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
The Manganja country is delightfully well watered. The clear, cool,
gushing streams are very numerous. Once we passed seven fine brooks and
a spring in a single hour, and this, too, near the close of the dry
season. Mount Zomba, which is twenty miles long, and from 7000 to 8000
feet high, has a beautiful stream flowing through a verdant valley on its
summit, and running away down into Lake Shirwa. The highlands are well
wooded, and many trees, admirable for their height and timber, grow on
the various watercourses. "Is this country good for cattle?" we inquired
of a Makololo herdsman, whose occupation had given him skill in
pasturage. "Truly," he replied, "do you not see abundance of those
grasses which the cattle love, and get fat upon?" Yet the people have
but few goats, and fewer sheep. With the exception of an occasional
leopard, there are no beasts of prey to disturb domestic animals. Wool-
sheep would, without doubt, thrive on these highlands. Part of the Upper
Shire valley has a lady paramount, named Nyango; and in her dominions
women rank higher and receive more respectful treatment than their
sisters on the hills.
The hill chief, Mongazi, called his wife to take charge of a present we
had given him. She dropped down on her knees, clapping her hands in
reverence, before and after receiving our presents from his lordly hands.
It was painful to see the abject manner in which the women of the hill
tribes knelt beside the path as we passed; but a great difference took
place when we got into Nyango's country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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