As most skirmishes arise from misunderstanding, this might have been a serious one; for, like all the tribes near the Portuguese settlements, people here imagine that they have a right to demand payment from every one who passes through the country; and now, though Ionga Panza was certainly no match for my men, yet they were determined not to forego their right without a struggle.

I removed with my men to the vicinity of the village, thankful that no accident had as yet brought us into actual collision.
The reason why the people have imbibed the idea so strongly that they have a right to demand payment for leave to pass through the country is probably this.

They have seen no traders except those either engaged in purchasing slaves, or who have slaves in their employment.

These slave-traders have always been very much at the mercy of the chiefs through whose country they have passed; for if they afforded a ready asylum for runaway slaves, the traders might be deserted at any moment, and stripped of their property altogether.

They are thus obliged to curry favor with the chiefs, so as to get a safe conduct from them.