Zanzibar and the East Coast of Africa [pp. 70-87]

76 Zanzibar and the East Coast oj Afrtca. [July
as well as laid in stores of provisions for the upon them, and make themselves hideous.
caravan. In old maps of Africa a large lake It is inconceivable why human beings, eswill be seen laid down, stretching parallel pecially savage races, nearly all over the
with the coast at a distance from it of about world, should consider that they are enthree hundred miles. The information re- hancing the charm of their features by going
lating to it had originally been derived from a great way towards obliterating them, or
the Arab traders, who traversed this part of frightfully disfiguring them, but so it is. The
the continent in every direction; till lately, faces of some of the tribes had the appearin quest of slaves, as well as ivory, an~d so ance of plum puddings bristling with alforth. The name given to it by them was monds, excepting that the color was differNyassa, which is the Sawahili word for the ent-for with some sharp iron instrument
sea; and there really is a lake of that name, they had raised little knobs of flesh wheror so called by Livingstone, first visited by ever there was any, and the effect may easily
him on the i6th of September. 1859, which be imagined. The fashion of these knobs
is about two hundred miles long and from varied according to the tribe. Others had
fifty to sixty broad It is to the north of raised horizontal lines across the face in a
the Zambeze, and southeast of Lake Tan- simllar manner, reminding one of the visors
ganyika. In 1840 some Arab merchants of the olden times. The bodies of many
helped me to draw a map of the route to the were scarified in every conceivable way, and
last named lake-which, also, they called others again were tattooed in a fashion very
Nyassa-and I afterwards presented it to much resembling that of the New Zealanders
the Royal Geographical Society of London. -in addition to which they were frequently
With this map before me, and the informa- besmeared with grease, and even with clay.
tion they likewise gave about the country Otherwise, they were made shiny with palm
to be traversed and the tribes that inhabited or cocoanut oil, which unless applied daily
it, I resolved on undertaking an expedition would become rancid. The odor perceivato the lake, and had made considerable ble on approaching them was therefore not
progress with my preparations, when I was of the most pleasant character. The lobes
prostrated by a severe attack of fever, and of the ears of all were perforated, and someutterly incapacitated from proceeding to the times were weighed down with heavy iron
interior. Had I made the journey, I should or copper rings, but in most instances a
have anticipated the celebrated travelers I round or cylindrical piece of ebony, or other
have named. hard wood, or ivory, was inserted into the
During the several previous years, however, hole. The lobe, in consequence of this adI had visited much of the coast, penetrated dition, was frequently increased in size ~ari
at times some little distance inland, and passit with the gradually enlarging holeseen a great deal of various tribes, either on and this was sometimes so enormous that
their own ground or brought down as slaves when one day at Zanzibar I was looking at
to the Portuguese or to the Arab settle- a negro's ears that were unusually disments. Opportunity was therefore afforded tended, and literally hanging over his shoulme of observing these negroes critically. ders, figuratively like those of an elephant,
Generally speaking, they were of fine he grinned, showing all his teeth, ren~oved
physique, but what most struck an observer one of the circular lobe fillers, drew his ear
was the wonderful variety of self-inflicted down as if it were caoutchouc, and thrust his
tortures that most of them had undergone fist through the orifice. Then the teeth!
in order to deprive themselves of such in many instances thay were filed to a point,
amount of beauty as Nature had bestowed and visible through a slit in the upper lip,