ming near
him, took only three of my eight attendants. His people were
very much afraid of fire-arms, and felt all my clothing to see
if I had any concealed on my person. Nsama is an old man, with
head and face like those sculptured on the Assyrian monuments.
He has been a great conqueror in his time, and with bows and
arrows was invincible. He is said to have destroyed many native
traders from Tanganyika, but twenty Arab guns made him flee from
his own stockade, and caused a great sensation in the country.
He was much taken with my hair and woollen clothing; but his
people, heedless of his scolding, so pressed upon us that we
could not converse, and, after promising to send for me to talk
during the night, our interview ended. He promised guides to
Moero, and sent us more provisions than we could carry; but
showed so much distrust, that after all we went without his
assistance.

Nsama's people are particularly handsome. Many of the men have
as beautiful heads as one could find in an assembly of
Europeans. All have very fine forms, with small hands and feet.
None of the West-coast ugliness, from which most of our ideas of
the Negroes are derived, is here to be seen. No prognathous jaws
nor lark-heels offended the sight. My observations deepened the
impression first obtained from the remarks of Winwood Reade,
that the typical Negro is seen in the ancient Egyptian, and not
in the ungainly forms; which grow up in the unhealthy swamps of
the West Coast. Indeed it is probable that this upland forest
region is the true home of the Negro. The women excited the
admiration of the Arabs. They have fine, small, well-formed
features: their great defect is one of fashion, which does not
extend to the next tribe; they file their teeth to points, the
hussies, and that makes their smile like that of the crocodile.

Nsama's country is called Itawa, and his principal town is in
lat. 8 deg. 55' S., and long. 29 deg. 21' E. From the large population
he had under him, Itawa is in many parts well cleared of trees
for cultivation, and it is lower than Ulungu, being generally
about 3000 feet above the sea. Long lines of tree-covered hills
raised some 600 or 700 feet above these valleys of denudation,
prevent the scenery from being monotonous. Large game is
abundant. Elephants, buffaloes, and