It Was Amusing To See
The Mortification Exhibited On The Black Faces Of The Unsuccessful Candidates,
While The Spectators Greeted Them With A Hearty Laugh.
During the whole of my stay with the Makololo, Sekeletu supplied
my wants abundantly, appointing some cows to furnish me with milk,
and, when he went out to hunt, sent home orders for slaughtered oxen
to be given.
That the food was not given in a niggardly spirit
may be inferred from the fact that, when I proposed to depart
on the 20th of October, he protested against my going off in such a hot sun.
"Only wait," said he, "for the first shower, and then I will let you go."
This was reasonable, for the thermometer, placed upon a deal box in the sun,
rose to 138 Deg. It stood at 108 Deg. in the shade by day,
and 96 Deg. at sunset. If my experiments were correct,
the blood of a European is of a higher temperature than that of an African.
The bulb, held under my tongue, stood at 100 Deg.; under that of the natives,
at 98 Deg. There was much sickness in the town, and no wonder,
for part of the water left by the inundation still formed a large pond
in the centre. Even the plains between Linyanti and Sesheke had not yet been
freed from the waters of the inundation. They had risen higher than usual,
and for a long time canoes passed from the one place to the other,
a distance of upward of 120 miles, in nearly a straight line.
We found many patches of stagnant water, which, when disturbed
by our passing through them, evolved strong effluvia of sulphureted hydrogen.
At other times these spots exhibit an efflorescence of the nitrate of soda;
they also contain abundance of lime, probably from decaying vegetable matter,
and from these may have emanated the malaria which caused
the present sickness. I have often remarked this effluvium in sickly spots,
and can not help believing but that it has some connection with fever,
though I am quite aware of Dr. MacWilliams's unsuccessful efforts
to discover sulphureted hydrogen, by the most delicate tests,
in the Niger expedition.
I had plenty of employment, for, besides attending to the severer cases,
I had perpetual calls on my attention. The town contained
at least 7000 inhabitants, and every one thought that he might come,
and at least look at me. In talking with some of the more intelligent
in the evenings, the conversation having turned from inquiries respecting
eclipses of the sun and moon to that other world where Jesus reigns,
they let me know that my attempts to enlighten them had not been
without some small effect. "Many of the children," said they,
"talk about the strange things you bring to their ears, but the old men
show a little opposition by saying, `Do we know what he is talking about?'"
Ntlaria and others complain of treacherous memories, and say,
"When we hear words about other things, we hold them fast;
but when we hear you tell much more wonderful things than any we have
ever heard before, we don't know how it is, they run away from our hearts."
These are the more intelligent of my Makololo friends.
On the majority the teaching produces no appreciable effect;
they assent to the truth with the most perplexing indifference,
adding, "But we don't know," or, "We do not understand."
My medical intercourse with them enabled me to ascertain their moral status
better than a mere religious teacher could do. They do not attempt
to hide the evil, as men often do, from their spiritual instructors;
but I have found it difficult to come to a conclusion on their character.
They sometimes perform actions remarkably good, and sometimes
as strangely the opposite. I have been unable to ascertain the motive
for the good, or account for the callousness of conscience with which
they perpetrate the bad. After long observation, I came to the conclusion
that they are just such a strange mixture of good and evil
as men are every where else. There is not among them an approach
to that constant stream of benevolence flowing from the rich to the poor
which we have in England, nor yet the unostentatious attentions
which we have among our own poor to each other. Yet there are
frequent instances of genuine kindness and liberality, as well as
actions of an opposite character. The rich show kindness to the poor
in expectation of services, and a poor person who has no relatives
will seldom be supplied even with water in illness, and, when dead,
will be dragged out to be devoured by the hyaenas instead of being buried.
Relatives alone will condescend to touch a dead body. It would be easy
to enumerate instances of inhumanity which I have witnessed.
An interesting-looking girl came to my wagon one day in a state of nudity,
and almost a skeleton. She was a captive from another tribe,
and had been neglected by the man who claimed her. Having supplied her wants,
I made inquiry for him, and found that he had been unsuccessful in raising
a crop of corn, and had no food to give her. I volunteered to take her;
but he said he would allow me to feed her and make her fat,
and then take her away. I protested against his heartlessness;
and, as he said he could "not part with his child," I was precluded
from attending to her wants. In a day or two she was lost sight of.
She had gone out a little way from the town, and, being too weak to return,
had been cruelly left to perish. Another day I saw a poor boy
going to the water to drink, apparently in a starving condition.
This case I brought before the chief in council, and found that his emaciation
was ascribed to disease and want combined. He was not one of the Makololo,
but a member of a subdued tribe.
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