New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-07-10


right, and as he says, the Decalogue." When he
was hungry. if he could not buy, he took food by
force. He rigorous in keeping his word with
the blacks, and properly suspicious of their prom
Uses. Before he settled down to sober hardship he
not above plying three Enthusiastically dressed
chiefs with fire-water to induce them to dance. In
the villages he found temples OF conversation"
where the Villagers would assemble to gossip and
narrate their adventures. In all Of that country
wife seemed to be esteemed according to her skill in
entrapping acQuaintances owning cattle other
valuable property. She would at once report her
nudehty 10 her husband and he would straightway
demand indemnity.
The word which strikes most terror in the Bihe is
N"cd'o, word that does not merely express crime
committed but an idea that embraces both the crime
ana Ihe payment OF fine. All crimes among these
people are eXriated by money, that is to say, the
payment OF a fine; and there intermediate
penalties between fine and death. When
wealthy person upon whom a mucanO is pending. re-
lsGs 10 pay, the party injured If he be powerful,
makes seizure OF of the others property fora
lar higher value han the amount of the fine and the
property so seized remains in deposit, 20 he subse
quenty Sold or appropriated by the person eecting
he seizure. The head of caravan is bound TO pay
le M@caHQS OF ms negroes, and he is responsible Tor
their good behavior, When a white man. who is
liable for the macaRos of his negroes has sufficient
force ut his command TO refuse to make such pay
mcnt, his accuscrS will wat-sonctimeS for years
until they can fall in with another and weaker
white on whose goods they effect their attachment.
The traders on reaching the Bihe deiraudcd in
TINS way to such an extent, that in many INSTANCES
riOr
Serpa Pinto reached Belmonte very i'll and did not
recover for many days In the meantime Capcllo
and lvens divided the goods and went off on their
own account. The real cause OF the separation is
not mentioned. When his goods arrived, Serpa
Pinto organized his own expedition for the Upper
Iamzeb The hest of the blacks chose to stick by
him. and in the face of great obstacles he struck
into the interior In one place he was assaulted by
one of his carriers with a hatchct; he was contin-
ualy meeting with intrigue, falling sick and being
delayed 10y the doScrton of carriers. His head men
were not over faithful but they showed confidence
in his power of nlicting punishment, and i'm his
capacity for getting them out of trouble and killing
game when they were famishiug. Among the Gam
guellas he freed gang of female slaves and seized
their three drivers. TO his astonishmcnt the slaves
expressed desire to go ON as they were and he let
them do so. But previously at Bclmoste he had
seized a gang that were glad of their liberty They
disappeared in twnklng, with the cxccp-
ton OF young girl who begged to be taken with
him. Tho reader Will infer that she is the Mariana
who gets him out of an awkward prcdicamcnt in the
Ambuella country, where the King, in accordance
with the etiquette of that people, sent his two
daughters to form temporary household for him.
Among the strange animals met with in those
regions were ants an eighth of an inch long that
could sting elephant to death. and antclopes be
81
antelope that were amphibious and could sleep
under water. He informs foe-tra lcrs that salt and
tobacco are articles Of coraband in the Baroze in
the heart of Africa, and cannot be sold without a
special license from the King.
In the second volume we learn why the FIRST vol
umc is called " The Kings Rifle and the second
" The Coillard Family In the Bsroze he was in
the midst of thieving people, whose chief men,
except the King, were bent on his destruction and
who, after OBTAINING him under various prctcnces,
tried one night TO murder the whole company. One
at least of Scrpa Iintos chief men was i'm the plot
The camp was burned, but the attack was Tepulsed,
the negroes being stampeded hy few explosive bull
let's which they a,cribed to sorccry. few nights
aftervagd his people deserted him with the cxcep-
ton Of three blacks Augusta Vcrissimo and Camu-
tombo, two boys who his servants Mariana
and the wife of his trusty Augusta His goods, most
Of his guns, and nearly all of his powder and ball
had been stolen. The Kings rifle was still in his
possession, and luckily in the box containing it were
some percussion caps and a hulct-mould. He also
found two cans Of powdcr in his insrument box and
the sinkers of IL fsh-nct which had been set in the
stream, afforded lead. With these resources he FASH
Toned 800 cartridges, and, procuring few men and
three boats from the King, proceeded down the
Zambczi to meet n French missionary who coming
from the Southeast, had reached the rapids above
the great Victoria Falls, but was allowed to pcnc-
trac no further. The missionary was Francois Coil
and their care during two severe attacks of fever
Scrpa Pinto must have succumbcd before reaching
Shoshons, on the confines of the Transvaal. After
other less thrilling adventures, Scrpa Pinto and
his seven blacks, the wife of Augusta having died
reached thecoast at Durham, Natal in April. 1870
MI. Joseph Thomson is the youn ges of noted
African travellers, and one OF the most interesting
to read. lie scarcely twonty -One and Just out
of the University of Edinburgh when he was an
pointed gcologst and naturalist to the Fast African
expedition sent out by the Royal Geographical So
ciety in 1873, under the leadership of Nh Keith
Johnston. The latter lived only long enough to
organize and equip caravan of 100 natives, and
to see it just started ON its perilous journey. man
OF Ihomsons incXperIence, if lie had been less
thusiastc and se.f-conldcnt. would have hcsitatcd
about pressing forward when he found himself alone
with valuable caravan and still within easy march
Of the coast In that moment, as he says, he re-
membered that hc was the feow-countryman of
Livingstone. He resolved to carry out, if possible
the aims of his Inflated leader, and explore the
ncighborhood of Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika.
The journey lasted fourteen months, and was sim
gularly fortunate except in the death of Mr. John
ston. OF the 100 natives who set out with him.
only one failed to answer the last rolcall at the
coast 1t is Unprecedented that he should have no
desertions and plundcring to record. Though
his narrative presents nothing startlingly new or
thrllingy sensational" it is intensely interesting
Thomson sees everything with fresh eyes, is inter
csted in details, and knows how to bring scenes and
events wildly before the reader.
The starting point Dares Salaam. and tho
journey to the interior made over "a route
which brought them into the country of the warlike
Mahengc, where white man had never before been
seen. The black carriers behaved remarkably we'll
but showed an inclination to have their own