No portion of East or Central Africa equals Unyamwezi in beauty of scenery. The blending of its forests with the clearings and plains, the rocky elevations here and there seen rising above the vari-colored leafage that lies like a carpet widely extended, constitute a view of unusual attraction. Though there are no majestic mountains, no picturesque or startling scenes, and a journey through the country does not awaken the emotion of sublimity, yet the landscape, as far as the eye can stretch in every direction, is one so lovely as to be forever remembered.
Stanley in describing it says, “The foliage is of all the colors of the prism; but as the woods roll away into the distance, the calm, mysterious haze enwraps them in its soft shroud, paints them first a light blue, then gradually a deeper blue, until, in the distance, there appears but a dim looming, and on gazing at its faded contour we find ourselves falling into a day-dream, as indistinct in its outline as the view which appears in the horizon. I defy any one to gaze on such a scene without wishing his life would fade away as serenely as the outlines of the forests of Unyamwezi.”
These forests abound with a great variety of trees, the wood of which, according to the peculiarity of each, is made useful by the natives.
The mkurongo is harder and more lasting than hickory and is susceptible of a very high polish. The pestle for pounding grain is made of this tree.
The bark from which their cloth is made comes from the mbugu. After being thoroughly soaked, it is pounded and then dried and rubbed, so that it resembles felt. The natives sometimes make ropes from this bark, and also round boxes for storing grain. These they ornament in various ways.
Another tree, called the imbite, is capable of being ornamentally carved, when made into the shape of doors and pillars. As it also emits an agreeable odor, this quality, with its beautiful color, makes it a choice and favorite wood. Stanley mentions some twenty other varieties, most of which are made subservient to some useful purpose. These trees abound everywhere in equatorial Africa.
From the Guinea palm-tree the natives extract an intoxicating liquor, called “tembo.” A toddy which they call “zogga” is made from plantains.
There are various fruit-bearing trees in Central Africa, and the kinds of grapes, some of which are poisonous, are numerous. The common articles of food among the different tribes are sorghum, sesame, millet, and maize or Indian corn, pulse, beans, and rice, with many kinds of fish. There is one kind called “dogara,” which, though one of the smallest, contributes more than any other to the food of the people. It is minute, a kind of white-bait, and is caught in nets in great quantities, in Lake Tanganyika. They are then dried in the sun or salted, and often become an article of commerce as far as Unyanyembe.
Belief in the power of the “medicine man” is almost unlimited. The natives thought Stanley was able to make rain; that, with some preparation, he could kill all the people of Mirambo, a hostile chief who was making frequent raids upon them. They would carry their sick to him, believing he could cure them. It was only by his most earnest and positive assertion that he possessed no such power that he could satisfy them. One old man took to him a fine, fat sheep and a dish of vegetables, to enlist his services in curing a chronic dysentery, but he refused them, disclaiming any ability to help him.
This credulity of the people is the basis of the wide and sometimes terrible sway of the “medicine man” in Africa. Says Stanley, “No hunting expedition of Wanyamwezi starts without having consulted the mganga (medicine man), who, for a consideration, supplies them with charms, potions, herbs, and blessings. A bit of the ear of a zebra, the blood of a lion, the claw of a leopard, the lip of a buffalo, the tail of a giraffe, the eyebrow of a harte-beest, are treasures not to be parted with save for a monetary value. To their necks are suspended a bit of quartz, polished and of triangular shape, and pieces of carved wood, and an all-powerful talisman in the shape of a plant, sewed up jealously in a small leathern pouch.”