which had been in the last stage of a decline.  They had watched him staggering to the river to quench his thirst, and sprang on him as he was crawling up the bank.  One had caught him by the throat, and the other by his high projecting backbone, which was broken by the lion’s powerful fangs.  The struggle, if any, must have been short.  They had only eaten the intestines when we frightened them off.  It is curious that this is the part that wild animals always begin with, and that it is also the first choice of our men.  Were it not a wise arrangement that only the strongest males should continue the breed, one could hardly help pitying the solitary buffalo expelled from the herd for some physical blemish, or on account of the weakness of approaching old age.  Banished from female society, he naturally becomes morose and savage; the necessary watchfulness against enemies is now never shared by others; disgusted, he passes into a state of chronic war with all who enjoy life, and the sooner after his expulsion that he fills the lion’s or the wild-dog’s maw, the better for himself and for the peace of the country.

We encamped on the 20th of June at a spot where Dr. Livingstone, on his journey from the West to the East Coast, was formerly menaced by a chief named Mpende.  No offence had been committed against him, but he had firearms, and, with the express object of showing his power, he threatened to attack the strangers.  Mpende’s counsellors having, however, found out that Dr. Livingstone belonged to a tribe of whom they had heard that “they loved the black man and did not make slaves,” his conduct at once changed from enmity to kindness, and, as the place was one well selected for defence, it was perhaps quite as well for Mpende that he decided as he did.  Three of his counsellors now visited us, and we gave them a handsome present for their chief, who came himself next morning and made us a present of a goat, a basket of boiled maize, and another of vetches.  A few miles above this the headman, Chilondo of Nyamasusa, apologized for not formerly lending us canoes.  “He was absent, and his children were to blame for not telling him when the Doctor passed; he did not refuse the canoes.”  The sight of our men, now armed with muskets, had a great effect.  Without any bullying, firearms command respect, and lead men to be reasonable who might otherwise feel disposed to be troublesome.  Nothing, however, our fracas with Mpende excepted, could be more peaceful than our passage through this tract of country in 1856.  We then had nothing to excite the cupidity of the people, and the men maintained themselves, either by selling elephant’s meat, or by exhibiting feats of foreign dancing.  Most of the people were very generous and friendly; but the Banyai, nearer to Tette than this, stopped our march with a threatening war-dance.  One of our party, terrified at this, ran away, as we thought, insane, and could not, after a painful search of three days, be found.  The Banyai, evidently touched by our distress, allowed us to proceed.  Through a man we left on an island a little below Mpende’s, we subsequently learned that poor Monaheng had fled thither, and had been murdered by the headman for no reason except that he was defenceless.  This headman had since become odious to his countrymen, and had been put to death by them.