38 FRIENDLINESS OF BONGA. CHAP. I. fragrance; its seeds produce a fine drying oil, and the bark of the smaller branches yields a fibre finer and stronger than flax, with which the natives make their nets for fishing. Bonga, the brother of the rebel Mariano, and now at the head of the revolted natives, with some of his principal men, came to see us, and were perfectly friendly, though told of our having carried the sick governor across to Shupanga, and of our having cured him of fever. On our acquainting Bonga with the object of the expedition, he remarked that we should suffer no hinderance from his people in our good work. He sent us a present of rice, two sheep, and a quantity of fire-wood. He never tried to make any use of us in the strife; the other side showed less confidence by carefully cross-questioning our pilot whether we had sold any powder to the enemy. We managed, however, to keep on good terms with both rebels and Portuguese. Being unable to take the steamer up the shoal channel along which Senna stands, we anchored at Nyaruka, a small hamlet of blacks, six miles below, and walked up to Senna next morning. The narrow winding footpath, along which we had to march in Indian file, lay through gardens and patches of wood, the loftiest trees being thorny acacias. The sky was cloudy, the air cool and pleasant, and the little birds, in the gladness of their hearts, poured forth sweet strange songs, which, though equal to those of the singing birds at home on a spring morning, yet seemed, somehow, as if in a foreign tongue. We met many natives on the road. Most of the men were armed with spears, bows and arrows, or old Tower muskets; the women had short-handled iron hoes, and were going to work in the gardens; they stepped aside to let us pass, and saluted us po CHAP. I. DESCRIPTION OF SENNA. 39 litely, the men bowing and scraping, and the women, even with heavy loads on their heads, courtesying-a courtesy from bare legs is startling! Senna is built on a low plain, on the right bank of the Zambesi, with some pretty detached hills in the background; it is surrounded by a stockade of living trees to protect its inhabitants from their troublesome and rebellious neighbors. It contains a few large houses, some ruins of others, and a weatherbeaten cross, where once stood a church; a mound shows the site of an ancient monastery, and a mud fort by the river is so dilapidated that cows were grazing peacefully over its prostrate walls. This grieves not the villagers, for its black garrison was wont to keep within doors when the foe came near, leaving the merchants to settle the strife as best they could; and they therefore consider that the decay of the fort has not caused them to be any more helpless than they were before. The few Senna merchants, having little or no trade in the village, send parties of trusted slaves into the interior to hunt for and purchase ivory. It is a dull place, and very conducive to sleep. One is sure to take fever in Senna on the second day, if by chance one escapes it on the first day of a sojourn there; but no place is entirely bad. Senna has one redeeming feature: it is the native village of the large-hearted and hospitable Senhor H. A. Ferrão. The benevolence of this gentleman is unbounded. The poor black stranger passing through the town goes to him almost as a matter of course for food, and is never sent away hungry. In times of famine the starving natives are fed by his generosity; hundreds of his own people he never sees except on these occasions; and the only benefit derived from being their master is, that they lean on him as a patriarchal chief, and 40 INDUSTRY OF THE NATIVES. СНАР. І. he has the satisfaction of settling their differences, and of saving their lives in seasons of drought and scarcity. His father, a man of superior attainments, was formerly the Portuguese governor of Senna, and acquired a vast tract of rich country to the southward, called Chiringoma, in a most honorable manner; but the government ordered it to be split up, and reserved two leagues only for the heir, apportioning the rest in free grants to emigrants; the reason assigned for the robbery was that "it would never do for a subject to possess more land than the crown of Portugal." The Landeens soon followed, took possession of the whole, and spoiled the spoilers. Senhor Ferrão received us with his usual kindness, and gave us a bountiful breakfast. During the day the principal men of the place called, and were unanimously of opinion that the free natives would willingly cultivate large quantities of cotton, could they find purchasers. They had in former times exported largely both cotton and cloth to Manica and even to Brazil. "On their own soil," they declared, "the natives are willing to labor and trade, provided only they can do so to advantage: when it is for their interest, blacks work very hard." We often remarked subsequently that this was the opinion of men of energy; and that all settlers of activity, enterprise, and sober habits had become rich, while those who were much addicted to lying on their backs smoking invariably complained of the laziness of the negroes, and were poor, proud, and despicable. We dined with another very honorable Portuguese, Major Tito A. d'A. Sicard, who quoted the common remark that Dr. Livingstone's discovery of the Kongone Bar had ruined Quillimane; for the government had proposed to abandon that fever-haunted locality, and to found a new town at the mouth |