A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864Livingstone, David
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A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864
Livingstone, David
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, Central -- Discovery and exploration
Moemba owns a rich island, called Mosanga, a mile in length, on which his
village stands. He has the reputation of being a brave warrior, and is
certainly a great talker; but he gave us strangers something better than
a stream of words. We received a handsome present of corn, and the
fattest goat we had ever seen; it resembled mutton. His people were as
liberal as their chief. They brought two large baskets of corn, and a
lot of tobacco, as a sort of general contribution to the travellers. One
of Sinamane's canoe-men, after trying to get his pay, deserted here, and
went back before the stipulated time, with the story, that the Englishman
had stolen the canoes. Shortly after sunrise next morning, Sinamane came
into the village with fifty of his "long spears," evidently determined to
retake his property by force; he saw at a glance that his man had
deceived him. Moemba rallied him for coming on a wildgoose chase. "Here
are your canoes left with me, your men have all been paid, and the
Englishmen are now asking me to sell my canoes." Sinamane said little to
us; only observing that he had been deceived by his follower. A single
remark of his chief's caused the foolish fellow to leave suddenly,
evidently much frightened and crestfallen. Sinamane had been very kind
to us, and, as he was looking on when we gave our present to Moemba, we
made him also an additional offering of some beads, and parted good
friends. Moemba, having heard that we had called the people of Sinamane
together to tell them about our Saviour's mission to man, and to pray
with them, associated the idea of Sunday with the meeting, and, before
anything of the sort was proposed, came and asked that he and his people
might be "sundayed" as well as his neighbours; and be given a little seed
wheat, and fruit-tree seeds; with which request of course we very
willingly complied. The idea of praying direct to the Supreme Being,
though not quite new to all, seems to strike their minds so forcibly that
it will not be forgotten. Sinamane said that he prayed to God, Morungo,
and made drink-offerings to him. Though he had heard of us, he had never
seen white men before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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