We Left Quendende's Village In Company With Quendende Himself,
And The Principal Man Of The Embassadors Of Matiamvo, And After
Two Or Three Miles' March To The N.W., Came To The Ford Of The Lotembwa,
Which Flows Southward.
A canoe was waiting to ferry us over,
but it was very tedious work; for, though the river itself
was only eighty yards wide, the whole valley was flooded, and we were obliged
to paddle more than half a mile to get free of the water.
A fire was lit
to warm old Quendende, and enable him to dry his tobacco-leaves.
The leaves are taken from the plant, and spread close to the fire
until they are quite dry and crisp; they are then put into a snuff-box,
which, with a little pestle, serves the purpose of a mill
to grind them into powder; it is then used as snuff.
As we sat by the fire, the embassadors communicated their thoughts freely
respecting the customs of their race. When a chief dies, a number of servants
are slaughtered with him to form his company in the other world.
The Barotse followed the same custom, and this and other usages
show them to be genuine negroes, though neither they nor the Balonda
resemble closely the typical form of that people. Quendende said
if he were present on these occasions he would hide his people,
so that they might not be slaughtered. As we go north, the people become
more bloodily superstitious.
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