move on,
rather than spend time in seeking his favour.

On the 25th August we reached Dakanamoio island, opposite the
perpendicular bluff on which Chibisa's village stands; he had gone, with
most of his people, to live near the Zambesi, but his headman was civil,
and promised us guides and whatever else we needed. A few of the men
were busy cleaning, sorting, spinning, and weaving cotton. This is a
common sight in nearly every village, and each family appears to have its
patch of cotton, as our own ancestors in Scotland had each his patch of
flax. Near sunset an immense flock of the large species of horn-bill
(_Buceros cristatus_) came here to roost on the great trees which skirt
the edge of the cliff. They leave early in the morning, often before
sunrise, for their feeding-places, coming and going in pairs. They are
evidently of a loving disposition, and strongly attached to each other,
the male always nestling close beside his mate. A fine male fell to the
ground, from fear, at the report of Dr. Kirk's gun; it was caught and
kept on board; the female did not go off in the mornings to feed with the
others, but flew round the ship, anxiously trying, by her plaintive
calls, to induce her beloved one to follow her: she came again in the
evenings to repeat the invitations. The poor disconsolate captive soon
refused to eat, and in five days died of grief, because he could not have
her company. No internal injury could be detected after death.

Chibisa and his wife, with a natural show of parental feeling, had told
the Doctor, on his previous visit, that a few years before some of
Chisaka's men had kidnapped and sold their little daughter, and that she
was now a slave to the padre at Tette. On his return to Tette, the
Doctor tried hard to ransom and restore the girl to her parents, and
offered twice the value of a slave; the padre seemed willing, but she
could not be found. This padre was better than the average men of the
country; and, being always civil and obliging, would probably have
restored her gratuitously, but she had been sold, it might be to the
distant tribe Bazizulu, or he could not tell where. Custom had rendered
his feelings callous, and Chibisa had to be told that his child would
never return. It is this callous state of mind which leads some of our
own blood to quote Scripture in support of slavery. If we could afford
to take a backward step in civilization, we might find men among
ourselves wh