exercise an evil influence by his presence on the
drink of the chief. I suspect that offenses of the slightest character
among the poor are made the pretext for selling them or their children
to the Mambari. A young man of Lobale had fled into the country of
Shinte, and located himself without showing himself to the chief. This
was considered an offense sufficient to warrant his being seized and
offered for sale while we were there. He had not reported himself, so
they did not know the reason of his running away from his own chief, and
that chief might accuse them of receiving a criminal. It was curious
to notice the effect of the slave-trade in blunting the moral
susceptibility: no chief in the south would treat a fugitive in this
way. My men were horrified at the act, even though old Shinte and his
council had some show of reason on their side; and both the Barotse
and the Makololo declared that, if the Balonda only knew of the policy
pursued by them to fugitives, but few of the discontented would remain
long with Shinte. My men excited the wonder of his people by stating
that every one of them had one cow at least in his possession.

Another incident, which occurred while we were here, may be mentioned,
as of a character totally unknown in the south. Two children, of seven
and eight years old, went out to collect firewood a short distance from
their parents' home, which was a quarter of a mile from the village, and
were kidnapped; the distracted parents could not find a trace of them.
This happened so close to the town, where there are no beasts of prey,
that we suspect some of the high men of Shinte's court were the guilty
parties: they can sell them by night. The Mambari erect large huts of a
square shape to stow these stolen ones in; they are well fed, but aired
by night only. The frequent kidnapping from outlying hamlets explains
the stockades we saw around them; the parents have no redress, for even
Shinte himself seems fond of working in the dark. One night he sent for
me, though I always stated I liked all my dealings to be aboveboard.
When I came he presented me with a slave girl about ten years old; he
said he had always been in the habit of presenting his visitors with a
child. On my thanking him, and saying that I thought it wrong to take
away children from their parents, that I wished him to give up this
system altogether, and trade in cattle, ivory, and bees'-wax, he urged
that she was "to be a child" to