really lakes, and the traditional names thus preserved are only another
evidence of the general desiccation which Africa has undergone.



CHAPTER III.


The Steamer in difficulties--Elephant hunting--Arrival at
Chibisa's--Search for Lake Nyassa--The Manganja country--Weavers and
smelters--Lake Pamalombe.

Late in the afternoon of the first day's steaming, after we left the
wooding-place, we called at the village of Chikanda-Kadze, a female
chief, to purchase rice for our men; but we were now in the blissful
region where time is absolutely of no account, and where men may sit down
and rest themselves when tired; so they requested us to wait till next
day, and they would then sell us some food. As our forty black men,
however, had nothing to cook for supper, we were obliged to steam on to
reach a village a few miles above. When we meet those who care not
whether we purchase or let it alone, or who think men ought only to be in
a hurry when fleeing from an enemy, our ideas about time being money, and
the power of the purse, receives a shock. The state of eager
competition, which in England wears out both mind and body, and makes
life bitter, is here happily unknown. The cultivated spots are mere dots
compared to the broad fields of rich soil which is never either grazed or
tilled. Pity that the plenty in store for all, from our Father's
bountiful hands, is not enjoyed by more.

The wretched little steamer could not carry all the hands we needed; so,