native language was of course limited, his influence small, and he had no experience; accordingly, he took the wise course of leaving the country; his wife died before he reached the healthy desert. The native servants from the south, who had never seen the fever in their own country, thought that the party had been poisoned by the Makololo; but, although they are heathens, and have little regard for human life, they are not quite so bad as that. The spear, and not poison, is their weapon. There is no occasion for suspecting other poison than malaria, that being more than enough. We have witnessed all the symptoms of this poison scores of times, and, from the survivors' description, believe the deaths to have been caused by severe African fever, and nothing else. We much regretted that, though we were on the same river lower down, we were not aware of their being at Linyanti till too late to render the medical aid they so much needed. It is undoubtedly advisable that every Mission should have a medical man as an essential part of its staff. CHAP. XIV. SEKELETU AND OUR PRESENTS. 299 CHAPTER XIV. Sekeletu and our Presents.-His Idea of Artillery Practice.-Sebituane's Sister's description of the first Appearance of Fever.—The Makololo the most intelligent of all the Tribes seen by us.—The Makololo of Old and Young Africa. The Women, their Appearance and Ornaments.-Results of Polygamy. Respectability reckoned by the Number of Wives.-Apparent, but not real, buying of Wives.-Elegant Amusements of the Ladies.-Matokwane.-Smoking and its Effects.-Novel Use of a Spoon.-Raw Butter.— Begging. The Chief's Perquisites.-The Makololo who had seen the Sea. -Justice among the Makololo.-The Rights of Labor.-Religious Instruction.-Native Views on Matrimony.-The Chief and the Head Men.-Capital Punishment.-An old Warrior.-Ancient Costume of the Makololo.Houses built by the Women.-Amusements of the Children.-Makololo Faith in Medicine.-Dr. Livingstone revisits Linyanti.-The Wagon left there in 1853 is found in Safe Keeping, with its Contents.-A native Proclamation.—Burial-place of Mr. Helmore and his Companions.-Faithfulness of the Makololo.-Sekeletu's Health improves.-His Esteem for Dr. Kirk.His Desire for an English Settlement on the Batoka Highlands.-Stealing Cattle considered no Crime.-Divine Service at Sesheke.-Native Doubts as to the Possibility of a Resurrection. SEKELETU was well pleased with the various articles we brought for him, and inquired if a ship could not bring his sugar-mill and the other goods we had been obliged to leave behind at Tette. On hearing that there was a possibility of a powerful steamer ascending as far as Sinamane's, but never above the Grand Victoria Falls, he asked, with charming simplicity, if a cannon could not blow away the Falls, so as to allow the vessel to come up to Sesheke. To save the tribe from breaking up by the continual loss of real Makololo, it ought at once to remove to the healthy. Batoka highlands, near the Kafue. Fully aware of this, Sekeletu remarked that all his people, save two, were convinced, that if they remained in the lowlands, a few years would suf 300 INTELLIGENCE OF THE MAKOLOLO. CHAP. XIV. fice to cut off all the real Makololo; they came originally from the healthy South, near the confluence of the Likwa and Namagari, where fever is almost unknown, and its ravages had been as frightful among them here as among Europeans on the coast. Sebituane's sister described its first appearance among the tribe, after their settling in the Barotse Valley on the Zambesi. Many of them were seized with a shivering sickness, as if from excessive cold: they had never seen the like before. They made great fires, and laid the shivering wretches down before them; but, pile on wood as they might, they could not raise heat enough to drive the cold out of the bodies of the sufferers, and they shivered on till they died. But, though all preferred the highlands, they were afraid to go there, lest the Matebele should come and rob them of their much-loved cattle. Sebituane, with all his veterans, could not withstand that enemy; and how could they be resisted, now that most of the brave warriors were dead? The young men would break, and run away the moment they saw the terrible Matebele, being as much afraid of them as the black conquered tribes are of the Makololo. "But if the doctor and his wife," said the chief and counselors, "would come and live with us, we would remove to the highlands at once, as Moselekatse would not attack a place where the daughter of his friend, Moffat, was living." The Makololo are by far the most intelligent and enterpris ing of the tribes we have met. None but brave and daring men remained long with Sebituane; his stern discipline soon eradicated cowardice from his army. Death was the inevitable doom of the coward. If the chief saw a man running away from the fight, he rushed after him with amazing speed and cut him down, or waited till he returned to the town, and then summoned the deserter into his presence. "You did CHAP. XIV. WOMEN AND THEIR ORNAMENTS. 301 not wish to die on the field; you wished to die at home, did you? you shall have your wish!" and he was instantly led off and executed. The present race of young men are inferior in most respects to their fathers. The old Makololo had many manly virtues; they were truthful, and never stole, excepting in what they considered the honorable way of lifting cattle in fair fight; but this can hardly be said of their sons, who, having been brought up among the subjected tribes, have acquired some of the vices peculiar to a menial and degraded race. A few of the old Makololo cautioned us not to leave any of our property exposed, as the blacks were great thieves; and some of our own men advised us to be on our guard, as the Makololo also would steal. A very few trifling articles were stolen by a young Makololo, and he, on being spoken to on the subject, showed great ingenuity in excusing himself by a plausible and untruthful story. The Makololo of old were hard workers, and did not consider labor as beneath them; but their sons never work, regarding it as fit only for the Mashona and Makalaka servants. Sebituane, seeing that the rival tribes had the advantage over his in knowing how to manage canoes, had his warriors taught to navigate; and his own son, with his companions, paddled the chief's canoe. All the dishes, baskets, stools, and canoes are made by the black tribes called Manyeti and Matlotlora. The houses are built by the women and servants. The Makololo women are vastly superior to any we have yet seen. They are of a light, warm brown complexion, have pleasant countenances, and are remarkably quick of apprehension. They dress neatly, wearing a kilt and mantle, and have many ornaments. Sebituane's sister, the head lady of Sesheke, wore eighteen solid brass rings, as thick as one's finger, on each leg, and three of copper under each knee; nineteen brass 302 RESULTS OF POLYGAMY. CHAP. XIV. rings on her left arm, and eight of brass and copper on her right; also a large ivory ring above each elbow. She had a pretty bead necklace, and a bead sash encircled her waist. The weight of the bright brass rings round her legs impeded her walking and chafed her ankles; but, as it was the fash ion, she did not mind the inconvenience, and guarded against the pain by putting soft rag round the lower rings. The practice of polygamy, though intended to increase, tends to diminish the tribe. The wealthy old men, who have plenty of cattle, marry all the pretty young girls. An ugly but rich old fellow, who was so blind that a servant had to lead him along the path, had two of the very handsomest young wives in the town; one of them, the daughter of Mokele, being at least half a century younger than himself, was asked, "Do you like him?" "No," she replied; "I hate him, he is so disagreeable." The young men of the tribe, who happen to have no cattle, must get on without a wife, or be content with one who has few personal attractions. This state of affairs probably leads to a good deal of immorality, and children are few. By pointed inquiries, and laying one's self out for that kind of knowledge, one might be able to say much more; but if one behaves as he must do among the civilized, and abstains from asking questions, no improper hints even will be given by any of the native women we have met. Polygamy, the sign of low civilization and the source of many evils, is common, and, oddly enough, approved of even by the women. On hearing that a man in England could marry but one wife, several ladies exclaimed that they would not like to live in such a country: they could not imagine how English ladies could relish our custom; for, in their way of thinking, every man of respectability should have a num |