0001
1

1
2113 The Bakalahari who live
3at Motlatsa wells have
4always been very friendly ^ to us and
5listen attentively to the introduction
6conveyed to them in their
7own tongue - It is however
8difficult to conveygive an idea
9to an European of the little
10effect such teaching produces
11because no one can realize
12the degradation to which
13their minds have been
14sunk by centuries of
15barbarianism and hard struggling
16for the necessaries of life
17They [↪ like {and} most others] listen with respect
18and attention but when
19we kneel down and
20address an unseen b {B}eing
21the position often appears
22 [to them] so ridiculous that they
23cannot refrain from
24bursting into uncontroulable
25laughter - After a few services
26 [with the wild heathen] they get over this tendency: I
27was once present when
28a missionary attempted
29to sing inamong a rawwild heathen ↪ tribe [↪ of Bechuanas
30tribe who have
31no music
32in their com-
33position]
34the effect of {on} the risible
35powers of the audience
36werewas such that the tears
37actually ran down their
38cheeks Nearly all their
39thoughts are directed to the
40supply of their bodily wants 0002
12
2and this has been the case with
3the race for ages - If asked
4then what effect the preaching
5of the gospel has ^ at first on such
6individuals I am unable
7to tell - [↪ except that some
8have confessed
9long afterwards
10that they then
11first began
12to pray in secret] Of the effects of a
13long continued course of
14114 instruction there can be
15no reasonable doubt [↪ as mere nominal
16belief is nothas never been cont-
17sidered sufficient
18by any body of mission
19aries, and]
20after the change which has
21been effect brought about
22by this same agency
23in the South - [↪ we have reason
24to hope well
25for the future] Those I have
26myself witnessed were {behaving} ^
27 [↪ in the manner
28described] when these most degraded
29beings are kindly treated
30in sickness - theyoften utter
31a few words to Jesus, and
32I believe sometimes ^ really pray
33to him in their afflictions
34and I believe As that great
35Redeemer of the guilty wishes
36 [seeks] to save all h {H}e in con-
37sistency can, ^ we may well hope that they find
38mercy through h {H}is blood
39though little able to appreciate
40the sacrifice h {H}e made
41The indirect and scarcely
42appreciable blessings of
43Christian missionaries going
44about doing good are
45 [thus] probably not so despicable
46as some might imagine 0003
13
2There is no necessity for
3beginning to tell even the
4115 most degraded of the existence
5of a god or ^ of of {the} future state,
6the two ^ facts are universally
7admitted - Everything that
8can not be unaccountableed for by common
9causes is ascribed to the
10former, - as creation, - sudden
11death, &c, "How curiously god
12made these things" ^ [is a common
13expression, ^
14as is also,] or
15"He was not killed by disease,
16he was killed by God"
17And theywhen speaking of the departed
18 [-] though there is nought
19in the physical appearance
20of the dead to justify the
21expression they say - "He has gone
22to the Gods" the phrase being
23identical with "abiit ad
24plures" - But though they
25all posses a distinct
26knowledge of a deity and
27future state, they shew
28so little reverence, and feel
29so little connection with
30either that it is not surprising
31that some have supposed
32them destitute entirely ignorant
33 [on the subject -] of them- At LotLakane
34we met an old Bushman
35who at first seemed to have
36no conception of morality
37whatever - ; When his heart 0004
124 4
2was warmed by our presents
3116 of meat, he sat by the fire
4relating his early adventures
5These were killing five
6other b {B}ushmen - "Two [↪ said he, counting
7on his fingers,] were
8females, one a male and
9the other two calves - " What
10a villain you are to boast
11of killing women & children
12of your own nation - What
13will God say when you
14appear before him? He
15will say, replied he, that
16I was a very clever fellow"
17On farther     . This person
18now appeared to me as
19without conscience, & of
20course responsibility, but
21on trying to enlighten
22him by farther conversation
23I discovered that though
24he was usingemploying the nameword
25for God ^ which is used among the Bakwains
26 [is used when speaking
27of the Deity] - he had only the idea of
28a chief, and was all
29the while referring to Sekomi,
30and a party of rebel bushmen,
31against whom he had been
32sent - If I had known
33the name for God in the
34Bushman tongue the
35mistake could scarcely
36have occurred -

0005
1

XVI- 1 5
2On questioning intelligent men
3among the Bakwains as to their
4former ideasknowledge of good and
5evil, of God & the future state
6they have scouted the idea
7idea of any of them ever
8having been without a
9tolerably clear conception ofon
10 [all these subjects] them all - Respecting
11the former they profess that
12nothing we indicate as sin
13ever appeared to them ˄ as otherwise new
14except the statement that it
15was wrong to have more
16wives than one - And they
17declare they spoke in the
18same way of the direct influence
19exercised by God in giving
20rain in answer to prayers
21of the rainmakers and in
22granting deliverance in times
23of delive danger [↪ as they dowdo
24now] before they
25                          ever heard of
26white men - The want however
27of any form of public worship
28or of idols or of formal
29prayers or sacrifice makes
30both Caffres and Bechuanas
31appear as among the most
32godless ˄ races of mortals known
33anywhere.

0006
1

2 6
2
3
4
5
6
7
8Leaving Motlatsa on the 8th
9January we passed away
10down the Mokoko which
11in the memory of persons
12now living was a flowing
13stream - We ourselves once
14saw a heavy thunder shower
15make it assume its ancient
16appearance of running to the
17North - Between Lotlakani &
18Nchokotsa we pass the small
19well named Orapa Thutsa
20Orapa & another n {c}alled Thutsa
21the water is salt and purgative
22The salt pan Chuantsa having
23 [a cake] ˄ of salt 1₁/₂ inches in thickness diameter of salt
24is about 10 miles to the N- E- of
25Orapa       This saltdeposit contains
26a bitter, salt in addition,
27probably the sulphate ˄ nitrate of
28lime the natives in order
29to render it palatable & wholesome
30mix the salt with a {^} the juice of a gummy
31plant - Then place it in the
32sand and bake it by
33making a fire over it
34The lime then becomes deprived
35of its sulphate and is insoluble
36and tastless

0007
1

3 7
2The Bamangwato keep large
3flocks of sheep and goats at
4various spots on this side of
5the desert They thrive wonderfully
6well wherever salt & bushes
7are to be found - The milk
8of goats does not coagulate
9with facility like that of cows
10on account of its richness
11but the natives have discovered
12that the infusion of the fruit
13of a solanaceous plant
14
15quickly produces the effect
16The Bechuanas put their
17milk into leathern sacks
18made of untanned hide with
19the hair taken off - Hung in
20the sun it soon coagulates
21 [whey] the way whey is then drawn off
22by a plug at the bottom
23& fresh milk added untill
24the whole is sack is full
25of a thick sour curd which
26when one becomes used to
27it is delicious - The Rich mix
28this in the porridge into which
29they covert their meal - and
30as it is thus nutritious and
31strength giving the ˄ an expression
32of scorn is sometimes
33heard respecting the poor or
34weak ^ [to the effect that] "they are mere
35water porridge men - It
36occupies the place of our Roast beef 0008
1 4 8
215 We procured {At Nchokotsa} - This {e} rainy season
3having this year being {en} delayed
4beyond the usual time we found
5the thermometer [↪ during the day stand] at 96° in the coolest
6 [possible] shade - This height at Kolobeng
7always portended rains at
8hand - At Kuruman when
9it rises above 84° the same
10phenomenon may be considered
11near - While farther North
12it rises upwards of 100° before
13the cooling influence of the
14evaporation by rain falling
15may be expected - Here the
16bulb of the thermometer placed
17two inches beneath the soil
18stood at 128° - All around Nchokotsa
19the country looked parched and
20 [the] glare from the white efflorescence
21which covers the extensive
22pans all around us is {w}as most
23distressing to the eyes - The
24water of Nchokotsa was bitter
25and presented indications
26not to be mistaken of having
27passed through animal systems
28before - All these waters contain
29nitrates which stimulate the
30kidneys and increase the
31thirst - The additions of fresh
32water required in cooking
33f meat render by imparting
34greater quantities of salt
35make one grumble at the 0009
15 9
2the cook for putting too much
3seasoning in and findwhilst in
4that ˄ fact he has put in none at
5all ^ [ except that
6contained in
7the water]           Of bitter bad disgusting
8waters I have drank not a few
9nauseous draughts - you may
10try alum, vitriol, boiling, &c &c
11to convince yourself that you
12are not more stupid than
13travellers you will meet at home
14but the ammonia & other salts
15are there still - and the only remedy
16is to get away as quickly
17as possible to the North -

18

                We dug out several
19wells and as we had on
20each occasion of the sort
21to wait till the water flowed
22in - ,& then allow our cattle
23to feed a/day or two and
24slake their thirst thoroughly
25as far as that could be done
26before starting, - our progress
27was ˄ but slow -     At Koobe there
28was such a mass of mud
29^ [in the pond
30worked up by
31the wallowing
32Rhinoceros
33to the consistency
34of mortar] that only by great labour
35could we get a space cleared
36for {at} one side for the water
37to soak in for the oxen - Should
38another Rhinoceros come back
39a single roll in the great
40mass we had thrown on
41one side would have
42rendered all our labour vain 0010
16 10
2It was therefore necessary for
3us to gauuard the spot by night
4On those great flats all around
5we see {aw} in the ˄ white sultry glare herds
6of zebras - gnus & occasionally
7buffaloes standing for days
8looking wistfully to the wells
9for a share of the nasty water -
10Now to take advantage of the
11necessities of these poor animals
12and shoot ˄ them down one after
13another without maintending
14to make the smallest use
15of their ca either the ˄ flesh skins or horns
16is mere wanton cruelty - ˄ In Firing
17by night, animals are more
18frequently wounded than killed
19The flowing life stream increases
20the thirst so that they comes
21slowly up to drink inespitein spite
22of the danger, "I must drink
23though I die"   The ostrich --
24even when unwounded cannot
25with all his wariness resist
26the excessive desire to slake
27his burning thirst - It is a
28bushman practice to take
29advantage of its piteous
30necessities for most of the
31feathers they bringobtain are procured
32in this way - but they eat
33the flesh and are so far
34justifiable - justified

35

/ When I would not order 0011
1 7 11
2my men to do what I would
3not do myself - but though I tried
4to justify myself on the plea
5of necessity I could not
6descend to this mean sneaking
7and cowardly mode of hunting ^
8 [even for the
9object named] ^ You are said to be in a hole
10watching for the game and
11if for ^ your object is to securinge the best
12specimens ˄ for a museum, it may be allowable
13but if, as is generally the case
14when ^ this mode is practised by whites Englishmen
15 [great numbers of] animalss are wounded &
16alowed to perish merismiser-ably
17in the distance or are killed on
18the spot ^ in both cases only [and left ^] to be preyed on by
19vultures and hyaenas -
20 [and all ^] ^ for the sole purpose of making
21a "bag" ˄ then I take to it to be evidence
22 [that such sportsmen] of the individual being
23 [are] pretty far gone in the hunting
24form of insanity - Every
25true hunter [↪ considers] detests this cowardly way
26of "bagging" - as unfair except
27in cases of lions or tigers -
28They think all other animals
29entitled to a fair stand up
30fight -     The hole in this case
31as I have often observed is
32actually a cavity but that
33Qu: this word? which is wanting awanting in all
34the pictures of it, is a wall
35 [of stones ^] surmounted by a hedge of
36"wait a bit" thorns through
37which no animal will 0012
18 12
2even attempt to pass - All have
3a great dread of this thorn
4in addition to their fear of
5everything like p trap or
6pitfall so he who is
7coward enough to butcher
8common animals from
9his lair of perfect safety
10resembles not a huntsman
11but a common hangman
12with a mask on - The
13hedge is left out in the pictures
14for the same reason probably
15that Jack Ketch in getting
16his portrait taken would
17leave out his bit of crape -

18

My men shot a black
19Rhinoceros in this disreputable
20way, and I felt glad to get
21away from the only place
22in which I ˄ ever had any share
23in hangman hunting - We
24passed over the immense
25pan Ntwetwe on which
26the latitude could be taken as
27at sea - Great tracts of
28this part of the country are
29of calcareous tufa with
30only a thin coating of soil
31Numbers of Baobab and
32Mopane trees abound here all
33over this hard smooth surface
34 [Of] The former named Mouana
35we unyoked under a fine 0013
19 13
2specimen d {A}bout two miles
3from the Northern bank of the
4pan, [↪ ⎰we unyoked
5under a fine
6specimen of the
7former class,
8called Mouana⎱] consisting of six branches
9united into one bole - At three
10feet from the ground it iswas 85 ft
11in circumference

12

These Mowana trees are the
13most wonderful examples of
14vitality in the country - It was
15therefore with surprise that
16we came upon a dead one
17at Tlomtla a few miles
18beyond this ˄ spot - It is the same as
19those which Adanson and
20others believed, from specimens
21seen in Western Africa, to
22have been alive before
23the flood, And "that therefore"
24(in consequence ofArguing with a particular
25mental idiosyncrasy resembling
26colour blindness common
27among the French of the time)
28 [↪ these savans came
29to the conclusion
30that "therefore] there never was any flood
31at all" - I would back
32a true Moana against two
33 [a dozen] floods provided you do not
34boil it in hot sea water &
35(Omit - as
36not necessary) ⎰yet believe most firmly that
37there was a flood because
38the bible says it⎱ - The natives
39make a strong cord from
40the fibres contained in the
41pounded bark - The whole
42 [of the trunk, as high as] distance they can reach
43to is thereforeconsequently often quite 0014
110 14
2denuded of its covering wh
3which in the case of
4almost every other tree would
5cause its death but this
6has no effect on the Moana
7except to cause it to throw
8out a new onebark which is
9done in the way of granulation
10This process of denudation
11is repeated - frequently and
12it is common to see
13the diameter of the lower
14five or six feet an inch
15or two less than the parts
16above - Even partsportions of the
17bark which in being taken
18off break but remain
19 [↪ above where
20the knife
21could reach] detached from the parts
22above {below} continue to grow
23and resemble closely marks
24made in the necks of the
25cattle of Mull - where in which
26a piece of skin is detached
27and allowed to hang down
28No external injury, not
29even a fire, can destroy
30 [this tree] it from without - Nor
31can any injury be done
32from within for it is
33quite common to find
34them hollow and I have
35seen one in which twenty
36or thirty men could lie
37down and sleep as in
38              a hut - 0015
111 15
2Nor does cutting down exterminate
3it either - for I saw instances
4in Angola in which it
5continued to grow in length
6after it was lying on
7the ground - The reason
8is each ˄ of the laminae possesses
9independent vitality - In fact
10it is more a gigantic
11bulb than a run up to
12seed than a tree - Each of
1384 concentric rings had
14in the case mentioned
15grown an inch sinceafter
16 [the tree had been
17felled
18blown over] it assumed the prone
19position - The roots which
20may often be observed
21 [extending] to run along the surface ˄ of the ground
22forty or 50 yards from
23the trunk also retain their
24vitality after the tree is
25laid low and the Portuguese
26now know that the
27best way to treat them
28is to let them alone for
29they occupy much more
30room when cut down
31than when growing

32

The wood is so spongy
33and soft that an axe can
34be struck in so far with a
35good blow, that there is
36 [great] more difficulty in pulling
37it out than in the act of
38                        inserting it - 0016
1 12 16
2In the dead Moana mentioned
3the concentric rings were
4well seen - The average of
5 [for] a foot at three different places
6 [was] 81 ₁/₂ inches lamellae - Each
7of these rings can be seen to
8be composed of 2, 3 - or 4
9of {la}yers of ligneous tubes
10but supposing each ring
11the growth of one year
12then a Moana of 100 feet
13in circumference would
14be about [ ]500 years old

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Though it possessees amazing
31vitality it is difficult to
32believe that this great baby
33looking bulb or tree is as
34old as the pyramids

0017
113 17
2/
3
4
5
6
7
8

The Mopane
9is remarkable for the little shade
10its leaves afford - They fold
11together and stand nearly
12perpendicular during the heat
13of the day - so that only the
14shadow of their edges comes
15to the ground - On these leaves
16the small larvae of a l {w}inged
17insect appears covered over
18with a sweet gummy substance
19The people collect this in
20great quantities and use it
21as food - And the lopane -
22a large caterpillars which
23are seen strung together -
24 [share] suffer the same fate -
25In passing along we see
26every-where the power of
27vegetation in breaking
28up the outer crust of of
29tufa - A Mopane tree mal
30growing u {i}n a small chink
31as it increases in size
32rends and lifts up large
33fragments of the rock all
34around it ^ [subjecting them] to the disintegrating
35influence of the atmosphere 0018
114 18
2 [⎰The wood is
3hard, and
4of a fine
5red colour
6and is
7named by
8the Portuguese
9iron wood⎱] The inhabitants observing
10that the Mopane is more
11frequently struck by lightning
12than others {^} trees caution travellers
13never to seek its shade
14when a thunder storm is
15near - "Lightning [    ] it" hates it" -
16while another ˄ tree - the "Marala"
17 [- which] havehas three spines opposite
18each other - having never
19been touched by this agentlightning
20is esteemed even as far as
21Angola as a protection
22against the electric fluid -
23branches of it may be seen
24placed on the houses of the
25Portuguese for the same
26 [purpose] reason - And the natives
27believe that an elephant
28a man is thoroughly
29protected from an enraged
30elephant if he can
31[  ] get into itsthe shade ˄ of this tree - There
32may not be much in
33this but there is frequently
34some foundation of
35substratum of truth in
36their observations

0019
115 15 19
2

At Rapesh we came among
3our old friends the Bushmen
4X Qu meaning
5who? ⎰ [under ˄] of ˄ under Horoye - This ˄ x man Horoye a specimen of
6that tribe as well as his sonsand his son Mokantsa⎱
7 [& others ˄] were at least 6 ft high and
8of a darker colour than
9the Bushmen of the South
10They have always plenty of
11food and water and as
12they frequent the Zouga as do
13the game in company with
14whom they live - They {ir} life
15is very different from
16that of those who live
17on the thirsty plains of the
18Kalahari - The animal they
19refrain from eating is
20the goat which fact mentioned
21by Mokantsa is proof of
22their hatred of domestic
23animals -   They are a merry
24laughing set and do not tell
25lies wantonly - They have
26in their superstitions observances
27more appearance of worship
28than the Bechuanas and
29at a bushman's grave we
30once came to on the Zouga
31the observances shewed distinctly
32that they regarded the dead as
33still in another state of being
34for they address him ˄ and request
35 [him] not to be offended though
36they wish still to remain a
37 [little] while longer here - in this world

0020
1

16 16 20
2Those among whom we now
3were kill many elephants
4and when the moon is
5full choose that ˄ time for the
6chase on account of its
7coolness - Hunting this
8Qu sport animal is the best test [↪ of courage] this
9country affords - The Bushmen
10choose the moment succeeding
11a charge when the elephant he is out of
12breath to run in and give
13him a stab with their long
14bladed spears - In this case
15the uncivilized have the
16advantage over us but
17I believe that with half their
18training Englishmen would
19beat the Bushmen - Our
20present form of civilization
21does not necessarily produce
22effeminacy though it
23unquestionably increases
24both the beauty courage and
25physical powers ˄ of the race - When at
26Kolobeng I took notes of the
27different numbers of elephants
28killed in the course of the
29season by the various parties
30of {w}hich went past our dwelling
31in order to form an idea
32of the probable [↪ annual] annual destruction of
33this noble animal - There were
34parties of Boers - Griquas
35Bechuanas ˄ Boers and Englishmen 0021
117 21
2As all were eager from to
3distinguish themselves and
4success depends mainly on
5the courage which leads
6the huntsman to go close to
7the animal and not waste
8the force of the {his} shot byon the
9air - It was noticeable
10that the average for the natives
11was under one per man
12for the Griquas one per man
13for the Boers two and
14for the Englishman Officers ↪ 20 each
15⎰who hunted elephants⎱ - This
16
17was the more remarkable as
18the Griquas Boers & Bechuanas
19employed both dogs and
20natives to assist them
21while the Englishmen
22generally had none of assistance
23from eithe - They went
24 [approached] to aboutwithin 30 yards from
25the animal while the others
26stood at ˄ a distance of - 100 yards or even
27more and of course spent
28all the force of their bullets
29on the air - One elephant
30was found by Mr Oswel
31with quite a crowd of
32bullets in his side fired
33in this style and they had
34not gone near the vital
35parts

0022
1

18     It would thus appear that     22
2Our more barbarous neighbours
3 [do not] possess ˄ thus not half the courage
4of the civilized ˄ sportsman - And it is
5probable that in this respect
6as well as in physical
7development we are
8superior to our ancestors
9the coats of mail & greaves
10of the Knights of Malta and
11the armour from the Tower
12exhibited at the Eglinton
13tournament may be
14considered decisive on the
15question of the greater size
16attained by modern civilised
17man

18
19
20

At Maila we spent a Sunday
21with Kaisa the headman
22of a village of Mashona whichwho
23had fled from the iron sway
24of Mosilikatze whose country
25lies e {E}ast of this - I wished him
26to take charge of a packet of
27letters for home to be delivered
28when as is the custom of the
29Bamangwato the Bechuanas
30come here in search of skins
31and food among the Bushmen
32But he could not be made
33to comprehend that there was no
34danger in them - He feared
35the responsibility th {a}nd guilt
36if any thing should happen to them 0023
119 23
2so I had to bid adieu to all hope
3of letting my family hear of my
4welfare till I should reach
5the West coast -

6

At Unku we came into a
7 [tract of] country which had been
8visited by refreshing showers
9long before and every spot
10was covered with grass run
11up to seed and the flowers
12of the forest were in full blowbloom
13Instead of the cheery prospect
14around Koobe & Nchokotsa
15we had now a delightful
16scene - all the ponds full
17of water - & the birds twittering
18joyfully - As the game can
19now find water everywhere
20they become very shy and
21cannot be found in their
22accustomed haunts -

23

1st March thermometer in
24the shade generally 98° at ˄ from one to 3 P.M.
25but it sinks as low as 65° by
26night - so it is not exhausting
27heat - The surface of the ground
28125° and three inches below it
29138° - The hand cannot be
30held on it and even the
31horny soles ˄ of the feet of the natives
32must be protected by sandals
33of hide yet the ants were
34busy working on it - The
35water in the ponds rises 0024
120 24
2up to one 100° but as ˄ itwater does
3not conduct heat readily
4downwards deliciously cool
5water may be obtained by
6 [any one] walking into the middle and
7lifting up the water to the
8surface with the hands -

9
10

Proceeding to the North
11from Kama Kama we entered
12into dense to Mohonono bush
13which required the constant
14application of the axe by three
15of our party for two days
16This bush has fine silvery
17leaves and the bark has a
18sweet taste - The Elephant
19with his usuall nicety ^ [delicacy of taste ^] feeds
20much on it - On emerging on to
21the plains beyond we found
22a number of bushmen who
23afterwards proved very serviceable
24The rains had been copious
25and great numbers of pools
26were now drying up - Lotus
27plants abounded in them and
28a low sweet scented plant
29covers {ed} their banks - Breezes
30came occasionally to [ ] us
31from these drying up pools
32 [↪ but the
33pleasant odour
34they carryied causes {d}
35sneezing in both
36myself and people] and on the 10th March we
37were brought to a stand by
38four of the party being seized
39with fever (Lat 19° 16' 11" South
40                        Long 24° 24' East) 0025
121 25
2As I was then unacquainted with
3the African fever I imagined
4it was chiefly only a bilious attack
5arising from full feeding
6on flesh the large game
7having been very abundant
8we always had a good
9supply but instead of the
10first party recovering soon
11every man of the party was
12in a few days laid low
13except a Bakwain lad and
14myself - He managed the oxen
15while I attended to the wants
16of the patients and went out
17occasionally with the Bushmen
18to get a Zebra or buffalo so as
19to induce them to remain
20with us - The grass here was
21so tall ˄ that the oxen became uneasy
22and one night the sight of a
23hyaena made them rush away
24into the forest to the East of us
25On rising in the morning of the
2619th I found that Kibopechoe
27my Bakwain lad had raun away
28with them - This I have often
29seen with persons of this tribe
30even when the cattle are startled
31by a lion   Away go the young
32men in company with them
33and dash through bush and
34brake for miles till they
35think the panic is a little 0026
122 26
2subsided, they then commence
3 [whistling] whitling to them the cattle in the manner
4they do when milking the cows
5And having calmed them they remain
6as a gauuard till the morning
7 [The oxenmen] They generally return with
8their shins well peeled by
9the thorns - Each comrade
10of the Mopato mopato would
11expect his fellow to act thus
12without expecting ˄ looking for any other more
13 [reward] than ˄ the praise fromof the chief
14 [Our lad] Kibopechoe had gone after them
15 [the oxen] but had lost them in the
16rush away through the
17trackless flat forest and
18 [He] remained on their trail all ˄ the next
19day and all ˄ the next night - On
20Sunday morning as I was
21setting off in search of him
22I found him near the waggon
23He had found ˄ themthe oxen late in
24 [the] afternoon and ˄ had been obliged
25to stand by them all night
26He {It} was wonderful that
27 [how he managed] without ˄ a compass & in such
28a country he foundto find his
29way ^ home at all [↪ withbringing about
30forty oxen with him] -

0027
1

23 27
2/ The Bechuanas keep on
3the sick list as long as they
4feel any weakness so I ˄ at last began
5to be anxious that they should
6make a little exertion for a
7 [to get forward
8on our way.] movement One of them however
9happen^eding to move a hundred
10yards from the waggon and
11⎰being unobserved⎱ fell down
12and ↪ remained ⎰totally insensible⎱
13 [the whole night] during a in the pouring rain ↪ the
14whole night - Another was
15subjected to frequent swooning
16but making beds for these
17our worst cases I with the
18help of the Bakwain and
19the Bushmen moved slowly
20on - We had to nurse the sick
21like children And like children
22recovering from illness the
23better they became the more
24impudent they grew - This was
25seen in the peremptory orders
26they would give with their
27now piping voices - Nothing
28that we did could pleased
29them and the laughter with which
30I recieved their ebullitions
31though it was the {on}ly the reall expression
32of gladness at their recovery
33and amusement at the ridiculous
34part they acted only increased
35their chagrin - The bad
36leading we had l caused us 0028
124 28
2to be entangled with trees [↪ both standing
3and fallen] and
4made the labour inof cutting
5them down ˄ was even much more
6severe than ordinarily but
7notwithstanding an
8immense amount of toil
9my health continued good

10

We       We wished to avoid
11the Tsetse of our former
12path so kept a course
13on the magnetic meridian
14from Lurilopepe - This
15making a new path was
16the reason of so much
17 [much increased our] more toil - We were however
18rewarded in 18° with the a sight
19sight of we had not enjoyed
20the year before, namely of large
21patches of grape bearing vines
22There they stood before my
23eyes but the ideasight seemed
24so was so entirely unexpected
25that I stood some-time gazing
26at them with no, the clusters
27of grapes with which they
28were loaded ↪ that as if I
29 [↪ with no more
30thought of
31acting than
32if I] had been beholding them in
33a dream - The Bushmen
34know and eat them - but
35they are not good on account
36of the great sizeastringency of the seeds
37which are in shape and
38size like split peas The
39elephants are fond of both
40 [the] fruit, plant, and root alike

0029
1V {X}VII. 25 29
2
3
4

I ^ here Found an insect which preys
5on ants - It is about an inch
6and a quarter long as thick
7as a crow quill and covered
8with black hair - It puts its
9head into a little hole in the ground
10and quivers its tail rapidly
11the ants come near to see it
12and it snaps up each as
13he comes within range of
14the forceps on hisits tail - As
15his its head was beneath the
16ground it became a question
17how heit could guide hisits tail
18to the ants - On first observing
19this feat I imagined the
20forceps were on hisits head
21but when the insect moved
22the true ^ position relation was seen

23
24
25

The forest through which
26we were slowly toiling daily
27became more dense - and
28we were kept almost con-
29stantly at work with the axe
30There was much more leafiness
31in the trees here than farther
32south -   The leaves are chiefly
33of the pinnate & bipinnate
34forms and afford a fine 0030
126 30
2and are exceedingly beautiful
3when seen against the sky
4an great variety of the papilionaceous
5family grow in this country
6part of this country

7

25th - Fleming had untill now
8always assisted to [drive his
9own waggon [  ] but now he
10109 knocks {ed} up as well as his
11people As I could not drive
12two waggons I partedshared the remaining
13water with him (half a caskful)
14and went on with the intention
15of coming back for him as
16soon as we should reach
17the next pool - Heavy rain
18now commenced -   I was
19employed the whole day in
20cutting down trees and every
21stroke of the axe brought down
22a thick shower on my back
23which in the hard work was
24very refreshing as it ^ the water found
25its way down into my the my shoes
26In the evening we met some
27Bushmen who volunteered
28to shew us a pool & having
29unyoked I walked some
30miles in search of it. As
31it became dark they shewed
32their politeness [↪ - a quality
33which is
34notby no means ^ confined
35entirely to
36the civilized] by walking
37in front and breaking
38the branches of trees which
39hung across the path and
40pointing out the fallen trees

0031
127 31
2

On returning we found that
3being left alone had brought
4out some of Fleming's energy
5for he had managed to
6come up

7

As the water in this pond
8dried up we were obliged to
9move on again - One of the Bushmen
10 [took out] their his dice and after throwing
11them said - God told him to go
12home = He threw again in order
13to shew me the command but
14the opposite was said, so he
15remained and was useful
16for we lost the oxen again
17by a lion driving them off ^ to a
18very great distance
19The lions here are not often
20heard - They seem to have a
21wholesome dread of the Bushmen
22who when they observe evidence
23of ^ [a lion's] him having made a full
24meal follow up his spoor
25so quietly ^ that his slumbers are
26not disturbed - One discharges
27a poisoned arrow from
28a distance of only a few feet
29while his companion
30simultaneously throws his
31skin clok {a}ck on the beast's
32head - The sudden surprise
33makes him ^ the lion lose his presence
34of mind and he bounds
35away in the greatest confusion
36and terror - Our friends 0032
128 32
2Our friends here shewed me the
3poison which they use on these
4occasions - It is the entrails
5of a caterpillar ↪ ½ an inch long [↪ called N'gwa]
6They squeeze out these and
7place them all around the
8bottom of the barb and allow
9 [the poison] it to dry in the sun - They are
10very careful in cleaning their
11nails after working with it
12as a small portion introduced
13into a scratch acts like morbid
14matter in dissection wounds
15The agony is so great that
16the person cuts himself - calls
17for his mothers breast as if
18he were returned in idea to his
19childhood again or flies
20from human habitations
21a raging maniac - The effects
22on the lion in the case mentioned
23are equally terrible - They hear
24 [He is heard] him moaning in distress
25and he becomes furious
26biting the trees and ground
27in rage -

28

/ As the Bushmen have
29the reputation of curing theis {e}
30 [wounds of this] w {p}oison I asked how that this
31was effected - They say said
32that they administer the
33caterpillar itself in combination
34with fat fat   They also rub
35fat into the wound and addsaying that 0033
129 33
2"The N'gwa wants fat and when
3it does not find it in the body
4kills the man - We give it what
5it wants and it is content" a
6reason which will commend
7itself to the enlightened among
8ourselves -

9

The ↪ generally ⎰poison⎱ employed
10is the milky juice of the
11Euphorbia - This is particularly
12obnoxious to the equine race
13When a quantity is mixed
14with the water of a pond
15a whole herd will of zebras
16will fall dead by the poison
17before they have moved
18away two miles - but it
19does not kill oxen or man
20 [On them it acts as] It is a drastic purgative only
21The same poison is used
22all over the country though
23 [in some places ^] ^ the poison of serpents and
24a certain bulb are added in
25order to increase the virulence
26Father Pedro a Jesuit who
27lived at Zumbo made a
28balsam containing a number
29of plants and castor oil
30as a remedy for poisoned
31 [arrow] wounds - It is probable that
32he derived his knowledge from
33a similar source as I did
34and that the reputed efficacy
35of the balsam is owing to its
36fatty constituent 0034
130 34
2In cases of the bites of serpents
3a small key ought to be
4pressed down firmly on the
5wound - the orifice of the
6key [↪ being applied to] answering to the puncture
7till suction be a cupping
8glass can be got from one
9of the natives - A watch
10key pressed firmly on the
11point stung by a scorpion
12extracts the poison and
13a mixture of fat or oil and
14ppecacuan-ha relieves the
15pain

16

The Bushmen here are
17generally fine well made men
18and are nearly independant
19of everyone - They were
20fond of a root somewhat
21like a kidney potato and
22the kernel of a nut which
23Fleming thinks a kind of betel
24The tree is a fine large spreading one,
25and the leaves palmate
26From the numbersquantities of berries
27and ^ the number of game in these parts
28 [the Bushmen] they can scarcely ever be ill
29 [badly] off for food - As I could
30without much difficulty
31keep them well supplied
32with meat and wished them
33to remain I proposed that
34they should bring their wives
35to get a share but they remarked
36that the women could always 0035
131 35
2take care of themselves -

3

None of the men ^ of our party had died but
4two seemed unlikely to recover
5and Kibopechoe my willing
6Mokwain at last became
7troubled with boils and then
8got all the symptoms of fever
9As he lay down the others
10began to move about and
11complained of weakness
12only - Believing that frequent
13change of place was conducive
14to their recovery we moved
15along as ^ much as we could untill
16and came to the hill Ngwa which
17being the only one we saw ^ had seen since
18leaving the Bamangwato
19we felt inclined to take off
20our hats to it - It is three or
21four hundred feet high and
22covered with trees - As i {I}t's
23geographical position is
24pretty accurately laid down
25from an occultation and
26other observations . I may
27mention that the valley on
28its northern side [↪ named Kandehy] ^ is as picturesque is a fine
29a little scenespot as is to be seen
30in this part of Africa - An
31open glade surrounded by
32forest trees of various
33hues has a little stream
34meandering in the centre
35A herd of reddish coloured 0036
132 36
2antelopes stood on one side near
3 [a large Baobab] looking at us and ready to run
4up the hill - While some gnus
5and Tsessebes and zebras
6gazed in astonishment ↪ at
7the intruders [↪ while some
8fed carelessly
9and others
10put on the
11peculiar air
12of displeasure ^ which
13these animals
14sometimes
15assume
16before they
17resolve on
18flight] - A large white
19Rhinoceros came along the
20bottom of the valley with his
21slow sauntering gait without
22noticing us - he looked as if
23he meant to indulge in
24a mud bath - While ^ several buffaloes
25with their dark visages stood
26under the trees on the side
27opposite to the Pallahs - It
28being Sunday all was peace
29and we could [↪ not but thinkreflect
30from circum-
31stances in
32which theour
33companyparty was
34placed] think ofon that
35second stage of our existence immortal
36lives which we hope will
37^ lead us into scenes of perfect beauty
38⎰If freed from our guilt
39in that perfectly free way
40the bible mentions death will
41be a glorious thing - but to be
42consigned to wait for the
43Omit - Judgement day with nothing
44nothing else to ponder on
45but those sins we shwould rather
46forget is a grewsomea sad prosp prospect⎱

47

Our bushmen wished to
48leave and as there is no use
49in trying to thwart these
50Independant gentlemen I
51paid them and allowed them
52to go - The payment however 0037
133 379
2having been made in the presence
3of some strangers acted as a
4charm and made them ^ these latter vol-
5-unteer their aid - ⎡The game is
6very tame - Khoodoos and
7giraffe standstood gazing as I
8sometimes went out with
9the Bushmen - A lion came
10at day break and went round
11and round the oxen I could
12only get a glimpse of him
13occasionally from the waggon
14box but though only 30 yards
15off I could not get a shot
16He then began to roar at
17the top of his voice but when
18the oxen continued to stand
19still - he was so disgusted ^ that he
20went off and continued to
21use his fo voice for a long
22time in the distance - I could
23not see whether he had a
24Qu meaning. ⎰mane - but if he had ^ not then
25even they ^ the maneless variety can find a use
26for their tongues - We heard⎱
27others also near & when they
28found they could not frighten
29the [↪ the oxen] they became equally angry
30 [This we] It could be observed in their
31tones

32

/ As we went North the
33country became very
34lovely - Many new trees
35appeared - The grass was
36green & often higher than 0038
134 38
2and often higher than the waggon
3The vines festooned the trees
4among which ↪ the real
5banyan with its drops and
6the wild date [↪ and Palmyra ↪ ] ⎰appeared⎱
7The valleys contained large
8patches of water ⎰and several
9others {^} trees which were new to me⎱
10Qu To the pools succeeded
11valleys ^ [^ or water courses] resembling small
12rivers 20 yards broad & four
13feet deep - The farther we
14went ↪ these valleys became
15⎰ [the] broader and deeper⎱, their
16bottoms contained great
17numbers of deep holes
18made by elephants wading
19in them In these the oxen
20floundered desperately - In
21one our waggon pole
22broke and ^ [compelling us to] making work
23up to the breast in water for
24 [3 ½ hours] necessary - yet I suffered
25no harm - We at last came
26to the Sanshureh
27which presented an impass-
28able barrier so we drew
29up under a magnificent
30Baobab tree - and resolved
31to explore ^ the river it for a ford
32The great quantity of water
33we had passed through
34was part of the annual
35inundation of the Chobe - 0039
135 39
2and this which appeared a
3large river {deep} river filled in
4many parts with reeds
5and having hippopotami
6in it is only one of the
7branches by which it
8sends it superabundant
9water to the South East
10From the hill Ngwa a
11ridge of higher land runs
12to the Nor East ^ and bounds
13its flow in that direction
14We being ignorant of this
15were in the valley and
16the only gap in the whole
17country destitute of Tsetse
18In company with the bushmen
19I explored all the canal banks
20of the Sanshureh to the west
21till we came into tsetse
22on that side - We waded
23a long way among the
24reeds up in water breast
25deep but always found
26a broad deep space of
27water free from vegetation
28and unfordable - A peculiar
29kind of Lichen which grows
30on the surface of the soil
31becomes detached and
32floats on the surface giving
33out a very disagreeable odour
34in some of these stagnant
35waters - We made so many 0040
136 40
2attempts to get over the Sanshureh
3^ [ both to the West
4& East of the
5waggon] in the hope of reaching some
6of the Makololo on the Chobe
7that my bushmen friends
8became quite tired of the
9work - By ^ means of presents I got them
10to remain some days but at
11last they let meslipped away by night -
12And I was fain to take one
13of ^ [the strongest] of my still weak companions
14and cross the river in a
15pontoon the gift of Captains
16Codrington and Webb - We each
17carried some provisions and
18a blanket - and passed away
19about 20 miles to the Westwards
20in the hope of cutting the Chobe
21It was much nearer in the
22North but this we did not then
23know - The plain over which
24we splashed the whole of the
25first day was covered with
26water ankle deep and ^ thick grass
27which reached above the
28knees - In the evening we
29came to an immense wall
30of reeds 6 or 8 feet high without
31any opening admitting of a
32passage - in when we tried
33to enter the water always
34became so deep that we
35were fain to desist - We
36concluded ^ that we had come
37to the banks of the river we 0041
137 41
2were in search of - So we directed
3our course to some trees which
4appeared in the South in order
5to get a bed and a view of
6the adjacent locality - Having
7shot a Leché and made
8a glorious fire and afterwe got a good
9a cup of tea weand had a com-
10fortable night - [↪ While collecting
11wood that
12evening I
13found a
14nest made
15of live leaves
16sewn together
17with threads
18made of the
19spiders web
20Nothing could
21exceed the
22airiness of
23of this pretty
24contrivance
25The threads
26had been pushed
27through a small
28punctures and
29thickened to
30resemble a knot
31I unfortunately
32lost it. This
33iswas the second
34I have seen]

35

Next morning by climbing
36the highest trees we could
37see a fine large sheet of
38water but surrounded on
39all sides by the same impen
40-etrable [ ] belt of reeds - This
41is the broad part named
42Zabesa - Two tree [covered [113]
43islands seemed to be much
44nearer to the water than
45the shore on which we were
46so we made an attempt to
47get to them first - It was
48not ^ the reeds alone ^ that we had to
49get through; a peculiar serrated
50grass which at certain
51angles cut the hands like
52a razor was mingled with
53the reed and the climbing
54convolvulus with stalks
55which felt as strong as
56whip cord bound the mass
57togethe - We felt like pigmies
58in it and often the only way
59we could get on was by 0042
138 42
2both leaning against a part
3and bending it down till we could
4stand upon it - Strong moleskin
5trowsers The perspiration
6streamed off our bodies and
7as the sun rose the heat high
8there being no ventilation the
9heat was stifling - and the
10water which was up to the
11knees felt argreably refreshing
12After some hours toil we
13reached the farthest off island
14with ↪ my our strong moleskin trousers
15worn through at the knees - [↪ here we met
16an old friend
17viz. bramble
18bushes.]
19those [↪ The leather trousers] of my companion of
20leather were also torn and
21his legs bleeding - Tearing
22my handkerchief in two
23I tied them ^ the pieces round my knees
24and then encountered another
25difficulty - We were still fifty
26 [forty or fifty] yards from clear water
27but now from the presencewe were opposed by
28of great masses of papyrus
29which are like palms in
30miniature and an inch or
31 [8 or 10 ft high &] 1 ½ in diameter - These ^ were laced
32together by twining convolulus
33 [so strongly] that the weight of us both ^ of us could
34not make a path into
35the clear water - A path
36had indeed been made by
37a hippopotamus., but eager
38as soon as we reached the
39island to look along the 0043
139 43
2long vista to clear water I
3stepped in ^ to the water & found it took at
4 [me at] once up to the neck -

5

/ Returning nearly worn
6out we preceded up the
7Chobe till we came to the
8 [point of] departing {ure} ^ of the branch of the
9Sanshureh - We then went
10in the opposite direction
11or down the Chobe though
12from the highest trees we
13could see nothing but
14one vast expense of reed
15with here and there a
16tree on the islands - This
17was a hard days work
18and when we came to a
19deserted Bayeiye hut [↪ on an anthill] not
20a bit of wood ^ or any thing else could be
21got for a fire except for
22the grass and sticks of the
23dwelling itself - I dreaded the
24Tampans so common
25in all old huts but without
26 [outside of it] we had thousands of
27mosquitoes ↪ & cold dew began [to be deposited] so we were
28fain to crawl beneath theits
29shelter - One is tempted to ask [      ] such
30 [I was tempted
31to ask in this] ^ positions why should we
32have ^ we these vermin at all -
33And if it is not that we are
34Omit. in a world where all are
35mutually dependant and
36must minister to the
37enjoyments of each other 0044
140 44
2I found I could adduce no
3other argument for bearing
4my affliction with patience
5Omit After a comfortless night
6in damp clothes and in
7a damp

8

We were close to the
9reeds and could listen to the
10strange sounds which are
11often heard there - By day
12I had seen water serpents
13putting up their heads and
14swimming about - There
15arewere great numbers of
16others [↪ which have
17made little
18"spoors" all
19over the plains
20in search of
21the fishes] among the tall grass
22of these flooded prairies,
23curious birds too jerk
24and wriggle among these
25reedy masses and we
26heard unearthly human
27like voices and unearthly
28sounds with splash guggle
29jupp - as if rare fun were
30going on in their to us
31uncouth haunts - ^ At one time something
32came near ^ us making a
33splashing like a canoe or
34hippopotamus - Thinking
35it to be the Makololo we
36got up and listened and shouted
37then discharged a gun
38several times but ↪ it
39continued ⎰the noise⎱ without
40intermission for an hour 0045
141 45
2After a damp cold night
3we set to ^ [early in the morning, at] our work of
4exploring again but left
5the pontoon ^ in order to lighten our
6labour - The anthills are
7here very high some thirty
8feet and of a base so
9broad ^ that trees grow on
10them while the lands
11annually flooded have
12nothing but grass - From
13one of these ^ anthills we discovered
14an inlet to the Chobe - And
15having gone back for the
16pontoon we launched
17ourselves on a deep river,
18here from eighty to one
19hundred yards wide -
20GivingI gave my companion
21 [strict] struck injunctions to
22stick by the pontoon in case
23a hippopotamus should
24look at us [↪ ⎰ThisNor was ^ this caution un=necessary
25for one came
26up at our side
27and made a
28desperate plunge
29off - We had
30comepassed over
31him - The wave
32he made caused
33the pontoon to
34glide quickly
35away from him ⎱] - we {We} paddled
36away from midday till
37sunset - There was nothing
38but a wall of reed on each
39bank and we saw noevery
40prospect but of spending
41a supperless night among
42the reed in our float
43but just as it was getting
44into ourthe short twilight
45^ of these parts was commencing we saw the village of
46Moremi one of the Makololo 0046
142 46
2on the North bank -   They The
3 [villagers] looked as we may suppose
4people do who see a ghost
5And in their figurative way
6of speaking said "he has
7dropped among us from
8the clouds yet came riding
9on the back of a hippopotamus
10The Makololo thought no
11one could cross the Chobe
12without their knowledge
13but here he drops among us
14from w like a bird" -

15

/ Next day we returned
16in canoes accross the
17flooded lands in canoes
18and found that in myour
19absence the men had
20allowed the cattle to wander
21^ [into a very
22small patch
23containing] to the Tsetse to the West
24whichThis carelessness cost
25me ten fine large oxen -
26And after remaining a few
27days some of the head men
28of the Makololo came
29down from Linyanti
30with a large party of Barotse
31to take us accross the river
32This they did in fine style [↪ swimming
33and diving
34among the oxen
35more like
36alligators than
37men and] by
38taking the waggons to pieces
39and carrying them accross
40on a number of canoes ^ lashed together
41We were now among our
42friends so going about 0047
143 47
2thirty miles to the North in order
3to avoid the still flooded
4lands on the North of the Chobe
5we turned Westwards towards
6Linyanti

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

[The whole population of] The Town which contains, numbering between
206000 orand 7000 souls, turned
21out en masse to see waggons
22going they havinghad never
23witnessed the phenomenon
24before on account of our
25 [we] having ^ on the former occasion departed by night
26Sekeletu now in power
27recieved us in what is
28considered royal style, by
29setting before us a great
30number of pots of beer
31or boyaloa the beer of the
32country - These are brought
33by women and each bearer
34takes a good draught of it
35 [the beer,] when she sets it down by way
36of "tasting" to shew ^ that there is
37                                no poison

0048
14448
2

/ The court herald
3an old man who occupied
4the post in Sebituane's time
5stood up and after some antics,
6 [such] as leaping and shouting at
7the top of his voice, - roared
8out some adulatory sentences
9as "Dont I see the white man -
10Dont I see the comrade of
11Sebituane - Dont I see the
12father of Sekeletu [↪ "We want sleep"
13Give your son
14sleep my lord"] &c - &c - " The
15perquisites of this man are
16the heads of all the cattle
17slaughtered by the chief - And he
18takes a share of the tribute
19before it is taken out of the
20Kotla - He is expected to
21utter all the proclamations
22call assemblies - keep the
23Kotla clean and the fire
24burning every evening and
25when a person is executed
26in public he drags away
27the body -

28

I found Sekeletu
29a young man of 18 years
30of age of a light dark yellow
31colour, that of which the
32Makololo are so proud as
33it distinguishes them much
34from the black tribes on
35the rivers - He is about five
36feet seven ^ in height and neither so
37good looking nor of so much 0049
145 49
2ability as his father ^ was but is
3equally friendly to the English
4Sebituane installed his daughter
5 [Mamochisane ^] into the chieftainship ^ long before
6his death, but with all his
7acuteness the idea of her
8having a husband who
9should not be her lord did
10not seem to enter his mind
11He did not wished to make her
12his successor probably in
13imitation of some of the
14negro tribes with whom
15he came in contact but
16he being of the Bechuana
17race could did not look upon the
18 [husband] male except as ^ the woman's
19lord - So he told her all the
20men were hers she might
21take any one but keep
22none - In fact she might
23he thought she might do with
24the men what he could
25do with the women but these
26men had other wives and
27according to a saying in the
28country "the tongues of women
29cannot be governed" They
30made her miserable by their
31remarks - One man whom
32she chose was even called
33her wife and a {her} son the child
34of Mamochisane's wife but
35the system ↪ arrangement was so distasteful 0050
146 50
2to Mamochisane herself that
3as soon as shSebituane died
4she said she never would
5consent to govern the
6Makololo so long as
7she had a brother living
8Sekeletu being afraid of another
9member of the family 'Mpépe
10who had pretensions to the
11chieftainship urged his
12sister strongly to remain
13as she had always been
14and allow him to support
15her authority by leading
16the Makololo when they
17went forth to war - Three
18days were spent in public
19discussion on the point -
20 [It must be] And if it be remembered
21that throughout the entire
22Bechuana country the
23greatest respect is paid
24to hereditary rank and
25relationships with the family
26of a chief is as highly valued
27as anywhere else in the
28world - In meeting a party
29of strangers it is not
30uncommon to hear the
31principal person whisper
32to one of his attendants
33"Tell him who I am" and
34then a ^ half cousincousinship to some
35chief is carefully counted on
36the fingers - 0051
147 51
2The difficulty of this case may
3percieved when Mpepe
4 [insinuated] held the insinuation that
5Sekeletu was not really the ^ lawful son
6of Sebituane on account
7of his mother having been
8the wife of another chief
9before ^ her marriage with Sebituane
10Mamochisane however
11upheld Sekeletu's claims
12and at last stood up in the
13assembly and addressed him
14with a flood of tears - "I have
15been a chief only because
16my father wished it - I
17always wished to be married
18and have a family like
19other women - You Sekeletu
20must be chief and build
21up your father's house"
22This was a death blow to
23the hopes of Mpepe -

24

As it will enable the
25reader to understand the
26social and political system
27of these people I ^ will add a few
28more particulars respecting
29Mpepe - Sebituane having
30no son to take the leadership
31of the "Mopato" of the age
32of his daughter chose him
33as the nearest male relative
34to occupy that post - And
35presuming on that relationship
36from Mpepe's connection 0052
148 52
2with him {s} ^ family he would attend
3to his interests and relieve
4him from care he gave
5him charge of his cattle
6Mpepe removed to the chief
7town "Naliele" and took such
8effectual charge of all the cattle, that
9Sebituane saw he could
10only set matters on their
11former basisfooting by the severe
12measure of Mpepe's execution
13Mpepe {Being} unwilling to do this
14and fearing the enchantments
15which Mpepe now used,
16in a hut built for the
17purpose, withby means of a number
18of Barotse doctors, and
19longing for peaceful retirement
20after thirty years fighting
21he now heard ^ with pleasure of our arrival
22at the Lake so he and came
23down as far as Sesheke
24to meet us - He had an idea
25picked up from some of
26the numerous strangers
27who visited him that white
28men had a "pot in their
29towns which would burn
30up any attacking party" (a cannon)
31and ^ he thought if he could
32only get this he would
33be able to "sleep" the remained
34of his days in peace - This
35he hope to obtain from the white man

0053
1

XVIII- 49 53
2Hence the cry of the Herald
3"give us sleep -" It is remarkable
4how anxious ^ for peace those who
5have been fighting all their
6lives appear to be for peace
7In this respect the expressions
8of strong desire of both the
9Makololo and Boers of
10the Cashan mountains
11who are perpetually making
12forays are identical - Indeed
13Msers Hendrick Potgeiter &
14Pretorius conscientiously
15believed themselves to be
16fu {m}ore fully entitled to the
17name and blessing of
18"Peace-makers" than any
19missionary in the country -

20

/ When Sekeletu was
21installed in into the chieftainship
22he felt his position rather
23insecure for it was believed
24that the incantations
25of Mpepe had an intimate
26connection with Sebituane's
27death - Indeed the latter had
28said to his son "that hut of
29incantation will prove fatal
30to either you or me" -

31

When the Mambari ofin
321850 took home a favourable
33report of this new market
34to the West a number of half
35breed Portuguese slave traders 0054
150 54
2were induced to come in 1853
3and one who appeared to resembled
4closely a real Portuguese coming
5with them came to Linyanti
6while I was there - The latter
7 [This man] had no merchandise and
8pretended to have come in
9order to enquire "what sort
10of goods were necessary
11for the market - " He seemed
12much disconcerted put about by my
13presence there - Sekeletu gave
14 [presented him with] him the present of an ox
15and an elephants tusk
16and when he washad departed
17about fifty miles to the
18Westward he carried off
19an entire village of the
20Bakalahari belonging to the
21Makololo - He had a number
22of armed slaves with him
23and as all both ^ the villagers men women
24and children, were removed
25and the fact was unknown
26untill a considerable time afterwards
27it is not knowncertain whether
28his object was obtained
29by violence or by fair
30promises - In either case
31slavery must have been
32their position ^ [of these poor people] - He was carried
33in a hammock slung between
34two poles which appearing to be
35a bag - The Makololo named
36him "Father of the bag" -

0055
151 55
2

Mpepe favoured these slave traders
3and they as is usual with
4them founded all their hopes
5of influence and success
6on his disaffection - My
7arrival on the scene was
8felt to be so much weight
9in the scale against their
10interests - A large party of Mambari
11 [had come] were atto Linyanti when
12I was floundering on the
13prairies south of the Chobe -
14As the news ^ [of my being in the
15neighbourhood ^] reached them
16their countenances fell but
17and when some who had
18assisted us to cross the river
19returned with hats which I
20had given them they at once
21betook themselves to
22preciptate flight - It is
23usual for visitors to
24ask formal leavepermission before
25attempting to leave a chief
26but the sight of the hats
27made the Mambari pack
28up at once - The Makololo
29enquired the cause of the hurry
30and were told that if I found
31them there I wshould take all
32their slaves and goods from them and though assured
33by Sekeletu that I was a not
34 [a robber but a] man of peace they fled
35my presence ^ by night while that I
36was still 60 miles off - 0056
152 56
2They went to the North where
3under the ^ countenanceprotection of Mpepe
4they had erected a stockade
5of considerable size - There
6several native half breed
7slave traders under the leadership
8of a native Portuguese carried
9on their traffic without
10reference to the chief into
11whose country they had
12unceremoniously introduced
13themselves - While Mpepe
14feeding them with the cattle
15of Sekeletu formed a plan
16of raising himself by means
17of their firearms to the be
18the head of the Makololo -
19It is The usual course the
20slave traders adopt is to take
21a part in the political affairs
22of each tribe, and siding
23with the strongest get well
24paid by captures made
25from the weaker party -
26Long conferences were
27held with Mpepe and it was
28deemed advisable for him
29to strike the first blow so he
30provided himself with a
31small battle axe with the
32intention of cutting Sekeletu
33down the first time they
34met -

0057
153 57
2

My object being first
3of all to examine the
4country for a healthy locality
5before attempting to make
6a new path to either the East
7or West coasts - I proposed
8to Sekeletu the plan of
9ascending the great river
10which we had observed
11in 1857 {1} -   He volunteered to
12accompany me and when
13we got about 60 miles away
14on ourthe road to Sesheke we
15encountered Mpepe - The Makololo
16↪ like most Bechuanas [↪ though possessing
17abundance of cattle
18used] had
19never ↪ attempted to ride oxen
20untill I had had advised
21it in 1851 -   The Bechuanas
22generally were in the same
23condition untill Europeans
24came among them and
25imparted the idea of riding -
26All their journeys were performed
27on foot - - Sekeletu and his
28companions were all
29mounted on oxen though
30having neither saddle nor
31bridle they were perpetually
32falling off - Mpepe armed
33with his little axe met us
34^ [came along a
35path parallel
36to but a quarter
37of a mile distant
38from that of o] our party but it and when
39he saw Sekeletu ^ he ran with
40all his might towards
41us but     Sekeletu being
42on his gaurd galloped 0058
154 58
2off to an adjacent village - He
3then went out of the way somewhere
4till all our party came up -
5Mpepe had given his own
6party to understand that he
7would cut down Sekeletu
8either on their first meeting
9or at their breaking up of
10their first conference - The
11former ^ intention out having been impossible
12 [↪ thus frustrated, he
13determined to effect
14his purpose after
15their first conference - ] I happened to sit down
16between the two in the hut
17where they met - Being tired
18with riding all day in
19the sun I asked Sekeletu
20where I should sleep and
21he replied "Come I will shew
22you" As we rose together
23I unconsciously covered
24Sekeletu's body with mine
25and saved him from
26the blow of the assassin
27I knew nothing but
28remarked that all Mpepes
29men kept hold of their
30arms even after we ^ werehad
31 [sat] si {a}t down a thing quite
32unusual in the presence
33of chief - And when Sekeletu
34shewed me the hut in which
35I was to spend the night he
36remarked "that man wishes
37to kill me" - [↪ I afterwards learnt that] Some of Mpepe's
38attendants had divulged the
39secret and, influencedbearing in mind 0059
155 59
2 [by] his father's instructions Sekeletu
3put Mpepe to death that night
4It was managed so quietly
5 [that al] though ^ I was sleeping asleep within a few
6yards of the scene I knew
7nothing of it till the next day -
8Nokuane went to the fire at
9which Mpepe sat with a
10handful of snuff as if he
11were about to sit down
12and regale himself - Mpepe
13said to him "Nsepisa" cause me
14to take a pinch - and as he held
15out his hand ^ [Nokuane ^] caught hold of
16 [it] that while another man
17seized the oppositeother hand and leading
18 [him] out a mile speared him -
19This is the common mode
20of executing a criminal- {s}
21They are not allowed to speak
22but on one ^ occasion a man feeling his
23wrist held too tightly said
24"Hold me gently cant you,
25you will soon be led out
26in the same way yourself {v}es""
27Mpepe's men fled to the
28Barotse and it being
29unadvisable for us to
30go thither during the turcom-
31motion which followed
32on Mpepe's death we
33returned to Linyanti -

0060
156 60
2

/ Cases such as the foregoing
3may be considered as ^ [a fair specimen of ^] the
4mode of dealing with grave
5political offences -   In common
6cases there is a greater shew
7of deliberation -   The complainant
8asks the man against
9whom he means to lodge his
10complaint to come with him
11to the chief - This is ^ never refused
12by no one - When both are in
13the Kotla the complainant
14stands up and states the
15whole case before the chief
16and ^ the people usually assembled
17there - He stands a few seconds
18after he has done this to
19recollect if he has forgotten
20anything - The witnesses
21to whom he has referred
22then rise up and tell all
23they ^ themselves saw or heard but not
24anything they heard from
25others -     When The defendant
26then rises after allowing
27some minutes to elapse
28so that he may not
29interrupt any of the
30opposite party slowly
31rises folds his kcloak
32around him and in the
33most quiet deliberate way
34he can assume begins to
35explain away the case 0061
157 61
2deny^ing the charge or admit^ting it as
3the case may be - Frequently
4 [↪ Sometimes when
5galled by] in the course of his remarks
6the complainant utters a
7sentence of dissent - ComplainantThe accused
8turns quietly to him and says
9"Be quietsilent, I sat still while you
10were speaking - Cant you do the
11same - ? Do you want to have
12it all to yourself"? &c and as the
13audience acquiesce in this
14chafing and enforce silence
15he goes on till he has finished
16all he wishes to say in his
17defence - If he has any
18witnesses to the truth ^ of the facts of his
19defence they give their evidence
20No oath is administered
21but occasionally when a
22statement is questioned a
23man will say "By my father"
24or "By the chief it is so - " Their
25truthfulness among each other
26is quite remarkable - but
27their system of government
28is such that Europeans
29are not in a position to
30realize it readily - A poor
31man will say in his
32defence, against a rich one
33will say "I am astonished
34to hear a man so great
35as he tell make a false
36accusation" as if the offence 0062
158 62
2 [of falsehood] were felt to be one against
3 [the] society which the individual
4referred to had the greatest
5interest in upholding -

6

If the case is one of
7 [no] importance the chief decides
8it at once - If frivolous he
9may give the complainant
10a     scolding or {&} burst into
11 [put a stop to the case] it in the middle of the complaint
12or he may allow it to go
13on without paying any
14attention to it whatever
15Family quarrels are often
16treated in this way and then
17a man may be seen
18stating his case with great
19fluency and not a soul
20listening to him But if
21it is a case between influential
22men or brought on by
23influential men which
24then the greatest decorum
25prevails,   If the chief does
26not see his way clear
27to a decision he remains
28silent - The elders then rise
29one and by one and give
30their opinions often in
31the way of advice rather
32than as decisions
33and when the chief finds
34the general sentiment
35agreeing in one view 0063
159 63
2he delivers his judgement
3accordingly -   He alone speaks
4sitting - all others stand -

5

No one refuses to
6acquiesce in the decision of
7the chief on account of
8his having the power of
9life and death in the his
10hands to enforce it if he
11chooses - but h grumbling
12is allowed

13
14
15
16

This system was found
17as well ^ [or better] developed among
18the Makololo thanas among
19the Bakwains ^ or even better and is no
20 [foreign ^] importation - When at
21Cassange my men had
22a little ^ slight quarrel among
23themselves and came to
24me as to their chief person
25there for judgement - This
26had occurred often several
27times before so without
28a thought I went out
29of the Portuguese merchants
30house in which I was
31a guest, sat down and
32heard the complaint[ ] & {a}nd
33defence in the usual
34way - When I had given
35my decision in the 0064
160 64
2common hortatory form,
3they went off apparently
4satisfied -   Several Portuguese
5 [who] had been viewing the
6proceedings with great
7interest and complimented
8me on the success of my
9teaching - but I could
10not take any credit
11to myself for the system
12which ^ had I ^ had found ready
13made to my hands

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23

Soon after our arrival
24at Linyanti Sekeletu took
25me aside and pressed me
26to mention those things I loved
27best and hoped to get from
28him - Anything either in or
29out of his town would be
30freely given if I would only
31mention it     I explained
32 [to him that] my object was to mak {elevate} him
33and his people to be Christians
34but he replied he did not
35wish to learn to read
36the book for he was afraid 0065
161 65
2"it might change his heart
3and make him content
4with one wife ^ only like Sechele"
5It was of little use to urge that
6the change of heart implied
7a contentment ^ with one wife equal to his
8present complacency in polygamy
9and that [Such a preference
10after the change of
11mind could not be
12realized by him
13noany more than that
14the real unmistakable
15pleasure in {of} religious
16services [            ]
17[      ] by any one
18can be realized by
19those who have not
20experienced that great
21change of mind & affections
22called the "new heart"] ↪ I assured him that N {n}othing was required
23expected but by his own
24voluntary decision - "No, no
25he wanted always to have
26five at least - " His ideas
27of the state happiness of "holy matrimony"
28were on a par with
29those of a Portuguese gentleman ↪ on the happiness of the state of bliss
30whom I met who "did not
31like the idea of going to
32heaven to be standing", (as
33in the pictures), "gazing up
34at a glace of light" [↪ or of one of
35our own
36countrymen
37who thought
38the employment
39of heaven was
40singing and
41praising on a
42bare cloud
43without anything
44to eat or drink - ] I liked
45the frankness of Sekeletu,
46for nothing is so wearing
47to the spirit as talking to
48those who agree with
49everything advanced

50

Sekeletu according
51to the system of the Bechuanas
52became possessor of
53his fathers wives and
54adopted two of them -
55The children by these women
56are however ^ in such cases termed brother
57When an elder brother dies
58to {the} same thing occurs
59in respect of his wives 0066
162 66
2the brother next in age takes
3them [↪ as among
4the Jews] and the children that may
5be born of those women
6he calls his brothers also - As
7was the He ^ thus raises up seed
8to his departed relative -
9An uncle of Sekeletu being a
10younger brother of Sebituane
11got that chieftain's chief
12 [head] ^ wife - or queen - There is
13always one who enjoys
14this title - Her hut is called
15the great house and her
16children inherit the chieftain
17-ship -   If she dies another a
18 [new wife] is selected for the same
19position and enjoys the
20same privileges though
21 [she she {may} happen to be] a much younger woman
22than the rest.

23

/ The majority of the
24wives of Sebituane were
25given to influential under
26-chiefs and in reference
27to their early casting off the
28widows   weeds a song
29was sung saying it was
30the men alone felt the loss
31of their father Sebituane the
32women were so soon
33supplied with new husbands
34 [that] their hearts had not time
35to become sore with grief

0067
1

63 67
2The women complain that
3the proportions between the
4sexes are so changed now
5that they are not valued
6as they deserve - The majority
7of the real Makololo have
8been cut off by fever - Those
9who now remain are a
10mere fragment of those
11who came to the North
12with Sebituane - Coming
13from a very healthy climate
14in the South they were more
15 [subject] obnoxious to the febrile
16diseases of the valley in
17 [which where] which we found them
18than the black tribes which
19they conquered - In comparison
20with the Barotse, Batoka,
21and Banyeti, the Makololo
22have a sickly hue -   They
23are of a light brownish
24yellow colour while the tribes
25referred to are very dark
26with a slight tinge of olive.
27The whole of the coloured
28tribes consider that beauty
29and fairness are associated
30and women long for children
31of light colour so much that
32they sometimes chew the bark
33of a certain tree in
34hopes of producing that
35effect -   To my eye the 0068
1
2
3
4
5
6
7                                    x It will be quite
8                          sufficient to say --
9                    -- The women generally
10                          escaped the fever -
11                            but they are less
12                              fruitful than
13                                formerly - and
14                                  to their complaint 0069
164 68
2the dark colour is much more
3agreable then the tawy {n}y hue
4of the half breed which that
5X
5* (render into)
5Greek - of the Makololo ladies closely
6resembles - The fever has
7spared them * [on account
8of the menstruation
9being excessively
10profuse] but they are
11less fruitful and to their
12 [insinuation] complaint ↪ of being undervalued
13on account of the disproportion
14of the sexes ^ they now add their regrets sorrowful
15 [complaint] afflication ofat the want of children
16ofof whom they all are excessively
17fond -

18

The Makololo women
19work but little - Indeed the
20families of that nation
21are spread over the country
22one or two only in each
23village as the lords of the
24land - They - all possess
25 [have lordship] ^ over great numbers of the
26subjected tribes [↪ ⎰who pass by in
27the general
28name Makalaka⎱] and these ^ who
29 must ^ must are forced to render their certain
30services - ^ and They must are obliged to
31aid in tilling the soil;
32but have each ^ has his own
33land under cultivation -
34and otherwise is {lives} nearly
35independant - [↪ They are proud
36to be called
37Makololo but
38the other term
39is often used
40in reproach
41as betokening
42inferiority] This species
43of servitude may be
44termed slavery as it has
45to be rendered in consequence
46of subjection by force
47of arms, but it is so
48necessarily very mild 0070
165 69
2 [It is so easy ^] for any one who is unkindly
3treated to make his escape
4to the other tribes that the Makololo
5mustare compelled to treat ^ them [↪ ⎰to a great extent
6rather as children
7than as slaves⎱] as children
8Some masters failingwho fail from
9some defect of temper or
10disposition failing to secure
11the affections of these
12conquered people ↪ frequently find themselves
13 [left] ^ without a single servant, ^ x [⎰all {in}x consequence
14of the absence of
15and impossibility
16of a fugitive
17slave law - and
18the readiness
19with which they
20assist each
21other accross
22the rivers in
23canoes ⎱]
24The Makololo ladies who
25are liberal with theirin their presents of milk &
26other food, seldom require
27to labour except in the
28way of beautifying their
29own huts - and courtyards
30They drink large quantities
31of boyaloa which being
32the grain called Caffre Sorghum
33or Dourrhah in a minute
34state or subdivision is
35very nutritious and gives
36that plumpness of form
37which is considered beautiful
38They dislike being seen together
39at their potations by persons
40of the opposite sex - They
41cutt their wooly hair
42quite short and delight in
43having the whole person
44shining with butter - Their
45dress is a kilt reaching
46to the knees; ↪ its material is it is made of ox hide
47made as soft as cloth the
48hairy - It is not ungraceful 0071
166 70
2but from the point where
3Omit it is fastened round the
4lower part of the body upwards
5the person ^ with their large pendant breasts is left exposed
6 
7A ^ soft skin mantle is thrown
8across the shoulders when
9the lady is unemployed but
10when engaged in any sort
11of labour she throws this
12aside and works in the
13kilt alone - [↪ They ornaments
14most coveted are
15large brass leglets
16as thick as the
17little finger - ^ and armlets
18of both brass
19and ivory the
20latter often an
21inch broad - The
22leglets are so
23heavy ^ that the ankles
24are often blistered
25by the weight that
26presses {ing} down
27but it is the
28fashion and is
29borne as mag-
30-nanimously
31as tight lacing
32& ^ tight shoes among
33ourselves, Strings
34of beads are hung
35around the neck
36and the fashion ^ -able colours being
37light green & pink
38a trader could get ^ almost any
39thing he chose for ↪ beads of these colours]

40

At our public religious
41services in the Kotla the
42Makololo women always
43believed with decorum from
44the first except at the
45conclusion of the prayer -
46When the restall kneeled {t}
47down many of those who
48had children in following
49the example of the rest
50bent over their little ones -
51The children in terror of
52being crushed to death
53set up a simultaneous
54yell which so tickled
55the whole assembly
56there was often a subdued
57titter to be let outturned into a
58hearty laugh as soon
59as they heard, amen - This
60was not so difficult
61to overcome in them as
62similar peccadilloes were
63in the case of ^ the women 0072
167 71
2farther south - Long after we
3had settled at Mabotsa
4when preaching of {n} the most
5solemn subjects a woman
6would be observed to look
7round and see^ -ing a neighbour
8seated on her dress - {,} She of
9course gave her a hunch
10with the elbow to make
11her move off - The other
12returned ^ it the push with
13interest and perhaps the
14remark "take the nasty
15thing to youaway will you"
16Then three or four began
17to huzzle [hustle] the first offenders
18and the men to swear
19at them all by way of
20enforcing silence

21

Great numbers of little
22trifling things like these occur
23and would not be worth
24the recital but that one
25cannot form a correct
26idea of missionary work
27except by examination
28of the minutiae - And a {A}t the
29risk of appearing frivolous
30to some I shall continue
31to descend to mere trifles

32

The numbers who
33attended by {at} the proclamationsummons
34by the herald ^ [who acted as
35beadle] were often
36from 500 to 700, The service 0073
168 72
2consisted of reading a small
3portion of the bible and
4giving an explanatory address
5usually short enough to
6prevent weariness or want
7of attention - So long as we
8continue to hold services
9in the Kotla the associations
10of the place are unfavourable
11to solemnity hence it is
12always desirable to have
13a place of worship as soon
14as possible - And it is
15desirable to of importance
16too to treat that ^ such place with
17reverence - as an aid to secure
18that serious attention which
19religious subjects demand
20This will appear more
21evident when it is recollected
22that in the very spot where
23we may have had been engaged
24in acts of devotion
25half an hour beforeafter, a
26dance willwould be got up
27 [and such arrangementsarrangements] which cannot be at once
28opposed without the feeling
29being produced of exercising
30too much authority over
31them -   It is always unwise
32to hurt their feelings of
33independa {e}nce - Much greater
34influence will be gained by
35studying how you may 0074
169 73
2induce them to act aright with
3the impression that they are
4doing it of their own free will
5Our services are {having} necessarily
6 [been all] in the open air - where it is
7 [most difficult] to address large bodies of people
8 [prevented my
9recovering so
10entirely from
11the effects of
12clergymen's
13sore throat so
14much as I
15expected when
16the uvula was
17excised at
18the Cape]

19

# To give an idea of the
20system adopted for months
21together on other days as well
22as on Sundays - I may advert
23to treating the sick for com-
24plaints too d {which} seemed to ^ surmount try
25the skill of their own doctors
26I refrained going to any
27one unless his own doctor
28wished it or had given up
29the case - This led to my
30having a selection of the
31severer cases only, and
32 [prevented ^] the doctors were notbeing offended
33by my taking their practice
34out of their hands - When
35attacked by fever myself
36and wishing to ascertain
37what their practices were
38I could safely intrust myself
39in their hands on account
40of their well known friendly
41feelings - Their plan is
42to produce by means of
43 [medicated] vapour baths a profuse
44and long continued action
45of the skin, which in a
46modified form is about
47the best way of treating fever

0075
170 74
2

/ The plan of shewing kindness
3to them in their bodily ailments
4secures their friendship - This
5is not the case ^ [to the same ↪ degree extent] in old missions
6where the people have learned
7to look upon relief as a right -
8 [a state of things that] was {This} sometimes happens among
9ourselves at home - Medical
10aid is therefore most valuable
11in young missions though
12at all stages ^ it is a valuable
13adjunct to other operations

14
15

I proposed to teach
16the Makololo to read but
17for the reasons mentioned
18Sekeletu at first declined
19After some weeks however
20his father in law and some
21others determined to brave
22the mysterious book - To
23all who have not learned
24 [acquired it ^] the knowledge of letters
25is a most quite unfathom-
26able -   There is nought like
27 [it with] in the compass of their
28observation - and we have
29no comparison with
30any thing except pictures
31to aid them in com-
32prehending the idea of signs
33of words -   It seems to
34them supernatural - that
35we see in a book things

0076
1

XIX- 71 75
2things taking ^ place ^ or having occurred at a distance
3No amount of explanation
4conveys the idea unless they
5learn to read - Machinery
6is equally inexplicable and
7money nearly as much
8so untill they see it in
9actual use - They are familiar
10with barter alone [↪ and in the centre
11of the country
12where gold is
13totally unknown
14if a button &
15sovereign were
16left to their
17choice they
18would prefer
19the former
20on account of
21its having an
22eye]

23

The father in law ^ of Sekeletu Motibe
24in beginning to learn seemed
25to himself in the position
26of the doctor who was obliged
27to drink his potion before
28the patient to shew it contained
29nothing detrimental and after
30he had mastered the alphabet
31and reported the thing so far
32safe, Sekeletu and his
33young com-panions came
34forward to try for themselves
35He must have resolved
36to watch the effects of the
37book against his views
38on polygamy and abstain
39whenever he perceived
40any inclination/ [tendency towards
41ordering him /] to put his
42wives away.   A number
43 [of men ^] learned the alphabet in a
44short time and were set to
45teach others but before much
46progress could be made I was
47on my way to Loando

0077
172 76
2

As I had declined to
3name anything as a present
4from Sekeletu except a canoe
5to take me up the river - he
6brought ten fine elephants tusks and
7laid them down beside my
8waggon - He would take
9no denial - though I told
10him I should prefer to see
11him trading with Fleming who
12had come for the purpose -
13 [I had during the
14most ofeleven years of my
15previous
16course] I invariably abstained from
17taking presents of ivory from
18an idea that a religious
19instructor degraded himself
20by accepting gifts from
21those whose spiritual welfare
22d and not ththeir worldly wealth
23he professed to seek My
24precedence of all traders in
25the line of discovery put
26me often in the way of
27very handsome offers but
28I always advised the
29donors to sell their ivory
30to traders [↪ who would
31be sure to follow] and when at some
32future time they had become
33rich they might remember
34me or my children - When
35Lake Ngami was discovered
36I might have refused
37permission to the trader
38who accompanied us but
39when he applied for leave
40to form part of our company 0078
173 77
2knowing that Mr Oswel would
3no more trade than myself
4and that the people of the
5Lake would be disappointed
6 [↪ if they could not dispose
7of their ivory] I willingly granted a mya sanction
8without which his people
9would not at that time
10have ventured so far - This
11was clearly preferring the
12interest of another to my
13own

14

And so when we succeeded
15in reaching Sebituane
16He expected us to trade
17but we preferred sending
18125 a [messenger down to the
19Lake requesting two traders
20 [↪ who had ^
21gone thither
22to the Chobe] to come for that purpose
23^ and they did so very much
24to their own advantage

25

My attention had however
26been directed to the subject
27of "missionaries trading"
28by a great deal of mumbling
29and grumbling among
30upstart extemporaneous traders
31who flocked into the country
32after the discovery of the
33Lake - The disappointment
34of these ^ fellows who were generally runaway butchers
35bakers and cabmen was
36extreme on finding the blacks
37so soon awakened to a
38sense of their own interests
39and the value of ivory 0079
174 78
2and their and some Cape Colonial merchants who
3had been silly ^ foolish enough to risk
4their money in such hands
5reiterated the charge givenmade to them
6in excuse for the failure of
7their speculations, that the
8missionaries appropriated
9all the commercial profits
10of the natives to themselves
11As I was well aware that
12the missionaries at Kuruman
13 [for instance] had got formal permission
14from the Colonial government
15for a trader to settle on the
16spot and thereby relieve
17them from all liability
18to business transactions
19with the natives and that
20 [that] mantrader had become so rich
21as to enable him after some
22years to retire, and that
23it was notorious that {in} the
24country that no missionary
25whatever had become rich
26I for the first time in my
27life began to examine
28the propriety of question of
29missionaries engaging
30in trade -   and as the change
31of opinion which took
32place in consequence had
33a considerable influence
34in my subsequent course
35I may explain that it seems 0080
175 79
2a matter beyond controversy
3even that "if we sow unto
4unto the heathen' spiritual things
5it would be quite right "to reap
6carnal things" St Paul at
7least had very few doubts
8on the matter - We who open
9up new markets for commerce
10and render the countries of
11savages safe for traders to
12enter might therefore with
13perfect propriety avail
14ourselves of our position
15to benefit our families by
16fair and honourable dealing
17This {e} propriety of this becomes
18more apparent when we
19remember that we might
20thereby prevent the extortions
21of unprincipled adventurers
22and provide for those whom
23 [↪ in consequence of the
24missionary's pay
25affording] a confessedly "a bare subsistence"
26are by the husband and
27father's death rendered entirely
28dependant on charity But
29though the case appears so
30fair when put in this
31way I believe if a missionary
32put the theory into practice
33it would materially mar
34his usefulness as a spiritual
35teacher -   The cares of business
36would leave little leizure
37andor inclination for more
38serious & important matters 0081
176 80
2/ [The conclusion I came to
3therefore was, that] It is quite lawful but not expedient
4to {for} missionaries to trade -
5When I was fully satisfied
6on this point I felt no
7hesitation in departing from
8my hitherto scrupulous avoidance
9of even the appearance
10of trading - In all the journies
11I had undertaken the extra
12/ expenses were defrayed from
13my salary of £100 per annum
14This sum is sufficient to
15enable a manmissionary to live comfortably
16in South Africa supposing
17he has a garden capable of
18yielding corn & vegetables
19or if he makes a journey
20to the Colony every two or
21three years for supplies
22of ↪ articles of ⎰European⎱ articles
23 [of consumption] produce -   But should he
24consider ^ that his time asis sacredly
25devoted to his calling and
26that six or eight months
27cannot be lawfully spent
28in getting Colonial supplies
29at a lower figureprice merely
30than ^ they can be had ^ at from
31itinerant traders, the sum
32mentioned is sufficient for
33 [only] but the plainest ^ poorest fare and
34poo {la}inest apparel - As we
35never could feel ourselves
36justified in making journeys 0082
177 81
2to the Colony for the sake of making
3cheaper bargains the most
4frugal living was necessary
5to enable us to be a little
6charitable to our own people
7and strangers, but when
8to this was {ere} added extra
9travelling expenses and presents
10to the chiefs [↪ (always
11larger than
12those of any
13trader who
14moreover
15recieved articles
16of greater value
17than they give)] and ^ the wants of an increasing
18family, it was difficult to
19make ^ both ends meet - Presents
20to the chiefs whom we
21visited were always given
22and nothing accepted in return
23but when Sebituane ^ (in 1851) offered
24me some ivory I changed
25my plan, took it, and was
26able by its sale to present
27his son with a number of
28really useful articles of a
29higher value than I had ever
30been able to dopresent before to any
31chief -       In doing this I of
32course appeared to trade
33but being perfectly conscious
34of the right to do so if I chose
35and the purity of my motives
36in acting as I did I felt
37perfectly easy in my mind
38But as I still held the
39view of the inexpediency
40of combining the two professions
41I was delighted by the generous
42proposal of one of the most 0083
178 82
2honourable merchants of
3Cape Town to risk a sum
4of money in Fleming's hands
5for the purpose of attempting
6to develope a trade with
7the Makololo - It was to
8this man I referred them
9for trade with the tusks which
10Sekeletu presented for my
11acceptance - but the {he} ^ the chief refused
12to take them backaway - The
13goods which Fleming had
14brought were ill adapted
15for the ^ [use of the natives] but he got a
16pretty good load of ivory in
17 [exchange:] and though it was his
18first attempt at trading and
19the distance travelled over
20made the expenses enormous
21he was not a loser by the
22trip -     Other traders followed
23and as they demanded 90 lbs
24of ivory for a musket and
25the Makololo knowing nothing
26of steey {l}yards supposed that
27they were meant to cheat
28them declined to trade except
29by counting one bull's tusk
30& one cow s {e}lephant's tusk for
31each gun - This would average
3270 lbs of ivory at which sells
33at the Cape for 5/ per pound
34for a second hand musket
35worth 10/ -     I being sixty miles 0084
179 83
2distant did not witness this
3trading but anxious to
4enable my countrymen to
5drive a brisk trade told
6the Makololo to sell my
7tusks for whatever they
8could get - Seventy tusks
9were for sale but from
10want of understanding each
11other's talk no trade was
12established and when I passed
13the spot some time afterwards
14I found ^ that the whole ofremains of
15that ivory - The whole had
16been destroyed by an accidental
17fire which broke out in
18the village when all the people
19were absent - Success in
20trade is as much dependant
21on knowledge of the language
22as success in travelling

23
24
25
26

I had brought as presents
27an improved breed of goats
28fowls and a pair of cats -
29An superior bull was
30bought but I could not bring
31it on account of its having
32becoming footsore - As they
33are very fond of improving
34the breed of their domestic
35animals the Makololo were 0085
180 84
2were much pleased with my
3selection -   The ^ [I endeavoured to
4bring the ^] bull was in
5performance of a promise
6made to Sebituane before
7he died - Admiring a calf
8which we had with us
9he proposed to give me
10a cow for it which in
11their ^ native estimation was offering
12three times its value - I
13presented it ^ to him at once and
14promised to bring him a
15better - Sekeletu was much
16gratified by my attempt
17to keep my word withgiven to his
18father -

19

They have two breeds of
20cattle among them - One called
21the Batoka because
22captured from that tribe is
23of diminutive size but
24very beautiful - Many resemble
25closely the short horns of our
26own country - They are very
27tame and remarkably
28playful - They may be seen
29lying on their sides by the fires
30in the evening and when
31the herd goes out he [the herdsman] often
32precedes them and has only
33to commence capering to
34set them all a-gamboling
35The meat is superior to
36that of the large animal 0086
181 85
2The other or Barotse ox is
3much larger and has
4large horns and they comes
5from the fertile Barotse
6valley - and {They} stand high on
7their legs - oftenoften nearly 6 feet at
8the withers and they have
9large horns - ^ Those of One of a
10 [similar] breed ^ that we brought from
11the Lake measured from
12tip to tip 8 ½ feet

13/
14
15
16
17
18
19

The Makololo are in the
20habit of shaving off a little
21from one side of the horns
22of these animals [↪ when still
23growing] in order
24to make them curve in
25that direction and assume
26fantastic shapes - The stranger
27the curvature the more
28handsome it is ^ the ox is believedconsidered to be
29and the longer this ornament
30of the pen {cattle} pen is spared
31to beautify the herd -     This
32is a very ancient custom
33in Africa for the tributary
34tribe of Ethiopia are seen
35on some of the most ancient
36monuments bringing contorted
37horned cattle into Egypt -

0087
182 86
2

All are remarkably fond
3of their cattle and spend
4much time in ornamenting
5and admiring them - Some
6are branded all over with
7a hot knife so as to cause
8a permanent discolouration
9of the hair in lines like a
10zebra -   Pieces of skin two
11or three inches long &
12broad are detached and
13allowed to heal in a
14dependant position around
15the head - and if that is
16beautiful it is difficult
17to concieve in what their
18notion of beauty consists
19The women at least have
20somewhat the same ideas ↪
21on this point ^ [of what constitutes
22comeliness] ⎰with ourselves⎱
23They came frequently and
24asked for the looking glass
25and their remarks heard, [⎰they made -
26while I was ^
27engaged in reading
28and apparently
29not attending
30to them - on⎱ and on
31their] on
32first seeing themselves
33therein were amusingly
34ridiculous - "Is that me?"
35"What a big mouth I have? {!}
36"My ears are as big as
37pumpkin leaves" "I have
38no chin at all" or "I would
39have been pretty but am
40spoiled by these high cheek
41bones" "See how my head
42shoots up in the middle" 0088
183 87 13
2laughing vociferously all the
3 [time] while at their own jokes -
4They readily percieve any
5defect in each other
6and give nicknames accord
7-ingly -   One man came to {alone}
8⎰to have a quiet pore overgaze at his
9 [own] features once when ^ he thought I was
10Stet ? asleep - After twisting his
11mouth about in various
12directions he remarked
13to himself "people say
14I am ugly" and how very
15ugly I am indeed!"⎱

16
17

The Makololo use all
18the skins of their oxen for
19making either mantles
20or shields - ^ For The former,
21 [the hide] is stretched out by means
22of pegs and dried - Ten or
23a dozen men then collect
24round it with small adzes
25which when sharpened
26with an needle iron bodkin
27are capable of shaving off
28the substance of the skin
29on the fleshy side untill
30it is quite thin. The operation
31is performed by ↪ dragging
32the adze to ⎰the performer⎱
33dele himself while the edge is
34applied firmly to the skin 0089
184 88
2when sufficiently thin
3a quantity of brain is smeared
4over it and some thick
5milk - Then an instrument
6made of a number of
7iron spikes tied to round
8a piece of wood so that
9the points only project
10beyond it - is applied to
11it in a carding fashion
12untill the fibres of the
13bulk of it are quite
14loose - Milk or butter a is
15applied to it again and
16it forms a garment ↪ as
17soft as cloth - ⎰nearly⎱ -

18

The shields are made
19of hides partially dried in
20the sun and then beaten
21with hammers untill it {they}
22is {are} stiff and dry - Two
23broad belts of a differently
24coloured ox skin are sewed
25into it {them} longitudinally and
26a [  ] sticks inserted to make
27it {them} not easily bent - They The
28 [shield is] are a great protection
29in their way of fighting
30with spears - but they also
31trust largely to their agility
32in springing aside from
33the coming javelin - The
34shield assists when so many
35a spears are thrown that 0090
185 89
2it is impossible not to
3recieve some one - Their
4spears are light javelins
5and judging from what
6I have seen them do in
7elephant hunting I believe
8they can, when they have
9room to make a run
10and discharge ^ them with the assistanceaid
11of the jerk of stopping,
12throw them between 40
13and fifty yards. They give
14them an upward direction
15in the discharge so that
16they come down on the
17animal with accelerated
18force - I saw a man
19who in battle recieved
20one in the shin -   The
21excitement of the moment
22prevented his feeling anything
23 [pain] at the time but when
24the battle was over the
25blade was found s to have
26 [split] cleft the bone and become
27so impacted in the cleft
28that no force could extract
29it - It was necessary
30to take an axe and
31press the split bone asunder
32before the weapon could
33be taken out -

0091
186 90
2

About the end On the 30th of of May I was
3seized with fever for the first
4time. We reached the town
5129 of Linyanti on the [23d and
6as my habits were suddenly
7changed from great activity
8to comparative inactivity
9at the commencement
10of the cold season I suffered
11from a severe attack of
12stoppage of the secretions
13closely resembling a common
14cold -   Warm baths and
15drinks relieved me and I
16had no idea but that I was
17now relievedrecovering from the effects
18of a chill, got by leaving
19the warm   waggon in the
20evening in order to conduct
21family worship at my people's
22fire -   But on the 2d
23of June - a relapse shewed
24to the Makololo who knew
25the complaint that my
26indisposition was no other
27than the fever ^ with which I have
28since made a much closer
29acquaintance -   Cold east
30winds now prevail ^ at this time and
31as they come over the extensive
32flats inundated by the Chobe
33as well as many others
34where pools of rain water
35are now drying up many
36they may be supposed 0092
187 91
2to be loaded with malaria
3 [& watery vapour] and many cases of fever
4follow -     The usual symptoms
5of stopped secretion are
6manifested shivering and
7a feeling of coldness though
8 [the skin is] quite hot to the touch of
9another - The heat in the
10axilla - over the heart and
11region of the stomach was in
12my case 100˚ but along
13the spine and at the nape
14of the neck 103˚ -   The internal
15 [processes] secretions were all with the
16exception of the kidneys &
17liver stopped - The latter
18in its efforts to free the
19blood of noxious principlesparticles
20often secretes enormous
21quantities of bile - There
22wa {e}re pains along the spine
23and frontal headache
24Anxious to ascertain whether
25they natives possessed any
26the knowledge of any
27remedy of which we were
28ignorant I invited requested
29the assistance of one of
30Sekeletu's doctors - He put
31some roots into a pot with
32water and when it was
33boiling placed it on a spot
34beneath a blanket thrown
35around me and it - 0093
188 92
2This did produced an immediate
3effect but he got a small
4bundle of different kinds
5of medicinal woods and
6burning them in a potsherd
7nearly to ashes used the
8smoke and hot vapour
9arising from them as an
10auxiliary to the other in
11causing diaphoresis, A
12mild aperient in com-
13-bination with quinine is
14an important aid in
15curing the fever as it
16seems to have the same
17stimulating effects on
18the alimentary canal as
19these means have on the
20external surface - Purgatives
21or indeed any violent
22remedies are injurious
23and the appearance of a
24herpetic eruption near the
25mouth is regarded as an
26evidence that no internal
27organ is in danger -

0094
189 93
2

/ The Makololo had made
3a garden and planted maize
4for me that as they remarked
5when ^ I was parting with them
6to proceed to the Cape I might
7have food to eat when I
8returned as well as other
9people -   The maize was
10now pounded by the woman
11into fine meal -   This they
12do in large wooden mortars
13the exact counterparts of
14which may be seen
15depicted on the Egyptian
16monuments - Sekeletu added
17to this good supply of meal
18ten or twelve jars of honey
19each of which contained
20about two gallons: Liberal
21supplies of earth nuts - (arachis
22hypogoea) were also furnished
23every time the tributary
24tribes brought their dues
25to Linyanti and an ox
26given for slaughter as {every}
27often as week or two -
28Sekeletu also appropriated
29two cows to be milked
30for us every morning
31and evening -   This was
32in accordance with the
33acknowledged rule throughout
34this country that the chief
35should feed all strangers 0095
190 94
2who come withon any special /
3business to him and take
4up their abode in his kotla
5A present is usually given
6in return for the hospitality
7but except in cases where
8their aboriginal customs
9have been modified by {no}thing
10would be asked - Europeans
11spoil thes feeling that
12hospitality is the sacred
13duty of the chiefs by what
14in other circumstances is
15laudable conduct - They No
16sooner do they arrive that
17 [than] they offer to purchase
18food and instead of waiting
19till a meal is prepared
20for them in the evening
21cook for themselves and
22then ^ often decline to partake
23of that which has been
24made ready for their use -
25A present is also given
26and before long the natives
27come to consider expect
28a present without having
29given any equivalent

30

Strangers frequently
31have acquaintances among
32the underchiefs to whose
33establishments they turn
34aside, and are treated on the
35same principle that others
36are when they are guests 0096
191 95
2of the chief - so generally is
3the duty admitted ^ that one of the
4most cogent arguments
5for polygamy is that a
6man {re}spectable man with
7only one wife could not
8entertain strangers as he
9ought - This reason has
10especial weight where
11the women are the chief
12cultivators of the soil &
13have the controul over
14the corn as at Kolobeng -
15The poor however who
16have no friends often
17suffer much hunger
18and the very kind attentions
19Sebituane lavished on all
20such was one of the
21reasons of his great pop-
22-ularity in the country -

23
24
25

The Makololo cultivate
26a large extent of country
27around their villages -
28Those of them who are real
29Basutas still retain the
30habits of that tribe and
31may be seen going out
32with their wives with
33their hoes in hand - a
34phenomenonstate of things never witnessed
35at Kolobeng or in any
36Bechuana or Caffre tribe 0097
192 96
2The great chief Moshesh
3 [affords] gives an example to his
4people annually ofby not
5only take {ing} the hoe in
6hand but working hard
7with it on certain public
8occasions - His Basutas
9are of the same family
10with the Makololo to whom
11I refer -   The younger
12Makololo who have been
13accustomed ↪ to lord it
14over the conquered Makalaka
15⎰from their infancy⎱ have un-
16fortunately no desire
17to imitate the agricultural
18tastes of their fathers
19and expect their subjects
20to perform ^ all the manual
21labour - They are the
22aristocracy of the country
23and once possessed
24almost unlimited power
25over their vassals - Their
26privileges were however
27 [much] abridged by Sebituane
28himself

0098
1

XX- 93 97
2It has been already mentioned
3that the tribes which Sebituane
4subjected in this great country
5pass by the general name
6of Makalaka - The Makololo
7were composed of ^ a great
8numbers of other tribes as
9well as of these central negroes
10The nucleus of the whole were
11Basuta {u} who came ⎰from
12 a comparatively cold and
13hilly region in the South⎱ with
14tr Sebituane ↪ -   When he conquered
15various tribes of the Bechuanas
16as Bakwains - Bangweaketze
17Bamangweato - Batauana &c
18he incorporated the young
19of these tribes into his own
20Great mortality ^ by fever having
21taken place in the original
22stock he wisely adopted the
23same plan of absorption
24on a large scale with the
25Makalaka - so we found
26him with even the sons of
27the chiefs of the Barotse
28closely attached to his person
29and they say to this day if
30anything else but natural
31death had assailled their
32father every one of them
33would have laid down his
34life in his defence - One
35reason for their strong affection 0099
194 98
2was their emancipation by
3the decree "all are children of
4the chief"

5
6
7
8
9
10

They ^ The Makalaka cultivate the Caffre
11sorghum or dourha dur
12Dourha - (doora) as the
13principal grain - with
14maize, two kinds of beans
15Earth nuts (arachis hypogoea)
16pumpkins water melons
17and cucumbers -   They
18depend for success entirely
19upon rain -   Those who
20live in the Barotse valley
21cultivate in addition the
22sugar cane, sweet potato
23and manioc (Jatropha manihot
24The climate there however
25is warmer than at
26Linyanti and they {the} Makalaka
27increase the fertility of
28their gardens by rude
29attempts at artificial
30irrigation

31

The instrument of
32culture over all this region
33is a hoe (see page       )
34the iron of which is obtained 0100
195 99
2from the ore by the Batoka
3and Banyeti by smelting
4The amount of iron which
5they produce annually
6may be understood when
7it is known that most
8of the who {hoes} in use at
9Linyanti are the tribute
10imposed on the smiths

11

/ Sekeletu recieves tribute
12from a great number
13of tribes in corn or dourha
14ground nuts - hoes - spears
15honey - canoes, paddles ^ [wooden vessels
16tobacco, Mutoku-
17-ane (cannabis
18sativa)]
19various wild fruits
20dried - prepared skins, and
21ivory -   When these articles
22appear in the Kotla Sekeletu
23has the honour of dividing
24them among the loungers
25who usually congregate
26there - A small portion
27only is reserved for
28himself -   The ivory belongs
29nominally as in {to the} the
30same to him too but this
31is simply a way of making
32a fair distribution of the
33profits - The chief sells it
34only with the approbation
35of his counsellors and
36proceeds are distributed
37in open day among the
38people as before - He has 0101
196 4 {100}
2the choice of all - but if he is
3not more liberal to others
4than ^ to himself he loses in
5popularity - I have known
6instances in this and other
7tribes in which individuals
8aggrieved because they
9had been overlooked fled
10to other chiefs - One such
11having fled to Lechulatebe
12was encouraged to go
13to a village of the Bapalleng
14on the river Chō or Tsō
15and abstracted the tribute
16of ivory thence - This theft
17enraged the whole of the
18⎰X
18Qu: this
18Qu on the 8th day⎱ Makololo because they
19all felt it to be a personal
20loss -   Some of Lechulatebes
21people having come onX
22the 8th a demonstration
23was made in which about
24500 Makololo armed
25went through a mimic
26fight - The principal
27warriors pointed their
28spears towards the Lake
29where Lechulatebe lives
30and every thrust in that
31direction was answered
32by [↪ ⎰by all with⎱] the shout "hōō" while
33every stab on the ground
34drew out the a simultaneous
35huz "huzz" - [↪ On such occasions
36all capable
37of bearing arms
38even the old
39must turn out
40at the call - In
41the time of Sebituane
42anyone remaining
43in his house was
44searched for and
45killed without mercy - ]

0102
197 101
2

This offence of Lechulatebe
3was aggravated by repetition
4and a song sung in his
5town on {in} dances which
6manifested joy at the death
7of Sebituane -   He had
8enjoined his people to live
9in peace with those at the
10Lake and Sekeletu felt
11disposed to follow his advice
12but Lechulatebe had now
13got possession of fire arms
14and considered himself more
15than a match for the Makololo
16His father had been dispossessed
17of many cattle by Sebituane
18and as forgiveness is
19not considered among the
20virtues by the heathen he
21thought he had a right
22to recover what he could
23As I had a good deal of
24influence with the Makololo
25I persuaded them that before
26they could have peace
27they must resolve to give
28the same blessing to others
29and they never could do
30that without forgiving
31and forgetting ancient feuds
32It is hard to make them
33feel that shedding of human
34blood is a ^ great crime - They must
35feel it to be wrong but having 0103
198 102
2having been accustomed to
3bloodshed from infancy
4they are remarkably callous
5to the enormity of ^ [ the crime] taking
6 [of destroying ^] human life

7

/ I sent a message at
8the same time to Lechulatebe
9advising him to give up
10the course he had adopted
11and especially the song
12because though Sebituane
13was dead the arms with
14which he had fought were
15still alive and strong -

16

Sekeletu in order to
17follow up his fathers instructions
18and promote peace sent
19ten cows to be exchanged
20for sheep - These animals
21thrive well in a bushy
22country like that around
23the Lake but will scarcely
24live in the flat prairies
25between the net work of
26waters north of the Chobe
27The men who took the
28cows and sent back
29an equal number of sheep,
30 [Now] According to the ^ relative value
31of sheep & cows in these
32parts he ought to have sent
33                                  sixty or seventy

0104
199 103
2

One of the men who had hoes
3was trying to purchase in
4a village without formal
5leave from Lechulatebe,
6This chief punished ^ him by
7making him sit some
8hours on the broiling
9hot sand (at least 130˚) This
10farther offence put a stop
11to amicable relations altogether
12It was a case in which
13 [ a very weak
14tribe commanded
15by a weak &
16foolish chief] one of the parties had got
17possession of fire arms
18and felt conscious of
19ability to cope with a
20powerful and warlike race
21This is {Such} cases are ^ the only ones
22in which the possession
23of fire arms does evil -
24133 [The universal effect of
25of the diffusion of the more
26skillful potent instruments
27of warfare ^ in Africa is the same as
28among ourselves - They
29Firearms render wars
30less frequent and less
31bloody - It is indeed exceeding
32-ly rare to hear of a {two} tribes
33having guns going to
34war with each other - And
35as nearly all the feuds have
36been,- in the South at least,-
37about cattle - The risk which
38must be incurred from long
39shots generally proves a
40preventative to the attempts forays

0105
1100 8 {104}
2

The Makololo were pre-
3-vailed upon to keep the peace
4during my residence
5with them but it was
6easy to percieve that public
7opinion was against
8sparing a tribe of Bechuanas
9for whom the Makololo
10entertained the most sovreign
11contempt - The young men
12would remark "Lechulatebe
13is herding our cows for us"
14"Let us only go we shall "lift"
15Qu prize the price" &c - {of} them in sheep" &c

16
17
18
19
20
21

/ As the Makololo are the
22most northerly of the Bechuanas
23we may glance back at this
24family of Africans before
25entering on the branch
26of the negro family which
27the Makololo distinguish by
28the term Makalaka -
29The name Bechuana seems
30derived from the word
31chuana = alike or equal with
32the personal pronoun Ba = they
33prefixed - and therefore means
34fellows or equals - Some
35have supposed the name 0106
1101 105
2to have arisen from a mistake
3of some traveller who on
4asking individuals of this
5nation concerning the tribes
6living beyond them recieved
7the answer Ba-chuana = they
8(are) alike - meaning they are
9the same as we are, and that
10this nameless traveller who
11never wrote a word about them
12managed to ^ engraft his mistake
13/ as a generic term for a nation
14extending from the Orange
15river to 18˚ South Latitude - * foot note [↪ * The Makololo
16have conquered
17the country as
18far as 12 {4}˚ South
19but it is still
20peopled chiefly
21by the black
22tribes named
23Makalaka]
24As the name was found in use
25among those who had no inter-
26-course with Europeans, and
27before we can recieve the above
28explanation we must believe
29that the unknown traveller
30knew the language sufficiently
31well to ask a question but
32not ^ to understand the answer
33we may add that the way in
34which they still continue to
35use the word seems to require
36no fanciful interpretation
37When addressed with any degree of
38scorn - They reply "We are
39Bechuana or equals - we are
40not inferior to any of own nation
41In {in} exactly the same sense
42as an Irishman or Scotchman
43 in the same circumstances
44would reply "We are Britons" or
45                      we are Englishmen 0107
1102 106
2Most other tribes are known
3by the terms applied to them
4by strangers as the Caffres, Hottentots
5& Bushmen - The Bechuanas
6alone use the term themselves
7as a generic term for the whole
8nation - They have managed
9also to give a comprehensive
10name to the whites, viz - Makōa
11though they cannot explain
12the derivation of it noany more
13than of their own - It seems
14to mean "handsome" from the
15manner in which they use it
16to indicate "beauty", though
17there is another word very
18like it meaning "infirm" or
19"weak" The people they term
20Bechuanas their language
21Sechuana and the whites
22Makōa, their language sekōa, [The language of the
23Bechuanas, they
24term Sechuana;
25that of the Whites
26(Makōa) they
27term Sekōa.]

28

The Makololo or
29Basuta {u} have carried their
30powers of generalization
31still farther and arranged
32the other parts of the same
33great family of South
34Africans into three
35divisions - ^ 1st The Matibele or
36Makonko-bi are, the
37Caffre family living on the
38Eastern side of the country -
39 [2nd] The Bakoni or tribes
40living Basutu - ^ 3rd the Bechuanas
41living in central parts 0108
1103 107
2parts, and the Bakalahari
3nam {w}hich includes all those
4tribes living in or adjacent to on the
5borders of The Great Kalahari
6desert -

7

[1st.] The Caffres are divided by
8themselves into various sub
9divisions as Amakosa
10Amapanda &c - &c - and other
11well known termstitles - They
12consider the name Caffre as
13an insulting epithet - As my
14remarks are intend to
15apply more particularly
16to the Bechuanas I proceed
17to enumerate the tribes
18into which they are divided
19The Zula {u}s of Natal belong
20to the same family and
21they are as famed for their
22honesty as their bretheren
23who live adjacent to our
24Colonial Frontier are
25renowned for cattle lifting
26Of them the Recorder of
27Natal declared that history
28does not present another
29instance in which so
30much security for life
31and property has been
32enjoyed, as has been experi
33-enced by {du}ring the whole period
34of English occupation by
3510,000 colonists in the midst
36of 100,000 Ca Zulus .

0109
1104 12 {108}
2

The Matibele of Mosilikatze
3living a short distance South
4of the Zambesi, and other
5tribes living a little South
6of ↪ Senna and ⎰Tete⎱ are
7members of this same family
8They are not knownknown beyond
9the Zambesi river - This
10was the limit of the Bechuanas
11Qu this word?
11 {progress} Northing too, untill Sebituane
12pushed his conquests farther

13
14

2d The Bakoni and
15Basutus ^ division contains in the
16South all those tribes which
17acknowledge Moshesh
18as their paramount chief
19^ [The Batau
20The Baputi
21Makolokue &c -] and some mountaineers
22on the range Maluti, who
23are believed by those who
24have carefully sifted the
25evidence, to have been
26 [at one time ^] guilty of canna {i}balism -
27This has been doubted but
28their songs admit the fact
29to this day and they ascribe
30their having left off the
31odious practice of entrapping
32human prey to Moshesh
33having given them cattle
34They are d called Marimo
35and Maya bathu = men eaters
36by the rest of the Basutus
37with various subdivisions
38as Makatla, Bamakakana 0110
1105 109
2Matlapatlapa &c -

3

/ The Bakoni farther North
4than the Basutu are the
5Batlou - Bapēri - Bapō and
6 [another tribe of] Bakuena - Bamosetla -
7Bamapela or, ↪ Babiriri - ⎰Balaka⎱
8Bapiri
9Bahukeng - Batlokua -
10Baakhahela &c &c - The
11whole of which tribes
12are favoured with abundance
13of rain and being much
14attached to agriculture
15raise very large quantities
16of grain It is among
17them that the more distant
18boers revel in slothful
19abundance on their industry
20and follow their slave
21hunting and cattle stealing
22propensities quite beyond
23the range of English
24influence and law - The
25Basutu under Moshesh
26are equally fond of cultivating
27the soil       The chief labour
28of hoeing - driving away
29birds, reaping, ^ & winnowing
30falls to the willing arms
31of the hard working women
32but as the men ↪ ^ as already stated always
33handle the hoe ⎰as well as
34their wives⎱ many have
35followed the advice of the
36missionaries and now 0111
1106 110
2use ploughs and oxen instead
3of the hoe - Ju

4

Judging from questions
5put to me in England it
6seems to be not much
7known that the South,
8Africans, with the exception
9of the Hottentots and Bushmen
10are and always have been
11agriculturalists -   The want
12 [It has never been
13borne in mind] of knowledge that in our
14Caffre wars we have been
15trying to wrest lands from
16a people possessing in
17a strong degree the same
18feelings [↪ of attachment
19to their father's
20acres {fields}] which would
21rouse our yeomen from
22Land's End to John o Groat's
23house were they threatened
24with invasion, is not
25 [↪ nor is this want of
26knowledge] much to be wondered at
27here, ^ in England where we find since a gentleman
28who had been thirty years
29in the Cape Colony expressed
30 [^ expressed {ing} at a public meeting
31held in Cape town] ^ in 1855 - expressed a strong
32desire that that the
33Caffres might become
34an agricultural people -
35a wish similar to what
36a man might express if
37he rose in the Mansion
38House of London and
39hoped the English would
40learn to eat roast beef 0112
1107 111
2for it is a fact patent to
3everyone who has travelled
4in the country that many
5English tradesmen and
6Dutch B {f}armers in the
7Orange Free State are
8almost entirely dependant
9on the Basutus for the
10grain they consume - * (foot note) [* see two lectures
11by Revd E -
12Solomon
13delivered before
14the Mechanics
15Institute Cape town]
16and generally the Zulus
17of Natal can raise grain
18cheap enough to drive
19the Dutch African farmer
20out of the market

21
22
23

3d The Bakalahari or
24Western branch of the Bechuana
25family consists of Barolong
26Bahurutse - Bakuena
27Bangwaketse Bakaa
28Bakaa - Bamangwato
29Bakurutze Batauana
30Bamatlaru and Batlapi
31Among the rest {last} the success
32of missionaries havehas
33been greatest - They were
34an insignificant and
35filthy people when first
36discovered, and being
37nearest to the Colony ^ they have
38had opportunities of trading
39 [and] the long continued peace
40they have enjoyed through 0113
1108 16 {112}
2the influence of religious
3teaching has enabled them
4to amass great numbers
5of cattle - The young howev
6who do not realize their
7former degradation often
8consider their present
9superiority overto the Interior
10and less favoured tribes
11 [in the interior ^] to be entirely owing to their
12superior wisdom &
13more intellectual develope-
14ment -

15
16
17

/ Having waited a
18month at Linyanti we
19again departed for the
20purpose of ascending
21the river from Sesheke
22in company with Sekeletu
23X and about 160 attendants
24We had most of the young
25men with us and many
26of the underchiefs besides
27The country between
28Linyanti is perfectly
29flat on patches elevated
30only a few feet above
31the surrounding level
32There are also many
33mounds where the
34gigantic anthills of the
35country have been 0114
1109 113
2situated or still appear - These
3 [mounds] are evidently the work of
4the termites - No one who
5has not seen their gigantic
6structures can fancy the
7industry of the little labourers
8They seem to impart fertility
9to the soil which has
10once passed through their
11hands for the Makololo
12find the declivity sides of
13anthills the choice spots
14for rearing ^ early maize or tobacco
15or anything on which
16they wish to bestow especial
17care - In the parts through
18which we passed the
19mounds are generally
20covered with masses
21whil ^ of wild date trees - The
22fruit is small and no
23tree is allowed to
24stand long for having
25abundance of food the
26Makololo have no
27inclination to preserve
28wild fruit trees and
29accordingly when a
30date shoots up to seed
31 [so soon as] when the fruit is ripe
32they cut down the tree
33rather than be at the
34trouble of climbing it
35The other parts of the 0115
1110 114
2of more elevated land have
3the camel thorn (acaciae giraffae)
4 [white thorned] Mimosa mimosa (acacia horrida
5and baobabs -   In sandy
6spots there are palmyras
7somewhat similar to the
8Indian but with a smaller
9seed -   The soil on all
10the flat parts which is a
11rich dark tenacious loam
12known as the cotton land
13in India - It is covered
14with a dense matting
15of coarse grass
16well known on all
17damp spots on this country
18We had the Chobe on our
19right with its scores of
20miles of reedy occupying
21our horizon there - It
22was pleasant to look
23back on the long extended
24line ^ of our attendants [↪ as it twisted
25and bent
26according to the
27curves of
28the foot paths
29or in and out
30behind the
31mounds - ] with their
32ostrich feathers waving
33in the wind - Some wore
34the ^ white ends of ox-tails on
35their heads huzzar
36fashion and others great
37bunches of black ostrich
38feathers or caps ^ made of lion's
39manes - Some wore
40red tunics or various
41coloured prints which
42the chief had bought from
43Fleming - ^ the common men 0116
1111 115
2carried burdens - Gentlemen
3walked with a small club of
4Rhinoceros horn in their
5hands and had servants
6to carry their shields while
7the "Machaka" battle axe men
8carried their own and
9were liable at any time
10to be sent of a hundred
11miles and are expected
12to run all the way -

13

/ Sekeletu is always
14accompanied by his own
15Mopato a number of
16young men of his own
17age When he sits down
18they crowd round him
19those who are nearest
20eat out of the same dish -
21for the Makololo chiefs
22pride themselves on
23eating with their people
24He eats a little then
25beckons his neighbours
26to eat partake - When
27they have eaten some he
28may indicate to some
29one at a distance to take
30a share and that person
31starts forward and seizes
32the pot - removing it to
33his own companions
34The comrades of Sekeletu
35wishing to imitate him
36in riding on 0117
1112 116
2in the possession of my
3old horse, had a number
4of half broken Batoka oxen
5As they leaped on their
6backs as they ran, and
7 [having] had neither saddle nor
8bridle, the number of
9/ tub {m}bles they met ^ with was a
10source of much amusement
11137 to the rest - Herds of Lechwes
12or as they are here called Lechwes
13appeared feeding quite
14heedlessly all over the
15flats - They exist here
16in prodigious numbersherds
17although the numbers
18of them and ^ of the Nakon
19 [that are] killed annually must
20be enormous - Both are
21water antelopes and when
22the lands we now tread
23upon are flooded they
24betake themselves to the
25mounds weI have alluded
26to - The Makalaka who
27are most expert in the
28management of their
29 [thin light] small ^ thin light canoes come gently
30towards them - The men
31stand in the canoe though
32it is not more than fifteen
33or eighteen inches wide
34and about fifteen ^ feet long
35their paddles 10 feet in
36length and of a kind 0118
1113 117
2of wood called Molompi, very
3light yet as elastic as
4ash - With these they either
5punt or paddle according
6to the depth shallowness or
7depth of the water - When
8they percieve the antelopes
9beginning to move they
10increase their speed &
11pursue the ^ them with great
12velocity -   They make
13the water dash away from
14the gunwale and though
15the Leché goes off by a
16succession of prodigious
17bounds the its feet appearing
18to touch the bottom each
19time, they manage to
20spear great numbers of them

21

/ The Nakong often shares
22a similar fate - It is ^ a littlerather
23 [smaller] less than the Leché and
24in shape has more of
25paunchiness than any antelope
26I ever saw - Its gait
27resembles closely the gallop
28of a dog when tired - The
29hair ^ is long and rather sparse
30so that it is never sleek
31looking - It is of a bro {gr}eyish
32brown colour and has
33horns twisted in the manner
34of a Khoodoo but much
35smaller and with a double
36ridge winding round each 0119
1114 118
2of them -

3

Its habitat is the marsh
4and muddy bogs -   The great
5length of foot between
6the point of the toe and
7supplemental hoofs enables
8it to make a foot printmark
9about a foot in length
10It feeds by night and lies
11hid among the reeds &
12rushes by day - When
13pursued the {it} dashes into
14 [sedgy] parts containing water
15and immerses his {the} whole
16body, leaving only the mere
17point of the nose exposed -
18 [↪ The natives burn
19large patches of
20reed
21in order to drive
22the Nakong
23out of his lair and] occasionally the point
24 [↪ ends] of the horns appear and
25when he {it} sees itself surrounded
26by enemies in canoes - it
27will rather allow theseits horns to
28be scorched in the burning
29reed than come forth from
30its hiding place

31
32
33
34

When we arrived at any
35village the women all
36turned out to lulliloo their
37chief - Their shrill voices
38to which they give a tremulous
39 [sound by a quick] motion of the tongue peals
40forth "Great Lion"! "Great
41 - chief"! "Sleep my Lord - " &c -

0120
1

XXI 115 119
2The men utter similar salutations
3and Sekeletu recieves all
4with becoming indifference
5After a few minutes con-
6-versation and telling the news
7the headman of the village
8who is almost always a
9Makololo would rises and
10brings forth a number of
11of large pots of beer - P {C}alabashes
12 [^ being used as ↪ cups ^] for ⎰drinking⎱ are also handed
13round and as many as can
14partake of the beverage -^ do so They
15grasping these thingsvessels so eagerly
16 [that] they are in danger of being
17broken -

18

/ They bring forth also large
19pots or {and} bowls of ^ thick milk = some
20contain 6 or 8 gallons and
21each of these is {as} p {w}ell as of
22the beer, is given in {to} a particular
23person who has the power to
24divide it to ^ with whom he will - [↪ The head man
25of any section
26of the tribe is
27generally selected
28for this office - ]
29↪ The milk is eaten with the
30hand - ⎰Spoons not being
31generally in fashion⎱ - I often
32presented my friends with
33iron spoons and it was
34curious to observe how they
35habit of the hand eating pre-
36-vailed though they were delighted
37with the spoons They lifted
38out a little with the utensil
39then put it on the left hand
40and eat it thence out of that

0121
1116 120
2

/ As the Makolo have great abundance
3of cattle and the chief is expected
4to feed all who accompany
5him he either selects an ox
6or two of his own from the
7numerous cattle stations ^ that he
8possesses at different spots
9all over the country or is
10presented by the headmen
11of the villages he visits with
12as many as he needs by
13way of tribute -   The animals [↪ are killed
14by a thrust
15from a
16small Javelin
17in the region
18of the heart
19the wound
20being purposely
21small in
22order to avoid
23any loss of
24blood - This
25and which, with]
26are immediately slaughtered
27in a manner which saves
28all the blood - a small a stab
29in the region of the heart being
30their usual mode of proceeding
31killing oxen -   This {e} blood with
32↪ the internal parts belong are the
33persequisites of the men who
34perform the work of the butcher
35hence all are eager to render
36service in that line -
37Each tribe has its own way
38of cutting up ^ & distributing an animal - Among
39the Makololo the hump and
40ribs belong to the chief - Among
41the Bakuena the breast is
42his persequisite - After the oxen
43are cut up the different joints
44are placed before Sekeletu,
45and he apportions them
46among the gentlemen of the
47party - The whole is rapidly
48divided by their attendants, cut 0122
1117 121 3
2into long strips and so many ^ of these are thrown
3into the fires at once ^ that they are
4nearly put out - Half broiled &
5burning hot ^ the meatit is quickly handed
6round Everyone gets a mouthful
7but no one except the chief
8has time to masticate - It is
9not the enjoyment of eating they
10 [aim at] wish but the pleasure of having
11 [^ got as much of] the food safe in the stomach as
12possible during the short
13time the others are cramming
14/ as well as themselves - ^ for No no
15one can eat more than a
16mouthful after the others have
17finished - They are eminently
18gregarious in their eating -
19and as they despise any one
20who eats alone I always poured
21out two cups of coffee at my
22own meals - so that the chief
23or some one of the principal
24men might partake as well
25as myself - ⎰Of coffee⎱ they
26all soon become very fond ↪
27and indeed some of the tribes
28X attribute the greater fecundity to the
29daily use of this beverage - They
30were all well acquainted with
31 [the] sugar cane as they cultivate
32it a in the Barotse country
33but knew nothing of the
34method of extracting the sugar
35from it - They use it ^ the cane by
36 [- only in] chewing ^ it alone - Sekeletu 0123
1118 122
2relishing the sweet coffee and
3biscuits I then had - said "he knew
4my heart loved him by finding his
5own hearted warming to my
6food - "   He had been visited
7during my absence at the Cape by some
8traders and Griquas and
9"their coffee did not taste half
10so nice as mine - because they
11loved his ivory only and not
12himself - "   It is [This was ^] certainly an
13original mode of discerning
14character

15

Sekeletu and I had each
16a little gipsey tent in which to
17sleep -   Their Makololo huts are generally
18clean - ^ while those of the Makalaka
19 [are] generally infested with vermin
20The cleanliness of the former
21is owing to the habit of frequently
22smearing the floors with
23a plais {s}ter of composed of
24cowdung and earth - In {In} so some
25villages where ^ is if we slept
26in the tent the mice ran
27over theour faces and disturbed
28theour sleep or hungry prowling
29dogs - would eat one'sour shoes
30all off except the soles - or
31were guilty of other misdemeanours
32 [In these cases ↪ ] We got the loan of a hut.
33The best sort of Makololo
34huts consist of three circular
35walls - with small holes similar 0124
1119 123
2to those {at} in a dog house as doors
3and one has to bend down the
4body to get in even when on
5all fours -   The roof is formed
6of reeds or straight sticks in
7shape like a chinaman's hat
8and bound firmly together with
9circular bands which are
10lashed with the strong inner
11bark of the mimosa trees -
12When prepared all except the
13thatch it is lifted on to the circular
14walls the rim resting on a circle of poles
15between each of which the
16third wall is built - As the
17roof is thatched with fine grass
18& so {e}wn {ed} with the same material
19as the lashings and as it
20po {r}ojects far beyond the walls
21and reaches within four
22feet of the ground the shade
23is the best to be found in
24the country -   They ^ These huts are very
25cool in the hottest day
26but are close and want deficient
27 [in] ventilation by night -

28

The bed is a mat made
29of rushes sewedn together with
30twine - The hip bone soon
31becomes sore on the hard floor
32 [flat surface] surface as we cannot
33make a hole in the floor
34as we do when sleeping on
35grass or sand to recieve
36the prominent part called
37                              Trochanter 0125
1120 6124
2by anatomists

3
4

/ Our course at this time led
5us to part above Sesheke
6called Katonga where ^ there is a village
7belonging to a Bashubia man
8named Sekhosi exists - The
9X river is here Lat 17° 29' 26" Long - 24° 33'
10The river here is somewhat
11broader than at Sesheke and
12certainly not less than 600 yds
13It flows somewhat slowly
14in the first part of its Eastern
15course -   When the canoes
16came from Sekhosi to take
17us over one of the comrades
18of Sebituane rose and looking
19to Sekeletu called out "The
20elders of a host always take
21the lead in an attack" This
22was understood at once and
23Sekeletu with all the young
24men were obliged to give the
25elders the precedence and
26remain on the southern bank
27and see that all went orderly
28into the canoes - It took a
29considerable time to ferry over
30the whole of our large party
31as even with quick paddling
32from six to eight minutes
33were spent in the mere
34passage from bank to bank 0126
1121 125
2/ Several days were nowhere
3spent in collecting canoes
4from different villages on
5the river which we nowhere
6learned is called by the whole
7of the Barotse the Liambai
8or Leeambye - The term Sesheke
9means white sand banks
10many of which exist near
11the town of that name -
12 [There is] Another ^ village ⎰called Sesheke⎱ exists in
13the valley of the Barotse is ↪ and
14for a similar reason
15But the term Liambai
16means "the large river" or
17the river par excellence -
18Luambeji Luambesi --
19Ambezi - Ojimbesi & Zambesi &c - all
20possess a similar signification
21and express the native
22idea of this magnificent
23stream being the main
24drain of the country -

25

In order to assist in
26the support of our large
27party and ^ [at the same time to ^] see the addjacent
28country I went several times
29during our stay to the lan
30North of the village for game
31The country is covered with
32clumps of beautiful trees
33among which fine open
34glades stretch away in every
35direction - These when the 0127
1122 126
2the river is in flood are
3inundated but the tree
4covered elevated spots are
5much more numerous
6here than in the country
7south of the Leeambye -
8The soil as it is everywhere
9on spots reached by the
10inundattion is dark loam
11while among the trees it
12is sandy, and not covered
13so densely with grass as
14 [Elsewhere] the other       A ↪ trees ⎰covered with⎱
15 [A] sandy ridge ↪ on the running
16parallel to, and about eight
17miles from the river is
18the limit of the inundation
19on the North -   There are large
20p {t}racts of this sandy forest
21in that direction till you
22come to other large districts
23of alluvial soil and fewer
24trees - The latter ^ soil is always
25 [found] in the vicinity of rivers
26which either now overflow
27their banks annually or
28formerly did so -     The
29people enjoy rain in sufficient
30quantity to raise very
31large supplies of grain
32and earth-nuts -

33

This district contains
34great quantities of a small
35antelope named Thianyane 0128
1123 127
2unknown in the South - It stands
3about 18 inches high - is very
4graceful in its movements
5and utters a cry of alarm
6not unlike that of the
7domestic fowl - It is of a
8brownish red colour on the
9sides and back - with the
10belly & lower part of the tail
11white -     It is very timid
12but the maternal affection
13 [that] the little thing bears to its
14young will ^ often induce it make ⎰even⎱
15it to offer battle ↪ to a man
16approaching its youngthem -
17When the young are too tender
18to run about with the dam
19she puts one foot on the
20prominence about the seventh
21cervical vertebra or withers
22The instinct of the young
23enables it to understand
24that it is now required to
25kneel down and ^ to remain
26quite still till it hears the
27bleating of its dam - If you
28see an otherwise gregarious
29 [she] antelope separated from
30the herd and going alone to
31someany where you may be
32sure she has laid her
33little one to sleep some where
34in some cozy spot - The
35colour of the hair in the 0129
1124 128
2young is better adapted for shading
3in with the ground than
4 [than that of the] when it becomes older ^ animals and
5does not need to be screened
6from the observation of
7 [birds] beasts of prey - [↪ I observed] The Arabs [↪ at [Aden]
8in order when to make {ing} their camels
9kneel down press the thumb
10on the withers of their camels
11in exactly the same way
12the antelopes do with their
13young - And probably they have
14been led to the custom by
15seeing the same plan adopted
16141 by the gazelle of the Desert

17
18

Great numbers of
19buffaloes - zebras - Tsessebes
20Tagetsi and Eland or Pohu
21graized undisturbed on these
22plains so ^ that very little exertion
23was required forto securinge
24a pretty fair supply for
25the party during the necessary
26delay. Hunting on foot
27 [as all] whatever those who have
28 [not] engaged in it in this country
29 [will at once
30concedeadmit] ^ may think, is very hard
31work indeed - The heat of
32the sun by day is ^ so great
33even in winter as it
34now was, that had there been
35any one on whom I could
36have thrown the task
37he would have been most 0130
1125 129
2welcome to all the sport the
3toil could impart     But the
4Makololo shot so badly ^ that I was
5obliged in order to save my
6powder to go myself -

7
8

/ We gotshot a beautiful cow
9Eland standing in the shade
10of a fine tree - ^ [It was evident that] She had lately
11 [had] got her calf killed by a lion
12for there were five long
13deep scratches on both
14sides of her hind quarters as
15if she had ranrun to the
16rescue of her calf and the
17lion leaving it had attacked
18herself but was unable
19to pull her down - When
20lying on the ground the
21milk running from her
22fine large udder shewed that
23her she must have been
24d seeking the shade from
25the distress its non-removal
26in the natural manner
27caused - She was a beautiful
28creature and Lebeole [↪ a Makololo
29who accompanied
30me] speaking
31in reference to its greater
32size and beauty to [ ] cows
33said "Jesus ought to have
34given us these instead
35of cattle - " It was a new
36 [undescribed] variety of this splendid
37antelope - ^ It was marked with narrow
38^ (omitted) white bands accross the ^ 0131
1126 130
2exactly like those of the Khoodoo
3and havinghad a broad black
4patch of more than a
5hand breadth on the outer
6side of the forearm - which
7imparts the idea when
8their {re} are hundreds of them
9omit together of a regiment -
10with their knee pans on -

11
12

Having at last procured
13a sufficient number of canoes
14we began to ascend the river
15I had the choice of the whole and
16selected the best which was 34 ft.
17long by 20 inches wide - I had six
18paddlers and Sekeletu ten - They
19stand and keep the stroke with
20great precision though they
21change from side to side as
22the course demands The men
23at the head and [ ]stern are selected
24from the strongest and most
25expert of the whole - The canoes
26being flat bottomed they can
27go into very shallow water
28and whenever the men can
29feel the bottom they use the
30paddles which are about
318 feet long as poles to punt
32with - Our fleet consisted
33of 160 {33} men {canoes} and about
34160 men - It was beautiful
35to see them skimming along ^
36                        so quickly and 0132
1127 131
2and keeping the time so well
3On land they ^ Makalaka fear the Makololo
4On water the Makololo fear them
5and cannot prevent them
6from racing and {with} each other
7andd - dashing along at the top of
8their speed to the imminent
9danger of over-turning their
10placing their masters lives in
11danger for in the event of
12a capsize many of the Makololo
13would sink ^ like as a {s}tones -
14A case of this kind happened
15on the first day of our voyage
16up -   The wind blowing generally
17from the East raises very
18large waves on the Leeambye
19An old doctor of the Makololo
20had his canoe filled by
21one of these ^ waves and being
22unable to swim was lost
23The Barotse who were in
24the canoe with him saved
25 [themselves] their clothing by swimming
26and were afraid of being
27punished with death in the
28evening for not saving the
29mandoctor as well - Had ^ he the
30doctor been a man of more
31influence this would have
32been the case -

33

We proceeded rapidly up
34the river and felt the pleasure
35of looking on lands which 0133
1128 132
2which had never been seen
3by an European before - The
4river is indeed a magnificent
5one - often more than a mile
6broad and adorned with many
7islands of from three to five
8miles long in length - - Both
9islands and banks are covered
10with forest and most of the
11trees on the bank of the water
12send down roots from their
13branches like the Banian or
14Ficus Indica   The islands at a
15little distance seem great rounded
16masses of sylvan vegetation
17reclining on the bosom of
18the glorious stream - The beauty
19of the scenery of some of the islands
20is greatly increased by the
21date palms with its gracefully
22covered fronds and refreshing
23light green colour near the
24bottom of the picture and the
25lofty palmyra towering far
26above and casting its feathery
27foliage against a cloudless
28sky - It being winter we
29had the strange colouring
30on the banks which many
31parts of the African landscape
32assumes - The country adjacent
33to the river is rocky and
34undulating abounding in Elephants
35and all the other large game
36except Leches and Nakongs 0134
1129 133
2which seem generally to avoid
3stony ground - The soil is of
4a reddish colour and very
5fertile as is attested by the
6great quantities of grain raised
7annually by the Banyeti
8A great many villages of
9this poor and very industrious
10people are situated on both
11banks of the river - They are
12expert hunters of the hippo^potami
13and other animals and very
14proficient in the manufactury
15of articles of wood & iron
16The whole of this part of the
17country being infested with the
18Tsetse they are unable to
19rear domestic animals - This
20may have led to their skill in
21manufacture handicraft works
22Some make large wooden
23vessels with very neat lids
24or wooden bowels of all sizes
25and since the Makololo
26idea of sitting on stools has
27entered the Makololo mind
28They have shewn great taste
29in the different forms
30given ^ to the legs of their {se} pieces
31of furniture -

32

/ Other Banyeti or Manyeti
33are {s} they are called make
34neat and strong baskets of
35the split roots of a certain
36tree while others excel in 0135
1130 134
2pottery and iron - I cannot find
3that they have ever been
4warlike     Indeed the wars
5in the centre of the country
6where no slave trade existed
7have seldom ever been about
8anything else but cattle
9So well known is this
10that several tribes refuse to
11keep cattle because they
12tempt their enemies to come
13and steal - And this though
14they have no objection to
15eat them when offered to them
16and their country admits
17of being well stocked - I have
18heard of one war having
19occurred from another
20cause -       Three brothers
21Barolongs fought for the
22possession of a woman
23and the tribe has remained
24permanently divided ever since

25

From the bend up to
26the North called Katima-molelo
27(I quenched fire) the bed of the
28river is rocky and the
29stream rapid - These rapids
30forming a succession of
31rapids and cataracts which
32 [prevent continuous
33navigation] are dangerous when the
34river is low - The rapids
35are not visible when the
36river is full but the 0136
1131 135
2cataracts of Nambuee - Bombue
3and Kale must always be
4dangerous - ^ [When the river
5is low] The fall seen when
6at low water at each
7of these is between four and
8six feet - And {But} the falls of
9Goy {n}ye present a much more
10serious obstacle - There we
11were obliged to take the canoes
12out of the water and carry
13them more than a mile by
14land - The fall is about
15forty feet - The main body of
16water which comes over
17this {e} ledge of rock is when the
18river is low is collected
19into a space 70 or 80 fee {yds} wide
20before it takes the leap - And
21a mass of rock being thrust
22forward against the roaring
23torrent a loud sound is
24produced -   Tradition reports
25⎰in this place⎱ the destruction
26↪ of two hippopotamus hunters
27who too eager in the pursuit
28of their pursuit of a wounded
29animal were with their
30intended prey drawn down
31into the frightful gulph - There
32is also thea tradition of a
33man evidently of superior
34mind who left ⎰the Barotse⎱
35his own countrymen ↪ and
36came down the river, took

0137
1

132 136
2advantage of the falls and led
3out a portion of water
4there for irrigation - Such minds
5must have arisen from time
6to time in these regions as
7well as in our own country
8but ignorant of the use of letters
9[  ] they have left no memorial
10behind them - We dug out
11some of an inferior kind
12of yam                   from his
13garden but one never expects
14to find a grave nor a stone
15of remembrance set up in
16South Africa   The very
17rocks are illiterate - they
18contain so few fossils
19Those here are of hardened
20sandstone with madrepore
21holes in it - It covers a
22great part of the bottom
23of the valley, and is often
24covered with [↪ 12 or 15 feet of] soft calcareous
25tufa - At Bombue we
26have the ^ same porphoritic trap
27which appears at the confluence
28of the Chobe faurther down

29

As we passed up the
30river the different villages of
31Banyeti turned out to
32present Sekeletu with food
33and skins as their tribute
34One large village is placed
35at Gonye to whose dues 0138
1133 137
2are to assist the Makololo to carry
3their canoes past the falls -
4The Tsetse lighted on us even
5in the middle of the stream
6This we crossed repeatedly in
7order to make short cuts
8at bends of the river - The
9course is however remarkably
10straight among the rocks
11and at this period ^ point the river was
12shallow on account of
13the great breadth of surface
14which it covers - When
15we came to about 16° 16' South
16Latitude the high ^ wooded banks
17seemed to leave the river
18and no more Tsetse appeared
19Viewed from the flat reedy
20basin in which it ^ the river now
21/ flowed the banks seemed
22prolonged into ridges of the
23same wooded character
24200 or 300 feet high and
25stretching away to the N- N- E-
26and N- N- W- untill they
27were twenty or thirty miles
28apart -   The intervening
29space nearly one hundred
30miles in length [↪ with the
31Leeambye
32winding gently
33near the
34middle] is the true
35Barotse valley - It bears
36as I have since seen a
37close resemblance to the
38valley of the Nile ↪ and is
39inundated annually ↪ but by the
40Leambye and ⎰not by rains⎱ 0139
1134 138
2exactly as Lower Egypt is
3flooded by the Nile The
4villages of the Barotse are
5built on mounds some of
6which are said to have
7been raised artificially by
8Santuru a former chief of
9the Barotse and during
10the inundation the whole
11valley assumes the appearance
12of an immense large lake
13with the villages on the
14mounds as islands just
15as occurs in Egypt with
16villages of the Egyptians
17Some portion of this waters
18of inundation comes from
19the N- W werewhere great floodings
20also occur but more ^ comes from
21the North and North East
22along the bed of the Leambye
23itself -    There are but few
24trees in this in this valley
25those which stand on the
26mounds were nearly all
27transplanted by Santuru for
28 [shade] The soil is extremely fertile
29and the people never want
30for grain for by taking
31advantage of the moisture
32of the inundation they can
33raise two crops a year
34The Barotse are strongly
35attached to this fertile valley
36they say "there hunger is unknown" 0140
1135 139
2There are so many things besides
3corn which a man can
4find ^ here for food ^ that it is no wonder
5they desert from Linyanti to
6return to this place

7

/ This {e} great valley is not
8put to a tithe of the use it
9might be - It is covered with
10coarse succulent grasses
11which afford ^ ample pasturage for
12large herds of cattle - These
13thrive wonderfully and give
14milk copiously to their owners
15When ↪ flooded, the cattle must
16 [are compelled to] leave it, ⎰the valley is⎱ and go to
17the higher lands where they
18fall off - Their return is a
19time of joy -

20

It is impossible to say
21whether this valley which
22contains so much moisture
23would raise corn as the
24valley of the Nile does - It is
25probably too much and would
26make corn run entirely to
27straw for one species of
28grass was observed twelve
29feet high and ^ the stem as thick as
30as a man's thumb - At present
31the pasturage is never eaten
32off though the Makololo
33possess very large herds of
34cattle - ⎡There are no large
35towns -   The mounds on which
36the towns and villages are 0141
1136 140
2built being all small and the
3people require to live apart
4on account of their cattle

5
6

This visit was the first
7Sekeletu had made ^ to these parts since he
8attained the chieftainship - Those
9who had taken part with
10Mpepe were ^ consequently in ^ great terror - When
11we came to the town of Mpepe's
12father as he and another man
13had counselled Mamochisane
14to put Sekeletu to death and
15marry Mpepe, the two were
16led forth and tossed into
17the river - Nokuane was ↪ the
18one of the executioners [⎰again⎱
19145 When I remonstrated against
20human blood being shed in the
21off hand way ^ in which they were
22proceeding the counsellors
23justified their acts by the
24evidence given by Mamochisane
25and calmly added "you see
26we are still Boers, we are
27not yet taught" -

28

Mpepe had given full
29permission to the Mambari
30slave dealers to trade in all
31the Batoka and Bashukulompo
32villages to the East of this -
33He had given them both cattle
34ivory and children and had
35recieved in return a large
36blunderbuss to be mounted as a
37                                cannon 0142
1137 141
2When the slight circumstance
3of my having coveringed the body of
4the chief with my own
5deranged the whole conspiracy
6the Mambari in their stockade
7were placed in very ackward
8circumstances -     It was
9proposed to attack them and
10drive them out of the country
11at once but dreading a
12commencement of hostilities
13I urged the difficulties of such
14a course and shewed
15that a stockade defended by
16 [perhaps] forty muskets would be
17a serious affair - "Hunger is
18strong enough for that" said
19an underchief "a very great
20fellow he is - " [↪ They thought
21of attacking
22them by
23starvation] As the chief
24sufferers in case of such
25 [an] attack would have been
26the poor slaves chained in
27gangs - I interceded for them
28and as the result of an
29intercession of which they
30were ignorant ^ was that they were
31allowed to depart in peace

32

Nariele the capital of
33the Barotse is built on a
34mound which was con-
35structed artificially - by Santuru
36and was his store house
37for grain -   His own capital
38stood about 500 yards to
39the south of that in what 0143
1138 142
2 [is now] the bed of the river - All that
3remains of the largest
4mound in the valley is are
5a few sq cubic yards of
6earth - to erect which
7it cost the whole of the
8people of Santuru the labour
9of many years - As the same
10thing has happened to another
11ancient site of a town - Linangelo,
12also on the left bank.
13 [It would seem that] The river in this part of the
14valley seems to bemust be wearing
15Eastwards -   No great rise
16of the river is required
17to submerge the whole valley
18 [A rise of] Ten feet above the present
19low water mark would
20reach ^ its greatest height [↪ ^ the highest point
21of the valley] as
22seen in the markings of
23the bank of {in} in which stood
24Santurus ancient capital
25and two or three feet more
26would deluge all the villages
27in the valley -   This never
28happens though it ^ the water sometimes comes
29so near the foundations
30of the huts ^ that the people cannot
31move outside the walls of
32reeds which encircle their
33villages - When the river
34is compressed among the
35high rocky banks near
36Gonye it rises 60 feet

0144
1XXII 139 143
2

/ The influence of the partial
3obstruction it meets with there
4is seen in the more winding
5course of the river North of
616° - And when the swell gets
7past Katima molelo it spreads
8out on the lands on both
9banks towards Sesheke -

10
11

Santuru at whose ancient
12granary we are staying was
13a great hunter and ^ was very fond of
14taming wild animals - His
15people aware of his taste brought
16every young antelope they could
17catch and among the rest other things two
18young hippopotami - TheyThese animals gambolled
19in the river and {by} day but never
20failed to remember to come
21up to Naliele for their suppers
22of milk and meal - They were
23the wonder of the country till
24a stranger happening to come
25to visit Santuru saw these animalsthem
26reclining in the sun and
27speared one of them on the
28supposition that it was wild
29The same unlucky accident
30happened to one of the catw I had
31brought to Sekeletu - A stranger
32seeing an animal he had never
33seen before killed it and
34brought the trophy to the chief
35 [thinking] with the thought that he had
36made a very remarkable
37                            discovery 0145
1140 144
2We thereby lost the breed of cats of
3which from the swarms of mice
4we stood in great need -

5

On making enquiries to ascertain
6whether Santuru [↪ the Molŭiana] had ever been
7visited by white men I could
8find no vestige of any such
9visit - The Barotse call themselves
10the Balŏiana or little Balŏi - as
11if they had been an offset from
12Lŏi or Lui as it is often spelt -
13As Lui had been visited by Portuguese
14and theits position not well ascertained
15my enquiries referred to the
16identity of Naliele with Lui but
17there is no evidence of any
18of Santuru's people having ever
19seen a white man before the
20arrival of Mr Oswel and myself
21in 1851 -     They have it is true
22no written records but any remark
23-able event here is commemorated
24in names as happened was
25observed by Park [↪ to be the case] in the countries
26he traversed - The year of our
27arrival is dignified by the name
28of the year when the white men
29came or of Sebituanes death
30but they prefer the former as
31they avoid if possible any
32direct reference to the departed
33⎰Great numbers of children
34were named⎱ after Mrs L'smy wife's first
35visit ↪ MaRobert - or mother of Robert
36her eldest child - others were 0146
1141 145
2Were named Gun - horse - waggon -
3 [Monare - ^] Jesus - &c - but there is not a
4vestige of anything of the sort
5among the Barotse -   The visit
6of a white man is such a remarkable
7event that had any such taken
8place during the last three
9hundred years there must have
10remained some tradition of it -

11

But Santuru was once
12visited by the Mambari and
13the distinct recollection of that
14visit is retained -   They came
15to purchase slaves and both
16Santuru and his headmen refused
17them permission to buy any of
18his people - The Makololo quoted
19this precedent when speaking
20of the Mambari and said they
21as the present masters of
22the country had as good a right
23to expel them as Santuru - The
24Mambari reside near Bihe under
25an Ambonda chief named
26Kangom-be - they profess to
27use the slaves for domestic
28purposes alone -

29

The town of {or} mound or {of}
30Santuru's mother was shewn
31to me - this was the first symptom
32of an altered state of feeling ^ with regard to
33the female sex ^ that I had observed
34There are no cases of women
35being elevated to the headships of
36towns faurther South - They 0147
1142 146
2The Barotse also shewed some
3relics of their chief which shewed proved
4 [thus evincing] a greater amount of the religious
5feeling than I had ever knownany to be encountered
6 [displayed] among Bechuanas - His
7more recent capital built too
8on an artificial mound is
9covered with different kinds
10of trees transplanted when young
11by ^ [himself] Santuru - They form a
12grove on the end of the mound
13in which are to be seen various
14instruments of iron just in
15the state he left them - one
16looks like the gauuard of a basket
17hilted sword - Another has an
18upright stem ^ of the metal on which are
19placed branches at the ends
20of which there are miniature
21axes, hoes, and spears
22on whichthese he was accustomed
23? to present offerings according
24as he meant favours to
25be conferred in relation
26to hewing, agriculture or
27fighting -   The people still
28living there [↪ in charge of
29these articles] were supported by
30presents from the chief and
31the Makololo sometimes follow
32the example -   When I asked
33 [them] to part with one of these relics
34they replied "o no he refuses"
35Who refuses? - Santuru [was their reply ^] - shewing
36their belief in a future state
37of existence - After explaining 0148
1143 147
2to them as I always did when
3opportunity offered the nature
4of true worship and
5praying with them in the
6simple form which needs
7no offering [↪ from the
8worshipper] except that of the
9heart and ^ after planting some
10fruit tree seeds in the grove
11we departed

12

/ Another incident which
13 [occurred] took place at the confluence
14of the Leeba and Leeambye
15may be quoted here as
16shewing a [↪ more vivid
17perception of
18the existence
19of spiritual
20beings whom
21they are more
22prone to worship
23than] greater amount of the
24religious proneness to worship
25than exists among the Bechuanas
26Having taken lunar observations in
27the morning I {we} wereI was waiting for
28a meridian altitude of the Sun for
29the latitude - My chief boatman was
30sitting by, in order to pack up the
31instruments as soon as I had finished
32There was a large halo about 20°
33in diameter round the Sun - Thinking
34that the humidity of the atmosphere
35which this indicates {d} might betoken
36rain I asked him if his he {ex}perience
37did not lead him to the same view
38"O no replied he It is the Barimo
39(gods or departed spirits) who have
40called an assembly (picho) Dont
41you see they have the Lord (Sun)
42in the centre"

0149
1144 148 6
2

While still at Naliele I walked
3out to the ridge which bounds the
4valley of the Barotse in that direction
5and found it covered with trees
6It is only the commencement
7of the lands which are never
8inundated; thetheir gentle rise of
9which from the dead level
10of the valley resemblinges much
11the commencement edge of
12the desert in the valley of the Nile
13But here the Banyeti have
14fine gardens and raise large
15quantities of maize - Caffre sorghum
16millet (C {K}affir sorghum) of large
17grain and beautifully white
18They raise also yams - sugar
19cane, the Egyptian arum -
20sweet potato (convolulus batata)
21Two kinds of Manioc or Cassava
22X   X (Jatropha manihot and ----
23besides pumpkins melons
24beans and earthnuts - These
25with plenty of fish in the river
26and its branches & lagoons
27wild fruits and water fowls
28always make the people refer
29to the Barotse as the land of
30plenty -     The scene from the
31ridge wa {on} looking back to the
32valley was beautiful - One
33cannot see the Western side
34of the valley in a cloudy day,
35such as that was when we
36visited this {e} stockade but 0150
1145 149
2 [we] could see the great river glancing
3out at different points and
4fine large herds of cattle quietly
5grazing among the on the green
6succulent herbage among
7 [the great number] the villages of cattle stations
8and villages which ^ are meet the {are}
9dotted over the landscape -
10Herds of Lechés in hundreds
11feed securely beside them
12for they have learned only
13/ to keep out of bow shot - or
14 [200 yards] When guns come into a country
15 [the animals] they soon learn their longer
16range - and begin to run at
17the distance of five hundred
18yards -

19

I imagined this slight
20elevation [↪ (Katonga)] might be healthy
21but was informed that
22no part inof this region is
23exempt from fever - When
24the waters begin to retire
25from this valley such masses
26of decayed vegetation and
27mud are exposed to the
28torrid sun that even the natives
29suffered severely from its attacks
30 [of fever.] The grass is so rank in
31its growth ^ that one cannot see
32the black alluvial soil of
33which the the bottom of this
34periodical lake - Even when
35 [the grass] it falls down, as it washad now,
36in winter, one is obliged 0151
1146 150
2 [to lift the ^] feet so high to avoid being tripped
3by it as to make walking
4excessively fatiguing - The
5Makololo youth complain of
6being unable to run in {at} the
7Barotse without on this account
8There being evidently no healthy
9spot in this quarter and the
10course of the river being about
114 ½ miles per hour [↪ (100 yards in
1260 seconds of
13time)] I imagined
14we might find what was
15needed in the higher lands
16from which the river seemed
17to come -   I resolved therefore
18to go to the utmost limits of the
19Barotse country before coming
20to a final conclusion -   Katonga
21was the best place we had
22seen but in order to accomplish
23a full search I left Sekeletu
24at Nariele and ascended
25the river -   He furnished me
26with canoes men besides my
27rowers and among the rest
28a herald that I might enter
29into his villages in what is
30considered a dignified manner
31 [This] that was supposed to be by
32allowing the herald shouting
33out at the top of his voice
34"Here comes the Lord - the
35great lion" The latter phrase
36being "tau e tŏna" which in his
37imperfect way of pronounciation
38became "sau e tona" and so 0152
1147 151
2like the "great sow" I could not
3recieve the honour with
4becoming gravity and had to
5entreat him much to the
6annoyance of my party to be
7still silent

8

/ In our ascent we visited
9a number of Makololo villages
10and were always recieved
11with [a hearty ^] glad welcome as come-ing
12to give them peace which they
13term peace - "sleep" - They behave
14well in public meetings even
15on the first occasion of
16attendance probably from the
17habit of commanding the
18Makalaka, swarms crowds
19of whom swarm in every
20village - and whom in the
21want Mako[lolo women seem
22to feelconsider as especially under their
23149 charge -

24

The river presents the
25same appearance of low
26banks without trees as we
27have remarked it had after
28we came to 16° 16' untill we
29come to Libonta (14° 58 S- L-)
30Twenty miles beyond that
31we come tofind forest ^ down to the
32water's edge and Tsetse tsetze
33Here I might have turned
34as no locality can be
35inhabited by Europeans where 0153
1148 152
2that scourge exists but hearing
3that we were not far from
4the river confluence of the
5river of Londa or Lunda
6named Leeba or Loiba and
7the chiefs of that country being was {ere}
8reported to be friendly to
9strangers and mighttherefore likely be of
10use to me on my return
11from the West coast - I still
12pushed on to Latitude 14° 11' 3"
13South -   There the Leeambye
14assumes the name Kabompo
15and seems to be coming from
16the N East - It is a fine large
17river of about 300 yards wide
18and the Leeba, of 250 - The
19Loeti [↪ a branch of
20which is called Langebongo
21and comes from W.
22N- W- through
23a level grassy
24plain named
25Mango] - It is about 100 yards ^ wide and enters
26 [from W- N W] the Leeambye from the West
27the waters of the latter are of
28a light colour and run {those}
29of the Leeba of a dark mossy
30hue - the two After the Loeti
31joins the Leeambye the different
32coloured waters flow
33side by side for some distance
34unmixed

35

Before reaching the Loeti we
36came to a number of people from
37the Lobale region hunting hippopotami
38They fled precipitately as soon
39as they saw the Makololo, leaving
40their canoes and all their
41utensils & clothing - The Makalaka
42who were with me accustomed
43to plunder wherever they went [↪ rushed after
44them like furies
45totally regardless
46of our shouting -
47as this proceeding
48would have
49blasteddestroyed my
50character entirely
51at Lobale I
52forced my men
53to lay down
54all the plunder
55on a sandbank
56& leave it there
57for theits lawful
58owners]

0154
1149 153
2

It was now quite evident
3?
3settlement now that no healthy location
4could be obtained in the
5country in which the Makololo
6would be allowed to live in
7peace - I had thus a fair
8excuse if I had chosen to
9avail myself of it of coming
10home and saying that the
11"door was shut" because
12the Lord's time had not
13yet come - but believing
14that it was my duty to
15devote some portion of my
16life to these (to me at least)
17very confiding and affectionate
18Makololo, I resolved to follow
19out the second part of my
20plan though I had failed in
21 [accomplishing ^] the first - The Leeba ^ seemed to come
22from the N & by W. or N. N. W.
23so having an old Portuguese
24map which pointed out the
25Z Coanza as rising from
26the middle of the continent
27in 10° 9° S- Lat. I thought it
28probable that when we ^ had ascended
29the Leeba [↪ (from 14° 11')] ^ for two or three degrees
30We should be within 120 miles
31of the Coanza and wshould
32find no difficulty in
33following it down to the
34coast near Loando - This
35was the logical deduction, but like many 0155
1150 154
2but likeas is the case with many a plausible
3theory one ^ portion of the premises was
4decidedly defective - The Coanza
5 [as we afterwards
6found] ^ does not come from any
7where near the centre of the
8country

9
10

I had myself already had
11eight attacks of fever but
12never lay by for it except
13when under treatment by
14the native doctors - I fondly
15hoped that they had some
16more effectual way of re-
17-establishing the secretions
18than our own, but after
19being stewed in vapour baths
20 - smoked like a red herring on
21over fire of green twigs on
22potsherds - and physicked - baked
23Qy said
24before and charmed secundemum
25(black) artem I was obliged
26to believe ^ [conclude] that our own
27 [only to find our] ^ own remedies are more efficacious
28than theirs - My friends put
29great faith in my medicines
30and I found I could cure
31the fever more quickly &
32safely than their own doctors

33

There is a good deal in
34not "giving in" to this disease
35 [He who ^] if you becomes low
36spirited and desponding
37you will die sooner die than
38he who is not of such 0156
1151 155
2a "gawky" nature

3
4

/ The numbers of the large
5game above Libonta are
6prodigious and remarkably
7tame - [↪ Eighty one
8buffaloes
9defiled in
10slow procession
11before our
12fire one
13evening
14within gun
15shot - and
16the herds of
17the splendid
18Eland stood
19by day without
20fear at
21one two
22hundred yards
23distance -
24They were
25all of the
26striped variety
27and with
28their forearm
29markings
30large dewlaps
31and sleek
32appearance
33were a beautiful
34sight to see]     The lions here roar
35much more than in the country
36near the Lake, Zouga, and Chobe
37One evening we had a good
38opportunity of hearing the
39utmost exertions this animal
40can make in that line - We
41were had made our beds on
42a large sand bank and
43could be easily seen from
44all sides - A lion on the
45opposite shore amused
46himself for hours by roaring
47as loudly as he could by
48putting as is usual in
49in such cases his mouth
50down near the ground to
51make the sound reverberate
52The river was too broad
53for a ball to reach him
54so we let him enjoy himself
55certain that he durst not
56have been guilty of the impertinence
57in the Bushman country
58Wherever the game abounds
59there these animals exist
60in proportionate numbers
61Here they were very frequently
62seen and two of the largest 0157
1152 156 14
2I ever saw looked nearlyabout
3as tall as littlesmall donkies; ^ But the
4manes made their bodies
5look ^ rather larger than those of
6these latter animals - There
7is much more danger of
8being run over by carriages
9in London than there is
10of being devoured by lions
11in even the most infested
12districts of Africa

13

Some of the Mambari
14visited us at Naliele -   They
15are of the Ambonda family
16which inhabits the country
17South East of Angola and
18speak the Bunda dialect
19which is of the same family
20of languages with the Barote
21Bayeiye - {&c} or those ^ black tribes com-
22prehended under the general
23term Makalaka, They plait
24their hair in three fold cords
25and lay them ^ which they lay carefully down
26the sides of the head - They
27are quite as dark as the
28Barotse but had ^ have among them a number
29Qu cross breeds of Bastards with the peculiar
30yellow sickly hue among
31them On enquiring why
32⎰they had fled my approach
33to Linyanti they let me know
34that they had a vivid idea of
35 [the customs of] the English cruizers on the coast - ⎱ 0158
1153 157
2They shewed their habits as the {in their}
3own country by digging ^ up, & eating even here
4where large game abounds -
5the mice and moles ^ for food which
6infest the country -   The half breed
7or native Portuguese could all
8read and write and the head of
9the party seemed if not a real
10Portuguese had European hair
11and influenced probably by
12the letter of corecommendation
13which I held from the Chevalier
14Duprat H- M- F- ^ [Majesty's] Arbitrator in
15the British and Portuguese mixed
16commission at Cape town
17was evidently anxious to
18shew me all the kindness in
19his power -   These persons
20I feel assured were the first
21 [individuals] of Portuguese blood who ever
22saw the Zambesi in the
23centre of the country - and they
24had reached it two years
25after our discovery in 1851 -
26I was labouring under fever
27and could not then converse
28in Portuguese so I could learn
29 [but] little from them our short intercourse
30/ # A party of Arabs from Zanzibar
31were also in the country at
32this time - Sekeletu had gone
33from Naliele to the town
34of his mother before we
35arrived from the North 0159
1154 158
2but left an ox - for me our use
3[ ]and instructions ^ for us to follow
4him thither - We came down the
5branch of the Leeambye called
6Marile a fine deep stream
7about 60 yards wide which
8makes the whole of the country
9around Naliele an island
10When sleeping at a village on
11the same latitude as Naliele
12town two of the ar {Ar}abs mentioned
13made their appearance - They
14were quite as dark as the
15Makololo and having their
16heads shaved I could not
17compare their hair withto theirs {that}
18of the inhabt {i}tants of the country
19When ^ they were about to part ^ leave they came
20to bid adieu but I asked them
21to stay & help us to eat our ox
22As they had scruples about
23eating an animal not blooded
24in their way I gained their
25affection by saying I was
26quite of their opinion as to
27getting quit of the blood - and
28 [I gave] giving them two legs of an
29animal slaughtered by themselves -
30They professed the greatest
31detestation for the Portuguese
32"because they eat pigs" and
33the English "because they
34thrash them for selling slaves"
35I was silent about pork 0160
1155 159
2though had they seen me at a
3hippotamus two days afterwards
4they would have set me down
5as ^ being as much a heretic as any of
6that nation - but I ventured
7 [to tell him that
8I agreed] to think with the English that
9it was better to let the children
10grow up and comfort their
11mothers when they became old
12than to carry them away and
13sell them accross the sea
14This they never attempt to
15justify "they want them only
16to cultivate the land - and take
17care of them as their children"
18It is the same old story - justifying
19a monstrous wrong on pretence
20of taking care of those degraded
21portions of humanity which
22cannot take care of themselves -
23doing evil that good may
24come -

25

These a {A}rabs or Moors could
26read and write in their own
27 [language] characters readily - And when
28speaking about our saviour
29I admired the boldness with
30which they informed me "that
31Christ was a very good
32prophet but Mahomet was
33far greater" and with respect
34to their loathing of pork it may
35have some foundation in
36their nature for I have known
37Bechuanas who have no 0161
1156 160 18
2prejudice against the wild
3animal eat the tame without
4scruple and unconscious of
5any reason eject it again
6 [Bechuanas] They have als The Bechuanas
7South of the Lake have a
8prejudice against eating fish
9and alledge a disgust to eating
10anything like a serpent - this
11may arise from the remnants
12of serpent worship floating
13in their minds as in addition
14to this horror of eating them
15Qu. such formed animals they
16sometimes render a sort of
17obeisance to living serpents
18by clapping the hands to them
19and refusing to destroy the
20reptiles - but in the case of
21theythe sow they are conscious
22of no such feeling

23

Having parted with
24our Arab friends we proceeded
25down the Marile till we
26re-entered the Leeambye &
27went to the town of Ma-
28-sekeletu (Mother of Sekeletu
29opposite the island of
30Loyela - He ^ Sekeletu had always
31supplied me most liberally
32with food and as soon
33as I arrived presented ^ me with a
34pot of boiled meat while
35his mother handed ^ me a large
36pot of butter of which they 0162
1157 161
2 [make] large quantities for the purpose
3of anointing their bodies
4He had ^ himself sometimes felt the benefit of my
5way of putting aside a quantity
6of the meat after a meal
7In their w and ^ had now followed
8my example by ordering some
9to be kept for me - In their
10way every particle of an ox
11is devoured at once meal and
12as the chief cannot without
13an innovation on their
14 [↪ a deviation
15from their] customs eat alone he is
16often compelled to suffer
17severely from hunger before
18another meal is ready
19We henceforth always worked
20 [in] to each others hands by saving
21a little for each other & When
22some of the sticklers for use
23and wontcustom grumbled I
24advised them to eat like men
25and not aslike vultures -

26

/ As this was the first
27visit which Sekeletu had
28paid to his dominions here
29it was a season of great
30joy - The headmen of each
31village presented oxen - milk
32and beer more than the
33horde that accompanied
34us could devour though
35their abilities in that line
36are something wonderful 0163
1158 162
2They usually shew their joy and
3 [work] let off their excitement in
4dances and songs - The dance
5consists of the men standing
6 [nearly naked ^] in a circle with clubs or
7small battle axes in their
8hands and each roaring at
9the loudest pitch of his voice
10while they simultaneously
11lift one leg, stamp heavily
12 [twice] with that - then lift the
13other and give one stamp
14with that - [↪ This is the
15only movement
16in common]   The arms and
17head are thrown about
18also a {i}n every direction
19at the sameall this time that the
20roaring is kept up with
21153 the utmostall [possible vigour [↪ the continued
22stamping
23on the ground
24makes a
25cloud of dust
26ascend and
27they leave
28a deep ring
29in the ground
30where they
31stand] -   If the
32scene were witnessed in a
33lunatic asylum it would
34be thoroughly understood
35and quite appropriate as
36a means of letting off the
37excess excitement of
38the brain - but here grey
39headed men joined in the
40performance with as much
41zest as men whose youth
42might be an excuse for making
43the perspiration stream off
44their bodies with the exertions
45made - MotibeSome ^ one asked what
46I thought of the Makololo
47dance - I replied "it is very
48hard work & ^ brings very small profit" 0164
1159 163
2"It is" replied he, "but it is very nice,
3and Sekeletu will give us an
4ox for dancing for him" - He
5usually does slaughter an ox
6for the dancers when the work
7is over -

8

/ The women stand by clapping
9their hands and occasionally
10one enters into the circle com-
11-posed of a hundred men make
12a few movements and then
13retires - As I never tried
14it and am unable to enter
15into the spirit of the thing I cannot
16recommend the Makololo
17Polka to the dancing world
18but I have the authority of no
19 [less a person than] Motibe, no Sekeletu's father in law
20for saying "it is very nice"
21They often asked if white
22people ever danced I explained
23 [I thought of the] that we had a disease
24we called St- Vitus' dance
25but could not say all our
26dancers were affected by
27it and gave an answer
28which I fear did not
29raise our young country women
30in the estimation of the
31Makololo

0165
1160 164
2

As Sekeletu had been
3waiting for me at his Mother's
4we left that ^ the town as soon
5as I arrived and proceeded
6down the river - Our speed
7with the stream was ^ very much
8greater than against it - for
9in one day we went from
10Litofe to Gonye a distance
11of 44 miles of latitude and
12if we add to this the longitude
13of the windings of the river
14the distance will not be
15much less than 60 Geographical
16miles - At this rate we soon
17reached Sesheke and then
18the town of Linyanti - ⎡I had
19thus been during a nine
20weeks tour in pcloser contact
21with heathenism than I had
22ever been before and thought
23all including the chief were
24as kind and attentive to me
25as possible - and there was
26no want of food, oxen being
27slaughtered daily (sometimes
28ten at a time) more than
29sufficient for the wants
30of all, yet to endure the dancing
31rowing and singing -   the
32jesting anecdotes, grumbling
33quarrelling and murdering
34of these children of nature
35seemed more like a pretty
36 [severe] stiff penance than anything 0166
1161 165
2missionary I had ^ before met ^ with before
3 [↪ in the course of my
4missionary duties] ^ I took thence a more intense
5disgust at heathenism than
6I held before and formed
7a much highergreatly elevated opinion of
8the latent effects of
9of missions in the South than
10 [among tribes] which are reported to have
11been as savage as the Makololo
12than I ever possessed before
13The indirect benefits thatwhich to
14a casual observer lie beneath
15the surface and are inappreciable
16are worth in in reference to
17the probable wide diffusion
18of Christianity [at some future time ^] worth all the
19money and labour that
20have been expended to produce
21them -

0167
1

162 166
2Linyanti September 1853

3

The object proposed to
4the Makololo seemed so desirable
5that it was resolved to proceed
6with it as soon as the cooling
7influence of the rains should
8be felt in November - The
9Longitude of Linyanti shewed
10that ^ [St Phillip de] Benguela was much
11nearer to us than Loando
12and I might have easily
13gone {made} arrangements with
14the Mambari to allow
15me to accompany them
16as far as Bihe which
17is on the road to that
18part - but it is so undesirable
19to travel in a path once
20trodden by slave traders ^ that I
21preferred to find out another
22line of march -

23

Accordingly men were
24sent at my suggestion
25to examine all the country
26to the North West to see if
27any belt of country free
28from Tsetse could be
29found for a passage out
30The search was fruitless
31The town & district of Linyanti
32is surrounded by forests
33infested by the {is} poisonous
34insect except at a few
35points as that by which 0168
1XXIII DennettPowell 167
2 [we - ] entered at Sanshuré and another
3at Sesheke -     But the lands
4✧ both East and West of the
5Barotse valley are free from
6folio 155 the ^ [insect] plague -   There however
7the slave trade had defiled
8the path and no one ought
9to follow in its wake unless
10well armed -   The Mambari
11had informed me too that
12many English lived at
13Loando so I prepared to
14go thither   The prospect of
15meeting with countrymen
16seemed to overbalance the toils
17of the longer march -

18

A "picho" ^ (calling) or assembly was
19called to deliberate on the step
20T In these great freedom of speech
21is allowed, and on
22this occasion one of the old
23diviners said "Where is he
24taking you to? This white
25man is throwing you away -
26Your garments smell
27of blood already - " It is curious
28to observe how identity of
29character appears all over
30the world - This man was
31a noted crok {a}ker - He always
32dreamed something dreadful
33in every expedition and was
34certain an eclipse or comet
35betokéd the property of flight
36                     [1] 0169
1168
2but Sebituane always set his
3visions down to cowardice and
4Sekeletu only laughed at him
5now - The general voice
6was in my favour so a band
7of ^ twenty seven [Thirty] were appointed
8to accompany me to the West -
9/ These men were not hired by
10me but sent to enable me to
11accomplish an object as much
12desired by the chief and most
13of his people as by me - They
14were eager to obtain free
15and profitable trade with
16white men -   The prices which
17the Cape Me merchants could
18give after defraying the
19great expenses of such a
20✧ long journey being so very
21small as to mak {d}e it
22scarce worth while for the
23natives to collect produce
24for that market - And the
25Mambari giving only a few
26bits of red or print and baize
27for elephants tusks with
28more Pounds than they gave
29yards of cloth, had produced
30the belief that trade with
31them was throwing ivory
32away - Their desire of the
33Makololo for direct trade
34with the sea coast coincided
35exactly with mine that no
36                     [2] 0170
1169
2permanent elevation of a people
3can be effected without commerce
4There could not either be a
5permanent mission here
6unless the missionaries should
7descend to the level of the
8natives Makololo for even
9at Kolobeng we found that
10traders demanded three or four
11times the price of the articles
12we needed and expected us
13to be grateful besides for
14letting us have the articles
15besides at all -

16

The three men whom I had
17brought from Kuruman had
18frequent relapses of the fever
19so finding that instead of
20serving me I had to wait
21on them I decided that they
22should return to the South with
23Fleming as soon as he had
24finished his trading I was then
25entirely dependant on my
26twenty seven ^ [thirty] men whom I
27shall name Zambesians for
28they were composed of two
29/ Makololo only - and the rest Barotse
30Batoka - Bashubia and two of
31 [the] Ambonda - These

32

The fever had caused
33considerable weakness in my
34own case and a strange giddiness
35when I looked up suddenly
36                       [3] 0171
1170
2to any celestial object for everything
3seemed to rush to the left and
4if I did not catch hold of something
5I fell heavily on the ground
6something resembling a gush
7of bile along the duct from
8the liver caused the same fit
9to occur at night on suddenly
10turning round -

11

The Makololo put the
12question "If In the event of your
13death ^ would will the white people would
14not blame themus for having
15allowed me {you} to go away into
16an unhealthy unknown country"
17 [of enemies?" ^] I replied that none of my friends
18would blame them - because I
19would leave a book with them
20 [Sekeletu ^] to be sent to Mr Moffat in case
21I did not return which would
22explain to him all that had
23occurred happened untill the
24time of my departure -   The
25book was a volume of my
26Journal - and as I was
27detained longer than My {I} expected
28at Loando the book was with
29a letter was delivered to a trader
30and I have been unable to
31trace it - I regret this now
32as it contained valuable notes
33on the habits of wild animals
34and the request was made
35in the letter to covey the
36volume to my family
37                 [4] 0172
1171
2The prospect of passing away
3from this fair and beautiful
4world thus came before
5me in pretty plain matter
6of fact form, and it did
7seem a serious thing to
8leave wife & f children,
9breaking up all connections
10with earth and entering
11on an untried state of
12existence, and I find myself
13in my journal wondering
14over that fearful change
15migration which lands
16us in Eternity if an Angel
17will soothe the fluttering
18soul sadly flurried as
19it must be on entering
20the spirit world and hoping
21that Jesus might speak
22but one word of peace
23for that would establish
24in the bosom an ever-
25lasting calm - But as I
26had always believed
27that if we serve God at all
28it ought to be done in a
29manly way - I wrote to
30my brother commending
31our little girl to his care
32as I was determined to
33"succeed or perish" in the
34attempt to open this part
35of Africa -   The Boers
36           [5] 0173
1172
2by taking possession of
3all my goods had saved
4me the trouble of making
5a will and considering the
6light heart now left in
7my bosom and some
8occasional [faint] efforts to perform
9the duty of christian forgiveness
10I felt that it was better
11to be the plundered than
12one of the plunderers -

13

When I committed the waggons
14and remaining goods to the care
15of the Makololo - They took all
16the articles except one box
17into their huts - And two warriors
18 [Ponuane & Mahale ^] brought froward each a
19fine hiefer calf -   After
20performing a number of
21warlike evolutions they asked
22the chief to witness the agreement
23made between them that
24whoever of the two should
25kill a Matibele warrior first
26in defence of the waggon
27should possess both
28the calves
29                 [6]

0174
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11173
12

/ I had three muskets for
13my people a rifle and double
14barrelled smooth bore for myself
15and having seen such a
16great abundance of game
17in my visit to the Leeba
18I imagined that I could easily
19supply the wants of my
20party - Wishing also to avoid
21 [the] discourage-ment which would
22naturally be felt on meeting
23any obstacles if my companions
24were obliged to carry heavy
25loads I took only two cannisters
26of biscs, a few biscuits - tea
27 [a few] two or three pounds of tea &
28sugar - and about twenty of
29coffee which as the Arabs
30find though used without
31either milk or sugar is
32a most refreshing beverage
33after fatigue or exposure
34to the Sun -     We carried these
35                     [7] 0175
1173 {4}
2one small tin cannisters about
3fifteen inches square containing
4spare shirting trowsers & shoes
5to be used when we reached
6civilized life & other in a bag
7which were expected to wear
8out in the way - Another of
9the same size for medicines
10and a third for books my
11stock being a Nautical Almanac
12Thomson's Logarithm tables
13and a Bible -   A forth box
14contained a Magic Lantern
15which we found of much
16use -   The sextant and
17artificial horizon [↪ thermometer
18and compasses] were
19carried apart - My ammunition
20was distributed through the whole
21luggage in portions so that
22if an accident should
23befall one portion we
24st could still have others
25to fall back upon As I
26had always Our chief hopes for
27food were upon that but in
28case of failure I took about
2920lbs of beads worth almost
30forty shillings which still remained
31of the stock I brought from
32the Cape Town [↪ a small
33gipsey tent
34just sufficient
35to sleep in
36A sheep skin
37mantle ↪ (as blanket and a
38horse rug as a bed] As I had always
39found that the art of successful
40travel consisted in taking as
41few "impedimenta" as possible
42and not forgetting to carry onesmy
43wits about ^ me him mythe outfit
44                                 [8] 0176
1175
2was rather spare and intended
3to be still more so when we
4should come to leave the
5canoes -   Some would consider
6it injudicious to adopt this
7plan but I had a secret
8conviction that if I did not
9succeed it would not be
10for lack of the "nick nacks"
11consid advertized as indispensable
12for travellers but from
13want of "pluck" or because
14a large array of baggage
15excited the cupidity of
16Sedg / the tribes through whose country
17we wished to pass -

18

The Instruments I carried
19though few were the best of their kind
20A sextant made by the famed
21makers Troughton and Sims of
22Fleet Street -       A chronometer watch
23with a stop to the second's hand - an
24admirable contrivance for enabling
25a person to take the exact time of
26observations -   It was constructed
27by Dent of the Strand (61) for the
28Royal Geographical Society &
29pronounced by Mr Maclear to
30equal most chronometers in
31performance -   For both these
32excellent instruments I have much
33pleasure in recording my obligations
34to my good friend Colonel Steele
35and to Mr Maclear for much
36of my ability to use them [↪ Besides these
37I had a thermometer
38by Dollond -
39A compass
40from the Cape Observatory
41and a small
42pocket one
43in addition
44And a good
45small
46telescope &
47stand capable
48of being screwed
49into a
50tree or] -
519

0177
1176
2

11th of November 1853 Left the
3town of Linyanti accompanied
4by Sekeletu and his principal
5men to embark on the Chobe
6The chief came to the river in order
7to see that all was right at
8parting - We crossed five branches
9of the Chobe before reaching
10the main stream - This bifurcation
11must be the reason why it
12appeared so small to Mr Oswel
13and myself in 1851 - When all
14the departing branches re-enter
15it is a large deep river
16The spot of embarkation was
17the identical island where we
18met Sebituane first known
19as the island of Maunku - one
20of his wives -   The chief lent
21me his own canoe and
22as it was broader than usual
23one could turn about in it
24with ease -   The Chobe is
25much infested by Hippopotami
26and as particular certain
27elderly males are expelled the
28herd they become soured in
29their tempers and so misanthropic
30as to attack every canoe that
31passes near them - The herd
32is never dangerous except
33when a canoe passes
34into the midst when they are
35asleep - [↪ To avoid this
36it is generally
37recommended
38to travel by
39day near the
40bank and
41by night in
42the middle of
43the stream] As a general ruleIn In all other cases -
44                 [10] 0178
1177
2they flee the approach of man
3The "solitaries" however frequent
4certain localities well known
5to the inhabitants on the inhabitants
6banks and like the rogue
7Elephants are extremely dangerous -
8We came at this time to a
9canoe which had been smashed
10to pieces by a blow from
11the hind foot of one such of
12them - And I was informed
13by my men that if the same
14should happen to ours the
15proper way was to dive
16to the bottom of the river
17and hold on there for a
18few seconds forbecause the
19hippopotamus after sm {b}reaking
20a canoe always looks
21for the people on the surface
22and if he sees none
23there he soon moves off -
24I have seen some frightful
25gashes made on the legs
26of the people le {w}ho have had
27the misfortune to be
28attacked and unable to
29dive - This Heanimal uses his teeth as
30an offensive weapon though
31quite a herbivorous feeder -
32One of these "batchelors" that
33lives near the confluences
34actually came out of his lair
35and putting his de {h}ead down ran
3611 after the men who were passing
37with very considerable speed -

0179
1178
2

The part of the river called
3Zabesa or Zabenza is spread
4out like a little lake surrounded
5on all sides by dense masses
6of ^ [tall] reed -     The river below that
7is always 100 or 120 yards
8broad, deep and never dries up
9so farmuch as to be fordable -
10At certain parts where the
11partial absence of reeds enables
12 [affords] a view of the opposite
13banks to be obtained the
14Makololo have placed villages
15of observation against their
16enemies the Matebele - We
17visited all these in succession
18and found here, as every where
19also in the Makololo country
20orders had preceded us "that
21I {Nãka} [↪ (the doctor)] must not be allowed to
2212 become hungry" -
23
24
25 [In wh]

0180
1

179
2The banks of the Chobe are
3like those of the Zouga of
4soft calcareous tufa
5and the river has cut out
6for itself a deep perpendicular
7sided bed -   Where the tu
8banks are high, as at the
9spot where the waggons
10stood in 1851 they are
11covered with magnificent
12trees - the habitat of Tsetse
13and the retreat of various
14antelopes wild hogs, zebras,
15buffaloes & Elephants

16

Among the trees may
17be observed some species
18159 of [the Ficus Indica -   Light
19green coloured acacias
20The splendid Motsintsela - and
21evergreen cypress shaped
22Motsouri -   The fa {r}uit of
23the last named was ripe
24and the villagers presented
25many dishes of its beautiful
26pink coloured plums
27They are used chiefly to
2813 form a pleasant acid drink
29The Motsintsela is a very
30lofty tree yielding the wood
31of which good canoes
32are made and fruit
33nutritious and good but like
34many wild fruits of this
35country the fleshy parts are 0181
1180
2require to be enlarged by cultivation
3It is nearly all stone -

4

The course of the river
5we found to be extremely
6tortuous, so much so indeed
7we went to all points of
8the compass every dozen
9miles - W {S}ome of us walked
10from a bend at the village
11of Moremi to another nearly
12due East of that point
13in six hours while the
14canoes going at more than
15double our speed took
16twelve to accomplish the
17same distance - And though
18the river is from 13 to 15
19feet in depth at its lowest
20ebb, and broad enough to
21allow a steamer to ply upon
22it the suddeness of the
23bendings would prevent
24navigation -   But should
25the country ever become
26civilized the Chobe would
27be a convenient natural
2814 canal -   We spent 42½ hours
29paddling at the rate of 5 miles
30an hour in coming from
31Linyanti to the confluence
32There we found a dyke of
33porphoritic trap lying accross
34the Leeambye

0182
1

181
2Berry / The porphoritic trap contains
3chrystals which the water
4gradually dissolves and leaves
5the rock with a worm eaten
6appearance -   It is curious
7to observe that the water
8flowing over certain rocks as
9in this instance imbibes
10an appreciable though
11necessarily most minute
12portion of the minerals they
13contain -     The water of
14the Chobe up to this point
15is of a dark mossy hue
16but here it suddenly assumes
17a lighter tint - And whever
18this light colour shews
19a greater amount of mineral
20there are not mosquitoes
21enough to cause serious
22annoyance to any except
23persons of very irritable
24temperaments

25

The large island called
26Mparia stands at the confluence
27This is composed of trap of
28a younger age than the
2915 deep stratum of tufa in
30which the Chobe has found
31its bed for at that point
32where they come together
33the tufa has been trans-
34formed into Saccharoid
35limestone

0183
1182
2

The actual point of confluence
3of these two rivers the Chobe
4and Leeambye is ill defined
5on account of each dividing
6into several branches as they
7inosculate - but when the
8whole body of water comes
9into one bed it is a goodly
10sight for one who has spent
11years in the thirsty south
12Standing on one bank even
13the keen eye of the natives
14cannot detect whether two
15large islands a few miles
16East of the junction are
17main land or not - [↪ During a
18flight] In former
19years the Bamang-wato men
20 [with] carrying Sekomi as a child
21 [in his mother's
22arms] were inveigled were separated
23from their women with
24the present chief Sekomi
25as a child in his mother's
26arms and inveigled on
27to one of these islands by
28the Batoka Makalaka chief
29of Mparia on pretence
30of ferrying them accrross
3116 the Leeambye - They were
32left to perish after seeing
33their wives taken prisoners
34by these cruel lords of the
35Leeambye and Sekomi owed
36his life to the compassion
37of even one of the Bayeiye 0184
1183
2who pitying the young chieftain
3enabled his mother to make
4her escape by night

5

While at holding service
6at Mparia I observed a disease
7similar to one too common
8among the civilized - but
9which I never met with
10elsewhere in the centre {al} ofparts of
11this country -   There had
12evidently been extensive
13caries of the cranial bones
14and there were now other
15evidence of the same disease
16When sitting among them
17afterwards I asked the patient
18if that complaint had not
19followed ^ [another] "Manasa" The
20rest said "No no - " but he
21maintained it had - It is
22referred to here as the only
23instance of in which a close
24resemblance to one of the
25common diseases of civili-
26-zation was seen in the
27country
28
29
30
3117

0185
1

184
2Having left the Chobe we turned
3round and began to ascend the
4Leeambye and on the 19th Novr
5again reached the town of
6Sesheke -     It stands on the
7 [North] bank of the river and contains
8a large population of Makalaka
9under Moriantsane brother
10in law of Sebituane - There are
11 [parties of] various tribes here assembled
12under their respective head
13-men but a few Makololo
14rule over all -   Their sway
15though essentially despotic
16is considerably modified
17by certain customs and laws
18One of the Makalaka had
19speared an ox belonging to one
20of the Makololo and being
21unable to extract the spear
22was discovered as the per-
23-petrator of the deed - His object
24had been to get a share of
25the meat as the Moriantsane
26is known to be liberal with
27any food that comes into
28his hands -   The culprit was
29bound hand and foot &
30placed in the sun to force
3118 him to pay a fine but he
32continued to deny the guilt -
33His mother believing in
34the innocency of her son
35now came forward with 0186
1185
2her hoe in hand and threatening
3to cut down any one who
4should dare to interfere untied
5the cords with which he
6had been bound and took
7him home -   This open defiance
8of authority was not resented
9by Moriantsane but referred
10to ↪ at ^ Linyanti ⎰to Sekeletu⎱

11
12

A circumstance which happened
13here when I was present
14with Sekeletu shews that a
15simple mode of punishment
16with which we are familiar
17did not strike the Makololo
18mind

19
20
21
22

A stranger having visited
23Sesheke for the purpose of
24pa barter was robbed by
25one of the Makalaka of
26most of his goods - The
27thief when caught confessed
28the theft and that he
2919 had given the articles to a
30person who had removed
31to a distance -   The Makololo
32were much enraged at the
33idea of their good name
34being compromised by
35this treatment of a stranger 0187
1186
2and as their way of punishing
3a crime which causes much
4indignation is to throw the
5criminal into the river they
6were puzzled because
7this would not restore
8the lost property -   The case
9was referred to me and
10I solved the difficulty by
11paying for the loss and
12myself and sentencing the
13thief to work out an equal
14equivalent with his hoe in
15a garden - This system
16was immediately introduced
17and thieves are now
18sentenced to raise an amount
19of corn proportioned to their
20offences -

21

Powell / Among the Bakwains
22a woman who stole from
23the garden of another was
24obliged to part with her
25her own entirely - It became the
26property of her whose field
27was injured by the crime
28When Sechele saw the
29 [convicts] criminals working on the
30roads in the Cape Colony
31he at once introduced
3220 the system into his tribe and
33refusing fines compelled the
34offenders to make a proper
35road up to his town - 0188
1187
2There is no stated day of rest
3in any part of this country
4except the day after the appearance
5of the new moon - but they
6then refrain only from
7going to their gardens - A
8curious custom not to be
9found among the Bechuanas
10prevails among the Black
11tribes beyond them -   They
12watch most eagerly for
13the first glimpse of the
14new moon and when
15they percieve the faint
16outline after the sun has
17sunk set far indeep in ^ the West
18they utter a loud shout of
19Kua! and vociferate prayers to
20it - My men for instance called
21out   "Let our journey be {wi}th the
22white man be prosperous!
23Let our enemies perish and the
24children of Nakae become rich -
25May he have plenty of flesh in
26this journey &c.&c."

27

I gave many public
28addresses to the people of Sesheke
29under the outspread camel
30thorn tree which serves as
31 [a shade to] the Kotla on the high bank of
32the river - It was pleasant
3321 to see the long strings of men
34women and children coming
35winding along from different 0189
1188
2quarters of the town behind their
3respective headmen - They often
4amounted to between five and
5six hundred souls and required
6an exertion of voice which
7brought back the complaint
8for which I had got the
9uvula excised at the Cape
10They were always very attentive
11and Moriantsane in order
12as he thought to please me
13on one occasion rose up
14in the middle of the discourse
15and hurled his staff at the
16heads of some young fellows
17whom he saw working
18with a skin instead of
19listening -          They sometimes
20put very sensible questions
21on the subjects brought
22before them - & At other times
23At other times introduce the
24most frivolous nonsense
25immediately after hearing the
26the most solemn things -
27Some begin to pray in secret
2822 to Jesus as soon as they
29hear of the white man's God
30with but little idea of what
31they are about [↪ ⎰and are no
32doubt heard
33by Him who
34like a Father
35pitieth his
36children⎱] - Others waking
37by night see recollect what
38has been said about the
39Future world so clearly they next
40 [day] ^ tell what a fright they got by
41it and resolve not to listen 0190
1189
2to ourthe teaching again and others
3 [keep to the
4determination
5not to believe as] as in certain the villagers certain villagers
6in the South who put
7all their cocks to death
8because they they crowed
9the words "Tlang lo rapeleng"
10"Come along to prayers"

11
12

The man On recovering
13partially from a severe attack
14of fever which cor {c}leaved
15to me from the {near} the
16 [passing the] village of Moremi on the
17Chobe till now, we prepared
18for our departure up the
19river by sending messages
20before us to prepare
21food - [↪ We took from
22Sesheke fou
23four Elephants
24tusks with
25us belonging
26to Sekeletu
27as a means
28of testing the
29difference
30of prices
31between the
32Portuguese
33whom we
34expected to
35reach and
36the white
37traders from
38the South] N Moriantsane supplied
39us well with honey ^ milk and
40meal   The rains were just
41commencing in this part
42but though showers sufficient
43to lay the dust had fallen
44they had no influence whatever
45on the amount of water in
46the river but never was
47there less in any part than
48three hundred yards of a deep
49flowing river stream

50

Our progress up the
51river was rather slow, this
52was caused by waiting
53opposite different villages
54for supplies of food
5523 0191
1190
2We might have bee {do}ne with
3much less than we got but
4my Makololo man Pitsane
5knew of the generous orders
6of Sekeletu and was not
7at all disposed to allow
8them to remain a dead letter
9The villages of the Banyeti
10contributed large quantities of
11Mosibe a bright red bean
12yielded by a large tree - The
13pulp enclosing the seed
14which is not much thicker
15than a red wafer is the
16portion used and it requires
17 [the addition] ^ honey to render it at all
18palateable

19

Sedg / To these were added great
20numbers of the fruit of which
21yields a variety of Nux vomica
22from which we derive
23that virulent poison
24strychnia -   The pulp between
25the nuts is the part used
26and it is of a pleasant
27juicy nature having a sweet
28acidulous taste - If The
29fruit itself resembles a
30large yellow orange but
31the rind is hard hard
32and like the pips and bark
33contains much of the deadly
3424 poison - They shew their
35noxious quantities by an
36intensely bitter taste -

0192
1XXIV
2
3

The nuts swallowed inadvertently
4cause considerable pain but
5not death - And to avoid even 191
6this ˄ [inconvenience] the people dry the pulp
7before the fire in order
8 be able the more easily to
9get rid of the noxious seeds -

10

A much better fruit called
11Mobola was also presented
12This bears around a pretty large
13stone as much [↪ of the fleshy
14part] fruit as the
15common date and it is
16stripped off the seeds and
17preserved in bags in a similar
18manner to that fruit - Besides
19sweetness thes ˄ Mobola has the flavour
20of strawberries with a touch
21of nauseousness - We carried
22some of these {m} ˄ dried as provisions more than a
23hundred miles from this spot -
24as provisions

25

The next fruit named Ma-
26-mosho (mother of morning)
27is the most delicious of all -
28It is about the size of walnuts
29and unlike most of the
30other uncultivated fruits
3125 has a seed no larger than
32that of a date - The fleshy
33part is juicy and somewhat
34[  ] like the Cashe Cashew
35163 [   ] K -----apple with a pleasant acidity 0193
1191 {2}
2added -   These fruits which
3are here found on trees are
4met with on the plains of
5the Kalahari growing on
6mere ˄ herbaceous plants -     There are
7several other cases of a
8similar nature - Shrubs well
9known as such in
10the South assume the rank
11of trees as we go to the North
12and the change is quite
13gradual as our latitude decreases
14The gradation being herbaceous
15plants - shrubs - bushes - small
16then large trees - [↪ But it is
17questionable if
18in the cases
19of Mamosho
20Mabolo &
21Mawa the tree
22and shrub
23are identical
24though the
25fruits so
26closely resem
27-ble each other
28for I found
29both the
30dwarf and
31tree in the
32same latitude
33There is also
34a difference
35in the leaves
36and they
37yield at
38different
39seasons]

40

The banks of the
41river were now appearing
42to greater advantage than
43before - Many trees were putting
44on their fresh green leaves
45though they had got no rain
46and {their} lighter green contrastlying
47beautifully with the ˄ dark Motsouri
48or Moyela now covered
49with pink plums ˄ as larger than
50as cherries - The rapids having
51comparatively little water
52in them rendered our
53passage difficult - The canoe
54must never be allowed
5526 to come broadside on to the
56stream for being flat bottomed
57it would ˄ in that case be at once capsized,
58and every thing in it lost

0194
1

193
2The men work admirably and
3are always in good humour
4They leap into the water without
5the least hesitation to save
6the canoe from being caught
7by rocks -   Many parts were
8now quite shallow and it required
9great address and power
10in balancing themselves to
11keep the vessel free from
12stones [↪ which lay] just beneath the
13surface -   We might have
14got deeper water in the middle
15but the boatmen always
16keep near the banks on
17account of danger from
18the hippopotami -   But though
19we might have had deeper
20water further out I believe
21that no part of the rapids
22is very deep - The river
23is spread out more than
24a mile and the water all
25flows rapidly over the
26rocky bottom The amount
27which occasionally comes
2827 is {Th}ose spots only 300 yards
29wide though very deep
30cannot contain an large
31 [volumes] ^ ammount of flowing water
32 [in narrow compass, but] ^ which when spread over
33the much larger spaces
34 [surfaces at the
35rapids] ^ must be shallow -   Still
36remembering that this was 0195
1194
2 end of the dry season when
3such rivers as the Orange
4do ˄ do not contain a ˄ fifth tenth part
5of the water of the Chobe the
6difference between the
7rivers in the North and South
8must be sufficiently obvious -

9

The rapids are caused by
10dykes of dark brown trap rocks
11 [or hardened
12sandstone] ^ streaking across the stream - In
13some places they form miles
14of flat rocky bottom with
15islets covered with trees - At
16the cataracts noted in the
17map the fall is from four
18to six feet and in guiding up
19the canoe the stern goes under
20the water and takes in a quantity
21before it can attain the higher
22level - We lost many of our
23buis˄biscuits in the ascent -

24

These rocks are covered
25with a small hard aquatic
26plant which when the rock
27is exposed becomes dry and
28crisp, crackling under the
29foot as if it contained much
3028 stoney matter in its tissue
31In {It} probably assists in dis-
32integrating the rocks for
33in parts not ˄ so high as not to be much exposed
34to the action of the water
35or the influence of the plant
36they are covered with a
37        thin black glaze

0196
1195
2

/ In passing along under the
3overhanging trees of the banks
4we often saw the pretty turtle
5doves sitting peacefully on their
6nests above the raging torrent
7An Ibis nigra had perched her
8home on the end of stump
9Her loud harsh scream of Wa
10wa wā with the piping of the
11fish hawk are sounds which
12can never be forgot by any
13one who has sailed on the
14rivers North of 20º South - If
15we step on shore the Charadrius
16caruncula a kind of plover
17a most plaguey sort of "public
18spirited individual" follows
19you flying ^ now over-head and is
20most persevering in his attempts
21to give fair warning to all the
22animals within hearing, to
23flee from the approaching danger
24The alarm note is so much
25of a tinc tinc tinc has in
26some cases so much of a
27metalic ring that this bird
28is called "setulatsipi" or
2929 hammering iron -   It is this bird
30which is famed for his
31friendship for the crockodile
32of the Nile and which Mr
33St John actually saw per-
34-forming the part of tooth
35picker to the ugly reptile 0197
1196
2They are often seen on the same
3sand banks with the alligator
4and in passing often appear
5as if on that reptile's back
6but I never had the good fortune
7to witness the operation described
8both by St John & Geofrey St-
9Hilaire & Herodotus - But that
10which neither of these authors knew
11 [M {m}y] [head] was {boatman} Mashauana stopped the
12 [canoe to] tell us viz - that a water turtle which
13 [we found had] in trying to ascend a steep bank [↪ to lay her eggs
14had toppled
15on her back
16till we found
17her, was an
18infallible omen
19of good luck for
20our journey]

21

Among the forests trees which
22line the the banks of the rocky
23parts of the Leeambye several
24new birds were observed -
25Some are musical and the
26songs are pleasant in contrast
27with the harsh voice of the
28 [little green] ^ yellow shouldered parrots of the country - There are
29great numbers of ^ jet black weavers
30 [yellowish brown] ^ band on thewith yellow ^ shoulders -

31

Here we saw for the pre {fir}st
32time a pretty little bird with
33coloured dark blue except the
34wings & tail which were of
35a chockolate colour hue -
3630 From the tail two feathers are
37prolonged beyond the rest six
38inches -         Also little birds
39coloured white & black of great
40vivacity and always in companies
41of six or eight together and
42various others which from
43want of books of reference 0198
1197
2I could not decide were actually
3new to science

4
5
6

Francolins and guinea
7fowl abound along the banks
8and are {on} every dead tree and
9piece of rock may be seen
10 [two species] the of ^ the web footed cormorants
11of {They} sit most of the day sunning
12themselves over the stream [↪ sometimes
13standing erect
14with their
15wings stretched]
16occasionally they may be
17seen engaged in fishing by
18diving -   and as they swim
19about nothing appears above
20the surface but their necks
21but their chief time of feeding
22is by night and as the sun
23declines they may be seen
24in flocks flying from
25their roosting places to the
26fishing grounds - When disabled
27this is a most difficult
28bird to catch - he {It} is so thoroughly
29expert in diving it com {g}oes down
30so adroitly and comes up
31again in the most unlikely
32places that the natives people
3331 though most expert in the
34management of the canoes
35can rarely secure them
36The rump of the cormorant
37is remarkably prolonged and
38capable of being bent so as 0199
1198
2 act both as a rudder in swimming
3and as a lever to lift the
4bird at will high enough out
5of the water to give free
6scope to its wings - It can
7rise at will from the water
8by means of this appendage

9
10
11
12
13

The fine fishhawk with
14the white head & neck and ˄ reddish chocolate
15coloured body may also frequently
16be seen perched on the trees
17 [&] The fish are often found dead
18which have fallen victims
19to his talons - One most frequently
20seen in this condition is a {i}tself
21a destroyer of fish -   It is
22 [stout bodied] a thick fish about ˄ 15 or 18 inches
23long - of a light yellow colour
24and gaily ornamented with
25stripes and spots -   It has a
26most imposing array of
27sharp conical teeth outside
28the lips - an objects of dread
29to the fishermen for it can
3032 use them effectually - One we
31got dead had killed him^itsself
32by swallowing another fish
33which though too large for
34stomach and throat he could
35no be disgorged

36

This fish-hawk generally
37 0200
1199
2kills more prey than it can devour
3It eats a portion of the back
4& leave the rest for the Barotse
5who often have {d} a race accr {r}oss
6the river when they saw
7one lying on the opposite
8sand banks - The hawk is
9however not always so
10generous for as I myself
11was a witness on the Zouga
12it sometimes plunders the
13pouch of the Pelican - Soaring
14over head and seeing this
15large stupid bird fishing
16beneath he watches till
17a fine fish is safe in
18the pelicans pouch - Then
19descending not very quickly
20but with considerable noise
21of wing the pelican looks up
22to see what is the matter
23and as the hawk comes near
24roars out as if calling "murder"!
25The open mouth enables
26the hawk to wis whisk the
27fish out of the pouch & the
28Pelican does not fly away
29but commences fishing
3033 again, The fright having
31probably made him forget
32he ever had anything in
33his purse -

0201
1

200
2DennettMead / A fish called Moshéba about the
3size of a minnow often skims
4along the surface for several
5yards in order to get rid out
6of the way of the canoe   It
7uses the pectoral fins as
8the flying fish do but never
9makes a clean flight - It is
10rather a succession hops
11along the surface made by
12the aid of the fins side fins
13It never becomes large -

14
15

Numbers of iguanos (Mpulu)
16sit sunning themselves on
17overhanging branches of the
18trees and splash into the water
19as we approach - They are highly
20esteemed as an article of food
21the flesh being tender & gelatinous
22The chief boatman who occupies
23the stem has in consequence
24a light javelin always at hand
25to spear them if they are not
26quickly out of sight -   These
27and large alligators glide
28in from banks with a
29heavy plunge as we come
3034 round a sudden bend of the
31river were the occurrences
32of every hour as we sped
33up the river

0202
1

201
2The rapids in the part of the
3river between Katima molelo &
4Nameta are relieved by ^several reaches
5of still deep water of 15 or
620 miles long -   In these
7very large herds of hippopotami
8are seen - and the deep
9furrows they make in
10ascending ^ the banks to
11graze during the nights
12are everywhere apparent
13They are guided back to the
14water by the scent for when
15a long continued pouring
16rain makes it impossible
17for them to percieve in which
18direction the river lies
19they are found standing
20bewildered on the land and
21The hunters take advantage
22of their helplessness on these
23occasions and kill them -

24

It is impossible to
25judge of the numbers in a herd
26for they are hid beneath
27the waters but as they require
28to come up every few minutes
29only to breathe when there
3035 is a constant succession
31of heads thrust up then
32the herd is supposed to be
33large -   They love a still
34part of the stream as
35the more rapid parts require 0203
1202
2the distance they are floated down
3to be frequently regained by
4swimming up again and
5a more disturbed nap is the
6consequence -   They love
7to remain by day in a
8drowsy state yawning state
9and - though they {ir} eyes
10are open they take little
11notice of things at a distance
12The males utter a loud succession
13of grunts which may be
14heard a mile off -     The canoe
15in which I was utte in passing
16over a wounded one elicited
17a distinct grunt though
18entirely under water

19

The young when
20very little take their stand on
21the neck of the dam and the
22small head being above the
23large comes soonest to
24to the surface - The dam
25knowing the more urgent
26need of her calf comes
27more frequently to the
28surface when it is in
29her care - But in the
3036 rivers of Lunda where
31they are much in danger
32of being shot th even
33the hippopotamus gains
34wit by experience for
35while those in the Zambesi 0204
1203
2put up their heads openly to
3blow The others keep their
4noses among water plants
5and breathe so quietly one
6would not know of their
7existing in the river except
8by footprints on the banks

9
10
11
12

30th November 1853 - At Gonye
13falls -   No rain has fallen
14here so it is excessively hot
15The trees have put on their
16gayest dress - and many
17flowers adorn the landscape
18yet the heat makes all the
19leaves droop at midday
20and look languid for want
21of rain - If the country increases
22as much in beauty in
23front as it has done within
24the last four degrees of
25Latitude it will be indeed
26Mead a lovely land

27

We all felt great
28lassitude in travelling - The
29167 atmo[sphere is oppressive both
3037 in cloud and sunshine
31The evaporation from the
32river must be excessively
33great and I feel as if the
34fluids of the system joined
35in the general motion of 0205
1204
2of watery vapour upwards
3for I drink enormous
4quantities of water to supply
5its place -

6

Powell / Our {When} under weigh our
7usual procedure is thus
8We get up a little before five in
9the morning - It is then beginning
10to dawn - When I am dressing
11coffee is made - and having
12filled my pannikin my {I had}
13the remainder to my companions
14who eagerly partake of the
15refreshing beverage -   The
16servants are busy loading
17the canoes while the principal
18men are sipping the coffee
19and that being soon over we
20step into canoes   The next two
21hours are the most pleasant
22part of the days sail -   The
23men paddle away most
24vigorously and the Barotse
25from being a tribe of boatmen
26have large deeply developed
27chests and shoulders - with
28indifferent lower extremities
29We land about eleven They
30often engage in loud scolding
3138 of each other in order to
32relieve the tedium of their work
33About eleven we land &
34eat any meat which may
35have remained from the 0206
1205
2previous evening meal - or
3eat a biscuit with honey and drink
4water

5

After an hours rest we
6again embark and cower under
7an umbrella - The heat is
8oppressive and being weak
9from the last attack of fever
10I could not land and keep
11the camp in flesh - The men
12being quite uncovered in
13the sun perspire profusely
14and early in the afternoon
15begin to stop as if waiting
16for the canoes which have
17been left behind - Sometimes
18we reach a sleeping place
19[ ] two hours before sunset
20and all being troubled with
21languor we gladly remain
22for the night - Coffee again
23and a biscuit or a piece
24of coarse bread made of maize
25meal or that of the native corn
26(Caffre Sorghum) make the bill
27of fare for the evening
28unless we have been fortunate
29enough to kill something
3039 when we boil a potful of
31flesh -   This is done by cutting
32it up into long strips and
33pouring in water till it is
34covered - When that is boiled
35dry the meat is considered
36ready -

0207
1

206
2The people at Gonye carry the
3canoes over the space requisite
4to avoid the falls by slinging
5them on poles placed diagonally
6The place these on their shoulders
7and setting about the work
8with good humour soon
9accomplish the task -   They
10are a merry set of mortals
11a feeble joke sets them easily
12off into a fit of laughter - Here
13as elsewhere all petitioned for
14the magic lantern and as
15it is a good means of
16conveying instruction I
17willingly complied

18

The falls of Gonye
19have not been made by
20wearing back like those of
21the Niagara but are of a fizzure
22form - The {For} many miles
23below the river is confined
24when low in a narrow space
25of not more than 100 yards
26br {w}ide -   The water goes boiling
27along and gives the idea of
28great masses of it rolling
29over and over so that even
3040 the most expert swimmer
31would find it difficult to
32keep on the surface - Here
33it is that the river when
34in flood rises 50 or 60 feet
35in perpendicular height 0208
1207
2The islands above the falls are
3covered with foliage as lovely
4as can be seen anywhere -
5Seen from the mass of rock
6which overhangs the fall
7the foliagescenery was the finest loveliest
8I had seen -

9

Nothing worthy of note
10occurred on our way up
11to Nameta - There we heard
12that a party of the Makololo
13headed by Lerimo had made
14a foray to the North and
15up the Leeba in the very
16direction we were about
17to proceed -   Mpololo the uncle
18of Sekeletu is considered the
19headman of the Barotse
20valley - and the perpetrators
21had his full sanction
22because Masiko a son of
23Santuru the former chief
24of the Barotse had fled
25high up the Leeambye and
26establishing himself there
27had sent men down to
28near Naliele to draw away
29the remaining Barotse
3041 from their allegiance -
31Lerimo's party had taken
32some of this Masiko's chil
33subjects prisoners and
34destroyed several villages
35of the Balonda to whom we
36were going -     This was 0209
1208
2in direct opposition to the
3policy of Sekeletu who wished
4to be at peace with these
5Northern tribes and Pitsane
6my headman was the bearer
7of orders to Mpololo to furnish
8with presents for the very
9chiefs they had attacked -
10Thus we were to get large pots
11of clarified butter and bunches
12of beads as {in} confirmation
13of the message of peace we
14were to deliver

15

Sedg / When we reached Litofe
16we sheard that a fresh foray
17was in contemplation
18but I sent forward orders
19to disband it immediately
20At Masekeletu's town we
21reached the head offender
22Mpololo himself and gave
23him a bit of my mind to
24the effect that as I was
25going with the full sanction
26of Sekeletu if any harm
27happened to me in consequence
28of his ill advised expedition
2942 the guilt would rest with
30him -   MaSekeletu who was
31present heartily approved all
32I said and farther suggested
33that all the captives
34taken by Lerimo should be
35returned by my hand to 0210
1209
2shew Masiko that the guilt
3of the foray lay not with the
4superior persons of the
5Makololo but with a mere
6servant -   Her good sense
7appeared in other respects besides
8and as this was exactly
9what my own party had
10previously come to the
11conclusion of suggesting
12we were pleased to hear
13Mpololo agree to do what
14he was advised and as
15he asked me to lay the
16matter before the under
17chiefs of Naliele and when
18we reached that place on the
199th December did so in an
20assembly (picho) called expressly
21for the purpose - [↪ ⎰Lerimo was
22present and
23felt rather crest -
24fallen when his
25exploit was
26described as one
27of extreme cowardice
28as he had gone
29attacking the
30defenceless
31villagers of
32Lunda - while
33as we found in
34our former
35visit a lion had
36actually killed
37eight people
38of Naliele without
39his daring to
40encounter it -
41The Makololo are
42cowardly with
43animals but
44brave against
45men X⎱] Mpololo
46took all the guilt upon him
47-self before the people [↪ ⎰and delivered
48up a captive
49child his
50wife had in
51her possession
52and others
53followed his
54example till
55we got five
56of the prisoners
57free⎱] - Some
58thought as Masiko had
59tried to take their children
60by stratagem they ought to
61take his by force as
62the two modes suited the
63genius of each people - The
64Makalaka love cunning
65and the Makololo love fighting
6643 and others thought if Sekeletu
67meant them to be at peace
68with Masiko he ought to
69have told them so

0211
1

210
2Masiko It is rather dangerous
3to tread in the footsteps of a
4marauding party with people
5of the same tribe as the
6aggressors - but my people
7were in good spirits and
8several volunteers even
9offered to join our ranks
10We however adhered strictly
11to the orders of Sekeletu as to
12our companions and refused
13all others -

14

The people of every village
15treated us most liberally
16giving besides oxen butter
17milk and meal more than
18we could stow away in
19our canoes -   The cows in
20this valley are now giving
21as they frequently do more
22milk than the people can
23use and both men and
24women present butter in
25such quantity I shall be
26able to refresh my men
2744 as we move along -
28Anointing the body prevents
29the excessive evaporation
30of the fluids of the body
31and acts as clothing in
32both sun and shade     They
33made their presents always
34gracefully -     When an ox
35was given the owner would 0212
1211
2would say - "Here is a little bit
3of porridge for you" This was
4pleasing for I had been
5accustomed to the Bechuanas
6presenting a miserable goat
7with the pompous effusion
8"Behold an ox!"   The women
9persisted in giving me copious
10supplies of shrill praises or
11"Lullilooing- " but though I
12frequently told we to modify
13their     "Great lords & Great lions"
14to more humble expressions
15they so evidently intended
16thereby to do me honour
17I could not help being pleased
18with the poor creatures wishes
19for our success

20

The rains began while
21we were at Naliele - this is
22much later than usual but
23through the Barotse valley
24has been in need of rain
25the people never lack
26abundance of food -   The
2745 rains are refreshing but the
28air feels hot and close - The
29thermometer however in
30a cool hut stands only at
3184° - Any spot where the
32external air has access
33makes it rise above 90°
34A new attack of fever here
35causes excessive languor 0213
1212
2but as I am already getting tired
3of quoting my fevers and
4never liked to read travels
5myself where much was
6said about the illnesses of
7the traveller I shall henceforth
8say little about them

9
10

We here sent back the
11canoe of Sekeletu and got the
12loan of others from Mpololo
13Eight riding and seven
14slaughter oxen were according
15to the orders of that chief also
16furnished - Some were intended
17for our own use and
18others as presents to the
19chiefs of the Balunda - Mpololo
20was particularly liberal in giving
21all that Sekeletu ordered though
2246 as he feeds on the cattle he has
23in charge he might have felt it
24so much abstracted from his
25own perquisites - Mpololo now
26acts the great man and is followed
27everywhere by a crowd of toadies, who sing songs
28in disparagement of Mpépe of whom he always
29lived in fear - While Mpepe was alive
30he was     regaled with the same fulsome
31adulation & now they curse him - They
32are very foul-tongued - Equals in meeting
33often     great each other with a
34profusion of oaths and end the
35volley with a laugh -

0214
1213
2

Berry / In coming up the river
3to Naliele we met a party
4of fugitive Barotse returning
5to their homes and as
6it illustrates the social status
7of these subjects of the Makololo
8I introduce it here -   The
9villagers in question were the
10children or slaves if we
11may use the term of a
12young man of the same age
13and tribe of Sekeletu - who
14being of a an irritable temper
15was {went} by the nickname
16Sekobinyane = a little slavish
17thing -       His treatment of
18his servants was so bad
19that most of them had fled
20and when the Mambari
2147 came and contrary to the
22orders of Sekeletu purchased
23slaves Sekobinyane one
24or two of the Barotse
25children of his village - The
26rest fled immediately to
27Masiko a Barotse chief
28in the North and were
29gladly recieved as his subjects
30Some of When the women

31

When Sekeletu and I ^ first ascended
32the Leeambye the fir {we} met
33Sekobinyane coming down
34on his way to Liny-anti -
35On being asked the news 0215
1XXV 214
2he remained silent about
3the loss of his village - it being
4considered a crime among
5the Makololo for any one to
6treat his people so as to
7cause their flight - He then
8passed us and secretly made
9his escape away   from
10Linyanti [↪ to Lake
11Ngami] dreading the vengeance
12of Sekeletu for his crime -
13He was sent for and the
14chief at the Lake delivered him
15up on Sekeletu declaring that
16he had no intention of punishing
17him otherwise than by scolding
18He did not even do that as
19he was evidently terrified enough
20and even became ill through
21fear -

22

The fugitive villagers
23remained only a few weeks
2448 with their new masters and
25then fled back again and
26were recieved as we saw
27as if nothing wrong had been
28done by them - All united in
29abusing the conduct of
30Sekobinyane - and the cattle
31the use of which they had
32previously enjoyed having
33never been removed from
34their village they re-established
35themselves with apparent
36zest -

0216
1

215
2This incident may give some
3idea of the serfdom of the subject
4tribes and except that they
5are sometimes punished
6for running away and
7other offences I can add
8nothing more by way of shewing
9the true nature of this form
10of slavery -

11
12
13

Leaving Mabonta Naliele
14with authorit amidst abundance
15of good wishes for the success
16of our expedition and hopes
17that we might return accompanied
18with white traders we began
19again our ascent of the river
20Berry It was now beginning to
21171 [rise though the rains had but
22just begun in the valley - The
23banks are low but clearly
2449 cut and seldom sloping
25At low water they are from
26four to eight feet high and make
27the river always assume
28very much of a canal
29character - They are ^ in some parts
30of whitish tenaceous clay
31with strata of black clay loam
32in sand - or pure sand
33stratified -   As the river rises
34it is always wearing to one
35side or other and l is known 0217
1216
2to have cut accross from one
3bend to another and form
4new beds -   As we coast
5along the shore pieces which
6are undermined often fall
7in with a splash like that
8of an alligator and endanger
9the canoe -

10

These perpendicular banks
11afford building places to a
12pretty bee eater * * Merops
12apiaster &
12M- Bullockoides
12Smith - (apiaster)
13which loves to breed in
14society -   The face of the sand
15bank is perforated with
16hundreds of holes leading
17to their nests each of which
18is about a foot apart from
19the other - And as we pass
20they pour out of their hiding
21places and float over head

22

A speckled kingfisher
23is seen every hundred yards
2450 almost which builds in
25similar spots and attracts
26the attention of the herd boys
27who dig out their nests
28for the sake of the young
29This kingfisher and a most
30lovely little blue & orange one
31are seen everywhere along
32the banks dashing down like
33bolts into the water for their
34prey - -   Another seen more
35rarely is as large as a pigeon
36and is of a slaty colour

0218
1

217
2Mead / Another inhabitant of the
3banks is the sand martin
4which too loves company
5in the work of raising a
6family -   They never leave
7this part, one may see
8them preening themselves in
9the very depths of winter while
10the swallows of which we
11shall yet speak take winter
12trips -   I saw sand martins
13at the orange river when
14during a period of winter frost
15it is therefore probable that
16they do not migrate even
17thence

18
19

Around the reeds which
20in some parts line the banks
2151 we see fresh water sponges
22They usually encircle the stalk
23and are hard and brittle - presenting
24numbers of small round
25grains near their circumference

26
27

The river was was
28running at the rate of[ ] five
29miles an hour and carried
30bunches of reed and decaying
31vegetable matter on its bosom
32yet the water was not discoloured
33The want of discol {It} had however
34a slightly yellowish green tinge
35(ie-   somewhat deeper than
36its natural colour - This arose 0219
1218
2from a quantity of sand
3carved by the rising flood
4from the sandbanks which
5are annually shifted from
6one spot too another and
7from the pieces falling in
8as the banks are worn
9for when it is allowed to
10stand in a glass, a few
11seconds suffice for its
12deposit at the bottom - This
13is considered an unhealthy
14period - When waiting on one
15occasion for the other canoes
16to come up I felt no inclination
17to leave the canoe but my
18head boatman Mashauana told
19me never to remain in it the
20while so much vegetable
21matter came floating down

22

17th December at
23Libonta             We were detained
24for days together collecting presents
25of fat and butter according
26to the orders of Sekeletu as
27presents to the Balonda chiefs
28Much fever prevailed, and
29ophthalmia was rife as is
30generally the case before the
31rains begin - Some of my
32own men we required my
33assistance as well as the
34people of Libonta - [↪ A lion had
35done a good
36deal of mis-
37-chief here
38and when
39the people
40went to
41attack it
42two men
43were badly
44wounded
45one whom
46I examined
47had of them
48had his
49thigh bone
50quite broken
51shewing
52the prodigious
53power of
54this animals
55jaws - The
56inflammation
57produced
58by the teeth
59wounds
60proved fatal]

61

52 Here we demanded the 0220
1219
2the remainder of the captives &
3got our {the} number increased
4to 19 nineteen - They were chiefly
5women and children and one
6young man of twenty - One of the
7boys was taken away in
8the crowd, as we embarked
9The Makololo underchiefs often
10act in direct[ ] opposition to
11the will of the chief trusting to
12circumstances and lying to screen
13them from his open displeasure
14And as he does not always
15find it pr convenient to notice
16faults they often go to considerable
17lengths in wrong -

18

Libonta is the last town
19of the Makololo so when we
20parted with it we had only
21a few cattle stations [↪ and out-
22laying
23hamlets] in front
24and then an uninhabited border
25country till we came to
26Londa or Lunda - Libonta
27is situated like the rest of
28the villages in the Barotse
29valley on a mound - but
3053 here the tree covered sides
31of the valley begin to approach
32nearer the river - The village
33itself belongs to two of the chief
34wives of Sebituane who
35furnished us with an ox and
36abundance of other food
37The same kindness was 0221
1220
2was manifested by all who
3could afford to give anything
4and as I glance over their
5deeds of generosity recorded
6in my journal my heart
7glows with gratitude to them
8and I hope & pray that God
9may spare me to make
10 [them] some return

11
12

BeforeOn leaving the villages
13entirely we may glance at
14our way of [spending
15the nights] life - Those
16 [of the Makololo] in the valley are surrounded
17by a wall of high reeds about
18six inches thick - Each
19hut has its own [        ]
20wall besides and there is
21an open court before and
22behind - The space enclosed
23is made quite smooth and
24hard by plaster of the glutinous
25earth of anthills - and quite
26free from insects

27

54 As soon as we land some
28 of the men cut a little grass
29for my bed while Mashauana
30plants the poles of the little
31tent -   These are used by
32day for carrying burdens
33for the Barotse fashion
34is exactly like that of
35the East Indians only the
36burden is borne near its
37pole & not attached by a long cords 0222
1221
2an The bed is made and boxes
3ranged on each side of it &
4then the tent pitched over all
5Four or five feet in front
6of my tent is placed the
7principal or Kotla fire
8the wood for which must
9be collected by the man
10who occupied {s} the post of
11Herald and takes as his
12perquisite the heads of all
13the oxen slaughtered and
14of all the game too = Each person
15knows the station he is
16to occupy in reference to the
17post of honour at the fire
18which viz in front of the door
19of the tent -   The two Makololo
20occupy my right & left - both
21in eating & sleeping as long
22as the journey lasts But
2355 Mashauana my head boat
24man makes his bed at the
25door of the tent as soon as
26I retire -   The rest divided
27into small companies according
28to their tribes make sheds all
29round the fire leaving a horse
30 [shoe] ^ shaped space in front sufficient
31for the cattle to stand in -
32The fire gives confidence to
33the oxen so they are always
34careful to keep them in
35sight of that -   The sheds 0223
1222
2are formed by planting two
3 [stout forked] stout poles in an inclined
4direction and placing one
5over these in a horizontal
6position - A number of
7branches are then stuck in
8the ground in the direction to
9which the poles are inclined
10the twigs drawn down to the
11horizontal pole & tied with
12strips of bark - Long grass
13is then laid over the branches
14in sufficient quantity to
15draw of the rain and
16we have sheds open to the
17fire but secure from beasts
18behind -   In less than an
19hour we were usually all
20under cover - We never
21lacked abundance of grass
22during the whole journey
23It is a picturesque sight to
2456 look out at night when
25the clear bright moon of these
26climates glances on the sleeping
27forms around to see the
28attitudes of profound repose
29both men & beasts assume
30There being no danger from wild
31animals in such a night
32the fires are nearly allowed
33to go out - And as there is
34no fear of hungry dogs
35as in the villages coming
36over them and devouring 0224
1223
2the food or as sometimes
3happened quietly eating up
4the poor fellows blankets
5which at best were but
6greasy skins - The picture
7was one of perfect peace -

8

Sedg / The cooking is usually
9done in their own style
10and as they carefully wash
11 [the dishes pot &] the hands before handling
12food it is by no means
13despicable - I sometimes
14make alterations are made
15at my suggestion and then
16they believe that they can
17cook in thorough white man's
18style - The cook always
19gets something left in the
20pot so all are eager to
21obtain the office -

22

I taught several of them
23to wash my shirts and they
2457 did well though their teacher
25had never been taught that
26work himself - Frequent
27changes of linen and sunning
28of my blanket kept me
29my {me} more comfortable than
30could have been expected
31and I feel certain that the
32 [lessons of] cleanliness rigidly instilled
33into by my mother in childhood
34helped to maintain that
35respect which these people
36entertain for European ways 0225
1224
2It is questionable a descent to
3barbarous ways ever elevates
4a man in the eyes of savages
5I am certain I never became
6infested by the peculiar parasites
7of the uncivilised without
8losing my own self respect
9till I got rid of them

10
11
12
13
14

When quite beyond the inhabited
15parts we found the country
16abounding in animal life
17of every fit form - There are
18upwards of thirty vari {spec}ies of
19birds on the river itself
20The Ibis religiosa in hundreds
21come down the Leeambye as
22they {w}ith the rising water as
23the do on the Nile - Then
2458 Pelicans in flocks of three hundred
25at a time following each other
26in long extending line rising
27and falling so regularly all
28along as to look like an
29extended coil of birds - clouds
30of a black shell-eating bird called
31Linongolo, and ducks, geese
32plovers - snipes curlews, Herons
33without number

34

There are besides the more
35common some strange varieties

0226
1225
2

The pretty white Ardetta is seen in
3flocks settling on the backs of
4large herds of buffaloes and
5following them on the wing
6when they run - While, the
7Kala (Buphagus Ani) is a better
8horseman for he sits on the
9withers when the animal is
10at full speed -

11
12

Then these strange billed bird
13the scizzor-bill with its snow
14white breast jet black coat
15and red nose, sitting by day
16on the sandbanks the very
17picture of a comfortable gentleman
18who loves port when dressed
19for dinner -   They {ir} nests are
20only little hollows made
2159 on these same sandbanks
22without attempt at concealment
23They watch them closely and
24frighten away the Marabou
25 [& crows] from their eggs by feigned
26attacks at their heads

27

The upper bill being so
28much shorter than When man
29approaches their nests they change their
30tactics and like the lapwing and
31ostrich let one wing drop and
32make one leg limp as if lame - This
33decietful dodge to those who ^ have a profound
34veneration for what is called natural
35religion an ^ may be interpreted as an inculcation of natural hy-pocrisy

0227
1

226
2The upper bill being so
3much shorter than the upper
4 [they young ^] it is {are} more helpless than the crow
5in the fable with the flat dishes
6and must have everything
7placed into its {the} mouth by
8the parents till it they ^ are able to
9 [fish -] hunt for ^ themselves itself -   The lower
10mandible as thin as a paper
11knife is put into the water
12while the bird skims along
13the surface and scoops up
14any little insects it meets
15there in beneath the upper - It has
16great length of wing - and can
17continue its flight with the
18greatest ease while the
19hu wings act though kept
20above the level of the body
21The wonder is how this
2260 ploughing of the surface of
23the water can be so well
24performed as to yield a meal
25for most of it is done in
26the dark -   Like most
27aquatic feeders they work
28by night when insects ^ & fishes rise
29to the surface -   They
30have great affection for
31their young -   the amount
32being increased in proportion
33to the helplessness of their
34offspring

0228
1

227
2There are also numbers of
3spoon bills nearly white in
4plumage -     The beautiful stately
5Flamingo -     The Numidian
6crane or Demoiselle some
7of which tamed at Government
8House Cape town struck everyone
9as most graceful ornaments
10 [↪ to a noble
11mansion] as they perched on ^ its pillars - There
12are also two cranes besides
13one light blue - the other light blue
14with a white neck -

15
16

One pretty little bird wader
17appears standing on stilts
18his legs are so long - and his
19bill seems bent in the wrong
20way or upwards - He is constantly
21seen wading in the shallows
22digging up little slippery insects
2361 the peculiar form of the
24bill enabling it to evert them
25easily out of the sand - When
26seen feeding as {they} put their
27heads under water to seize the
28insect inder the bottom in {then} lifts
29it up quickly making a rapid
30gobbling as if swallowing
31a wriggling worm

0229
1228
2

Powell / The Parra Africana runs
3about as if walking on
4water catching insects - It has
5too long thin legs ^ too but extremely
6long toes for the purpose of
7enabling it to stand on
8the floating lotus leaves and
9other aquatic plants - When
10it stands on a lotus leaf five
11inches in diameter the spread
12of toes acting on the principle
13of snow shoes occupy all the
14surface and it never sinks
15though it obtains a livelihood
16not by swimming or
17flying but by walking on the
18water

19

Water Birds whose prey or food
20requires a certain aim or
21 [action in one] straight line of action have
22bills quite straight in form
23as the heron, snipe
2462

25
26

While those which are intended
27 to come in contact with hard
28substances as breaking shells
29have the bills gently curved
30in order that a {t}he shock
31may not be communicated
32to the brain

0230
1229
2

The Barotse valley contains
3great numbers of the Egyptian
4geese * ⎰*Anser
4Leucagaster
4& Melanogaster⎱ -   They may be seen
5everywhere walking slowly
6about feeding - They choose
7anthills for their nests
8and in the time of laying
9the Barotse consume vast
10quantities of their eggs -
11There are also two varieties
12of geese of somewhat smaller
13size but better eating One
14of these the                                   
15cannot rise from the water
16and during the floods of
17the river great numbers
18are killed by being pursued
19in canoes -

20

The third is furnished with
21a peculiar knob on the
22nose

23

63 These with myriads of
24ducks of three varieties abound
25every where on the Leeambye
26by {At} On one occasion the
27canoe neared a bank on
28which large numbers were
29sitting two shots furnished
30our whole party with a
31supper for we picked up
32seventeen ducks and a goose
33No wonder the Barotse
34always look back to this
35fruitful valley as the Israelites
36did to the flesh pots of Egypt - 0231
1230
2The poorest persons are so well
3supplied with food from their
4gardens - and fruits from the
5forest trees with fish from the
6river that their children when
7taken into the service of the
8Makololo where they have only
9one l large meal a day
10become quite emaciated
11and pine for a return to their
12parents -

13
14
15

Part of our company
16marched along the banks
17and p with the oxen and
18part went in the canoes
19but our pace was regulated
20by the speed of the men on
21shore -   Their course was
22rather difficult on account
23of the numbers of departing
2464 and re-entering branches
25of the Leeambye which
26they had to avoid or
27wait at till we ferried
28them over -   The numbers
29of alligators are prodigious
30and in this river they
31are more savage then in
32some others -     Many children
33are carried off annually
34at Sesheke and other
35towns - for notwithstanding 0232
1231
2the danger when they go down
3for water they almost always
4must play a while - This
5reptile strikes the victim with
6his tail then drags him in
7and drowns him - The
8body never appears. - Many
9calves are lost also and
10it is seldom a number
11of cows can be crossed over
12at Sesheke without losing
13some -   I never could
14avoid shuddering in seeing
15my men swimming accross
16these branches - after one
17of them was caught by the
18thigh and taken below
19He however retained as
20most of them in the ^ most ackward -
21circumstances do, his full
22presence of mind and having
2365 a small ^ square ragged edged
24javelin with him when
25at the bottom gave it ^ the alligator a
26stab behind the shoulder
27The alligator writhing in
28pain left him and he
29came out with the deep
30marks of the reptile's teeth
31on his thigh -       Here they
32have no antipathy to such
33persons but in the
34Bamangwato Bamangwato and Bakwain
35tribes if a man was either 0233
1232
2bitten by {or} even had water splashed
3over him by the reptile's tail
4he would be expelled his tribe
5The {Wh}en at the Zouga we
6saw one of the Bamangwato
7living among the Bayeiye
8who had the misfortune
9to have been bitten and
10expelled his tribe - Fearing
11that I shou would regard
12him with the same disgust
13his countrymen profess to
14feel he would not tell me
15the cause of his exile but
16the Bayeiye informed me
17of it and the marks scars of
18the teeth were visible on
19his thigh -     If the Bakwains
20saw went near an alligator
2166 they would spit on the ground
22and indicate its presence
23by saying "boleo ki bo - " there is
24sin - [↪ They imagine
25the mere
26sight of it
27would give
28inflammation
29of the eyes] and though they eat
30the Zebra without hesitation
31if one bites a man he is
32expelled the tribe and obliged
33to take his wife and
34family away to the Kalahari
35These         These curious relics
36of the animal worship of
37former times scarcely exist
38among the Makololo -
39Sebituane acted on the principle
40"whatever is food for men
41is food for me" so men 0234
1233
2so no man is here considered
3unclean -     The Barotse
4appear inclined to pray to
5alligators and eat them too
6for when I shot a water
7Redunca antelope called Machose it
8took to the water - When near
9the other side of the river an
10alligator appeared at its tail
11and then both sank together
12Mashauana who was nearer
13to it than I, told me that "though
14he had called to it to let his meat
15alone it refused to listen" And
16we passed some Barotse lads
17who had speared another
18alligator and were waiting
19in expectation of its floating
20soon after - The meat has
21a strong musky odour
22and not at all inviting for
2367 any one not ^ except the very hungry -

24
25

Berry / When we had gone twenty
26or thirty or forty miles above
27Libonta we sent eleven of
28our captives to the North West
29to the chief called Makoma
30with an explanatory message
31This caused some delay
32but as we were loaded with
33the presents of food of
34the Makololo and the wild
35animals were in prodigious 0235
1234
2herds we fared sumptuously
3It was hard however to
4shoot the lovely creatures
5they were so tame - With
6but little skill in stalking one
7could easily get within 50 or
8sixty yards of them - There
9I lay looking at the graceful
10forms and motions of
11* I propose
11to name this
11new species
11Antilope
11Vardonii after
11the African
11traveller
11Major Vardon beautiful Pokus * Lechés &
12other antelopes often till my
13men wondering what was
14the matter came up to see
15and frightened them away
16If we had been starving
17I could have slaughtered them
18as or {I} should cut off a leg {pa}tient's
19leg but I felt a doubt and
20the antelopes got the benefit of it
21Have they a guardian spirit
22over them? -   I have repeatedly
2368 observed when I came up
24to a herd under lying behind
25an anthill and viewed
26them with but half an eye
27behind a tree ^ on it they very
28soon shewed symptoms
29of uneasiness -   They did
30not snuff danger in the
31wind for I was down
32 [the] wind from them but the
33almost invariable unco {ap}prehen
34-sion of danger which arose
35while unconscious of the
36direction in which it lay 0236
1235
2made me think that each had
3it what the ancient physicians
4thought we all possessed
5an archon or presiding
6spirit

7

If we could ascertain
8the most fatal spot we could
9despatch an animal with
10the least possible amount
11of suffering, but as that is
12probably the part to which
13the greatest amount of
14nervous influence is directed
15at the moment if we cannot
16be sure of the heart or brain
17we are never sure of
18speedy death - Antelopes and
19formed for a partially amphibious
20life and other animals of
21that class are much more
2269 tenacious of life than those
23which are purely terrestrial
24A lechée shot right through
25the body ^ & no limb bone broken is almost sure
26to get away while a Zebra
27with a wound of equal
28severity is sure to drop down
29dead -   Most antelopes when
30in distress or pursued make
31for the water - If hunted
32they always do - I have seen
33a Rhinoceros while standing
34apparently chewing the cud
35drop down dead from a shot 0237
1236
2in the stomach while others
3shot through one lung and the
4stomach go off as little hurt
5But if you crawl up silently
6to [↪ within twenty
7yards of] either the white or black Rhinoceros
8throwing up a pinch of dust
9every now and then to find
10out that your anxiety to keep
11your body out of sight by
12the bushes has not led you
13up to his windside {ward} side and
14st sit down, rest the elbows
15on the knees and direct slanting
16a little upwards to a sp {dark}
17spot behind the shoulders
18he falls stone dead -

19

To shew that the nervous
20shock on the point to which
21much nervous force is at
2270 the time directed it may be
23mentioned that an Eland
24when hunted may be dispatched
25by a wound which does
26little more than injure
27the muscular system And
28a giraffe has been known
29to drop down dead when
30pressed hard by a good horse
31two or three hundred yards
32without any wound being
33inflicted -     A ^ full gallop by
34an Eland or giraffe quite
35dissipates its power and the
36hunters aware of this always
37try to press them at once to this 0238
1237
2knowing that they have but a
3short space to run before
4the animals are in his power
5In doing this they knowing are
6careful to not to go too close
7to the giraffe's tail for this
8animal can swing his
9hind foot round in a way
10which would leave little
11to choose between a kickclap with
12it and a clap from the arm
13of a windmill

14

When the nervous force
15is entire as in a tsessebe shot
16 [through the neck] while quietly feeding, we went
17to him and one of the men
18cut his throat to deep enough
19to bleed him largely - He then
2071 started up and ran more than
21a mile and would have
22got clear off had a dog not
23brought him to bay
24under a tree where we found
25him standing

0239
1XXVI 238
2

Sedg / My men having never had
3firearms in their hands before
4found it so difficult to
5hold the muskets steady on
6the flash of fire in the pan
7that they naturally expected me
84 to furnish our {them} with "gun
9medicine" - without which
10the {it} is almost universally
11believed no one can shoot
12straight - Great expectations
13had been formed ^ when I perceived by the
14 [on my arrival among] ^ the Makololo on the subject but
15having invariably declined
16to decieve them as some
17do for their own profit - my
1872 men now concieved that
19I would ^ at last consent and thereby relieve myself from
20the hard work of hunting
21by employing them [↪ after due
22medication] This
23I was most willing to do [↪ if I could have
24done it honestly]
25for having but little of the
26hunting furore in my
27composition, I always preferred
28eating the game to killing
29it -   Sulphur is the remedy
30most admired -   And I
31remember Sechele giving
32a large price for a very
33small bit -   He also gave
34some elephants tusks worth
35£30 for another medicine
36which a was to make him
37invulnerable to musket balls 0240
1239
2As I invariably recommended
3trial that these experiments
4 [things ˄] should be tested by experiments
5a calf was anointed with
6a charm and tied to a
7tree - It proved decisive,
8and Sechele remarked it was
9"pleasanter to be decieved than
10undecieved" -   I offered sulphur
11for the same purpose - but
12that was declined even when
13a person came afterwards
14and rubbed his hands with
15a little before a trial of shooting

16

I explained to my man
17the nature of the gun and
18tried to teach them but they
19would soon have expended
2073 all the ammunition in our
21possession and I was thus
22obliged to do all the shooting
23myself [↪ ever afterwards] -   Their inability was
24rather a misfortune for
25in consequence of working
26too soon after having been
27bitten by the lion the bone
28of the arm had not united
29well -   Continual hard
30manual labour and some
31falls from oxback lengthened
32the ligament by which a
33false the ends of the bones
34were united and a false
35joint was the consequence 0241
1240
2The limb has never been painful
3like those of my companions
4on the day of the rencontre
5with the lion but there
6being a joint too many
7I could not steady the rifle
8and I was always obliged
9to shoot with the piece
10resting on the left shoulder
11I wanted steadiness of aim
12aim and it always happened
13Sedgwick that the more hungry the
14party became the more
15frequent were my misses
16I missed the animals
17179
18
19

20

74 We spent a Sunday in
21our way up to the confluence
22of the Leeba and Leeambye
23Rains have {d} fallen here
24before we came and the
25woods had put on their
26gayest hue - Flowers of
27great beauty and curious
28forms grow everywhere
29They are unlike those in
30the South and so are the
31trees -   Many of the forest
32 [tree ˄] leaves are palmated and
33largely developed - Many
34The trunks of the trees
35are covered with f Lichens 0242
1241
2and the abundance of ferns
3which appear in the forest
4shews we are now in a
5more humid climate than
6any to the South of the
7Barotse valley -     The
8ground begins to swarm
9with insect youth and
10in the cool pleasant morning
11the welkin rings with the
12singing of birds which areis
13not so delightful as, the
14notes of birds at home
15because I have not been
16familiar with them from
17infancy -   They do however
18strike the mind as the
19by their loudness and variety
20as the very an wellings forth
2175 from joysome hearts of
22praise to Him who fills them
23with overflowing gladness
24All ˄ of us rise early to enjoy
25the luscious balmy air
26of the morning -     We have
27their worship, and amidst
28all the beauty and love {l}iness
29with which we are surrounded
30there is still a feeling of want
31in the soul in viewing one's
32poor companions and hearing
33bitter words impure words
34jarring to the ear in the perfection
35by of whi the scenes of nature 0243
1242
2and a longing that both their
3hearts and ours should be
4brought into harmony with the
5Great Father of Spirits - I pointed
6out the remedy which God
7has presented to us all in the
8unexpressibly precious gift
9of His own Son on whom
10the Lord "laid the iniquity of
11of us all" in as usual the
12simplest words I could muster
13The great difficulty in dealing
14with these people is to
15make the subject plain
16enough -   The minds of the
17auditors cannot be understood
18by one who has not mingled
19much with them - They readily
20pray for the forgiveness of sins
21and then sin again - confess
2276 the evil of it and there the
23matter ends -

24

Mead / I shall not often advert
25to their depravity - My practice
26has always been to apply
27the remedy ˄ for this with all the ˄ possible vigour
28but never allow my own
29mind to dwell on the dark side
30 [shades ^] of men's characters -   Those who
31I have never been able to
32draw pictures of guilt in order
33 [as if that could] to awaken Christian sympathy
34The evil is there - But all
35around in this fair creation 0244
1243
2are scenes of beauty - and to
3turn from there to ponder
4on scenes of sin cannot
5promote a healthy state of
6the faculties - I attribute
7much of the health I ha {en}joy
8to following the plan
9adopted by most physicians
10of active laborious efforts
11to assist the needy - while
12and at the same time
13following the delightful studies
14of some department of
15natural history - The mass
16of human misery and sin
17we endeavour to alleviate
18and cure may be likened
19to the impure sickness or {and}
20impurity of some of the back
21slums of great cities - One
22contents himself by ministering
2377 to the sick and trying to
24remove its causes without
25remaining longer in the
26filth than ˄ is necessary for his
27work - Another equally
28anxious for the public good
29stir up every cesspool
30that he may describe its
31reeking vapours and by
32long contact with impurities
33becomes himself infected
34sickens and dies

0245
1

244
2The men went about during
3the day and brought back
4wild fruits of several varieties
5I had not hitherto seen - One
6called Mogametla-etsa Mogametsa
7is a bean with a q little pulp
8round it which looks like
9tastes like sponge biscuit
10Another ˄ [named Mawa] grows abundantly on
11a low bush -   There are many
12berries and edible bulbs
13almost every where -   The
14Mamosho or Moshomosho
15and Milo a medlar was
16to be found near our
17encampment -   The latter
18two are good if indeed one
19can be a good judge who
20felt quite disposed to
2178 pass a favourable verdict
22on every fruit which
23had the good character
24of being eatable at all
25Many however are better
26than our crab apple and
27 [or slow {e} &] had they half the care
28and culture these have
29enjoyed might take high
30rank among the fruits of
31of the world -   All that the
32Africans have thought
33of has been present
34gratification and now
35as I sometimes deposit 0246
1245
2date seeds in the soil and tell
3them I have no hope whatever
4of seeing the fruit it seems
5to them like what the deed
6of the South Sea Islanders
7appears to us when they
8planted iron nails in their
9gardens

10

There are many fruits
11and berries in the forests
12the uses of which are
13unknown to my companions
14Great numbers of a kind
15of palm I have never met
16before are {were} seen growing
17at and below the confluence
18Loeti of the Loeti & Leeambye - the
19seed probably came down
20that river - It is nearly
21as tall as the Palmyra
22The fruit is larger than of
2379 that of species -   It is about
244 inches in its long diameter
25and has a soft yellow
26pulp round the kernel
27or seed -   When ripe this
28is fluid and stringy like
29the mango and not very
30pleasant to eat -

31

Before we came to
32the confluence of the Leeba
33and Leeambye we find
34the banks twenty feet high
35and composed of marly
36sandstone -   They are covered 0247
1246
2with the trees and the left bank
3has the Tsétse and elephants
4I suspect it has some
5connection with this animal
6for the Portuguese in the
7district of Tete call it the
8 [(Musca da Elephant)] Musc the Elephant fly

9

The water of inundation
10covers even these lofty
11banks but does not stand
12long upon them hence
13theis crop of trees - Where
14it stands for any length
15of time trees cannot live
16On the right bank or
17that in which the Loeti
18a river 80 or 100 feet br flows
19there is an extensive country
20flat elevated country called
21Mango Mango which though
22covered with grass is
23destitute in a great
2480 measure of trees

25

Powell / Flocks of green pigeons
26rose from the trees as
27we passed along the banks
28and the notes of many
29birds told that we were
30now among strangers
31but I could make no
32collection as I was pro-
33ceeding on the plan of having
34as much little luggage as
35possible so as not to
36excite the cupidity of those 0248
1247
2through whose country we
3intended to pass - River birds
4as the Ibis religiosa - small
5snipes - ducks (- anas histrionica
6geese and others come down
7in great numbers with
8the rising waters
9One goose cannot rise
10from the wing and we
11say how men with
12light canoes could spear
13catch them in a race -

14
15

B Vast shoals of fish
16come down the Leeambye
17as we observed they
18do in the Zouga with
19the rising waters -   They
20are probably induced to this
21migration by the increased
22rapidity of the current dis-
23-lodging them from their
2481 old pasture grounds - Insects
25constitute but a small
26portion of the food of many
27[   ] fish -   Fine vegetable
28matter like slender mosses
29is devoured greedily and
30as they are dislodged from
31the main stream by the
32force of the current and
33find abundant pasture
34on the flooded plains the
35whole community becomes
36disturbed and wanders

0249
1248
2

The Mosala - (Clarias Capensis
3(the Glanis siluris) - mullet - (Mugil
4Africanus) and other fishes
5spread over the Barotse valley
6in such numbers that when
7the waters retire all the people
8are employed in cutting them
9up and drying them in
10the sun -   The supply exceeds
11the demand and the land
12and in numerous places
13is said to emit a most
14offensive smell - Whever
15you see the Zambesi
16in the centre of the country
17it is remarkable for the
18abundance of animal life
19 [in an ˄] on its waters and upon
20the ajacent banks

21

We passed great numbers
22of hipp hippopotami - They
23are very numerous in
24the parts of he river where
25they are never hunted
26The males appear of a dark
2782 colour - The females of
28yellowish brown -   There
29is not such a complete
30separation of the sexes among
31them as among elephants,
32They spend most of their
33time on the water lolling about
34in a listless dreamy manner
35When they come out of
36water by night they crop off 0250
1249
2the soft succulent grasses
3very neatly, when they blow
4they puff up the water about
5three feet high

6
7

On the 27th December we were
8at the confluence of the Leeba
9Masiko and Leeambye -   Masiko the
10Barotse chief for whom
11we had some captives lived
12nearly due East of this
13point -   They were two little
14boys, a little girl & a young
15man and two middle aged
16women [↪ one of these was
17a member of
18the Babimpe tribe
19who knock
20out both upper
21& lower front
22teeth as a distinction] - As we had been
23informed by the captives
24on the previous Sunday that Masiko
25was in the habit of seizing
26all orphans and those who
27have no powerful friend
28in the tribe whose protection
29they can claim, and selling
30Mambari them for clothing to the Mambari
31we thought the objection
32of the women to go first to
33his town before seeing their
3483 friends quite reasonable,
35and resolved to send a party
36of our own people to see
37them safely among their
38relatives -       I told the ˄ captive young
39man to tell Masiko that he
40was very unlike his father
41Santuru who had refused
42to sell his people to Mambari 0251
1250
2He will probably be afraid to
3deliver such a message
4himself but it is meant
5for his people and they will
6circulate it pretty widely untill
7and Masiko may yet feel
8a little pressure from without
9We sent a Batoka man Mosantu [↪ the Batoka of
10our party] and
11his companions ^ with the captives
12The Barotse whom we had
13being unable ˄ were unwilling to go
14to Masiko as they owe him
15allegiance and while they
16continue with the Makololo
17our considered rebels -   The
18message by the Ba Mosantu
19was that "I was sorry to
20find that Santuru had not
21borne a wiser son - Santuru
22loved to govern ˄ men children but
23Masiko wanted to govern
24wild beasts only as he sold
2584 his people to the Mambari"
26adding an explanation of the
27return of the captives - and
28an injunction to him to live
29 [in peace &] prevent his people kidnapping
30the children and canoes
31of the Makololo - as a continuance
32in these deeds would lead to the
33war which I wished to prevent
34He was also instructed to say
35if we Masiko wanted fuller
36explanation of my views
37he must send a sensible man 0252
1251
2to talk with me at the first town
3of the Balonda to which I was
4about to proceed

5

Mosantu We ferried Mosantu over
6to the left bank of the Leeba
7The journey required five days
8but it cannot have been
9 [at a quicker rate] more than ten or twelve miles
10per day for the children were
11not more than between
12seven and eight years of
13age and unable to walk
14fast in a hot sun -

15

Leaving Mosantu to
16pursue his course we
17shall take but one glance
18down the river - which we
19are now about to leave
20for it comes nowat this point from
21the Eastward and our
22course is to be directed
23to the N - N - W - if we mean
2485 to go to Loando in Angola
25- From the confluence where
26we now are down
27to Mosioatunya there are
28many long reaches where
29a considerable vessel equal
30to the Thame's Steamers
31plying between the bridges
32could sail as freely as
33they do on the Thames
34It is often as broad as that
35river at London bridge 0253
1252
2There are however many
3and serious obstacles to
4a continued navigation
5for hundreds of miles at
6a stretch -   About ten miles
7below the confluence of
8the Loeti [↪ for instance] there are many
9large sandbanks in the
10stream - but then you have
11a hundred miles to the R -
12Simah where a Thames
13Steamer could ply at all
14times of the year, and again the
15space between Simah &
16Katima-molelo Katimal Molelo has five
17or six rapids with reaches
18cataracts one of which
19Gonye could not be
20passed at any time of
21the year without portage -
22Between these rapids
2386 there are reaches of still
24deep water of several
25miles in length - Beyond
26Katima molelo to the confluence
27of the Chobe you have nearly
28 [a hundred miles] ˄ again of a river capable of being
29navigated in the same
30way as in the Barotse valley -

31

Berry / Now I do not say that
32this part of the river presents
33a very inviting prospect
34for European enterprise
35but where we have a pathway
36which but requires the 0254
1253
2formation of locks portages
3 [to make it] equal to our canals for
4hundreds of miles, where
5the philosophers supposed
6there was nought but
7an extreme sandy desert
8we must confess that
9the future partakesadverts at least
10of the elements of hope -
11My deliberate conviction
12was that this {e} part of the country
13indicated is as capable of
14supporting millions of
15inhabitants as it is of
16its thousands -   The grass
17of the Barotse valley for
18instance in such a densely
19matted mass that when
20fallen down the stalks
21bear each other up so
22that one feels as if
23walking on the sheaves
2487 of a hay stack - and the
25Leche's nestle under it
26to bring forth their young
27This, if placed under the plough ^ [instead of being
28mere pasturage
29would fill
30millions of
31mouths]

32

We now began to
33ascend the Leeba -   The ˄ water is black
34in colour as compared
35with the main stream which
36here assumes the name
37Kabompo -   The Leeba
38flows placidly and unlike
39the parent streamriver recieves
40numbers of little rivulets
41from both l sides 0255
1254
2It winds slowly through the
3most lovely meadows each
4of which has either a soft
5sedgy centre, large pond or
6trickling rill down the middle,
7The trees are now covered
8with a profusion of the
9freshest foliage and seen
10planted in groups of such
11pleasant graceful outline
12that art could add no
13additional charm - The
14grass which had been
15burned off and was
16growing again after the
17rains was short and
18green and all the scenery
19is so like that of a
20carefully tended gentleman's
21park that one is scarcely
22reminded to that he is in
2388 uncultivated regions - I suspect
24that the level meadows
25are inundated annually
26for the spots on which
27the trees stand are elevated
28a li three three or four feet above
29them and these elevations
30being of different shapes
31give the strange variety
32of outline of the park
33like woods -   Numbers of
34a fresh water shell are
35scattered all over these
36vallies too -     The elevations 0256
1255
2too as I have observed elsewhere
3are of soft sandy soil and
4the meadows of black
5rich alluvial soil loam
6There are many beautiful
7flowers and many bees
8to sip their nectar - We found
9plenty of honey in the woods
10and saw the stages on
11which the Balonda dry
12their meat when they come
13down to hunt and gather
14the produce of the bees
15wild hives -   In some
16one part we came upon
17groups of lofty trees as
18as straight as             with festoons
19of orchilla weed hanging from
20the branches - This which is
21used as a dye stuff is found
22nowhere in the South dry
23country in the South -   It
2489 prefers the humid climates
25near the West Coast

26

One of our people was
27bitten by a serpent which
28must have been harmless
29for he felt no harm - his
30companions ascribed his
31escape from danger to
32many of them being present
33and seeing the serpent -
34A large buffalo was shot
35and ran into the thickest 0257
1256
2part of the forest bleeding profusely
3The young men went on his
4trail and though the vegetation
5was so dense no one could
6have run more than a few
7yards most of them went
8along quite carelessly picking
9 [and eating] up a fruit of the melon
10Mponko family called Mpok {n}ko
11When he heard them approach
12he always fled shifting his
13stand and doubling on his
14course in the most
15remarkable manner - In
16other cases I have known
17them turn back to a point
18a few yards from their
19own trail and then lie
20down in a hollow waiting
21for the hunter to come up
22Though a heavy lumbering
23looking animal his charge
24is then terrific and rapid
2590 More accidents happen
26with the buffaloes and the black
27Rhinoceros than with the
28lion -     Though all are aware
29of the cunning of the buffalo
30when wounded - our young
31men went on to him
32quite carelessly -   They never
33lose their presence of mind
34but as he charges back
35in a forest dart dexterously 0258
1257
2out of his way behind a tree
3and wheeling round it stab
4him as he passes

5
6
7

Mead / A tree in flower brought
8the pleasant scent of hawthorn hedges
9back to memory for its
10 [leaves] flowers ˄ scent and fruit resembled
11those of the hawthorn - only
12the flowers here were as large
13a a h dog roses and the "haws"
14were like ˄ boys marbles -   The
15flowers smell sweetly [↪ while few in
16the South emit
17aught but
18a sent at all
19or only a
20nauseous
21odour] and
22a {A} botanist would find a
23rich harvest of them on
24the banks of the Leeba - This
25would be his best season
26for the flowers all run
27so rapidly to seed - and
28then insects of every shape
29spring into existence to
30devour them -     The climbing
31plants display great vigour
3291 of growth growth being not
33only thick in the trunk but
34thick at the very point in
35the manner of quickly
36growing asparagus -     The
37Maroro Marol {r}o or Malolo now
38appears and is abundant
39all in many parts between
40this and Angola -   It is a
41small bush with a yellow 0259
1258
2fruit and in its appearance
3a dwarf Anona - The taste
4is sweet and its {the} fruit is
5wholesom though & It f is
6full of seeds in the manner
7of the sweet sop

8
9
10

On the 28th we slept on
11a spot on the right back
12from which had just
13emerged two broods of alligators
14We had seen many young
15ones as we came up - so ^ [this seems to
16be their time
17of coming
18forth]
19the river sunning themselves
20in company with the old
21on sand banks -   We made
22our fire in ˄ one of the deserted nests
23Sedg [which was {ere} strewed all over
24with the broken shells - - When
25at the Zouga we ob saw
26sixty eggs taken out of one
27such nest -   They are
2892 about the size of those
29of al goose only the eggs
30of the alligator are of
31the same diameter at
32both l ends and the ˄ white shell is
33partially elastic from having
34a strong internal membrane
35and but little lime in its
36composition -   The distance
37from the water was about
38one ten feet and there was
39evidence of the same place 0260
1259
2having been used for the same
3purpose in former years
4- A broad path led up from
5the water to the nest and the
6dam it was said by my
7companions after depositing
8the eggs covers them up
9and returns to assist
1093 the young out of the egg
11place of confinement
12and out of the egg - She leads
13them to the edge of the water
14and then leaves them to catch
15small fish for themselves - [↪ ⎰Such assistance
16seems necessary
17for here they
18had besides
19the tough
20membrane
21of the shell
22four inches
23of earth upon
24them, but
25they do not
26require immediate
27aid for food
28because they
29all retain a
30portion of yolk
31equal to that
32of a hens egg
33in a membrane
34in the abdomen
35as a stock of
36nutriment in
37beginning independant
38existence by catching fish⎱]
39Fish is the principal food
40of both small and large
41and they are much assisted
42in catching them by their
43broad scaly tails - Sometimes
44an alligator viewing a
45man in the water from
46the opposite bank rushes
47accros across the stream
48with wonderful agility
49as is seen by the high
50ripple he makes on
51the surface - but in general
52they act by stealth - sinking
53beneath the surface
54as soon as they see
55man - -   They seldom
56leave the water
57to catch prey
58but enjoy 0261
1260
2the sun basking in the sun [↪ In walking
3along the bank
4of the Zouga
5once a
6small one
7about three feet long
8made a rush
9at my feet
10and made
11me rush
12quickly in
13another
14direction but
15this is unusual
16for I never
17heard of
18another case
19like it -
20A ˄ wounded leché chased
21into any of
22the lagoons
23in the Barotse
24valley wound
25or a man or dog
26going in for
27the purpose
28of bringing
29out a dead
30one is almost
31sure to be seized
32though the alligators seldom
33appear on
34the surface]
35and when employed in looking
36out for food ˄ they keep out
37of sight -   The fish chiefly
38by night -   When eating
39they make a loud champing
40noise which when once
41heard is never forgotten -

42

Sedg /
43      The young in this instance
44do not appear wary
45They were about sixten inches
46long - with yellow eyes and
47pupil a perpendicular slit
48They were all marked with
49transverse stripes of pale
50green and brown half
51an inch broad -   When
52speared they bit the spear
53savagely though their
54teeth were but partially
55developed - uttering at the
56same time a sharp bark
57like that of a whelp
58when it first begins to
59use its voice - I could not
60ascertain whether the dam
61devours them as reported
62or whether the Ichneumen
63has the same reputation
64her as in Egypt - Probably
65the Barotse and Bayeiye
66would not look upon
67it as a benefactor - they
6894 0262
1261
2prefer to eat the eggs themselves
3and be their own Ichneumens
4The white of the egg does not
5coagulate but the yolk
6does and this is the only
7part eaten

8

As population increases
9they will decrease for their
10nests will be oftener found
11Their principal check on
12their inordinate increase
13seems to be man -   They
14are more savage
15and commit more mischief
16in the Zambesi ^ [Leeambye] than in
17any other river - After
18dancing young men run
19down to the water to wash
20of the dust & perspiration
21and cool themselves before
22going to bed - and are thus
2395 often swept away - One
24wonders they are not afraid
25but the fact is they have
26as little sense of danger
27impending over them as
28the hare had of the hound
29and in many rencontres
30in which they escape
31they had not time to be
32afraid and laugh at the
33circumstance afterwards
34There is a want of calm
35reflection -   In many cases 0263
1XXVII 262
2not referred to in this book
3I feel more horror now
41 in thinking on dangers I have
5run than I did at the time
6of their occurrence
75

8

Chester When we came to that
9part of the river opposite to
10the village of Manenko the
11first female chief we
12had met two of the people
13called Balunda or Balŏnda
14came to us in their little
15canoe -   From them we
16learned that Kolimbota one
17of our party who had been
18in the habit of visiting
19these parts was believed
20by the Balonda to have
21acted as a guides to the
22party maur marauders
23under Lerimo whose
24captives we were now
25returning -   They suspected
26this very naturally from
27the facility with which
28their villages were {had} ^ been found
29by and as they had removed
30them since to some
31distance from the river
32they ^ now felt unwilling to
33lead us to their places of
34concealment - We felt
35we were in bad repute but
36having a ^ captive a boy and girl to 0264
1263
2to shew in evidence of Sekeletu
3and ourselves not being
4partakers in the guilt of
52 inferior men I could
6freely express my desires
7that all should live in peace
8They evidently felt that I
9ought to have taught the
10Makololo first before coming
11to them for they remarked
12 [that] what I advanced was
13very good but guilt lay
14at the door of the Makololo
15for disturbing the ↪ previously
16⎰existing⎱ ⎰peace⎱ -   They then
17went away to report us
18to Manenko -

19

When the strangers visited
20us again in the evening they
21were accompanied by
22a number of the people of
23an Ambunda chief named
24Sekelenke -   The Ambunda
25live far to the North West
26Their language the Bunda is
27the common dialect in
28Angola -   Sekelenke had
29fled and was now living
30with his village as a
31vassal of Masiko - As notices
32of such men will perhaps
33convey the best idea of
34the ^ state - of the inhabitants to the
35reader I shall hereafter 0265
1264
2to the conduct of the man Sekelenke
3whom I at present only introduce
4Sekelenke had gone with
5his villagers to hunt elephants
6on the right bank of the
73 Leeba and now was on
8his way back to Masiko -
9He sent me a dish of
10boiled zebra's flesh and
11a request that I should
12lend him a canoe to
13ferry his wives and family
14accross the river to the
15bank on which we were -
16encamped -   Many of Sekelenke's
17people came to seesalute the first white
18man they ever had an opportunity
19of seeing but Sekelenke him-
20self did not come near,
21We heard he was offended
22with some of his people for
23letting me know he was
24among the company - He
25said I would be offended
26with him for not coming
27and making some present,
28t {T}his was the only instance
29in which I was shunned
30in this quarter - As it

31

As it would have been
32impolitic to pass Manenko
33or any chief without at
34least shewing so much respect
35as to call & explain the objects 0266
1265
2of our passing through the country
3we w waited onetwo entire days
4for the return of the messengers
5to Manenko - And as I could not
6hurry matters aw {I} went into
74 the country ajacent to search
8for meat for the camp -
9The country is coveredfurnished largely
10with forest having occasionally
11open lawns covered with
12grass not in tufts as in
13the South but so closely
14planted one cannot see the
15soil -   We came upon a
16man and his two wives and
17children burning coarse
18rushes and the stalks of
19Tsitla growing in a brackish
20marsh - in order to extract
21a kind of salt from the
22ashes -     They make a funnel
23of branches of trees and
24line it with grass rope [  ] woven
25 [twisted] round untill it is as if it were a be
26beehive roof inverted - The
27ashes are put into water in
28a calabash and then it is
29allowed to percolate through
30the small hole in the bottom
31and through the grass - When
32this water is evaporated in
33the sun it yields sufficient
34salt to form a relish with
35food -     The women and 0267
1266
2fled with precipitation, but we
3sat down at a distance and
4and allowed the man time
5to gain courage enough to
65 speak -   He however trembled
7excessively at the apparition
8of before him - but when
9we explained our object was
10to hunt game and not men
11he became calm and called
12back his wives - We soon
13afterwards came to another
14 [man {party} ^ ^] on the same errand with
15ourselves -     The man had
16a bow about six feet long
17and iron head arrows
18about thirty inches in length
19He had also wooden arrows
20neatly barbed to shoot in
21cases where he might not
22be quite certain of recovering
23 [them again] his arrows - We soon
24afterwards get a zebra and
25gave our hunting friend
26such a liberal share he we
27soon became friends - All
28whom we saw that day
29then come with us to the
30encampment to beg a little
31meat - and as they have
32so little salt I have no
33doubt they felt grateful
34 [for] what we gave -

35

Sekilennke and his people 0268
1267
2defiled past our camp twenty
3four in number carrying large
4bundles of dried elephants
5meat - Most of them came to
66 say Good bye and Sekelenke
7himself sent to say he had
8gone to visit a wife living
9in the village of Manenko -
10As he was probably in the
11party before us I replied
12that it was all right and when
13my people came up from
14up from Masiko I would
15go to my wife too - It was a
16mere African manoeuvre
17to gain information and
18not commit himself to either
19one line of action or another
20with respect to our visit
21Another zebra came to our
22camp and as we had friends
23near it was shot - It was the
24Equus Montanus ^ finely mark down to as indeed
25 [the feet ^ as] all the zebras are in these
26parts though the country
27is perfectly flat

28

Dennett / To our first message
29of an offer of to a visit ^ of explanation to Manenko
30we got an answer with a
31basket of Manioc roots that
32she we must remain where
33we were till she should visit
34us me -     Then Having waited
35two days for her ^ already other messengers 0269
1268
2 [came ^] with orders for me to come to
3her - [↪ after four
4days ^ of rains and negotiations
5with this
6lady]   This I declined ^ going at all and proceeded
7up the river to the village of
8Manenko's aunt Nyamoana
9small river Makondo which
107 enters the Leeba from the
11East - and is between twenty & thirty yards ^ broad

12

Jany- 1st 1854 We had heavy rains almost
13every day - Indeed the rainy
14season had fairly set in
15Baskets of the purple fruit
16called Mawa were ^ frequently brought
17to us by the villagers [↪ ⎰not for sale
18but from
19a belief
20that their
21chiefs would
22be pleased
23to hear that
24they had
25treated us
26well - We
27gave them
28pieces of
29meat in
30return⎱] - When
31crossing ^ at the ^ confluence of the & Leeba Makondo one
32of my men picked up a
33bit of a steel watch chain
34an of English manufacture
35and we were informed
36that this is the spot where
37the Mambari cross in coming
38to Masiko - Their visits explain
39why Sekelenke keeps {pt} his
40tusks so carefully -   These Mambari
41are very enterprising tradersmerchants
42When they mean to trade with
43a town they deliberately begin
44the affair by building huts
45as if they knew that little
46business could be transacted
47without a liberal allowance
48of time for palaver -   They
49bring in Manchester goods
50to the heart of Africa -   these
51cotton prints look so wonderful 0270
1269
2the Makololo could not believe
3them to be the work of mortal
4hands -   The Makololo   o {O}n
5questioning them ^ Mambari, they were answered
68 that English manufactures
7came out of the Sea and
8beads were gathered on its
9shore -   To Africans our
10cotton mills seem are fairly
11fabrications dreams - "How can
12the irons spin weave and
13dy print so beautifully" -   The Sea
14 [Our country] is like what Taprobane was
15to our ancestors - a strange realm
16of light whence th came the diamond
17muslin and peacocks & Explanation
18of wh {our} manufactures produces
19the expression "Say, ye are gods!"

20

When about to leave the
21Makondo - one of my men had
22dreamed that Mosantu was
23shut up in a stockade and
24unable to a prisoner -   This
25dream depressed the spirits
26of the whole party and when
27I came out of my little
28tent in the morning they
29were all sitting the picture
30 [of abject] of sorrow -   I askeddemanded if we
31were to be guided by a
32 [by] dreams or by the authority
33I derived from Sekeletu
34and ordered them to load the
35boats at once -   They seemed 0271
1270
2seemed ashamed to confess
3their fears but the Makololo
4 [↪ picked up
5courage and] upbraided them ^ others with their for having
6such superstitious views and said
7this was always their
8way if If they a certain
99 bird called to them even
10they would turn back from
11an enterprise, saying it was
12unlucky -   They entered the
13canoes at last, and
14were the better of a little
15scolding for being inclined
16to put dreams before my
17authority -   It rained all
18morning, but about eleven
19we reached the village of
20Sheakondo Sheakondo, on a small stream
21Lekone named Lekone ^ Longkonye   We sent a
22Longkonye salu message to the headman,
23at once and he soon appeared
24with two wives bearing
25handsome presents of
26Manioc - Sheakondo could
27speak the language of the
28Barotse well, and seemed
29awestruck when told some
30of the "words of God" -   He
31manifested no fear, always
32spoke frankly, and when
33he made an asseveration
34did so by simply pointing
35up to the sky above him 0272
1271
2The Balonda cultivate the Manioc,
3or Cassava, extensively - , also Caffre
4Sorghum, - Earthnuts, beans
5maize, - sweet potatoes and
6yams - here called "Lekoto", But
7we see only the outlying villages
810 yet -

9

The people who came with
10Sheakondo to our bivouacment
11had their teeth filed to a point,
12by way of beautifying them,
13though though those which
14were left untouched were
15always the whitest -   They
16are generally tattoed in various
17parts, - but chiefly on the abdomen
18The skin is raised in pieces
19 [↪ small elevated
20cicatrices,
21each] nearly in {half} ^ an inch long and a
22quarter of an inch in diameter,
23so that a number of them
24may constitute a star or
25other device -   The dark colour
26of the skin prevents any
27colouring matter being
28deposited in these figures,
29but they love much - to
30have the whole surface
31anointed with a comfortable
32varnish of oil -   In their
33unassisted state they depend
34on supplies of oil from
35the Palma Christi or castor oil,
36or from various other
37oil oliferous seeds, but they 0273
1272
2they are all excessively fond
3of clarified butter or ox fat
4Sheakondo's old wife presented
5some manioc roots and then
6politely requested to be anointed
711 with butter - As I had been
8liberally supplied by the Makololo
9I gave her as much as
10would suffice, and as they
11have so little clothing I can
12readily believe she felt her
13comfort greatly enhanced
14thereby

15

Bristow / The favourite wife who
16was also present was equally
17anxious for butter -   She had
18a profusion of iron rings
19on her ankles to which were
20attached little pieces of sheet
21iron to enable her to make
22a tinkling as she went in
23her mincing African style -
24The same thing is thought pretty ^ [↪ by our own
25dragoons
26in walking
27jauntily]

28

We had so much rain
29and clouds - I could not get a
30single observation for either
31longitude or latitude for
32about a fortnight - Yet
33the Leeba does not shew
34any great rise nor is
35the water in the least discoloured
36It is slightly black from
37the number of mossy rills
38which fall into it - Soon 0274
112 273
2It has remarkably few birds
3and fish while the Leeambye
4swarms with both [↪ ⎰It is noticeable
5that alligators
6here possess
7more of the
8fear of man
9than
10in the
11Leeambye
12The Balonda
13have taught
14them by their
15poisoned
16arrows to
17keep out of
18sight - We
19did not see
20one basking
21in the sun -
22The Balond
23set so many
24little traps
25for birds
26but few
27appear⎱] - I observed
28however many (to me) new
29 [small ^] birds ^ of song on its banks - More
30rain has been falling in
31the East than here for
32the Leeambye was rising
33fast and was working
34against the sandy banks
35so vigorously a slight
36yellow tinge was perceptible
37though it soon lost
38them when the sand was
39allowed a few hours to
40settle at the bottom of the
41glass -

42

One of our men was bitten
43by a non-venomous serpent - and
44of course felt no harm   The Barotse
45concluded this was owing to many
46of them being present and seeing it
47as if the sight of human eyes could
48dissolve the poison & act as a charm

49

On the 6th January we reached
50the village of another female
51chief named Nyamoana
52who is said to be the mother
53of Manenko and sister of
54Shinte or Kabompo the
55greatest Balond chief in
56this part of the country
57They had but recently come
58to the present locality and 0275
1274
2erected at {o}nly twenty huts - The
3husband       Sa-mo-ana was
413 clothed in a kilt of green and
5red baize and was armed
6with spear - broad sword
7of antique form about eighteen
8inches long and three broad
9The chief and her husband
10were sitting in {on} a skins placed
11in the middle of a circle
12twenty paces in diameter
13a little raised above the
14ordinary level of the ground
15and having a trench all
16round it -     Outside the trench
17sat about a hundred persons
18of all ages and sexes -   The
19men were all well armed
20with bows arrows spears
21and broad swords - Beside
22the husband sat a rather
23aged woman having a
24bad outward squint in
25the left eye -   We put down
26our arms about forty
27yards off and I walked
28 [up to the centre] o of to the circular bank
29and saluted him in the usuall
30way of by clapping the hands
31together ^ in their fashion he pointed to his
32wife as much as to say
33the honour belongs to her
34I saluted her in the same
35way and a mat having
36been brought I squatted down 0276
1275
2in their front -

3

The talker was then called
4and I was asked who was
5my spokesman - Having pointed
614 to Kolimbota who knew
7their dialect best the palaver
8began in due form - I explained
9the real objects I had in
10view without any attempt
11to mystify or appear in
12any other character than
13my own, for I am have
14always been satisfied that
15even though there were
16no other considerations
17the truthful way of dealing
18with the uncivilized is
19unquestionably the best -
20Kolimbota repeated what I
21had said to him to Nyamoanas
22talker -   He delivered it all
23verbatim to her husband and
24he repeated it again to her
25It was thus all rehearsed
26four times over in a tone
27loud enough to be heard by
28the whole party of auditors
29The an response came back
30by the same round about
31route beginning at the
32lady to her husband - &c -

33

After explanations and
34re-explanations I percieved
35that our new friends were 0277
1276
2were mixing up my message of
3peace and friendship with
4Makololo affairs and stated
515 that it was not delivered on the
6authority of any one less than
7that of their creator and
8that if the Makololo did again
9break his laws and attack
10them the guilt would rest
11with the Makololo themselves
12and not with me -   The
13palaver then drewcame to a close -

14

By way of gaining their
15confidence I shewed them
16my hair which is considered
17a curiosity in all this
18region They say - "Is that hair!!
19Its the mane of a lion &
20not hair at all -" Some thought
21I had made a wig of lion's
22mane as they sometimes
23do with the fibres of the Ife
24and dye it black ^ & twist it so as to
25resemble a mass of their own
26wool -     I could not return
27the joke by telling them that
28theirs was not hair but
29wool the wool of sheep for
30they have none in the
31country and even though
32they had as Herodotus
33remarked the sheep are clothed
34with hair and men's heads
35with wool -     So I had to 0278
1277
2to be content with asserting that
3mine was the real original
4hair such as theirs would
516 have been had it not been scorched
6and frizzled by the sun - In proof
7of our {w}hat the sun could
8191______________ do ^ I compared my own
9bronzed face ^ & hands then about
10the same as in colourcomplexion as
11the lighter coloured Makololo
12with the white skin of
13my chest -   They readily
14believed that we might be
15of common origin after all
16as they go readily naked
17and fully exposed to that
18influence   Here as everywhere
19when heat and moisture
20are com-bined the people
21are very dark but not
22quite black -   There is
23always a shade of brown
24 [in] the ve {m}ost deeply coloured
25I shewed my watch and
26pocket compass which are
27considered great curiosities
28but though the lady was
29called on by her husband
30to look she would not be
31persuaded to approach near
32enough

33

Robinson / These people seem
34more superstitious than
35any we had yet encountered 0279
1278
2Though still but building their
3village they had found time
417 to erect two little sheds in {at} the
5chiefs circle dwelling in it
6in which were placed
7two pots containing ^ having charms
8 [in them ,] When asked what medicine
9they contained they replied "medicine
10for the Baru {i}mo (gods or departed
11spirits) but when I rose
12and looked into them they
13said they bu {w}ere medicine
14for the game -   Here we
15saw the first evidence of
16the existence of idolatry in
17the remains of an old idol
18at a deserted village - It was
19simply a human head carved
20on a block of wood - Certain
21charms mixed with red ochre
22and white pipe clay are dotted
23over such when they are
24in use -   And a crooked stick
25is used in the same way
26for an idol when they have
27no carver -

28

As the Leeba seemed
29still to come from the direction
30in which we wished to go
31I was desirous of proceeding
32farther in the same direction
33with the canoes - but Nyamoana
34was anxious that we should
35allow her people to conduct 0280
1279
2us to her brother Shinté and when
3explained the advantage of
4water carriage she represented
518 that her brother did not live
6near the river and moreover
7there was a cataract in
8front f {o}ver which it would
9be difficult to convey the
10canoes - She was afraid too
11Balobale that the Balobale whose
12country lies to the w {W}est of
13the river not knowing
14the objects for which we
15had come would kill us
16To my reply that I had been
17so often threatened with death
18if I kill {vis}ited a new tribe
19that I was now more afraid
20of killing anyone than being
21killed   - she rejoined that
22the Balobale would not
23kill me but the Makololo
24would all be sacrificed as
25their enemies -   This produced
26considerable effect on my
27companions and inclination
28to follow the plan of Nyamoana
29and go to the Town of her
30brother rather than ascend the
31Leeba -   The arrival of
32Manenko herself on the
33scene threw so much weight
34into the scale on their side
35that I was forced to yield
36the point

0281
1280
2

Manenko was is a tall strapping
3woman about twenty her husb
419 distinguished by a profusion
5of ornaments and medicines
6hung round her person as
7 [↪ The latter are
8supposed to
9act as] charms.   She Her body was smeared
10all over with a mixture
11of fat and red ochre as
12a protection against the weather
13a necessary precaution
14for like the rest of the Balonda
15ladies she was otherwise
16in a state of frightful nudity
17This was not from want
18of clothing for being a chief
19she might have been
20as well clad as any of her
21subjects but from her
22peculiar ideas of elegance
23in dress -   When she arrived
24Sambanza with her husband Sambanzax
25they listened for some time
26to the statements I was making
27to the people of Nyamoana
28and the husband acting as spokesman
29commenced an oration
30stating the reasons for their
31coming and during every
32second two or three seconds
33of the delivery he picked up
34a little sand and rubbed
35on the upper part of
36his arms and chest -   This
37is a common mode of
38salutation in Londa, and 0282
1281
2when they wish to be excessively
3polite they bring a quantity
420 of ashes or pipeclay in
5a piece of skin and take
6up handfuls and rub it
7on the chest and upper
8 [front ^] part of each arm -   Others
9drum in saluting drum their
10ribs with their elbows
11and others touh {c}h the ground
12with both ch {o}ne cheeck {k} after
13the other and clap their
14hands -     The chiefs go through
15the manoeuvre of rubbing
16the sand on the arms
17but only make a feint
18at picking up some - When
19Sambanza had finished his
20oration he rose up and
21shewed his ankles ornamented
22with heavya bundle of copper leglets
23Had they been very heavy
24they would have made
25adopt a straggling walk
26Some chiefs have really
27so many as to be forced
28 [↪ by the weight
29& size] to keep one foot apart from
30the other and walk as if
31the weight was a serious
32inconvenience -   The gentlemen
33like Sambanza who wish
34to imitate their betters do so
35in their walk so you see men
36with only a few ounces of
37ornament on their legs walking 0283
1282
2walking as if they had double
3the number of pounds - When
4I smiles at Sambanza's walk
521 the people remarked "that shews
6lordship in these parts"

7

Mr Wilkes / Manenko was quite
8decided in the policy of friendship
9with the Makololo, and by
10way of cementing the bond,
11she and her counsellors
12proposed that Kolimbota
13should take wife among
14them -   By this expedient
15tshe hoped to secure his
16friendship and accurate
17information as to the
18future intentions of the
19Makololo -   He will visit
20 [the Balonda] them more frequently, and
21th having the good excuse
22of going to see his wife and
23the Makololo will never,
24she thinks kill the villagers
25among whom so near
26a relative of one of their
27own children dwells ⎰-⎱
28Kolimbota, I found thought
29favourably of the proposition
30and it afterwards led to
31his desertion from us -

0284
1283
2

Soon after On the same
3evening that On the evening
4of the day in which Manenko
5arrived we were delighted
6Mosantu by the appearance of Mosantu
722 and an imposing embassy
8from Masiko; - It consisted
9of all his underchiefs, and
10they brought a large Elephant's
11tusk - , two calabashes of honey
12and a large piece of blue
13baize, as a present     The last
14was intended to shew me that
15he was a truly great chief
16who had such stores of white
17men's goods at hand that
18Dennet he could [afford to give presents
19of them, - They might be intended
20 [too,] for M Mosantu -   Masiko is
21expressed delight by his principal
22men at the return of the captives,
23and at the proposal of peace
24and alliance with the Makololo,
25 [he stated ^] that he never sold any of
26his own peo-ple to the
27Mambari but only such
28as his people kidnapped
29from small neighbouring
30tribes -   When the question
31was put whether his people
32had been in the habit of
33molesting the Makololo by
34kidnapping their servants
35and stealing canoes, - It was 0285
1284
2admitted that two of his men
3had when hunting had gone
4to the Makololo gardens to see
5if any of their relatives were
623 there -   As the great object
7in all native disputes is to
8get both parties to turn over
9a new leaf I explained the
10desirableness of forgetting
11past feuds, and accepting
12the present Makololo professions
13as genuine, and avoid
14in future to give them
15any cause for marauding
16I presented Masiko with
17an ox provided by Sekeletu,
18as provisions for ourselves
19All these people are excessively
20fond of beef and butterx from
21having been accustomed
22to it in their youth, ^ [↪ before the
23Makololo
24deprived
25them of
26cattle- {;}] -   They
27have abundance of game,
28but I am quite of their
29opinion that after all
30there is nought in the world
31equal to Roast beef, - and
32in their love for it the English
33 both good taste and sound
34sense - - As it was nominally
35for Masiko, his men were
36very anxious to get my sanction
37for slaughtering it on the
38spot - I replied that when it
39went out of my hands I had no
40more to do with it - ;   They, however, 0286
1285
2wished the responsibility of
3slaughtering it to rest with
4me - If I had said y {t}hey
524 might kill it not many
6ounces would have remained
7in the morning - I would have
8given permission but had nothing [↪ else to make a
9present
10with in
11return for
12Masiko's
13generosity]

14

We were now without
15any provisions except a
16small dole of manioc roots
17each evening from Nyamoana,
18which, when eaten raw,
19produce poisonous effects
20A small bit of loaf made
21from the last morsel of
22maize meal from Libonta
23was all my stock; - and
24our friends from Masiko
25were equally destitute,
26yet we all rejoiced so much
27at their arrival that
28we resolved to spend a day
29with them -   The Barotse
30of our party meeting with
31relatives and friends
32among the Barotse of
33Masiko, had many old
34tales to tell, and after pleasant
35hungry converse by day
36we regaled th our friends
37h with the magic lantern
38by night, -   I would have
39and in order to make the thing
40as {of} as much use to all we
41removed our camp up to the village
42                                of Nyamoana 0287
1XXVIII 286
2It is a good means of arresting
3the attention and conveying
4important facts to the minds
525 of these people

6

/ When erecting our sheds
76 in {at} the village Manenko fell
8upon our friends from
9Masiko in a way that
10left no doubt on our
11minds but that ^ she is a most
12accomplished scold - Masiko
13had on a former occasion
14sent to Samoana for a cloth --
15a common way of keeping up
16intercourse - and after recieving
17it sent it back because it had
18the appearance of having had
19witchcraft medicine on it;,
20This was a grave offence, and
21now Manenko had an
22excuse for venting her spleen, --
23 [for] in the ambassadors having
24called at her villages, and
25slept in one of the huts ^ without leave - If
26her family was to be suspected
27of dealing in evil charms
28why were Masiko's people
29not to be suspected of
30having such in her hut -
31She advanced and receded in
32true oratorical style, - belabouring
33her own servants as well
34for allowing the offence,
35and, as usual in more civilized
36feminine lectures, leaned over 0288
1287
2over the objects of her ire, and
3screamed forth all their faults
426 and failings ever since they were
5born, and her despair of ever
6seeing them becoming better untill
7they were hanged, ("killed by
8alligators - ") Masiko's people
9followed the silent plan of
10recieving this torrent of abuse,
11and as niether we nor they
12had any thing to eat we parted
13next morning - [↪ ⎰In reference to Masiko
14to selling
15slaves to
16the Mambari⎱] They promised
17to explain the relationship which
18exists between even the most
19abject of his people to our
20common Father, and that
21no more kidnapping should
22be allowed as he ought
23to give that peace and
24security to the smaller
25tribes on his Eastern borders,
26which he so much desired
27to obtain himself from the
28Makololo, And we promised
29to return through his town
30when we came back from
31the sea coast -

32

Manenko gave us some
33Manioc roots in the morning
34and had determined to carry
35our baggage to her uncle's
36Kabompo or Shinté - {;} We
37had a sample of what she
38could do with her tongue 0289
1288
2and neither my men nor myself
3had much inclination to encounter
4a scolding from this black Mrs Caudle,
527 so we made ready the packages,
6but she said she the men
7whom she had ordered for
8the service had not yet
9come, - They would arrive
10tomorrow - Being on low
11and dis-agreable diet we I
12felt annoyed at this further
13delay, & ordered the packages
14to be put into the canoes, -
15 [to] and proceed up the river
16without her people; - But
17Manen̄ko was not to be
18circumvented in that way;
19She came forward ^ with her people and said
20her uncle would be angry
21if she did not carry forward
22the tusks and goods of Sekeletu, -
23seized the luggage and added
24she would carry it in spite
25of me -   My men succumbed
26to this petticoat government
27sooner than I did so, I had
28 [leaving me] no power, - and being unwilling
29to encounter her tongue
30 [I] was moving off to the
31canoes; - but she gave me
32such a kindly explanation,
33and with her hand on
34my shoulder put on a motherly
35 [look - {,}] saying, now my little man
36just do as the rest have done 0290
1289
2my feelings of annoyance
3vanished, and I went - out
428 to try and get some fmeat

5

The only game to found
6in these parts is the Zebra
7Kualata, or Tahetsi (Aigoceros
8equina) Kama (Bubalus
9caama) buffaloes, - and
10the small antelope - (Philantomba)

11
12

[The animals] They can be seen only by
13following on their trail for
14 [many] ^ miles; We Urged on by hunger
15we followed that of some
16Zebras during the greater part
17of the day, -   When within
18fifty yards of them a {in} a
19dense thicket, I made sure
20of one, but to my infinite
21disgust the gun missed fire
22and off they bounded, - The
23climate is so very damp, from
24daily heavy rains, that
25every thing becomes loaded
26with moisture, and the
27powder in the gun nipples
28cannot be kept dry
29It is curious to mark the
30intelligence of the game in
31different parts, - In p {di}stricts
32where they are much
33annoyed by fire arms, - They
34keep out on the most
35open spots of country they can
36find - in order to have 0291
1290
2a widely extended range of vision,
3and a man arr {m}ed is carefully
4shunned -   From the frequency
529 with which I have been allowed
6to approach nearer without
7than with a gun I believe
8they know the difference
9of safety and danger in the
10two cases - But here, where
11they are killed by the arrows
12of the Balonda, - they select
13for safety the densest
14forest where the arrow
15cannot be easily shot - The
16difference of se {t}he selection
17of standing spots during
18the day may however
19partly be owing to the greater
20heat of the sun - for here it
21is particularly sharp and
22piercing by day, -   However
23accounted for the lif {w}ild
24animals here do select
25the forests by day, while
26those ^ [farther] in the South generally
27shun them {se} - ^ covers, and on several
28occasions I have observed
29there was no sun to cause
30them to seek for shade

0292
1

Cross / 291
211th January 1854 On starting this morning
3Samoana or rather Nyamoana
430 for the ladies are the chiefs
5here presented a string of
6beads and a shell highly valued
7among them as an atonement
8for having ^ [assisted Manenko] as they thought
9 [to] vexed me y {t}he day before
10They seemed anxious to avert
11any evil which might arise
12from my ill will ^ [displeasure] but having
13replied that I never kept up
14my anger all night they were
15well pleased when I seemed
16 [to see me] satisfied -   We had to cross a
17stream which flows past the
18village of Nyamoana in a
19canoe - Manenko's doctor
20waved some charms over her
21 [and she took
22some in her
23hand and
24on her body] [^] before she ventured upon the
25water -   One of my men
26spoke rather loudly when
27near the Doctors basket of
28medicines -   The doctor reproved
29him and spoke always in
30a whisper himself glancing
31back to the basket as if
32afraid of being heard by something
33therein - So much superstition
34is quite unknown in the
35South and is mentioned here
36to shew the difference in the
37feelings of this new people &
38and the comparative want of
39feeling on these points among
40                                Caffres & Bechuanas

0293
1292
2

Manenko was accompanied
3by her husband and drummer
431 The latter continued to thump most
5vigorously untill a heavy Scotch
6mist sets in and compelled
7him to desist - Her husband
8used various incantations
9and vociferations to drive
10the rain away but on it poured
11incessantly, and on our
12Amazon went in the very
13lightest marching order at
14a pace that few of the men
15could keep up with her
16I being on ox back could
17went kept pretty close to our
18leader and asked her why
19she did not clothe herself
20during the rain and learned
21that it is not considered proper
22for a chief to appear effeminate
23He or she must always wear
24the appearance of robust youth
25& little else and bear the
26vis-cissitudes without wincing
27My men in admiration
28of her pedestrian powers
29every mow & then remarked
30"Manenko is a soldier" and
31thoroughly wet & cold we were
32all glad when she proposed
33to prepare our nights lodgings
34on the banks of a stream

0294
1293
2

The country through which
332 we were passing was ^ athe same succession
4of forest and open lawns
5as was formerly mentioned - The
6forest trees were nearly all
7 [ever] greens and the open of good
8though not very gigantic
9size -   The lawns were
10covered with grass which
11in thickness of crop looked
12like ordinary by English
13hay -   We passed two small
14Hamlets surrounded by
15gardens of maize and
16Manioc and near these
17we observed for the first
18time an ugly idol common
19in Londa of an animal
20resembling an alligator
21made of clay - The structure
22is of grass pl pa {l}astered over
23with soft clay - Two cowrie
24shells form the eyes &
25a numbers of th bristles from
26the tail of an elephant are
27are inserted in {a}bout the neck
28It is called a lion though
29if one were not told he
30would conclude it to be
31an alligator -   It stood
32in a shed and they ^ [the Balonda ^] pray &
33beat drums before them it
34all night in cases of
35sickness -

0295
1294
2

Some of the men of Manenkos
333 train had shields made of reeds
4neatly woven into a square of {ab}out
5five feet long & three broad
6With these and short broad
7swords and sheaves of iron
8headed arrows they appeared
9rather ferocious characters
10But the constant habit of
11wearing arms is probably
12only a substitute for the
13courage they do not possesss
14We always deposited our
15fire arms and spears outside
16a village before entering it
17while the Balonda on
18visiting us at our encampment
19always come fully armed
20untill we ordered them either
21to lay down their weapons
22or be off

23

Next day we passed
24through a piece of dense forest
25so dense no one could have
26penetrated it without an axe
27It was flooded not by the river
28but by the continued rains
29which passed down every
30day and kept those who
31had clothing constantly wet
32 [I observed ^] In this piece of forest I
33noticed what a very strong
34smell of sulphuretted hydrogen
35This I had observed repeatedly
36in other parts before - I had 0296
1295
2attacks of fever of the intermittent
334 type again and again in
4consequence of repeated
5drenchings in these unhealthy
6part

7
8

On the ^ 11th & t {12th} we were detained
9by long incessant rains so
10heavy I never saw the
11like in the south - I had
12a little tapioca & a small quantity
13of Libonta meal [↪ which I
14reserved for
15worse times] : the patience
16of my men in hunger
17was admirable - The actual
18want is never so painful
19as the thought of getting nothing
20in front -   We thought the
21people of some large hamlets
22near us very niggardly
23and very independant
24of their chiefs for they
25gave us ^ [& Manenko] nothing though
26they had large fields of
27maize in an eatable state
28around them -   When she
29went and kindly begged some
30for me they gave her
31five cobs only -   They were
32subjects of her uncle
33and had they been Makololo
34would have been lavish
35in their gifts to the nephew
36of their chief, I suspect
37they are dependants of some 0297
1296
2of some of Shintes principal
335 men and have no power
4to part with the maize of
5their masters -

6

Robinson Each house of these
7hamlets has a palisade of
8thick stakes around it
9and the door is made to
10resemble the rest of the
11stocade - They are never
12seen open - when the owner
13 [wishes to ^] enters he removes a stake
14or two - squeezes his body
15in then plants them again
16in their places so that
17an enemy coming in
18the night would find it
19difficult to discover
20the place of ingress - These
21palisades seem to indicate
22a sense of insecurity in
23regard to their fellow men
24for there are no wild beasts
25to disturb them -   The bows
26and arrows are {have} been
27nearly as efficaceous
28in clearing the country
29here as guns have in
30the country farther South
31This was {is} a disappointment
32to us for we expected a
33continuance of the abundance
34of game in the North which
35we found when we first
36came up to the confluence of 0298
1297
2the Leeba and Leeambye

3
4

36 A species of Rododendron
5tree closely resembling the
6the Le silver tree of the Cape
7(Leucodendron Argenteum) grows
8in abundance in the parts
9through which we have
10travelled since leaving Samoana
11As it grows at a height
12of between 2000 & 3000 feet
13above the level of the
14sea on Table Mountain
15at the Cape - and again
16on the Northern slope
17of the Cashan Mountains
18and here, at similar heights
19it may be considered
20 [as ^] affording an approximation
21to the ^ [altitudes] barometrical heights -
22The rapid flow of the Leeambye
23which I once considered
24evidence of much elevation
25of the country from which
26it flows comes, I now
27consider to be not certai so
28sure a guide as the botanical
29range noticed above -   The
30test by the boiling point
31of water proves     the botanical
32evidence to be so far
33correct -

0299
1298
2

The forest became more
3dense as we went North - We
437 travelled much more in the
5deep gloom of the forest than
6in open sunlight - No passage
7existed on either side of the
8narrow path made by the
9axe - Large climbing plants
10entwining themselves around
11the trunks and branches
12of gigantic trees like boa
13constrictors and such {they} often
14do constrict the trees     in {by}
15which they rose and killing
16them stand erect themselves
17The bark of a fine tree
18found in abundance here
19and called "Motuia" is used
20by the Barotse for making
21fish lines and nets
22and the Molompi so well
23adpted for paddles by its
24lightness and flexibilty
25was abundant - Others were
26quite new to my companions
27but many of them ran
28up to a height of fifty feet
29of one thickness and
30without branches

31

In these forests we
32first encountered ^ the artificial
33bee hives so commonly
34met with all the ^ way from this
35to Angola -     They consist 0300
1299
2of the about five feet of the
338 bark of a tree fifteen or
4eighteen inches in diameter
5One {Two} Incisions are made right
6round the tree at points five
7feet apart from each other
8Then one longitudinal slip {t}
9from one slit ^ of these to the other
10The workman then lifts
11up the bark on each side of
12this slit and detaches it from
13the trunk taking care not
14to break it untill the whole
15comes from the tree - The
16elasticity of the bark makes
17it assume the form it had
18before -   The slit is sewed
19 [or pegged ^] up with wooden pins
20and ends made of coiled
21grass rope inserted having
22a hole for the ingress of
23the bees ^ [in the centre] and the hive is
24complete -     They are placed
25on high trees in a horizontal
26position in different parts
27of the forest - [↪ ⎰In this way
28all the wax
29exported
30from Benguella
31and Loando
32is collected
33It is all the
34produce of
35free labour⎱]   A piece of
36medicine is tied round
37the trunk of the trees and
38proves sufficient protection
39against thev {iev}es - They seldom
40rob each other for all
41believe that certain medicines
42can inflict disease & death
43and though they consider
44that these are only known 0301
1300
2to a few they act on the principle
339 that it is best to let them
4all alone -   The gloom of
5these forests strengthens the
6superstitious feelings of the
7people -   In other parts where
8 [they ^] the people are not subjected
9to this influence I have heard
10the chiefs issue proclamations
11to the effect that real witch {r}aft
12medicines had been placed
13at certain gardens from which
14produce had been stolen on -   The
15thieves having risked the
16power of the ordinary med {ch}arms
17previously placed there

18
19

/ This being the rainy season
20great quantities of Mushrooms
21were met with and were
22eagerly devoured by my
23companions -   The edible
24variety is always found
25growing out of anthills
26and attains the diameter
27of the crown of ones hat
28They are quite white and
29very good when {even} when
30eaten raw -   They are {occ}upy
31an extensive region of
32the Interior - others are {n}ot
33edible are of a brilliant
34red and other of the same
35light blue as the paper used
36by apothecaries to put up their
37                              medicines

0302
1301
2

Bristow / There was considerable
3pleasure in spite of rain & fever
440 in this new scenery -   The
5deep gloom contrasted strongly
6with the shadeless glare - of
7the Kalahari to which I had
8been & left an indelible
9impression on my memory
10Though drenched day by day
11for {at} at this time and for
12months afterwards it was
13long before I could believe
14that we were getting too
15much of a good thing,
16Nor could I look at the water
17being thrown away without
18a slight quick impression
19flitting across the mind
20that we were guilty of
21waste -   Every now & then
22/ we emerged from the deep
23gloom into a pretty little
24valley having a damp
25portion in the middle which
26though now filled with
27water at other times contains
28moisture enough for
29wells only -       These wells
30have shades put over them
31in the form of little huts

32

We crossed a little
33never failing stream in
34canoes which passes by
35the name Lefuje or the rapid 0303
1302
2It comes from a good high
3mountain which we & called
441 Monakadzi (the woman) which
5gladdened our eyes as it
6rose to our sight about
7twenty or thirty miles to the
8East of our course - It is
9of an oblong shape and
10seemed at least a thousan
11800 feet above the plains
12below -   The Lefuje coming
13from it probably derives
14its name from the rapid
15descent of the short course
16it has to flow from the
17Monakadzi to the Leeba.

18
19

The numbers of little
20villages seemed about equal
21to the number of valleys
22at some we stopped and rested
23the people becoming more
24liberal as we advanced - Oth^ee {r}s
25we found emptydeserted a sudden
26panic having seized the
27in habitants though the drum
28of Manenko was kept
29 [beaten] ^ going pretty constantly in
30order to give notice
31of the approach of great
32people -     When we had decided
33to remain for the night at any
34village the inhabitants lent
35us their roofs of their huts 0304
1303
2which in form resemble a
3Chinaman's hat and can
442 be taken off the walls at
5pleasure -       They lifted them
6off and brought them to the
7spot we had selected as our
8lodging and when my men
9proped them up with stakes
10they were then safely housed
11for the night -   Every one
12who comes to salute either
13Manenko or us smears
14 [rubs ^] the upper part of the arms
15and chest with ashes - Those
16who wish to shew profounder
17reverence put some also
18on the face -   We found also
19that every village had its
20idols near it   This is the
21case all through the country
22of the Balonda so that
23when we came to an
24idol in the woods we
25always knew that we
26were within a quarter
27of an hour of human
28habitations -   One ido {v}ery
29ugly idol we passed had
30two loops resting {ed} on a
31horizontal beam placed on
32two upright posts -   This
33beam was furnished with
34two loops of cord as of a
35chain to suspend offerings
36before it -   On remarking 0305
1304
2to our own my companions
3that these idols had ears
4but they heard not &c - I learned
5that the ^ [Balonda and] Barotse even believe
6that divination may be
743 performed by means of these
8blocks of wood & clay
9and though the wood itself
10could not hear the owners
11had medicines by which
12they could be made to hear
13and give responses,
14so that if an enemy were
15approaching they would
16have full information
17Manenko having brought
18us to a stand   on account
19of slight indisposition and
20desire to send forward
21notice of our approach
22to her uncle -   I asked
23if Shinte had idols who
24could tell him everything
25why it was necessary
26to send forward information
27of our movements - "She
28did it only" was they reply -
29It is seldom of much use
30to shew one who worships
31idols the folly of idolatry
32without giving something
33else instead -   They do not love
34them -   They fear them and
35betake themselves to their idols
36only when in perplexity & danger

0306
1305
2

Chester Whilst delayed among the Balonda
3villages a little to the South of
4the town of Shinte by Manenkos
5management we were well
644 supplied by the villagers
7with sweet potatoes - and
8green maize - Sambanzi {a} went
9to his mothers village for
10supplies of other food and
11as I was labouring under
12fever I did not find it
13difficult to exercise patience
14with her whims - but it being
15Saturday I thought we might
16as well go on to the town
17for Sunday (15th) "No, her
18messenger must return
19from her uncle first - " Being
20sure that the answer of the
21uncle would be favourable
22we might I thought we might
23go on at once and not
24lose two days in the same
25spot - "No it is out custom"
26and everything else I could urge
27was answered in the genuine
28pertinaceous lady style -   She
29ground some meal for me
30with her own hands and
31when she brought it told me
32she had actually gone to a
33village and begged corn for
34the purpose, she said this with
35an air as if the inference must
36be drawn by even a stupid white man 0307
1306
2"I know how to manage, dont I?"
3It was refreshing to get food which
4could be eaten without producing
5 [the] effect {unpleasant} described by Revd
6John Newton [↪ of St Mary's
7Woolnoth -
8London] when obliged
9to eat the same roots while
10a slave in the West Indies
11S {T}he day (Saturday 14th) for a wonder
1245 was fair and the sun
13shone so as to allow us to
14dry our clothing and other
15goods many of which
16were mouldy and rotten
17from the long continued
18damp -   The guns rusted
19in spite of being oiled
20every evening

21

During the night we
22were all awakened by a
23terrific shriek from one
24of Manenko's ladies - She
25piped out so loud and
26long we all imagined she
27had been seized by a lion
28and my men all seiz snatched
29up their arms which they
30always place so as to
31be ready at a moment's
32notice and ran to the rescue
33but we found the alarm
34had been caused by one
35of the oxen thrusting his
36head into her hut and
37smelling at her she had put 0308
1307
2her hand on his cold wet nose
3and thought it all over with
4her -

5

On Sunday afternoon
6messengers arrived from
7Shinte expression his approbation
846 of the objects we have in
9view in our journey
10through his country and
11that he was glad of the
12prospect of a way being
13opened up which white
14man might visit him
15and allow him to purchase
16ornaments at pleasure
17 [↪ Manenko now
18threatened in
19sport to go on
20and] I c {w}ould ↪ now see that the
21what seemed to me the
22dilly dallying way of ^ this lady Manenko
23was the proper mode
24of making acquaintance
25with the   Balonda and
26much of the favour with
27which I was afterwards
28recieved in different places
29was owing to my sending
30forward messengers to
31to state the object of coming
32before entering the town
33When we came in sight
34of a village we sat down
35under the shade of a tree
36and sent forward a man
37to give notice of who we
38were and what were our
39objects -     The headman of 0309
1308
2of the village then sent out
3his principal men as shinte
4now did to bid us welcome
5and shews a tree under
6which we might sleep -
747 Before I had profited by the
8rather tedious teaching of
9Manenko I sometimes entered
10a village and created unintention
11-al alarm -   The villagers
12201 would continue to [look
13upon [us with suspicion
14as long [as we remained
15Shinte sent us two large
16baskets of manioc and
17six dried fishes - ^ [His men] They had
18on the skins of a monkey
19called ↪ Poluma ⎰in their tongue⎱
20which is of a jet black
21colour except the long mane
22which is pure white - It is
23said to be found in the
24North - or country of Matiamvo
2511 the paramount chief of all
26the Balonda - We learned
27from them that that they are
28in the habit of praying
29to their idols in when
30unsuccessful in killing
31game or in any other
32enterprise -   They behaved
33with reverence at our
34religious services -   This
35will appear important 0310
1309
2if the reader remembers
3the almost total want of
4prayer and reverence we
5encountered in the South -

6

48
7Our friends informed
8us that Shinte would be highly
9honoured by the presence
10of three white men in his
11town at once - Two others
12had sent forward notice
13of their appraoch from
14another quarter (the West)
15Could this be Barth or Krapf
16How pleasant to meet
17with Europeans in such
18an out of the way region
19The rush of thoughts made
20me almost forget my fever
21 ["Are] Have they the {of} the same colour
22as I am - ?" -- "Yes exactly so"
23"And Have they the same
24hair?" -- "Is that hair? we
25thought it was a wig - "? We
26never saw the like before"
27This white man must be of
28the sort that lives out {in} the
29sea" My men took the hint
30from this and always
31sounded my praises after
32wards as a true specimen
33of the variety of white men
34who live in the Sea - "Look
35at his hair it is made quite
36straight by the ^ sea water"

0311
1XXIX 310
2

Robinson I explained to them again
3& again that when it was
4said we came out of the
549 sea it did not mean that
6we came from beneath
7the water -     but the fiction
8was too pleasant and I
9believe when I was out
10of hearing my men always
11represented themselves
12as led by a genuine
13 [specimen of the] he mermaids "Just see his
14hair"!

15

As the strangers had wooly
16hair like themselves I had
17n to give up the idea of meeting
18anything more European
19than two cross breed Portuguese
20engaged in trading for
21slaves and other articles
22ivory and bees wax -

23
24

On the 16th we {af}ter a short
25march we came to a most
26lovely valley about a mile
27 [& a half ^] wide and stretching away
28 [Eastwards ^] up to a ^ low prolongation of
29Monakadzi - A small
30stream meanders down the
31so {c}entre of this pleasant green
32glen and on a little rill
33which flows into it from
34 [[    ]] the Southern side Western side
35stands the town of Kabompo
36or as he likes best to be called
37                                Shinté 0312
1311
2When Manenko thought the sun
3was high enough for us
450 to make a lucky entrance
5we found the town embowered
6in tropical trees [↪ having great
7expansion
8of leaf] and bananas
9The streets are straight - andd
10present such a ^ complete contrast
11to those [↪ of the] Bechuanas which are
12                  all very tortuous - Here
13too we first saw native
14huts with square walls
15and round roofs -   The
16 [fences] hedges or walls of the courts
17which surround the huts
18are wonderfully straight and
19built made of straightupright poles
20a few inches apart and ^ strong grass
21or leafy bushes neatly woven
22/ between -     In the courts were
23little plantations of tobacco
24a little solanaceous plant
25which the Balonda use
26as a relish and sugar cane
27and bananas - Many of
28the poles have grown again
29and trees of the Ficus indica
30family have been planted
31around in order to give
32to the inhabitants a grateful
33shade -     They regard it with
34with some sort of veneration
35as a medicine or charm - 0313
1312
2Goats were browsing about
3and when we made our
451 appearance a crowd of negroes
5all fully armed ran towards
6as if they would eat us
7up -   Some had guns but
8the manner in which
9they were held shewed that the
10owners were more used
11to bows and arrows than
12than white man's weapons -
13After surrounding and looking
14staring at us for an hour
15they began to disperse

16
17

The two African Portuguese
18(crossbreeds) of whom we had
19heard, had erected a little
20encampment opposite ours
21the place where ours was
22about to be made -   One
23of them whose spine had been
24injured in youth, a rare
25sight in this country came
26and visited us,   and I
27returned the visit next morning
28 [His tall] His companion a tall yellow
29had that sickly hue yellow
30hue which made him
31look fairer than myself
32but his head was covered
33with a ^ crop mat of un-mistakeable
34wool -     They had a gang
35of young female slaves
36in a chain hoeing the 0314
1313
2ground in front of their
3encampment to clear it
452 of weeds & grass -   They seemed
5to have were purchased
6recently in Lobale whence they
7 [the traders] had now come -   There
8were many Mambari with
9them and the establishment
10was conducted with that
11military order which pervades
12all the arrangements of
13the Portuguese colonists - A
14drum was beat and trumpet
15sounded at certain hours quite
16in military fashion - It was
17the first time most of my
18men had seen men {slaves} in
19chains - "They are not men ^ [(meaning they
20are beasts)]
21who treat their children so"

22
23

The Balonda are real
24negroes having much more
25wool on their heads and
26bodies than any of the Bechuanas
27or Caffre tribes - They are
28generally very dark in colour
29and from among them
30have been drawn many of
31the slaves whi {o}ch have
32been exported to Brazil - But
33while they have g {a} general
34similarity to the typical negro
35I am {n}ever could nev {fr}om
36my observation of them think
37that we have ^ [our ideal negro
38seen in Tobacconists shops] is the true type 0315
1314
2A large proportion of the Balonda
3have heads elongated somewhat
453 upwards backwards & upwards
5thick lips - flat noses
6elongated ossa calces &c &c - but
7there are so many good
8looking well shaped heads
9and persons among them
10that ^ hating [except for] the inclination
11to thick lips I thought that
12Ethnologists have gone
13very much on the principle
14of comparing the very
15ugliest specimens of
16of the black races with
17the very {the} most beautiful
18specimens among ourselves

19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

17th Tuesday         We were honoured with
28a grand reception by Shinte about
29one oclock - Sambanza claimed the
30honour of presenting me {us} Manenko
31being ^ [slightly] indisposed -     The Native Portuguese
32and Mam[bari went fully armed with
33guns in order to give Shinte a a
34203 parting salute -   They had their drummer
35and higher trumpeter making as 0316
1315
2 [much] noise as very old instruments would
3yield -   t {T}he kotla or place of
4audience was about a hundred
554 yards square and two graceful
6specimens of the ficus indica
7stood near one end -   Under one
8of these sat Shinte on a sort of
9throne covered with a leopard's
10skin;   He had on a checked jacket
11and kilt of scarlet baize edged
12with green. -   Many strings of
13large beads hung from his
14neck and his limbs were
15covered with iron & copper
16armlets and bracelets -   On his
17head he wore a hell {m}et made of
18beads woven neatly together &
19crowned with a great bunch
20of goose feathers - [↪ close to him
21sat three lads
22with great
23sheaves of
24arrows over
25their shoulders]   As we entered
26the kotla the party of Manenko clapped
27their hands vigorously as a
28salutation to Shinte

29

Behind him sat eighty or one
30hundred women

31

When we entered the kotla we {the}
32whole party of Manenko saluted
33 [Shinte] him by clapping their hands &
34Sambanza did obeisance by
35rubbing his chest & arms
36with ashes - - One of the trees
37being unoccupied I retreated to it
38for the sake of the shade and
39my whole party did the same
40we were now about forty yards
41from the chief and g {c}ould see 0317
1316
2the whole ceremony - The different
3sections of the tribe came
4forward in the same way ^ that we
555 did the headman making obeizance
6with ashes which he carried
7with him for the purpose - Then
8came the soldiers all armed to the
9teeth running and shouting
10towards us - ^ with their swords drawn and their faces screwed
11up so as to appear as savage
12as possible for the purpose
13I thought of trying whether they
14could not make us take to
15our heels -   As we s {d}id not they
16turned round towards Shinte
17and saluted him then retired
18When all had come and were
19seated then began the curious
20capering usually seen in peechos
21A man starts up and imitates
22the most approved d attitudes
23observed in actual fight
24sh Throwing the javelin - recieving
25another in the shield, springing
26to one side to avoid another
27running backwards or forwards
28Sp leaping &c -   Here - the spokesman
29of Nyamoana and Sambanza
30stalked backwards & forwards
31in front of Shinte and gave
32forth in a loud voice all
33they had been able to learn
34either from ourselves or
35people of our past history 0318
1317
2and connection with the Makololo
3the return of the captives - The wish
456 to open the country to trade -   The
5bible as a word from heaven
6the white mans desire to live in
7for the tribes to live in peace -
8ought to have taught the Makololo
9that [↪ first] for the Balonda never
10attacked them yet they attacked
11 [had assailed ^] the Balonda - perhaps he is
12fibbing perhaps not - They rather
13thought he was -   But as the
14Balonda had good hearts and
15Shinte had never done any harm
16to any one he had better recieve
17 [the white man] him well and send him on
18his way. -   Sambanza was
19gailly attired and a {b}esides a
20profusion of beads had a
21cloth so long ^ that a boy carried it
22after him as a train

23
24

Behind Shinte sat about
25a hundred women clothed in
26their best, which best happened
27to be a profusion of red blaize
28The chief wife of Shinte [↪ one of the
29Matibele or
30Zula {u}s] sat
31in front [↪ with a curious
32red cap on
33her head] : S During the intervals
34between the speeches these ladies
35burst forth into a sort
36of plaintive ditty but it was
37impossible for any of us
38to catch whether it was in
39praise of the speaker, of Shinte
40or of themselves - This was 0319
1318
2the first time I had ever seen
3women present in a public assembly
457 In the South the women are {were}
5not permitted to enter the Kotla
6and when invited to come
7to a religious service there
8would not enter untill
9ordered to do so by the chief - but
10here they expressed approbation
11by clapping their hands and
12laughing to different speakers
13and Shinte frequently turned
14round and spoke to them

15

A party of [↪ Musicians consisting of] three drummers
16                             and four
17performers on the piano went
18round the Kotla chief {se}veral times
19regaling us with their music
20The drums are neatly carved
21from the trunk of a tree &
22have a small hole in the
23side covered with a bit of
24spiders web -   The Ends are
25covered with the skin of an
26antelope ^ [pegged on] and when they
27wish to beat tighten it they
28hold it to the fire to make
29it contract -     They instruments are beaten
30with the hands

31

Morimba The piano named Marimba
32consists of two bars of wood
33 [placed side by
34side] (here quite straight but farther
35North bent round so as to resemble
36half the tire of a carriage wheel 0320
1319
2across these are placed about
3fifteen keys each of which is
458 two or three inches broad &
5four {fif}teen or eighteen inches long,
6their thickness is regulated
7according to the deepness of
8the note required - Each of
9the keys has a calabash
10beneath it a part being cut
11off the upper part of which
12to enable it to embrace the
13fo {b}ars and form ^ hollow sounding-
14 [-boards] hollows to the keys - They too
15are of different sizes according
16to the key, and the keys
17are used little drumsticks
18? elicit the notes -   Rapidity of
19execution seems much
20admired among ^ them and the
21music so is pleasant to
22the ear -     In Angola the
23Portuguese use the Marimba
24in their dances -

25

Cross / When nine speakers
26had concluded their speechesorations
27Shinte stood up and so did
28all the people - He had maintained
29true African dignity of manner
30all the while, but my people
31remarked that he never took
32his eyes off me for a moment
33About a thousand people were
34present according to my
35calculation and about three
36hundred soldiers -   The sun had 0321
1320
2now become hot and the scene
3ended by the Mambari discharging
459 their guns.

5

18th          On Wedends We were awaked
6during the night by a messenger
7from Kabompo Shinte requesting
8at visit at a very unseasonable
9hour -   As I was just in
10the sweating stage of an intermittent
11and the path to the town lay
12through a wet valley, I declined
13going -   Kolimbota who knows
14their customs best urged
15me to go but independant
16of sickness I hated words of the
17night - my and deeds of
18darkness -   "I was neither
19a hyaena not a witch"
20Kolimbota thought we ought to
21conform to their wishes
22in everything I thought we
23ought to have some wishchoice
24in the matter as well, which
25put him into high dudgeon -
26However at ten next
27morning we went and
28were led into the courts
29of Shinte ^ [the walls of
30woven rods] all very neat and
31high -   Many trees stood
32within the inclosures and afforded
33a grateful shade - These are
34planted by man for we saw
35some recently put in with
36grass wound round the trunk
37to protect them from the Sun - 0322
1321
2The otherwise waste corners ^ of the streets were
3planted with sugar cane and
460 bananas which spread their
5large light leaves over the walls

6

The Ficus indica, tree under
7which we sat, had very large
8leaves but shewed its relationship
9to the Indian Banian by sending
10down shoots towards the
11ground -   Shinte soon came
12and appeared a man of
13upwards of forty fifty ^ five years
14of age of frank and open
15countenance - He {and} and about the
16middle height -   He seemed in
17good ⎡humour and said he
18Chester had expected yesterday that
19a man who came from
20the G {g}ods would have come
21approached and talked to him
22That had been my own
23intention in going to the reception
24but when we came & saw
25the formidable preparations
26and all his own men keeping
27at least forty yards off from
28 [him, I ^] yielded to the representations
29solicitations of my men and
30remained at {u}nder by the tree - ^ opposite [to that under
31which he sat] This
32remark confirmed my previous
33belief that a frank open
34fearless manner is the most
35winning with all these Africans
36I stated the object of my
37journey and mission 0323
1322
2and to all I advanced the old gentleman
361 clapped his hands in approbation
4He replied through a spokesman
5then all the company joined
6in the [↪ response by] clapping of hands too

7

/ After the more serious
8business was over I asked
9if he had ever seen a white
10man before - He replied "never
11 [you are] I was the very first heI had {ve} seen
12with a white skin and straight
13hair - your clothing too is
14different from any we have
15ever seen too" -   They had been
16visited by Native Portuguese
17(crossbreeds) and Mambari
18al {on}ly -       He presented

19

I ha {On} learning from some
20of the people that "Shinte's
21mouth was bitter for want
22of tasting ox flesh" I presented
23him with one of to his
24great delight and as his
25country is so well adapted
26for them advised him to
27begin a trade in cows
28with the Makololo - He was
29pleased with the idea and
30when we returned ^ [from Loando
31we found that] he had
32profited by the hint for he
33had got three and one
34of them justified my opinion
35of the country for it was
36more like a prize hiefer for
37fatness then any we had 0324
1323
2seen in Africa - He soon
3afterwards sent us a basket
462 of green maize boiled - another
5of manioc meal and a
6small fowl - The maize
7shews by its size the fertility
8of the black soil of all the
9valleys here and so does
10the manioc though no manure
11is ever applied -   We saw
12Manioc attain a height of six
13feet & upwards and this
14is a plant which requires
15the very best soil

16

During this time
17Manenko had been very busy
18with all her people in
19getting up a very pretty hut
20and court yard - to be as
21she said her residence
22always when white men
23where were brought by
24her along the same path
25When she heard that we
26had given an ox to her
27uncle she came forward
28 [↪ to us with the
29air of one
30wronged] and explained that "this
31was her white man, she
32had brought him here and
33that therefore the ox was
34hers not Shinte's - She took
35 [↪ She ordered her
36men to
37bring it] she got it slaughtered by her
38own people ^ by them and presented
39her uncle with a leg only 0325
1324
2This is mentioned exactly as it
3happened and Shinte did not
463 seem at all annoyed by the
5occurrence

6
7

19th I was awaked ^ at an early ^ hour by
8a messenger from Shinte
9but I had just got the thirst
10of a raging fever asuaged by
11the bursting forth of a copious
12perspiration ^ [and declined
13going for
14a few hours] -   Violent action
15of the heart all the way to
16the town did not predispose
17me to be patient with the
18delay which occurred probably
19on account of the divination
20being unfavourable - "They
21could not find Shinte" When
22I returned to bed another message
23was recieved "Shinte wished
24to say all he had to tell mesay at
25once" - This was too tempting
26an offer so he {we} went & he
27had a fowl ready ^ in his hand to present
28a calabas a basket of manioc
29meal and a calabash of
30mead -   Referring to the
31 [constantly] ^ every recurring attacks of
32fever he remarked that
33was the only thing which
34would prevent my reaching
35Loando for he a successful
36issue to my journey for
37he had a guide men to give
38me who knew all the paths 0326
1325
2which led to the white men
3He had himself travelled far
464 as a young man -   On asking
5what he would recommend
6for the fever, "Drink plenty
7of the mead and as it gets
8in it will drive the fever
9out" - It was rather strong, and
10I suspect he likes the remedy
11pretty well even though he has
12no fever -   He had always
13been a friend to Sebituane
14and now that his son ^ Sekeletu was
15in his place he ^ Shinte was not
16a friend but a Sekeletu's father
17 [to him,] and if a son asks a favour
18the father must do it give
19it -       He was highly pleased
20with the large calabashes of
21clarified butter and fat
22which Sekeletu had sent him
23and wished to detain Kolimbota
24that he might send a present
25back to Sekeletu by his
26hands -     This proposition
27we afterwards discovered
28was Kolimbota's own as
29he heard so much about
30the ferocity of the tribes
31in {th}rough which we were
32to pass that he wished to
33save his skin -   As will
34be seen further on he
35was the only one of our
36party to returned with a wound

0327
1

326
2Dennett / We were particularly
3struck in passing through
465 the village with the punti
5punctiliousness of manners
6shewn by the Balonda -
7The inferiors on meeting
8their superiors in the street
9at once drop on their knees,
10and rub dust on their arms
11and chest: {,} cont They continue
12the salutation ^ of clapping their hands untill the
13great ones have passed;
14T {S}ambanza knelt down
15in this manner till the
16Son of Shinte had passed him

17

We several times saw
18the woman, who occupies the
19position of drawer of water
20for Shinte - {,} she rings a
21bell as she passes along
22to give warning to all to
23keep out of her way;
24It would be a grave offence
25for any one to come near
26her, and exercise an evil
27influence by his presence
28of {n} the drink of the chief
29I suspect that offences
30of the slightest character
31among the poor are
32made the pretext for
33selling them t {or} their children
34to the Mambari - for a
35young man of Lobale had 0328
1327
2fled into the country of Shinte
3and located himself without
466 shewing himself to the chief;
5This was considered an
6offence sufficient to warrant
7his being seized and offered
8for sale while we were
9there; -     W {H}e had not reported
10himself so they did not know
11the reason of his running
12away from his own chief; -     and that chief might
13accuse him {t}hem of recieving
14a criminal -   It was
15curious to notice the effect
16of the slave trade in blunting
17the moral susceptibility:
18No chief in the South would
19treat a fugitive in this way -
20m {M}y men were horrified at
21the act even though old Shinte
22and his counsel had some
23shew of reason on their side [↪ ⎰And both the
24Barotse & the
25Makololo
26declared that
27if the Balonda
28only knew
29of the policy
30pursued by
31them to
32fugitives but
33few would
34remain long
35with their
36present chief
37Shinte - They
38My men excited
39the wonder of
40this people by
41stating that
42every one of
43them had a
44cow at least in
45his possession⎱]

46

Another incident which
47occurred while we were here
48many be mentioned as totally
49unknown in the South
50Two children, ^ of between 7 & 8 years, went out ^ to collect firewood a short
51distance from their parents
52home ^ which was a quarter of mile from the village, and were kidnapped;
53The distracted parents could not
54find a trace of them -     This
55happened so close to the town,
56where there are no beasts of prey,
57that we I suspect some of the
58high men of Shinte's court 0329
167 328
2 must have been the guilty parties,
3They can sell them by night [↪ The Mambari
4erect large
5huts of a
6square
7shape to stow
8these stolen
9ones in -
10They are welled
11fed, but
12aired by
13night only - ;
14The frequent
15p kidnapping
16from outlying
17hamlets
18explains the
19stocades
20we saw
21around them
22The parents
23have no
24redress, for
25even]
26and Shinte himself seems
27fond of working in the dark
28One night he sent for me,
29though I always stated I liked
30all my dealings to be above-
31-board:     When I went he
32presented me with a slave
33girl about ten years old - He
34said he had always been
35in the habit of presenting his
36visitors with a child - On
37my thanking him, and saying
38that I thought it wrong
39to take away children from their
40parents, -     that I wished him
41to give up this system altogether,
42and trade in cattle, ivory, and
43bees wax - ,   he urged that she
44was to be a child to me bring
45me water, and that a ^ great man
46ought to have a child for the
47purpose yet I had none - The
48As I mentioned that I had four
49children, and would be very
50sorry if my chief would take
51my little girl and give her
52away, and that I would
53prefer this child to remain
54and comfo carry water for
55her own mother; - he thought
56I was dissatisfied with her
57the size, and sent for one 0330
1329
268 a head taller - This, withAfter many
3explanations of how we detest
4slavery, and how displeasing
5it must be to God to see his
6children selling each other as
7and giving each other, so much
8grief as this child's mother
9must feel, I declined her
10also. -   If but I could have taken
11her with my family & instructed
12 [for the purpose
13of instruction,] her for a time and then
14returned her as a free woman,
15according to a promise I should
16have made to the parents,
17I might have done so; - But
18to take her away, and probably
19never be able to secure her
20return would have produced
21no good effect on the
22minds of the Balonda - They
23would not as I taught
24them {n} have seen evidence
25of the existence of of our hatred to
26slavery -   And the kind attentions
27of my friends, would, as it
28almost always does in s
29similar hea {cas}es, have turned
30 [the poor thing's] her head -     The difference in
31position between them and us
32is as great as between the
33the lowest and highest among
34 [in England; ^] ourselves - and we know
35the effects of sudden elevation
36on wiser heads than hers, whose
37owners have not been born to it - 0331
169 330
2/ Shinte was most anxious
3to see the pictures of the Magick
4Lantern; -   But fever had
5 [so] such a weakening an effect
6and there was such violent
7action of the heart with
8buzzing in the ears, I
9could not go for several
10days - w {W}hen I went I did
11go for the purpose he
12had his principal men,
13and the same crowd
14of court beauties around
15near him as at the reception.
16The first picture exhibited
17was Abraham ^ [knife in hand] about to
18slaughter Isaac his son
19Isaac; -   It was shewn
20as large as life, and
21the uplifted knife was
22in the act of striking
23the lad; -   The ^ Balonda men
24remarked it was much
25liker a god than the
26things of wood or
27clay they worshipped
28I explained that this
29was the first of a race
30to whom God had given
31the bible we h now held,
32and that among the his
33children Our Saviour
34appeared -   The ladies
35listened with awe; - When 0332
170 331
2I moved that slide the uplifted
3dagger moved towards them,
4& they thought - it was to
5be sheathed in their bodies
6instead of Isaac's. "Mother
7Mother"!   they all shouted
8at once; and off they rushed
9helter skelter, tumbling pell
10mell over each other, and
11the little idol huts and
12tobacco bushes; - We could
13not get ^ one of them back again
14Shinte, however, sat bravely
15through the whole, and examined
16with interest the instrument
17afterwards - An explanation
18was always added after
19each time of shewing
20its powers, so that no
21one should imagine there
22was aught supernatural
23in it, and had Mr Murray
24who kindly brought it
25from England seen its
26popularity among both
27Makololo and Balonda
28he would not have
29regretted the direction his
30generosity then took, - It was
31the only mode of instruction
32I was ever pressed to
33repeat or that they
34came long distances for
35the express purpose of
36both seeing & hearing

0333
171 332
2

/ One cannot get away
3quickly from these chiefs,
4They like to have - the honour
5of strangers residing in
6their villages, - here we
7had an additional cause
8of delay in frequent
9rains -   Twenty four hours
10never elapsed without
11heavy showers; - Everything
12is affected by the
13dampness, - Surgical instruments
14become all rusty, - clothing
15mildewed and shoes shoes
16mouldy -   My little tent
17was now so rotten
18and full of small holes
19that every heavy shower
20caused a fine mist
21to des-cend on my blanked
22and make me fain
23to cover me {the} head with
24it -   Heavy dews lay on
25everything in the morning
26even inside the tent,
27And there is only a short
28time of sunshine in the
29afternoon so interrupted
30by thunder showers that
31we cannot dry our
32bedding

33

The winds coming
34from the North b {a}lways
35bring heavy clouds & rain, 0334
172 333
2In the South the only heavy rains
3noticed are those which
4come from the North East,
5or East, -     The thermometer
6falls as low as 72˚ when
7 [there is ^] no sunshine, though ^ when it is fair
8generally as high as 82˚
9 [(the thermometer] (protected) throughout the
10 [even in the] mornings & evenings

11
12
13

24th     We expected have started
14today but Sambanza, who
15had been sent off early
16in the morning for guides,
17returned at midday
18without them and drunk,
19This was the first case of
20real babbling intoxication
21we had seen in the country
22The Boyaloa, of the or beer,
23of the country possesses
24more of a stupifying
25than exciting power, hence
26the beer bibers are often
27great sleepers-;   They may
28 [frequently] ^ be seen sleeping lying on
29their faces sound asleep; This
30peculiarity ^ of posture was ascribed by
31no less an authority than
32Aristotle to wine, -   while those
33who were sent asleep by beer
34were believed "to lie upon
35their backs"

0335
1

XXX 334
2Kerr / Sambanza however had got
3into a state of inebriation
4from indulging in mead
5similar to that which
6Shinte presented ^ to us which is and much
7more powerful than boyaloa
8As far as we could collect
9from his incoherent sentences
101 Shinte had said the rain was
11too heavy for our departure
12and the guides still required
13time for preparation - He
14himself was busy getting some
15meal ready for my use
16in the journey - As it rained
17nearly all day it was
18no sacrifice to submit to
19 [↪ his advice and
20remain] remain -       Sambanza staggered
21to Manenko's hut,   she
22however who had never
23promised "to ^ love honour and
24obey him", had not been
25        "nursing her wrath to keep it warm"
26had not like a much
27better woman in Scotland
28been - "nursing her wrath to keep it warm"
29so she bundled him cooly
30into the hut & put him to
31bed -

32

Kerr / As the last proof of
33friendship Shinte came into
34my tent though it could
35scarcely contain more
36than one - looked at all
37the curiosities - The quicksilver 0336
1335
2the looking glass - books - hair
3brushes & comb - watch &c &c
4with the greatest interest
5then closed the tent so that
6no one ^ [of his own people] might see the
7extravagance of which
8he was about to be guilty -
9 [He] Then drew out ^ [⎰from his
10clothing⎱] a string
11of beads and the end of
12a cone {i}cal shell which
13is considered in parts
14far from the sea of
152 as great value as the
16Lord Mayors badge - is in
17London -   He hung it
18round my neck and
19said "there now you
20have a proof of my
21friendship" -     My men
22informed me that ^ two
23 [of these] ^ such shells are so highly
24valued in this quarter
25that as evidences of
26distinction, that for two
27of them a slave might
28be bought - & five would
29be considered a handsome
30price for an elephant's
31tusk worth ten Pounds -
32At our last interview old
33Shinte pointed out our
34Intemesi principal guide N Intemesi
35a man about fifty
36who was he said ordered 0337
1336
2to remain by us till we
3should reach the sea - that
4I had now left Sekeletu far
5behind and must henceforth
6look to ^ [Shinte] him alone for aid
7and that would always be
8 [most ^] cheerfully rendered -     This
9was only his polite way
10of expressing his wishes
11for my success - It was
12only the good words only of
133 the guides which were to
14aid me from the next
15chief (Katema's) on to the sea
16There they were to turn but
17he gave a good supply
18of food for the journey
19in front and after
20mentioning as a reason
21for letting us go even now
22that as we had been
23several days with him
24no one could say we
25had been driven away
26from the town - he
27gave a most hearty
28salutation and we parted -
29with the wish that God
30might bless him -

0338
1

337
226th   Leaving Shinte's with
3 [eight ^] six of the his men to aid
4in carrying our luggage
5we passed down the lovely
6valley in which the town
7stands in a w {N}ortherly direction
8then ^ passed a little to the West through
9pretty open forest - and
10slept at the ^ a village of a
11 [Balonda] headman named Capende
12In the morning we had
13a pretty [fine] range of green
14hills called Saloisho on
15and were informed that
164 they were well inhabited
17by the people of Shinte
18who worked in iron
19the one of which abounds
20in their hills

21

/ Mead The country through
22which we passed possessed
23the same general character
24of flatness and forest that
25we noticed before -   The
26soil ˅ [is] is dark with a tinge
27of red -   The {In} some places
28it might be called red
29and all seemed [appeared] very
30fertile - Every valley
31contained villages of
32twenty or thirty huts
33and gardens of manioc
34which here is looked
35upon as the staff of life 0339
1338
2Very little labour is required for
3its cultivation - The earth is
4drawn up into oblong beds
5about three feet broad
6and one in height and
7into them are planted pieces
8of the Manioc stalk - at four
9feet apart -   a crop of
10beans or earth nuts is are
11planted between and when
12these are reaped the
13ground around the manioc
14cleared is clean {r}ed of weeds - In
15from ten to eighteen months
16after planting according
17to the quality of the soil
185 the roots are fit for food
19There is no necessity for
20reaping soon, as it ^ the roots only
21becomes become bitter &
22dry at the end of three years
23When a woman takes
24up ^ the roots she thrusts in
25 [a piece or two
26of the upper] a piece of a stalks into
27the hole and a new
28crop is thereby begun - The
29plant grows to a height of
30six feet and every part
31of the plant is useful - The
32leaves may be cooked
33as vegetable -   The roots are
34abo {fr}om three to four
35inches in diameter and
36from twelve to eighteen
37inches long

0340
1

339
2There are two varieties of the
3Manioc or Cassava - one sweet
4and wholesome the another
5bitter and actually containing
6a poison but much
7more speedy in its growth
8then the ^ first other - This last
9property makes causes
10its perpetuation - When
11we reached the village of
12Capende on the banks of
13the rivulet Lonatje we
14were presented with so much
15of the poisonous kind we
16were obliged to leave it
176 To get rid of the poison
18the people place it for
19four days in a pool of
20water -   It then has
21becomes partially decomposed
22and is taken out stripped
23of its skin and exposed
24to the sun to be dried
25When dried it is easily
26pounded into fine white
27meal closely resembling
28starch which has either
29a little of the peculiar,
30taste, arising from
31decomposition, or no
32more flavour than starch
33When intended to be used
34as food this meal is
35stirred into boiling water 0341
1340
2They put as much in as
3can be moistened -   One
4man holding the pot [vessel] and
5the other     stirring the porridge
6with all his might - This
7is the common mess
8of the country -   Though
9hungry we could just but
10manage to swallow it with
11the aid of a little honey
12which I shared with
137 my men as long as it
14lasted -   It is very unsavoury
15(Scottice Wersh) and no
16matter how much one
17may ˅ stow away [↪ ingest {eat}] , in two hours
18 [afterwards ^] he is as hungry as ever
19When less meal is employed
20it is exactly like a basin
21of starch in the hands
22of the laundress, and to
23the curious if the starch
24were made from diseased
25potatoes some idea might
26be formed of the Balonda
27potage which hunger alone
28forced us to eat - Santuru
29forbade his nobles to eat
30it as it caused coughing
31and expectoration

32
33

Our chief guide
34Ntemesa sent orders to
35all the villages around 0342
1341
2 [on] our route that Shintes friends
3must have abundance of
4provisions -     Our progress
5was impeded by the time
6requisite for communi-
7-cating the chiefs desire
8and the preparation of
9meal -   We recieved
10far more food from
11Shinte's people than
12from himself -   Kapende
13for instance presented
14two large baskets of meal
158 Three of Manioc roots steeped
16and dried in the sun &
17ready to be converted into
18flour - three fowls and seven
19eggs - with three smoke
20dried fishes and others
21gave with similar
22liberality -   I retu {ga}ve to these
23headmen small bunches
24of my stock of beads &
25the apology that we were
26now on our way
27to the [    ] market for these
28goods - It was always
29politely recieved

30/
31

We had an opportunity
32of observing in our guides
33much more punctilious
34ness in their manners
35than in any of the tribes 0343
1342
2farther south - They gave us
3food but would not
4partake of it in our
5presence -   when we had
6cooked it -   Nor would
7they eat their own food
8in our presence - When
9it was cooked they retired
10into a thicket and eat
11their potage then all stood
12up and clapped their
13hands and praised
14Ntemesa for it -   The
15Makololo who are
169 accustomed to the most
17free and easy manners
18in {h}eld out     handfuls
19of what they had cooked
20to any of the Balonda
21near but it was they
22refused to taste -   They
23are very punctilious in
24their     manners to each
25other - Each hut has its
26own fire and when it
27goes out they make it
28afresh for themselves
29rather than take it from
30a neighbour - I believe
31much of this arises from
32superstitious fears - In
33the deep dark forests
34near each village as
35already mentioned you see 0344
1343
2the idols intended to represent
3the human heads or lion
4(alligator) or crooked stick
5smeared with medicine,
6or simply a small pot
7of medicine in a little shed [↪ or miniature huts
8with a little
9mounds of earth
10in them
11with the
12beards]
13But in the darker recesses
14we meet with human
15faces cut in the bark
16of trees the outline of
17which ^ closely resemble
18those seen on Egyptian
19monuments -   Frequent
20cuts are made on the
21trees all along the paths
22and votive offerings
23are placed on branches
2410 These consist of small
25pieces of manioc roots
26or cobs of maize -   There
27are also to be seen
28every few miles heaps
29of sticks which are
30treated in cairn fashion
31by every one throwing
32throwing a small
33branch to the heap in
34passing - -   or a few
35sticks are placed on
36the path and each
37passer by turns from
38his course and forms
39a sudden bend to one
40side in the road to one side - 0345
1344
2It seems as if their minds
3were in doubt & dread in
4these secret recesses of
5the forest and that they
6were striving to propitiate
7some superior being residing
8their by their offerings

9
10
11

Berry / The dress of the Balonda
12men consists of a {t}he skins
13of some small animal
14as the jackall or wild
15cat softened and hung before
16and behind from a
1711 girdle round the loins
18The dress or undress of
19the rather of the ladies is
20of a nondescript character
21but they were not
22immodest -   They stood before
23us as perfectly unconscious
24of indecency ^ [of any indecorum
25in undress] as we could
26be with our clothes on -
27But while ignorant of
28their own deficiency they
29could not maintain their
30gravity at the sight of my
31the nudity of my
32men posteriorly -   Much
33to the annoyance of my
34companions the young
35girls laughed outright when
36ever their backs were turned
37to them

0346
1

345
2After crossing the Lonatje
3we came to some pretty
4villages embowered as
5the negro villages usually
6are in bananas - shrubs
7and Manioc - and near
8the banks of the Leeba
9We ha {fo}rmed our encampment
10in a nest of serpents
11one of which bit one of
12which one of our men
13but the wound was harmless
14The people of the surrounding
15villages presented us
16with large quantities
17of food in obedience
18to the mandate of Shinte
1912 without expecting any
20equivalent -     One village
21had lately come hither
22from the country of
23Matiamvo -   They of
24course continue to
25acknowledge him as
26paramount chief but
27the frequent instances
28which occur of people
29changing from one
30part of country to
31another shew that the
32great chiefs possess
33only a limited power
34The only peculiarity we
35observed in these people 0347
1346
2the habit of plaiting the
3beard into a three fold cord.

4

Cazembe As ^ the Balonda chief Cazembe was pointed
5out to us by Sambanza as
6 [to the ^] N- E- and by E- from
7the town of Shinte, and
8Sambanza and others
9had [↪ and great
10numbers of
11people in
12this quarter
13have] gone thither for the
14purpose of purchasing
15copper leglets made in
16Cazembe's town, and
17reported the distance to be
18about five days' journey,
19I made enquiries of
20some of the oldest
21inhabitants of the villages
22at which we were staying
2313 respecting the visit of
24Pereira and Lacerda to
25that town -   An old grey
26headed man replied that
27they had often heard of
28white men before but
29never had seen one
30and that one came to
31Cazembe when our
32informant was young
33 [& returned again] without coming near
34this part of the country
35The people of Cazembe are
36Balŏnda or Balŏi
37and his country has
38been termed Lŏnda - Lunda
39or Lui by the Portuguese

0348
1347
2

It was always difficult
3to get our guides to move
4away from a place - They
5w {W}ith the authority of
6the chief ^ they felt as comfortable
7as kings-messengers ^ can be [↪ could be]
8 [⎰could be
9can be when
10living at the
11public expense⎱] can make themselves
12and were indisposed
13to forg {e}go the pleasure of
14living at free quarters -
15My Makololo friends
16were but ill prepared
17drilled as yet and as
18 [since] they had never left their
19own country before
20except for purposes
21of plunder they did not
2214 take readily to the peaceful
23system we now meant
24to follow -     They either
25spoke too imperiously to
26strangers or when reproved
27for that were disposed
28to follow the dictation
29of everyone we met - When
30Ntemesa our guide refused
31to stir [↪ towards cross the
32Leeba from
33on the 31st January] they would make
34no effort to induce him
35to go but I ^ having ordered them
36to get ready and when
37Ntemesa saw the
38preparation he soon followed
39our example and It
40took us about four
41hours to cross the Leeba 0349
1348
2which is considerably smaller
3here than where we left it
4Indeed only about a hundred
5yards     wide - It has the
6same dark mossy hue - The
7villagers lent us canoes
8to effect our passage -   And
9having gone to a village
10about three two miles from
11the river I had the satisfation
12of getting observations for
13both longitude and Latitude
14For the former the distance
1515 between J {S}aturn and the Moon
16and for the latter a meridian
17altitude of canopus
18 [Long-] 22° 57' E- Lat- 12° 6' 6" South

19

Wheeler / These were the only opportunities
20I had of ascertaining my
21whereabouts in Londa
22Again and again did I take
23out m {the} instruments and
24just as all was right the
25stars would be suddenly
26obscured by clouds - I had
27never observed so great
28an amount of cloudiness
29in any part of the South
30country and as for the
31rains I believe that
32years at Kolobeng would
33not have made my
34little tent so rotten & thin
35as one month had done 0350
1349
2in Londa -   I never observed
3in the South ^ the heavy night
4rains we had in this country
5They often continued all night,
6or     then became heavier
7about an hour before
8dawn -   Or if fair during
9the night, at that day drew
10nigh an extremely heavy
11still pouring rain f {s}et in
1216 without     wand {rn}ing - Five
13out of every six days had
14this pouring rain, at at
15 [or near] break of day for months
16together and they soon
17beat my tent so thin -
18that a mist fell through on
19 [my face &] which made everything damp,
20 [The rains] It was {ere} occasionally but
21not always accompanied
22with very loud thunder.
23Next morning we had a
24fine view of two hills
25called piri {Piri} (Peeri) meaning
26Two on the side of the
27river we had left -   The
28country there is named
29Mokwankwa - And there Ntemese
30informed us one of Shinte's
31children was born when
32he was in his progress
33southwards from the country
34of Matiamvo - This part
35of the country would thus
36seem to have been but 0351
1350
2inhabited by the people of
3Shinte. -   He told me himself
4that he had come into his
5present country by command
6of Matiamvo

7

Here we were surprised
8to hear English cotton cloth
9much more eagerly
10enquired after than beads
11and ornaments -   They are
12more in need of clothing
13than the Bechuana
1417 tribes living adjacent to
15the Kalahari desert, who
16have plenty of skins
17for the purpose -   Here
18animals of all kinds
19are rare, and a very
20small piece of calico
21is of great value

22

1st Feb-     Ntemese sent in
23the midst of the heavy
24rains which continued
25all morning to say he
26was laid up with
27pains in his the stomach,
28and must not be disturbed,
29but when it cleared up,
30about eleven, I saw our
31friend walking off to
32the village and talking
33with a very loud voice.
34On reproaching him for 0352
1351
2telling an untruth, he turned it
3off with a laugh by saying
4he really had a complaint
5in his stomach, which
6I might cure by slaughtering
7one of the oxen and
8allowing him to eat beef.
9He was evidently revelling
10in th abundance of good
11food, the chief's orders
12brought us - and he did
13not feel the shame I did,
1418 when I gave a few
15beads only in return
16for large baskets of meal

17
18

A very old man visited
19us w {h}ere with a present
20of maize, - he like the
21others had never before
22seen a white man. - And
23when conversing with
24him, some of the young
25men remarked that they
26were the true ancients,
27for they had now seen
28more wonderful things
29than their forefathers

30
31

One of Ntemese's
32men stole a fowl given
33me by the lady of the village.
34When charged with the
35theft - , Everyone of his
36 [Ntemese's] party vociferated their his 0353
1352
2innocence and indignation
3at being suspected - Continuing
4their loud asseverations
5and gesticulations for some
6minutes, one of my men
7Loyanka went off to the
8village, brought the lady
9who had presented the
10fowl as able to identify it -
11Then pointed to the hut
12in which it was hidden.
13The Balonda collected
1419 round him evincing
15great wrath, but he
16Loyanka seized his battle
17axe in the proper manner
18for striking, - and placing
19himself on a little hillock
20soon made them moderate
21their tones. -   Ntemese then
22called on me to send one
23of my people to search
24the huts if I suspected
25his people -   The man
26sent soon found it, and
27brought it out to the
28confusion of Ntemese
29and laughter of our
30party -     This incident
31is mentioned to shew
32that their much greater
33superstition which
34exists here, does not lead
35to the practice of the virtues 0354
1353
2We never met an instance
3like this [↪ of theft from
4a white man] among the Makololo,
5though they complain
6of the Makalaka as addicted
7to pilfering. -   The honesty
8of the Bakwains has been
9already noticed. -   Probably
10the estimation in which
11I was held as a public
12benefactor, and in which
1320 I was not yet known
14to the Balonda, may account
15for the sacredness with
16 [with] which my property was
17treated.   But other incidents
18which happened subsequently
19shewed as well as this,
20that th {id}olators are not
21so virtuous as those who
22have no idols -

23
24
25

Ker / As the people on the banks
26of the Leeba were the
27last of Shinte's people {tribe}
28over which Ntemese had
29power he was naturally
30anxious to remain as
31long as possible - He
32was not idle but
33made a pes {lar}ge wooden
34⎰pestle⎱ & mortar ↪ for his
35wife during our journey
36He also carved many
37wooden spoons - and
38 [a bowl - then] commenced a basket 0355
1354
2but as what he considered
3good living was anything
4but agreable to us who
5had been accustomed to
6milk and maize we
7went on ^ [forward] on the 2d without
8him -     He soon followed
9but left our pontoon
10saying it would be
11brought by the headman
12of the village -   This was
13a great loss as we
14afterwards found -   but
15it remained at this village
1621 for two years and
17when we returned a
18mouse had eaten a
19hole in it

20

We entered on an
21extensive plains beyond
22the Leeba at least twenty
23miles broad and covered
24with water ankle deep
25in the shallowest parts
26We deviated somewhat
27from our N- W- course
28by the direction of Ntemese
29and keep the hills Peeri
30nearly on our right
31during a great part
32of the first day - in order
33to avoid the still more
34deeply flooded plains
35of Lobale (Luval?) on
36our {the} West -   These according 0356
1355
2to Ntemese are at present
3impassable being thigh deep
4The plains are so perfectly
5level that rain water
6 [which this was] ^ stands upon them for
7months together -     They
8were not flooded by
9the Leeba for that was
10still far within its
11banks -     Here and there
12as if dotted over the
1322 surface are little islands
14on which grow stunted
15date bushes and scraggy
16trees -     The plains themselves
17are covered with [↪ a pretty thick
18sward of] grass
19
20and {w}hich conceals the
21water and make the
22flats appear as great
23 [pale yellow coloured] ^ prairies lands with
24a clear horizon except
25when {re} interrupted here
26and there by trees,
27 [The clear rain] ^ The water must have
28stood some time for
29 [on] among the grass ^ for great
30numbers of lotus flowers
31were seen in full
32blow -   And the runs of
33of [↪ water tortoises &] crabs [↪ were observed] - and otters also
34 [↪ which prey on
35the fish ⎰that
36find their way to it - ⎱]

37

The continual
38splashing of the feet of
39the oxen keep the feet
40of the rider constantly wet

0357
1

356
2and my men complain
3of the perpetual wetness
4of the paths by which
5we have travelled in
6Londa as softening their
7horny soles -   The only
8information we can
9glean is from Ntemesi
10who points out the
11different localities as
12we pass along and among
1323 the rest to     "Mokala /a
14a Mama" his "mama's ^ [home" - "] house
15It was interesting to hear
16this tall grey headed man
17recal the memories of
18boyhood -     All the Makalaka
19 [children] follow ^ cleave to the mother in in
20cases of separation or
21removal from one
22part of the country to
23another - [↪ This love
24for mothers
25does not argue
26superior morality
27in other respects
28or else Ntemese
29any injunctions
30his Mama may
31have given not
32to tell lies - The
33respect however
34with which he
35spoke of her
36was quite characteristic
37of his race]   The Bechuanas
38on th contrary follow
39the father care nothing
40for their mothers
41but cling to their fathers
42especially if they have
43any expectations of
44becoming heirs to his
45cattle -   Our Bakwain
46guide to the Lake, Rachosi,
47told me that his mother
48lived in the country of
49Sebituane but though 0358
1357
2a good specimen of the
3Bechuanas he laughed
4at the idea of going so
5far as from the Lake
6Ngami to the Chobe
7merely for the purpose
8of seeing her -   Had
9he been one of the
10Makalaka he never
11would have parted
12from her

13

We made our
14beds on one of the islands
15and were but wretchedly
16supplied with firewood
1724 The booths constructed
18by the men were but
19sorry shelter for the
20 [rain] poured down without
21intermission till midday
22There is no drainage for
23these prodigious masses
24of water on these plains
25except slow percolation
26into the different
27feeders of the Leeba and
28into that river itself
29The quantity of vegetation
30has prevented the
31country becoming furrowed
32by many rivulets or
33"nullahs"   Were the country
34not so remarkably flat the drainage
35must have been effected by torrents even
36in spite of the matted vegetation

0359
1

XXXI 358
2Mead / The reason why these extensive
3trees {p} plains are covered
4with grasses only and
5the little islands with
6but scraggy trees may
7be accounted for by
8the fact observable every-
9where in this country
10that where water stands
11for any length of time
12in this country trees
13cannot live -     The
14want of speedy drainage
15destroys them and injures
16it influences the growth
1725 of those that are planted
18on the islands for they
19have no depth of earth
20except not subjected to
21the souring influence
22of the stagnant water
23The plains of Lobale
24to the West of these are
25said to be much more
26extensive than any we
27saw, and their vegetation
28possesses similar peculiarities
29When the stagnant
30rain water had all soaked
31in as must happen
32during the months in
33which there is no rain
34travellers are put to shiftsstraits
35for want of water -   Th 0360
1359
2which is given on native
3testimony for ^ but I can very
4well     believe that level
5plains in which neither
6wells nor gullies are
7met with may after
8the dry season present the
9opposite extreme to what we
10witnessed -   Water could
11however always be got by
12digging; as a proof of
13which we had on our
14return when brought to
15a stand on this very
16plain by ^ severe fever; about fifteen
17 [twelve] miles     from the Leeba
18my men dug down a
19few feet and found
2026 an abundant supply
21And we saw on one of the
22islands the garden of a
23man who in the dry season
24had drank water from
25a well in like manner
26Plains like these cannot
27be inhabited while the
28present system of cultivation
29lasts - The population at
30present is not so very large
31as to need them - They find
32garden ground enough w {o}n
33the gentle slopes at ne {the}
34sides of the rivulets and
35possess no cattle to eat off
36the millions of acres of 0361
1360
2fine hay we were now
3wading through Any one
4who has visited the Cape
5Colony will understand me
6when I say these immense
7crops of grass have very
8little resemble sown grasses
9more than the tufty vegetation
10of the South

11
12

I would here request
13the particular attention of
14the reader to the phenomenona
15these periodically deluged plains
16present because they have
17a most important bearing
18on the physical geography
1927 of a very large portion of
20this country -   The Plains
21of Lobale to the w {W}est of this
22give rise to a great
23many streams which Uunite
24and form the deep never
25failing Chobe - Similar
26extensive flats give birth
27to the Loeti and Kasai and
28as we shall see further on
29all the rivers of this an
30extensive region owe their
31origin to oozing bogs &
32not to fountains

0362
1361
2

The plains through

3
4

When released from our
5island by the rain ceasing
6we marched on to the till
7we came to a ridge of dry
8inhabited land in the
9N- W-   The inhabitants
10according to custom plent
11me {us} the roofs of some
12huts to save the men
13the trouble of booth making
14I suspect that the story
15in Park of the men
16lifting up the hut to place
17it on the lion referred
18to the roof only - It is We leave
1928 them for the villagers to
20replace them at their leizure
21No payment is [expected - By
22236 night it rained so copiously
23that all our beds were
24flooded from below
25and from this time forth
26we always made a furrow
27round each booth and
28used the earth to raise our
29sleeping places - My men
30turned out to work in
31the wet most willingly
32Indeed they always   d did
33I would not but contrast
34their conduct with that
35of Ntemese -   He was thoroughly 0363
1362
2embued with the slave spirit
3and lied on all occasions
4without compunction - Un
5truthfulness is a sort of refuge
6for the weak & oppressed
7We expected to move on
8on the 4th but he declared
9that we were so near Katema's
10if we did not send forward
11to apprise that chief of our
12approach he would certainly
13impose a fine - It rained
14the whole day so we were
15reconciled to the delay but
16on Sunday the 5th he let us
17know that we were still
18two days distant from
19Katema -   We unfortunately
2029 could not manage without
21him for the country was
22so deluged we should have
23been brought to a stand
24before we could went many
25miles by some deep
26valley every one of which
27was full of water - Ntemese
28continued to plait his basket
29with all his might &
30would not come to our
31service -   He seemed to be
32afraid of our incantations
33but was always merry
34merry and jocular

0364
1

Berry / 363
26th Soon after starting we crossed
3Lokalueje a branch of the Lokalueje
4or Lokaloozueje by means of a
5canoe - and in the afternoon
6crossed ˅ [passed over] the main stream
7by a like conveyance - The
8former as in the case
9of all branches of rivers
10in this country is called
11Nguana Kalu^sje child of the
1230 Kaluje -     Hippopotami
13exist in the Lokueje so
14it may be inferred to be
15 [perennial ^] as the inhabitants asserted
16We cannot judge of the size
17of the streams from what
18we now see - It was had about
19forty yards of [↪ of deep fast] flowing water
20but probably not more
21than the half when the that
22 [amount in ^ ^ the] season is dry                           
23 [amount] in the dry season -
24Besides these we crossed
25numerous feeders in our
26N- N- W- course and there
27being no canoes got frequently
28wet in the course of the
29day -   The oxen have only
30 [in some cases] their heads only above water
31and the water flowing
32over their backs wet our
33blankets which we use
34as saddles -   The arm pit
35was the only safe spot for 0365
1364
2the watch from {for} there it was
3preserved from rains above
4and waters below -   The
5men on foot crossed
6these gullies by holding
7up their burdens at arms
8length -

9

The Lokalueje winds from
10South East to South West
11into the Leeba -   The country
12 [adjacent to] near its banks is extremely
13fine and fertile [↪ ⎰with here
14and there
15patches of
16forest - or
17clumps of
18magnificent
19trees⎱] -   The villagers
20through whose gardens we
21passed continue to sow
22and reap all the year
23round -     The grains - as
24Maize - Lotsa     millet are
25to be seen at all stages of
26their growth - some just
27reaped while at this time
28the Barotse Makololo grains
2931 are not half grown My
30companions who have
31a good idea of the different
32 [qualities] ^ kinds of soils express the
33greatest admiration of the
34agriculture capabilities
35of the whole of Londa
36and here they were loud
37in their praises of the
38pasturage -   They have an
39accurate idea of the
40 [varieties] kinds of grasses best
41adapted for different kinds
42of stock and lament 0366
1365
2because here there are no
3cows to feed off the rich
4green crop which at this
5time imparts special
6beauty to the landscape

7
8

Great numbers of
9the vegetable [omnivorous] feeding fish
10Glanis siluris or Mosala
11spread themselves over
12the flooded plains and
13as the waters retire try
14to find their way back
15again to the rivers -   The
16Balonda make earthen
17dykes and hedges across
18the points outlets of the
19retreating waters leaving
20only small spaces through
21which the chief part of
2232 the water flows -   In
23these open spaces they
24plant creels siml {i}lar in
25shape to our own
26into which the fish can
27enter but not return
28They secure large quantities
29of fish in this way
30which when smoke-
31dried make a good relish
32for their otherwise insipid
33food -   They use also
34a weir for the same
35purpose made of mats
36made of reeds sewed together 0367
1366
2with but half an inch between
3each -   Open spaces are
4left for the insertion of
5the creels as before -

6

In still water a fish
7trap is employed of the
8same shape and plan
9as the ^ common round wire mouse
10trap which as {has} an opening
11surrounded with wires
12pointed {ing} inwards - This is
13made of reeds and willow
14supple wands and food
15is placed inside to attract
16the fish

17
18

Besides these means
1933 of catching fish they use
20a fi {h}ook of iron without
21a barb -   The point is
22bent inwards ^ instead so as not to
23allow the fish to escape
24Nets are not so common
25as in the Zouga and
26Leeambye but they kill
27large quantities of fishes
28by means of the bruized
29leaves of a plant shrub
30which may be seen
31planted beside every
32village in the country -

0368
1

367
2Wheeler / We came to the village of
3Soana molopo, a half brother
4of Katema, a few miles
5beyond the Lokalu eje, on the
67th and, when we went
7to visit him, he was found,
8him sitting, with about one
9hundred men - He called
10on Ntemese to give some
11account of us, though
12no doubt had been done
13in private before. Then
14delivered the following sentences
15"The journey of the white man
16is very proper, but
17Shinte has disturbed us
18by shewing the Makololo,
19who accompany him,
2034 the path to us - He ought to
21have taken them through
22the country without shewing
23them the towns - We are
24afraid of the Makololo"   He
25then gave a handsome
26present of food, and seemed
27perplexed by my sitting
28down familiarly and
29giving him a few of our
30ideas -   When we left
31Ntemese continued busily
32imparting an idea of all
33we had given to Shinte &
34Masiko, and instilling the
35hope that Soana Molopo might
36expect as much as they had
37                              recieved 0369
1368
2accordingly when we expected
3to move on the morning
4of the 8th   we got some
5hints about the ox Soana-
6molopo expected to eat,
7 [but ^] We recommended him to
8get the breed for himself,
9seeing his country was
10so well adapted for
11 [rearing ^] them - And   Ntemese
12refused to move -   He
13moreover tried to frighten
14us into parting with
15an ox, by saying that
16Soana-Molopo would
17send forward p {a} message,
18that we were a marauding
1935 party, but we bundled
20up, and went on without
21him -   We did not absolutely
22need him, but he was
23useful in preventing
24the inhabitant of secluded
25villages from betaking
26themselves to flight -   We
27wished to be on good terms
28with all, and therefore
29put up with our guide's
30peccadilloes - His good
31word representing us will
32 [had] ^ go a considerable ^ influence way
33and he is {was} always asked
34if we hade behaved our
35-selves like men in the
36way -   The Makololo are 0370
1369
2viewed as great savages,
3and but Ntemese could not
4justly look down upon
5 [with scorn] on them, for he has the mark
6of a large gash on his arm
7got in fighting. , and
8he would not tell the
9cause of battle, but boasted
10of his prowess as the
11Makololo do till asked about
12a scar in his back betokening
13anything but bravery

14

Ntimese was useful
15in such cases as {in} which
16like that of Monday, in
17which we came upon
18a whole village in a
19forest enjoying their
2036 noonday nap -     Our
21sudden appearance
22in their midst made them
23 [so] terrified, that one woman
24nearly went into convulsions
25from fear - When they
26say {w} and heard Ntimese
27their terror subsided.

28
29

As usual we were
30caught by rains, after leaving
31Soana Molopo's and made
32our booths at the house
33of a most intelligent and
34friendly man belonging
35to Katema -   He had a fine 0371
1370
2large garden in cultivation,
3and well hedged round.
4He had made the hedge
5 [walls ^ ] of his compound of the
6branches of the banian
7or ficus indica, which
8taking root had grown
9to be a live hedge of that
10tree -   Several trees were
11 [planted ^] in the middle of it, and
12in the deep shade the
13whole of them gave, stood
14the huts of his fine
15family -     His children
16all by one mother,
1737 very black, but comely
18to view were the finest
19negro family I ever saw
20We were much pleased
21with the frank friendship
22and liberality of this man,
23and his wife, she asked
24me to bring her a cloth
25from the white man's
26country but when we
27returned poor Mozinkwa's
28wife was in her grave,
29and he as is the custom
30had abandoned trees, garden,
31and huts to ruin -     They
32cannot live on a spot
33where a favourite wife
34died, - [↪ ⎰probably because
35unable to bear
36the remembrance
37of the happy times
38he has spent
39there, or afraid
40to remain in a
41spot where death
42once visited the
43establishment
44this feeling renders
45any permanent
46village in the country
47impossible⎱]   If they ever visit
48the spot it is to pray to her,
49or make some offering 0372
1371
2Mozinkwa's wife had cotton
3growing all round her
4compound and several
5plants used as relishes
6to the insipid potage
7of the country -   She had also
8the castor oil plant and
9a larger variety of that same
10family which too ˅ [also] yields
11a purgative oil ↪ -

12

The oil ⎰here however⎱
13is used for anointing
14the heads and bodies alone
15She had in her garden ˅ alsolikewise
16 [the Indian] (Bringalls) too - & yams & sweet
17potatoes

18

Ker / We learned from
19Mozinkwa that Soana Molopo
2038 was the elder brother of
21Katema but that he was
22s {w}anting in wisdom and
23Katema by purchasing
24cattle and recieving in
25a kind manner all
26the fugitives who came
27to him had got secured
28the birthright to himself
29so far as influence in
30the country is concerned
31 [Soana's] His first   address to us
32did not savour much
33of the African wisdom

0373
1372
2

Friday 10th On leaving Mozinkwas
3hospitable mansion we
4crossed another stream about
5forty yards wide in canoes
6While this tedious process
7was going on I was informed
8that it is called the Mona-
9Kaloe {u}eje or brother of Kaloé {u}eje
10as it flowe {s} into that river
11and that both the Kalo {u}eje
12and Livoa flow into the
13Chifumadze Leeba -     Also that the Chifumadze
14swollen by the Lotembwa
15is a feeder of that river
16too below the point where
17we lately crossed it - It may
18      Here we were met by
1939 be remarked here that all
20these rivers were now
21in flood and though that
22the water was all perfectly
23clear -     The vegetation on
24the banks is so thickly
25planted that the surface of
26 [the earth] is not abraded by the
27torrents -     The grass is
28laid and forms a protection
29to the banks which are
30generally a stiff black
31loam -     The fact of canoes
32being upon them shews that
33 [though not large] they do not possess the
34character of ^ the Southern rivulets
35which dry up during most
36of the year and render canoes
37unnecessary

0374
1

373
2As we were crossing the river
3we were joined by a messenger
4from Katema called Shakatwala
5This person was one of those
6a sort of steward or factotum
7to his chief -   Every chief has
8one attached to his person
9and though generally poor
10they are invariably men
11of great shrewdness and
12ability -     Shakatwala   They
13act the part of messengers
14on all important occasions
15and possess considerable
16authority in the chiefs house
17-hold -     Shakatwala informed
18us that Katema had not
1940 recieved precise information
20about us but if we were
21peacefully disposed we {as} ˅ as he
22loved strangers we were
23to come to his town - We
24proceeded forthwith but
25were turned aside by
26the strategy of our friend
27Ntemese to the village
28of Quendende the father in
29-law of Katema -   This
30fine old man was so
31very polite we did not
32regret being obliged to spend
33Sunday at his village -
34He expressed his pleasure
35at having a share in
36the honour of a visit 0375
1374
2as well as Katema - Though
3it seemed to me that the conferring
4that pleasure required something
5like a pretty good stock of
6impudence in leading twenty
7seven men through the
8country without the means
9of purchasing food - My men
10did a little business for
11themselves in the begging line
12They generally commenced
13every interview with new
14villagers in {by} saying - "I have
15come from afar give me
16something to eat - "   I forbade
17this at first believing
18that as the Makololo had
1941 a bad name the villagers
20gave ^ food from fear -     But
21after some time it was evident
22that in many cases food was
23maize and manioc were
24given from pure generosity
25The first time I came to this
26conclusion was at the
27house of Mozinkwa - Scarcely
28anyone ^ of my men re[turned from
29it without something in
30240 his hand - and as they
31protested they had not asked
32begged I asked himself
33and found that this was
34the case - He gave spontaneously -
35H In other parts the chiefs 0376
1375
2attended to my wants and the
3common people gave liberally
4to my men -   I gave some
5 [of my] razors and iron spoons
6to different headmen but
7my men had nothing and
8I found they that each tried to [that every
9one tried to] appropriated
10different an individuals in
11each village as "b {Mo}lekane" =
12 [a] comrades - and the villagers
13 [often] assented - so if the reader
14remembers the molekane
15system of the Mopato - he
16may percieve that those
17who presented food freely
18would expect the Makololo
19to treat them in like manner
2042 should they ever be
21placed in similar circumstances
22Their country too is so
23fertile they are in no
24want of food themselves
25However their generosity
26was remarkable - only
27one woman refused to
28give some of my men
29food but her husband
30called out to her to be
31more liberal and she
32obeyed scolding all the
33while

0377
1

376
2In this part of the country
3buffaloes a {E}lands & other
4Khoodoos and other antelopes
5are to be found but we
6did not get any as they
7are exceedingly wary
8from being much hunted
9We had the same woodland
10and meadow as before
11with here and there pleasant
12negro villages and being
13all in good health could
14enjoy the fine green scenery

15
16
17

43     Mead / Quendendes was {h}ead was
18a good specimen of the greater
19 [crop of] wooliness with which the
20negroes of Londa are furnished
21The front part was ^ parted in the middle & plaited
22into two thick rolls ^ which falling down
23behind the ears - reached the
24shoulders - The rest was collected
25into a large knot which stood {lay}
26on the nape of the neck -
27As he was an intelligent man
28we had much conversation
29together - and as he had just
30come from attending the funeral
31of one of his people I found
32that the great amount of
33drum beating which takes
34place on these occasions
35was with the idea that the 0378
1377
2Barimo or spirits could be
3drummed to sleep -   There is a
4drum in every village and
5we hear it going often
6from sunset to sunrise - They
7seem to look upon the departed
8as vindictive beings and I
9suspect are more influenced
10by fear than love

11
12

We here met with some
13people from the town of
14Matiamvo (Muata yanvo) who
15had been sent to announce
16the death of the late chieftain
1744 of that name. Matiamvo is the
18hereditary title - Muata meaning
19lord or chief -   The late chief
20Matiamvo seems from their
21report ^ [of these men] to have been insane
22for he is said to have sometimes
23indulged a whim of running
24a muck in the town and
25beheading whoever he met,
26untill he had quite a heap
27of ˅ [human] heads - They ^ Matiamvo explained this
28conduct by saying that he {his}
29people were too many & he
30wanted to diminish them
31He had absolute power of life
32and death - On enquiring
33whether human sacrifices
34were still made as in
35the time of Pereira ^ at Cazembes we were 0379
1378
2informed that these had never
3been so common as was
4represented to Pereira but that
5it occasionally happened when
6certain charms were needed
7by the chief a man was slaughtered
8for the sake of some part of
9his p {b}ody. - He added that he
10hoped the present chief would
11not act like his mad predecessor
12but kill only those who were
13guilty of witchcraft or theft
14These men were very much
1545 astonished at the liberty enjoyed
16by the Makololo and when
17they found that all my people
18held cattle we were told that
19Matiamvo alone had a herd -
20One very intelligent man among
21them asked if he should make
22a canoe and take it down
23the river to the Makololo would
24he get a cow for it -   This
25question which my men
26answered in the affirmative
27was important as shewing
28the knowledge of a water
29communication an {f}rom
30the country of Matiamvo to
31the Makololo [↪ and the river
32runs through
33a fertile
34country
35abounding
36in large
37timber -]   If they ^ tribes have
38       An old courtier of the
39same chief
40intercourse with each other
41it exerts a good influence 0380
1379
2on their chiefs to hear what
3other tribes think of their deeds
4The Makololo have such a
5bad name yet on account
6of their perpetual forays that
7they are {ha}ve not been known
8in Londa bu {ex}cept as ruthless
9destroyers - The People ^ Lond in Matiamvo's country submit ^ to much
10 [wrong ^ ] from their chiefs and no
11voice can be raised in Londa
12 [against cruelty] because they are afraid to
13flee elsewhere -

14

[The situationposition of] the village of Quendende is 11° 41' 17 South
15Long - 22° 16' -   This we left
16in company with ^ Quendende and the headman
1746 and the ambassadors of Matiamvo
18on the 13th and after two or three
19miles March to the N- W- came
20to the ford of the Lotembwa
21which flows Southwards - Th {A}
22canoe was waiting to ferry
23us over but it was very
24tedious work for though
25the river itself was only
2680 eighty yards wide the
27whole valley was flooded
28and we were obliged to
29paddle more than half a
30mile to get free of the water
31A fire, was having been lit to
32warm the {old} Quendende and
33enable him to dry his
34tobacco leaves His {The} leaves
35are taken from the plant 0381
1380
2and spread close to the fire
3untill they are quite dry &
4crisp - They are then put
5into a snuff box which with
6a little pestle serves the
7purpose of a mill to grind
8them into powder - It is then
9used as snuff - As we sat
10by the fire the ambassadors
11communicated their
12thoughts freely respecting the
13customs of their ˅ [race] tribe - When a
14chief dies a number of
15servants are slaughtered with
16him to form his company
17in the other world -   The
1847 Barotse followed the same
19custom and this and
20other customs shew them
21to be genuine negroes though
22neither they nor the Balonda
23follow closely the typical
24form of that people - Quendende
25said were {if} he were present
26on these occasions he
27would hide his people
28so that they might not be
29slaughtered - As we go North
30the people become more
31 [blod {o}dily ^] superstitious & more though

32

If Matiamvo the late
33Matiamvo takes {took} a fancy
34to any thing such as my
35 [silver] watch chain which was
36silver wire plaited - and 0382
1381
2was a great curiosity as they
3had never seem metal plaited
4before - he would order a
5whole village to be brought
6up to buy it from a stranger
7and if {this}   When a slave trader
8visited him he took possession
9of all his goods then after
10ten days or a fortnight he
11would send out a party
12of men to pounce upon
13some considerable village
14and having killed the
15headman would pay
1648 for all the goods with
17the other inhabitants - This
18has been a {t}he case frequently
19 [and] but nearly all the visitants
20he ^ ever had were men of colour
21On asking if Matiamvo did
22not know he was a man
23and would be judged in
24company with those he
25destroyed by a Lord who
26is no respecto {e}r or of persons
27The Ambassador replied "We
28do not go up to God as you
29do, we are put into the
30ground"   I could not ascer-
31tain that even those who
32have such a distinct perception
33of the continued existence of
34departed spirits had any notion
35of heaven - They appear to
36imagine the souls to be always near the
37place of sepulture

0383
1XXII 382
2

Berry / After crossing the river
3Lotembwa we travelled about
4eight miles and came to
5the straggling town of Katema
6It is more a collection
7of villages than a town -
8We were led out about
9half a mile from the houses
10that we might make for
11ourselves the best lodgings
12we could of the ^ with trees and
13grass, while Ntemese was
14taken to Katema to undergo
15the usual process of
16pumping as to our past
17conduct and professions
1849 Katema soon afterwards sent
19a handsome present of food

20

Next morning we had
21a formal presentation and
22found Katema seated on
23a sort of throne with about
24three hundred sitting {men} ^ seated on the ground around
25him and thirty women -
26who were said to be his wives
27 [close ^] behind him -   The main
28body of people kept at
29a distance of fifty yards
30 [and in a body] in {of} a horseshoe shape
31and Each party had its
32own headman seated at a
33little distance in front &
34when beckoned by the chief
35came near him as councillors 0384
1383
2Ntemese gave our history and
3Katema placed sixteen large
4baskets of meal before us
5half a dozen fowls and a
6dozen eggs and expressed
7regret     that we had be {sle}pt
8hungry -   He did not like
9any     stranger to suffer
10want in his town - and
11added Go home and cook
12and eat and you will
13then be in a fit state to
14speak to me at an audience
15I will give you tomorrow
1650 He was busily engaged in
17hearing the statements
18of a large body of ^ fine young
19men who had fled from
20Kangenke chief of Lobale
21on account of his
22selling their relatives to the
23native Portuguese who
24frequent his country - He
25is a tall man about forty
26years of age and ^ his head was
27ornamented with a helmet
28of beads & feathers, - He had
29on a snuff brown coat
30with a broad band of
31tinsel down his arms [↪ He had a
32large tail
33made of
34the caudal
35extremities of
36a number
37of gnus - This
38has charms
39attached to it
40and he continued
41waving it in
42front of himself
43all the time we
44were there] He
45seemed in good spirits
46laughing heartily several times
47This is a good sign for a man
48who shakes his sides with
49mirth is seldom difficult to deal with 0385
1384
2When we rose to take leave all
3rose with us - as at Shinte's

4
5

Returning next morning
6Katema addressed me thus
7"I am the great Moene ^ [(lord)] Katema
8the fellow of Matiamvo,
9There is no one in this
10country equal to Matiamvo
11and me - I have always
12lived here - and my fore-
13fathers too -   There is the
14house in which my
15father lived - You found
16no human skulls near
1751 the place where you are
18encamped - I never killed
19any of the traders -   They all
20came to me - I am the
21great Moene Katema of whom
22you have heard"   He
23looked as if he had fallen
24asleep tipsy and dreamed this -
25 [of his greatness, ] On explaining my objects
26to him he promptly replied
27pointed out three men
28who would be myour guides
29and explained that the N- W-
30path was the most direct
31and that by which all
32traders came but the water
33sta {at} present standing on
34them would reach the
35loins - he would therefore 0386
1385
2send us by a more Northerly
3route which no trader had
4yet traversed -   This was suited
5to our wishes for we
6never found a path ^ good that safe
7that had been trodden by
8slave traders

9

We presented a few articles
10which pleased him highly
11a small shawl - a razor
12Three small bunches   of beads
13some buttons and a powder
14horn - -   Apologizing for
15its smallness I wished
16to know what I could
17bring him from Loando
1852 "not a large thing but
19something small".   He
20laughed heartily at the
21lim limitation - ˅ andHe replied
22"Every thing of the white people
23will be acceptable and he
24he would recieve anything thank-
25-fully - but the coat he had
26then on was old and he
27would like another - I introduced
28the subject of the Bible but
29one of the old counsellors broke
30in and told all he had picked
31up from the Mambari &
32every one and glided away
33into every other subject -
34It is a misery to speak through
35an interpreter - as I was now
36forced to do - -   With a body 0387
1386
2of men like mine composed as
3they were of six different
4tribes & all speaking the language
5of the Bechuanas there was
6no difficulty in communicating
7on common subjects with
8any tribe we came to - but
9doling out a story in which
10they had no interest and
11which I understood only
12sufficiently will to percieve
13that a mere abridgement was
14given, was uncommonly
15slow work -   Neither his
16attention could be arrested except
17by compliments of which
1853 they have always plenty
19to bestow as well as recieve
20We were strangers and knew
21that as Makololo we had not
22the best of characters, - and
23yet his treatment of us was
24wonderfully good and liberal

25

Wheeler / I complimented him
26 [on the possession] on his of cattle and pleased him
27by telling how he might milk
28the cows - He has really a
29a splendid herd of about thirty
30He has a herd of about thirty
31really splendid animals
32all reared from two which
33he bought [↪ from the
34Balobale] when young
35They are generally of a white
36colour and are     quite wild 0388
1387
2running off with graceful ease
3like a herd of Elands on the
4approach of a stranger -   They
5excited the unbounded admiration
6of the Makololo and were a
7clear prof {o}f of the country
8being well adapted for
9them -   When Katema wishes
10to slaughter one he is obliged
11to shoot it as if it were a
12buffalo -   Matiamvo is said
13to possess a herd of cattle
14in a similar state -   I never
15could ascertain the reason
16why they do not all possess
17cattle in a country containing
1854 such splendid pasturage

19
20

As Katema did not
21offer an ox as would have
22been done by a Makololo
23of {r} Caffre chief we slaughtered
24one of our own and all
25of us were delighted to get a
26meal of meat after subsisting
27so long on the light potage
28 [& green maize ^] of Londa -   On occasions
29of slaughtering some parts
30are in the fire before the
31skin is removed from
32the body -   A frying pan of
33these parts having been
34got quickly ready my men
35crowded around their
36father and I handed pieces 0389
1388
2all rounde -   It was a strange
3sight to the Balonda who
4were looking on wondering
5I offered pieces to them
6but these were declined though
7they are excessively fond
8of a little animal food to
9eat with their vegetable food
10diet -   They would not eat
11with us but they would
12take it and cook it in their
13own way - and then use it
14I thought at one time that
15they had imported some thing
16from the Mahometans
17and the more especially
18as an exclamation of
19surprise is "Alleh" sounds [55]
20like the Illah of the Arabs
21but we found a little farther
22on another form of
23salutation of Christian
24origin "Ave-rīe" - (Ave Marie) The
25salutations probably travel
26farther than the faith [↪ ⎰My people
27when satisfied
28with a meal
29like that which
30they enjoy so
31often at home
32amused themselves
33by an uproarious
34dance - Katema
35sent to ask
36what I had given
37them to produce so
38much excitement
39Ntemese replied
40t was their custom
41& they meant no
42harm - The com-
43panion of the ox
44whe slaughtered
45efused food
46for two days
47and went lowing
48about for him
49ontinually - He
50eemed inconsolable
51or his loss &
52tried again &
53again to escape
54away back to
55e Makololo country
56My men remarked
57e thinks they will
58kill me as well
59as my friend &
60Katema thought it
61the result of art
62and has fears of
63my skill in medicine & of course witchcraft - He refused
64                                  to see the magic Lantern - ⎱]
65or pr

66

One of the affairs which
67had been intrusted by Shinte
68to Ntemese was the rescue
69of a wife of that chief who
70had eloped with a young
71man belonging to Katema
72As this was the only case
73of returning a fugitive 0390
1389
2to a chief against his own
3will I have met with in
4the Interior I am anxious
5to mention it -- On Ntemese
6claiming her as his master's
7wife she protested loudly
8against it saying "she
9knew she was not
10going back to be a wife
11again she was going
12back to be sold to the
13Mambari -   My men formed
14many friendships with
15the people of Katema
16and some of them poorer
17classes said we wish
1856 our children could go back
19with you to the Makololo
20country - here we are all
21in danger of being sold
22My men were of opinion
23that it was only the want
24of knowledge of the
25Southern country which
26prevented an exodus of
27all the lower portions
28of Londa population thither

29

It is remarkable how
30little people f {b}orn in a
31flat forest country like this
32know of distant tribes - An
33old man who said he had been
34born about the same time
35as M {the} late Matiamvo and
36had been his constant companion 0391
1390
2through life visited us and
3as I was sitting on some
4grass in front of the little
5gipsey tent mending my
6camp stool I invited
7him to take a seat on the
8grass beside me - This was
9peremptorily refused - "he
10had never sat on the ground
11during the late chiefs
12reign and he was not
13going to bemean himself now"
14One of my men handed him
15a log of wood ˅ [taken from] out of the
16fire and helped him out
17of the difficulty - When I
1857 handed him some cooked
19meat on a clean plate
20he would not touch that
21either but would take it
22home - so I humoured him
23by sending a servant to
24bear a few ounces of
25meat to the town behind him
26He mentioned the Lŏlŏ ^ [(Lulua)] as
27the branch of the Leeambye
28which flows Southwards
29or South South East - but they
30had never gone far down
31it as Matiamvo had always
32been afraid of encountering
33a people who from the
34description given I could
35recognize as the Makololo 0392
1391
2He described five rivers as falling
3into the Lŏlŏ viz- The Lishish, Liss
4or Lise, Kalileme, Ishidish and
5Molong - None of these are large
6but when they are united
7in the Lŏlŏ they form a magnificent
8 [considerable] stream - The country on its
9through which the Lŏlŏ flows
10is said to be flat fertile, and
11well peopled with {and} ^ there are large patches
12of forest - In this report his {e}
13agreed perfectly with the
14people of Matiamvo whom
15we had met at Quendende's
16village -   But we never
17could get him or any one
1858 in this quarter to draw
19a map on the ground as
20people may ready be got
21to do in the South

22
23

Keir /
24          Katema promised us the
25aid of some of his people as
26carriers but his rule is
27not very stringent for they
28refused to turn out for
29the work -   They were Balobale
30and he remarked on their disobedience
31that though he received them
32as fugitives they did not feel
33grateful enough to obey - and
34if they continued rebellious
35he must drive them back 0393
1392
2whence they came - but there
3is little fear of that as all
4the chiefs are excessively
5anxious to collect men in
6great numbers around them
7These Balobale would not
8go though Shakatwala ran
9after some of them with
10a drawn sword - This degree
11of liberty to rebel was very striking
12to us as it occurred in
13a country where people may
14be sold and often are so
15disposed of when guilty
16of any crime - and disobedience
17we well knew that
18 [open] disobedience ^ like this among the Makololo
19would be punished with death
2059 without much ceremony

21

On Sunday 19th both
22I and several of our party
23were seized with fever
24and I could do nothing but
25toss about in my little
26tent with the thermometer
27above 90° though this was
28the beginning of winter
29and my men made as
30much shade as possible
31by planting branches of
32trees all around and over
33it -     We here for the first
34time in my experience in
35Africa had a cold wind 0394
1393
2from the North - All our winds
3from that quarter are hot
4and those from the South
5are cold -   but they seldom
6blow from either direction

7
8

20th We were glad to get
9away though not on
10account of any scarcity
11of food - for my men
12by giving small presents
13of meat as an earnest
14of their sincerity formed
15many friendships with
16the people of Katema
17We went about four or five
18miles in a N- N- W- direction
19then two in a Westerly one
2060 and came round the
21small end of Lake Dilolo
22It seemed as far as we
23could at this time see
24to be like a river a quarter
25of a mile wide -     It is
26abundantly supplied with
27fish and hippopotami
28the broad part which
29we did not at present see
30is about three miles broad
31and the lake is about
32seven or eight long -
33If it be thought strange
34I did not go a few
35miles to see the broad 0395
1394
2part which according to
3Katema had never been
4visited by any of the traders
5it must be remembered
6that in consequence of
7fever I had eaten nothing
8for two whole days and
9instead of sleep the whole
10of the nights were employed
11in incessant applications
12to the water vessel and
13was now so glad to get
14on in the journey and see
15some of my fellow
16fever patients crawling
17along that I could not
18brook the delay which
1961 astronomical observations
20for accurately determining
21the geographical position
22of this most interesting
23spot -

0396
1

395
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1562 We observed among the people
16of Katema a love of birds
17of song - One pretty little
18songster named cabazo
19 [↪ species of
20canary] is kept in very neatly
21made cages having traps
22on the top to entice their
23still free companions
24On asking why they kept
25them in confinement
26"because they sing sweetly" was
27the answer -     They feed
28them on the Lotsa or lesser
29bird seed of which great
30quantities are cultivated
31as food for man and
32these canaries plage {u}e
33the women in the gardens
34very much in the same
35way as our sparrows do
36                  at home do 0397
1396
2I was pleased to hear the
3long forgotten cry of alarm
4of the canaries in the
5woods and observed one
6warbling forth its song
7and keeping in motion
8from side to side as
9they do in the cage - [↪ ⎰saw also
10tame pigeons
11and the Barotse
12who always
13take care to
14remind us of
15Santuru remind
16us that this
17chief had
18many doves
19and kept
20canaries
21which had
22reddish head
23when the bird
24attained maturity
25hose we now
26ee have the
27al canary
28olour on the
29breast with
30a tinge of green
31 back yellowish
32reen with darker
33longitudial
34bands which
35meet in the
36centre of a narrow
37ark band
38asses from the
39bill over
40the eye &
41back to the
42bill again⎱] We

43

The birds of song here
44set up quite a merry chorus
45in the mornings and
46abound most near the villages
47Some sing as loudly as our
48thrushes and the kinghunter
49(Halcyon Senegalensis) makes
50a clear whirring sound like
51that of a whistle with a pea in
52it - During the heat of the
53day all remain silent and
54take their siesta in the [(63]
55shadiest parts of the trees
56but in the cool of the evening
57they again exert themselves
58in the production of pleasant
59melody -     It is remarkable
60that so many song birds
61abound where there is such
62 [a general ^] a paucity of animal life
63a {A}s we went forward now
64we were struck by the absence
65comparative absence of
66the large game and large
67fowls - The rivers contain
68very few fish - The common 0398
1397
2fly is not troublesome as they
3are wherever milk abounds
4is abundant and it is seen
5in company with others
6of the same size & shape
7but whose tiny feet
8do not tickle the skin as
9is the case with their
10companion - Mosquitoes
11are seldom so numerous
12as to disturb {r}b the slumbers
13of a weary man

14

But though this region
15/ Meadis free from common
16insect plagues and from
17tsetse, it has others -   Feeling
1864 something running accross
19my forehead as I fell
20asleep I put up the hand
21to wipe it off and
22was sharply stung both
23on the hand and head - The
24pain was very pungent - On
25calling for a light we
26found it had been inflicted
27by a light coloured spider about
28half an inch in length and
29one of the men having
30crushed it with his fingers
31I had no opportunity of
32examining whether the
33pain had been produced
34by poison from a sting
35or its mandibles - No remedy 0399
1398
2applied and the pain ceased
3in about two hours - the
4Bechuanas believe that there
5is a ^ [small black] spider in the country
6whose bite is fatal - I
7have not met with an
8instance in the {w}hich death
9could be traced to this insect
10Though a very large black
11hairy spider [↪ an inch &
12 quarter long
13 three quarters
14of an inch
15broad] is frequently
16seen from having an
17a process at the end of
18its front claws similar
19to that at the end of the
20scorpion's tail and when
21the bulbous portion
22of it is pressed upon
23the poison may be seen
2465 pouring out from the
25point

26

We have also spiders
27in the South which seize
28their prey by leaping upon
29it from a distance of
30several inches - When
31alarmed they can spring
32about a foot away
33from the object of their
34own fear - Of this
35kind there are several
36varieties -

37

A large reddish yellow
38spider obtains his food in
39another manner than either
40patiently waiting in ambush 0400
1399
2or by catching it with a bound
3It runs   about with great
4velocity in and out, behind
5and around every object
6searching for what it
7may devour and from
8its size and rapid motions
9excites the horror of
10every stranger - I never
11knew it to do any harm
12except frightening the
13nervous and I believe
14few could look upon
15it for the first time without
16feeling himself in danger
17It is named Selalée
18and th {m}akes a is believed
1966 to be the maker of
20a hinged door for her
21nest -   The You see a
22door exactly the size of
23a shilling lying beside
24 [a deep ^] a hole of nearly similar
25diameter -   The side of the
26door lying upwards &
27which attracts your
28notice is of pure white
29silky like paper -   The
30under side is a {c}oated over
31with earth exactly like
32that in which the
33whole is made - If you
34try to lift it you find it
35is fastened by a hinge on
36one side and if it is 0401
1400
2turned over upon the hole
3it fits it exactly and the
4earthy side being then upper
5most it is quite impossible
6to detect the situation
7of the nest -   Unfortunately
8this ^ [cavity for
9breeding] nest is never seen
10except when the owner is
11out and has left the door
12open behind her -

13

In some parts of
14the country there are
15great numbers of a large
16beautifully yellow spotted
17spider the webs of
18which are about a yard
19in diameter and the
2067 thread on which they are
21hung from one tree to
22another are as thick as
23coarse thread -   The fibres
24of the webs radiate from
25a central point where
26the insect waits for hisits
27prey -   They are placed
28[      ] {perpen}dicularly and
29a common occurrence
30in walking is to get the
31face enveloped in the
32web as a lady's face
33in a veil -

34

Another kind of spider
35lives in society and they
36form so great a collection 0402
1401
2webs placed at every angle
3that the trunk of a tree
4enveloped in them cannot
5be seen - A piece of a
6hedge is often so hidden
7by this spider as that
8the branches of which
9it is formed is invisible

10

Another is seen on the
11inside of the walls of huts
12 [mong the Makololo] ^ in great abundance - It
13is round in shape
14of a brown spotted in colour
15 [and the body] & half an inch in diameter
16The spread of the legs
17is an inch & a half
18It makes a smooth
19spot for itself w {o}n the
2068 wall ^ covered with of pure white
21silky paper - there it
22is seen standing the
23whole day and I never
24could ascertain how
25it fed - It has no web
26but a carpet and never
27does any harm except
28being an ugly neighbour
29Indeed there is not
30much reason in our
31disgust at the curious
32things -

0403
1

402

2

21st Immediately beyond Dilolo
3Berry / there is a large plain of
420 about fifteen ^ twenty miles   Here
5Shakatwala insisted on our
6remaining to get supplies
7of food from Katema's
8subjects before entering
9the uninhabited watery
10plains -   When asked the
11meaning of the name Dilolo
12Shakatwala gave the following
13account of the formation
1469 of the Lake - A female
15chief called Moene (lord)
16Moneng-a came one evening
17to the village of a Mosogo a
18a man who lived on its
19banks on the spot now
20forming the lake on the
21banks and asking for
22passage but had [↪ a man who
23live on the
24banks but
25who is had ^] gone
26to hunt with his dogs -
27She asked for a supply
28& Mosogo's wife gave
29her a good s {a} sufficient
30quantity -   Proceeding
31to another village
32standing on the spot now
33occupied by the water
34she preferred the same
35demand and was not
36only refused but [↪ ⎰hen she uttered
37 threat for
38ir niggardliness⎱] taunted
39with the question "What
40could she do though she
41cou {w}as thus treated"? 0404
1403
2In order to shew what she
3could do she began a song
4in slow time and as
5she uttered the last note
6on her own name
7Monenga-wōō -   As she prolonged
8the last note - the village -
9people & fowls ^ & dogs sank into
10the space now called
11Dilolo -   When Kasimakate
12 [the head man
13of this village] her her the hunter came
14towards his home and
15found out the catastrophe
16he cast himself into the
17lake and is supposed
18to be ⎰still⎱ in it ↪   The
1970 name is derived from
20"ilolo" despair because
21this man gave up hope
22when his family was
23ruined -   Monenga was
24put to death - This may
25be a faint tradition
26of the deluge - and it is
27remarkable as the only
28one I have met with
29in this country

30

Heavy rains prevented
31us from crossing the
32plain in front (N- N- W-
33in one day - and the
34constantl wading through
35the in water among
36the grass hurts the feet 0405
1404
2of the men - There is a
3foot path all the way
4accross but as these
5foot tracks are worn
6down beneath the
7level of the rest of the
8plain they are necess-
9-arily the deepest portion
10and the men avoid
11them making a new
12walk by their side -
13A path however
14narrow is a great
15convenience as any
16one who has travelled
1771 on foot in Africa
18will readily admit
19The virtual want of it here
20caused us to make slow
21 [& painful ^] progress

22

Ants surely are wiser
23than some men for
24they learn by experience
25They have established them
26selves even on these
27plains where water
28stands so long annually
29as to allow the lotus
30and other aqueous plants
31to come to maturity
32When all the ant horizon
33is submerged a foot
34deep they manage by
35ascending to little houses 0406
1405
2built of black tenaceous
3loam on stalks of grass
4and placed higher than
5the line of inundation
6This must have been the
7result of experience for
8if they   had waited till
9the water ^ actually invaded their
10terrestrial habitations
11they would not be able
12to procure materials
13for their airial quarters
14unless they dived down
15to the bottom for every
1672 mouthful of clay -   Some
17of these upper chambers
18are about the size
19of a bean and others
20as large as a man's
21thumb -   They must have
22been built in anticipation
23and if so let us humbly
24hope the sufferers by
25the late French inundations
26may be possessed
27of much wit -
28common sense as the
29little black ants - of
30Dilolo plains

0407
1

XXXIII 1 406
2(250)     Thorns 24th Feby -   On reaching un-
3flooded lands beyond the
4plains we found the villages
5 [there ^] acknowledged the authority
6of the chief named Katende,
7and we discovered also
8to our surprise that an
9 [an the] pl {al}most level plain
10 [we had crossedpassed] formed {s} the watershed
11between the Leeambye
12an Southern and Northern
13rivers, - for, we now
14entered on a district
15in which the rivers
16flowed in a Northerly
17direction into the Kasai
18C {K}asai or Loke which
19near which we had
20now come, ^ while and the
21rivers we had hitherto
22crossed ˅ were all strikethrough running
23southerly-wards -   Having
24met ˅ [with] kind treatment
25and aid at the first village
26Katema's guides returned
27and we were led to
28the N N- N- W- by the inhabitants
29and descended ^ into the very
30first really deep valley
31we had come to beyond
32Kolobeng -   A stream
33ran along the bottom
34of a slope of three or four
35hundred yards from the
36                    plains above

0408
1

2 407
2We crossed this by a rustic
3bridge at present submerged
4thigh deep by the rains -   The
5trees growing along the stream
6of this lovely valley were thickly
7planted and very high - Many
8had sixty or eighty feet of
9clean straight trunk and
10beautiful flowers adorned
11the ground beneath them -
12Ascending the opposite side
13we came in two ti {h}ours
14time to another valley equally
15beautiful and with a
16stream also at {in} its centre
17It may seem mere trifling
18to note such an imp un-
19important thing as a the
20occurrence of a valley,
21there being so many in
22every country und-er the
23sun, but as these were
24here b were but branches
25of that in which the
26Casai or Loke flows
27and ^ [both] that river withand its
28feeders derive their water
29in a singular manner
30from the valley sides
31I may be excused calling
32particular attention to
33them the more furrowed
34nature of the country -

0409
13408
2

At different points on
3the slopes of these vall^eysies
4which we now for the
5first time enter there are
6oozing fountains with
7surrounded by clumps of
8the same ever green
9straight larged leaved trees
10we have noticed along
11the streams -   They are
12 [These spots are] generally covered with
13a mat of grassy vegetation
14and possess more
15the character of a bogs
16than of a fountains -   They
17communicate with the
18 [lowly discharge
19into the] ^ stream below and are
20so numerous along
21both banks as to give
22a peculiar char character
23to the landscape -   These groups
24of trees [sylvan vegetation] is {are} generally of
25a rounded form and
26the trunks ^ of the trees are tall and
27straight while the trees
28 [those] on the level plains
29ab {a}bove are low and
30scraggy in their growth.
31There can be little doubt
32but that the water which
33stands for months on
34the plains soaks in
35and finds its way into
36the rivers & rivulets by
37means of these percolating 0410
14 409
2through the soil and out
3by these oozing bogs into
4the rivers,   and the difference
5between the growths of the
6trees, though they be of
7different species may
8be a proof that the
9scragginess stuntedness
10of those on the plains
11is more owing to being
12too long in the course of
13each year more subjected
14to drought than moisture

15

Reaching the village
16Kabinje of Kabinje in the evening
17he sent us a present of
18tobacco - Mutokuane or
19bang (Cannabis sativa) by {and}
20maize by the man who
21went forward to announce
22our arrival and an message
23expressing satisfaction at the
24prospect of having trade
25with the coast -   The westing
26we were making brought
27us among people who
28are frequently visited by
29the Mambari as slave dealers
30This trade causes bloodshed
31for when a poor family
32is selected as the victims
33it is necessary to get rid
34of the older members of it,
35because they are supposed
36to be able to give annoyance 0411
15 410
2to the chief afterwards by means
3of enchantments -   The belief
4in the power of charms for
5good or evil produces not
6only honesty by a great
7amount of gentle dealing
8The powerful are often
9restrained in their despotism
10by a fear that the weak
11& helpless may injure
12them by their medical
13knowledge   They have many
14fears -   A man at one
15of the villages we came to
16shewed us the grave
17of his child and with
18much apparent feeling
19told us she had been burned
20to death in her hut - He
21had come with all his family
22and built huts around it
23in order to weep for her - He
24thought if the grave were
25left unwatched the witches
26would come and bewitch
27them by putting medicines
28on the body -   They have
29a more decided belief in
30the continued existence of
31departed spirits than any
32of the more southerly Tribes
33Even the Barotse possess
34the {i}t in a strong degree for
35one of my men of that 0412
16 411
2tribe on experiencing headache
3said with a sad and thoughtful
4countenance, said "My father is
5scolding me because I do not
6give him any of the food I eat"
7I asked where his father was
8"Among the Barimo" was the reply -

9
10
11
12
13
14

Chester / When we wished to move on
15Kabinje refused a guide to the
16next village because he was
17at war with it but after
18much persuasion he consented
19/ [provided] but with the stipulation that
20the guide should be allowed
21to turn as soon as he came
22in sight of the enemy's village
23This we felt to be a
24misfortune ˅ foras the people
25all suspect a man who
26comes telling his own
27tale but there being no
28help for it we went on
29and found the headman
30of a village on the rivulet
31Kalomba called Kangenke
32a very different man
33from what his enemy
34represented -   We found too
35that the idea of buying
36and selling took the place 0413
17 412
2of giving for friendship - As
3I had nothing to purchase
4food except the parcel
5of beads which were reserved
6for worse times I began
7to fear that we should soon
8be compelled to suffer
9more from hunger than
10we had done -     The people
11here demanded more p {g}un
12-powder for everything
13If we had possessed any
14quantity of that article
15we should have got on
16well for here it is
17of great value - On our
18return near this spot we
19found a good sized fowl
20was sold for a single
21charge of gunpowder
22Next to that English
23calico was in great
24demand -   and so were
25beads but money was
26of no value whatever
27Gold is quite unknown
28even in {by} name in these
29central parts -   It is thought
30to be brass and I am certain
31that if you offered a man
32 [his choice of] a sovereign and a brass button
33he would take the latter
34as most valuable because
35it has an eye to it

0414
1

8 413
227th Feby -   Kangenke promptly furn-
3-ished guides this morning
4so we went briskly on a
5short distance and came
6to a part of the Kasye, Casai, or
7Loke where he had appointed
8two canoes to convey us
9across -   This is a most
10beautiful river in size and
11very much like the clyde
12in Scotland in size     The
13slope of the valley down
14to the stream is about
15five hundred yards and
16finely wooded - It is about perhaps
17one hundred yards broad - &
18It was winding slowly from
19side to side in the beautiful
20green valley a {in} a course
21to the North or {&} Nort {r} Nor East
22In both the directions on {fr}om
23which it came & went
24it seemed to be alternately
25embowered in sylvan vegetation
26 [rich &fertile] or ˅ beautifulrich meadows -
27covered with tall grass.
28The men pointed out its
29course and said "though
30you sail along it for
31months you will turn
32without seeing the end
33of it - "

0415
19 414
2

While at the ford of the
3Kasai we were subjected
4to a trick of which we
5had been forewarned
6by the people of Shinte -
7A knife had been dropped
8by one of Kangenke's
9people in order to
10entrap my men -   It is {w}as
11put down near our encampment as if lost
12the owner in the mean
13time watching till some
14one ^ [one of my men] picked it up - Nothing
15was said untill we
16were now parted one
17half on this side and
18the other on that bank
19of the river -   Then the
20charge was made to
21me that one of my men
22had stolen a knife
23Certain of my people's honesty
24I desired the man who
25was making a great noise
26to search the luggage for it
27The unlucky lad who had
28taken the bait then came
29forward and confessed
30that he had the knife in
31a basket which was
32already [↪ taken over the] beyond the river
33When it was broughtreturned
34/ [returned] back the origin owner would 0416
110 415
2 [not] recieve it back unless accom
3-panied with a fine -   The
4lad offered beads but these
5were refused with scorn
6A shell being round his
7neck similar to that which
8Shinte had given me was
9the object demanded - and
10the victim of the trick as we
11we all knew it to be was
12obliged to part with his costly
13ornament -   I could not
14save him from the loss as
15all had been forewarned
16and it is the universal custom
17among the Makololo and
18many other tribes to shew
19whatever they may find
20to the chief person of the
21party and make a sort
22of offer of it to him -
23This lad ought to have done
24so to me as {n}d the rest would
25ce {h}ave done of the party always
26did observe this custom -
27I felt annoyed as the imposition
28but the order we always
29observed in crossing a
30river forced me to submit
31The head of the party remained
32to the last so if I had
33not come to terms I would
34have been as I always was
35in crossing rivers ^ which we could 0417
111 416
2not swim completely in the
3power of the enemy -   It
4was but rarely we could
5get a headman so witless
6as to cross a river with
7us and remain on the opposite
8bank in a convenient
9position to be seized as
10an hostage in case of
11my being caught -

12

Dennett / This trick is but one
13of a number equally dishonourable
14which are practised by
15tribes ˅ thatwhich lie adjacent
16to the more civilized
17settlements - and The Balonda
18farther East told us inus by way
19 [by way of warning] giving usof warning that
20many parties of the
21more central tribes had
22at various periods set
23out in order to trade
24with the whitemen themselves
25instead of through the Mambari,
26X but had always been
27obliged to return [↪ without reaching
28their destination] ˅ throughin consequence of in consq
29so many ways pretexts
30being invented by by ^ the tribes
31 [encountered ^] in the way for fining
32them of their ivory

33
34

/ This ford was in 11° 15' - 47"
35South Latitude but the weather
36was so excessively cloudy
37we got no observation for Longitude

0418
112 417
2

We were now in want
3of food, for to the great
4surprise of my companions
5the people of Kangenke
6gave nothing except by
7way of sale, and they
8 [charged] were the most exhorbitant
9X in their demands or prices
10 [for] of the little meal and manioc
11they brought; -   The only
12article my men had was
13a little fat saved from
14the ox we slaughtered at
15Katema's, so I had to
16give ^ them a portion of the
17stock of beads -   One
18day (29th) [↪ of Westing] brought us from
19the Kasai to near the
20village of Katende but
21and we saw we were
22in a land where no hope
23dependance can be placed
24of ^ the game animal food [↪ ould be enter-
25ained of getting
26on supplies
27f animal
28food,] for ^ one of our
29guides caught a light
30blue coloured mole and
31two mice - for his supper;
32His careful wrapping of
33them up in a leaf
34& slinging them on his
35spear told that we could
36not hope to enjoy any
37larger game, - We saw
38no evidence of any animals
39besides - {;} and on coming
40X 0419
1X13 418
2 [to the villages
3in front this] we often saw the boys
4and girls engaged in
5digging up these tiny
6quadrupeds

7
8

Katende sent for me
9on the day following our
10arrival and being quite
11willing to visit him I
12walked ˅ for this purpose about three miles
13from our encampment
14/ for the purpose When
15we approached the village
16we were desired to enter
17a hut, ˅ [↪ ⎰and as it was raining
18at the time we did so.⎱] This we did as
19it was raining and aAfter
20a long time spent in
21giving and recieving
22messages from the great
23man we were told that
24he l wanted either a man
25X or a tusk, , or beads, or
26copper rings, or a shell
27as payment for leave
28to pass through his country;
29No one was allowed
30 [that liberty] to pass through his country
31or even ˅ to behold him without
32X something of the sort
33being presented, Having
34humbly explained he {o}ur
35circumstances, and that
36he could not cat expect
37to "catch a humble cow
38by the horns," a proverb 0420
114 419
2similar to ours that "you cant
3draw milk out of a stone"
4we were told to go home,
5and he would speak
6again to us next day -
7/ I could not avoid a
8hearty laugh at the cool
9impudence of the savage,
10and made the best of
11my way home in
12the still pouring rain
13My men were rather
14nettled at this want of
15hospitality, but after talking
16over the matter with
17one of Katende's servants
18he proposed that some
19small article should
20be given and the attempt
21made to please Katende;
22I turned out my shirts &
23selected the worst one
24as a sop ^ for him, and invited him
25 [Katende ^] to come and choose the
26best of anything else I had,
27but when I should
28reach the {m}y own chief
29 [naked ^] and was asked why
30 [asked ^] I came what I had done
31with my clothes that I
32came naked I would
33be obliged to confess that
34I had left them with Katende
35The shirt went off to
36254 him, and [some of my people 0421
115 420
2went along with the servant; -
3They soon returned, saying
4that the shirt had been
5accepted, and guides and
6food too would be sent
7to us next day - He, moreover,
8expressed a hope to see me on
9my return, He is reported to be
10very corpulent - ;   The traders
11who have come here
12seem to have been very
13timid, yielding to every
14demand made on the most
15frivolous pretences; - One
16of my men seeing another
17much like an acquaintance
18at home addressed him
19by the name of the latter
20in sport - telling him at
21the same time why he did
22so - ;   This was pronounced
23to be a grave offence, and
24a large fine demanded;
25When the case came before
26me I could see no harm
27in what had been done,
28and told my people not
29to answer the young
30fellow -   The latter felt
31himself disarmed, for
32it is chiefly in a brawl
33X they have power; for
34their words are spoken
35in anger which rouse
36the passions of the complainant's 0422
116 421
2friends -   In this case after
3vociferating some time
4the would be offended party
5came and said to my
6man that if they gave
7each other something all
8would be right, but my
9man taking no notice
10of him he went off
11much crest fallen

12

Cross / My men were much
13astonished as myself at the
14demand for payment
15for leave to pass and
16 [the] almost entire want of
17observance of the rules
18of hospitality -   Katende
19gave us only a little meal
20and manioc and a fowl -
21X and Bbeing detained two
22days by heavy rains
23we felt that a good stock
24of patience was necessary
25in travelling through this
26country in the rainy season

27

Parting without seeing
28Katende we crossed the small
29rivulet ^ [( {the} Sengko)] by which we had
30encamped and after two
31hours came to another the
32Totelo - This was somewhat
33larger and had a bridge
34over it - At the further end
35of this structure stood a negro 0423
117 422
2and demanded toll fees - He
3said the bridge was his -   the
4path his and the guides were
5his children and if we did
6not pay him he would
7prevent farther progress
8This was a piece of civilization
9I was not prepared to
10meet and stood a few seconds
11looking at our bold toll-
12keeper   When one of my
13men took off three copper
14armlets bracelets and paid
15 [for] the whole party - He was
16a better man than he
17 [at first] seemed for he immediately
18went to his garden
19and brought us some
20leaves of tobacco inas a
21X present -

22

When we had got
23fairly away from villages
24the guides sat down
25and stated their told us that
26there were three paths in
27front and if we did not
28at once present them with
29a cloth they would leave
30X us to take which ever we
31might like best - As I
32had pointed out the
33direction in which Loando
34lay and had only employed
35them for the sake of knowing 0424
118 423
2the paths between villages
3which lay along our route
4and always objected when
5they led us in any other
6than the Loando direction
7I wished my men now to
8go on without them ^ guides and
9tha we should choose
10the path which would
11St/ [might would seem to] lead us in the direction
12we had always followed
13But Mashauana fearing lest
14 [we] we should ˅ might wander asked
15leave to give his cloth and
16when the guides saw that
17 [they] he came forward shouting
18X "Averie Averie"

19

In the afternoon of this
20day we came to a valley
21about a mile wide filled
22with clear fast flowing
23water - The men on foot
24were chin deep and we three
25on ox-back got our wet to
26the middle the weight on the
27animal preventing him
28from swimming - A thunder
29shower came ^ descending on and
30X completed the partial
31drenching of the plains
32and gave a cold uncomfortable
33packing in a wet blanket
34that night - Next day
35we found another flooded
36valley ˅ about half a mile wide with a small & now deep 0425
119 424
2rivulet in its middle - This
3valley was half a mile wide
4X and fol {lo}wing rapidly to the
5 [S. S. E {S. S. East}] South South East the {or} direction
6towards the Kasai -   The middle
7part of this flood being
8the bed of what in {at} other
9times was {is} the rivulet was
10so rapid that we crossed
11by holding on to the oxen
12and the current soon
13dashed them to the opposite
14bank - we then jumped off
15and [↪ and being relieved
16of their burdens
17we could] pulled them on to
18the shallower part -   The
19rest of the valley was thigh
20deep and boggy but
21holding on by the belt which
22fastened on the blanket
23 [to the ox ^] we each floundered through
24the nasty slough as well
25as we could -   These boggy
26parts lying parallel to the
27stream were the first
28we had come to - Those mentioned
29already were mere circumscribed
30patches these extended for
31miles along each bank
32but even here though
33the rapidity of the current
34was very considerable the
35thick sward of gl {r}ass
36was laids along the sides
37of the stream and the soil 0426
120 425
2was not abraded so much
3as to discolour the flood -
4When we came to the
5opposite side of this valley
6some pieces of ^ the ferrugineous
7conglomerate which forms
8X [the] to capping to all other rocks
9in a large district around
10and North of this cropped
11out and the oxen bit at
12them as if as much
13struck by the appearance
14˅ of stone ˅ a as ˅ much as we were -
15We had not met with
16a stone csince leaving
17Shinte's -   The country is
18covered with deep alluvial
19soil

20
21

In the afternoon we came
22to another stream Nguana Loke
23(or child of Loke) with a bridge
24over it -   The men had
25to swim off to each end
26of the bridge [↪ and when on
27it were
28breast deep] and some
29preferred holding on by
30the tails of the oxen - over
31the whole distance - I at {in}tended
32to do this too but riding
33to the deep part before I
34could dismount and sieze
35the help {m} the ox dashed
36off with his companions
37and his body went so deep 0427
121 426
2 [that] I failed in my attempt even
3to catch the blanket belt
4and if I pulled the bridle
5the ox seemed as if he
6would come back^wards upon
7me - so I struck out for
8the opposite bank alone
9My poor fellows were
10dreadfully alarmed when
11they saw me parted from
12the cattle and about
13twenty of them made a
14simultaneous rush in
15to the water for my rescue
16and just as I reached
17the opposite bank one
18seized my arm and the
19other threwput his ˅ arms around my
20body -     When I stood up
21it was most gratifying
22to see them all struggling
23towards me - Some had
24leapt off the bridge and
25allowed their cloaks to
26float down the stream
27and pPart of my goods
28 [abandoned
29in the hurry] ^ were brought up from
30the bottom after I was
31safe -   Great was the
32pleasure expressed when
33they had found I could
34swim like themselves
35without the aid of a tail
36and I did and do feel grateful
37 [to these poor] heathen for the promptude 0428
122 427
2with which they dashed in
3to save as they thought my
4life - I found my clothes
5cumbersome in the water -
6They could swim quicker
7from being naked -   They
8swim do {li}ke dogs not frog
9fashion as we do -

10

In the evening we crossed
11the small rivulet Lozeze and
12came to some villages of
13Kasabi the Kasabi wh {fr}om whom
14we got some manioc for
15beads -   They tried to frighten
16us by telling of the deep
17rivers we should have
18to cross in front - I was
19drying my clothes by basting
20 [↪ turning myself
21round and
22round] myself before the fire - My men
23laughed at the idea of being
24frightened by rivers - "We can
25all swim" - Who carried the
26white man across the river?
27but himself" I felt proud of their
28praise -

29
30

Thorns / Sat - 4th March -     Came to the outskirts
31of the territory of the Chiboque
32We crossed the Konde and
33Kaluze rivulets -   The former
34is a deep small stream with
35a bridge the latter insignificant
36The valleys in which these
37rivulets run are beautifully 0429
123 428
2fertile -   My companions
3are continually lamenting
4over them {ir} uncultivated
5state in such words as
6these - "What a fine country
7for cattle! My heart is
8sore to see such fruitful
9valleys for corn laying
10waste"!   When At the
11time these words were
12noted I had come to
13the belief that the reason
14why the inhabitants of
15this fine country opossess
16no herds of cattle was
17owing to the despotic
18sway of their chiefs - And
19that the common
20people would not be allowed
21to keep any domestic
22animals even supposing
23they could acquire them
24but on musing on the
25subject since I have
26been led to the conjecture
27that the rich fertile country
28Londa must formerly
29 [have ^] been infested by the Tsetse
30but that as the people
31killed off the game on
32which in the absence
33of man the Tsetse must
34subsist, the insect was
35starved out of the country 0430
124 429
2It is now found only where
3wild animals abound
4and the Balonda having cleared
5 [several parts of] the country of all the
6large game we happened to
7come just when it was
8possible to admit of cattle
9Hence the success of
10both coKatema, Shinte & Matiamvo
11with their herds -   It would
12not be surprising though
13they know nothing of the
14circumstance for a tribe
15on the Zambesi which I
16encountered whose country
17was swarming with cattle
18believed that they could not
19keep any because "no
20one loved them well
21enough to give them the
22medicine of cattle" and
23even the Portuguese at Loando
24 [↪ accounted for
25the death of] believed that the cattle
26brought from the Interior to
27the sea coast were unable
28 [by the prejudicial
29nature of the] to live in the sea air! One
30ox which I took down to
31the sea from the Interior
32died at Loando with all
33the symptoms of the poison
34injected as I saw myself
35by the Tsetse in a district
36within a hundred miles of
37the Coast

0431
1XXXIV 25 430
2

While among the villages
3of the C {K}asabi we saw
4no evidence of want of
5 [food ^] among the people - Our
6beads were very valuable
7but cotton cloth would
8have been still more so
9for as we travelled along
10men and women and children
11and came running after
12us with ^ [⎰meal &⎱] fowls for sale
13which we would gladly
14have purchased had we
15possessed any of our
16English manufactures
17When they heard that we
18had no cloth they turned
19back much disappointed

20

The amount of
21population in the central
22parts of the country may
23be called large only as
24compared with the
25Cape Colony or Griqua
26 [the] Bechuana country and
27t {T}he cultivated land is
28as nothing when compared
29with what might be
30brought under the plough
31There are flowing streams
32in abundance to {w}hich
33were it necessary could
34be turned out with but
35little labour for the purpose
36of irrigation - Miles of 0432
1431
2fruitful country are now laying
3 [absolutely] waste for there is not even
4game to eat off the fine pasturage
5and recline under the ever
6-green shady groves which
726 we are ever passing
8in our progress - The people
9who inhabit the central region
10are not all ^ quite black ^ in colour - Many incline
11to that colour of bronze and
12others are as light coloured
13 [in hue ^] as the Bushmen - who it may
14be remembered afford a proof
15that heat alone does not
16cause ˄ deep blackness, andbut also that
17heat and moisture combined
18do m {v}ery materially deepen
19the colour -   Wherever we
20find people who have continued
21for ages in a hot humid
22district they are deep black
23but to this apparent law
24there are exceptions caused
25by the migrations of both
26tribes and individuals
27The Makololo for instance
28among the tribes of the
29humid central basin appear
30of a sickly sallow hue
31and when compared with
32the aboriginal inhabitants
33The Batoka also who
34lived on {in} an elevated
35region are when seen 0433
1432
2in company with the Batoka
3of the rivers so much
4lighter in colour they
5might be taken for another
627 tribe but their language
7and very marked custom
8of knocking out the upper
9front teeth leave not
10room for doubt that they
11are one people -

12
13

Apart from the influences
14of elevation - heat & humidity
15 [and degradation] I have been led to remark
16that the deeper hue was
17evidence of degradation
18imagined that I remarkedobserved
19the lighter and darker
20colours running in five
21Longitudinal bands along the
22 [Southern portion of] the continent -   The
23sea board on both the
24East and West very dark
25Then two bands beginning
26about three hundred miles
27from each coast That
28on the West bending
29round and embracing
30the Kalahari desert and
31Bechuana countries - Here
32the people are all of
33a lighter hue and then
34the central basin very
35dark again - -   This view 0434
1433
2is not given with any degree
3of positiveness - It is stated
4just as it struck my mind
5in passing accross the
6country and if incorrect
7it is singular that the
828 dialects spoken by the
9different tribes have
10arranged themselves in a
11somewhat similar fashion
12which we {s}eems to indicate
13migration along the lines
14of colour - If you compare
15the dialects If the dialects
16spoken in the extreme
17Thorns South [whether Hottentot
18255or K {C}affre they will be
19found to bear ^ bear a close
20affinity to those of
21the tribes ^ living immediately
22on their Northern borders
23one glides into the other
24and their affinities are so
25easily detected that they
26are at once recognized
27to be cognate - But if
28the dialects of extreme
29points are compared
30as that of the Caffres
31and the tribes near the
32Equator it is more
33difficult to recognize
34the fact that they
35which is really the case 0435
1434
2that all the dialects belong
3to but two families of
4languages - But examination
5of the roots of the words
6of the dialects arranged
7in geographical order
8poses shews that they
929 glide in meltmerge into each
10 other

11
12
13

Chester / 4th March Having reached the village
14of Njambi one of the chiefs
15of the Chiboque or as the
16Portuguese wen intended
17to pass a quiet Sunday
18and our provisions
19being quite spent I ordered
20a kid & tired riding ox to be slaughtered

21

The Chiboque and other
22tribes in this direction
23disfigure themselves
24by filing or chipping
25their teeth to a point
26As we wished to be on
27good terms with all we
28sent the hump and
29ribs to Njambi with
30the explanation that this
31was the customary
32tribute to chiefs in the
33part from which we
34had come and that we
35always honoured men
36in this position - We 0436
1435
2He returned thanks and promised
3to send food next morning
4Next morning however he
5sent an impudent message [↪ with a very
6small present
7of meal he]
8instead and scorning the
9meat he had accepted and
10demanding ˄ either a man an ox - a
11gun powder cloth or a shell -
1230 and in the event of refusal
13and in the event of refusal
14 [to ^] he {to} int {co}mply with his demand
15he intimated his intention
16to prevent our further progress
17We replied we should have
18thought ourselves fools if we
19we had scorned his small
20present and demanded
21other food - And supposing
22we had possessed the
23articles named no black
24man ought to impose a
25tribute on a party that
26did not trade in slaves
27The servants who brought
28the message said that
29when sent to the Mambari
30they had always got a
31quantity of cloth from
32them for their master
33and now expected the
34same or something else
35 [as an equivalent ^] from me - All the
36women who had brought
37meal to purchase meat
38from my men

0437
1436
2

We heard some of the
3Chiboque remark "they have
4only five guns" and about
5midday o {N}jambi collected
6all his people and
7surrounded our encampment
8encampment - Their object
931 was evidently to plunder
10us of everything - My men
11seized their javelins &
12stood on the defensive
13while the young Chiboque
14had drawn their swords
15and brandished them with
16great fury - Some even
17pointed their guns at me
18and nodded to each
19other as much to say
20"this is the way we shall
21do with him" - I myput my double
22barrelled gun I sat down
23on my camp stool
24with my double barrelled
25gun accross my knees
26and invited the chief
27to be seated also - When
28he and his counsellors
29sat down on the ground
30in front of me I asked
31what guilt we had incurred
32that he had come armed
33in that way - He replied
34that one of my Makololo
35 [men)] (Pitsane) while sitting at the
36fire that morning, had 0438
1437
2in spitting allowed a small
3quantity of the saliva to
4fall on the leg on one
5of his men, and this "guilt"
6he wanted to be settled by a
7fine of a man, ox, or guns -
8Pitsane admitted the fact
932 of a little saliva having
10fallen accidentally on
11the Chiboque that and in
12proof its being ^ a pure accident
13mentioned that he had
14just given the man a
15piece of meat by way
16of making friends just
17before it happened
18and wiped it off with
19his hand as soon as it
20fell -     In reference to a
21man being given I declared
22that we were all ready
23to die rather than give
24up one of our number
25to be a slave -   that they {my}
26men might as well give
27me as I give one of
28them - for we were all
29free men - Then you can
30give the gun with which
31the ox was shot - As we
32heard some of h {h}is people
33remarking even now that
34we had only "five guns"
35we declined that as then
36on the ground that as they
37were intent on plundering us 0439
1438
2giving a gun would be helping do so them to do so
3 [↪ This they denied
4saying they
5wanted the
6customary
7tribute only
8I asked what
9right they had
10to ask payment
11for leave to
12tread on the
13ground of God
14our common
15Father: if we
16trod on their
17gardens we
18would pay
19but not for
20marching
21on land which
22was still God's
23& not theirs
24They did not
25attempt to
26controvert this
27because it is
28in accordance
29with their own
30ideas but
31reverted again
32to the pretended
33crime of the
34saliva]
3533 they could plunder us of
36everything - My men now
37entreated me to give something
38and after asking the chief if
39he really thought the affair
40of the spitting a matter of
41"guilt" and had recieved an
42answer in the affirmative
43I gave him one of [ ] my
44shirts -   The young Chiboque
45were dissatisfied and
46began shouting and brand {d}ishing
47their swords for more
48 [a greater fine] As Pitsane entreated felt
49that he had been the
50cause of this disagreeable
51affair he asked me
52to add something else -
53I gave a bunch of beads
54but the counsellors were
55objected this time - so I added
56a large hank {d}kerchief - The
57more I yielded the more
58unreasonable their demands
59became - and at every
60fresh - demand a shout
61was made by the armed
62party and a rush made
63around us with brandishing
64of arms -   One young
65man made a charge
66at my head from
67behind but I brought
68round the muzzle of
69my gun to his mouth 0440
1439
2and he retreated - I pointed him
3out to the chief and he ordered
434 him to retire a little - I felt
5anxious to avoid the effusion
6of blood and though sure of
7being able with my Makololo
8who had been drilled by
9Sebituane to drive off twice
10the number of our assailants
11though now a large body
12and well armed with both
13spears swords, arrows
14and guns - I strove to avoid
15actual collision - My men
16were quite unprepared
17for this exhibition but
18behaved with admirable
19coolness -   The chief and
20counsellors by accepting
21my invitation to be seated
22had placed themselves
23in a trap for my men
24very quietly surrounded
25them and appeared as if
26made them feel that
27there was no chance of
28their escaping their spears
29of my men I then said
30that as one thing after
31another had failed to
32satisfy them it was
33evident they wanted to
34fight while we wanted
35to pass peaceably through 0441
1440
2the country - that they must
3begin first [↪ and bear the
4guilt before
5God] We would not
6fight till they had struck
7the first blow -   then sat
835 silent for some time -   It was
9rather trying for me because
10I knew that the Chiboque
11would aim first at the
12White man - ˄ first but I was careful
13not to appear flurried and
14having four barrels ready
15for instant action looked
16quietly at the savage scene
17around -   The Chiboque
18countenance by no means
19handsome is not improved
20by the practice of filing
21the teeth to a point which
22they have adopted - The
23chief and counsellors seing
24that they were in more
25danger than I did not
26choose our decision that
27they should begin first strike
28 [begin the strifeby striking] the first blow and then see
29what we could do ↪ and [↪ ⎰perhaps influenced
30by seeing some
31 my men
32appearing
33quite at home
34in prospect of
35a work of
36blood -⎱]

37

The Chiboque at last put
38the matter before us in this
39way - "You come among us
40in a new way - and say
41you are quite friendly
42how can we know it
43unless you give us some
44of your food and you
45take some of ours - If 0442
1441
2you give us an ox we shall
3give you whatever you may
4wish and then we shall
5be friends -   In accordance
6with the entreaties of my
7men I gave an ox - and when
836 asked what I should like in
9return mentioned food as that
10which we most needed
11In the evening Njambi sent
12a very small presentbasket of meal
13and a f {two} or three pounds
14of the flesh of our own ox!
15with the apology that he
16had no fowls and very
17little of any other food -
18It was impossible to avoid
19a laugh at the coolness of
20the generous creatures, and
21thankful that though resolved
22to die rather than deliver
23up one of our number
24to be a slave we had so
25far gained our point as
26to be allowed to pass
27on without having shed
28human blood -

29

Dennett / In the midst of the
30commotion several Chiboque
31stole pieces of meat out
32of the sheds of my people,
33 [and] but one of the Makololo
34went boldly into the crowd
35and took back a marrow
36bone from one of them 0443
1442
2A few of my Batoka seemed
3afraid, and would perhaps
4have fled, had the fray
5actually begun, but upon
6 [the whole] I thought my men
7behaved admirably, and
8 [they] excited my admiration;
937 They lamented having left
10their shields at home
11by command of Sekeletu,
12 [who] He feared that if they
13had carried these they
14 [might] would be more disposed
15to be overbearing in their
16demeanor to the tribes we
17should meet -   We had
18proceeded on the principles
19of peace and conciliation
20and the foregoing treatment
21in what they shews
22in what light our conduct
23was viewed -   In fact
24we were taken for
25interlopers trying to cheat
26the revenue of the tribe
27They had been accustomed
28to get a slave or two from
29every slave trader who passed
30them, and now that we
31disputed the right they viewed
32the infringement on what
33they considered lawfully due
34with most virtuous
35indignation

0444
1

443
26th March As we were informed
3that the people on the West
4of the Chiboque of Njambi
5were familiar with the
6visits of slave traders, and
7that it was the opinion
838 of our guides from Kangenke
9that they so many
10of my companions would
11be demanded from me
12in the same manner
13the people of Njambi had
14done, that I ^ wshould reach
15the coast without a single
16attendant, I resolved to
17alter our course and
18strike away to the N- N- E-,
19in the hope that at some
20point farther North I
21 [might] should find an exit to
22the Portuguese settlement
23of Cassange - We then pro-
24-ceeded at first due North,
25with the Kasabi ^ villages on our
26right and the Kasau on
27our left -   During the first
28twenty miles we crossed
29many small but now
30swollen streams, having
31the usual boggy banks
32and whenever     the
33water stood for any
34length of time it was
35discoloured with rust of
36-iron -   We saw a Nakong 0445
1444
2one day, a rare sight in this
3quarter, and many new
4and pretty flowers adorned
5the vallies {eys} -   We could observe
6the difference in the seasons
7in our Northing in company
839 with the sun -   Summer
9was now nearly over
10at Kuruman -     and far
11advanced at Linyanti,
12but here we were in the
13middle of it -   Fruits, which
14we had eaten ripe on
15the Leeambye, were here
16quite green, - But we had
17 [were ^] now comeng into the region
18where the inhabitants are
19favoured with two crops
20and rainy seasons and
21 [two crops] i-e-   when the sun is
22going South and when
23he comes back in
24his way to the North, as
25he was doing now

26

On the 8th one of the
27men had left an ounce
28or two of powder at our
29sleeping place, and went
30back for it several miles
31for it -   My clothing
32being wet from crossing
33a stream I was compeled
34to wait for him -   Had
35I been moving in the
36sun - I should have felt no harm 0446
1445
2but the inaction led to a
3violent fit of fever;   The
4continuance of this attack
5was a source of much
6Goodby regret, for we went [on
740 next day to a small
8rivulet called Chihuné
9in a lovely valley, and
10had for a wonder
11a clear sky - and a clear
12moon - but such was
13the confusion produced
14in the mind by the
15state of the body that
16th I could scarcely manage
17after some hours trial
18to get a Lunar observation
19in which I could repose
20confidence -   The Chihune
21Chihuné flows into the Longe
22and that into the
23Chihombo a feeder of
24the Kasai -   Those who
25know the difficulties
26of taking ^ altitudes and times and
27distances and committing
28 [all of] them to paper will
29sympathize with me
30in this and many
31other similar instances 0447
1446
2While at Chihune the men in {of}
3a village brought wax for
4sale and on finding that
5we wished for honey went
6off and soon brought a
7hive for sale -   All the
841 bees in the country are
9in possession of the
10natives for they place
11hives sufficient for them
12all and     When we knew
13this we never attended the
14call of the honey guide
15for we were sure it
16would only lead us to so a
17hive we had no right
18to touch -   The bird continues
19its duties {y} [habit] of cainviting attention
20of the honey though now
21never actually needed
22My Makololo lament that
23they never knew before
24that wax could be sold
25for anything of value
26and make resolutions as
27as to their future # The forests
28being more dense as we
29proceed beyond Chihune
30our guides wandered away
31to the Westward again

32

Goodby / As we have a
33succession of open lawns
34and deep forests it is
35interesting to observe 0448
1447
2something like instinct developed
3even in trees - One which
4when cut emits a milky juice
5✧ [if] when met with on the
6open lawns grows as
742 an ordinary umbrageous
8tree - and shews [no
9252 disposition to be a climber
10But when planted in a
11forest it takes the same
12form then sends out
13a climbing branch
14which twines round
15another tree untill it
16rises to the thirty or forty
17feet or to the level of
18the other trees of the
19and these spread out
20 [another crown] again where it can
21enjoy a fair share
22of the sun - -     In
23parts ^ [of the forest] more dense still
24than this, it assumes
25the form of a climber
26entirely ^ [and at once takes
27the assistance
28of a tall neighbour
29by winding
30vigorously
31round it] without attempting
32to form a lower head - -
33It does not succeed
34so well as native
35born parasites but
36but where not forced
37to contend for space
38with them it may be
39mistaken for one which
40is always a climber 0449
1448
2The paths here were very narrow
3and very much encumbered
4with gigantic climbers
5There must be some reason
6why they prefer to go up
743 in a tree in the common
8form of the thread of a
9screw more than in
10the other - On the one bank
11of the Chihune they wound
12up from left to right
13in {on} the other rig {fr}om right
14to left - I imagined this
15was owing to the sun
16being in {at} one season
17of the year on their
18North and in {at} another
19on their south But on
20the Leeambye I observed
21creepers winding up
22on opposite sides of the
23same reed and make {i}ng
24a figure like the lacings
25of a sandal

26

In passing through
27these narrow paths I had
28had an opportunity of
29observing the peculiarities
30of my ox "Sinbad" He
31had a softer back than
32the others but a much
33more intractable temper
34His horns were bent down
35wards ^ [and hung
36loosely] so he could do no 0450
1449
2harm with them but as we
3woun wended our way
4slowly along the narrow
5path he would suddenly
644 dart aside -   A string tied to a stick put through
7the cartilage of the nose
8is {se}rves instead of a bridle
9If you jerk this back
10it makes him run faster
11on: I {i}f you pull it to one
12side he allows the nose
13and head to go but keeps
14the opposite eye open
15and directed to the forbidden
16spot and goes in spite
17of you -   The only way
18he can be brought to
19a stand is by a stroke
20with a wand across
21the nose -   When he can
22ran Sinbad ran in
23below a climber stretched
24over the path and so
25low I could not duck
26under it I was dragged
27off and came down
28on the crown of mythe head
29and he never allowed
30an opportunity of the
31kind to pass without
32trying to inflict a kick
33as if I neither had nor
34deserved his love -

0451
1

450
2Robinson / A remarkable peculiarity in the
3forests of this country is the
4absence of thorns - There
5are but two exceptions
645 one a tree having a species
7of the nux nux vomica
8a small shrub very like
9 [the plant of ^] the salsaparilla bearing
10in addition to bun its
11hooked thorns bunches
12of yellow berries -   The
13    thornlessness of the
14vegetation is especially
15noticeable to those who
16have been in the South
17where there is a so great
18a variety of thorn bearing
19plants and trees - We
20have thorns of every size
21and shape -   thorns
22straight thin & long - short
23and thick hooked and
24so strong as to be able
25of to cut even leathern
26 [like] as a knife - Seed vessels
27are scattered everywhere
28by these appendages - One
29lies flat as a shilling
30with two thorns in
31its centre ready to run
32into the foot of any
33animal that treads
34upon it and stick there
35for days together - Another ^
36(the Uncaria procumbens) or grapple
37                                                      plant 0452
1451
2has so many ^ hooked thorns as to
3cling most tenaceously
4to any animal to which
5it may become attached
646 When it happens to attach
7itself to the mouth of an
8ox the animal stands
9and roars with pain &
10a sense of helplessness -

11

Whenever a part of
12the forest has been cleared
13for a garden ^ and abandned a species
14of Metonica [↪ plants
15with leaves
16like those
17of ginger] springs up
18and contends for the
19possession of the soil
20with a great crop of
21ferns -   This is the
22case all the way down
23to Angola and shews
24the great difference of
25climate between this and
26the South [Bechuana
27country] where a fern
28except one or two
29hardy species areis never
30seen - -   The metonica
31 [plants] above mentioned bear
32a pretty pink flower
33close to the ground
34which is succeeded
35by a scarlet fruit full
36of seeds yielding as so
37many fruits in this
38country do a pleasant
39acid juice which like
40the rest is probably intended 0453
1452
2as a corrective to the fluids
3of the system in this hot
4climate

5

47 On leaving the Chihune
6we crossed the Longe and
7it being a cloudy day we
8 [our guides] wandered [↪ in a forest] away to the
9west till we came to the
10river Chihom-bo flowing
11to the E- N- E- My men
12depend so much on
13the sun for guidance
14their having seen nothing
15of the luminary all
16day they thought we
17had wandered back
18to the Chiboque and as
19often happens in these
20cases they disputed
21as to the point where
22where the sun should
23rise next morning
24As soon as the rains
25would allow we went
26off to the East North East
27It would have been
28better to have travelled
29by compass alone for
30the guides took advantage
31of any fears expressed
32by my people and
33threatened to return if
34presents were not made
35at once - But my men 0454
1453
2had never left their own
3country before except for
4rapine and murder
5When they came to a village
648 they were in the habit
7of killing numbers of
8the inhabitants and
9then taking a few young
10men to serve as guides
11to the next place     and As
12this was their first attempt
13and at ^ in an opposite line
14of conduct - and being
15without their shields they
16felt defenceless among
17the greedy Chiboque
18and some allowance
19must be made for
20them on that account

21

Sat 11th    , Reached a small
22village on the banks of
23a little stream and I was
24too ill to go out of my
25little covering except
26to quell a mutiny which
27began to shew itself among
28some of the Batoka and
29Ambonda of our party
30They grumbled as they
31often do against their
32chiefs when they
33think them partial in
34their gifts - because they
35thought I had shewn
36partiality to some of them in the
37distribution of the beadss 0455
1XXXV- 454
2But the beads I had given
3to my principal men
4were only sufficient
5for a scanty meal and
649 I had hastened on to
7this village in order to
8slaughter an ox a tired
9ox and give them all
10a good feed a feast
11and rest on Sunday
12as a preparation for
13the journey in front
14I explained this to them
15and thought their grumbling
16was allayed - and soon
17sank into a state of
18stupor which the fever
19sometimes caused produced
20and was oblivious
21to all their noise in
22slaughtering - On Sunday
23the mutineers were
24making a terrible noise
25in preparing some skins
26they had procured
27I requested them twice
28by the man who attended
29me to be more quiet
30as the noise pained
31me -   But as they paid
32no attention to this
33civil request I put out
34my head and repeating
35it myself was answered 0456
1455
2by an impudent laugh - Knowing
3that discipline would
4be at an end if this
5mutiny were not quelled
6I seized a double barrelled
7pistol and darted forth
850 from the domicile looking
9I suppose such daggers
10as to put them to
11a precipitate flight - As
12some remained within
13hearing I told them that
14I must maintain discipline
15though at the expense
16of some of their
17limbs - So long as we
18travelled together they
19must remem-ber that
20I and not they were {as}
21masters -     They became
22very obedia {e}nt immediately
23and never afterwards
24gave any trouble or
25imagined that they
26had any right in any
27 [of my] property I poss

28
29

Cross / 13 - We went forward some
30miles but were brought
31to a stand by the severity
32of my fever on the
33banks ^ [a branch of] of the Loajima another
34tributary of the Casai
35I was in a state of partial
36coma untill late at night 0457
1456
2when it became necessary
3for me to go out and
4was surprised to find
5that my men had built
6a little stockade and
751 some of them took their
8spears and acted as
9a gaurd - I found that
10we were surrounded
11by by enemies and a
12party of Chiboque lay
13near the gateway
14after having preferred
15a {t}he demand of "a man
16an ox or a gun" - or a
17tusk" - My men had
18prepared for defence in
19case of a night attack
20and when the Chiboque
21wished to be shewn
22where I lay sick my
23men very properly
24refused - In the morning
25I went out to the Chiboque
26and found that they answered
27me civilly regarding my
28intentions in opening
29the country teaching them
30& - & - that their chiefs
31would be pleased with
32the prospect of opening
33the country and now
34only wished to exchange
35tokens of good will with me 0458
1457
2and presented three pigs which
3they hoped I would accept
4three pigs -   As they are
5in the habit of making
6a present in this part
7of the country and then
852 demanding whatever
9they may like in return
10and we had been fore-
11warned of it by our
12guides I tried to decline
13by asking if they would
14eat one of the pigs
15in company with us.
16To this proposition
17they said they durst not
18accede - I then accepted
19them in the hope that
20the blame of deficient
21in friendly feeling should
22not rest with me -
23and presented a razor
24two bunches of beads and
25twelve copper rings con-
26tributed by my men
27from their arms.   They
28went off to report to
29their chief and as I was
30quite unable to move
31from excessive giddiness
32we were in the same
33spot on tuesday evening
34when they returned with
35a message couched
36in very plain terms 0459
1458
2that a man, tusk gun or even ox
3alone would be acceptable
4that he had every thing else
5in his possession but
653 oxen and that whatever
7I should please to demand
8from him he would gladly
9give it - As this was all
10said civilly and there
11was no help for it if
12we refused but bloodshed
13I gave a tired riding ox
14My chief mutineer an
15Ambond man was
16now over loyal for he
17armed himself and
18stood at the gateway
19He would rather die than
20see his father imposed
21on - but I ordered Mosantu
22to take him out of the
23way and he did it
24promptly and allowed
25the Chiboque to march
26off well pleased with
27their booty - I told my
28men that I esteemed
29one of their lives more
30than all the oxen we
31had and it would only
32be to save the lives &
33liberties of the majority
34that would induce me
35to fight - In the propriety
36of this they all agreed - and 0460
1459
2said that if the Chiboque molested
3us who behaved so peaceably
4the guilt would be theirs
5This is a favourite mode
654 of expression throughout
7the whole country All are
8anxious to give explanation
9of any acts they have
10performed and conclude
11the narration I {with} - "I have
12no guilt or blame" (- "molatu")
13"They or he has {ve} the guilt" - I never
14could be positive whether the
15idea in their minds is guilt
16in the sight of the Deity or
17mankind only -

18

Thornborough / Next morning the robber
19party came with about
20thirty yards of strong striped
21English calico, an axe
22and two hoes for our
23acceptance - and returned
24the copper rings as the
25chief was a great man
26and did not need the
27ornaments of my men
28but we noticed that
29they were taken back again
30I divided the cloth among
31our {my} men and pleased
32them a little in lieu of
33the loss of the ox - I advised
34the chief whose name
35we did not learn as he 0461
1460
2did not deign to appear except
3Matiamvo under the alias Matiamvo
4to get cattle for his own
5use and expressed sorrow
6that I had none wherewith
7 [to enable him ^] to make a commencement
8with -   Rains prevented our
955 proceeding on {till} Thursday and
10on morning and their
11messenger appeared to tell
12us that their chief had
13learned that all the cloth
14had not been presented
15and the copper rings
16secreted by persons
17sent to us previously
18and he had stripped him
19them of their property as
20a punishment -     Our
21guides thought these were
22only spies of a larger
23party secreted in the
24forest through which
25we were now to pass
26We prepared for defence
27by marching in a
28compact body and
29allowing no one to
30straggle far behind the
31others -   We marched through
32many miles of gloomy
33forest in gloomier
34silence but nothing
35disturbed us - We came
36to a village and found 0462
1461
2all the men absent - the
3guides thought in the
4forest with their country
5-men - I was too ill to
6care much whether we
7were attacked or not
856 but a pouring rain came
9on and as we were
10all anxious to get away
11out of bad neighbourhood
12we went on -   The thick
13atmosphere prevented my
14seeing the creeping plants
15in time to duck under
16them so I was Pitsane
17Mohorisi and I who ^ alone were
18mounted were often caught
19and as there is no stopping
20of the oxen when they have
21the prospect of give
22the rider a tumble we
23came frequently to the
24ground -     In addition
25to these mishaps Sinbad
26went off at a plunging
27gallop the bridle broke
28and I came down
29backwards on the crown
30of my head - He gave me
31a kick on the thigh at the
32same time - I was ^ felt none
33the worse for this rough
34treatment but would not
35recommend it to to others
36in cases of fever! 0463
1462
2This last attack of fever was
3so obstinate it reduced me
4 [almost] to a skeleton - The blanket
5which was used as a saddle
6on the back of the ox
7being frequently wet remained
857 wet in the hot sun &
9aided by the heat of the
10ox caused extensive abrasion
11of the skin below which
12was continually healing
13and getting ill ^ made new again
14To this disagreeable was
15↪ added ⎰now⎱ the chafing
16of my projecting bones
17on my the hard bed -

18

Chester / On Friday we came
19to a village of civil people
20on the banks of the Loajima
21itself - and we were wet
22all day in consequence
23of crossing it after starting
24The bridges on it & another
25stream we crossed at
26midday were submerged
27breast deep at this time
28with as I we have always
29found as yet, ^ [a flood of] perfectly
30clear water - On crossing
31the latter we were met by
32a hostile party who refused
33us farther passage, I ordered
34my men to proceed in
35the same direction we had
36been pursuing, but our 0464
1463
2enemies spread themselves
3out in front of us with
4loud cries - Our numbers
5were about equal to theirs
6this time so I moved on
758 at the head of my men - Some
8ran off to other villages
9others ran back to their
10own ^ village on pretence of getting
11ammunition - others called
12out that all traders came
13to them and we must
14do ^ [the same - ] so too As As theese people
15 [had having ^] had plenty of iron headed
16arrows as well as
17 [and some ^] guns, as soon as we
18 [when we ^] came to the edge of the
19forest I ordered my men
20to put our luggage in our
21a central centre and if
22our enemies did not fire
23in {cu}t down some young
24trees and make a screen
25as quickly as possible
26and do nothing to them
27except in case of actual
28attack - I then dismounted
29and advanced a little towards
30our principal opponent
31shewed him how easily
32I could kill him but
33pointed upwards saying
34I fear God - He did
35the same placing his
36hand on his heart and 0465
1464
2pointing upwards but added
3and saying - I fear to kill
4but come to our village
5Come - Do come - At this
6juncture the old headman
759 Ionga Panza a venerable
8negro came up and I
9invited him and all
10to be seated that we might
11talk the matter over
12Ionga Panza soon let us
13know that he felt thought
14himself very ill treated
15in being passed by - As
16most accidents skirmishes
17arise from misunderstanding
18This might have been
19a serious one for like
20all tribes near the
21Portuguese settlements they
22people here imagined that
23they had a right to demand
24payment from every
25one who passes through
26the country and now
27though Ionga Panza was
28certainly no match for
29my men yet they were
30determine not to forego
31their rights b without a
32struggle - I removed with
33my men to the vicinity
34of the village - thankful
35that no accident had as yet 0466
1465
2brought us into actual collision

3

The reason why the
4people have imbibed the
5the idea so strongly that
660 they have a right to demand
7payment for leave to
8pass through the country
9is probably this - They have
10seen no traders except
11those either engaged in
12purchasing slaves or
13who have slaves in their
14employment -   These slave
15traders have always been
16very much at the mercy of
17their the chiefs through whose
18country they have passed
19for if they afforded a ready
20asylum for the runaway
21slaves - the trader might be
22deserted at any moment
23and left a complete wreck
24They are thus obliged to curry
25favour with the chiefs
26so as to gain a safe con-
27-duct from them - as well
28so induce them to part
29with their people The same
30system is adopted to
31induce the chiefs
32to part with their people
33which all feel to the
34real source of their
35importance in the country 0467
1466
2and also that on their return
3with chains of slaves it is
4so easy for a chief who
5might be so disposed to
6als take away a chain
761 containing eight or
8ten slaves unresisting
9slaves that the slave
10merchant is fain to
11give any amount of
12presents in order
13to the good will of
14the chief -     The Independent
15chiefs not knowing
16much why their favour
17is so eagerly sought
18become excessively
19proud and supercilious
20in their demands and
21look upon white men
22as {with} the greatest contempt
23To such lengths did
24they ^ [the Bangala
25a tribe near
26to which
27we had now
28approached] proceed, a few years
29ago in the valley that
30they compelled the
31Portuguese traders to
32pay for water wood
33and even grass and
34every possible pretext
35invented as a {r}easons for
36fines - And these were
37patiently submitted to
38so long as the slave trade
39continued to flourish 0468
1467
2We had unconsciously come
3in contact with a system
4which is {was} quite unknown
5in the s {S}outh th country from
6which my men had come
7An English trader may hear
8 [there hear ^] a demand for payment
962 of guides but never
10so far as I am aware
11is he asked for to pay for
12leave to pass through the
13country -     The idea does
14not seem to have
15entered the native mind
16except from slave traders
17for the aborigines all
18acknowledge that the
19untilled land not
20needed for pasturage
21belongs to God alone
22and no harm is done
23by people passing through
24it -   I rather believe that
25whenever the slave trade
26has not ^ [penetrated] penetrated the
27visits by strangers are
28really esteemed a privilege -
29Goodby /

30

The village of the old
31Ionga Panza is small
32and embowered in lofty
33evergreen trees which were
34hung aroung with fine
35festoons of creepers 0469
1468
2He sent us food immediately
3and soon afterwards a goat
4which was considered
5a handsome gift there being
6but few domestic animals
7here though the country
8is well adapted for
963 them -   I suspect this
10like the country of Shinte
11and Katéma must
12have been a Tsetse district
13and but recently rendered
14capable of supporting
15domestic animals besides
16the goats by the destruction
17of the game through the
18extensive introduction
19of fire arms - The ignorance
20of the P We might have
21been equally ignorant
22of the existence of this
23insect plague as the
24Portuguese had it not
25been for the numerous
26migrations of pastoral
27tribes which took
28place in the South
29in consequence of
30Zulu irruptions

31

During these exciting
32scenes I always forgot
33my fevers but a terrible
34sense of sinking came
35back with the establishment
36of saf {th} safety -   The same 0470
1469
2demand for payment for
3leave to pass was made
4on the 20th by old Ionga Panza
5as by the other Chiboque
6I offered the shell presented
7by old Shinte but Ionga
8Panza said he was
964 too old for ornaments
10We might have succeeded
11very well with him for
12he was by no means
13unreasonable and had but
14a very small village of
15supporters - But our
16two guides from
17Kangenke complicated
18our difficulties by
19sending for a body
20of Bangala traders with
21a view to force us
22to sell the tusks of Sekeletu
23and pay them with the
24proceeds price - We pr {of}fered
25to pay them handsomely
26if they would perform
27their promise of guiding
28Cassangé us to the Cassange but
29they knew no more of
30the paths than we did
31and my men had paid
32them repeatedly and
33tried to get rid of them
34but could not -   They now
35joined with our enemies 0471
1470
2and so did the traders,   Two
3guns ^ [& some beads] belonging to the latter
4were placed in standing
5in our encampment
6and one of the guides
7seized them and ran off
865 As my men knew
9that we should be
10called upon to replace
11them they gave chase
12and as     the guides
13saw they that they
14would be caught they
15 [threw down the guns &] directed their flight to
16the village - and rushed
17into the a hut -   The door
18way is not much higher
19than that of a dog's
20kennel one of the
21guides was reached
22by one of my men
23as he was in the
24act of stooping to get
25in and a cut inflicted
26on a projecting part
27of the body which
28would have made
29any one in that posture
30wince -   The guns were
31restored but not the
32the beads were lost
33in the flight - All the I had
34remaining ^ [of my stock of beads] could not
35replace them those lost
36and though we explained 0472
1471
2that we had no part in the
3guilt of the act they replied
4that we had brought the
5thieves into the country - And
6these were the Bangala
766 who had been accustomed
8to plague the Portuguese
9in the most vexatious
10way -   As we were striving
11to get a pathway through
12the country and felt
13anxious that no crime
14whatever should be laid
15to our charge we tried the
16most conciliatory plans
17here though we were not
18as in the other instances
19likely to be over powered
20by numbers - We offered
21Robinson / My men offered all their
22ornaments and I offered
23all my beads & shirts
24but though we had come
25to the village against our
26will - the guides had
27followed us against
28our will and sent
29for the Bangala traders
30without our knowledge
31or consent - yet matters
32could not be arranged
33without our giving an
34ox and one of our
35tusks -   We were all 0473
1472
2becoming disheartened and
3could not wonder that
4native expeditions from
5the Interior to the coast
667 had generally failed to
7reach their destinations
8On My people were now
9so much discouraged
10that some proposed to
11return home This distressed
12me exceedingly The prospect
13of being obliged to return
14when just on the
15threshold of the Portuguese
16settlements distressed me
17exceedingly - and after
18using all my powers
19of persuasion declared
20to them that if they returned
21I would go on alone
22and went in my little
23tent with the mind soul oppressed
24yet directed to Him who
25hears the sighing of the
26soul - and was followed
27by the head of Mohorisi
28saying "we will
29never leave you - Do
30not be disheartened - W
31Where ever you lead we
32will follow - Our remarks
33were only made only on
34account of the injustice
35of these people" - Others
36followed and in the 0474
1473
2 [with] the most artless simplicity
368 of manner told me to be
4comforted. They were all
5my children -   They knew
6no one but Sekeletu
7and me - and they would
8die for me - They had
9not fought because
10I did not wish it [↪ They had just
11spoken
12in the bitterness
13of their spirit
14& when feeling
15that they could
16do nothing,] - But
17if these enemies begin
18you will see what we
19can do" -     I had heard
20objection made [↪ by the Chiboque] to one
21 [one] of the oxen [↪ we offered to
22the Chiboque
23refused] because it {he}
24had lost part of his
25tail - [↪ as they thought
26the tail
27had been cut
28off and
29witchcraft
30medicine
31inserted] We now slaughtered
32another ox that was {the} spectacle
33might not be seen
34of the owners of cattle
35fasting while the
36Chiboque were feasting -
37and some mirth was
38excited by my proposing
39to raise a similar
40objection to all the
41oxen we ^ still had ^ still remaining
42in our possession
43The remaining four soon
44presented a singular loss
45 [shortness] of their caudal extremities
46and though no one
47ever asked whether
48they had medicine in
49the stumps or no - we
50were no more troubled 0475
1474
2 the demand for any ox!

3

24th Friday Ionga Panzas sons
469 consen agreed to act as
5guides into the territory
6of the Portuguese if I
7would give them the
8coveted shell. I was
9strongly averse to this
10and especially to give
11it before-hand     but
12I yielded to the entreaty of
13my people to appear
14as if shewing confidence
15in the sons -     They
16urged that they wished
17to leave the shell with
18their wives as a sort
19of payment for enduring
20their absence so long
21Having delivered the
22precious shell we
23went to the W & by N- to
24Chikapa the river Chikapa which
25here [↪ (Lat- 10° 22' S)outh)] is forty or fifty
26yards wide and at
27present was deep - It was
28seen flowing over a
29rocky ^ [broken] cataract with
30great noise about
31half a mile above
32our ford -   We were
33ferried over in a canoe
34made out of a single
35pe {i}ece of bark and 0476
1475
270 sewed together at the ends
3and and {h}aving sticks placed
4in it at different parts
5to act as ribs -   The
6word Chikapa means
7bark or skin and as this
8is the only river w {in}
9which we saw this
10kind of canoe used
11and we heard that
12this this stream dries
13 [is so low
14during most
15of the year] up so far in the
16dry seasonas to be
17f {eas} easily fordable
18it probably derives
19its name from the
20use made of the
21bark canoes when
22it is in flood - We now
23felt the loss of our pontoon
24for the people to whom
25the canoe belonged made
26us pay once when
27we began to cross - then
28when half of us wa {e}re
29over and again when
30all were over but
31my principal man
32Pitsané any Pitsané and myself
33Loyanka {é} Loyanka {e} took off his
34cloth and paid my
35passage with it -   The
36Makololo always ferried
37their visitors over ^ rivers without