Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/345

THE EASTERN MAKOI.OLOS. 878 be rogurded us of the same race as the Mukololos of the Chobe Valley, who, afler entering that district us conquerors, were almost entirely extirpated or driven west by the liarotAOS. Hut, although not belonging to thi^ group, the Makulolos of the Shire have at least preserved the same name. In 185i) Sckeletu, chief of the western (Chobe) 3klakololos, placed under the guidance of Livingstone some twenty youths, with orders to make their way to the coast, and fetch thence a jwwerful me<Iicino against leprosy, from which the king was suffering. Of this little band two members alone were of Makololo stock, all the others belonging U) various conquered tribes, such as the Barotse, Butoka, Baselea, like most of the warriors enrolled under the Makololo invaders. Finding it inconvenient to return to their sovereign, Livingstone's party settled on the right bank of the Shire, below the falls, choosing one of their number as chief. Under his leadership they became conquerors in their turn, and at the same time retained the name of 3Iakololo, of which they were naturally proud, while fugitives from numerous other tribes hastened to place themselves under their protection. Thanks to the moral influence of Livingstone, they abandoned the practice of slave- hunting, prevalent amongst so many of the surrounding ptHjples, and the security enjoyed under their government in a few years attracted to the district con^sideruble numbers of runaways and others from all quarters. Thus was constituted, in less than a single generation, the powerful tribe of the eastern or Shire Mukololos. At the time of Young's visit in 1876 all the riverain valleys lying between the last cataract and the Ruo confluence were subject to their rule. In all these communities the national salutation was the English "gowl morning," perpetuated since the time of the famous missionary and explorer, undi r whose guidance the founders of the new state hud originally left their homes in the west. Young pays a tribute of admiration to these industrious Mukololos for their strict honesty and love of work. When he had to transport above the cataracts, piece by piece, the steamer J/a/a, the first ever launched on Lake Nyassa, he had to employ a whole army of some eight hundred porters, iho plied their work free as air, far from all supervision, along a rough road, where anything might have caused a mishap. Yet at the end of this long portage of f)() miles every piece, to the last rivet, had been faithfully conveyed to the upper reaches without a single accident. The men were perfectly satisfied ; all had worked with a will, not one attempting to shirk his share of the labour, for which thn only reward was a few yards of calico. The bulk of the Makololo nation consists of members of the Maganya (Ma- Ganya, Ma-Nyanja) tribe These natives, whose name means " Lake j)eople," are still found J dwelling in distinct communities among the uplands filling the tri- angular space comprised between the Zambese and the Shire. Generally coHfused with the ijcople at one time famous under the name of Maravi, the Maganyas are noted less for their j)r wess than for their intelligence. They display «,'nat skill at wiekerwork, forging, and weaving, and also till the land vith extreme care. Men, women, and the young folks all work together in the fields, while the children disport themselves in the shade of the neighbouring trees. The Maganyas 115-AF