A Few
Of The Men Were Busy Cleaning, Sorting, Spinning, And Weaving Cotton.
This Is A Common Sight In Nearly Every Village, And Each Family
Appears To Have Its Patch Of Cotton, As Our Own Ancestors In Scotland
Had Each His Patch Of Flax.
Near sunset an immense flock of the
large species of horn-bill (Buceros cristatus) came here to roost on
the great trees which skirt the edge of the cliff.
They leave early
in the morning, often before sunrise, for their feeding-places,
coming and going in pairs. They are evidently of a loving
disposition, and strongly attached to each other, the male always
nestling close beside his mate. A fine male fell to the ground, from
fear, at the report of Dr. Kirk's gun; it was caught and kept on
board; the female did not go off in the mornings to feed with the
others, but flew round the ship, anxiously trying, by her plaintive
calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her: she came again in
the evenings to repeat the invitations. The poor disconsolate
captive soon refused to eat, and in five days died of grief, because
he could not have her company. No internal injury could be detected
after death.
Chibisa and his wife, with a natural show of parental feeling, had
told the Doctor, on his previous visit, that a few years before some
of Chisaka's men had kidnapped and sold their little daughter, and
that she was now a slave to the padre at Tette.
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