We found some natives pounding the woody stems of a poisonous climbing-plant (Dirca palustris) called Busungu, or poison, which grows abundantly in the swamps.When a good quantity was bruised, it was tied up in bundles.The stream above and below was obstructed with bushes, and with a sort of rinsing motion the poison was diffused through the water.Many fish were soon affected, swain in shore, and died, others were only stupefied.The plant has pink, pea-shaped blossoms, and smooth, pointed, glossy leaves, and the brown bark is covered with minute white points.The knowledge of it might prove of use to a shipwrecked party by enabling them to catch the fish.
The poison is said to be deleterious to man if the water is drunk;but not when the fish is cooked.The Busungu is repulsive to some insects, and is smeared round the shoots of the palm-trees to prevent the ants from getting into the palm wine while it is dropping from the tops of the palm-trees into the little pots suspended to collect it.
We were in the habit of walking from our beds into the salt water at sunrise, for a bath, till a large crocodile appeared at the bathing-place, and from that time forth we took our dip in the sea, away from the harbour, about midday.This is said to be unwholesome, but we did not find it so.It is certainly better not to bathe in the mornings, when the air is colder than the water--for then, on returning to the cooler air, one is apt to get a chill and fever.In the mouth of the river, many saw-fish are found.Rowe saw one while bathing--caught it by the tail, and shoved it, "snout on," ashore.
The saw is from a foot to eighteen inches long.We never heard of any one being wounded by this fish; nor, though it goes hundreds of miles up the river in fresh water, could we learn that it was eaten by the people.The hippopotami delighted to spend the day among the breakers, and seemed to enjoy the fun as much as we did.
Severe gales occurred during our stay on the Coast, and many small sea-birds (Prion Banksii, Smith) perished:the beach was strewn with their dead bodies, and some were found hundreds of yards inland; many were so emaciated as to dry up without putrefying.We were plagued with myriads of mosquitoes, and had some touches of fever; the men we brought from malarious regions of the interior suffered almost as much from it here as we did ourselves.This gives strength to the idea that the civilized withstand the evil influences of strange climates better than the uncivilized.When negroes return to their own country from healthy lands, they suffer as severely as foreigners ever do.
On the 31st of January, 1861, our new ship, the "Pioneer," arrived from England, and anchored outside the bar; but the weather was stormy, and she did not venture in till the 4th of February.
Two of H.M. cruisers came at the same time, bringing Bishop Mackenzie, and the Oxford and Cambridge Mission to the tribes of the Shire and Lake Nyassa.The Mission consisted of six Englishmen, and five coloured men from the Cape.It was a puzzle to know what to do with so many men.The estimable Bishop, anxious to commence his work without delay, wished the "Pioneer" to carry the Mission up the Shire, as far as Chibisa's, and there leave them.But there were grave objections to this.The "Pioneer" was under orders to explore the Rovuma, as the Portuguese Government had refused to open the Zambesi to the ships of other nations, and their officials were very effectually pursuing a system, which, by abstracting the labour, was rendering the country of no value either to foreigners or to themselves.She was already two months behind her time, and the rainy season was half over.Then, if the party were taken to Chibisa's, the Mission would he left without a medical attendant, in an unhealthy region, at the beginning of the most sickly season of the year, and without means of reaching the healthy highlands, or of returning to the sea.We dreaded that, in the absence of medical aid and all knowledge of the treatment of fever, there might be a repetition of the sorrowful fate which befell the similar non-medical Mission at Linyanti.
On the 25th of February the "Pioneer" anchored in the mouth of the Rovuma, which, unlike most African rivers, has a magnificent bay and no bar.We wooded, and then waited for the Bishop till the 9th of March, when he came in the "Lyra."On the 11th we proceeded up the river, and saw that it had fallen four or five feet during our detention.The scenery on the lower part of the Rovuma is superior to that on the Zambesi, for we can see the highlands from the sea.
Eight miles from the mouth the mangroves are left behind, and a beautiful range of well-wooded hills on each bank begins.On these ridges the tree resembling African blackwood, of finer grain than ebony, grows abundantly, and attains a large size.Few people were seen, and those were of Arab breed, and did not appear to be very well off.The current of the Rovuma was now as strong as that of the Zambesi, but the volume of water is very much less.Several of the crossings had barely water enough for our ship, drawing five feet, to pass.When we were thirty miles up the river, the water fell suddenly seven inches in twenty-four hours.As the March flood is the last of the season, and it appeared to be expended, it was thought prudent to avoid the chance of a year's detention, by getting the ship back to the sea without delay.Had the Expedition been alone, we would have pushed up in boats, or afoot, and done what we could towards the exploration of the river and upper end of the lake;
