The rest were expecting to have to pull to the rescue; the men saying, "Look where these people are going!--look, look!"--when a loud crash burst on our ears.Dr. Kirk's canoe was dashed on a projection of the perpendicular rocks, by a sudden and mysterious boiling up of the river, which occurs at irregular intervals.Dr.
Kirk was seen resisting the sucking-down action of the water, which must have been fifteen fathoms deep, and raising himself by his arms on to the ledge, while his steersman, holding on to the same rocks, saved the canoe; but nearly all its contents were swept away down the stream.Dr. Livingstone's canoe, meanwhile, which had distracted the men's attention, was saved by the cavity in the whirlpool filling up as the frightful eddy was reached.A few of the things in Dr. Kirk's canoe were left; but all that was valuable, including a chronometer, a barometer, and, to our great sorrow, his notes of the journey and botanical drawings of the fruit-trees of the interior, perished.
We now left the river, and proceeded on foot, sorry that we had not done so the day before.The men were thoroughly frightened, they had never seen such perilous navigation.They would carry all the loads, rather than risk Kebrabasa any longer; but the fatigue of a day's march over the hot rocks and burning sand changed their tune before night; and then they regretted having left the canoes; they thought they should have dragged them past the dangerous places, and then launched them again.One of the two donkeys died from exhaustion near the Luia.Though the men eat zebras and quaggas, blood relations of the donkey, they were shocked at the idea of eating the ass; "it would be like eating man himself, because the donkey lives with man, and is his bosom companion."We met two large trading parties of Tette slaves on their way to Zumbo, leading, to be sold for ivory, a number of Manganja women, with ropes round their necks, and all made fast to one long rope.
Panzo, the headman of the village east of Kebrabasa, received us with great kindness.After the usual salutation he went up the hill, and, in a loud voice, called across the valley to the women of several hamlets to cook supper for us.About eight in the evening he returned, followed by a procession of women, bringing the food.
There were eight dishes of nsima, or porridge, six of different sorts of very good wild vegetables, with dishes of beans and fowls; all deliciously well cooked, and scrupulously clean.The wooden dishes were nearly as white as the meal itself:food also was brought for our men.Ripe mangoes, which usually indicate the vicinity of the Portuguese, were found on the 21st November; and we reached Tette early on the 23rd, having been absent a little over six months.
The two English sailors, left in charge of the steamer, were well, had behaved well, and had enjoyed excellent health all the time we were away.Their farm had been a failure.We left a few sheep, to be slaughtered when they wished for fresh meat, and two dozen fowls.
Purchasing more, they soon had double the number of the latter, and anticipated a good supply of eggs; but they also bought two monkeys, and THEY ate all the eggs.A hippopotamus came up one night, and laid waste their vegetable garden; the sheep broke into their cotton patch, when it was in flower, and ate it all, except the stems; then the crocodiles carried off the sheep, and the natives stole the fowls.Nor were they more successful as gun-smiths:a Portuguese trader, having an exalted opinion of the ingenuity of English sailors, showed them a double-barrelled rifle, and inquired if they could put on the BROWNING, which had rusted off."I think I knows how," said one, whose father was a blacksmith, "it's very easy; you have only to put the barrels in the fire."A great fire of wood was made on shore, and the unlucky barrels put over it, to secure the handsome rifle colour.To Jack's utter amazement the barrels came asunder.To get out of the scrape, his companion and he stuck the pieces together with resin, and sent it to the owner, with the message, "It was all they could do for it, and they would not charge him anything for the job!"They had also invented an original mode of settling a bargain; having ascertained the market price of provisions, they paid that, but no more.If the traders refused to leave the ship till the price was increased, a chameleon, of which the natives have a mortal dread, was brought out of the cabin; and the moment the natives saw the creature, they at once sprang overboard.The chameleon settled every dispute in a twinkling.
But besides their good-humoured intercourse, they showed humanity worthy of English sailors.A terrible scream roused them up one night, and they pushed off in a boat to the rescue.A crocodile had caught a woman, and was dragging her across a shallow sandbank.Just as they came up to her, she gave a fearful shriek:the horrid reptile had snapped off her leg at the knee.They took her on board, bandaged the limb as well as they could, and, not thinking of any better way of showing their sympathy, gave her a glass of rum, and carried her to a hut in the village.Next morning they found the bandages torn off, and the unfortunate creature left to die."I believe," remarked Rowe, one of the sailors, "her master was angry with us for saving her life, seeing as how she had lost her leg."
