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
History
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
In illustration of the manner in which the native knowledge of
agriculture strikes an honest intelligent observer, it may be mentioned
that the first time good Bishop Mackenzie beheld how well the fields of
the Manganja were cultivated on the hills, he remarked to Dr.
Livingstone, then his fellow-traveller--"When telling the people in
England what were my objects in going out to Africa, I stated that, among
other things, I meant to teach these people agriculture; but I now see
that they know far more about it than I do." This, we take it, was an
honest straightforward testimony, and we believe that every unprejudiced
witness, who has an opportunity of forming an opinion of Africans who
have never been debased by slavery, will rank them very much higher in
the scale of intelligence, industry, and manhood, than others who know
them only in a state of degradation.
On coming near Chinsamba's two stockades, on the banks of the Lintipe, we
were told that the Mazitu had been repulsed there the day before, and we
had evidence of the truth of the report of the attack in the sad sight of
the bodies of the slain. The Zulus had taken off large numbers of women
laden with corn; and, when driven back, had cut off the ears of a male
prisoner, as a sort of credential that he had been with the Mazitu, and
with grim humour sent him to tell Chinsamba "to take good care of the
corn in the stockades, for they meant to return for it in a month or
two."
Chinsamba's people were drumming with might and main on our arrival, to
express their joy at their deliverance from the Mazitu. The drum is the
chief instrument of music among the Manganja, and with it they express
both their joy and grief. They excel in beating time. Chinsamba called
us into a very large hut, and presented us with a huge basket of beer.
The glare of sunlight from which we had come enabled him, in diplomatic
fashion, to have a good view of us before our eyes became enough
accustomed to the dark inside to see him. He has a Jewish cast of
countenance, or rather the ancient Assyrian face, as seen in the
monuments brought to the British Museum by Mr. Layard. This form of face
is very common in this country, and leads to the belief that the true
type of the negro is not that met on the West Coast, from which most
people have derived their ideas of the African.
Chinsamba had many Abisa or Babisa in his stockade, and it was chiefly by
the help of their muskets that he had repulsed the Mazitu: these Babisa
are great travellers and traders.
We liked Chinsamba very well, and found that he was decidedly opposed to
our risking our lives by going further to the N.W. The Mazitu were
believed to occupy all the hills in that direction, so we spent the 4th
of September with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive