17th April, 1871.—­Rainy.

18th April, 1871.—­I found that the Lepidosiren is brought to market in pots with water in them, also white ants roasted, and the large snail, achetina, and a common snail:  the Lepidosiren is called “sembe.”

Abed went a long way to examine a canoe, but it was still further, and he turned back.

19th April, 1871.—­Dreary waiting, but Abed proposes to join and trade along with me:  this will render our party stronger, and he will not shoot people in my company; we shall hear Katomba’s people’s story too.

20th April, 1871.—­Katomba a chief was to visit us yesterday, but failed, probably through fear.

The chief Mokandira says that Loeki is small where it joins Lualaba, but another, which they call Lomame, is very much larger, and joins Lualaba too:  rapids are reported on it.

21st April, 1871.—­A common salutation reminds me of the Bechuana’s “U le hatsi” (thou art on earth); “Ua tala” (thou lookest); “Ua boka,” or byoka (thou awakest); “U ri ho” (thou art here); “U li koni” (thou art here)—­about pure “Sichuana,” and “Nya,” No, is identical.  The men here deny that cannibalism is common:  they eat only those killed in war, and, it seems, in revenge, for, said Mokandira, “the meat is not nice; it makes one dream of the dead man.”  Some west of Lualaba eat even those bought for the purpose of a feast; but I am not quite positive on this point:  all agree in saying that human flesh is saltish, and needs but little condiment.  And yet they are a fine-looking race; I would back a company of Manyuema men to be far superior in shape of head and generally in physical form too against the whole Anthropological Society.  Many of the women are very light-coloured and very pretty; they dress in a kilt of many folds of gaudy lambas.

22nd April, 1871.—­In Manyuema, here Kusi, Kunzi, is north; Mhuru, south; Nkanda, west, or other side Lualaba; Mazimba, east.  The people are sometimes confused in name by the directions; thus Bankanda is only “the other side folk.”  The Bagenya Chimburu came to visit me, but I did not see him, nor did I know Moene Nyangwe till too late to do him honour; in fact, every effort was made to keep me in the dark while the slavers of Ujiji made all smooth for themselves to get canoes.  All chiefs claim the privilege of shaking hands, that is, they touch the hand held out with their palm, then clap two hands together, then touch again, and clap again, and the ceremony concludes:  this frequency of shaking hands misled me when the great man came.

24th April, 1871.—­Old feuds lead the Manyuema to entrap the traders to fight:  they invite them to go to trade, and tell them that at such a village plenty of ivory lies; then when the trader goes with his people, word is sent that he is coming to fight, and he is met by enemies, who compel him to defend himself by their onslaught.  We were nearly entrapped in this way by a chief pretending to guide us through the country near Basilange; he would have landed us in a fight, but we detected his drift, changed our course so as to mislead any messengers he might have sent, and dismissed him with some sharp words.