*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74291 ***
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ _Frontispiece_.]
SEVEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA:
TRAVELS, RESEARCHES, AND HUNTING ADVENTURES,
BETWEEN THE DIAMOND-FIELDS AND THE ZAMBESI (1872–79).
BY
DR. EMIL HOLUB.
_TRANSLATED BY ELLEN E. FREWER._
WITH ABOUT TWO HUNDRED ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1881.
[_All rights reserved._]
LONDON:
GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,
ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
FROM THE DIAMOND FIELDS TO THE MOLAPO.
PAGE
Departure from Dutoitspan--Crossing the Vaal--Graves in
the Harts River valley--Mamusa--Wild-goose shooting
on Moffat’s Salt Lake--A royal crane’s nest--Molema’s
Town--Barolong weddings--A lawsuit--Cold weather--The
Malmani valley--Weltufrede farm 1
CHAPTER II.
FROM JACOBSDAL TO SHOSHONG.
Zeerust--Arrival at Linokana--Harvest-produce--The
lion-ford on the Marico--Silurus-fishing--Crocodiles in the
Limpopo--Damara-emigrants--A narrow escape--The Banks of
the Notuany--The Puff-adder valley 21
CHAPTER III.
FROM SHOSHONG TO THE GREAT SALT LAKES.
Khame and Sekhomo--Signs of erosion in the bed
of the Luala--The Maque plains--Frost--Wild
ostriches--Eland-antelopes--The first palms--Assegai
traps--The district of the Great Salt Lakes--The
Tsitane and Karri-Karri salt-pans--The Shaneng--The
Soa salt-pan--Troublesome visitors--Salt in the
Nataspruit--Chase of a Zulu hartebeest--Animal life on the
Nataspruit--Waiting for a lion 42
CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE NATASPRUIT TO TAMASETZE.
Saltbeds in the Nataspruit--Poisoning
jackals--A good shot--An alarm--The sandy
pool-plateau--Ostriches--Travelling by torchlight--Meeting
with elephant-hunters--The Madenassanas--Madenassana
manners and customs--The Yoruah pool and the Tamafopa
springs--Animal-life in the forest by night--Pit’s
slumbers--An unsuccessful lion’s-hunt--Watch for
elephants--Tamasetze 70
CHAPTER V.
FROM TAMASETZE TO THE CHOBE.
Henry’s Pan--Hardships of elephant-hunting--Elephants’
holes--Arrival in the Panda ma Tenka valley--Mr.
Westbeech’s depôt--South African lions--Their mode
of attack--Blockley--Schneeman’s Pan--Wild honey--The
Leshumo valley--Trees damaged by elephants--On
the bank of the Chobe 95
CHAPTER VI.
IN THE VALLEYS OF THE CHOBE AND THE ZAMBESI.
Vegetation in the valley of the Chobe--Notification
of my arrival--Scenery by the rapids--A party of
Masupias--My mulekow--Matabele raids upon Sekeletu’s
territory--Gourd-shells--Masupia graves--Animal life on the
Chobe--Masupia huts--Englishmen in Impalera--Makumba--My
first boat-journey on the Zambesi--Animal life in the
reed-thickets--Blockley’s kraal--Hippopotamuses--Old Sesheke 110
CHAPTER VII.
FIRST VISIT TO THE MARUTSE KINGDOM.
My reception by Sepopo--The libeko--Sepopo’s pilfering
propensities--The royal residence--History of the
Marutse-Mabunda empire--The various tribes and their
districts--Position of the vassal tribes--The Sesuto
language--Discovery of a culprit--Portuguese traders
at Sepopo’s court--Arrangements for exploring the
country--Construction of New Sesheke--Fire in Old
Sesheke--Culture of the tribes of the Marutse-Mabunda
kingdom--Their superstition--Rule of succession--Resources
of the sovereign--Style of building--The royal
courtyard--Musical instruments--War-drums--The kishi
dance--Return to Impalera and Panda ma Tenka--A lion
adventure 136
CHAPTER VIII.
TRIP TO THE VICTORIA FALLS.
Return to Panda ma Tenka--Theunissen’s desertion--Departure
for the falls--Orbeki-gazelles--Animal and vegetable life
in the fresh-water pools--Difficult travelling--First
sight of the falls--Our skerms--Characteristics of
the falls--Their size and splendour--Islands in the
river-bed--Columns of vapour--Roar of the water--The
Zambesi below the falls--The formation of the
rocks--_Rencontre_ with baboons--A lion-hunt--The
Manansas--Their history and character--Their manners and
customs--Disposal of the dead--Ornaments and costume--The
Albert country--Back again 180
CHAPTER IX.
SECOND VISIT TO THE MARUTSE KINGDOM.
Departure for Impalera--A Masupia funeral--Sepopo’s
wives--Travelling plans--Flora and fauna of the
Sesheke woods--Arrival of a caravan--A fishing
excursion--Mashoku, the king’s executioner--Massangu--The
prophetic dance--Visit from the queens--Blacksmith’s
bellows--Crocodiles and crocodile-tackle--The
Mankoë--Constitution and officials of the Marutse
kingdom--A royal elephant-hunt--Excursion to the
woods--A buffalo-hunt--Chasing a lioness--The lion
dance--Mashukulumbe at Sepopo’s court--Moquai, the king’s
daughter--Marriage festivities 214
CHAPTER X.
UP THE ZAMBESI.
Departure from Sesheke--The queens’ squadron--First
night’s camp--Symptoms of fever--Agricultural advantages
of the Zambesi valley--Rapids and cataracts of the
Central Zambesi--The Mutshila-Aumsinga rapids--A
catastrophe--Encampment near Sioma--A conspiracy--Lions
around Sioma--My increasing illness 266
CHAPTER XI.
BACK AGAIN IN SESHEKE.
Visits of condolence--Unpopularity of
Sepopo--Mosquitoes--Goose hunting--Court ceremonial at
meals--Modes of fishing--Sepopo’s illness--Vassal tribes
of the Marutse empire--Characteristics of the Marutse
tribes--The future of the country 283
CHAPTER XII.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE MARUTSE TRIBES.
Ideas of religion--Mode of living--Husbandry
and crops--Consumption and preparation of
food--Cleanliness--Costume--Position of the
women--Education of children--Marriages--Disposal
of the dead--Forms of greeting--Modes
of travelling--Administration of
justice--An execution--Knowledge of
medicine--Superstition--Charms--Human
Sacrifices--Clay and wooden
vessels--Calabashes--Basket-work--Weapons--Manufacture
of clothing--Tools--Oars--Pipes and
snuff-boxes--Ornaments--Toys, tools, and fly-flappers 300
CHAPTER XIII.
IN THE LESHUMO VALLEY.
Departure from Shesheke--Refractory boatmen--An
effectual remedy--Beetles in the Leshumo Valley--The
chief Moia--A phenomenon--A party of invalids--Sepopo’s
bailiffs--Kapella’s flight--A heavy storm--Discontent in
the Marutse kingdom--Departure for Panda ma Tenka 354
CHAPTER XIV.
THROUGH THE MAKALAKA AND WEST MATABELE COUNTRIES.
Start southwards--Vlakvarks--An adventurer--The Tamasanka
pools--The Libanani glade--Animal life on the
plateau--The Maytengue--An uneasy conscience--Menon
the Makalaka chief--A spy--Menon’s administration
of justice--Pilfering propensities and dirtiness
of the Makalakas--Morula trees--A Matabele warrior--An
angry encounter--Ruins on the Rocky Shasha--Scenery
on the Rhamakoban river--A deserted gold-ield--History
of the Matabele kingdom--More ruins--Lions
on the Tati--Westbeech and Lo Bengula--The
leopard in Pit Jacobs’ house--Journey continued 372
CHAPTER XV.
FROM SHOSHONG TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
Arrival at Shoshong--Z.’s chastisement--News from the
colony--Departure from Shoshong--Conflict between
the Bakhatlas and Bakuenas--Mochuri--A pair of
young lions--A visit from Eberwald--Medical practice
in Linokana--Joubert’s Lake--A series of salt-pans--Arrival
in Kimberley 418
CHAPTER XVI.
LAST VISIT TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
Resuming medical practice--My menagerie at
Bultfontein--Exhibition at Kimberley--Visit to Wessel’s
Farm--Bushmen’s carvings--Hunting hyænas and
earth-pigs--The native question in South Africa--War in
Cape Colony and Griqualand West--Major Lanyon and Colonel
Warren--Departure for the coast 432
CHAPTER XVII.
THROUGH THE COLONY TO THE COAST.
Departure from
Bultfontein--Philippolis--Ostrich-breeding--My first
lecture--Fossils--A perilous crossing--The Zulu war--Mode
of dealing with natives--Grahamstown--Arrival at Port
Elizabeth--My baggage in danger--Last days in Cape
Town--Summary of my collections--Return to Europe 454
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. II.
PAGE
Frontispiece.
Pond near Coetze’s Farm 4
Graves under the Camel-thorn Trees at Mamusa 6
Shooting Wild Geese at Moffat’s Salt Pan 9
Hunting among the Rocks at Molema 11
Baboon Rocks 14
On the Banks of the Matebe Rivulet 24
Crocodile in the Limpopo 32
Battle on the Heights of Bamangwato 43
Grottoes of the Luala 46
Troop of Ostriches 49
Masarwas chasing the Eland 50
Pursued by Matabele 52
The Soa Salt Lake 57
Hunting the Zulu Hartebeest 62
In the Tree 66
Startled by Lions 76
“Pit, are you asleep?” 91
Nocturnal Attack by Lion 102
Elephant Hunting 107
Elephants on the March 108
Boating on the Zambesi 110
Impalera 111
Removal to New Sesheke 122
Masupia Grave 127
On the Banks of the Chobe 129
Hippopotamus Hunting 132
Game Country near Blockley’s Kraal 133
In the Papyrus Thickets 136
Reception at Sepopo’s 137
Port of Sesheke 140
Musical Instruments of the Marutse 147
Kishi-Dance 169
Mask of a Kishi-Dancer 170
On the Shores of the Zambesi 176
A Troop of Giraffes surprised 184
Aquatic Life in a still Pool by the Zambesi 187
The Victoria Falls 194
The Lion expected 201
Encounter with a Tiger 213
Hunting the Spur-winged Goose 214
King Sepopo 220
The Prophetic Dance of the Masupias 229
Visit of the Queens 232
Chase of the Water-Antelope 249
Lion Hunt near Sesheke 253
Mashukulumbe at the Court of King Sepopo 258
Sepopo’s Doctor 264
A Mabunda. A Makololo 265
Mankoe 266
Types of Marutse 267
A Mambari. A Matonga 271
Ascending the Zambesi 274
My boat wrecked 276
Night Visit from Lions at Sioma 280
In the Manekango Rapids 281
Otter-shooting on the Chobe 283
Spearing Fish 290
Walk through Sesheke 292
A Masupia.--A Panda 297
Singular Rock 299
Drowning useless People 300
Sepopo’s Head Musician 302
Marutse-Mabunda Calabashes for Honey-mead and Corn 305
Bark Basket and Calabashes for holding Corn, used
by the Mabundas 308
Mabunda Ladle and Calabashes 311
Marutse-Mabunda Pipes 344
Pipes for smoking Dacha 345
Scene on the Zambesi Shores at Sesheke 351
Camp in the Leshumo Valley 354
Wana Wena, the new King of the Marutse 357
Ruins of Rocky Shasha 372
Boer’s Wife defending her Waggon against Kafirs 402
Masarwas Drinking 405
Lioness attacking Cattle on the Tati River 409
Leopard in Pit Jacobs’ House 415
Return to the Diamond Fields 418
Koranna Homestead near Mamusa 420
Mission House in Molopolole 424
Night Journey 430
Fingo Boy 432
My House in Bultfontein 434
Rock Inscriptions by Bushmen 438
Capture of an Earth-Pig 440
Colonel Warren 449
Bella 454
Narrow Escape near Cradock 460
Main Street in Port Elizabeth 468
Fingo Village at Port Elizabeth 469
SEVEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
THIRD JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR.
CHAPTER I.
FROM THE DIAMOND FIELDS TO THE MOLAPO.
Departure from Dutoitspan--Crossing the Vaal--Graves in the
Harts River valley--Mamusa--Wild-goose shooting on Moffat’s Salt
Lake--A royal crane’s nest--Molema’s Town--Barolong weddings--A
lawsuit--Cold weather--The Malmani valley--Weltufrede farm.
[Illustration]
I was now standing on the threshold of my real design. After three
years spent upon the glowing soil of the dark continent, the scene
of the endurances and the renown of many an enthusiast, I had now
arrived at the time for putting into execution the scheme I had
projected. My feelings necessarily were of a very mingled character.
Was I sufficiently inured to the hardships that could not be separated
from the undertaking? Could I fairly indulge the hope of reaching the
goal for which I had so long forsaken home, kindred, and friends? The
experience of my two preliminary journeys made me venture to answer
both these questions without misgiving. I had certainly gained a
considerable insight into the nature of the country; I had learned the
character of the contingencies that might arise from the disposition of
the natives and their mode of dealing, and I had satisfied myself of
the necessity as well as the comfort of having trustworthy associates
on whom I could rely. Altogether I felt justified in commencing what
I designed to be really a journey of exploration. At the same time
I could not be otherwise than alive to the probability that some
unforeseen difficulty might arise which no human effort could surmount.
It was a conflict of hopes and fears, but the picture of the Atlantic
at Loanda seemed to unfold itself to my gaze, and its attraction was
irresistible; hitherto in my lesser enterprises I had been favoured
by fortune, and why should she now cease to smile? I felt that there
was everything to encourage me, and definitely resolved to face the
difficulties that an expedition into the interior of Africa cannot fail
to entail.
* * * * *
It was on the 2nd of March, 1875, that I left Dutoitspan. I went first
of all to a friend at Bultfontein, intending to stay with him until the
6th, and there to complete my preparations. Not alone was it my scheme
to explore Southern-Central Africa, but I hardly expected to return to
Cape Colony at all, consequently my arrangements on leaving this time
were rather more complicated than they had been on the two previous
occasions.
Quitting Bultfontein on the day proposed, I proceeded for eleven miles,
and made my first halt by the side of a sandy rain-pool, enclosed by
the rising ground that was visible from the diamond-fields. We slept
in the mimosa woods, through which the road to the Transvaal runs for
several miles, and the deep sand of which is so troublesome to vehicles.
On the 7th we passed the Rietvley and Keyle farms, around which we saw
a good many herds of springbocks in the meadow-lands.
The next day’s march took us by the farms at Rietfontein, and Pan
Place, and we made our night camp on Coetze’s land. Near these farms,
which lay at the foot of the considerable hill called the Plat Berg,
I secured some feathered game, amongst which was a partridge. To me
the most interesting spot in the day’s journey was a marshy place on
Coetze’s farm; it was a pond with a number of creeks and various little
islands, which were the habitat of water-fowl, particularly wild ducks,
moorhens, and divers. In the evening I called upon Mynheer Coetze, and
in the course of conversation mentioned his ponds with their numerous
birds. He surprised me somewhat by his reply. “Yes,” he said, “the
birds breed there, and we never disturb them; we allow strangers to
shoot them, but for our own part we like to see them flying about.” I
admired his sentiment, and wished that it was more shared by the Dutch
farmers in general.
The property was partially wooded, and extended both into Griqualand
West and into the Orange Free State. Amongst other game upon it, there
was a large herd of striped gnus.
[Illustration: POND NEAR COETZE’S FARM.]
On the next day but one we made the difficult passage of the Vaal at
Blignaut’s Pont. From the two river-banks I obtained some skins of
birds, and several varieties of leaf-beetles (_Platycorynus_).
At the ferry, on the shore by which we arrived, stood a medley of clay
huts, warped by the wind, and propped up on all sides, claiming to be
an hotel; on the further shores were a few Koranna huts, the occupiers
of which were the ferrymen. For taking us across the river they
demanded on behalf of their employer the sum of twenty-five shillings.
The rain had made the ground very heavy, and it was after a very
tedious ride that we reached Christiana, the little Transvaal town with
which the reader has been already made acquainted, and made our way to
Hallwater Farm (erroneously called Monomotapa), where we obtained a
supply of salt from the resident Korannas.
We next took a northerly course, and passed through Strengfontein, a
farm belonging to Mynheer Weber, lying to the east of the territory of
the independent Korannas. The country beyond was well pastured, and
contained several farmsteads; although it was claimed by the Korannas,
by Gassibone, by Mankuruane, and by the Transvaal government, it had no
real ruler. The woods afforded shelter for duykerbocks, hartebeests,
and both black and striped gnus, whilst the plains abounded with
springbocks, bustards, and many small birds.
After passing Dreifontein, a farm that had only a short time previously
been reduced to ashes by the natives from the surrounding heights, we
encamped on the Houmansvley, that lay a little further ahead. Near the
remains of the place were some huts, from which some Koranna women came
out, their intrusive behaviour being in marked contrast with that of
some Batlapins, who modestly retired into the background. Not far off
was a vley, or marshy pond, where I found some wild ducks, grey herons,
and long-eared swamp-owls (_Otus capensis_). Houmansvley was the
last of the farms we had to pass before we entered the territory of the
Korannas of Mamusa.
[Illustration: GRAVES UNDER THE CAMEL-THORN TREES AT MAMUSA.]
We reached the Harts River valley on the evening of the 15th. Before
getting to the river we had to traverse a slope overgrown with grass,
and in some places with acacias which must be a hundred years old, and
under the shadow of which were some Batlapin and Koranna graves, most
of them in a good state of preservation. The river-bed is very often
perfectly dry, but as the stream was very much swollen, the current
was too strong to allow us to cross without waiting for it to subside;
the district, however, was so attractive that it was by no means to
be regretted that we were temporarily delayed. The high plateau, with
its background of woods, projected like a tongue into the valley, and
opposite to us, about three-quarters of a mile to the right, rose the
Mamusa hills.
We visited Mamusa, encamping on its little river a short distance from
the merchants’ offices under the eastern slope of the hills. A few
years back it had been one of the most populous places representing the
Hottentot element in South Africa, but now it was abandoned to a few
of the descendants of the aged king Mashon and their servants. Some of
the people had carried off their herds to the pasture-lands; others had
left the place for good, to settle on the affluents of the Mokara and
the Konana, on the plains abounding in game that stretched northwards
towards the Molapo. This small Koranna principality is an enclave in
the southern Bechuana kingdoms, a circumstance which is not at all to
their advantage, as any mixture of the Hottentot and Bantu elements is
sure to result in the degeneration of the latter.
The merchants received me most kindly. One of them, Mr. Mergusson, was
a naturalist, and amused himself by taming wild birds. He showed me
several piles, at least three feet high, of the skins of antelopes,
gnus, and zebras, which he intended taking to Bloemhof for sale. He and
his brother had twice extended their business-journeys as far as Lake
Ngami.
While in the neighbourhood, I heard tidings of the two dishonest
servants that I had hired at Musemanyana, and who had decamped after
robbing me on my second journey.
Leaving Mamusa on the 17th, we had to mount the bushy highland, dotted
here and there with Koranna farmsteads, and in the evening reached
the southern end of the grassy quagga-flats. The soil was so much
sodden with rain, that in many places the plains were transformed
into marshes; on the drier parts light specks were visible, which on
nearer approach turned out to be springbock gazelles. On every side the
traveller was greeted by the melodious notes of the crowned crane, and
the birds, less shy here than elsewhere, allowed him to come in such
close proximity, that he could admire the beauty of their plumage. The
cackle of the spurred and Egyptian geese could be heard now in one spot
and now in another, and wild-ducks, either in rows or in pairs, hovered
above our heads.
Our next march afforded us good sport. It was rather laborious, but
our exertions were well rewarded, as amongst other booty, we secured
a silver heron, some plovers, and some snipes. I had our camp pitched
by the side of a broad salt-water lake, proposing to remain there
for several days, the surrounding animal-life promising not merely a
choice provision for our table, but some valuable acquisitions for my
collection.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ SHOOTING WILD GEESE AT MOFFAT’S SALT PAN
_Page 9._]
At daybreak next morning, I started off with Theunissen on a
hunting-excursion. There had been rain in the night, and the air was
somewhat cool, so that it was with a feeling of satisfaction that I
hailed the rising sun as its early beam darted down the vale and was
reflected in the water. On the opposite shore we noticed a flock of
that stateliest of waders, the flamingo, with its deep red plumage and
strong brown beak. Close beside them was a group of brown geese wading
towards us, and screeching as they came was a double file of grey
cranes, whilst a gathering of herons was keeping watch upon some rocks
that projected from the water. High above the lake could be heard the
melodious long-drawn note of the mahem, and amidst the numbers of the
larger birds that thronged the surface of the water was what seemed a
countless abundance of moorhens and ducks. I stood and gazed upon the
lively scene till I was quite absorbed. All at once a sharp whistle
from my companion recalled me to myself. I was immediately aware of
the approach of a flock of dark brown geese; though unwieldly, they
made a rapid flight, their heavy wings making a considerable whirr. A
shot from each of my barrels brought down two of the birds into the
reeds; the rest turned sharply off to the left, leaving Theunissen,
disappointed at not getting the shot he expected, to follow them
towards the plain to no purpose. Great was the commotion that my own
shots made amongst the denizens of the lake. Quickly rose the grey
cranes from the shallow water, scarce two feet deep, and made for the
shore where we were standing. In the excitement of their alarm, the
crowned cranes took to flight in exactly the opposite direction; the
flamingoes hurried hither and thither, apparently at a loss whether
to fly or to run, until one of them catching sight of me rose high
into the air, screeching wildly, and was followed by the entire train
soaring aloft till they looked no larger than crows; the black geese,
on the other hand, left the grass to take refuge in the water, and the
smaller birds forsook the reeds, as deeming the centre of the lake the
place of safety.
We were not long out. We returned to breakfast, and while we were
taking our meal we caught sight of a herd of blessbocks, numbering at
least 250 head, grazing in the depression of the hills on the opposite
shore. Breakfast, of course, was forgotten and left unfinished. Off we
started; the chase was long, but it was unattended with success. Our
toil, however, was not entirely without compensation, as on our return
we secured a fine grey crane. Pit likewise in the course of the day
shot several birds, and in the afternoon excited our interest by saying
that he had discovered the nest of a royal crane.
I went to the reedy pool to which he directed me, about a mile and a
half to the north of our place of encampment, and on a little islet
hardly more than seven feet square, sure enough was a hollow forming
the nest, which contained two long white eggs, each about the size of
my fist. I took the measurement of the nest, and found it as nearly as
possible thirty inches in diameter, and six inches deep.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ HUNTING AMONG THE ROCKS AT MOLEMA.
_Page 11._]
While I was resting one afternoon in a glen between the hills, I
noticed a repetition of what I had observed already in the course of
my second journey, namely, that springbocks, in going to drink, act as
pioneers for other game, and that blessbocks and gnus follow in their
wake, but only when it has been ascertained that all is safe.
To the lake by which we had been making our pleasant little stay, I
gave the name of Moffat’s Salt Lake. On the 23rd we left it, and after
quitting its shore, which, it may be mentioned, affords excellent
hiding-places for the _Canis mesomelas_, we had to pass several
deepish pools which seemed to abound with moorhens and divers. On
a wooded eminence, not far away from our starting-place, we came
across some Makalahari, who were cutting into strips the carcase of a
blessbock. On the same spot was a series of pitfalls, now partially
filled up with sand, but which had originally been made with no little
outlay of labour, being from thirty to fifty feet long, and from five
to six feet wide.
In the evening we passed a wood where a Batlapin hunting-party,
consisting of Mankuruane’s people, had made their camp. They commenced
at once to importune us for brandy, first in wheedling, and then in
threatening tones.
Game, which seemed to have been failing us for a day or two, became
on the 25th again very abundant. The bush was also thicker. A herd
of nearly 400 springbocks that were grazing not far ahead, precisely
across the grassy road, scampered off with great speed, but not before
Theunissen had had the good luck to bring down a full-grown doe. As
we entered upon the district of the Maritsana River, the bushveldt
continued to grow denser, and the country made a perceptible dip
to the north-west. Several rain-glens had to be crossed, and some
broad shallow valleys, luxuriantly overgrown, one of which I named
the Hartebeest Vale. In the afternoon we reached the deep valley of
the Maritsana. On the right hand slope stood a Barolong-Makalahari
village, the inhabitants of which were engaged in tending the flocks
belonging to Molema’s Town. The valley itself was in many parts very
bushy, and no doubt abounded in small game, whilst the small pools from
two feet to eight feet deep in the river-bed, here partaking of the
nature of a spruit, contained Orange River fish, lizards, and crabs;
two kinds of ducks were generally to be seen upon them.
As we passed through a mimosa wood on the morning after, we met two
Barolongs, who not only made me aware how near we had come to Molema’s
Town, but informed me that Montsua was there, having arrived to preside
over a trial in a poisoning case. I had not formed the intention of
going into the place, but the information made me resolve to deviate a
little from my route, that I might pay my respects to the king and his
brother Molema.
Descending the Lothlakane valley, where Montsua was anxious that his
heir should fix his residence, we reached the town on the 28th. The
Molapo was rather fuller than when I was here last, but we managed to
cross the rocky ford, and pitched our camp on the same spot that I had
chosen in 1873.
As soon as I heard that the judicial sitting had adjourned, I lost no
time in paying my personal respects to the Barolong authorities. I
found the king with Molema and several other chiefs at their midday
meal, some sitting on wooden stools and some upon the ground; but no
sooner were they made acquainted with my arrival, than they hastened
to show signs of unfeigned pleasure, making me shake hands with them
again and again. Montsua at once began to talk about the cures I had
effected at Moshaneng, and begged me to stay for at least a few days.
After spending a short time in Molema’s courtyard, we all adjourned to
the house of his son, which was fitted up in European style, and where
we had some coffee served in tin cups. Molema was upon the whole strong
and active, but he was still subject to fits of asthma, and requested
me to supply him with more medicine like that he had had before; and
so grateful was he for my services, that he gave me a couple of good
draught-oxen, one of which I exchanged with his son Matye for an
English saddle.
Molema is a thin, slight man of middle height, with a nose like a
hawk’s beak, which, in conjunction with a keen, restless eye, gives to
his whole countenance a peculiarly searching expression. At times he
is somewhat stern, but in a general way he is very indulgent to his
subjects, who submit implicitly to his authority; this was illustrated
in the issue of the cause over which Montsua was now visiting him to
preside. He is very considerate for his invalid wife, and, considering
his age, he is vigorous both in mind and body; although his sons and
the upper class residents of the town have adopted the European mode of
fitting up their houses, he persists in adhering to the native style of
architecture.
During our stay here, Mr. Webb had to perform the marriage service
for three couples; one of the bridegrooms had a remarkable name, the
English rendering of which would be “he lies in bed.” Singular names
of this character are by no means unusual among the Bechuana children,
any accidental circumstance connected with their parentage or birth
being seized upon to provide the personal designation for life. Taking
a stroll through the place late in the evening, I heard the sound of
hymns sung by four men and ten women, bringing the wedding observances
to a close.
[Illustration: BABOON ROCKS.]
Wandering about the town, I noticed that although the garments worn
were chiefly of European manufacture, the inhabitants very frequently
were dressed in skins either of the goat, the wild cat, the grey fox,
or the duyker gazelle. Boys generally had a sheepskin or goatskin
thrown across their shoulders, although occasionally the skin of a
young lion took its place; girls, besides their leather aprons, nearly
always covered themselves with an antelope-hide.
As far as I could learn, the disputes between the Transvaal government
and the Barolongs had in great measure subsided, owing to Montsua
having threatened, in consequence of the encroachments of the Boers, to
allow the English flag to be planted in his villages.
I have already referred to the trial which had brought Montsua to the
town, and in order that I may convey a fair idea of the way in which
Bechuana justice is administered, I will give a brief outline of the
whole transaction.
A Barolong, quite advanced in years, had set his affections upon a
fatherless girl of fifteen, living in the town; she peremptorily
refused to become his wife, and as he could not afford to buy her, he
devised a cunning stratagem to obtain her. He offered his hand to the
girl’s mother, who did not hesitate to accept him; by thus marrying
the mother, he secured the residence of the daughter in his own
quarters; the near intercourse, he hoped, would overcome her repugnance
to himself; but neither his appearance nor his conversation, mainly
relating to his wealth in cattle, had the least effect in altering her
disposition towards him. Accordingly, he resorted to the linyaka. Aware
of the pains that were being taken to force her into the marriage, the
girl carefully avoided every action that could be interpreted as a sign
of regard. As she was starting off to the fields one morning to her
usual work, her stepfather called her back, and if her own story were
true, the following conversation took place,--
“I know you hate me,” he said.
“E-he, e-he!” she assented.
“Well, well, so it must be!” he answered, but he stamped his staff with
rage upon the ground.
“Yes, so it must be,” replied she.
“But you must promise me,” he continued, “that you will not marry
another husband.”
“Na-ya,” she cried, bursting out laughing, “na-ya.”
“Then I’ll poison you,” he yelled.
The girl, according to her own account, was alarmed, and went and told
her mother and another woman who were working close by the river. They
tried to reassure her, telling her that her stepfather was only in
joke, but they did not allay her apprehensions.
That very evening, while she was taking her simple supper of
water-melon, he called her off and sent her on some message; when she
returned she finished her meal, but in the course of an hour or two she
was writhing in most violent agony. In the height of her sufferings,
she reminded her mother and the friends who gathered round her of
what had transpired in the morning. Her shrieks of pain grew louder
and louder, and when they were silenced, she was unconscious. Before
midnight she was a corpse.
The stepfather was of course marked out as the murderer; the evidence
to be produced against him seemed incontestible; the old man had
actually been seen gathering leaves and tubers in the forenoon, which
he had afterwards boiled in his own courtyard.
The accused, however, was one of Molema’s adherents; he had served
him faithfully for half a century, and Molema accordingly felt it his
duty to do everything in his power to protect him, and so sent over
to Moshaneng for Montsua to come and take the office of judge at the
trial. He was in the midst of the inquiry when I arrived.
Meanwhile, the defendant had complete liberty; he might for the time be
shunned by the population, but he walked about the streets as usual,
trusting thoroughly to Molema’s clemency and influence, and certain
that he should be able to buy himself off with a few bullocks.
The trial lasted for two days; after each sitting the court was
entertained with bochabe, a sort of meal-pap.
The evidence was conclusive; the verdict of “guilty” was unanimous.
Montsua said he should have been bound to pass a sentence of death,
but Molema had assured him there were many extenuating circumstances;
and, taking all things into account, he considered it best to leave the
actual sentence in his hands. Molema told the convicted man to keep
out of the way for a few days until Montsua had ceased to think about
the matter, and then sending for him, as he strolled about, passed
the judgment that he should forfeit a cow as a peace-offering to the
deceased girl’s next-of-kin, the next-of-kin in this case being his
wife and himself!
Before quitting the place, I went to take my leave of Mr. Webb. While
I was with him a dark form presented itself in the doorway, which I
quickly recognized as none other than King Montsua. He had followed me,
and, advancing straight to my side, put five English shillings into my
hand, requesting me to give him some more of the physic which had done
his wife so much good at the time of my visit to Moshaneng.
On the afternoon of the 2nd of April we left Molema’s Town, to proceed
up the valley of the Molapo. Next morning we passed the last of the
kraals in this direction, in a settlement under the jurisdiction of
Linkoo, a brother of Molema’s.
Early morning on this day was extremely cold, and the keen south-east
wind made us glad to put on some overcoats. We made a halt at Rietvley,
the most westerly of the Molapo farms in the Jacobsdal district, the
owner of which was a Boer of the name of Van Zyl, a brother of the
Damara emigrant to whom I shall have subsequently to refer.
From this point the farms lay in close proximity to each other, as
far as the sources of the Molapo. The river valley extended for about
twenty-two miles towards the east, retaining its marshy character
throughout, but growing gradually narrower as its banks became more
steep and wooded. Although its scenery cannot be said to rank with the
most attractive parts of the western frontier of the Transvaal, yet,
for any traveller, whether he be ornithologist, botanist, or sportsman,
the valley is well worth a visit.
The waggon-track which we had been following led, by way of Jacobsdal
and Zeerust, direct to the Baharutse kraal Linokana, by which I had
made up my mind to pass. We kept along the road as far as Taylor’s
farm, “Olive-wood-dry,” where the density of the forest and the
steepness of the slopes obliged us to leave the valley, and betake
ourselves to the table-land. Olive-wood-dry is unquestionably one
of the finest farms on the upper Molapo; it has a good garden, and
is watered by one of the most important of the springs that feed the
river, whilst the rich vegetation in the valley, thoroughly protected
as it is from cold winds, forms quite an oasis in the plateau of the
western Transvaal. A dreary contrast to this was the aspect of the
Bootfontein farm, where the people seemed to vegetate rather than to
thrive.
In the evening we crossed the watershed between the Orange River and
the Limpopo, and spent the night near a small spruit, one of the
left-hand affluents of the Malmani, which I named the Burgerspruit.
Next day we entered the pretty valley of the Malmani, the richly-wooded
slopes of which looked cheerful with the numerous farms that covered
them.
Quitting the Malmani valley on the 5th, we journeyed on eastwards past
Newport farm, along a plain where the grass was short and sour. In the
east and north-east could be seen the many spurs of the Marico hills;
the hills, too, of the Khame or Hieronymus district were quite distinct
in the distance, all combining to form one of the finest pieces of
scenery in what may be called the South African mountain system.
The slope towards the side valley, which we should have to descend in
order to reach the main valley, was characterized by a craggy double
hill, to which I gave the name of Rohlfsberg. Further down, I noticed
a saddle-shaped eminence, which I called the Zizka-saddle. The descent
was somewhat difficult, on account of the ledges of rock, but we were
amply compensated by the splendid scenery, the finest bit, I think,
being that at Buffalo’s-Hump farm, where in the far distance rises the
outline of the Staarsattel hills.
By the evening we reached the valley of the Little Marico, and the
Weltufrede farm. This belongs to Mynheer von Groomen, one of the
wealthiest Boers in the district. His sons have been elephant-hunters
for years, and have met with exceptional success, having managed to
earn a livelihood by the pursuit. In the paddock of the farm they
showed me a young giraffe that they had brought home with them from one
of their expeditions.
CHAPTER II.
FROM JACOBSDAL TO SHOSHONG.
Zeerust--Arrival at Linokana--Harvest-produce--The
lion-ford on the Marico--Silurus-fishing--Crocodiles in the
Limpopo--Damara-emigrants--A narrow escape--The Banks of the
Notuany--The Puff-adder valley.
[Illustration]
We could see Jacobsdal from the Weltufrede farm, a few buildings on
the banks of a brook, and a neat little church, being all that this
embryo town of the western Transvaal had then to show. After leaving it
we turned north, then north-east towards Zeerust, the most important
settlement in the Marico district. On our way thither we passed one of
the most productive farms in the neighbourhood; it belonged to a man
named Bootha, and was traversed by the Malmani, which wound its way
through a low rocky ridge to its junction with the Marico.
I made a preliminary visit by myself to the little town, but we
did not actually move our quarters into Zeerust till next day. It
covers a larger area than Jacobsdal, and any one devoted to natural
science would find abundant material to interest him in its vicinity.
We, however, only remained there a few hours, and started off for
Linokana, outside which we encountered Mr. Jensen, who was bringing
the mail-bag from the interior. The missionary received us with the
utmost cordiality, and gave us an invitation, which I accepted most
gratefully, to stay with him for a fortnight; the time that I spent
with him was beneficial in more ways than one, as not only did it
afford me an opportunity of thoroughly exploring the neighbourhood,
but it permitted my companions to enjoy a rest which already they much
required.
In 1875, the Baharutse in Linokana gathered in as much as 800 sacks
of wheat, each containing 200 lbs., and every year a wider area of
land is being brought under cultivation. Besides wheat, they grow
maize, sorghum, melons, and tobacco, selling what they do not require
for their own consumption in the markets of the Transvaal and the
diamond-fields; it cannot be said, however, that their fields are as
carefully kept as those of the Barolongs. A great deal of their land
has been transferred to the Boer government, and they only retain the
ownership of a few farms.
On the 9th I went to the sources of the Matebe and wandered about the
surrounding hills, where mineral ores seem to abound. The following day
I employed myself in drawing out a sketch-map of my route, and when I
had completed it, I amused myself by an inspection of the plantations
and gardens which surround the mission-station. I attended the chapel,
where the service consisted of a hymn, the reading of a portion of one
of the gospels, then another hymn, followed by a sermon; the impression
made upon the congregation as they squatted on their low wooden stools
being very marked, and the whole service in its very simplicity being
to my mind as solemn as the most gorgeous ritual.
The native postman from Molopolole arrived late on the evening of the
15th, the journey having taken him three days; he only stayed one
night, and started back again with the European mail that came through
Zeerust from Klerksdorf. To my great surprise it brought me a kind
letter from Dr. A. Petermann, the renowned geographer at Gotha.
An English major likewise arrived from the Banguaketse countries; he
was in search of ore and was now on his way to Kolobeng and Molopolole;
he gave us an interesting account of the reasons that had induced him
and Captain Finlayson to explore the north-eastern Transvaal.
The Baharutse girls seem to be particularly fond of dancing, and we
hardly ever failed of an evening to hear music and occasionally singing
in various parts of the town.
One of the most picturesque spots in the whole neighbourhood is in the
valley of the Notuany, about three miles below its confluence with the
Matebe; it is enclosed by rocky slopes broken here and there by rich
glens and luxuriant woodlands that afford cover for countless birds,
whilst in the sedge-thickets on the Matebe wild cats nearly as large as
leopards lurk about for their prey.
[Illustration: ON THE BANKS OF THE MATEBE RIVULET.]
We left Linokana on the 23rd, and crossed the Notuany, a proceeding
that occupied us nearly two hours, as the half-ruined condition of the
bridge made it necessary for us to use even more caution than on my
previous journey.
I spent a pleasant day in the Buisport glen, and had some good fishing
in the pools of the Marnpa stream, as well as some excellent sport on
its banks. The upper pools contain many more fish and water-lizards
than those near the opening of the glen, for being deeper and more
shady they are less liable to get dried up. Some of the mimosas and
willows that overhang the stream were sixty feet high, and as much as
four feet in diameter.
Next day we passed the Witfontein and Sandfontein farms, both in the
Bushveldt. The residents at Witfontein were making preparations for a
great hunting-excursion into the interior, where they expressed a hope
that they might meet me again. Zwart’s farm I found quite forsaken,
its owner having started off on a similar errand the week before; from
his last excursion he had brought back some ostriches and elands. Some
Boers that we met informed me that fresh stragglers from the Transvaal
were continually joining Van Zyl, and that the Damara emigrants
would soon feel themselves sufficiently strong to continue their
north-westerly progress; their place of rendezvous was on the left bank
of the Crocodile River between the Notuany and the Sirorume.
Before the day was at an end we reached Fourier’s farm at Brackfontein,
and spent the night there, encamping next day at Schweinfurth’s Pass,
in the Dwars mountains. By the evening we had come as far as the
springs in the rocks on the spurs of the Chwene-Chwene heights, whence
we skirted the town of Chwene-Chwene itself, and after crossing the
valley on the Bechuana spruit, took up our quarters on the northern
slope of the spur of the Bertha hills. On the banks of the spruit I
noticed a deserted Barwa village containing about fifteen huts; they
lay in an open meadow, and consisted merely of bundles of grass thrown
like a cap over stakes about five feet long bound together at their
upper ends.
The Great Marico was reached on the afternoon of the 30th. We made our
encampment at a spot where a couple of diminutive islands, projecting
above the rapid, made it possible to get across without any danger from
crocodiles. The probability of there being an abundance of game on the
opposite side induced me to stay for two or three days. Regardless of
Pit’s warning that he had seen a lion’s track close by, I selected a
place some hundred yards lower down, and resolved to go and keep watch
there for whatever game might turn up. I took the precaution to enclose
the spot with a low fence.
Soon after sunset I proceeded to carry out my intention. The passage of
the river with its somewhat strong current in the dark was troublesome
as well as fatiguing. I reached my look-out, which I found by no
means comfortable, and as the darkness gathered round me, I became
conscious of a strange yearning for my distant home, and the image of
my mother seemed to arise so visibly before me, that I could hardly
persuade myself that she was not actually approaching. Phantasies of
this kind were altogether unusual with me, and as the sense of awe
appeared to increase, I began to debate with myself whether I had not
better retire from my position and make my way back to the waggon. It
came, however, to my recollection that this was just the hour when the
crocodiles left the water and made their way to the banks, in order to
avoid the rapids.
The night continued to grow darker, and dense masses of cloud rose
up to obscure the sky. I came to the final decision that my watch
would be to no purpose, and was just about setting out to return,
when I became aware of the movement of some great object scarcely ten
yards away. Of course in the dark no reliance was to be placed upon
my gun; my long hunting-knife was the only weapon on which I had to
depend; this I grasped firmly, and stooped down, straining every power
of vision to penetrate the gloom; but nothing was to be discerned;
only a strange and inexplicable glimmer still moved before my eyes.
Again, with startling vividness, the image of my mother rose before
me; I could not help interpreting it to betoken that some danger was
near, and once more I determined to hasten back at all hazards to our
encampment. I placed my foot upon the twigs with which I had built up
my fence, and it came down with a crash which sounded sufficiently
alarming. Gun in one hand, and knife in the other, I proceeded to grope
my way along, but recollecting that my gun was useless, and finding it
an incumbrance, I threw it into a bush; after it had fallen I heard a
noise like scratching or scraping, and I am much mistaken if I did not
distinguish a low growl, and it occurred to me that it was more than
likely that some beasts of prey had been stealthily making their way
to my place of retreat. Having no longer the shelter of my fence-work
I confess a feeling of tremor came over me, and my heart beat very
fast. Still slashing about with my hunting-knife, I cut my way through
the overhanging boughs, pausing at every step, and listening anxiously
to every sound. In spite of all my care I came from time to time into
collision with the branches, and I staggered in wonder whether I had
not at last encountered some gigantic beast of prey.
It took me a considerable time to get over that hundred yards by which
I was separated from the stream, but at length I accomplished it, and
reached a narrow rain-channel, that facilitated my descent to the brink
of the water. It was with extreme caution that I placed one foot before
another, as my sole clue to the direction of the ford was derived from
the increase or decrease in the sound of the current; more than once
I lost my footing, and fell down bodily into the water, but after a
time, with much difficulty, managed to get on to the first of the two
islands; upon this I did not rest for a minute, but plunged at once
into the main stream, whence I succeeded in gaining the second island.
Here I paused long enough to recover my somewhat exhausted breath,
and then re-entering the seething waters, tottered over the slippery
stones till I found myself safely on the shore. As I set my foot upon
the ground I could not do otherwise than experience a great sense of
relief, although I was quite aware that there might be danger yet in
store. I was so tired that I should have been glad to throw myself upon
the ground then and there, but the chance of exposing myself to the
crocodiles at that hour was too serious to be risked.
Just as I was on the point of clambering up the bank I heard a rustling
above my head; I kept perfectly silent, and soon discovered that the
noise came from a herd of pallahs, on their way to drink. I recognized
them by the crashing which their horns made in the bushes, and by their
peculiar grunt. Swinging myself up by means of the branches, I reached
the top of the bank, and wending my way along the glen, before long
recognized the barking of the dogs, which had been disturbed by the
antelopes. My whistle quickly brought my faithful Niger to my side, and
his company agreeably relieved the rest of my way back to the fires
which marked the place of our encampment.
Taking Pit with me next morning, I made an investigation of the place
where I had spent so much of the previous dreary night. It was covered
with lion-tracks, and the little barricade was completely trampled
down. One of my dogs at this place fell a victim to the flies, that
settled in swarms on its eyes, ears, and nose, so that the poor brute
was literally stung to death.
Shortly afterwards I took Pit on another long excursion inland. Having
heard that the colonists are accustomed to creep into the large
hyæna-holes under ground, and that when they have ascertained that the
hyæna is “at home,” they kindle a fire at its mouth, so that the animal
is obliged to make an exit, when it is either shot or killed by clubs,
I made Pit put the experiment into practice. We found the hole, and we
lighted the fire, but we did not secure our prey; somehow or other Pit
was not able to make the smoking-out process go off successfully.
We continued our journey the same day. A few miles down the river I met
an ivory-trader from the Matabele country, who had instructions from
the Matabele king to convey the intelligence to the English governor in
Kimberley that a white traveller had been killed amongst the Mashonas,
on the eastern boundary of his domain.
I had throughout the day noticed such a diversity of birds, reptiles,
insects, plants, and minerals, that I was further disposed to try my
luck at fishing, and taking my tackle, I lost no time in dropping my
line into the river. I succeeded in hooking three large sheat-fish,
the smallest of which weighed over six pounds, but they were too heavy
for me to drag to land; two of them broke my line, and the other
slipped back into the stream. I had almost contrived to get a fourth
safely ashore, when my foot slipped, and overbalancing myself, I fell
head foremost down the bank; happily a “wait-a-bit” bush prevented my
tumbling into the river.
Guinea-fowl I observed in abundance everywhere along the Marico, in
parts where the bushes were thick; but I noticed that they never left
their roosting-places until the heavy morning dew was dry. The speed at
which they ran was quite incredible.
Proceeding on our way we came up with several Bechuana families
belonging to the Makhosi tribe, who had been living on Sechele’s
territory, near the ruins of Kolobeng; but they had been so much
harassed by Sechele that they were now migrating, and about to settle
at the foot of the Dwars Mountains. Sechele had been preparing an armed
attack upon both the Makhosi and the Bakhatlas, but the latter having
gained intelligence of his scheme, took prompt measures to resist him,
and made him abandon the design. It is in every way desirable, both
for traders and travellers, as well as for the neighbouring colonies,
that the integrity of the six existing Bechuana kingdoms should be
maintained. Any splitting-up into smaller states would be attended with
the same inconveniences as the European colonists and travellers have
to suffer on the east coast north of Delagoa Bay.
Whilst we were passing through the light woods of the Marico on the
4th, we caught sight of a water-bock doe in the long grass. Theunissen
stalked it very adroitly, but unfortunately his cartridge missed fire,
and before Pit could hand him a second, the creature took to flight. In
spite of our having had frost for the last two days, the morning was
beautifully fine.
Leaving the Marico, only to rejoin it again at its mouth, we traversed
the triangular piece of wood which lies between it and the Limpopo.
On our way we fell in with a party of Makalakas, who were reduced
almost to skeletons, having travelled from the western Matabele-land,
500 miles away, for the purpose of hiring themselves out at the
diamond-fields, each expecting in six months to earn enough to buy
a gun and a supply of ammunition. We were sorry not to be able to
comply with their request that we would give them some meat, but as it
happened we had not killed any game for several days.
The next morning found us on the Limpopo; and as I purposed staying
here for a few days, we set to work and erected a high fence of mimosa
boughs, for the greater security of our bullocks. In the afternoon
Theunissen and I made an excursion, in the course of which we shot two
apes and four little night monkeys, that were remarkable for their fine
silky hair and large bright eyes. As a general rule they sleep all day
and wake up at night, when they commence spending a merry time in the
trees, hunting insects and moths, eating berries, and licking down the
gum of the mimosas.
[Illustration: CROCODILE IN THE LIMPOPO.]
One of our servants had a _rencontre_ that was rather alarming,
with one of the crocodiles, from which the river derives its name. He
was washing clothes upon the bank, when a dark object emerged from
the water, startling him so much that he let the garment slip from
his hands. He called out, and had the presence of mind to hurl a big
stone at the crocodile’s head, and succeeded in clutching the article
back just as the huge creature was snapping at it. An adventure of a
somewhat similar character happened to myself. Finding that the Limpopo
was only three feet deep just below its confluence with the Marico, I
determined to make my way across. We felled several stout mimosa stems,
and made a raft; but the new wood was so heavy that under my weight
it sank two feet into the water. Convinced that my experiment was a
failure, I was springing from one side of the raft on to the shore,
when a crocodile mounted the other side--an apparition sufficiently
startling to make me give up the idea of crossing for the present.
Taking our departure on the 7th, we proceeded down the stream, having
as many as fifteen narrow rain-channels to pass on our way. The whole
district was one unbroken forest, and we noticed some very fine
hardekool trees. On the left the country belonged to Sechele, on the
right to the Transvaal republic.
Though our progress was somewhat slow, being retarded by the sport
which we enjoyed at every opportunity, we reached the mouth of the
Notuany next evening, having passed the first of the two encampments
where the Damara emigrants were gathering together their contingent. It
contained about thirty waggons, and at least as many tents; large herds
of sheep and cows, under the care of armed sentinels, were grazing
around, while the people were sitting about in groups, some drinking
coffee and some preparing their travelling-gear. I was rather struck by
the circumstance that nearly all the women were dressed in black. Some
of the men asked us whether we had seen any Boer waggons as we came
along; and on our replying that we had passed a good many emigrants,
they expressed great satisfaction, and said that their numbers would
now very soon be large enough to allow them to start. They all declared
their intention to show fight if either of the Bamangwato kings
attempted to molest them or oppose their movements. When I spoke to
them about the difficulty they would probably experience in conducting
so large a quantity of cattle across the western part of the kingdom,
where water was always very scarce, they turned a deaf ear to all my
representations. It was just the same with the emigrants at the other
camp, whom I saw at Shoshong on my return; they would pay no attention
to any warning of danger; nothing could induce them to swerve from
their design.
When I pressed my inquiries as to their true motive in migrating, they
told me that the president had taken up with some utterly false views
as to the interpretation of various passages in the Bible, and that
the government had commenced forcing upon them a number of ill-timed
and annoying innovations. If their fathers, they said, had lived, and
grown grey, and died, without any of these new-fangled notions being
thrust upon them, why should they now be expected to submit to the
novelties against their will? And another thing which they felt to be
peculiarly irritating was, that these state reforms were being brought
about by a lot of foreigners, and chiefly by a clique of Englishmen.
What President Burgers was aiming at effecting would have an effect the
very reverse of remedying the deep-seated evils that oppressed them. It
seemed to me that the project which they considered the most obnoxious
was that for the formation of a railroad which should connect Delagoa
Bay with the Transvaal.
Were it not for their own statements, it would be quite incredible
that men, who already have had to struggle hard for their property and
farms, should for trivial reasons such as these, and at the instigation
of one man, give up their homes and wander away into the interior.
The first troop of them, without including stragglers, soon amounted
to seventy waggons. They were anxious to get possession of the fine
pasturage on the Damara territory, and prepared, in the event of
opposition, to drive the Damaras away altogether. They experienced so
much difficulty through the scarcity of water, that, after reaching
Shoshong, they had to return to the Limpopo, and wait until after a
plentiful rain had fallen upon the country they had to traverse.
Under the impression that the emigrants intended to purchase whatever
land they required, both the Bamangwato kings granted them a safe pass
across their dominions; but as soon as it transpired that they were
going to establish themselves by force of arms, Khame immediately
withdrew his promise. He could not see why his own territory might not
be subject to a like invasion. This led the emigrants openly to avow
their determination, in the event of a long drought, to overcome the
Matabele Zulus, otherwise they would have to fight their way through
the eastern Bamangwatos.
At the end of my journey, after my return to the diamond-fields in
1877, I took up this matter publicly, anxious to do anything in my
power to prevent any overt conflict between the emigrants and the noble
Bamangwato king. The tenour of my views will be apprehended from the
concluding paragraph of my first article, published in the _Diamond
News_ of March 24th: “It is absurd for people like these Boers,
who are not in a condition to make any progress whatever in their own
country, and who regard the most necessary reforms with suspicion, to
think of founding a new state of their own.”[1]
Two months after writing that article, I heard they were in expectation
of securing the friendship of Khamane, while he was living with Sechele
at enmity with Khame. Their scheme of raising him to the throne failed,
and no better success attended them in their subsequent attempt to form
an alliance with Matsheng.
During 1876 and the following year, the condition of the emigrants,
as they still lingered about the Limpopo, changed decidedly for the
worse; they had ceased to talk about the conquest of a hostile country,
but on the contrary took every means to avoid a battle; many of them
had succumbed to fever, and sickness continued to make such ravages
amongst them that they resolved to start once more. Again they applied
to Khame for a safe passage through his land, but made a move in the
direction of the Mahalapsi River, instead of to Shoshong, in order
to mislead him. Khame meanwhile kept himself all ready for a battle;
he drilled his people every day; and having kept spies on the watch,
he soon learnt that the emigrant party had fallen into a state of
complete decay; but instead of taking advantage of their condition, and
seizing their cattle and property, he sent Mr. Hepburn to ascertain
the facts of the case; and when he found that the statements already
brought to him were confirmed, he renewed his guarantee to them that
they should traverse his country in security; he was really afraid that
they would fail in the strength to move on at all. Their difficulties
increased every day. Between Shoshong and the Zooga the district is one
continuous sandy forest, known amongst the Dutch hunters as Durstland;
it contained only a few watering-places for cattle, most of these being
merely holes in the sand or failing river-beds; dug over night, they
would only contain a few buckets full of water in the morning; and
this was all the provision they had for their herds; their bullocks,
consequently, became infuriated, and ran away, so that when the
concourse reached the Zooga they were in a most helpless plight.
Their want of servants, too, was very trying. I saw quite little
children leading the draught-oxen, and young girls brandishing the
cumbrous bullock-whips. By slow and painful degrees, however, sadly
diminished in numbers by sickness, and having suffered the loss of
half their goods, they reached Lake Ngami, only to begin another march
as tedious and fatal as that they had already accomplished. At last,
what might almost be described as a troop of helpless orphans reached
Damara, the sole representatives of the wild and ill-fated expedition.
In London in the present year (1880) I heard that the survivors of
this wild enterprise were in a condition so destitute that the English
Government, assisted by free-will offerings from the Dutch and English
residents, had sent out to them several consignments of food and
clothing, despatched by steamer, _viâ_ Walvisch Bay. Such was
the end of the undertaking originated by a party of headstrong men,
who, in ignorant opposition to reform, and from motives of political
ill-feeling, rushed with open eyes to the destruction that awaited them.
Before reaching the Notuany, I had found out that the game which at
the time of my last visit had been very abundant on the Limpopo, had
been considerably reduced by the continual hunting carried on by
the emigrants. I found only a few traces of hippopotamuses and some
giraffe-tracks in the bushes by the footpath down by the river, but
neither had I opportunity for hunting myself, nor did I wish to reveal
their existence to the Boers.
During one of our excursions I had a narrow escape of my life. We were
chasing a flock of guinea-fowl that were running along in front of us,
one of which kept rising and looking back upon us. Coming to a broadish
rain-channel about twelve feet in depth, and much overgrown with long
grass, I called out to Theunissen, who was close behind me, to warn him
to be careful how he came; but his attention was so entirely engrossed
by the bird of which he was in pursuit that he did not hear me, and
at the very edge of the dip he stumbled and fell forward. His rifle
was at full cock, ready for action; his finger slipped and touched the
trigger; the bullet absolutely grazed my neck. Another eighth of an
inch and I must have been killed on the spot.
To explore the neighbourhood, we remained for a few days upon the banks
of the Notuany. I first went southwards down to the confluence of the
river with the Limpopo. In striking contrast to the time of my previous
visit, when the entire district seemed teeming with game, I had now to
wait long under the shade of the mimosas before getting any sport at
all; at length a solitary gazelle bounded out of the grass in front
of me, and as I was all ready with a charge of hare-shot, I soon put
an end to its graceful career. Some Masarwas, dependents of Sechele,
residing in the wood close at hand, brought me some pallah-skins, of
which I made a purchase.
The shores both of the lower Marico and the Limpopo are composed of
granite, gneiss, and grey and red sandstone, the last often containing
flints; these rocks sometimes assume very grotesque forms; one, for
example, on the bank of the Limpopo, being called “The Cardinal’s Hat;”
occasionally they contain also greenstone and ferruginous limestone.
To the first spruit running into the Notuany above the Limpopo I gave
the name of Purkyne’s Spruit. Some of the mimosas here were ten feet in
circumference; here and there I noticed some vultures’ nests, and the
trees were the habitat of many birds, amongst which we noticed _Bubo
Verreauxii_ and _maculosus_, _Coracias caudata_ and _C. nuchalis_ and
parrots.
I left the Notuany a day sooner than I intended, moving about four
miles down the valley of the Limpopo, where the country seemed to
promise me some desirable acquisitions. On the 14th, I secured the
skins of two cercopithecus, one sciurus, two guinea fowl, and two
francolins. An ape that I shot was disfigured and no doubt painfully
distressed by two great swellings like abscesses. It was impossible
to go a hundred yards along the bank of the river without seeing a
crocodile lift its head above the water, to submerge it again just as
quickly.
When we quitted the river-side, we proceeded to cross the wooded
heights, sandy on one side, rocky on the other, that would bring us to
the valley of the Sirorume. On our way, Niger enjoyed the excitement
of chasing two spotted hyænas that crossed the path, but he did not
succeed in overtaking either of them. By the middle of the day we
reached the pond which I have already mentioned as lying on the top
of these heights, and soon afterwards found ourselves descending
towards the river. The name of Puff-adder valley, which I had given the
place, seemed still as appropriate as ever, for we killed two of these
snakes that were lying rolled up together just where we passed along.
Following a Masarwa track that I remembered in search of water, I came
upon a pool some ten feet deep; fastening my cap to my gun-strap, I was
about to dip my extemporized bucket below the surface, when I caught
sight of something glittering half in and half out of the water, which
proved to be another puff-adder trying in vain to escape from a hole.
To judge from the tracks, I should be inclined to say that leopards are
almost as abundant as snakes, the thorn-bushes and the crevices in the
rocks affording them precisely the kind of hiding-places that they
delight in.
In the course of our next day’s march we came to a Bamangwato station.
Sekhomo had not had sufficient men at his disposal to keep a station
there; the consequence was that Sechele at that time looked upon the
locality as his hunting-ground. It appeared to abound not only with
giraffes, koodoos, elands, and hartebeests, but likewise with gazelles
and wild swine, and numbers of hyænas and jackals.
I reached Khame’s Saltpan on the 17th, and had the bullocks taken to
drink at the cisterns in the rocks. Some Bamangwato and Makalahari
people were passing by, from whom I obtained several curiosities,
amongst which was a remarkable battle-axe. I came across some of the
venomous horned vipers, which fortunately give to the unwary notice of
their presence by the loud hissing they make.
In the evening five gigantic Makalakas came to the waggon, hoping that
I should engage them as servants, but I was too well acquainted with
their general character to have anything to do with them.
We remained at the salt-pan until the 19th, and reached Shoshong quite
late at night. The town was much altered since my last visit. Khame,
after his victory, had set it on fire, and had rebuilt it much more
compactly nearer the end of the glen in the Francis Joseph valley. The
European quarter was now quite isolated. I was delighted to meet Mr.
Mackenzie again, and he kindly invited me to be his guest during the
fortnight that I proposed spending in the place.
CHAPTER III.
FROM SHOSHONG TO THE GREAT SALT LAKES.
Khame and Sekhomo--Signs of erosion in the bed of the Luala--The
Maque plains--Frost--Wild ostriches--Eland-antelopes--The first
palms--Assegai traps--The district of the Great Salt Lakes--The
Tsitane and Karri-Karri salt-pans--The Shaueng--The Soa
salt-pan--Troublesome visitors--Salt in the Nataspruit--Chase of
a Zulu hartebeest--Animal life on the Nataspruit--Waiting for a
lion.
IT was quite obvious that since my previous visit a great change
for the better had taken place in the social condition of the
Bamangwatos. At that time Sekhomo had been at the head of affairs, and,
indefatigable in promoting heathen orgies, had been the most determined
opponent of every reform that had tended to introduce the benefits of
civilization. Khame, his eldest son, who had now succeeded him, was the
very opposite of his father; the larger number of the adherents who had
followed him into his voluntary banishment had returned with him and
placed themselves under his authority, so that the population of the
town was increased threefold. Khame’s great measure was the prohibition
of the sale of brandy; it was a proceeding on his part that not only
removed the chief incentive to idleness, but conduced materially to
the establishment of peace and order, and made it considerably easier
for him to suppress the heathen rites that had been so grievously
pernicious.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ BATTLE ON THE HEIGHTS OF BAMANGWATO.
_Page 43._]
In company with Mr. Mackenzie I paid several visits to Khame, and had
ample opportunity of becoming acquainted with his good qualities. My
time was much occupied with excursions, in working out the survey of
my route between Linokana and Shoshong, and in medical attendance upon
sick negroes. Khame offered me one of his own servants to accompany me
to the Zambesi, and upon whom I could rely to bring back my waggon to
Shoshong, if I should determine to go further north. As remuneration
for the man’s services, I was to give him a musket.
Mr. Mackenzie pointed out to me the various places that had been
of any importance in the recent contest between the kings. I have
already mentioned how Khame, on leaving the town, had been followed by
the greater number of the Bamangwatos to the Zooga river, where the
district was so marshy that the people were decimated by fever, and
Khame was forced to abandon the settlement he had chosen. Resolved
to return to Shoshong, he proceeded to assert his claim, not in any
underhand or clandestine manner, but by a direct attack upon his father
and brother. He openly appointed a day on which he intended to arrive;
and advancing from the north-west, made his way across the heights to
the rocks overhanging the glen, and commanding a strong position above
the town. Sekhomo meanwhile had divided his troops into two parts, and
leaving the smaller contingent to protect the town, posted the main
body so as to intercept Khame’s approach. Augmented as it was by the
people of the Makalaka villages, Sekhomo’s army in point of numbers
was quite equal to that of his son; but, as on previous occasions,
these Makalakas, fugitives from the Matabele country, proved utterly
treacherous; although they professed to be Sekhomo’s allies, they had
sent a message of friendship to Khame, assuring him that they should
hold themselves in readiness to welcome him at the Shoshon pass.
Khame’s attack was so sudden that Sekhomo’s troops were completely
disorganized, and before they had time to recover themselves and
commence a retreat, the conqueror took advantage of the condition of
things to bring his men on to the plateau where the Makalakas had been
posted. These unscrupulous rascals being under the impression that
Khame’s people had been worsted, and being only anxious to get what
cattle they could find, opened a brisk fire, a proceeding which so
exasperated the Bamangwatos that they hurried up their main contingent,
and having discharged a single volley, set to and felled the faithless
Makalakas with the butt ends of their muskets.
In contrast to the incessant rain which had marked my previous visit,
the drought was now so protracted that my cattle began to get rather
out of condition, but not enough to prevent my starting for the Zambesi
on the 4th of June. We proceeded up the Francis Joseph valley, and
turning northwards, reached the high plateau on the following day by
the way of the Unicorn pass. The scenery was very pretty, the sides of
the valley being ever and again formed of isolated rocks, adorned most
picturesquely with thick clumps of arboreal euphorbiaceæ.
On the 6th our course led us across a plain, always sandy and
occasionally wooded; and it was quite late in the evening when we
reached the Letlosespruit, a stream which never precipitates itself
over the granite boulders with much violence, except after heavy rain.
The upper strata of the adjacent hills, where ground game is abundant,
consist in considerable measure of red sandstone, interspersed with
quartzite and black schist, the lower being entirely granite.
The limit of our next day’s march was to be the pools at Kanne. Ranged
in a semicircle to our right were more than thirty conical hills,
connecting the Bamangwato with the Serotle heights. There was a kraal
close to the pools, and the natives, as soon as they were aware of our
approach, drove their cattle down to drink, so that by the time we
arrived all the water was exhausted, and fresh holes had to be dug.
On the 8th we reached the valley of the Lualaspruit, where the
vegetation and surrounding scenery were charming. The formation of the
rocks, and especially the signs of erosion in the river-bed were very
interesting; in one place were numerous grottoes, and in another were
basins or natural arches washed out by the water, which nevertheless
only flowed during a short period of the year. The ford was deep and
difficult. On crossing it I met with two ivory-traders, one of whom,
Mr. Anderson, had been formerly known to me by name as a gold-digger;
they had been waiting camped out here for several days, while their
servants were ascertaining whether the district towards the Maque plain
was really as devoid of water as it had been reported. The Luala and
its affluents were now quite dry, and water could only be obtained by
persevering digging. Mr. Anderson’s people brought word that the next
watering-place could not be reached in less than forty-eight hours, and
I immediately gave orders for food enough for two days’ consumption
to be cooked while we had water for our use. We fell in with Mr.
Anderson’s suggestion that we should travel in his company as far as
the salt-lakes.
[Illustration: GROTTOES OF THE LUALA.]
After ascending the main valley of the little river, on the evening
of the 10th we reached the sandy and wooded plateau thirty miles in
length, that forms a part of the southern “Durstland.” The scarcity of
water in front of us made it indispensable that we should hurry on,
and after marching till it was quite dark, we only allowed ourselves a
few hours’ rest before again starting on a stage which continued till
midday, when the excessive heat compelled us once again to halt. No
cattle could toil through the deep sandy roads in the hottest hours
of the afternoon, so that rest was then compulsory. By the evening,
however, we had reached the low Maque plains, remarkable for their
growth of mapani-trees; in all directions were traces of striped gnus,
zebras, and giraffes, and even lion-tracks in unusual numbers were to
be distinctly recognized. We came across some Masarwas, who refused to
direct us to a marsh which we had been told was only a few miles away
to the right; they were fearful, they said, of being chastised by the
Bamangwatos, if it should transpire that they had given the white men
any information on such a matter.
The whole of the Maque plain, which is bounded on the west by
table-hills, and slopes down northwards to the salt-lake district,
consists entirely of mould, equally trying to travellers at all seasons
of the year, being soft mire during the rains, and painfully dry
throughout the winter season. In the hands of an European landowner,
however, that which now serves for nothing better than a hunting-ground
might soon be transformed into prolific corn-fields and remunerative
cotton-plantations.
By the time we reached the pools our poor bullocks were quite done up.
The ivory-traders had pushed on in front and reached the place before
us.
We were here overtaken by a messenger from Khame, who had been
despatched to visit all the Bamangwato farms, and to leave the king’s
instructions that no hunters should be allowed upon any pretext
whatever to remain at any watering-place for more than three days. This
prohibition had been brought about by the conduct of the Boers, who
had been going everywhere killing the game in the most indiscriminate
manner for the sake of their skins, and leaving their carcases for the
vultures. The order was probably reasonable enough, but it came at an
unfortunate time for us, as the natives at once took us for hunters,
and consequently were occasionally far from conciliatory in their
behaviour. The very spot where we had encamped had been visited by the
Boers only about two months before, and we found a number of the forked
runners on which they had dragged the animals behind their waggons.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ TROOP OF OSTRICHES. _Page 49._]
North of the Maque plain large serpents are often to be met with.
Although they are by no means uncommon in Natal, they are rarely
found on the hills of the southern Bechuana countries. Some plants of
a semi-tropical form are here represented, not the least noticeable
among them being the mapani-tree, with its oleaginous leaves and porous
brittle wood. Nevertheless, the temperature in winter is often low,
though perhaps not to the same extent as on the table-land on the Vaal
and Orange rivers, which is 1200 feet higher. One morning during our
stay the pools had a coating of ice nearly half an inch thick.
Whilst hunting a large snake in a thicket on the afternoon of the day
after our arrival, I was startled by a loud shout from the waggon.
Hurrying back, I found Mr. Anderson all excited because a herd of wild
ostriches had just rushed by him on their way to drink at the pool; the
sight, however, of the waggon had somewhat alarmed them, and they had
turned aside into the mimosa-wood, where they were being chased by the
drivers. The pursuit was long and arduous, and the men at last had to
return hot and tired, without having been able to get within gunshot of
one of the birds.
Still keeping with Mr. Anderson, we started off again next morning,
making our way northwards towards a spring seventy miles away, known
to the Boers as Bergfontein. In these waterless districts glades of
tall grass and rushes alternate with light mapani-woods, game being
abundant everywhere. We were overtaken on our way by some Makalaharis
and Masarwas proceeding to an eland-hunt, armed with assegais.
Of all the antelopes the eland, especially the male, is the most lusty
and well-fed, its heart having been known to be imbedded in a mass of
fat weighing twenty-five pounds; the animal is consequently generally
so short-breathed that it can be readily overtaken and speared. The
Masarwas are very fleet-footed and skilful in hurling their assegais
so as mortally to wound the heart or lungs. Mounted Dutch and English
hunters chase the elands in the same way as giraffes right up to
their waggons, where they shoot them down, thus sparing themselves
the trouble of having to transport the skins or carcases from the
hunting-ground. I have been told both by hunters and natives, and I
think it quite credible, that without any great difficulty elands may
be tamed and trained to draw or to carry light burdens.
Shortly afterwards we met two Bamangwatos armed with muskets, and
driving a couple of oxen laden with meat. They were accompanied by five
Masarwas, each of them also carrying a load of meat weighing over fifty
pounds. The party was on its way to Shoshong to get instructions from
Khame as to its future proceedings, as some of the Makalakas, banished
for their treachery, were prowling about the northern confines of the
kingdom, and preventing the Masarwas from rendering allegiance to their
rightful master.
Bergfontein, at which we arrived early on the 17th, is a spring
situated on a woody slope; it is regarded by the natives as the source
of the Nokane stream, which flows northwards, but only in the rainy
season. The slope, which is very rugged and clothed with luxuriant
vegetation, is the declivity of the Maque plain down to the great
salt-lakes. At a short distance from the bank of the Nokane spruit
the traveller from the south is greeted by the sight of a cluster
of fan-palms, a foretaste of the wonders of tropical vegetation;
overtopping all the surrounding trees, they were probably the most
southerly specimens of that queen of palm-trees in Central Africa. I
shot down some examples of the fruit, and added them to my collection.
Encircling the base of the slim stems that were crowned with the
magnificent foliage was a wonderful undergrowth of young plants that
had germinated from the fallen fruit, the leaves of which had already
assumed fine proportions, and were rapidly developing into their
fan-like form.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ MASARWAS CHASING THE ELAND.
_Page 50._]
In the broad but shallow bed of a spruit that lay on the side of a
gentle slope, I found a shrub that reminded me of a baobab; it was
between four and five feet in height, its lower part immensely thick
and fleshy, and covered with a yellowish bark; but scarcely a foot from
the ground it contracted into little branches only two or three inches
thick, that proceeded direct from the great superficial root. Some of
these stems weighed several hundredweight, and on some future occasion
I shall hope to obtain a specimen for myself.
From the Makalaharis and Masarwas residing hereabouts I obtained a
variety of ornaments and some domestic utensils made of wood and bone,
but I was unfortunate enough afterwards to lose them all.
[Illustration: PURSUED BY MATABELE.]
All around the hills for the most part were thickly wooded, having no
paths except the game-tracks leading generally towards the Nokane.
Over these tracks the natives are accustomed to set assegai-traps for
catching the game at night; a pile of underwood is heaped up to bring
the animals to a standstill; a grass rope with one end very loosely
attached to a short stake is carried across the path about a foot above
the ground, and supported horizontally by two uprights and a cross-pole
placed on the opposite side; the rope is thence taken up to the nearest
overhanging bough, and an assegai left suspended from the other
end. The slightest jerk made by the movements of the game suffices
to detach the loose end of the rope, and the assegai immediately
falls. The assegai used for this purpose is generally of very rude
construction, being nothing but a rough pole with a rusty spear-head
fixed at the end; but its efficiency is due to the point being dipped
in a most deadly poison. The wound inflicted by the descending weapon
is generally slight in itself, and although only a scratch may be made
in the neck, the victim is doomed, as the poison is sure to take quick
effect. In the winter months snares of this kind are continually being
set, and are always visited as frequently as possible, that the carcase
may be dissected soon after death; the flesh close round the wound is
cut away, but all the rest is considered by the natives to be perfectly
fit for food. Once, while in pursuit of some koodoos, one of Anderson’s
people narrowly escaped running into an assegai-trap, being only warned
by his servant just in time, and I have myself in the course of my
rambles come upon several tracks stopped up in this way.
I wandered during the afternoon with the two traders a considerable
distance down the hill to the north, crossing the Nokane and two other
dry spruits more than once. On the way I noticed some aloes of unusual
size, and some tiger-snails in the long grass in the valleys.
Early on the morning of the 18th we came to the south-east shore of
the smallest and most southerly of the three of the great salt-lakes
that I was able to visit. Away to the west this lake extended as far
as the eye could see, and it took me two hours to travel the length
of the eastern coast. It had an uniform depth of barely two feet,
and presented a light grey surface edged with stiff arrow-grass,
and surrounded by dense bush-forest, whilst round about it, in the
very thickest of the grass, were considerable numbers of miniature
salt-pans. It is scarcely once a year that it is full of water, for
although after violent rains torrents stream down from all directions,
very few of these make their way into the lake itself, but stagnate in
another and deeper bed close by; the overflow of this, however, escapes
into the lake. The name of this salt-pan is Tsitane, the same as that
of the most important of the rivers flowing from the heights upon our
left, which were the projecting spurs of the slope from the table-land
to the lake basin. The greater part of the lake-bottom consists
of rock, partly bare and partly covered with the deposit from the
rain-torrents. While I was taking the measurement of the eastern shore,
I came upon a herd of striped gnus, but without being able to shoot one
of them. In the brackish waters of the river, and in the pools near its
mouth, there were a good many spoonbills and ducks, and for the first
time for a long while I noticed some grunters.
After finishing my sketch-chart of the Tsitane lake next morning, I
went out and shot a great horned owl that I found in the trees on the
bank.
Every depression in the soil round the smaller pans contains salt.
However short a time the rainwater may stand in them, vegetation is
sure to be checked; the evaporation is rapid, and so great that the
ground is continually crusted with large patches of salt some five
inches above the soil, which break in when trodden on. In high winds
the salt and salt earth are swept along in great white clouds like
dust. The edge of the lake was covered with little chalcedonies and
milk-pebbles that had been washed down by the rain.
We quitted the shores of the Tsitane salt-pan on the 21st, but as I
had understood from the natives that there would be much difficulty in
getting water farther on, and I did not wish to impede the progress
of the ivory-traders, we parted company, but only to meet again after
a fortnight in the valley of the Panda ma Tenka, and yet again a year
later at Shoshong.
It was at the salt-pan that I saw my first baobab, the most southerly
specimen along my route, although Mauch had seen some further south
in the western Transvaal on the right bank of the Limpopo. The one I
noticed was twenty-five feet in height, its circumference measuring
nearly fifty-two feet.
On starting northwards we had first to cross the small outlying
salt-pans on the Tsitane, then the river itself, and finally to take
a course due north right over the basin. The trees of the dense
underwood were all more or less stunted, the bush-land alternating with
meadow-land overgrown with rich sweet grass and studded with flowers.
Near the pans and adjacent streams the soil was brackish, and the
vegetation for the most part of a prickly character. Springbocks and
duykerbocks, Zulu hartebeests, and striped gnus frequented the woods,
which in some parts revealed clearly the vestiges of lions.
All the next day our journey took us past a series of large depressions
in the soil, the middle of most of them being marked by small
salt-pans, of which I counted no less than forty-two in the course of
the day’s progress. We halted for the night near one of them known as
the little Shonni; we also crossed some fresh-water pools, at once to
be distinguished from salt-pans by the fringe of reeds with which they
were surrounded.
We now arrived at the eastern shore of a far larger and deeper lake
than the Tsitane, called by the natives Karri-karri; its shores were
circled by a number of baobabs, and its geological formation seemed
very interesting. Like the Tsitane in shape it was almost an isosceles
triangle with its apex far away out of sight in the west. On their
western side both these lakes are connected with the north of the Soa
salt-pan by means of the Zooga river.
Some Masarwas bearing traces of the red salt-crust on their ankles came
to us offering some baobab-fruit, and asking for maize and tobacco in
exchange. We had not much time to spend either in bartering commodities
or in exploring the shore of the lake, as the rain came on and
compelled us to hurry forwards, otherwise I do not doubt I should have
discovered a number of natural curiosities.
At the north-east end of the lake, at one of the principal creeks I
crossed the Mokhotsi river, which flows northwards, and carries off the
superfluous water of the shallow salt-pan.
Our way next led through a dense mapani-forest, after which we had to
cross a dried-up stream sixty feet wide, and from ten to sixteen feet
deep, having a decided fall towards the east, and on account of the
fine trees that adorned its banks called by the Masarwas the Shaneng,
or beautiful river. Parallel to this was a spruit, which the Dutch
hunters called Mapanifontein; it is fed by a number of springs, and as
it receives a portion of the water of the Shaneng whenever that stream
is overfull, its deeper parts are hardly ever dry at any period of
the year. I cannot resist the opinion that the Shaneng is an outlet
either of the Zooga river or of the Soa salt-lake, and that it empties
itself into the Matliutse or one of its affluents. In the course of the
afternoon I killed a great bird that was chasing lizards, known amongst
the colonists as the jackal-bird.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ THE SOA SALT LAKE. _Page 57._]
Towards the evening of the 23rd Anderson overtook us again, and
travelling on together we traversed a wood called the Khori, and
passing a deserted Masarwa village near the ford, we arrived in good
time next morning in sight of the Soa. This was the third of the
Great Salt Lakes. Near it we met some Dutch hunters, on a chase for
elephants and ostriches.
Thanks to the dry weather, we were able to cross several spruits that
ran in and out the various creeks, a proceeding that after much rain
would have been quite impracticable. Having chosen a good position
for our camping out, we resolved to stay there until the 27th, as we
ascertained that there was excellent drinking-water to be found by
digging holes in the bed of the Momotsetlani, a river that flowed
through the adjacent wood. According to my habit when halting for any
longer time than usual, I made several excursions, in the course of
which I shot five ducks, two guinea-fowl, that were in unusually large
numbers, and a brown stork, the first example of the kind I had seen.
The Soa is the largest salt-pan in the Great Lake basin, extending
westward beyond Lake N’gami, and connected with the Limpopo system by
the Shaneng; like the Karri-Karri and Tsitane, it is quite shallow,
being only four feet deep; it is grey in colour, and is rarely
completely full, indeed a great part of it is quite dry. In order to
ascertain the exact relations between the basin and Lake N’gami and
the Zooga, it would be necessary to take a series of observations
for an entire year; during the rainy season, however, travelling is
extremely difficult and the climate is very unhealthy, so that it is
easy to account for the task not having been accomplished hitherto.
The general uniformity of level of the great central South African
basin causes the Zooga at some times to flow east and at others to flow
west. When the shallow bed of Lake N’gami is filled by its northern
and western feeders it sheds its overflow eastwards down the Zooga to
the salt-pans, whence it is carried off by the Shaneng, their natural
outlet; on the other hand, if the N’gami should be low, it receives
itself the overflow of the Zooga, which in its deep bed, overgrown
as it is with weeds, is able for a long period to retain the water
received from its many affluents; nor is it impossible that it is
likewise occasionally fed by waters running over from the western side
of the salt-pans.
It took our team more than three hours after our next start to cross
the numerous creeks and smaller pans on the shore of the lake: we came
to the end of them, however, in the course of the forenoon, and entered
upon a plain stretching northwards as far as the eye could reach, and
bounded on the east by a mapani-wood. Herds of game were frequent,
but not large. We noticed a good many clumps of reeds, and were not
disappointed in the expectation of finding fresh-water in proximity to
them, inducing us to rest awhile in the place.
I was very busy arranging some of the curiosities that I had collected
on my recent rambles, when I was startled by a loud cry of distress.
On looking out of the waggon I saw Meriko, my Bamangwato servant,
running with all his might through the long grass, and shrieking, in
the Sechuana dialect, “They are killing me! they are killing me!” He
cleared the bushes like an antelope; in his hurry he had lost both
his grass hat and his caama mantle, and had scarcely breath to reach
the waggon. Pointing to a number of natives at no great distance from
him, with their spears brandished in the air, he gasped out, “Zulus!
Matabele! they want to kill me!”
For my part I could not comprehend how it happened that these Matabele
should be on Khame’s territory. I began to wonder whether it was
possible that war had broken out between the tribes, and I confess
that I was not without apprehension that we were going to be attacked.
The savages advanced yelling and screeching, and looked like wolves
in human form. Unwilling to risk the mischief that might ensue if I
fired upon them, I resolved to remain steadily where I was until I had
ascertained their real intentions. Meriko’s opinion did not in the
least coincide with mine; he could not bring himself to await their
approach, but bounding over the pole of the waggon, he scampered off
into the bush beyond, but without further outcry, evidently anxious
to conceal himself in the long grass. I called out to him that he had
more to fear from the lions in the grass than from the Zulus, and that
he had better stay in the waggon; so terrified, however, was he at the
prospect of falling into the hands of the Matabele, that he turned a
deaf ear to my words, and rushed out of sight.
The savage band flocked round the waggon, still flourishing their
kiris. Excepting the two ringleaders they proved to be not true Zulus,
but belonging to various plundered tribes, having been stolen away as
boys by Moselikatze, and brought up as Zulu warriors. They had small
leather aprons with fringes, or occasionally a gourd-shell or piece
of basket-work on their bodies, otherwise they were quite naked;
only some of them wore balloon-shaped head-dresses made of ostrich
feathers or other plumage. Their expression was exceedingly wild. The
fierce rolling eye was a witness that they belonged to a warlike race,
expecting that their commands should be obeyed; and probably there was
not one amongst them who would have hesitated to perpetrate a murder if
he considered that anything was to be gained by it.
One of the leaders swung himself on to the pole of the waggon, and
speaking in broken Dutch gave me to understand that they were “Lo
Bengulas,” and that it was their wont to slaughter every captive they
made, except he were bought off by a ransom; they were now ready to put
their rule into force upon my servants; and as for my dog they should
shoot him then and there, unless I paid them down at once a handsome
sum to save him.
I put as bold a face as I could upon the matter. I told them that I was
not going to be frightened into making them any payment whatever, but
that if they would promise to go quietly away from the waggon, I would
make them a present all round. I hoped by this device to anticipate
their notorious thievish propensities; but although Pit and Theunissen
were on the watch, they could not prevent one of the fellows stealing a
knife that was lying close to my side, but I caught sight of him just
in time, and insisted upon his giving it up again.
After a brief consultation, the two captains drew their followers
apart, and made them acquainted with my determination; they all grinned
cunningly, and hailed the proposal with shouts of satisfaction. Having
had the whole body collected right in front of the waggon, where I
could keep my eye upon them, I called the leaders forward and handed
to each of them a bowl of gunpowder and about two pounds of lead.
One of them first pointed to my pocket-handkerchief, and then ran his
finger round his own loins. “Lapiana!” he said, indicating the purpose
to which it could be applied. Accordingly I brought out a few yards
of calico, and tore it into strips, which were immediately used for
girdles, except that a few of the men twisted the stuff round their
heads. They requested me to give the captains an extra piece or two;
to this I willingly consented, and they all expressed themselves
perfectly satisfied. Upon this I turned my back upon the clamorous
troop, and retreated calmly to my own people. Soon afterwards they all
began slowly to depart, waving their presents over their heads. We were
greatly relieved. The hour that had passed since Meriko had come and
announced their approach had unquestionably been an anxious time. A few
of them had bartered salt with Theunissen for tobacco.
When Meriko could be induced to quit his hiding-place, he informed us
that we had now almost reached the bank of the principal feeder of the
Soa, called the Nata, where salt may be most readily procured, and
whither the Matabele are sent by their rulers every year to collect
it. This was the ostensible employment of the gang that had just taken
their departure. The Bamangwato king was quite aware of the marauding
habits of these parties, but did nothing to control them, although
they perpetually disarm any Bamangwatos they may meet, and delight in
breaking the legs of the Masarwas.[2]
[Illustration: HUNTING THE ZULU HARTEBEEST.]
To the great satisfaction of poor Meriko we decided to push on
immediately to the Nata river. As we proceeded, the game became more
and more plentiful. The herds of springbocks were much larger than I
should have expected to see so far north, and we noticed a surprising
number of gnus, hartebeests, zebras, and ostriches. Although Meriko had
in some measure recovered his nervousness, and walked on contentedly
with Niger at his side, he kept from time to time jumping up from
the ground to the waggon, to look all round and satisfy himself that
no Matabele gang was in sight. While mounted up for this purpose he
cried out that he could see a herd of “sesephi” (Zulu hartebeests). He
described them as about 600 yards to our right. I could not see them
myself, but both Pit and Theunissen affirmed that it was a good-sized
herd. We all agreed that it would be best to allow the waggon to
advance some 300 yards further, and I could then alight, and with my
gun all ready for a shot, make my way to a hardekool-tree about 200
yards from the road, and from thence take my aim. Nothing could be
simpler than the plan, and I was soon making my way through the long
grass by myself on foot.
I had not reached the hardekool-tree before I heard a low whistle
from Theunissen which I quite understood was to inform me that the
hartebeests had been disturbed by the waggon, and were commencing a
flight. Hurrying on, I made my way to the tree, when the two foremost
of the herd came in sight at full speed. I aimed at the first, and
fired. The whole of our people raised a shout, and leaving the oxen to
take their chance started off in pursuit, followed by the dogs. My own
impression was that I had seen the entire herd scamper off. I returned
to the waggon to satisfy myself that the bullocks were grazing quietly,
and then hastened after my friends. My surprise was considerable when
I discovered that my shot had been successful, and that a magnificent
sesephi was lying dead upon the ground.
All the bullocks were so tired that I had quite made up my mind to
give them a good rest as soon as we reached the Nataspruit, but there
was the preliminary difficulty to be overcome of finding a proper
drinking-place, nearly all the pools in the bed being salt. We had,
however, been assured two days before by a Masarwa that there were
several fresh-water ponds in the district, and accordingly Theunissen
and I set out on an expedition of discovery. The river-bed varied
in breadth from 100 to 150 feet; it was about twenty feet deep, and
manifestly after rain was quite full up to the grass upon its edge.
We wandered about for some time searching in vain, but at length
Theunissen announced that he had come upon a pool of fresh water, a
discovery that we considered especially fortunate, as all the pools
beyond appeared again to be salt.
The game-tracks were absolutely countless. For the most part they
seemed to belong to the same species that we had noticed on the
banks of the Soa, but fresh lion-tracks were quite conspicuous among
them. Pit suggested what looked like a suitable place for encamping;
Theunissen and myself agreed, but Meriko protested that it was too near
the quarters of the Matabele. His objection, however, was not allowed
to prevail, and his nervousness was much moderated when he found he was
to be entrusted with a breech-loader to keep guard over the bullocks.
An extra strong fence was made, considerably higher than usual, and
four great fires were lighted, which would keep burning till nearly two
o’clock in the morning.
Poor Niger was in a state of great excitement all night. Lions were
prowling around us, and the hyænas and jackals kept up such a noise
that sound sleep was out of the question, and in my dreams I saw
nothing but stuffed lion-skins dancing before my eyes. Just before
morning the concert seemed to rise to its full pitch; two jackals
yelped hideously in two different keys, the hyænas howled angrily with
all their might, while the lion with its deep and sonorous growl might
be taken as chorægus to the whole performance.
In the rambles that Pit and I took, the following morning, the
lion-traces were so many and so recent that we felt it prudent to
keep a very sharp look-out. We crossed the river-bed several times,
and observed that the tracks were particularly numerous in the high
grounds that commanded a view of the place where the various antelopes,
attracted by the salt, would be likely to descend. On our way we passed
a tree, the bark of which was torn in a way which showed that it had
been used by lions for sharpening their claws; the boughs of the tree
were wide-spreading, branching out like a candelabrum, and forming
what struck me as a convenient perch. Here I resolved to keep a long
watch of some ten or twelve hours. I was determined if I could to see
the lions for myself. Accordingly, just before sundown, I took Niger,
and accompanied by Pit I returned to the tree, and having made myself
comfortable in my concealment, I sent Pit back to the waggon in time
for him to arrive while it was still tolerably light.
[Illustration: IN THE TREE.]
The sensation of being alone in such a spot was sufficiently strange.
I soon began to look about me, and noticed that the trees around were
considerably higher than that in which I was perched; the ground was in
some places elevated, but thinly grassed, so that the light sand could
be distinguished which covers the flaky strata of the salt lakes.
Just below me was a bare circular patch, which bore no footprints at
all except our own and those of the lions that had passed by; on my
left was a rain-channel some six feet deep and twenty feet wide, much
overgrown, and opening into the Nataspruit about twenty yards away. The
nights were now extremely cold, and appeared especially so in contrast
to the high temperature of the day, and I took the precaution of tying
myself to one of the strongest boughs, in case I should fall asleep;
to tumble off might bring me into closer contact with the monarchs of
the forest than might be agreeable; but having made myself secure, I
soon settled down in the middle of the triple-forked recess that I had
chosen for my ambush.
The sun, meanwhile, had all but set; only a few golden streaks on the
highest boughs remained, and these gradually faded away. My insight
that night into scenes of animal life proved even far more diversified
than I could venture to anticipate.
Amongst the first of the sounds to arrest my attention was the sonorous
“quag-ga, quag-ga” of the male zebras; they were on the grass-plains,
keeping watch over their herds; with this was soon mingled the
melancholy howl of the harnessed jackal, awakening the frightful yell
of its brother, the grey jackal; the beasts, I could not doubt, were
all prowling round the enclosure of our camp. For some hours the
various noises seemed to be jumbled together, but towards midnight
they became more and more distinct, so that I could identify them
separately, and fancied that I could count the beasts that made them.
After a while a peculiar scraping commenced, caused by rhyzænas hunting
in the sand for worms and larvæ; it went on all night except during
the brief intervals when the busy little creatures were temporarily
disturbed by some movement near them.
The gazelles and antelopes came down quite early to lick at the salt
mud in the Nata-bed; they evidently were accustomed to get back to
their haunts in the open lands before the beasts of prey quitted their
lairs in the wood. Some of the little steinbocks (those most graceful
of South African gazelles) came down so cautiously along the track that
it was only through accidentally looking down that I was aware of their
being near me. I think there were three or four of them. They were
followed by some other gazelle, of which the movements were so light
and rapid that I failed to catch a glimpse of it. After a considerable
time a single antelope passed beneath me, of another species larger
than the others, making a succession of short leaps, then pausing and
bounding on again, but I could not recognize what kind it really was.
The slow, steady tramp of a large herd on the other side of the bank
proceeding towards the salt pools, and in the direction of the one
fresh-water pool, could not be mistaken; moreover, the crashing of
their horns against the wood in the thickets left no doubt of the
approach of a number of koodoos. While I was listening to their
movements I heard another tread on the game-path beside the river;
straining my eyes in that direction I saw a dark form stealthily making
its way towards the descent: it was about the size of a young calf, and
I could have little doubt that it was a brown hyæna; it sniffed the air
at every step, and after stopping a few seconds just beyond the channel
started off at a brisk trot.
As the hours of the night waned away I was beginning to think that I
should hear or see nothing of the monarch of the forest. I had not,
however, to wait much longer before the unmistakable roar, apparently
about half a mile away, caught my ear. I could only hope that the beast
was on its way once more to sharpen its claws upon the accustomed tree.
I had now no heed to give to any other sound; neither the barking of
our own dogs beside the waggon, nor the yelling of the jackals around
our encampment could distract my attention, and I listened eagerly for
at least half an hour before the roaring was repeated; it was now very
much nearer; I listened on, and it must have been nearly twenty minutes
more when I distinguished its footsteps almost within gunshot. The lion
was not in the ordinary track, as I had expected, but right in the
long grass in the rain-channel. Its strides were generally rapid, but
it paused frequently. I could only hear its movements; it was too dark
for me to see. I was sure that it could not be more than about fifteen
yards from me, and could hardly restrain myself from firing. I feared,
however, that a random shot would only be fired in vain, and with no
other effect than that of driving the lion away. Accordingly I waited
on. It came still nearer and crouched down somewhere for about another
quarter of an hour without stirring an inch. At last I became convinced
that it had caught sight of me; I saw the bushes shake, and the great
brute looked out as if uncertain whether to make a spring towards me,
or to effect its escape. It was a terrible mistake on my part not
to fire then and there, but my moment of hesitation was fatal to my
design; the lion made a sudden bound, and in an instant had disappeared
for good. It was no use to me that Niger’s frantic barking made me
aware what direction it had taken. My chance was gone. I was much
mortified; but there was no help for it. With the cold night air and my
cramped position I was stiff all over, and much relieved when daylight
dawned, and Pit appeared with Niger to accompany me back to the warmth
and shelter of the waggon.
CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE NATASPRUIT TO TAMASETZE.
Saltbeds in the Nataspruit--Poisoning jackals--A good shot--An
alarm--The sandy-pool plateau--Ostriches--Travelling
by torchlight--Meeting with elephant-hunters--The
Madenassanas--Madenassana manners and customs--The Yoruah
pool and the Tamafopa springs--Animal-life in the forest
by night--Pit’s slumbers--An unsuccessful lion-hunt--Watch
for elephants--Tamasetze.
[Illustration]
After my night on the tree, I was not so tired as to prevent my
starting next morning on an excursion to examine the formation of
the banks of the Nata. We soon noticed two fine storks (_Mycteria
Senegalensis_) wheeling in circles over the stream, on the look-out
for some of the fishes that hid themselves under the stones in the
shallow salt-pools. I stooped down so as not to startle them, and had
the good luck to secure both the birds for my collection.
In the afternoon I took a much longer walk, crossing the plain to the
south, curious both to see the quarters of the Matabele people and to
inspect the place where they obtained their salt. About three-quarters
of a mile from the waggons, we startled a herd of zebras, of the dark
species; so impetuous was their flight that I quite expected to see
them all dash headlong over the steep bank, but they suddenly stayed
their course and turned off short into a narrow rain-channel; they
raised a great cloud of dust as they scampered down into the river-bed,
whence they clambered up again on the other side where the bank was
less steep. On account of the great size of their head and neck they
look much larger at a distance than they really are; the peculiar noise
they make, “ouag-ga, ouag-ga,” the last syllable very much prolonged,
has caused both the Masarwas and the Makalaharis to call them quaggas.
When we got near the quarters of the Matabele gang, I thought it
needful to take care that we should be unobserved. In the open plain
of course there was nothing to cover our approach, and I turned into
the bed of a side-stream that I reckoned would take us in the right
direction. I supposed this to be a branch of the Nata leading to the
Soa, along which I proposed to go for a mile or so, and then turn off,
but we had not proceeded very far before we found the camp of which we
had come in search right before us. It was now deserted.
Standing in the middle of the river-bed, I could see a considerable
number of pools all full of a salt fluid, the colour of which was
a deep red; the soil around was covered with a salt deposit, and
fragments of salt beautifully crystallized and resting on a stratum of
clay an inch or more thick, were scattered about. Close to these were
lying the poles and stakes with which the salt had been broken out of
the pools. The departure of the Matabele troop allowed us to examine
everything without fear of molestation.
In winter, when the water is low, the pools vary from twelve to
eighteen inches in depth; the breadth and length range very widely from
thirty to 900 feet. The deposit is sometimes as much as three inches in
thickness, extending from bank to bank about six or eight inches under
the surface of the water like a stout layer of ice, which when broken
discloses the real bottom of the pool nearly another foot below. To
walk into the pools is like treading upon needle-crystals, and the feet
are soon perceptibly covered with a deposit. Where they are very salt,
they are never resorted to either by birds or quadrupeds. Anything
thrown into them quickly becomes incrusted, but the beautiful red
crystals unfortunately evaporate on being exposed to the air, and it
was to little purpose that I carried a number of specimens away with me.
I sent Pit again next day to get a supply of salt for our use. This
had first to be boiled to free it from the particles of lime, and
afterwards to be crumbled up. We wanted it to preserve the flesh of
the game we killed.
The bed in which these pans are situated is really an arm of the Nata,
having branched off from it to rejoin it again. As I followed it on my
way back to the waggon, I came across the last herds of springbocks
that we were to see so far to the north; I likewise saw several herds
of striped gnus, that here took the place of black gnus, none of which
had appeared this side of Shoshong.
A capital shot was made by Theunissen on the following day; he brought
down a steinbock at the distance of nearly 300 yards. Being anxious to
procure some jackals’ skins, I laid out several bits of meat covered
with strychnine over night, and in the morning, I found no less than
four of the beasts lying poisoned beside them; the flesh of one of
these was afterwards devoured by some of its own kind, and they too
all died in consequence, and were discovered in the bush close by.
Palm-bushes and baobabs, that flourish in salt soil just as well as in
mould, grow very freely about the lower part of the Nata.
So large had my collection now become, that I made up my mind to
send a good portion of it to Mr. Mackenzie at Shoshong by the first
ivory-traders whom I should meet and could trust to take charge of
it. We did not, however, just at this time fall in with any parties
returning to the south.
Although we knew that our encampment was liable to attacks from lions,
we found it in many other respects so agreeable that we quitted it with
regret, and on the 3rd of July started up the left bank of the Nata,
along a deep sandy road on the edge of the eastern plain. On our way
we saw a herd of zebras grazing about 500 yards off. Theunissen was
again anxious to try his skill as a marksman, and creeping on some
fifty yards or more, fired from the long grass; he had taken a good
aim and one of the zebras fell, but it sprang up and ran for a dozen
yards further, when it fell for the second time. We hurried up, and
Pit incautiously seized the animal by the head, and narrowly escaped
being severely wounded, for the creature with its last gasp made a
desperate plunge and tried to bite. As soon as it was dead, we set to
work to skin it, carrying away with us all the flesh, except the neck
and breast, to make into beltong. About two miles further on, we came
to a good halting-place in the wood, where we could finish the process
of preparing the skin. Meriko, with his gun, kept watch over our
bullock-team, and whilst Pit helped Theunissen to cut up the meat ready
for hanging up, I worked away at the skin, and afterwards at the skull.
The same afternoon I took a short stroll round about, and found that
although the bushes were thick, the trees generally were scanty;
there were, however, some very fine baobabs here and there. Several
beautifully wooded islands in the spruit had steep high banks, and
there was a pool some hundred yards long that apparently abounded in
tortoises and fish. Our time, however, did not allow us to make any
complete examination of the spot; it was desirable for us to hurry on
with all speed, and to get across the Zambesi, if we could, before the
middle of the month, so that we might stay until December in the more
healthy highlands on the watershed.
We looked about for lion-tracks, but could see none; and being unaware
that lions are accustomed very often to wander away from their usual
haunts for a day or more, we thought it would be quite sufficient
to put up a low fence; but as the night set in cold and dark with a
piercing S.S.W. wind that made us all press closely round the fire, we
could only regret our mistake and own that we ought to have made it
higher. By eight o’clock the darkness was complete, and the wind, still
howling, threatened a singularly uncomfortable night; but we consoled
ourselves by recollecting that the zebra-skin would be sufficiently dry
in the early morning, when we might move off.
Suddenly, so suddenly that we one and all started to our feet, the
oxen began to bellow piteously, and to scamper about the enclosure,
breaking down the slight fence that bounded it. Niger commenced
barking furiously; the other dog whined in miserable fear underneath
the waggon, and the bullocks that did not try to make off, crouched
together in a corner and lowed feebly. We could not do otherwise than
conclude that we were attacked by lions. It happened that Theunissen
had only just left us to shorten the tether of the bullocks, and,
jumping on to the box of the waggon, I tried to see where he was. I
seized my breech-loader; Pit and Meriko in an instant each held up a
firebrand, which threw a gleam of light some distance around. But I
could not discover Theunissen. I called louder and louder, and hardly
know whether I was more relieved or terrified, when, from amongst the
struggling cattle, I heard his voice crying, “Help, help!” We hurried
out, and quickly ascertained the cause of his alarm. While he was
tightening the bullocks’ tethers, the roar of a lion, apparently close
at hand, had put the animals into such a state of commotion, that
two of them had got loose from the enclosure; and two others had so
entangled Theunissen in the ropes, that he and they had all fallen
together. It was undoubtedly due to Niger’s vigilance that the lion had
retreated.
[Illustration: STARTLED BY LIONS.]
Theunissen was fortunately unhurt; and, while we were releasing him
from his critical position, the two bullocks that had escaped came
back of their own accord. After seeing the whole of the oxen securely
fastened to the waggon, I had five large fires lighted, and, late as
it was, felled several mapani-trees, with which to raise the height of
the fence.
In spite of the heavy rain, we proceeded as soon as we could upon our
journey. The downpour, however, had the effect of making the travelling
less toilsome, by binding the sand together; though it was not without
much difficulty that the bullocks pulled through the deep sand-drifts
at the ford where we crossed the spruit. On the farther side we found
a deserted encampment, containing the remnants of a broken-down Boer
waggon. We saw comparatively little game--only two gnus, a few zebras,
and an occasional guinea-fowl or two, of which I brought down one.
During the after-part of the day we were quite out of the woods,
and upon a plain where the mapanis stood only singly or in detached
clumps with the mimosas. Though reluctant to do so, we were obliged to
unfasten the bullocks and allow them to graze awhile in the evening;
but we took every precaution to make them safe, so that there should be
no repetition of the lion panic. They had hardly been freed from the
yokes, when they were startled by an animal dashing wildly at no great
distance across the plain. It was a hyæna, which Pit and Theunissen,
with my good Niger’s aid, managed to knock over; but it was far from
being a single specimen of its kind, as all night long our sleep was
interrupted by the incessant music of a regular hyæna-chorus.
Throughout the next morning the journey was very similar to that of the
previous day; but in the afternoon we passed along an extensive glade,
surrounded with underwood and full of game. A heavy shower provided us
with the drinking-water which the soil failed to supply. We saw some
ostriches, duykerbocks, and striped gnus on the plain, and, in the
distance, some lions on the look-out for zebras. Coming to a wood that
seemed a suitable resting-place, I determined to spend the night there.
Before the following evening we arrived at a great forest, stretching
nearly 100 miles to the north, and forming a part of the sandy-pool
plateau. With the exception of a few glades containing water, the
soil is entirely of sand, and is the western portion of the district
to which Mohr has given the name of “the land of a thousand pools.” I
only apply the term to the region without any appreciable slope, where
the rain can have no downfall to the rivers. The pools are almost all
fed solely by the rain, and are generally small and overgrown with
grass; they retain their supply of water very differently, sometimes
for eight months in the year, sometimes only for two. A comparatively
small number are fed by springs, and such of them as are perennial
have special names given to them by the Madenassanas who live in the
underwood; whilst others, full only a part of the year, have been named
on various occasions by Dutch or English hunters and ivory-traders. The
boundaries of this pool plateau are the Nata and Soa salt-lake on the
south, the Zambesi on the north, the Mababi veldt on the west, and the
Nata and Uguay rivers on the east. It is the district of Central South
Africa where the larger mammalia, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, and
giraffes begin to be more abundant; thence extending eastwards and
westwards, as well as northwards beyond the Zambesi. In the winter,
owing to the deficiency of water, it is always difficult to cross it,
and even in the beginning of summer the transit is always a matter
of some anxiety, as a poisonous plant which sprouts up amongst the
grass from October to December is very injurious to cattle; the evil
is so great as very often to induce the traders on their way to do
business with the tribes on the Zambesi, to choose the eastern route
through the Matabele and Makalaka district; but this proceeding has the
disadvantage of exposing them to the dishonesty and untrustworthiness
of the natives.
While we were crossing the last glade before entering the forest,
Meriko, who was walking on in front with the bullocks, pointed suddenly
to the left, and called out something that I did not understand; he was
evidently rather excited, and both I and Theunissen, who was sitting
with me on the box, were curious to know what had disturbed him. He
soon managed to make us comprehend that he had caught sight of two
ostriches about 250 yards from the road, and, on looking again, I saw
one of them standing near a high bush. Although I was quite aware
that, as matter of right, they really belonged to the king of the
Bamangwatos, my sportsman’s instinct was far too keen to permit me
to go my way without having a chase; accordingly, a very few minutes
elapsed before I was stalking them in the grass. Almost directly I
discovered the second ostrich, which I had not seen before, squatting
on the ground and peeping at me; it did not wait long before it took
to running off, but an intervening bush prevented my getting a proper
aim at it. I followed on to the more open plain, and just as the two
birds together were entering the underwood about 400 yards in front of
me, I fired; but my bullet struck a tree, quite close to them, without
touching them. Meriko had the laugh of me; he could not refrain from
expressing his satisfaction that the property of his liege lord had
been uninjured, and pledged himself to report the circumstance to the
king on his return to Shoshong.
The bullocks had not a drop of water all day long. It was consequently
of the most urgent importance that we should get on to the next spring,
and we agreed that there was no alternative but to travel on all night,
if need be, in defiance of the difficulties we might encounter. Niger,
unbidden, took the lead, followed by Pit carrying a breech-loader;
Meriko led the foremost oxen by the bridle, which he held in his left
hand, whilst he held up a flaming torch in the other; Theunissen took
the reins, and I sat on the box with one loaded gun in my hand, and
another behind me ready to be used in any emergency. By eleven o’clock,
however, we reached some springs; they proved to be the most southerly
of those known to the neighbouring Madenassanas as the Klamaklenyana
springs, and here we came across several elephant-hunters whom I had
seen before, some of them a few weeks previously, and others at the
Soa lake. They were all full of complaints at the bad luck they had
experienced.
As implied by their name “four, one behind another,” the Klamaklenyana
springs consist of four separate marshy pieces of water, between which,
on either hand, are numerous rain-pools, full at various periods of
the year. Close to the spring by which we were halting there was a
waggon-track, made by the Dutch hunters, which branched off towards
the Mababi-veldt.
At this place, too, I fell in with one of Anderson’s servants, named
Saul; he was travelling with a Makalahari who had four children, whom
he had met at the Nataspruit and invited to join him; he told me he was
sure that his master would not disapprove of what he had done, as the
man would be very serviceable to him in helping to hunt ostriches.
“Hunt ostriches!” I exclaimed; “how can such a bad shot as you hunt
ostriches?”
“Ah, sir,” he answered, “I manage to get at them well enough.”
“How so?” I inquired.
“Well, I always take a man with me, and we look about till we discover
a nest, and then we dig a hole pretty close to it in which I hide
myself. The birds come to sit, and it doesn’t want a very good shot to
knock over an ostrich when it is just at hand. Well, having made sure
of one bird, we stick up its skin on a pole near the nest, and except
we are seen, and so scare the birds away, a second ostrich is soon
decoyed, and I get another chance. In this way I succeed very well;
besides, I get lots of eggs.”
Whilst at the springs I learnt the meaning of some of the Masarwa and
Bamangwato appellations. I might give numerous examples, but one or two
will suffice. I found, for instance, that Khori, the district on the
side arm of the Shaneng, means “a bustard,” and that Mokhotsi means “a
strong current.”
On leaving our encampment on the 10th we had to travel for two
hours through the sandy underwood to the next of the Klamaklenyana
springs. Here I met an elephant-hunter named Mayer and a Dutchman,
Mynheer Herbst, and only a little further on at another watering-place
I fell in with a second Dutchman called Jakobs, and Mr. Kurtin, an
ivory-trader. Mr. Kurtin told me that on previous expeditions into
this neighbourhood he had lost no fewer than sixty-six oxen through
the poisonous plant that I have mentioned. Jakobs entertained us
with the accounts of his hunting-expeditions, and particularly with
some adventures of the famous Pit Jacobs. Mayer and Herbst were in
partnership, and had recently had the satisfaction of shooting a fine
female elephant; they had just engaged the services of some Makalakas,
who a few days previously had offered themselves to me, but so bad
was my opinion of all that branch of the Bantus, and so evil was the
appearance of the men themselves, that not only would I have nothing to
do with them, but recommended their new employers to get rid of them at
once. To their cost, however, they acted without regard to my advice.
When I met Mayer some seven months later, he told me that they had
robbed him freely and had then run away.
It was about this time that I made my first acquaintance with the
Madenassanas, the serfs of the Bamangwatos. They are a fine race, tall
and strongly built, especially the men, but with a repulsive cast of
countenance, so that it was somewhat surprising to find from time to
time some nice-looking faces among the women. Their skin is almost
black, and they have stiff woolly hair which hangs down for more than
an inch over their forehead and temples, whilst it is quite short all
over the skull.
Whenever a Bamangwato makes his expedition to the pool plateau, his
first proceeding is to look up some Madenassanas whom he may compel
to go hunting with him and assist him in procuring ivory, whether for
himself or for the king; but their residences are generally in such
secluded and remote places, that it is often very difficult to find
them, unless conducted by some of the Madenassanas themselves. The
eldest inhabitant in each little settlement is regarded as a sort
of inferior chief, so that it is best for any white man, in want of
Madenassana help, to make direct application to him. If hired only for
a short period, they are sufficiently paid by three or four pounds of
beads, or by a few articles of woollen clothing; but if the engagement
should extend to anything like six months the remuneration generally
expected would be a musket.
Unlike many of the Bantu races, the Madenassanas respect the law of
marriage, which is performed with very simple rites; conjugal fidelity
is held in the highest esteem, but jealousy, I was told, which rarely
shows itself very prominently amongst other tribes, often impels them
to serious crimes. They were uniformly spoken of as a very contented
people, and certainly they make far better servants than either the
Masarwas or Makalaharis. Dwelling as they do, in the north-west
corner of the kingdom, far away from Shoshong, their relations with
the Bamangwatos are much less servile than those of the Masarwas, who
are found all over the country. They have guns of their own, and are
visited only once a year by officials sent by the king to collect
their tribute, and to appoint them their share of hunting-work.
The Makalakas (of whom I had so low an opinion) were moving about in
large numbers between the Nata and Zambesi in 1875 and 1876; they were
chiefly fugitives from Shoshong, having been expelled thence by the
inhabitants, who were infuriated by their treachery.
When we reached the third spring we found that Jakobs and Kurtin had
already settled there before us. Another trader, whom I may distinguish
as X., arrived after us on the same day; he had visited Sepopo, the
king of the Marutse-land, whither I was directing my course, and he
gave me an introduction to a friend of his, whom I should be sure to
meet further north on the Panda ma Tenka. I asked him to convey two
of my cases of curiosities to Shoshong, but although he promised to
deliver them, I am sorry to record that I never heard any more about
them. In exchange for 800 lbs. of ivory, Mr. Kurtin sold him two
cream-coloured horses, one of which I had myself cured of an illness
in Shoshong; the ivory that X. was conveying in two waggons did not
weigh less than 7000 lbs., of which 5000 lbs. had been obtained from
Sepopo, the rest having been procured by his own people during their
excursions on the southern shore of the Zambesi, between the Victoria
Falls and the mouth of the Chobe. He warned me that there was great
risk of getting fever on the Zambesi, and that in the district ahead of
us there was great scarcity of water. In return for some medicines with
which I supplied him, he very courteously sent me a good portion of a
cow that he had just killed.
After starting in the afternoon west by north towards the most
northerly of the Klamaklenyana springs, we had to pass through a part
of the forest, where we saw some fine camel-thorn acacias and mimosas;
also some trees like maples, some mochononos, and bushes of fan-palms.
The scenery remained very much of the same character all through the
next morning’s march, until we reached the spring in time for our
midday halt. Between the first and the last of the four springs, I
counted twenty-five depressions in the ground that are all full of
water after heavy rain.
As we came along, I made several little détours into the woods, and saw
buffaloes, striped gnus, Zulu-hartebeests and zebras, and noticed that
lion-tracks were by no means wanting. At a point near the spring, where
a trader’s road brings them out from the western Matabele, I met three
hunters, named Barber, Frank, and Wilkinson. Barber’s skill as a hunter
was notorious; he had a mother who was not only a keen observer of
animal life, but was so gifted with artistic power of delineating what
she saw, that she had published several little works on the subject.
Barber likewise showed me his own sketch-book, in which he had made
some very clever illustrations of his hunting-adventures.
We went a few miles further before we stopped for the night. Some of
the trees that we passed next morning were of remarkably well-developed
growth, several of the trunks being sixty feet in height; they belonged
to a species called wild syringa by the Dutch, and “motsha” by the
Bamangwatos; there is another sort quite as common, which they call
“monati.” Near the groves I observed a great many orchids with red
blossoms.
About noon we came to a slight hollow, containing a pond known as
Yoruah, where we again fell in with our hunting acquaintances. X. had
advised them to make it their headquarters for a time, because he had
himself been extremely fortunate in killing elephants there during his
own stay. There were traces from which it was clear that a herd had
passed along quite recently, and it was hoped that they might soon
return again. Not wishing that my dogs should cause the hunting-party
any annoyance, I pushed on at once without stopping, and reached the
Tamafopa, or Skeleton-springs, in good time next day.
Here I made up my mind to stay for a few days, and taking the waggon
about half a mile into the forest, fixed upon a station close to some
rain-pools that were generally more or less full of water throughout
the year; one of my principal objects for this rest was that I might
try and get a skin of the sword-antelope, the finest of all the South
African species.
Taking a stroll westwards I saw some steinbocks, and observing
countless tracks of animals of all sorts, I could not doubt but that
the whole district was teeming with life, and accordingly I came to the
conclusion that I would spend another night of observation in the open
air; even if I failed to accomplish my end with regard to the skin of
which I was in quest, I might at least reckon upon being entertained.
Instead of going alone as I did before, I resolved this time to take
Pit with me, and in reply to my question whether he thought he would
be able to keep awake, he told me he had not the least doubt on that
point.
About an hour or two before sunset I saw that a thoroughly good
enclosure was made round the waggon, and Theunissen undertook to keep
a good look-out against lions. I and Pit then made our way towards the
spot which I had already selected in a forest glade about 500 yards
in circumference, partially overgrown with grass, and about ten feet
above the level of the woods; in the centre was a small rain-pool that
had been full of water some months back, but was now much covered
with weeds, and nearly empty. Near the edge of the glade stood a fine
hardekool-tree, and about fifteen yards from this was an _Acacia
detinens_ thirty feet high, of which the branches drooped nearly to
the ground, and partly sheltered and partly supported a great ant-hill
at its side. Altogether the place seemed well adapted for my purpose.
The first thing I made Pit do was to collect some of the branches
of the trees, to make a sort of breastwork about two feet high; we
reserved an open space of eight feet or more of bare plain between
ourselves and the tall grass; and then we carefully examined our guns
and put them in perfect readiness for use. The sun was now sinking, and
all the birds had gone to roost except a few glossy starlings that kept
twittering around the nests which they occupy all through the year.
Pit offered a piece of advice which I thought it advisable to follow,
and we left our retreat before it was absolutely dark to fetch some
branches of acacia to throw over the enclosure as a light covering,
and while we were doing this the howling of the jackals at no great
distance made us aware that the hour was at hand when the deer would be
on the move to drink, and when the beasts of prey would set forth for
their nightly prowl.
Taking his usual posture, Pit half lay down, while I, for my part,
preferred a squatting position as being the least uncomfortable for a
long period of watching. For a little while we kept up a conversation
in an undertone, but soon afterwards I suggested that it might be
better if we were quite quiet. Half an hour or more might have elapsed
when I heard a peculiar sound that induced me to rise cautiously and
listen; for a moment or two I was puzzled, but hardly knew whether to
be more amused or disgusted to find that the noise had no other origin
than the open countenance of my slumbering servant. The poke that I
gave him was not particularly gentle. At first he seemed inclined to
be aggrieved, but immediately recollected himself, and apologizing for
falling asleep, promised now to keep wide awake. I knew his propensity
too well to have much confidence in his vigilant intentions, but I
really was surprised to find after how brief an interval he had begun
to snore again as loud as ever.
Shortly before ten o’clock the moon had risen so high that the whole
glade was illuminated by the beams. I was getting somewhat weary of
Pit’s music, when my ear caught a distant sound like the trotting
of a number of horses. I could see to a considerable distance, and
after about a quarter of an hour I found, as I conjectured might be
the case, that the noise proceeded from a herd of zebras advancing
towards the glade. Looking through the opening between the mimosa
and the ant-hill I could make out all their movements. They came on
with the utmost caution. They pricked up their ears and stopped at
almost every second step, standing awhile as motionless as if carved
in stone. Two of the herd were in front; the rest followed at a little
distance. I hardly knew whether to fire at once, or to wake up Pit to
help me if necessary, but while I was debating in my mind the fellow
gave such a tremendous snore that he woke himself; hearing me call, he
started up so suddenly that he pulled down the whole of our canopy of
acacia boughs, and made such a commotion that the whole of the zebras
scampered off without my getting another fair chance of a shot.
My incorrigible man was not long in falling asleep for the third time.
Midnight had now passed without any further signs of sport, and it was
past one when I fancied that I could hear, although a long way off, the
lowing of buffaloes. The sound appeared to come gradually nearer, but
after coming almost close it receded again, making me suppose that the
herd had got scent of us and had altered their course. It was hardly
worth the trouble I took to tell Pit about their movements, as he only
groaned in reply and rolled himself over on to his other side.
After this I confess I began to feel somewhat drowsy myself. Yielding
to fatigue I fell into a doze, from which I was aroused by what struck
me as the rustling of a coming storm. I listened for quite twenty
minutes, making out nothing beyond the fact that the noise came from
one of the neighbouring pools; after a while, however, I found out
that the shrill trumpet-like splash and roar proceeded from a herd of
elephants that were enjoying themselves in the water. To rouse Pit
was now indispensable. It was no easy matter to make him aware of his
position; he muttered something about my wrapping myself up because the
wind was blowing and it was cold. This time, however, I was not to be
put off, and by giving him a good shaking I brought him to his feet.
My own desire was to leave our shelter and go and set light to two
patches of dry grass that I recollected were close at hand. It was a
proceeding that I imagined would have the effect of putting the brutes
into a high state of alarm, and would bring about a romantic scene
such as is rarely witnessed even in the heart of Africa. Pit, however,
could not be induced to view the proposal with any favour; he insisted
upon what indeed was quite true, that to accomplish what we intended,
we should have to cross a great number of the lion-tracks that we knew
were there, and that every step would leave us liable to attack before
we could be aware of it. As no representations on my part could stir
him, and as the moon had set, and it was very dark, I came to the
conclusion that perhaps after all discretion was the better part of
valour, and yielded my own wish to his. We both of us watched for a
long time, but experiencing nothing to keep our interest alive, we at
length, one after the other, began to doze again.
I am certain that I had been asleep for a very short time when I was
brought to consciousness by a sound that ever makes one oblivious of
any other; the roar of a lion was distinctly followed by the low growl
of a lioness, both unquestionably within thirty yards of where I was
lounging. My hands were benumbed with cold; it was darker than it had
been all night, but I rose and dropped upon my knee prepared to fire,
having a most uncomfortable consciousness that in all likelihood the
animals had been watching us for some time.
[Illustration: “PIT, ARE YOU ASLEEP?”]
It did not now require much effort on my part to wake my servant. At
the first recognition of the lion’s roar Pit was on his feet in a
second. Standing bolt upright, he laid his hands upon the drooping
boughs of the mimosa; his hint was worth taking; to escape the spring
of the beasts of prey which were only too probably close upon us, we
should not lose an instant in climbing up into the tree; the difficulty
was how to get there. I had a flat Scotch cap on my head, a pair of
long boots, and an overcoat that reached my knees. To pull off my
coat and make it a protection for my face was the work of an instant.
Pit pushed me up from behind; then he handed me my gun. In my turn
I lent him a helping hand up, and as if by magic we found ourselves
elevated in the tree, and at least temporarily safe. Our height from
the ground was not more than ten feet, but the night continued so dark,
and the grass was so high that it was impossible to make out where it
would be of any avail to fire. Until it was nearly morning the lions
continued to prowl round about, but when dawn appeared they had made
off in the same direction as the buffaloes. We afterwards went to
examine the pool; there were no longer any signs either of buffaloes
or elephants, except the footprints that plainly showed that at least
thirty elephants with their cubs had been there during the night. From
Theunissen I learnt that a lion and lioness, no doubt the same, had
been heard growling within a stone’s throw of the waggon.
After breakfast next day I set out with Pit to follow up the elephants;
finding, however, from the condition of the tracks, that they must
have had several miles start, I considered that it would be of no use
to persevere in the pursuit. The fact, however, of my having been so
close to the elephants the previous night stirred up my eagerness,
and although I had quite intended to leave Tamafopa that day, I made
up my mind to lie in wait a night by myself as near as I could to the
pool in which I had heard them disporting themselves. After a good
examination of the place I chose a fine hardekool-tree, nearly fifty
feet high, from which to keep my look-out, but the lowest branch of
it was so much above the ground, that Pit and Meriko had to hoist me
up with some strips of oxhide. Once mounted, I was quite satisfied
with the position, as it commanded a complete view of the pond. The
night was clear and bright, but decidedly wintry, and after a time I
felt the cold very severely. It was verging towards midnight, when my
hopes were raised by the sound of the tramp which made me sure that a
herd of elephants was approaching; my best anticipations, however, had
hardly been excited before they were doomed to disappointment, for the
noise of the elephants was followed immediately by the crack of a huge
African bullock-whip. The waggon of the hunters came nearer, but the
herd had turned off into the bushes, and was before long quite out of
hearing. I afterwards heard that it was Kurtin, on his way to meet his
brother in the Panda ma Tenka valley, who had thus unwittingly spoiled
my night’s entertainment.
My sport on the 17th consisted chiefly in an attempt to dig out an
ant-eater. On the night of the 18th we killed a couple of jackals.
After passing laboriously over great tracts of sand we arrived at the
pools at Tamasetze, where we stayed for a night; a very keen wind was
blowing down the glade in which the pools were situated, but I fancied
I might get the chance I wanted to secure a sword-antelope. I had the
waggon removed to the most sheltered place we could find. We were
awakened shortly after midnight by a loud cry from Meriko, who had
discovered a snake nestling against his legs; the reptile tried to
escape, but he mutilated it so terribly that its skin was useless for
my collection.
After my recent exertions and nights without sleep, I was not feeling
at all well, and was very glad to get as close as I could to the fire.
I was occupying myself with my diary when Theunissen, speaking very
gently, told me to look behind me; on turning round, I found that I
had been sitting with a puff-adder close to my feet, probably enjoying
the warmth of the fire as much as myself. This time we were much more
cautious in our proceedings, and I was very pleased to be able to
enrich my collection with a singularly fine specimen.
CHAPTER V.
FROM TAMASETZE TO THE CHOBE.
Henry’s Pan--Hardships of elephant-hunting--Elephants’
holes--Arrival in the Panda ma Tenka valley--Mr.
Westbeech’s depôt--South African lions--Their mode of
attack--Blockley--Schneeman’s Pan--Wild honey--The Leshumo
valley--Trees damaged by elephants--On the bank of the Chobe.
[Illustration]
Leaving our encampment in the Tamasetze wood early on the morning
of July 20th, we proceeded northwards across the grassy hollow. In
the afternoon we were overtaken by a Dutch boy on horseback, very
miserably clad. He was not more than fourteen years of age, and in
reply to my question whither he was going, he told me that his father,
who lived in a hut near the next pool, had sent him to take a waggon,
and two negroes to attend to it, all the way to the Makalaka country,
to barter beads and calico for kaffir-corn.
We arrived next day at the pool of which the lad had spoken. It was
called Henry’s Pan, after the name of a hunter’s servant who had killed
a giraffe there. I found three Boer families settled at the place, as
well as three Dutch hunters, Schmitt and the two brothers Lotriet. For
the last month Schmitt had been living in a grass-hut, and had killed
a sword-antelope on the day before our arrival. His narratives of
hunting-excursions were most interesting.
One of the Henry’s Pan people had a cancer in his lower jaw, and both
the Lotriet families--one a party of three, and the other of nine--were
suffering from fever. Their huts, wretched structures of dry branches
and grass, were quite inadequate to protect them either from sun or
rain, and as they lay upon the ground, their condition seemed pitiable
in the extreme. They attributed all their hardships to a trader who
had unscrupulously enticed them into the district, and wiped his hands
of them almost directly afterwards. The account they gave was entirely
substantiated by six hunters of whom I subsequently made inquiries; and
so convinced was I that the facts ought to be circulated as a warning
to others, that I sent the story of the Lotriets to the _Diamond
News_, in which it was inserted under the title of “Dark Deeds.” I
am in possession of other narratives of a similar character, which I
am reserving for future publication.
So violent had been the fever that one or two of the Lotriets were
really dangerously ill, the condition of the whole family being
seriously aggravated by the want of clothing and proper medicines. I
supplied them with what covering I could, and prescribed for their
malady, in return receiving from them a tusk weighing nearly eight
pounds, about equivalent in value to the quinine which I had given.
Three days previously they had had to part with quite as much ivory for
about six ounces of castor-oil.
I made an excursion in which I had the opportunity of getting very
near to some koodoo-antelopes, but unfortunately I lost my way in the
forest, and did not get back until it was quite late.
In another ramble I came upon a number of holes that had been dug
out by elephants, most of them being more than a foot deep, some as
much as eighteen inches. Having scented out their favourite roots and
tubers, they go down on their knees and use their tusks to make the
excavations, and as the soil is often very stony, and the slopes full
of rock, the tusks are apt to get very much worn. Sometimes the result
of the attrition is so considerable that a difference of four pounds is
caused in their weight.
We left Henry’s Pan on the 26th. Water again failed us on our route,
and we were obliged to resume a system of forced marches. For some days
our road lay through a very monotonous sandy forest. The trees were not
generally remarkable, but we noticed one giant baobab, that just above
the ground had a circumference of twenty-eight feet ten inches. The
variety of birds was very great; birds of prey were represented by the
buzzard and the dwarf owl; singing birds by pyrols of two kinds and
fly-catchers, the males distinguished by their long tails; the smaller
songsters being even more numerous than in places where the vegetation
was more luxuriant and diversified. Shrikes were especially numerous,
particularly a large kind with a red throat and breast, frequenting low
thick bushes. Yellow-beaked hornbills were not uncommon, neither were
small-tailed widow-birds, hoopoes, and bee-eaters. I likewise contrived
to collect a good many plants, and some varieties of seeds, fruits, and
funguses.
A wooded ascent brought us to a plain of tall grass, enclosed on two
sides by the forest. Everything about us, animal and vegetable, seemed
more and more to partake of a tropical character. I was much struck
by the peculiar way in which some of the leguminous trees shed their
seeds, the heat of the sun causing the pods to burst with a loud
explosion, and to cast the seed to a considerable distance all about.
The air was full of myriads of tiny bees, that crept into our clothes,
hair, and ears, and made our noses tingle to our great discomfort.
Since leaving the Nata we had been making a continuous ascent, and
it seemed that we had now reached the highest point of the plateau.
Some of the low hills that we passed contained traces of melaphyr
and quartzite; and the soil generally was so stony, that although
the baobab throve very fairly, all other trees and shrubs were of
singularly stunted growth.
It was on the evening of the 30th that we had the satisfaction of
resting our eyes upon the first affluent of the Zambesi, the Deykah.
It was nothing more than a little brook, rising close to the spot
where we encamped; but it contained some pools of which the water was
deep enough to invite us to a bath, had we not been deterred by a
prudent consideration of the crocodiles that were said to lurk there.
In the adjacent glades the grass had been burnt down; indeed, there
were some places where bushes were still smouldering, the fire having
unquestionably been kindled by the ostrich-hunters, according to their
wont.
The best part of the next day was taken up in crossing a number of
valleys the drainage of which flowed into the Deykah, and in going over
the intervening hills, some of which were rocky, and others equally
sandy; but before daylight failed us we reached the valley of the
Panda ma Tenka, a small river, that after flowing first north and then
north-west, and taking up various spruits on its way, finally joins
the Zambesi below the Victoria Falls. Since the English traders have
opened traffic with the natives the place has been a kind of rendezvous
alike for them and for the elephant-hunters, and we found several
waggons quartered on the left bank. A depôt, consisting of an enclosed
courtyard containing a hut and a square magazine, has been built on the
spot by Mr. Westbeech, the Zambesi merchant, who resides there himself
during a certain portion of the year, and during his absence leaves his
business to be transacted by his agents Blockley and Bradshaw. After
he has disposed of his ivory in the diamond-fields, he returns with
fresh goods, and makes this his starting-point for his expeditions to
Sesheke and along the Zambesi.
I found Mr. Blockley at the depôt. I also learnt that one of the
waggons belonged to Mr. Anderson, who was very pleased to see me again.
Noticing at once the great height of the fences round the enclosures, I
was informed that the precaution was indispensable, because “lions ran
about like dogs,” the roads everywhere being covered with their tracks.
I am inclined to divide the South African lions into three species;
first, the common full-maned lion that is found in Barbary; secondly,
the maneless lion; and thirdly, the kind called “krachtmanetye” by
the Dutch, distinguished by its short light hair, and by a mane that
never reaches below the shoulder. I do not consider the “bondpoote” of
the Dutch to be a distinct species, inasmuch as its dark spots are a
characteristic of the full-maned lion, and disappear as it advances in
age.
The full-maned lions of the northern part of the continent are very
rarely to be seen in South Africa. The maneless lions used to be common
on the Molapo, and are still to be found in the valley of the central
Zambesi and on the lower Chobe, their colour being extremely light; but
the most common are those of the short-maned species. They haunt the
valley of the Limpopo from the mouth of the Notuany downwards, to the
exclusion for the most part of every other kind. It is said that they
are especially dangerous between the ages of two and four years.
Ordinarily the South African lion is a most cautious beast. It might
almost be supposed that he calculates the chances of every conflict,
very rarely returning to any encounter in which he has once been
worsted. His usual tactics are to try to intimidate before he attacks;
he will either approach with a tremendous roar, or advance with
head erect gnashing his teeth; or sometimes he will dash along in a
succession of long bounds; or again he will trot up briskly, uttering
savage growls. But whichever mode of aggression he may choose, he
never fails to keep his eye steadily fixed upon his intended victim. A
perfect immovability is the best defence. The least sign of quailing
is fatal; and the smallest movement will often infuriate a lion,
especially a young lion, and invite an immediate attack. Cases are
not unknown, but are comparatively rare, and generally confined to
old and experienced lions, when they make their assaults without any
of the preliminary devices that I have mentioned. Perhaps most of
the instances of this kind would be when the beasts are absolutely
suffering from hunger, or when they are exasperated after a chase, or
when a lioness is guarding her whelps. It is of great advantage to a
hunter, particularly to a novice in the pursuit, to see a lion before
the lion sees him, even though it be for ever so short an interval. The
most experienced hunter is only too likely to lose his composure if
one of the giants of the forest is found face to face with him before
he has time to prepare his weapon. No more unfortunate plight can be
imagined, than that of a naturalist or a botanist engrossed in his
studies, and suddenly disturbed by the growl of a lion close beside
him. Natives seated round their fire may perhaps hope to escape, but
for the solitary individual in the depths of the wood, there can be no
reprieve.
[Illustration: NOCTURNAL ATTACK BY LION.]
In districts where they are much hunted, and where they have
consequently become familiar with the sound of fire-arms, as well as
in parts where there is hardly any game of the kind for which they
care, lions are much more dangerous than in places where their food is
plentiful, and where human footsteps rarely penetrate. Most notorious
for their audacity are those which haunt the banks of the Maressana and
Setlagole rivers, and those that are found in the Matabele country.
Except perhaps the fox, no animal surpasses them in the craftiness with
which they set themselves to secure their prey. Sometimes a group of
them institutes a sort of _battue_. A few of them creep up and
exhibit themselves to the victims they want to catch, thus scaring them
back into the very clutch of the main body that lurks behind ready to
receive them. Instinct prompts them to adopt this line of proceeding
with animals whose speed is too rapid for them to overtake in open
pursuit, and with such as are tall and can overlook their movements
in the long grass. Horses, zebras, and giraffes, and any animals with
solid hoofs form the favourite prey of all lions.
On the day after my arrival at Panda ma Tenka, Blockley invited
Anderson and me to sup with him on buffalo-meat and pickled cod,
prepared in London by Morton and Co. He told me that Mr. Westbeech had
heard of my arrival from Mr. Mackenzie nine months ago, and that he had
reported it to King Sepopo, who had willingly granted me permission to
pay him a visit, adding that he was pleased to understand that I did
not intend injuring his elephants. He said, moreover, that I should be
in every way as welcome as Monari--that being the name by which Dr.
Livingstone was known in the Marutse district. Blockley had himself
spent several months at the royal residence, and had also, at the
king’s invitation, once gone out to the relief of Westbeech, having
taken a waggon with the greatest difficulty as far as the Barotse
valley. I subsequently travelled with him, and much enjoyed his genial
company.
During our stay here, I fell in with a number of Bakuenas, under the
conduct of one of their princes, on their way to take Sepopo an old
mare as a present from Sechele. They recognized me immediately, but I
had not retained any recollection of them.
It happened that Blockley was on the point of starting to visit Sepopo,
and I proposed to accompany him. I made arrangements for Theunissen
to stay behind in charge of the waggon, gave stringent directions to
Meriko to look after the bullocks, and decided to take Pit with me. At
this time bullocks were fetching a good price; and I disposed of three
of mine, because I found it requisite to get some ivory to replace
my stock of ready money, that was all but exhausted. I likewise sold
one of my breech-loaders to Mr. Blockley, and spent the proceeds in
replenishing our supply of tea, sugar, coffee, and other articles of
regular consumption. Mr. Westbeech had commenced doing business with
Sepopo four years back, and it was through his influence with the king
that the Marutse domains had been thrown open to other merchants. He
had the advantage of being able to speak with perfect fluency the three
native languages--the Sesuto, the Setebele, and the Sechuana.
We started on the 3rd of August. Blockley took a whole waggonful of
wares, which he hoped the king would purchase. The vehicle would be
left about nine miles from the mouth of the Chobe, and the goods
carried by bearers to the Zambesi, along which they would be conveyed
in boats to the new residence of the Marutse-Mabunda sovereign.
For the first few miles our road lay along some interesting hill
country, intersected by a number of spruits flowing east and
north-east into the Panda ma Tenka; the higher parts were rocky, and
generally covered with trees. Overhanging one of the streams was an
immense baobab, close to which was said to be the resort of a lion, a
dark-maned brute, which had sorely harassed the neighbourhood by its
depredations.
In the evening we halted facing a wooded ridge, which would have to
be crossed at night, on account of the tsetse-fly with which it was
infested. We here met a half-caste, named “Africa,” who had been
hunting ostriches twenty miles further on, and who was on his way to
Panda ma Tenka, for the purpose of making some purchases of Blockley.
Blockley accordingly had to return with him, but he gave his people
instructions to proceed on their way for about thirty miles more, and
then to wait for him to overtake them again. Africa had seen some of
Sepopo’s people on the Chobe, and they had informed him that the king
had been very much annoyed by the bad behaviour in his house of the
Bakuena prince who had been sent with Sechele’s present.
Several times we heard the roaring of a lion, and so near to us did it
seem at the time of our halting, that we not only made up unusually
large fires, but took care to keep our guns ready for immediate
service. The night was dark, and we could scarcely see ten yards in
front of us, but shortly after two o’clock we ventured to start,
and got safely through the wood without any inconvenience from the
tsetse-fly, finding ourselves at dawn on the plain called the Gashuma
Flat. It contained a good many pools, most of them moderately deep,
frequented by water-birds. Altogether I have now crossed this plain
three times, and never without noticing an abundance of game, but this
time I saw zebras, Zulu-hartebeests, and harrisbocks, and, what I had
never seen before, an orbeki gazelle. Continuing our journey, we came
after a while to another plain, of which, like the last, the soil is so
rich as to be quite impassable in the rainy season. Our next halt was
near a wood, at a rain-pool called Saddler’s Pan.
After altering our course from north to north-west we came in the
course of the following day to a dried up rain-pool, with a number of
fan-palms adorning its banks. Westbeech subsequently told me that many
most elegant trees of this kind had been felled by hunters and traders
on the Gashuma Flat out of pure wantonness.
That evening we reached Schneeman’s Pan, a rain-pool at which Blockley
had appointed that we should wait for him. I amused myself by making
some inquiries about the Manansas who were in the place, ascertaining
some particulars about their manners and customs, and picking up a
few fragments of their language. Most of my information was obtained
from one of them who had been taken south by a trader, and who had now
hired himself to a farmer here, where he had taken the opportunity of
learning Dutch, and by his help I made a list of 305 words and phrases
in the dialect of the Manansas or Manandshas. The hunters nickname them
Mashapatan.
One day after partaking of some round red-shelled beans I had some
very decided symptoms of colic, and discovered that the colouring
matter in the shells was injurious, and that the first water in which
they were boiled ought to be thrown away; it was always quite violet.
The natives, as I afterwards learnt, are particular to observe this
precaution.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ ELEPHANT HUNTING. _Page 107._]
During our stay some of the Manansas brought us a lot of suet, which
they wanted us to buy. Whenever a well-fed eland is killed the
suet is all melted down in a clay vessel, and preserved in small bags
made of the platoides of the animal. Others brought a quantity of
greenish-brown honey with an acid flavour, a mild aperient, having
quite a stupifying effect when eaten freely. The bees from which it
is procured are very small, and are without stings; and from the
description which was given of them, I should imagine that they are
identical in species with those that I saw in the north of the sandy
forest.
Blockley, with two servants, returned in good time on the 8th, and we
lost no time in proceeding on our way, in order to get through another
district of the tsetse-wood during the night. In due time we reached
the upper Leshumo valley, a narrow strip of land bordered by sandy
heights, in which the waggon was to be left behind; the oxen were taken
out, and were driven back to Schneeman’s Pan as quickly as possible, so
as to be clear of the troublesome insects before daybreak.
A messenger was hence despatched to Impalera, a village on the other
side of the Chobe, requesting Makumba, the chief of the Masupias, a
subject tribe to the Marutse, to send a sufficient number of bearers to
carry the merchandise to the Zambesi. Meanwhile we went a little way
down the valley, which we found both marshy and rocky, with a number of
springbocks continually darting out of the grass in one spot, to take
refuge in another lower down.
On a slope which we reached in the course of the next hour, we noticed
an immense number of elephant tracks, showing beyond a doubt that an
enormous herd had passed that way during the previous night. The
separate footprints were not more than an inch deep in the sand,
but they extended over an area twenty yards or more wide. From the
profusion of stems, boughs, and bushes with which the ground was
littered, it was evident that they had rushed along with furious
impetuosity; the stems in some instances were as thick as my arm, and
trees of double the size had been snapped off, except as far as they
were kept from falling by a strip of bark; several of the larger trunks
had been broken off with such violence, that the remaining stump was
left cleft open to the very root; many of the branches, too, had been
torn away with tremendous force, and long shreds of the ragged bark
hung waving in the air.
Some fine mimosas afforded a delicious shade, their crowns being too
leafy for the sunshine to penetrate; and as we left the depression in
which they were growing, we found that the soil became more and more
level, till all at once it suddenly sloped down again into the valleys
of the Chobe and the Zambesi.
Here was the realization of the vision of my youth! Here I was actually
gazing on the stream that had mingled itself with my boyish dreams!
Never shall I forget the panorama that then broke upon my view, nor the
emotion with which I gazed on the valley beneath me.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ ELEPHANTS ON THE MARCH.
_Page 108._]
It took me a few minutes to collect my thoughts. The valley in front
stretched away three miles to the right, being bounded on the left by
a plain that seemed absolutely unlimited. On the side on which I stood
it was overhung by wooded rocks. In the middle of it were two islands,
formed by the imperfect junction of the two rivers, parting again
to meet finally further on. The eastern, or “Prager” island, was flat
and small, being only a few hundred yards in breadth, and still less
in length; the other was nearly six miles long, varying from two to
three miles wide; it had several wooded hills, one peak of which rose
conspicuously by itself upon the east, considerably above any of the
contiguous heights. Just below this was Impalera, the town of Makumba,
and, as it were, the southern “watch-tower” of the Marutse kingdom.
In front of Impalera, and about four miles from me, the Chobe was
gleaming beautifully. It was there about 300 yards wide, and bordered
with reeds.
The hills on the island are detached portions of the long ridge that
makes the rocks and rapids of the Chobe, and which runs along further
north so as again to form the rocks and rapids of the Zambesi on a
larger scale, whence it is continued till finally it joins the rocky
declivity of the plateau beyond the river at the Victoria Falls.
Towards the west the valley was bounded only by the blue line of the
horizon.
I gazed long with the intensest interest. There--yes, there, only just
beyond that single expanse of reed-thickets--there, lighted up by the
rich and gorgeous red of the setting sun--_there_ was the land
which from my early childhood it had been my ambition to explore!
CHAPTER VI.
IN THE VALLEYS OF THE CHOBE AND THE ZAMBESI.
Vegetation in the valley of the Chobe--Notification
of my arrival--Scenery by the rapids--A party of
Masupias--My mulekow--Matabele raids upon Sekeletu’s
territory--Gourd-shells--Masupia graves--Animal life on the
Chobe--Masupia huts--Englishmen in Impalera--Makumba--My
first boat-journey on the Zambesi--Animal life in the
reed-thickets--Blockley’s kraal--Hippopotamuses--Old Sesheke.
[Illustration: BOATING ON THE ZAMBESI.]
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ IMPALERA. _Page 111._]
Towards its mouth the valley of the Chobe varies from half a mile to
three miles in breadth, and the valley of the Zambesi under the
hills above the Victoria Falls has very much the same character. Except
in places where the rocky spurs abut directly on to the stream, the
shores of both rivers are sandy, corresponding with those of the Zooga
and most of the feeders of the highland basin of central South Africa;
the rocks which I have described above the confluence of the stream,
being chiefly the declivities of a sandy plateau. Down the Chobe, and
throughout the district in that direction, we found the vegetation
luxuriant and quite tropical in its character, but upstream, so far as
I went, this feature seemed to be less marked. Upon entering the valley
a stranger can hardly fail to be struck by the number of strange trees
and bushes, nearly all of them producing fruit that may either be eaten
or used for some domestic purpose. A notable exception to the general
rule is afforded by the moshungulu, a tree of which the fruit, about
two feet long and several inches thick, something like a sausage, is
poisonous. The difference between the vegetation of the Zambesi valley
with its adjacent plateau, and that of the more southern districts,
is manifest from the single circumstance, that throughout the entire
course of the river the natives can subsist all the year round on the
produce of their own trees, as each month brings fruits or its edible
seeds to maturity. Animal life is everywhere abundant; birds, fishes,
snakes, insects, and especially butterflies, being too numerous to be
reckoned. The human race itself may be said to be in a higher state of
development.
Nearly opposite Impalera was a little creek overhung by a fine
moshungulu. Understanding that this was the usual landing-place for
natives coming across the river, I gave orders for a little grass-hut
to be put up there for my use. The Chobe was here between 200 and 300
yards across, and so deep that its water was of quite a dark blue
colour. As I strolled along beside it I saw considerable numbers of a
small water-lily floating on its surface; the species seemed to produce
a very limited quantity of petals. The masses of reeds were beyond a
question the lurking-places of many crocodiles.
Blockley’s people had been at the place several times before, and at
their suggestion I fired off several shots to give the residents of
Impalera notice of my arrival. Before long two men put off in a canoe
and landed on our shore. The canoe was only the stem of a tree hollowed
out with an axe; it was about ten feet long, fourteen inches wide,
and ten inches deep. The men were tall and strongly built, and wore
the primitive vesture of the Bantu family in the most graceful way I
had ever seen, their dark brown skins being set off by their leather
waistbands, to which one of them had attached three small and handsome
skins, and the other some yards of calico, skilfully arranged before
and behind, with the ends gathered round his loins.
On their undertaking to report my arrival to their chief, Makumba, I
gave them each a knife. At the same time one of our party made them
understand that Georosiana Maniniani (i.e. little George), the name
given to Blockley to distinguish him from Westbeech (who, on account
of his size, was known as Georosiana Umutunya, or great George), was
waiting in the Leshumo valley, expecting a number of bearers to convey
the king’s goods to Impalera; also that they were to take down some
corn with them, for which Georosiana Maniniani would give them sipaga,
talama, and sisipa (small beads, large beads, and strips of calico).
All the time we were talking the two men were squatting down on the
ground; but as soon as the Manansa servant had made them comprehend his
instructions they rose, and saying “Autile intate” (we understand you,
friend), proceeded to take leave of me, with the further remark “Camaya
koshi” (we go, sir).
Next morning, in an early walk up the valley, I found a surprising
variety of traces of animals; there were tracks of buffaloes, koodoos,
waterbocks, duykerbocks, orbeki gazelles, jackals, leopards, and lions.
I likewise observed a good many hyæna-tracks, and kept continually
hearing baboons barking on the hills, being induced several times
to send a stray shot among the bushes. Amongst the birds I noticed
two kinds of francolins, the guinea-fowl, the scopus, three kinds of
plovers, saddle-storks (_Mycteria Senegalensis_, Shaw), several
varieties of ducks, a kind of plectropterus, some spurred geese, a
darter, and a kind of cormorant (_Phalacrocorax_).
To me the scenery that was most attractive was just above the rapids,
three miles from our encampment, and about six miles from the mouth of
the river. Here it was quite possible to trace the connexion of the
Chobe with the Zambesi. Natural channels, full of calm flowing water,
opened into the vast expanse of reeds, and the stream spread itself
out over the wide marshy region. The rapids themselves rushed through
a multitude of rocks, of which some were bare, some covered with sand,
some overgrown with sedge, some clothed with trees and brushwood. In
one place where the water had worn itself a way between two of the
rocky islands, I noticed some well-constructed fish-wheels very similar
to those we use in Europe. Birds, especially swamp-birds, were very
numerous, having taken up their quarters both on the rocks and on the
shore. I was confirmed in my conviction that the river was very full of
crocodiles; and at the rapids (which, by the way, I named the Blockley
rapids) I noticed some water-lizards.
Our camp in the evening of the same day was visited by a party of
seventeen Masupias. They were fine-looking men, with their hair
tied up at the top of their heads in little tufts, and adorned with
ornaments of great variety, bunches of the hair of gazelles or other
small animals, pieces of coral, and strings of beads. They also
wore bracelets, mostly of leather, occasionally of ivory. I bought
everything that they had brought with them in the way of assegais,
knives, kaffir-corn and beans, paying them in beads and calico. One
of the men to whom I had given a knife on the previous day brought me
a clay pitcher made by their women and full of butshuala (kaffir-corn
beer); it was an offering on his part, I was given to understand, that
established between us the relationship of “mulekow,” that is to say, I
had henceforth the right to claim anything I liked in his house; it is
a custom of the nation that sometimes results in much that is evil, as
even the women of the household are included in the licence; and when
a few days later I was in Impalera it seemed to excite a good deal of
astonishment that I made no further use of my mulekow privilege than
to ask for fish, beer, corn, and a few insignificant curiosities.
Through “August,” the Manansa servant who acted as interpreter, the
visitors informed me that Makumba, the chief, was now on the farther
side of the Zambesi elephant hunting; and, moreover, that he was not
at liberty to receive me until an answer had been received from Sepopo
authorizing my admission. They even declined on this account to take
any present from myself to Makumba, and when I afterwards saw the
chief, he entered fully into the particulars of the relations of his
people with the monarch of the Marutse.
It was soon very evident that our guests had very little regard for the
law of “meum and tuum,” and we had to keep a very sharp look-out upon
their proceedings throughout their visit.
Next day I received more visits from the Masupias. They were
continually asking the servants, who understood their Makololo dialect,
whether Georosiani Maniniani had any Matabele people with him in the
Leshumo valley, as they were forbidden to permit them to enter the
kingdom, even though they might declare that they had the king’s pass,
and had I myself insisted upon taking any Matabele attendants, it is
quite certain that, like Stanley, I should have had to make my way by
force.
By the Marutse and Mashonas the Matabele are held in just as much
detestation as are the Mohammedan slave-dealers from the east coast
by the natives of Central Africa. Although it is quite possible
that with a party of Matabele servants I might have traversed the
whole continent from south to north, any white man coming after me
would have had to suffer for my exploit. Twice during the reign of
Sekeletu on the central Zambesi the Matabele attempted to carry their
incursions north of the river, but each time they failed. On the first
occasion they crossed the rapids above the Victoria Falls, and got on
to an island planted with manza by the Batokas, a people subject to
Sekeletu, but the water rose and cut off their retreat, leaving them
no means of subsistence except the roots of the manza; the result was
that the whole of them died, for the roots, although wholesome enough
when dried, are poisonous if they are eaten fresh. The second of the
failures occurred to a party of Matabele that was conveyed down the
river by a Masupia, who, having conducted them to an island, declared
he was so weary that he must go away and fetch some of his people to
help him. The Matabele, with a credulity quite unusual to them, allowed
the man to depart, and soon found themselves in a trap. The man did not
turn up any more. They had a hard time of it; they were quite unskilled
in the art of spearing fish; they were afraid on account of the
crocodiles to attempt to swim across the river; they could find nothing
whatever to eat except the fruit of a few fan-palms, and in a short
time their hunger became intense; they were reduced to the emergency
of trying to sustain life by eating their leather sandals, which they
cut up into pieces with their spears, and soaked; but most of them
died, and the rest were easily overpowered by Sekeletu, who sent a few
well-manned canoes from Linyanti and carried them off to the Barotse
valley, the mother-country of the Marutse, who at that time were his
subjects. During my second visit to the Marutse royal quarters I had
the opportunity of seeing some of these Matabele, who had come to
Sesheke to pay tribute. They still wore the well-known headdress of
feathers, but seemed to have lost all the warlike spirit of the Zulus,
and Sepopo told me that they had become first-rate husbandmen.
Amongst other visitors on the 12th was a Masupia, a grey-headed
little man, who prided himself upon having served under the late king
Sekeletu, during whose reign the Makololo empire had been annihilated.
Various commodities were brought over to me from Impalera with the hope
that I might purchase them, and I bought a goat for about four yards
of calico; the creature was wretchedly thin, having suffered from the
stings of the tsetse-fly. It was no sooner slaughtered than I found my
mulekow acquaintance sidling up to me; he evidently expected a portion
of it as a present, and considered that he had an unquestionable right
to visit me as often as he chose at meal-times.
During this day and the following about forty of the Masupias started
off in detachments to the Leshumo valley to fetch Blockley’s goods,
and to take him the corn he had ordered. The corn was packed in
gourd-vessels containing about half a peck each, slung upon poles,
the gourd-shells being covered with bast, and tied on with the same
material.
Utilized by all the South African tribes, gourd-shells are nowhere
put to more various uses than in the Marutse district. By the Mabunda
tribe they are branded with ornamental devices of men and animals,
and nearly everywhere they are employed for carrying water, being
frequently covered with a network of leather; but the vassal tribes of
the Bechuanas, the Makalaharis, Barwas, Masarwas, and Madenassanas, not
practising agriculture, use ostrich eggs instead. Most of the Bantu
tribes preserve fatty substances in the medium-sized gourd-shells, and
south of the Zambesi the very small shells are made into snuff-boxes,
and some of a flattened cylindrical form are converted into musical
instruments.
On the 13th I was joined by a Basuto named April, who had been
travelling with Blockley, and was now on his way to get permission
from Sepopo to hunt elephants on his territory. He had come in company
with eighteen of the Masupias who were returning with Blockley’s
merchandise, each man carrying a load of about 60 lbs. They brought
word that probably Blockley himself would arrive in the evening, but he
did not appear.
That night, for the first time, I heard the deep grunt of the
hippopotamus.
In the course of a walk down the river-side next morning I came to some
deserted farms of the Masupias, who had fled to the opposite shore
after the destruction of the Manansa kingdom, and in several places
along the valley I saw the graves of some Masupia chiefs. These graves
were mere oval mounds, covered with antelope-skulls and elephant-tusks,
so arranged that the points protruded and bent downwards; some were
bleached and cracked by exposure, but the smaller ones, weighing about
20 lbs., near the centre of the graves, were generally in a better
state of preservation; those which had been deposited most recently
were only milk-teeth, and consequently worthless; in all probability
they had been placed there since the Marutse had become better
acquainted with the value of ivory, so that the deeds of reverence
for the departed had not defrauded the rulers of any portion of their
revenue. As I returned I passed several sycamores growing on the bank,
their stems as well as their branches thickly covered with figs, none
of which, however, were yet ripe.
Blockley arrived in the afternoon. He gave each of his bearers a
quarter of a pound of beads as payment for their services, but the
Masupias rejected all the red beads, refusing to take any but the dark
blue. They wanted them, they said, to purchase assegais, and the tribe
from which they bought them insisted on having blue beads and no other.
The embarkation of the bearers on their return was an interesting
scene. Their canoes, about twenty in number, had been waiting for them
in the creek, and late in the afternoon they all pushed off to the
opposite shore. They were very slim, varying in length from seven to
sixteen feet, and manned by one, two, three, or four men, according to
their size. A few of them had to carry back the empty shells that had
contained the corn, several were full of firewood, and some conveyed
various pieces of the carcase of a great buffalo-cow that had just
been killed. The last to leave were my mulekow friend and four others.
They were in a large canoe, while he, anxious to display his skill in
paddling, had his canoe to himself. He made a great effort to outstrip
the others, who did not feel inclined to be left in the rear. He had
succeeded in getting a good start, but just as he reached the middle of
the stream, the wind caught the folds of his kubu (mantle), and getting
entangled by it his movements were obstructed, and he was easily
beaten. It was his vanity that had brought about his defeat. He had
sold me a couple of hatchets for seven yards of calico, and had made
Pit cut him out a garment, which he insisted should use up the whole of
it.
Without loss of time Blockley crossed on the 15th, but I was obliged to
remain where I was until I heard from the king. I roved about in all
directions, and discovered some warm salt springs, and I likewise added
to my collection some fish that the Masupias had speared in the creek.
Just as I had done on the Limpopo, I stood and watched the crocodiles
raise their heads above the water, and snap at the kingfishers and
water-birds on the bushes and reeds.
In order to watch the nocturnal movements of the animals I spent the
whole of the next night by the river. I chose a sandy spot, shut off on
the side towards the water by a thicket of reeds, and waited for the
moonlight to enable me to see all that went on in the lagoon. About
eleven o’clock a herd of pallahs made their appearance, the leader
growling with a low note by way of assuring the rest that all was safe.
But nothing interested me so much as the manœuvres of a pair of large
otters that emerged from the reeds opposite, and began hunting all
round the margin of the creek, their success in catching their prey
being far greater than that of the crocodiles. They stood for a few
seconds about two feet from the edge of the water, then darted into
the nearest clump of reeds, where they foraged with their snouts, and
kept returning to devour their prey, which, as far as I could see,
consisted entirely of small fish.
Having time on my hands, I next made a longer excursion; but though I
much enjoyed my ramble, I was disappointed in not being able to secure
either a pallah or a baboon. However I saw some very fine kingfishers
(_Ceryle maxima_), as well as bee-catchers and cuckoos.
In due time the “rumela,” or salute, was fired from the opposite
shore by Makumba, as a signal that the messengers had arrived from
Sesheke, bringing a favourable answer from the king. It was my duty to
acknowledge the salute by returning it, and I took the opportunity of
having a few shots at the fruit of the moshungulu-tree; and by knocking
down some, and splitting others, I received great applause from the
Masupias who were present. A short time afterwards two little canoes
were sent over to carry me across.
I estimated both the lower Chobe and the Zambesi as having a depth
of between thirty and forty feet, and consequently being quite large
enough for ships of considerable burden, but the different reaches are
separated so frequently by ridges of rock, that the rapids make all
navigation impracticable.
[Illustration: REMOVAL TO NEW SESHEKE.]
On landing I was again greeted by Makumba with a salute, which I had
again to return in due form. I was much struck as I entered the village
by the construction of the huts and their enclosures. They were made
of reeds, and built in the double style that I had noticed in the
ruins of Mosilili’s town. Their diameter was about nine feet, that
of the enclosure in which they stood being twenty-five. The ordinary
height of every fence was nearly twelve feet. Never elsewhere had I
seen any so tall. The entire length of the reeds was used partly as a
protection from the floods of the summer months, but principally as a
shelter from the wind. Some of the huts were made of grass as well as
reeds. They were shaped like an oven, and consisted of two rooms and a
verandah.
On a grass-plot near the middle of the settlement stood the
council-hut, a conical roof of straw supported on a few not very
substantial piles. Under it I noticed one of the morupas, or drums,
that, as I afterwards learnt, are to be found in most Marutse and
Masupia villages. The skin of the drum is pierced, and a short stick
inserted into the opening, with another stick fixed transversely at
its end, the whole instrument being a cylinder of about a foot to a
foot and a half long. Their sound, which cannot be compared to anything
much better than the creaking of new boots, is made by rubbing the
stick with a piece of wet baobab-bast twisted round the hand of the
performer. They are rarely brought into use except on occasions when
the inhabitants are celebrating the return from a successful lion or
leopard hunt with music and dancing.
Makumba himself, a dark skinned Masupia about forty years of age,
received me very kindly. He was entertaining three other visitors, two
English officers, Captain McLeod and Captain Fairly, and a Mr. Cowley,
who had all come from Natal for the sake of some hunting. They had
already obtained permission from Sepopo to enter his territory. They
had sent him their presents, and were now on the point of returning to
their waggon at Panda ma Tenka to complete all their preparations for
their expedition. It subsequently transpired that they were greatly
disappointed, and received anything but honourable treatment at the
hands of the Marutse king. Captain McLeod informed me that he had
killed an elephant with tusks weighing 100 lbs., and that Sepopo had
taken them, under a promise to give him two others instead on his
return to Sesheke.
We were entertained at one of Makumba’s residences with butshuala
(kaffir-corn beer), which was brought in wooden bowls, and served
out in gourd-shell cups. He was a staunch supporter of the king,
and ultimately lost his life in his service. While I was with him,
he took the opportunity of enlightening me as to some of Sepopo’s
peculiarities, that I might regulate my proceedings accordingly.
Before leaving Impalera I took several walks about the village, and
found that it was divided into three groups of homesteads; that nearest
the river contained 135 huts; another, where the natives took refuge
during floods, contained twenty-five huts; the third, made up of
thirty-two huts, lay farther to the west. The women did not wear aprons
like the Bechuanas, but had little petticoats reaching to the knee. On
the whole, the people were decidedly superior in looks to the Bechuana
tribes.
Makumba left the village on the same day that we arrived. His proper
home was on the left bank of the Zambesi, the residence at Impalera
being occupied by one of his wives and some maids who attended to the
fields, and kept the place prepared for him whenever he might choose
to pay it a visit. The only reason for his being here now was that he
might welcome me in the king’s name; I thanked him for his courtesy,
and offered him a present, which he declined, saying that it was as
much as his head was worth to accept a gift from either a black man or
a white before the king had received one.
Late in the afternoon of the 17th we made our way to a great baobab
close to the landing-place on the Zambesi known as “Makumba’s haven.”
The boatmen put up a temporary shelter for Blockley and myself, and
there I spent my first night on the bank of that great river that for
years it had been my chief ambition to behold.
The landing-place was close to the rapids of which I have spoken,
and about four miles above the mouth of the Chobe. Before us in the
stream were numbers of small islands, some wooded and others overgrown
with weeds. Darters were perching on the overhanging branches, and
cormorants had taken up their quarters on the ledges of the dark brown
rocks. Carefully avoiding the deeper places frequented by crocodiles,
the birds kept on diving for fish and returning to their old positions,
where they spread out their wings to dry. We shot several of them,
but only managed to secure two, as the rest, like a bald buzzard
(_Haliaëtus vocifer_) that I also killed, were carried down the
stream and devoured by crocodiles. Hippopotamuses could be heard every
ten minutes throughout the night, but the large fire that we made
deterred them from coming close to us.
Soon after sunrise I took my first boat-journey on the Zambesi. I
found myself in a fragile canoe made of a hollowed tree-stem scarcely
eighteen inches wide, its sides being scarcely three inches above
the surface of the deep blue stream, that made a dark belt around
the diversified verdure of the islets. On the right, like a strong
wall six feet in height, rose masses of reeds, extending very often
miles away, and occasionally broken into regular arcades by the
passage of the hippopotamuses between the river and their pasturage.
Rose-coloured convolvuluses, countless in number, twined themselves up
the reedstalks, and gave brightness and colour to the rustling forest.
On the other hand was a reedy island, encircled with a hedge of the
bristly papyrus, the feathery heads of the outer clumps trembling with
the motion of the current; in well-nigh every gap of the fantastic
foliage glimpses were caught of gaily-feathered birds, crimson, or
grey, or white; ever and again a silver or a purple heron would dart
out for a moment, whilst aquatic birds, in strange variety, were
watching for fish behind the sedge.
Whenever the boatmen turned into one of the less frequented
side-channels, there were always to be seen flocks of wild geese and
ducks, with spoonbills, sandpipers, and three kinds of mews swarming
on the sand-banks; nor could my attention fail to be attracted by
the long-drawn cry of the bald buzzards, sitting in pairs upon the
trees and hillocks. Every instant seemed to bring to light some fresh
specimen of animal life, contributing new interest to the mighty stream.
The very mode of travelling gave an additional charm to the scene, as
nothing can be imagined much more picturesque than the canoes, always
fleet, however heavily laden, and manned with their dark-skinned crews,
deftly plying their paddles, while their leather aprons, bound with
coloured calico, fluttered in the wind. The steersman was always at the
bow, next to him would sit the passenger, behind whom the oarsmen,
varying in number from three to ten or eleven, would row in perfect
time, often regulating their movements to a song. Some canoes that I
saw were not less than twenty-two feet in length.
Taking into account the dimensions of the islands, I should estimate
that the stream, in some parts only 300 yards across, occasionally
attained a width of 1000 yards. In many places the shores had been
washed away, so that there were no shelving banks. In sedgy spots,
about eight feet from the shore, the water was six feet deep, and where
the reeds were thick, it got no deeper for twenty feet away from land.
[Illustration: MASUPIA GRAVE.]
After paddling along for close upon three hours, I found that the reeds
and bushes on the right gave way to a wide grass-plain, to which the
Marutse and Masupias had given the name of Blockley’s kraal. It seemed
to be full of game, and we left our canoes for a time and went ashore.
Herds of buffaloes were visible on the outskirts; here, too, for the
first time I saw some letshwe and puku antelopes; they were cropping
the pasturage by hundreds; the letshwes were larger and the pukus
smaller than blessbocks, and both, like all waterbocks, had shaggy,
light-brown hair, and horns bent forward. I likewise saw some groups
of rietbocks in the long grass, and in the direction of the woods were
herds of zebras, as well as striped gnus, sometimes as many as twenty
together.
After re-embarking, we kept close to the shore, with the object of
avoiding the hippopotamuses that in the day-time frequent the middle
of the stream, only rising from time to time to breathe. Whenever the
current made it necessary for us to change to the opposite side of the
river, I could see that the boatmen were all on the _qui-vive_
to get across as rapidly as possible, and I soon afterwards learnt by
experience what good reason they had to be cautious. We had occasion
to steer outwards so as to clear a papyrus island, when all at once
the men began to back water, and the one nearest me whispered the
word “kubu.” He was pointing to a spot hardly 200 yards ahead, and on
looking I saw first one hippopotamus’s head, and then a second, raised
above the surface of the stream, both puffing out little fountains from
the nostrils. They quickly disappeared, and the men paddled on gently,
till they were tolerably close to the place where the brutes had been
seen. Both Blockley and I cocked our guns, and had not long to wait
before the heads of two young hippopotamuses emerged from beneath
the water, followed first by the head of a male and then by that of
a female. We fired eight shots, of which there was no doubt that two
struck the old male behind the ear. The men all maintained that it
was mortally wounded, and probably such was the case; but although we
waited about for nearly an hour, we never saw more than the heads of
the three others again. It was only with reluctance that the men were
induced to be stationary so long; except they are in very small boats
and properly armed with assegais they are always anxious to give the
hippopotamus as wide a berth as they can.
[Illustration: ON THE BANKS OF THE CHOBE.]
Of all the larger mammalia of South Africa I am disposed to believe
that to an unarmed man the hippopotamus is the most dangerous. In
its normal state it can never endure the sight of anything to which
it is unaccustomed or which takes it by surprise. Let it come upon a
horse, an ox, a porcupine, a log of wood, or even a fluttering garment
suddenly crossing its path, and it will fly upon any of them with
relentless fury; but let such object be withdrawn betimes from view,
and the brute in an instant will forget all about it and go on its way
entirely undisturbed.[3] Although in some cases it may happen that
an unprotected man may elude the attacks of a lion, a buffalo, or a
leopard except they have been provoked, he cannot indulge the hope of
escaping the violence of a hippopotamus that has once got him within
reach of its power.
When out of several hippopotamuses in a river one has been wounded,
the rest are far more wary in coming to the surface; and should the
wound have been fatal, the carcase does not rise for an hour, but
drifts down the stream. The Marutse have a very simple but effectual
way of landing their dead bodies; a grass rope with a stone attached
is thrown across it, and by this means it is easily guided to the
shore. The whole river-side population is most enthusiastic in its love
of hippopotamus-hunting, and it is owing to the skill of the Marutse
natives in this pursuit that they have been brought from their homes in
the Upper Zambesi, and established in villages down here, where they
may help to keep the court well supplied not only with fresh and dried
fish, but particularly with hippopotamus-flesh.
The boats that are used as “mokoro tshi kubu” (hippopotamus-canoes)
are of the smallest size, only just large enough for one; they are
difficult to manage, but are very swift; the weapons employed are long
barbed assegais, of which the shafts are so light that they are not
heavier than the ordinary short javelins for military use.
While I was in Sesheke I heard of a sad casualty that had occurred near
the town in the previous year. A Masupia on his way down the river saw
a hippopotamus asleep on a sandy bank, and believing that he might make
it an easy prey, approached it very gently and thrust his spear right
under the shoulder. The barb, however, glinted off its side, inflicting
only a trifling wound. In a second, before the man had time to get
away, the infuriated brute was up, and after him. In vain he rolled
himself over to conceal himself in the grass; the beast seemed resolved
to trample him to pieces; he held up his right hand as a protection,
and it was crushed by the monster’s fangs; he stretched out his left,
and it was amputated by a single bite. He was afterwards found by
some fishermen in a most mutilated state, barely able to recount his
misfortune before he died.
Although I have often tasted hippopotamus-meat, I cannot say that I
like it. The gelatinous skin when roasted is considered a delicacy;
in its raw state it makes excellent handles for knives and workmen’s
tools, as it shrinks as it dries, and takes firm hold upon the metal.
If a hippopotamus is killed within fifty miles of Sesheke half of
it is always sent to the king, and the breast reserved for the royal
table. It is at night-time that the hippopotamus generally goes to its
pasturage, in the choice of which it is very particular, sometimes
making its way eight or nine miles along the river-bank, and returning
at daybreak to its resort in the river or lagoons, where its presence
is revealed by its splashes and snorts. Occasionally it is found asleep
in the forests ten miles or more away from the water. In eastern and
southern Matabele-land, and in the Mashona country, where they are
found in the affluents of the Limpopo and the Zambesi it is a much less
difficult matter to capture them, and Matabele traders have told me
that they have seen Mashonas attack them in the water with broad-bladed
daggers, and soon overpower them.
In time past hippopotamuses were common throughout South Africa, and
the carvings of the bushmen would go to prove that they not only
frequented the rivers, but found their way to the salt rain-pans; they
are still to be found in the rivers of Natal, and I was told in Cape
Colony that they are in existence in Kaffraria; but in Central South
Africa they are not seen south of the Limpopo.
The Zambesi abounds with crocodiles, but we did not see one that day.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNTING.
_Page 132._]
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ GAME COUNTRY NEAR BLOCKLEY’S KRAAL.
_Page 133._]
The shores of the river here consisted of alternate strata of clay and
earth, varying from two to eighteen inches in thickness, the mould made
up of alluvial soil and decayed vegetable matter. In some places where
the outflow from some hollow in the plain had made itself a channel to
the river, the natives had dammed it up by an embankment of rushes ten
feet high. We travelled at the rate of three to three-and-a-half
miles an hour; and in the course of the day crossed the river ten
times, either to cut off a bend in the stream or to avoid the full
current. Towards the right we had an extensive view of Blockley’s
kraal, full of life with its innumerable heads of game and cattle, but
towards the south and west we were quite shut in by towering banks of
reeds grown up into thickets, which, together with the lagoons they
form, are the resort of elephants as well as of hippopotamuses. Finding
a deserted hut upon a sandy bank, we resolved to spend the night
beneath its shelter.
Several of the men set to work immediately with their knives and
assegais to cut down a number of reeds, which they tied together into
bundles; others with the same implements dug a series of holes into
which the reeds were put upright as props; meanwhile three canoes had
been sent across the stream to fetch dry grass which was spread over
the top of the supports, and thus in marvellously quick time some huts
were erected from four to six feet in height.
Next morning on the left-hand shore we passed the mouth of the Kasha
or Kashteja, the river called by Livingstone the Majeela, the name by
which it is known amongst the Makololos. A few hundred yards above its
mouth the stream was in some places hardly more than fifteen yards
wide, but although it was only three feet deep, it was quite unsafe
to try to wade across it, on account of the crocodiles with which its
seething waters abounded. We met several canoes full of people from
Makumba’s town, who had been to Sesheke with ivory for Sepopo, and were
now returning, having received a present of some ammunition and two
woollen shirts apiece.
We paused on our way to refresh ourselves with a bath in a shallow
place which we ascertained was safe, and then hurried on with all
speed, that we might reach the royal quarters before evening. Some
small herds of cattle grazing along the river-side, under the close
_surveillance_ of their keepers, apprised us of our approach to
the new settlement, which enjoys the advantage of being free from the
tsetse fly.
Old Sesheke lay on a lagoon about a mile and a half west of the place
where the river makes a sudden bend to the east, and the original
Marutse royal residence was in the fertile mother-country of the
Barotse, which was eminently fitted for cattle-breeding. Sepopo,
however, the present king, had made himself unpopular amongst the
Barotse, and had moved away into the Masupia country, although it was a
district which, except in a few detached places, was much infested with
the tsetse. He had, however, another reason for the change he made; he
was dissatisfied with the dealings of the Portuguese traders, whose
goods he found to be of very inferior quality as compared with those
brought by Westbeech, and accordingly he was anxious to make a move
that would bring him into nearer connexion with the traders from the
south.
As we approached the royal residence, Blockley proposed that we should
announce our arrival by a rumela. The echoes of our shots had hardly
died away before some groups of men gathered under the trees, and our
salute was answered by another; manifestly the king was amongst the
people, superintending the organization of the new settlement. Our
boatmen joined in the shouting that was commenced upon the beach, where
the clamour lasted for a quarter of an hour, until we reached the
landing-place, where several canoes were drawn up under the trees.
In order to have audience of the ruler of the Central Zambesi, I felt
that it was becoming on my part to dress myself in my very best, but it
was rather aggravating at the last moment to find that my hat had been
mislaid. Blockley would scarcely allow me time to overhaul my baggage
to get at the missing article, but dragged me off, telling me that the
sound of the myrimba was already begun.
I have already mentioned that Sepopo had been expecting me for some
months; he had often inquired of Westbeech and Blockley when the nyaka
was coming, to travel through the country like Monari (Livingstone);
and although since the visit of the great explorer he had had
interviews with at least fifteen white men, he was desirous to give me
a more imposing reception than any of them.
CHAPTER VII.
FIRST VISIT TO THE MARUTSE KINGDOM.
My reception by Sepopo--The libeko--Sepopo’s pilfering
propensities--The royal residence--History of the
Marutse-Mabunda empire--The various tribes and their
districts--Position of the vassal tribes--The Sesuto
language--Discovery of a culprit--Portuguese traders at Sepopo’s
court--Arrangements for exploring the country--Construction
of New Sesheke--Fire in Old Sesheke--Culture of the tribes
of the Marutse-Mabunda kingdom--Their superstition--Rule of
succession--Resources of the sovereign--Style of building--The
royal courtyard--Musical instruments--War-drums--The kishi
dance--Return to Impalera and Panda ma Tenka--A lion adventure.
[Illustration: IN THE PAPYRUS THICKETS.]
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ RECEPTION AT SEPOPO’S.
_Page 137._]
A crowd of natives in leather and cotton aprons announced that the
king was waiting to receive me, and after proceeding another 200
yards I stood face to face with his majesty. He was a man of about
five-and-thirty, dressed in European style, with an English hat upon
his head, decorated with a fine white ostrich feather. He had a broad,
open countenance, large eyes, and a good-humoured expression that
betrayed nothing of the tyrant that he really was. Advancing to meet me
with a light and easy tread, he smiled pleasantly as he held out his
hand, and after greeting Blockley in a similar fashion, he bestowed a
nod of recognition on our servant April. He was accompanied by some
of the principal court-officials, only one of whom wore trousers; two
others had woollen garments fastened across their backs, whilst the
rest were only to be distinguished from the general mob by the number
of bracelets on their arms. The most noticeable part of the procession
was the royal band; on either side of the king were myrimba-players
bringing out the most excruciating sounds with a pair of short
drumsticks from a keyboard of calabashes suspended from their shoulders
by a strap; these were preceded by men with huge tubular drums, upon
which they played with their fingers, accompanying the strains with
their voices. Followed by this motley throng, we were conducted to
a tall mimosa, where we were met by a man in European costume, whom
Sepopo introduced to me as Jan Mahura, a Bechuana, who had resided
three years with him as interpreter.
Blockley was able to dispense with the services of this corpulent,
sly-looking individual, but to me he proceeded formally to introduce
his Majesty as “Sepopo, Morena of the Zambesi.” The king then seated
himself upon a little wooden stool that a servant had been carrying for
him, and made signs to us to be seated on the ground; but seeing that
I hesitated about taking such a position in my best suit of black, he
sent for two trusses of dry grass upon which Blockley and I had to sit
down without more ado.
Sepopo began to besiege Blockley with question after question, and as
I was not sufficiently versed in the Sesuto-Serotse dialect to follow
their conversation, I entertained myself by criticizing the company.
Presently the crowd opened to admit a young man, preceded by a herald,
and carrying a great wooden dish which, after making an obeisance, he
placed on the open space between us and the king. The odour was quite
sufficient to make us aware that the dish contained broiled fish.
Sepopo picked out a fish at random and handed it to the chiefs Kapella
and Mashoku, who had to eat a portion of it; and having thus satisfied
himself that the food was not poisoned, he handed one each to Blockley
and me, and took another himself. Our fingers had to do duty in the
absence of forks, the mighty sovereign of many and many a thousand
miles setting us the example in a very dexterous fashion. We had eaten
nothing since breakfast, and were consequently by no means disinclined
to make a good meal now; but the etiquette of the country did not
permit us to eat more than half a fish, and we were expected to pass
over the rest to the chiefs who were sitting next us, they in their
turn taking a bit and handing the remnant to their neighbours. Ten fish
constituted the whole repast, and the servants were permitted to pick
the heads.
The Marutse excel in their methods of dressing fish, some being stewed
in their own oil, and others, after they have been dried in the sun,
being broiled on ashes. The kinds that are stewed are those known among
the Zambesi tribes as tshi-mo, tshi-gatshimshi, and tshi-mashona, all
rapacious fish, except the hard-lipped inquisi, being disliked by them.
I rarely saw them eat the common flat-headed sheat-fish; they avoid it
chiefly because its flesh is so often perforated by a parasite, a sort
of spiral worm about an inch long, not unlike a trichina. A great many
fish, after being sun-dried, are kept for months, and then packed in
baskets and sent to the north for sale.
When we had finished our repast, several servants brought bowls of
water, with which the inner circle were expected to moisten their
lips. After our primitive method of feeding, it was quite necessary
that we should get rid of the grease from our fingers; and to assist
us in this, one of the servants brought a platter containing about
twenty dirty little green balls of the size of a walnut. The king and
the courtiers each took one and rubbed it over their hands, which they
afterwards washed. When it came to my turn to help myself to one of the
balls, my curiosity to know of what it consisted provoked very general
amusement. By the king’s direction Jan Mahura, the interpreter, called
out to me, “Smell them, sir,” and I was at once aware that they were
of the nature of soap. After washing, Blockley and I dried our hands
upon our pocket-handkerchiefs, but Sepopo and his officers scraped the
moisture off their fingers with their “libekos.” The outer ranks of the
assembly merely rubbed their hands on the dry sand.
The libeko used by the Bantu tribes in the place of our
pocket-handkerchief is a miniature shovel made of very different sizes,
being from half an inch to an inch wide, but varying from two inches
to ten inches in length. It is usually attached to a small strap or
a chain of grass or beads, and its effect is not only to widen the
nostrils, but to disfigure the countenance generally.
As the afternoon was advancing, the king rose, and attended by his
vocal and instrumental performers, led the way to the landing-place,
where we all embarked in three canoes for an airing on the water. We
were not long upon the main stream before we turned into a lagoon,
whence, after about a quarter of an hour, we entered another side
lagoon, which brought us to the landing-place of Old Sesheke. This
town, which the king was now leaving for his new settlement, was on
the border of a sandy wood, and scarcely twenty-five feet above the
valley. Close to it, built of wood or reeds, were the storehouses in
which Westbeech put his goods until Sepopo was ready to pay for them in
ivory. The courtyard contained three huts, one occupied by Westbeech’s
cook, one by his other servants, and a third used as his kitchen.
Behind his own little house, and between it and the hedge, stood a
fourth hut, about five feet high and seven feet in diameter, similar in
shape to a Koranna hut, with a doorway that could only be entered on
all fours. This was assigned to me during my residence in the king’s
domains.
[Illustration: PORT OF SHESHEKE.
_Vol. II._ _Page 140_.]
Before I took possession of my mansion, I was invited, Blockley with
me, to join the king at supper. He was in a little cemented courtyard
sitting on a mat; we were accommodated in a similar way, and
conducted to our seats upon his left hand, the queen and some officials
being placed upon his right. The meal consisted of boiled eland flesh
served upon plates, and this time we found ourselves provided with
knives and forks, which had been introduced by the traders from the
west coast. As sauce to the meat we were offered manza, a transparent
sort of meal-pap, that upon analyzing, I afterwards ascertained was
very nutritious. After supper some impote (honey-beer) was brought in a
round-bodied gourd-shell with a twisted neck, and poured out into large
tin mugs that had been a present from Westbeech. The butler, after
clapping his hands, sat down in the open space in front of the king and
drank off the first goblet; the king took the next, and, after sipping
it, passed it to the queen on his left, and then received it back from
her and offered it to us; although several of the chiefs that were
present were allowed to partake of the beverage, no one but ourselves
was permitted to put his lips to the royal cup. When the drinking was
over, the king rose from his seat, took off his boots, and gave them to
the waiting-maid who had brought in the meat, and retired to his house,
though not until he had invited me to breakfast with him in the morning.
I had been asleep in my new quarters for about two hours, when I was
roused by a noise in the small front room of the storehouse, and
looking out I saw a glimmer of light, by which I could distinctly make
out that Sepopo and some of his people were rummaging amongst the
goods that Blockley had just deposited there; after waiting a little
longer, I saw Sepopo come out and walk off with a waggonlantern that
Blockley had refused to give him during the day. It was a transaction
that opened my eyes to the way which the Marutse king had of getting
possession of any articles that might take his fancy.
Before concluding my account of my first day at Sesheke, I may mention
a little incident that occurred while we were sitting drinking the
impote. Four men arrived laden with ivory, and after depositing the
load of tusks in the middle of the enclosure, they clapped their
hands and prostrated themselves five times with their foreheads to
the ground, crying out, “Shangwe! Shangwe!” They then retired quite
into the rear of all the rest, to remain till the meal was over. When
the king summoned them, they crept forward, and kept clapping their
hands very gently all the time the king was speaking to them, and when
he ceased they proceeded with great volubility to recount all the
particulars of the hunting-excursion from which they had returned. They
were much commended, and told to come in the morning to receive some
ammunition and their proper reward. The ivory was crown property, and
the guns used by the hunters were only lent to them, and were liable to
be recalled at any moment at the royal pleasure.
It was quite customary for all white men, before entering Impalera, to
send the king a present by way of securing a pass from the banks of the
Chobe to his territory. No such impost, however, was demanded from me.
It was entirely a voluntary act on my part, that I made an offering of
a Snider breech-loader and 200 cartridges.
Unlike supper, breakfast was not served in the open air, but inside the
house. The long grass-hut, similar to a gabled roof some eight feet
high, was divided by a partition into two compartments, the walls of
the front one, in which we took our meal, being decorated with guns,
Marutse weapons, elephants’ tusks, and various articles of apparel,
amongst which I noticed the uniform of a Portuguese dragoon. I took
advantage of the good humour and communicative mood of the king, to
gain from him some information about Marutse history and the growth of
the kingdom; and as various points were afterwards confirmed by several
of the chiefs, it may not be inopportune to introduce them here.
Under the leadership of their chief Sebituani, a branch of the Basutos
between the upper courses of the Orange and Vaal rivers emigrated
northwards. After forcing their way through the Bechuana countries,
and subduing various tribes on the lower Chobe and central Zambesi
(amongst whom were the eastern Bamashi and Barutse, who occupied
an area of 2000 square miles), they not only succeeded in exacting
tribute from other tribes as far eastward as the river Kafue, but they
consolidated themselves into the Makololo Empire. Their next king was
Sekeletu. The discords that sprung up amongst the people during his
reign opened the way for the vanquished Marutse tribe to resume arms
against them, and that with such success that after several battles the
Makololos residing between the Chobe and the Zambesi, already decimated
by disease, were reduced to two men and some boys, while their male
population south of the Chobe, who had numbered more than 2000, were in
like manner brought down to a mere handful. Had they remained on the
right bank of the Chobe, the Makololos would probably have existed
to this day; but fearing that the Marutse would be reinforced by the
Mabundas and other subject tribes, they made their way towards Lake
N’gami in the territory of the western Bamangwatos. There they were
sadly deceived; they were received with apparent cordiality, but were
ultimately the victims of a cruel stratagem; messengers from King
Letshuatabele greeted them with the salutation, “If you come as friends
and not as foes, leave your spears and battle-axes and come into the
city;” in full confidence they accepted the invitation, but no sooner
had they entered the kotla than the citizens barred the entrance with
poles and boughs, and massacred them to a man. The women were divided
amongst the conquerors, the king having his first choice of the most
attractive; the chiefs took the next pick, leaving the rest to be
distributed amongst their subjects. From that time women of brown
complexion have been found amongst the Bathowanas and people north
of the Zambesi, though the dark-skinned tribes always regard it as a
sign of degeneration of race. Sepopo subsequently took possession of
the whole of the Makololo country, with the exception of the eastern
Bamashi territory and their land south of the Chobe, where he did not
enter from fear of the Matabele.
To the north of the Marutse was the Mabunda kingdom, which was governed
by members of the Marutse royal family. The queen on her death-bed some
years before had designated Sepopo’s eldest daughter Moquai as her
successor, but Moquai, alarmed at the prospect of persecution from her
father, handed over the government to him; and thus it happened that
now I found a conjoint Marutse-Mabunda rule, under the sovereignty of
Sepopo, a direct descendant of the original royal family of the Marutse.
During breakfast Sepopo sent for the chief representatives of eighteen
of the larger tribes and introduced them to me. These tribes are
subdivided into eighty-three smaller ones, and their chiefs are all
more or less in communication with Sesheke. In addition to those that
have been settled for some time within the kingdom, there are the
Matabele, Menon’s Malalakas, and the Masarwas scattered in various
districts; of these the two latter are fugitive tribes from the south,
the Matabele having been tributary to the Bamangwatos, and Menon’s
Malalakas to the Matabele.
The Marutse occupy the fertile valleys of the Barotse country on
both sides the Zambesi, from Sekhose to about 150 miles south of the
confluence of the Kabompo and the Liba. I believe the Barotse valley to
be the most productive portion of the kingdom, and as well adapted for
agriculture as for cattle-breeding; it abounds in game, but is likewise
prolific in wild vegetable products, of which india-rubber is not the
least important. The country, formerly the residence of various members
of the royal family, contains several towns; the districts east and
north-east of it are occupied by the Mabundas, so that it follows that
the bulk of the population that lies outside the Barotse is, for the
most part, to be found near the rivers Nyoko, Lombe, and Loi.
The district joining the Mabundas on the north is in the occupation
of the Mankoë, but it does not extend beyond the west bank of the
Zambesi; again to the north of this is the settlement of the Mamboë,
on the lower Kabompo and Liba. Around the town of Kavagola, on the
upper Zambesi, are the Bamomba and Manengo tribes, while the Masupia
region lies for fifty miles up the river from a point about thirty
miles below its junction with the Chobe. East of this the Batoka people
range for thirty miles below the Victoria Falls, where their frontier
is joined by the Matongas, who reside near the middle of the Kashteja,
Livingstone’s Majeela. On the lower course of the Kashteja, between the
Matongas and Masupias, are the western Makalakas, the eastern Makalakas
being farther down the Zambesi, with Wankie’s kraal as their principal
property. The Luyana tribe is settled south of the Zambesi to the west
of the Masupias, and the other tribes either extend in small districts
thence towards the Barotse valley, north of the Matongas, and east
of the Mamboë, or have scattered themselves about in little detached
settlements here and there over the kingdom.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE MARUTSE.
_Page 147._]
Nearly the whole of these which I have thus briefly enumerated are,
with the marked distinction of the Marutse, held as vassals, the
people being treated to a certain degree as slaves. However it is not
more than a quarter of them who actually pay any tribute, these being
chiefly the eastern tribes, such as the Batokas, eastern Makalakas
and Mabimbis. As a consequence of Sepopo’s oppression, many of the
natives have withdrawn from the kingdom, generally going south,
and the difficulty of collecting tribute anywhere has very greatly
increased. The imposts levied upon such as can be induced to pay them
consist chiefly of cereals, either wheat, kaffir-corn, and maize, or
of consignments of dried fruits, gourds, india-rubber, mats, canoes,
weapons of any kind, wooden utensils, and musical instruments. Ivory,
honey, and manza are crown-property, and it is a capital offence for
any one to carry on any transactions with regard to them on his own
account. Without exception, all the tribes are bound to supply the
Marutse sovereign with a stated number of tusks, both of male and
female elephants, and with a stipulated quantity of the skins of a
large dark brown species of lemur.
The prevailing language of the kingdom, and the principal medium of
correspondence between the different tribes, is that of the extirpated
Makololos. Overtaken as they have been by the arm of fate, and swept
away from existence as a recognized community, they have yet bequeathed
to their conquerors the heritage of their dialect. The enlargement
of the kingdom by the annexation of the Mabunda territory, and the
ever-increasing traffic with the population south of the Zambesi, have
resulted in the Sesuto of the Makololos being adopted as the common
tongue. It is of immense advantage to an explorer to be familiar
with it, as although it may not be found in its purity, having been
corrupted more or less by the admixture of the Serotse, it will rarely
fail to enable him to make himself understood in any quarter of the
kingdom.
When I asked the king the extent of his dominions, he told me that it
took his people fifteen or twenty days to reach the northern frontier;
and after making strict inquiries, first of the native chiefs, then
of the envoys from the Mashukulumbe, and lastly from the Portuguese
traders, and reducing the days’ journeys to miles, I think that I am
quite borne out in assigning the boundaries as they are marked in my
map; that is to say, with the Mashukulumbe on the north and east, the
Bamashis on the west, and the Bamangwatos and Matabele country on the
south.
Sepopo’s name in the Serotse dialect means “a dream,” and his mother
was called Mangala. After introducing me to the principal chiefs and
officials that were then in Sesheke, amongst whom was Kapella the
commander-in-chief, he presented Mashoku the executioner, a repulsive
Mabunda, and his two fathers-in-law, who were about to become his
sons-in-law as well, as, having married their daughters, he was going
to give them two of his own young daughters as wives in return.
During the time that these introductions were going on, honey-beer was
being drunk, and it occurred to me that Lunga, the handsomest of the
ladies, took an uncommonly large share. Very shortly afterwards three
Marutse came into the tent uttering a loud cry of “Shangwe,” and each
carrying a buffalo’s tail; they had been sent by the king to procure
some meat for Blockley and myself. Before I left, Sepopo pointed out to
me his two doctors who provided him with charms when he went hunting.
I spent the remainder of the day in making an investigation of the
town, returning in the evening to the royal residence, where I found
that Makumba had just come in from Impalera, bringing the melancholy
intelligence that Y., the trader that I had met at Schneemann’s Pan,
and had urged to go on as quickly as possible to my waggon at Panda ma
Tenka, had died before reaching there.
On the night of the 20th an event occurred that rather tended to
disturb the harmonious relations between Sepopo and myself. By
Blockley’s hospitality a very lively evening had been spent in his
courtyard, and it was getting on for midnight before his black guests
of both sexes had emptied the three great pitchers of beer with which
he had entertained them, and had set out on their way home. For a long
time afterwards the uproar they made, and the harsh notes of their
calabash keyboards, made sleep quite out of the question, but at length
I dropped into a doze, from which I was almost immediately aroused by
the barking of a dog. I opened my eyes, and at once observed that my
hut was peculiarly light, although I had blocked up the entrance with
a chest. In another instant I made out that there was a dark figure
in the aperture, and that a native was in the very act of taking my
clothes, which I had thrown on the top of the chest. The only weapon
that was at hand was an assegai which I had bought on the previous day,
but it was hanging out of my reach; and before I could get at it, the
thief and a partner he had with him had run away towards the huts. I
followed as quickly as I could, but too late to see them. On my way I
found that they had left a stick and a fish behind. It was not likely
that I could get much more sleep that night, and the first thing I did
in the morning was to go and tell the king what had happened. He made a
very evasive reply, and I could feel evidently enough that my company
that day gave him anything but pleasure. Nevertheless I determined to
do what I could to sift the matter to the bottom. In spite of the
absurdity of expecting to get an applicant, I sent one of Blockley’s
servants to the town to circulate the report that I had found a stick,
which I should be happy to return to its proper owner. Late in the
afternoon a middle-aged man appeared and claimed the stick, and as he
said that the fish was also his property, I took him off forthwith to
the king. Meanwhile the stolen articles had been concealed, and when
the man’s hut was searched by the king’s messenger nothing could be
found, and accordingly the man was declared not guilty. I expressed
my dissatisfaction with the judgment, whereupon the king said that
if I wished it the man should be punished, but as I quite understood
that this punishment meant death, I acquiesced in his being released;
nevertheless I made it thoroughly well known that I should shoot the
very next burglar that I found trying to get into my hut. Sepopo
assented to all I said, and repeated my words aloud to the crowd that
had been drawn together by the affair.
Later in the evening some Barotse men arrived with their subsidies of
corn, one of them being a Matabele who had been captured by Sekeletu.
Sepopo took them in and showed them over his hut, of which he was not a
little proud.
As it had been intimated to me by Masangu, an official who might be
described as the controller of the arsenal, that the king was willing
to grant me some favour by way of compensation for my annoyance at
the robbery, I considered it a good opportunity to prefer my formal
request for permission to explore his dominions. For this purpose I was
conducted into the little courtyard, where I found Sepopo sitting with
about thirty men squatting around him in perfect silence; my eye, as I
entered, at once lighted upon one of these men who was bent down in a
peculiarly demure attitude. It struck me immediately that he was not a
Marutse native, and on looking again I saw that he was a half-caste.
Having asked the king whether he had heard of my wishes from Westbeech,
and receiving an answer in the affirmative, I proceeded to explain to
him, as definitely as I could, the object of my journey. He listened to
me very attentively, and was silent for some moments, after which he
said,--
“Can the white doctor speak Serotse or Sesuto?”
I replied that I knew neither.
“Can he then speak the language of these men?” and he pointed to two of
the attendants squatting on the ground beside him, one of which was the
sly-looking half-caste that I had already noticed.
On my asking who they were, the man servilely raised his hat, and in a
fawning voice informed me that he and the companion at his side were
Portuguese traders and good Christians. I further ascertained that
they belong to the so-called Mambari, of whom I had heard all kinds of
unpleasant stories. Sepopo introduced the man who had spoken to me by
the name of Sykendu, adding that he was “a great man” and “a doctor,”
but the hypocritical look which the fellow put on only confirmed me
in the unfavourable impression I had formed of his character. Finding
that I was not acquainted with their language, the king said that
he considered it was quite necessary I should learn something of it
before leaving Sesheke, as then these men might act as my guides and
interpreters, and would be able to render me invaluable assistance.
On further conversation I learnt that the Portuguese traders from
Loanda, Mossamedes, and Benguela are thoroughly acquainted with the
district between the west coast and Lake Bangweolo, and with all the
country eastwards as far as the mouth of the Kafue, the whole of
which we are accustomed to consider as “_terra incognita_;” they
not only are acquainted with the rulers of the native states, but
are intimate with all the sub-chieftains, knowing their individual
peculiarities; they are familiar with the winding of every hill, and
the passage of every river; but meanwhile they are most careful, in
conjunction with their white colleagues, to keep all their knowledge
to themselves, always fearful that the traders of other nations may be
attracted to what they are wont to consider their own proper fields for
ivory and caoutchouc.
Overhearing that Sepopo was speaking to me about my having the services
of two guides, Sykendu came up and put in his word again. He raised
his hat, bowed almost to the ground, crossed himself, and swore by the
Holy Virgin that he and his brother were two of the best Christians in
the interior, and as such would be the most suitable guides I could
find. Probably this attestation on his part was made in answer to the
suspicious look with which I regarded him and his associate.
Sepopo waited a moment or two to see whether I had more to say, and
then remarked that he was satisfied it would be a good thing for me
to learn either the Serotse or the Makololo dialect, as it might
enable me to avoid what had happened to Monari (Livingstone), who, in
consequence of not being able to make himself understood by the chiefs,
had been taken for a magician who had come down from heaven with the
rain, an impression which he only removed by making them a present of
some muskets.
Again Sykendu interrupted the conversation between the king and myself,
by saying he supposed that I was aware that the guides always expected
a good remuneration for their services, and although Sepopo told him
that that would be settled all right, he went on to say that they would
require four tusks weighing eighty pounds apiece. I told him that I
should give four tusks weighing forty pounds apiece, and that only on
condition that I should deposit them with Sepopo, to be handed over to
them on their return from Matimbundu, whither they were to conduct me.
However, after all these arrangements had been made, when I really
went on my tour from Sesheke, it was not with the two Mambari for my
guides. I had meantime learnt that they were slave-dealers, and having
various other reasons for distrusting them, I declined their services
altogether.
After I had made what I then supposed would be my final contract with
the guides, Sepopo promised to provide me with canoes and boatmen to
convey me to the Barotse valley, beyond which I should have to procure
a change of crews in every fresh district as far as the Mamboë country.
The Mamboë, who would ultimately accompany me to the great water, i.e.
the sea, would have to be recompensed for their services by a musket
apiece; but the boatmen who took me only for the short stages I should
find would be satisfied with shirts or pieces of calico. The king
moreover undertook to order all the tribes along the river to supply my
party with whatever provisions should be requisite. He strongly advised
me to wend my way northwards towards Lake Bangweolo, a route, he said,
by which I should be able to dispense with canoes and to travel with
bearers, and which would be at once more convenient to him and less
dangerous to myself.
I have since very much repented that I did not follow this advice, but
at that time I was under the conviction that I should be doing much
more for the advancement of science by following the Zambesi to its
source; I likewise thought that I should find the canoe-voyage less
fatiguing to myself, so that my strength might be reserved for the
prolonged land-journey that would come after.
My next proceeding might have been at once to return to Panda ma Tenka
to conclude my necessary preparations, but I did not leave Sesheke
for another day or two, and amused myself on one occasion by going to
inspect the site selected for the new town. I came upon a very animated
and interesting scene; the building-operations were in full swing, and
the river was alive with canoes laden with grass, stakes, and reeds,
some going straight along the stream, and some crossing from bank to
bank. On the shore, men and women in single file were carrying loads of
grass in bundles that almost swept the ground behind them; others were
conveying long poles, from which were suspended the great clay vessels,
in which the store of corn was being removed from the old granary to
the new. Every here and there was what might be called a peripatetic
roof, being a thatch in the course of removal, nothing of its means of
locomotion being visible but the thirty or forty feet of the bearers,
the foremost of whom had some holes pierced in the roof by which they
could see their way; many of the people were singing at their work, and
some of them carrying heavy burdens passed me at a good smart trot. The
very queens found work to do, and I noticed them, assisted by their
maids, moving large bundles of the grass. Hearing the words “moro,
nyaka makoa,” (good morning, white doctor), I turned and found that the
greeting came from Makumba the chief, who was passing by with a number
of his people.
Nearly all the residents in the old town were taking down their huts
and preparing to migrate, none more busy than Blockley, who was packing
up all his goods in readiness to transfer them from his present
enclosure to a grass hut that the king had directed should be built for
him in the new settlement.
While I was sitting in my hut writing my journal on the following
day, I was startled by the cry of “molemo, molemo!” (fire, fire!)
and immediately I rushed outside; a single hut was in flames, but as
it was standing in the midst of some hundreds more, the reed-thatch
roofs of which were all extra dry from the heat of the weather,
there was every reason to fear that others would catch fire, and
that the brisk east wind that was blowing would fan the flames into
a general conflagration. Crowds of women and children came shrieking
and holloaing down the pathway from the river, and to increase the
commotion, as the fire spread there were the constant reports of the
guns that had been left in the huts, the bullets flying about in all
directions, and imperilling the lives of all the bystanders. I had
hardly managed to get my own little property into a safe place outside
the hut, when Blockley came running up to fetch some shovels. All
Westbeech’s gunpowder, as well as what he had sold to Sepopo, had been
stored in a hut at the edge of the forest, and as nothing was more
likely than that the forest itself would catch fire, he was anxious to
get the powder away, and to have it buried underground as quickly as
possible.
To the west of our quarters and about thirty yards away stood the
king’s stable, a building composed of stakes, and on the west was
a group of huts, likewise at a considerable distance, so that from
these there was no particular danger to be apprehended; but on the
north, which was the direction of the fire, there were two huts so
close to us, that should they catch light our safety must be seriously
compromised; luckily they remained intact, but the crackling flames
were getting nearer and nearer to them, lighting up the figures of
the men who were doing their utmost to arrest their progress. I had
only Pit and one of Blockley’s servants with me; they did what they
could to carry up our gourds and clay pitchers full of water from the
river, though they smashed a good many of them in their excitement;
but I called them off, and made them help me tear down the fence of
our enclosure, thus putting a very effectual check upon the spread of
any flames towards us. Others of the natives took the hint and did the
same, but in spite of all efforts, more than half of Old Sesheke was
destroyed.
Sepopo’s mode of showing his annoyance at what had occurred was
somewhat extraordinary. He was in New Sesheke at the time, and when he
heard what had happened, and saw the flames rising above the old town,
he set to work and vigorously belaboured all his attendants with a
thick stick, only giving up from sheer fatigue.
In course of time Blockley came back with the satisfactory intelligence
that he had succeeded in saving the gunpowder, and on receiving
my congratulations, returned the compliment by expressing his
gratification at my having prevented the destruction of the warehouses.
I little thought to what a risk I had been exposed, for I was not aware
until afterwards that Blockley had a chest containing 700 lbs. of
gunpowder in the courtyard itself.
On the following day several canoes arrived from the Barotse, and were
placed at my disposal by Sepopo, who urged upon me to lose no time in
returning to Panda ma Tenka, completing my preparations, and getting
back to Sesheke ready to start. However I did not set out until the
30th, being resolved first to see Blockley settled in his new quarters;
my time was fully occupied in making additions to my ethnographical
collection, in studying the habits of the native tribes, as exhibited
by the representatives who were staying in the place, and especially
in learning the Sesuto language. Relying upon the king’s promise that
the way to the west coast should be open to me, I now arranged with
Blockley for him to take my waggon and various collections back to
Shoshong, and to deposit them there until my arrival, and as he was in
want of bullocks, I let him have my team in exchange for ivory and
articles that I should be likely to find serviceable, such as calico
and beads.
Before continuing my personal narrative, and concluding my account of
my first visit to the residence of king Sepopo, I think it desirable to
give some outline of the characteristics of the various tribes dwelling
in his dominions.
With the exception of the Mashonas, on the east of the Matabele, there
are none of the South African tribes that exhibit so much energy, as
these in the Marutse-Mabunda kingdom. The various products of their
handicraft to be found throughout the country mark them out to a
student of comparative ethnology as people of a relatively high state
of culture, an inference which is further illustrated and confirmed
by their skill in boating, fishing, and other similar pursuits. Their
aptitude in manipulating metal, horn, bone, wood, or leather, augurs
well for their mental capacity, and they are very quick in receiving
instruction. Compared with the tribes south of the Zambesi it must be
confessed that their moral standard is low, but this proceeds so much
from their primitive ignorance, and from their long seclusion from the
outer world, and not, as is the case with the Hottentots, from wilful
and degraded corruption, that I do not hesitate to express my belief
that in this respect they will gradually show many signs of improvement.
Perhaps the evil which is most deeply rooted among them is their
superstition. In this they are far worse than most other South African
tribes, the Zulus and Matabele being hardly their match in this
respect. The effect of the vice is both demonstrated and aggravated by
the multitude of human lives that are sacrificed to its demands. The
royal house on the Zambesi is the very hot-bed of superstition; magic
is the pretext under which the worst of barbarities are perpetrated,
and the people, associating the enormities with the sovereigns who
sanction them, learn at once to dread and hate their rulers. To
deliver the people of the district from their superstitious credulity,
would be to remove the greatest hindrance that exists to their future
civilization.
Among the Marutse the king has a despotic power extending to the land
as well as to the population; until the time however of the present
ruler, whose rule is that of a tyrant, it has very rarely happened
that any king has stretched his right to interfere with private
property. During their own lifetime the reigning sovereigns appoint
their successors; these may be of either sex, provided they are born
of a Marutse mother--and women are especially welcome as sovereigns
among the northern tribes, on the presumption that they are less cruel
than men. Amongst the Bechuanas, who are more conservative in their
instincts, the eldest son of the principal wife is always recognized
as the rightful heir, and so strictly is this rule enforced, that
even if the king should die before the heir is born, the eldest son
of the widowed queen by another husband would still be held to be the
legitimate successor to the throne. In 1875 Sepopo appointed his little
daughter of six years of age to be queen at his own demise; by right
his eldest daughter Moquai should have been nominated, but as she had
been formally designated as the proper sovereign of the Mabundas, he
feared that she already had too many friends and supporters in that
district, to make it advisable for him to name her as successor to the
joint kingdom. The king’s principal wife is always called “the mother
of the country.”
The king holds the offices of chief doctor and chief magician, and
under the cloke of these two arts, he works upon the credulity of the
people by the most hideous crimes, being himself quite aware of the
hollowness of his pretences.
Large sources of revenue are open to the king of the Marutse people.
Besides his own extensive territories, which are cultivated partly
by colonies of subjects, and partly by the royal wives with their
staff of labourers, the direct taxes, which include contributions of
every article which a prince can require, yield an immense revenue.
As a consequence, moreover, of ivory and india-rubber, the staple
commodities of the country, being crown property, the king is the chief
merchant, and from time to time he makes large purchases of goods to
the amount of 3000_l._ to 5000_l._, which he gives away to
the people who reside near him, or to the chiefs or subjects who may
happen to visit him, always stipulating that any guns that may be
distributed shall be considered not given, but lent. Notwithstanding
his wealth, it will often happen that the king looks with a covetous
eye upon some property, perhaps a fine herd of cattle, belonging to
one of his more well-to-do subjects, and although he considers he has
a perfect right to it, he hardly likes to carry it off by force, but
proceeds to get the owner convicted of treason or witchcraft, and put
to death, after which he appropriates to himself the property he wants.
Quite undisputed is the king’s power to put to death, or to make a
slave of any one of his subjects in any way he chooses; he may take a
man’s wife simply by providing him with another wife as a substitute,
and he is quite at liberty to demand any children he may wish to devote
to the purposes of his magic. Reigning queens may choose any husband
they like, perfectly regardless of the consideration whether he is
married or not. It is high treason for any subject to retain possession
of an article that is either more handsome or more valuable than what
belongs to the king, and anything of exceptional quality, whether it
has been purchased from neighbouring tribes or from white men, or even
manufactured in the country, belongs to the king, or at least is free
for him to claim as a matter of course. I could not offer anybody a
present of anything the least unusual without finding it invariably
refused, the excuse being that no one dared to take for himself what he
was not quite sure that Sepopo already possessed.
In their style of building, as in other respects, the Marutse-Mabunda
people surpass most of the tribes south of the Zambesi. This remark,
however, applies only to the stationary tribes, and does not include
the temporary erections put up by those who come for hunting and
fishing, either on their own sites or in places marked out for them
by the chief or king; such structures are generally found on the
river-banks, or on wooded slopes, or in glades where game is likely
to resort; but the permanent settlements are scattered over the
kingdom, the larger towns being mainly in the Barotse country. The
houses in these established towns are as a general rule equally strong
and comfortable, and they have the advantage of being very quickly
constructed. It may be said that the material required is very
abundant, and most conveniently close at hand, but so it is in the case
of the tribes much farther south. The northern people are much more
adroit in turning their natural advantages to good account. No better
example is needed than that of New Sesheke to prove the rapidity of
their building-operations; nor can it be objected that their huts are
more liable to be burnt down than those of the Bechuana, Zulu, and
Hottentot races; the truth is that when any of these are destroyed,
they are so easily replaced that the damage is quite inappreciable.
The river-system of the Marutse district is just of the character, on
account of its extensive marsh-lands, to provide the inhabitants with
most admirable and productive sites for their settlements; all around
is an abundance of reeds for building purposes, wood for framework and
for laths, besides bast, palm-leaves for making ropes and twine, metal
for nails and bolts, and sand and clay for cement. Even if it should
happen that in any particular spot there should be a deficiency of any
one of these materials, the light canoes are so available, and the
natives so ready to assist one another, that the want is soon supplied.
The towns are built as close to the rivers as the annual inundations
will permit, and are generally surrounded by villages that are for
the most part tenanted by the vassal people, who till the fields and
tend the cattle of the masters who reside within the town itself. That
cleanliness is comparatively great, both in the settlements and amongst
the population, is probably to be attributed to the abundance of water
always at their command.
I observed that the Marutse themselves were always to be credited with
a more masterly style of workmanship than any of the servile tribes
around them and in their employ. They had three distinct classes of
buildings, one of a double concentric form, another cylindrical, and a
third long and low. That which I designate the concentric hut consists
of two compartments, the inner being the loftier and in shape like
the inferior half of a cone, the outside one considerably lower and
cylindrical in its form. The inner hut is covered by a low vaulted
roof of its own, over which is placed another roof, conical in its
design, and projecting five or six feet beyond the top of the outer
compartment, supported at its extremity by a series of upright posts
that form a shady verandah running round the whole. After the owner,
with the help of his vassals, has procured the materials, and prepared
the foundation by making a layer of level cement, the construction of
the edifice is left to the women. A royal residence is always built
by the royal wives. The circular sites upon which the structures are
reared vary from twenty to forty feet in circumference; round their
edge a trench is dug some ten or twelve inches deep and about five
inches wide, into which are planted loose bundles of strong reeds,
when the trench is filled up with soil again. To bind the loose reeds
together several palm-leaf cords are woven amongst them, and as these
are drawn tighter and tighter they have the effect of giving the
structure a conical form, arising from the tapering character of the
reeds themselves; these are then trimmed off evenly at a height of
about twelve feet from the ground, after which the outside, and not
unfrequently the inside also, is plastered over with cement. Meanwhile
a low conical roof has been woven by the men, which is placed in
position, and left to be cemented on by the women. The doorway, which
generally faces the entrance to the enclosure, is a semi-oval aperture
cut in the reeds, and finished off all round with a cement moulding.
This completes the inner compartment.
For the outer building the foundation is made in precisely the same
way; the trench is dug, but the reeds inserted are some two feet at
least shorter than before; in consequence however of this being the
wall which has to maintain the great burden of the roof, it is always
strengthened by a number of peeled stakes driven in firmly against
it at intervals of only a few inches apart, and when the whole has
been thoroughly cemented over on both sides, the material of which
it has been formed is quite undistinguishable. The doorway is cut so
as to correspond exactly with that of the inner compartment, and is
generally about six feet high and three feet wide. While the outer
wall, ordinarily from forty to sixty feet in circumference, is being
finished by the women, the men drive in the verandah-poles about a yard
or a yard and a half away, and then proceed to put together the upper
or principal roof, the lifting of which into position is the greatest
difficulty of the whole; the operation is effected by about fifty men
raising it from the ground by long levers and gradually getting it
supported all round on a number of short stakes; these stakes are then
replaced by longer ones, which in their turn are exchanged for others
yet longer, until the roof has been elevated by degrees to such a
height that its edge can be laid above the top of the inner roof; it is
then driven carefully onwards by main force until it properly covers
the two enclosures. The ends of the reeds have then to be clipped off
even all round the top of the verandah, after which the entire roof is
covered with a layer of last year’s grass five or six inches thick, and
bound over with a perfect network of palm-cord to make it firm against
the wind. Great pains are bestowed upon getting a smooth surface to the
cement, particularly where it is laid over the cornice of the inner
doorway, which not unfrequently is very delicately moulded. I was told
that the former royal residence in the Barotse valley had been very
prettily built.
Of the kind of houses that I have been describing the king has three
for his own use; they are surrounded by an oval fence, and form the
centre of several circles of homesteads, the nearest circle containing
eight residences for the queens, built in the Masupia style like ovens,
and accommodating two or three ladies apiece; beyond these are placed
the storehouse, the culinary offices, and the huts for the royal
musicians; the fourth and outer circle consisting of the huts for all
the servants of both sexes, and containing likewise the council-hall,
which is fitted up very much in European fashion. Ordinarily the chiefs
would have their abodes in a wide circle outside the court, but here in
New Sesheke, where the royal buildings are bounded on one side by the
river, the dwellings are arranged in a semicircle, the ground assigned
to each being very accurately marked out. For protection against wild
beasts the entrance to the king’s courtyard is closed every night by a
strong palisade of reeds.
The second kind of huts, which I have specified as the cylindrical,
are chiefly used by a branch tribe of the Marutse. If the walls of
these are cemented at all, it is only on the inside, and they are
rarely more than about eleven feet in diameter; their tops, however,
are occasionally decorated with ornaments made of wood, grass, or straw.
The other description of huts, the gabled, have a low doorway generally
in the middle, opposite the entrance to the courtyard, and their
reed-roof projects, so as to form an eave that serves to throw off the
rain. In the larger erections of this kind, the gable is supported by
stakes, and the interior is divided by matting into two apartments, the
larger being used for sleeping in, and the other as a reception-room.
Any enclosure larger than usual would often be found to contain two
of these huts. The more wealthy inhabitants sometimes have a detached
granary as well, and chiefs not unfrequently provide themselves with an
additional erection which serves as a consultation hall. As a general
rule the courtyards are oval, and the principal building exactly faces
the entrance.
I should say that two-thirds of the Marutse in Sesheke live in houses
such as I have here described, under their chief Maranzian. The huts of
the Mabunda people are in many respects not unlike them, but they are
shorter and broader, with flatter roofs, and the courtyards in which
they stand are quadrilateral instead of oval, composed of stakes about
six feet high, driven into the ground five feet or less apart, and
connected by a fence of reeds braced on to strong cross-poles.
Besides the three principal houses of the king’s residences, I noticed
within the enclosure three small huts, one of which served the double
purpose of bath-room and laboratory. It had a straw roof about two feet
in diameter, supported on thin stakes, and in the centre was a post
five feet high, covered all over with a most promiscuous collection
of articles; there were antelopes’ horns, bones, strings of coral,
calabash baskets of herbs, bags of poison used for executions, magical
instruments in great variety made of wood or ivory, scales of pangolins
and crocodiles, a number of snakes’ skins, and a lot of rags. The floor
was strewn with miscellaneous things of a similar character, and up in
the roof was a small medicine-chest, which had been a present from a
Portuguese trader. Several musical instruments were hanging against the
sides of the hut. An immense wooden tub was brought in every evening,
in which Sepopo took his bath.
In front of the laboratory-hut stood another, with a roof in the
form of a prism; this was devoted to the reception of any deformed
elephants’ tusks, and to the storing of the many vessels containing the
different charms employed by the king when he went out hunting.
Beyond this again was another hut, also with a prism-shaped roof
supported by the stem of a tree, where was deposited a collection of
elephants’ tails, trophies of the number of animals that had been
killed in the neighbourhood; it was also the place of security for a
large number of assegais, the finest and best made in the country.
Between the huts and the high reed fence there were several wooden
stands holding the clay vessels, and gourds containing the ordinary
hunting-charms; and whatever court I entered I never failed to notice
a branch of a tree or small dry stem planted in the ground, where the
master of the house hung the skulls of antelopes or the upper vertebræ
of the larger mammalia as trophies of his prowess. After a hunter’s
death these are always placed upon his grave.
While walking along the river side on the 26th, I saw a crocodile rise
from the river and snap at a man in a canoe. Fortunately he observed
his danger in time, and managed to save himself by leaping on to the
sandy bank.
During this day the king gave a Mabunda dance in my honour--a
performance of so objectionable a character that the negroes themselves
are quite conscious of its impropriety, and refuse to dance it except
in masks. In their ideas of music the Marutse-Mabundas seem to be
comparatively well advanced. It is quite true, indeed, that in the
skilful handling of their instruments they are surpassed by some of
the tribes on the east coast, who have more constant intercourse with
the Portuguese, and in singing they are not a match for the Matabele
Zulus; but here was the first instance that I found of a king with a
private band composed entirely of native _artistes_. Altogether
the band consisted of twenty men, but it was very rarely that more than
eight or ten of them performed at the same time, the rest being kept
in reserve for the night. There were several drummers among them, who
played with the palms of their hands or with their fingers upon long
conical or cylindrical kettle-drums, over which they walked astride, or
upon double drums in the shape of an hour-glass, which were suspended
from their necks by a strap. The principal instruments were the
myrimbas, or calabash pianos, which were carried in the same way as
the double-drums. The two royal zither-players very seldom performed
together. All the musicians were obliged to be singers as well, having
to screech out the king’s praises between the intervals in the music,
or to the muffled accompaniment of their instruments.
[Illustration: KISHI-DANCE.]
[Illustration: MASK OF A KISHI-DANCER.]
The band was never allowed to perform without express orders from
the king, but was required to hold itself in constant readiness;
its services were always brought into requisition on his entry into
the town, and whenever he honoured any public dances, weddings,
or other festivities with his presence. Besides the three kinds of
drums, the myrimbas, and the zither-like sylimbas, I noticed that
the orchestra included some stringed instruments made of the ribs
of fan-palms, as well as some iron bells, one sort being double and
without clappers, some rattles made of fruit shells, and various pipes
formed of ivory, wood, or reeds. The stringed instruments are used at
the elephant-dance, the bells at the kishi-dance, and the rattles at
weddings. On the occasion of the Masupia prophetic dance, the king
lends a number of hollow bottle-shaped gourd-shells filled with dry
seeds, which, when they are rattled, are exceedingly noisy. Rattles,
bells, and pipes, as well as guitars of a simple make, were to be
found amongst the ordinary population, but all the larger and more
elaborate instruments were confined to the royal band, consequently I
was unable to get hold of any proper specimen of this class of native
handicraft for my collection. In nearly all settlements small drums
are kept in the council-hut, and are beaten on the occasion of any
successful hunting-excursion, and at funerals.
The Marutse-Mabunda melodies are somewhat monotonous, but they are
very numerous, and are of a character that make it evident that a
little cultivation would soon effect a decided improvement in them.
Of course the ordinary manipulation of the different instruments is
purely mechanical; but amongst the king’s zither-players I observed two
grey-headed old men, who really displayed some amount of taste. As they
hummed I could hear that their voices were precisely in time with their
instruments, gradually sinking to a whisper in the _pianissimo_
part, and as gradually rising to a _forte_ when the tune required
it. Their performance was a pleasant contrast to the discordant shouts
of the head drummer, who strove to compete with the noise of his own
huge instrument.
There is one more instrument which I much regret to have met with in
the Marutse country at all, but which must not be omitted from the
enumeration. I allude to the war-drum. In the council-hall there were
four of these ghastly-looking objects. The skins were painted all over
with red, to represent blood, and they were filled with fragments of
dry flesh and bones, these bones being principally the toes and fingers
of the live children of distinguished parents, and supposed to be
amulets to protect the rising town of Sesheke from fire and sword, and
to guard the kingdom generally from assault and rapine.
Singing amongst the Marutse-Mabunda people is better than amongst
the Bechuanas, and may be said in many respects to equal that of the
Matabele Zulus, though still inferior in the great songs of war and
death.
The dance to which I have said the king invited me on the 26th was
called the kishi-dance, and is never performed except by the king’s
order. Its main object seems to be to inflame animal passion, and it
is danced by two men, one of whom is supposed to represent a woman, or
occasionally by two couples. The performers step forward from a group
of young people, who are all singing most vigorously, and clapping
their hands in time to the great tubular drums that are being sounded.
Having turned their faces towards the king, they commence a series of
gestures indicating, with many contortions, the advances of one party
coquettishly rejected by the other. The costumes being royal property
I failed to get possession of any of them. They consist of a mask
with a network attached to it, and a peculiar covering for the loins.
The masks, which are a _specialité_ in Mabunda handicraft, are
modelled by boys from clay and cow-dung, and painted with chalk and red
ochre. They are considerably larger than the head, completely covering
the neck. Altogether they bear a sort of resemblance to a helmet with
a vizor; small openings are left for the eyes and mouth, and sometimes
for the nose; upon the top are knobs adorned in the middle with an
ornament made from the tail of a striped gnu, and at the sides with
bunches of feathers; the _tout ensemble_ is not unlike that of a
gurgoyle. Attached to the head-piece, and covering the shoulders, is a
long, tight jacket of netted bast, with close-fitting sleeves. Gloves
and stockings of the same material are likewise worn. The performer
personating a woman wears a woollen skirt, reaching from the waist to
the ankles, over which is the skin of an animal hanging down before and
behind. The only distinction between the male and female mask is that
the ornament on the male is more elaborate, and that a wisp of straw
is twisted round the neck of the female. A steel girdle is worn round
the waist, to the back of which a number of small bells is attached,
keeping up a tinkling upon the slightest movement. The dance is
repeated in public almost every fortnight. It attracts a large number
of spectators at every performance, but children are not allowed to be
present.
On the 27th I saw some people of the Alumba tribe, who had their hair
dressed in a very peculiar fashion. Over the scalp it was divided into
four rows of tufts, nearly two and a half inches long, which were so
thickly plastered over with a mixture of grease and manganese that the
mass of the hair was completely embedded, and nothing left to appear
but the ends of the tufts. Some of the Marutse wore pangolin scales
round their necks, or pieces of a kind of tortoiseshell, with which
they are skilful in stanching blood. I was also shown a piece of wood,
which is a remedy for whooping-cough, being sucked by children with
good effect.
Sepopo made repeated visits to us, always accompanied by a number of
servants bringing great quantities of ivory, which he bartered with
Blockley for guns and ammunition. Whenever he was going to send his
hunters on an excursion, he always had the men into his residence
overnight, and gave them about a quart of gunpowder each, taking an
account of what he had done. Blockley made great complaints because
the king always required a present after every transaction. It was a
custom that Westbeech had introduced when he was the sole trader who
did business on the Zambesi, and could demand what terms he liked for
his goods; but now that other dealers had found their way to Sesheke
they were all completely in the king’s power; and the result of the
competition was to make them bid such high prices for the ivory that
they had good cause to grumble at the bad state of trade.
When I went to the king next day to consult him again about my journey,
I found that he had just had an altercation with Blockley, and was
consequently rather cross; but by interesting him in some of my
travelling experiences, I managed to put him into a good temper again,
and he began to show me my proper route, by drawing a map of the Upper
Zambesi and its affluents with his stick on the sand. He was much
pleased with the interest I took in his communications, and calling to
him two Manengos from the Upper Zambesi, who were passing through the
place, and who had several times traversed the country, he made them
also describe the localities; and to my satisfaction I found that their
delineations corresponded precisely with his.
Whatever I had that was new to Sepopo, he not only inquired of what
use it was, but almost invariably wanted to have it. He made a great
many inquiries about my compass. In order to explain its object I drew
a plan of the eastern hemisphere; and then pointing out Africa, showed
him the direction I took through the Bechuana countries.
I was invited to pay a visit to the royal kitchen, a department that
was under the superintendence of a woman, who had several assistants.
Everything was very clean, and the huge corn-bins were placed on
wooden stands in little separate huts made of matting and reeds. A
fire was kept continually burning on a low hearth in the courtyard, at
which, during the time of my visit, a servant was boiling a piece of
hippopotamus-flesh. The meat, which was nearly done, was afterwards
served on a large wooden dish, then cut up into fragments, placed upon
smaller dishes, and so sent in to the queen.
A messenger that evening arriving from Panda ma Tenka brought word
that Westbeech and another trader had arrived there from Shoshong,
and as I hoped to be off next morning, I sat up nearly all night to
work at my drawings. It was quite early when I was summoned to the
canoes which were to take me to Makumba’s landing-place, and then wait
for Westbeech. The passage down the river was just as pleasant as it
had been on the way up. I gave my chief attention to the different
varieties of birds, finding some interesting subjects for study in the
speckled black-and-white skimmers (_Rhynchopinæ_), with their
lower mandible much elongated, in the huge marabouts, and in the
fine kingfishers. The reeds were covered with snails, and the banks
literally perforated by crabs. Pools lay close together all along the
shore, the stream having fallen eighteen inches in the interval of the
few days since I had last passed over it.
[Illustration: ON THE SHORES OF THE ZAMBESI.]
We spent the night in a creek, starting off again betimes next morning.
The boatmen exerted themselves to their utmost, and our progress was
not much short of five miles an hour. On reaching Impalera I found that
Westbeech, with a considerable party, had arrived before me; they were
now on the point of starting to pay their respects to Sepopo. Their
waggons had been left at Panda ma Tenka.
Westbeech, who had married the daughter of a farmer in the Transvaal a
few months before, had his young wife with him, and was attended by his
clerk Bauren; Francis, the merchant who was travelling with him, had
likewise, according to his custom, brought his wife, who had already
done much to secure the respect both of the white residents and the
natives. They were accompanied by a distant relative named Oppenshaw,
who acted as Francis’s clerk. Besides Bauren, Westbeech had also
brought a man of the name of Walsh, who had formerly been a soldier,
and subsequently a gaoler in Cape Town; he was a proficient in the art
of preserving birds’-skins, and had come out to carry on business in
that way in the Zambesi district, under the arrangement that he was to
share his profits with Westbeech.
The two merchants were anxious to get their visit to Sepopo over as
quickly as possible that they might get back to Panda ma Tenka, and
start with their wives on a visit to the Victoria Falls. They had
brought with them all my correspondence, and I had welcome letters, not
only from home, but from various friends in the diamond-diggings. I
received about sixty newspapers, the broad white margins of which were
subsequently of great service to me, in the dearth of writing-paper;
amongst them was a copy of the _Diamond News_, containing my first
article on the subject of my present journey.
My own departure was somewhat delayed by Makumba’s absence from the
town; without his assistance I could not procure the bearers which,
after crossing the river, I should require to convey the articles that
I had collected in Sesheke, and the ivory which I had received from
Blockley as payment for my bullocks.
The passage across the river gave me no small amount of anxiety,
as independently of my uncertainty about getting bearers, I was
much concerned at finding a leak in the ferry-boat as large as my
fist, which threatened to do material injury to a good deal of my
property. Fortunately, however, on reaching the Leshumo valley I
again met Captains M’Leod and Fairly, the English officers, who most
considerately, during the time of their visit to Sepopo, allowed me the
use of their waggon to take me to Panda ma Tenka. I waited a little
while until the team could be fetched, and started off on the night of
the 3rd of September. As I went along I noticed that the burning of the
grass in the district had caused a diminution in the number of tsetse
fly, although the herbage was already beginning to sprout afresh.
When on the following day we reached the Gashuma Flat, we found
plenty of game still lurking in places where the grass had not been
burned. With the waggon were two horses that the English officers had
left in charge of a servant, who seemed to me unpardonably careless.
Notwithstanding my warnings, he would persist in riding on considerably
ahead. Approaching the baobab I told Pit and the driver to keep a sharp
look-out; I had a kind of presentiment that the horses might invite
an attack from the lion that was notoriously haunting the spot. We
had gone but a very short distance farther, when the driver called
out that he could see Captain M’Leod’s servant up in a tree and only
one horse beside him; another moment and his keen eye detected a lion
retreating to the bushes on our right; I was sitting on the box, and
almost immediately afterwards caught sight of the other horse lying
disembowelled on the ground, the few small wounds in the neck revealing
too clearly how the poor brute had met its end.
The servant’s tale was simple enough. About 300 yards from the tree he
had been attacked by the lion and thrown, whereupon the lion, taking
no notice of him, began the pursuit of his horse; the horse-cloth had
entangled itself in the horse’s legs, and the creature was quickly
overtaken and killed. The servant had betaken himself to the first
mapani-tree, where we found him. The other horse was grazing quietly
close at hand.
We all went some way in pursuit of the lion, but without success.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRIP TO THE VICTORIA FALLS.
Return to Panda ma Tenka--Theunissen’s desertion--Departure for
the falls--Orbeki-gazelles--Animal and vegetable life in the
fresh-water pools--Difficult travelling--First sight of the
falls--Our skerms--Characteristics of the falls--Their size and
splendour--Islands in the river-bed--Columns of vapour--Roar
of the water--The Zambesi below the falls--The formation of
the rocks--_Rencontre_ with baboons--A lion-hunt--The
Manansas--Their history and character--Their manners and
customs--Disposal of the dead--Ornaments and costume--The Albert
country--Back again.
On my arrival at Panda ma Tenka, I found Westbeech’s enclosure in a
state of great animation; several waggons were there, hosts of servants
were hurrying about in every direction, and certainly not less than
twenty dogs were yelping and running amongst them. Most unfortunately
for me the rain during my absence had made its way through the roof of
my waggon, and had done so much damage to the leather cases inside that
nearly all the dried insects, plants, and seeds that they contained
were spoiled. Some of the traders that I had seen here before were
seriously ill with fever, and a servant of Khame’s, who had been hired
by Africa, the hunter of whom I have already spoken, had been killed
by an elephant, a misadventure for which, on his return to Shoshong,
Africa found himself obliged to pay a fine of 50_l._ to the
Bamangwato king.
Westbeech and Bauren intended, after their visit to the Victoria Falls,
to stay three months at Sesheke; Blockley contemplated at the same time
doing some business with the Makalaka princes to the east of the falls,
Bradshaw being left meanwhile in charge at Panda ma Tenka to purchase
any ivory he could from the Madenassanas and Masarwas. Theunissen
at this time had quite enough to occupy him in preparing medicines
for the patients laid down with intermittent fever, while I, after
having been busy all day in completing my preparations for the Zambesi
expedition, spent the hours far into the night in answering my letters
and continuing my diary.
It was on the 10th that Westbeech and Francis came back; they each
brought about 50 lbs. of ivory, which Sepopo had sent as presents to
their wives. On their way they had killed thirty crocodiles and five
hippopotamuses. One of the latter had attacked them.
My temporary sojourn was full of anxiety and annoyance. Not only was
I harassed by my unsuccessful endeavours to procure bearers, but I
was called upon to sustain a disappointment, which I could not do
otherwise than feel very keenly. The report was brought to me by one of
the traders that Theunissen had made up his mind that he would go no
further, but that he should forthwith return to the south. I could not
believe it; he had always shown himself so staunch an ally, that I had
learnt to confide in him entirely; moreover, I had chosen him out of a
number of volunteers as being in every way the most reliable of them
all; and now to be told that just at the critical moment when most of
all I required a trustworthy associate he was going to forsake me, was
a thing that seemed incredible; but on referring to Theunissen himself,
I ascertained that the report was only too true.
To add to my difficulties Pit had begun to behave himself in various
ways so badly that I had been obliged to get rid of him.
Thus it was that on the very eve of what promised to be the fulfilment
of my long-cherished plan, my hopes appeared suddenly dashed to the
ground. I was utterly at a loss to know where I could apply for
bearers; alone and friendless as I was, I was not even in a position to
go and search for them in any of the native villages in the woods to
the east. My condition was altogether disheartening.
In my dilemma Westbeech and Francis most considerately came to my
assistance. Under the condition that I should first accompany them to
“the splendid falls,” they guaranteed to find me bearers enough amongst
the Manansas or Batokas that we should fall in with on our way. I felt
that I had no alternative but to accept their offer. Before starting I
engaged a man as my servant in the place of Pit; he was a Masupia, who
had come from the Zambesi to seek employment. I gave him the name of
“Elephant.”
As the Victoria Falls were fifty miles to the right of the route which
I had proposed taking, it was not part of my original scheme to visit
them at all; it was only the circumstances in which I found myself
that led me to undertake the journey, but I have since congratulated
myself very much upon the decision to which I came.
Leaving my waggon in the charge of Westbeech’s people, I started off
with my new friends. The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Westbeech,
Mr. and Mrs. Francis, Bauren, Oppenshaw, Walsh, and myself, besides
four Cape half-castes, my own Masupia servant, and twenty Makalakas
and Matabele, who were engaged as bearers, and carried our provisions,
cooking-apparatus, and wraps. We travelled in a couple of waggons as
far as the Gashuma Flat, the way thither being attractive and pleasant
for travellers. It was about three o’clock in the morning when we
reached the first pools on the plain, whence we altered our course,
which previously had been north-north-west, to east-north-east towards
the falls.
The next portion of our route lay through a district known to be
so much infested by the tsetse-fly, that we left our bullocks and
waggons, and proceeded in a cart drawn by six donkeys. We did not,
however, start until the 15th, waiting till we had put up a thoroughly
substantial fence around the waggons, because we had noticed a number
of lion-tracks in the neighbourhood. The plain was adorned with some
splendid fan-palms and dense palm-thickets. The grass had been nearly
all burnt down, but here and there, in patches where it had begun to
sprout again, pretty little orbeki-gazelles were lying in twos or fours
quite flat on the ground, and would suddenly start up at our approach
and bound away, turning round to gaze at us when they were at a safe
distance. Oppenshaw and I started off in pursuit of them, and were
induced to go a very considerable way from our party; we were obliged
to give up the chase as unsuccessful, and were making our way back,
when scarcely thirty yards in front of us, a pair of orbekis sprang
up. Oppenshaw fired at one of them as it was turning to look at us,
and broke its fore leg just above the ankle; it bounded away on three
legs; we fired again, but missed; the gazelle continued its flight, and
seemed likely to escape altogether, when a third shot from me caught
it on its side and brought it down. It died just as we got up to it,
and as we had no servants in attendance, we had to carry it in turns
for two hours under a burning sun, till we came to the spot where our
companions were camping in the wood.
In the course of the afternoon we went six miles farther, making
altogether an advance of thirteen miles in the day. Beyond the Gashuma
Flat and a sandy forest, we crossed four shallow valleys, and made our
camp for the night in a fifth, that in point of size was more important
than the others; all the spruits except the last two were dry and
overgrown with grass, the whole of them becoming deeper towards the
south-east, the direction which they took to join the Panda ma Tenka.
As we crossed the third of these valleys we saw a herd of giraffes,
about 600 yards away.
Between the Gashuma Flat and the place where we encamped we came across
the following sorts of game, or their traces:--Orbekis, rietbocks,
steinbocks, waterbocks, zulu-hartebeests, koodoos, giraffes, buffaloes,
elephants, and zebras.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ A TROOP OF GIRAFFES SURPRISED.
_Page 184._]
The little river beside which we were staying was called the
Checheta. At one part it rippled in narrow streamlets over stones, and
at another flowed through a reedy morass, where its clear waters formed
a deep broad pool. The soil of the valley was rich, and the grass in
some places as much as five feet high. These limpid pools in the upper
affluents of the Panda ma Tenka are some of the most interesting spots
in the hilly district around the Victoria Falls, and many an hour have
I spent by their side stretched upon the grass and investigating the
multiplied examples of animal and vegetable life beneath the glittering
surface, so clear that I could feel assured that no crocodile was
lurking below.
Nevertheless since the long grass on the borders of the South African
rivers is very frequently the resort of various animals of the feline
race, it is always advisable to throw a few stones into the middle of
it before venturing to enter; but this precaution taken, it may be
approached with security.
The pond that was closest to our encampment was thirty feet long and
twelve feet wide, its depth about six feet. It was fed by a tiny thread
of water scarcely three inches wide; its outlet in a reedy thicket
being somewhat wider. The water was as clear as crystal, so that every
object, even to the bottom, was plainly discernible. Half the pond,
or nearly so, was occupied by a network of delicate algæ,--here of a
light colour, there of a dark green--and everywhere assuming the most
fantastic forms. In some places it seemed to lie in strata one above
another like semi-transparent clouds in the azure depths; in the part
near the outflow it formed a dark labyrinth of grottoes; whilst on the
right it might seem to represent a ruined castle, so well defined was
the foundation from which rose the square watch-tower with its circular
turret, the tender weeds turning themselves into a Gothic doorway,
through which small fish kept darting to and fro. On the top of the
tower were some projecting growths, that kept up the similitude of
broken battlements.
Making a dark green background were the lower stems of the reeds that
rustled above the water, and in the open space between the water-weeds
and the margin of the pond rose the three spiral stalks of a large
flowering nymphœa, two of them throwing out their flat glossy leaves,
and the third a beautiful pale blue lily, that lay like a gleaming star
upon the surface of a crystal mirror. Besides the algæ that I have
described, there were others at the bottom of the pool, with their
lobulated and dentated leaves, rivalling ferns in the gracefulness of
their form.
At first this miniature plant-world appeared to lie in motionless
repose, and it was not until the eye grew quite accustomed to the scene
that it detected the gentle current that the streamlet made. Once
perceived, the effect was very charming; the reed-stems were seen to
vibrate and quiver with ever-varying degrees of motion, the fictitious
towers of algæ were observed to tremble without any disturbance to
their general outline; the very grottoes had the appearance of being
impelled forward by some secret force to seek admission to some other
pool. From the bottom of the water, plants with bright yellow blossoms
and serrated cryptogams, stretched up their heads as if they aspired to
share the honours of the water-lily, the acknowledged queen of all,
and longed, like her, to rock upon the bosom of the lake, to be greeted
by the sunbeams, to be refreshed by the morning dew, and sheltered by
the shades of night.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ AQUATIC LIFE IN A STILL POOL BY THE ZAMBESI.
_Page 187._]
Equally fascinating was the exhibition of animal life. In the more
open spaces where the range of vision was widest lay some dark-striped
fish not unlike perch, perfectly motionless except for the slight
vibration of the hinder fins; from the dim recesses of the algæ,
bearded sheat-fish would emerge, generally in pairs, and sometimes side
by side, sometimes one behind the other, would roll themselves in sport
from side to side; and far away right across the reeds by the opposite
bank stretched itself as though lifeless a yellow-mottled object, that
might at first have been mistaken for a snake, but which on further
scrutiny turned out to be a water-lizard biding its time to secure its
prey.
Nor were the lower orders of creation less fully represented.
Water-beetles and water-spiders abounded; the beetles were species of
_dytiscus_ and _hydrophilus_; the spiders were all activity,
some towing themselves up, some with glistening air-bubbles letting
themselves descend, and hastening to conceal themselves amidst the
intricacies and entanglements of the algæ. The larvæ of the beetles as
well as of the dragon-flies were clambering over the filaments of the
plants and the stems of the lilies like rope-dancers, whilst the pupæ
of the shore-flies were slowly emerging from their mummy-like cases.
The variety of the scene was infinite, and made one loth to turn away.
We went on the next morning across a great many small streams, the
valleys of which were covered with deep dark soil and generally much
overgrown; the streams appeared to flow in various directions, south,
south-east, south-west, but the whole of them, I imagine, ultimately
found their way into the Panda ma Tenka. The valleys were divided
from one another either by rocky hills or sandy woods. We saw traces
of koodoos, steinbocks, waterbocks, bushvaarks, and of a great many
elephants. In the after part of the day we came to a forest in a
somewhat more extensive valley, with side-valleys opening into it
on either hand. We made our camp for the night close to a perpetual
stream, that received the waters both of the main valley and its
branches, and was called the Matopa river by the Manansas who formerly
lived there. For three-quarters of its course it is a mountain-torrent
not more than twenty feet wide and from three to four feet in depth,
but towards its mouth, which is below the Victoria Falls, its width
materially increases.
On the following morning (September 7th) we left our encampment
betimes, in order to reach the falls the same day. All day long and
throughout the remainder of the trip, I had to get along in great
discomfort. In making provision for my longer journey I had reserved
all my good boots, and for immediate use had bought a pair of shoes
from a trader at Panda ma Tenka, but after two days wear they fell to
pieces, and I was obliged to fasten the fragments together by straps
bound round my feet, while, as if to make the difficulty more trying,
the road became extremely rough and thorny, and the rocks were heated
by the glowing sun.
Arriving at a point where the Matopa valley took a sudden turn to
the east, I became conscious of a dull heavy noise, as it might be
the rumbling of distant thunder. I was considerably in advance of
the others, as the condition of my feet induced me to get a good way
forward every now and then, so that I might have the benefit of a rest.
Being alone I had no one to explain the cause of the noise, but I was
not long in satisfying myself that it must be the roar of the famous
cataract. Several times, and in places where the passage was difficult,
the Matopa had to be crossed, but in spite of my suffering I kept
pushing on ahead, buoyed up by the prospect of a long rest afterwards.
I noticed some zebras running on the declivity of the left hand shore
in the direction of the cloud of vapour which I could now distinctly
see, and I came to the conclusion that it would be well to follow
them; they made for a wooded glen leading to the valley, and though of
course I could not overtake them I kept to their track. The farther
I went the more painful my feet became, until at last I took off the
soles of my shoes altogether and made my way barefoot. All day long I
had taken no food, and at four o’clock, after forcing my way through a
dense thicket, I began to feel very faint. By another effort I mounted
a hill, and scrambled through another thicket, when all at once I found
myself on the brink of the abyss, into which the seething waters were
rolling with a tremendous plunge. The impression of that scene can
never be effaced!
But glorious as was the spectacle, bodily exhaustion made me retire
from contemplating it. Crawling rather than walking, clinging to
bush after bush to save myself from falling, I made my way along the
river-bank in search of some wild fruit to sustain me. I had not gone
far before I spied out a fruit hanging down from a half-withered stem.
I threw up some stones and brought it down, and sure that its thin
yellow shell covered a sweet fleshy pulp, I greedily swallowed it, when
all at once it occurred to me that the seeds bore a great resemblance
to nux vomica; my fear was only too well founded, in a very few minutes
I was seized with a most violent sickness, and sunk powerless and
prostrate to the ground. It was some time before I could rouse myself
sufficiently to creep to the bank of the Zambesi, where I took a large
draught of the clear water, which revived me very considerably. To
attract the attention of my friends I fired off several shots, but
receiving no response had to resign myself to wait awhile.
After about half an hour I felt so far recovered that I ventured to
make a move, and had hardly proceeded more than fifty yards when I
saw one of our party coming in my direction. We returned together,
and before night set in we had chosen our position beneath three
wide-spreading trees, rather more than a quarter of a mile from the
river, and about half a mile from the falls, and proceeded to erect our
“skerms.”
Skerms is the name given to the screens that are put up every night for
protection against wild beasts. In districts infested by buffaloes,
elephants, or lions, travellers erect one or more of them according to
their numbers; they are semi-circular in form, and are made of stakes
six feet long driven firmly into the ground, after which branches
are twisted in amongst them; along the outer side a line of fires is
lighted, and the servants are made to sit up in turn and keep them from
going out. In our case we had four skerms, one enclosing a couple of
huts for the married folks, another for the four bachelors, a third for
the half-castes, whose dignity would not allow them to lie down with
Zulus and Makalakas, who consequently required a fourth for themselves.
The spot upon which we had fixed for our encampment was almost in
the centre of the real Zambesi valley, between the river and a sandy
wooded elevation of the ground, the slope of a high plateau and
mountain-system that runs more or less parallel to the stream from the
mouth of the Chobe. Along the river-side was a thicket of saro-palms,
and between these and the rising ground lay the valley proper,
overgrown with long grass, bushes, and trees, amidst which majestic
fan-palms and huge baobabs rose predominant.
In spite of the suffering which I continued to endure from the state
of my feet, I look upon the three days which I spent in the vicinity
of the falls as the most satisfying and enjoyable part of my sojourn
in South Africa. To my mind the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi are
one of the most imposing phenomena of the world. At many cataracts,
particularly at Niagara, our wonder is excited by the stupendous volume
of the plunging water; at others, by the altitude of the perpendicular
rocks over which the torrent is precipitated; but here our amazement is
aroused by the number of cascades and jets into which the down-rushing
stream is divided, as well as by the narrowness of the deep ravine into
which the raging waters are compressed. The width of the current below
the falls is but a thirteenth part of what it is above.
After flowing from west to east, the Zambesi here makes a sudden bend
to the south, so that the side on which we were stationed had become
the western shore. As the river below does not cover the full breadth
of the valley, it is quite practicable for a spectator to take his
stand almost anywhere at no great distance below the level of the shore
above, and so to view the cataract with his face turned to the north.
Unfortunately the constant dash of the spray renders the soil too
slippery to allow any one to approach the actual branch of the abyss
into which the waters are hurled, but many an effective point of view
is to be found within a few hundred yards of the cataract.
Let the reader then imagine himself to have taken his position upon
a spot facing a rugged dark brown rocky wall about 200 yards away,
rising 400 feet above its base, which is out of sight. Over the top of
this are dashing the waters of the Zambesi. About 100 yards from the
western bank he sees several islands adorned with tropical vegetation
in rich abundance; further on towards the eastern shore and close to
the edge of the abyss his eye will light upon nearly thirty bare brown
crags that divide the rushing stream into as many different channels.
To the left again, between the bright green islands and the western
shore, he will observe that the great wall of rock is considerably
lower, allowing a ponderous volume of water to rush impetuously as it
were into a corner, whence it is precipitated in a broad sheet into
the gulf below; beyond this and the next cascade he will see another
portion of the surface of the rock, and as he carries his eye along
he will be struck with admiration at the jutting peaks that stand out
in vivid contrast to the angry foam that seethes between them. The
countless jets and streams assume all colours and all forms; some are
bright and gleaming, some dark and sombre; some are wide and some
are narrow; but as they plunge impetuously into the depth below they
make up a spectacle that cannot fail to excite a sensation of mingled
astonishment and delight.
Of the jets of water some are so thin that they are dispersed before
they reach the lower flood, and bound up again in vapour; others are
from ten to fifteen feet in breadth; these dash down with tremendous
fury, their edges curled up and broken into angry foam and spray; the
largest streams, especially those that pour along from the eastern
shore, are caught by the jagged peaks and torn asunder, ending their
career by rolling over and over in cascades. In the diversity of the
forms the water takes, I believe that the beauty of the Victoria Falls
is quite unparalleled.
Nor does the magnificence of the view end with the prospect of the
giant waterfall itself. Let us raise our eyes towards the blue horizon;
another glorious spectacle awaits us. Stretching far away in the
distance are the numerous islands with which the river-bed is studded,
the gorgeous verdure of their fan-palms and saro-palms standing out in
striking contrast to the subdued azure of the hills behind. All around
them, furnishing a deep blue bordering, lies the expanse of the mighty
stream that moves so placidly and silently that at first it might seem
to be without movement at all; but gradually as it proceeds it acquires
a sensible increase in velocity, till checked by the rocky ridge that
impedes its flow, it gathers up its force to take its mighty plunge
into the deep abyss. Especially beautiful are the islands immediately
at the edge of the falls; they are overgrown with palms, aloes, and
creepers, and surrounded on three sides by the surging water. As
Livingstone had bestowed the name of “Victoria” on the falls in honour
of his sovereign, I ventured to call the adjacent hill-district by that
of “the Albert Country,” and to designate the various islands after the
royal princes and princesses of England.
Not less striking is the effect when we turn towards the chasm or rocky
trough that receives the rolling flood. The rock on which we stand is
rich with varied vegetation; gigantic sycamores and mimosas on the
verge of the declivity, taller than the loftiest poplars, afford a
welcome shade, their wondrous crowns of foliage springing from the
topmost section of the stem and spreading wide their grateful canopy.
Creepers as thick as one’s arm, sometimes straight, sometimes spiral,
clamber up to the elevated tree-tops, and make a playground where the
apes can sport and exhibit their antics to the spectators concealed
from them below. Palm-bushes and ferns contribute to the charm of the
scene; the soil is an elastic carpet of moss, adorned at intervals with
tiny flowers, or, where the naked rock reveals itself near the brink,
interspersed with dark green algæ, singly or in clumps, some small
as a pea, some of the size of an egg, lying loosely on its surface.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ THE VICTORIA FALLS. _Page 194._]
In a large measure this peculiar vegetation owes its existence to the
perpetual fall of spray from the cataract; from every separate cascade
clouds of vapour incessantly ascend to such a height that they may be
seen for fifty miles away; at one moment they are so dense that they
completely block out the view of anything beyond; another moment and a
gust of wind will waft them all aside, and leave nothing more than a
thin transparent veil; as the density of this increases or diminishes,
the islands that lie upon the farther side will seem alternately to
recede or advance like visions in a fairy scene.
The effects at sunrise and at sunset are incomparably fine. Arched
rainbows play over and amidst the vapoury wreaths, and display the
brightness of their hues. The movement of the spray is attended by
a suppressed hissing, which, however, is only audible when the wind
carries off the deafening roar that rises from the bottom of the
abyss. I do not know that it would be absolutely impossible to make
one’s way through the bushy thickets to the very edge of the precipice
and so to look down to the base of the cataract, but certainly it is
not visible from any of the best standpoints for viewing the general
scene. The incessant roar that rises from the mighty trough below
fills the air for miles around with a rolling as of thunder; to hear
it and not see from whence it comes never ceases to be bewildering;
the seething waters before us crash against the crags; we find the
ground beneath our feet tremble as though there were some convulsion
in a subterranean cave beneath; we become every moment more conscious
of a desire to witness the origin of the strange commotion; it is hard
to suppress the sense of nervousness; no infernal crater in which the
elements were all at strife could produce a more thrilling throb of
nature! Truly it is a scene in which a man may well become aware of his
own insignificance!
There is still another direction in which it remains for us to look.
We have yet to make our wondering inspection of the great ravine into
which the water in its massive volume is precipitated. That huge ravine
is a long zigzag. At first it proceeds for 300 yards due south; it then
makes an angle and runs for 1000 yards to the west-south-west; again
it turns for 1100 yards to the south-east, and thus it continues to
vary its direction. Except where deep chines break in, too precipitous
to be crossed, it is not difficult to walk along the edge and to see
how perpetually the rugged walls of rock present some fresh diversity
of form; at one time they are absolutely perpendicular as though they
had been hewn by a mason’s hand, at the next turn they slope like the
glacis of a gloomy rampart, and then suddenly they assume the aspect
of a huge garden-wall dotted over with clusters of green and crimson
in striking contrast with the dull brown ground. Every here and there
particles of earth containing the seeds of aloes have been carried
into the clefts of the rock, and, nourished by the fertilizing matter
already there, have germinated and thriven admirably, as their fine
trusses of bloom are present to testify; meanwhile their own seeds
are ripening, destined to be conveyed on the bosom of the stream to
districts far away, where they may flourish on an unaccustomed soil.
There are places in which the cliffs take the formation of horizontal
ledges of bare rock alternating with belts of thriving vegetation;
in other parts, notably upon the western shore, may be observed a
luxuriant growth of foliage that extends half-way down the surface or
occasionally right to the edge of the stream, covering also the sides
of the numerous chines that pierce the rocky mass, and afford an outlet
for the accumulated rain.
But while I thus describe the general character of the scenery along
the entire course of the zigzag, I would not have it overlooked
that its peculiar attractiveness arises from the great diversity of
conformation which it perpetually presents. This I hope may be better
appreciated if I depict one or two of the reaches of the ravine more in
detail.
The first short reach on the right or western shore, below the falls
and close to them, is hemmed in at first by a perpendicular wall of
rock, which, after receding so as almost to form a creek, suddenly juts
out into a promontory against which the full torrent of the gathered
waters breaks with all its vehemence. The opposite shore upon the
eastern side is a range of rocky heights connected with the mainland
beyond; upward from its base for about a third of its height it is
naked and precipitous, but all above are terraces richly clad with
tropical vegetation; its ragged peaks are very striking, and as often
as I contemplated it I could not help associating it with the idea I
had formed of the hanging gardens of Semiramis.
Between the second and third longer reaches is a short arm, midway in
which there rises a huge projection, steep as any of the rocks around,
but consisting of enormous blocks piled one above another; on the
north, on the south, and on the east it is lashed by the torrent of
the stream; on the west it stands detached from the mainland by a deep
dry gully. Upon this isolated eminence, rearing itself to an altitude
of 300 feet, not a leaf is to be seen; Flora and all her progeny have
been utterly banished from its inhospitable soil, but it bids defiance
to the flood: for thousands of years the elements have wreaked their
fury on its mass; lightnings have burst upon its summit; Æolus and all
his crew have spent their efforts upon its sides; floods of water, that
deadliest foe to all the strongholds of earth, have done their utmost
to sap its foundations; but yet it stands immovable; it holds its dry
valley inviolate, and imperiously bids the rushing stream to seek
another channel.
Nor can the waters of the torrent itself fail to arrest our attention
as they tear along, with the speed of an arrow, through the deep
ravine. The channel along which they flow gradually narrows to about a
third of its original width, and the very compression gives intensity
to the current, which strikes against one impediment only to gather
fresh impetus for dashing against another. The billows roll over the
boulders that project above the surface of the flood, or they part
asunder as they come in contact with some jutting promontory that
impedes their course; but though centuries elapse, they avail not to
displace the rocky walls by which they are confined, nor to wear down
the barriers by which they are opposed.
It was a subject of much regret to me that our stay could not be
prolonged beyond three days. Adequately to explore all the features of
the cataract, to visit the islands, and to investigate the character
of the opposite shore would be the work of weeks, if not of months;
and I am quite resolved that if ever I return to the Victoria Falls my
visit shall not be hurried, and I hope that no such drawback as arose
from the painful condition of my feet will again interfere to mar my
enjoyment of the magnificent scene.
On one of the days that we stayed, I and my servant had a
_rencontre_ with a herd of baboons. We caught sight of them in
one of the glens or chines which I have mentioned, and to which I
afterwards assigned the name of “the baboon glen.” They were on the
farther side, and being anxious to obtain a specimen of their skulls,
I fired and killed one baboon; but, unfortunately for me, the creature
fell into the river. At my second shot I wounded two more. This induced
the right wing of the herd to retreat; but the main body kept their
ground, and the left flank, moreover, assumed the aggressive, and
commenced pelting us so vigorously with stones, that, remembering that
I had only one cartridge left, I considered it far more prudent to
withdraw than to run the risk of a hand-to-hand encounter. Accordingly
we retired, most ignominiously defeated.
Some of the Batokas who resided upon the farther shore, under the
dominion of their chief Mochuri, came over to us in their canoes,
bringing goats, kaffir-corn beer, and beans for sale. I afterwards met
one of them again at Sesheke; he was a sub-chieftain, and a relation
of Mochuri’s. Sepopo, supposing that I had never seen a Batoka before,
introduced him to me; I recognized the man at once, but he took care
not to show that he knew me, as he was conscious of having bought guns
of us in direct contravention of the king’s commands, an offence for
which he was liable to the sentence of death.
Whilst I was engaged in completing my cartographical survey of the
falls, I came across several herds of grazing pallahs. The Cape
servants succeeded in shooting one of the graceful creatures, which are
the most common of all the antelopes of the Zambesi.
On the evening before our departure we had an adventure with a lion,
which terminated in a way that was somewhat amusing. I had returned
from an expedition to the falls, and was followed by Walsh, who was
coming back from one of his bird-hunts; he came in rather excited,
declaring that in crossing a meadow on his way towards the river,
he had seen a lion. The spot which he described was only about
three-quarters of a mile away, and it did not require a very long
consultation before we resolved forthwith to commence a lion-hunt.
I confess I was not a little concerned when I heard that the ladies
proposed to accompany us; but my objections were soon overruled, Mrs.
Francis urging that she had already seen several lions killed, and Mrs.
Westbeech, the bride of a few months, insisting that her husband should
not go without her.
[Illustration:
_Vol. II._ THE LION EXPECTED. _Page 201._]
The greater part of the Zambesi valley is thickly wooded, but as I
have described, there are occasional tracts of meadow, almost bare
of trees, bordered towards the stream by hedges of saro-palms. It had
been in coming over one of these that Walsh had seen the lion spring
from behind a tree, and disappear into the palm-thicket. On reaching
the tree we found another tree close beside it, only about fifteen feet
high, against the stem of which a pyramidal ant-hill had been erected.
We lost little time in making our arrangements; we divided into four
detachments, the first including Westbeech, Francis, Walsh, and myself;
the second, Oppenshaw, Bauren, and two of the Cape servants; the third,
two more Cape servants, and two Matabele with guns; whilst the fourth
was made up of the rest of the servants, who were armed with assegais,
kiris, and sticks. The three former detachments were to march upon
the thicket from opposite directions; the fourth was to remain at a
distance outside to give warning of any movement they should see.
Hardly had we gone ten yards towards the assault, when the ladies’
voices brought us to a stand; they had come to the conclusion that they
were unsafe beneath the tree, and requested their husbands to help them
on to the top of the ant-hill.
Again we started, proceeding very slowly and with much caution. Just
as we got within a few feet of the palm-bushes we were startled by
a tremendous roar, sonorous enough to try the nerves of the most
experienced hunter, and to make him realize the essential difference
between a _felis leo_ and a _felis domestica_. The hero of
the forest was so close to Francis, that it might easily have pounced
upon him before we could render any assistance.
We stood still and gazed upon the bush, but no lion could be seen. Some
one suggested it might be prudent to retire a little, and everybody
seemed ready enough to act upon the suggestion; accordingly, with our
guns cocked and our eyes fixed upon the spot from which the roar had
proceeded, we stepped gradually backwards; still no signs of the lion;
we resolved to fire, but we fired in vain; we determined to set light
to the bush, but all to no purpose; the lion had escaped.
On turning round to look for the other detachments, we discovered that
the sound of the roaring had thrown them into a state of dismay; some
of them had disappeared entirely; the whole of the fourth company had
climbed up into the trees.
Just at this moment our attention was arrested by another cry from
the ladies; the wind had fanned the flames of the bushes to which we
had set light, and the smoke was driving so densely towards them that
they were in danger of being choked; we soon rescued them from their
unpleasant situation, and were all but agreed to give up the chase, and
to go back again to our camp.
Westbeech, however, made the proposition that the hunt should be
continued higher up the river; he was an experienced and daring hunter,
and perhaps was a little anxious to exhibit his capabilities to his
young wife. In order to carry out the proposal, it would be necessary
to cross the meadow over which Walsh had been passing when he first saw
the lion. After some hesitation it was settled that the party should
undertake a second chase, with the exception of Mrs. Westbeech, who
was left in charge of some of the Matabele servants, who were quite
content to undertake so pleasant a part of the enterprise.
But although we crossed the meadow, we did not arrive at the bushes;
startled by a cry of distress we looked back, but no trace of Mrs.
Westbeech could be seen. Our amazement was great; Westbeech himself was
the first to recover his composure, and started back with all speed
to ascertain what had happened; we followed after, but what was our
surprise, when all at once we found that he too had disappeared! We did
not notice that the Matabele were in fits of laughter, nor for a while
could we understand what Francis, who had run on some way in front,
could mean when he turned round and threw his gun upon the grass before
our feet, and bade us stop. In another moment Westbeech emerged from
under ground, and directly afterwards Mrs. Westbeech reappeared after
the same fashion. The explanation of the mystery was not hard to find.
The natives had dug pitfall after pitfall to catch game; having no
guns, they make great holes in the ground, sometimes ten or twelve feet
long and nearly as many deep, so much narrower at the top than at the
bottom, that it is impossible for any animals to get out when once in.
Into one of these Mrs. Westbeech had had the mischance to fall, and Mr.
Westbeech, in his eagerness, had run into another.
Beyond a few scratches, the lady happily had sustained no injury, but
the _contretemps_ naturally had the effect of making us abandon
all further thought of the chase.
As for the lion, we were informed by some Batokas who came to visit us
as usual in the evening, that it was quite true that one was lurking
in the neighbourhood; but it was so accustomed to human beings that it
gave no cause for anxiety, and the natives were not afraid to pass it,
even at night.
Before quitting the vicinity of the Victoria Falls, I may say a few
words about the Manansas, the native tribe that is to be found in
various parts of what I call the Albert country, and who formerly
possessed a kingdom of their own.
The Manansas occupy the hill-country south of the falls, a district
that although it may belong by right to the Bamangwatos is always
claimed by the Matabele rulers, the inhabitants themselves being
invariably the greatest sufferers by the contention. The Bamangwatos
ordinarily call them Masarwas, although the two tribes have really
nothing in common. They cultivate sheltered spots in the valleys, or
pass their lives in hunting without any settled place of residence.
When oppressed by the Bamangwatos they take refuge with the Matabele,
and when persecuted by the Matabele, they seek protection under the
Bamangwatos; or if, as sometimes happens, there seems no way of escape,
they submit themselves in the most abject and servile manner to their
conquerors. Thus it comes to pass that the Albert country is a sort of
debateable land, and it follows that the Bamangwatos are perpetually
claiming the Manansas for their vassals, although the Manansas do not
actually render them any vassal-service.
Until the year 1838 they had their own independent kingdom that
extended as far south as the western Makalakas, and a long way up the
Uguay and Kwebu rivers. The kingdom was governed by “a great chief,”
who made every sacrifice he could to come to reasonable terms with
the encroaching Matabele. But the time came when the bloodthirsty
Moselikatze, a very tiger amongst men, having ruined the Makalaka
empire and half devoured the Mashonas, proceeded to annihilate the
Manansas also. No credence had he to give to the conciliating proposals
of the good honest chief; as a Matabele he was quite incapable of
putting faith in any promise, or appreciating any right feeling; he was
sure that some ulterior motive lurked behind the proposals that were
made, and that the chief was only temporizing while his forces were
collecting; and so he overpowered him in his own courtyard, pierced him
with assegais, tore out his heart, pressed it to the still quivering
lips, and shrieked aloud, “You had two hearts; one was false, and you
shall eat it!”
Practically this victory and deed of Moselikatze put an end to the
Manansas as a nation. Most of the boys were carried off to be trained
as Matabele warriors, while of the men who escaped some took refuge
with Sepopo, some with the Batoka chief Mochuri to the north, and
others with Wankie, the ruler of the north-eastern Makalakas.
While I was in daily intercourse with them, I made repeated inquiries
as to whether they had now any recognized chief, but I had great
difficulty in getting a definite reply. They always appeared to suspect
me; and any one of whom I asked the question seemed to fear that I
wanted to put his name down in my “lungalo” (book) in order to betray
him to the Matabele king. At length, however, they acknowledged that
they all, wherever they might be, owned allegiance to the son of their
basely-murdered chief, who had been permitted with a small number
of their tribe to settle on a piece of land in the eastern quarter
of Wankie’s territory. On my expressing my wonder that they did not
all go and join him instead of staying where they were to be worried
like dogs, they replied that this was their own country; and I learnt
that like the Bushmen of the south they regarded with affection and
reverence the wooded heights and pleasant valleys where they first saw
the light of day.
In many of their customs the Manansas differ from other South African
tribes. Like the Marutse, they treat their women in a way that offers
a very favourable contrast to either the Bechuanas or the Matabele.
They have a somewhat peculiar mode of wooing; when a young man has
been captivated by a maiden of his tribe and has ascertained that he
has secured her affection in return--an assurance for which neither
Bechuana nor Zulu thinks it necessary to wait--he sends an aged woman
to carry the proposal that she should become his wife; this agent is
commissioned to portray the young man in glowing colours, to extol the
excellence of his temper, to praise his skill in procuring “nyama”
(game), to describe the productiveness of his garden, and to enumerate
the skins with which he has made his bed soft and comfortable.
Hereupon a family council is held; the father, mother, and daughter
all have a voice, and if no objection is alleged, the old woman is
sent away with the message that the suitor may be admitted. When he
enters the hut he must never fail to bring a present; until quite
recently this was nearly always a valuable skin of a rare monkey,
but since the introduction of beads into the country they have been
used as a substitute, and a handful of small blue beads is now the
usual offering; when this has been accepted, the girl is at liberty
to speak to the man, and is held to have pledged herself to him as
his wife. There is an entire absence of those hideous orgies which
characterize both the betrothal and marriage ceremonies among other
South African tribes, and nothing transpires beyond this simple form
before the marriage is deemed to be settled. The next step is for the
parents every night to vacate their own hut and retire to another in
the courtyard, leaving their usual abode for a week or two at the
service of the newly-wedded pair. Every morning the bridegroom goes
out to his work, and the parents reoccupy their proper dwelling for
the day. Meanwhile the young man continues to acknowledge every favour
by repeated gifts of beads; even the ablutions of the morning are
recompensed in this way; but at the end of a fortnight or thereabouts,
the son-in-law brings the father-in-law either four couples of goats,
or eight rows (about 2 lbs.) of beads, whereupon they set to work to
build a hut--or two if there were not one already in the possession of
the bridegroom--which henceforward he makes his home.
Any breach of conjugal fidelity was, I understood, extremely rare; on
the part of the husband indeed it was quite unheard of; the Manansas
in this respect being superior to the more cultivated Marutse, amongst
whom the demoralizing system of “mulekow” drives the wives into
unfaithfulness even against their will.
When any woman is near her confinement a host of the old women in the
neighbourhood come to her house. Their first business is to remove the
husband’s gun or assegai into his other hut, or if it should happen,
which is rarely the case, that he has not a second, into the hut of one
of his neighbours; he is then prohibited from entering the sick chamber
for a period of eight days; at the end of that time he is conducted by
the bevy of old nurses back to the hut, where he finds his wife and
infant, washed in warm water, ready to receive him. The visit, however,
which he is thus allowed to make is only temporary; he is not permitted
to take up his quarters in his home permanently for another month.
Altogether the cleanliness that prevails throughout is a great contrast
to the filthiness and impurity of the Hottentots and Makalakas.
When any one dies, his burial takes place in the evening near his own
enclosure, the grave, if the soil permits it, being dug to the depth
of five feet. An adult is wrapped in his mantle of skins and his
assegai is buried with him. The interment is conducted in silence that
is broken only by the sobs of the women. Should the deceased be the
master of a household all his effects are collected on the day after
the funeral, and in the presence of the entire population the eldest
son comes forward to take formal possession. If there be a failure of
legitimate heirs, some near relative or close friend is appointed, who
takes the property and the name of the deceased.
As a general rule it may be said that the Manansas are of middle height
and slightly built, but it is somewhat difficult for a traveller to
distinguish them, as since the dismemberment of their country they
have become very much crossed with the fugitive Matongas and Masupias,
and with the tribes north of the Zambesi. Their complexion is dark
brown; their heads are small, and they have mild-looking eyes and thick
lips.
In their more palmy days their ornaments had probably been more
elaborate; but I noticed that the lower classes wore bracelets and
ankle-rings of gnu or giraffe-hide, and sometimes of iron wire. Their
earrings, always simple in form, were mostly made of some better
material. For clothing the men usually had nothing more than a bit of
calico about the size of one’s hand, and only rarely was a skin of
some small animal fastened round their loins; the women wore a short
petticoat of tanned leather.
As servants the Manansas are to be preferred to any other of the South
African tribes. I found them remarkably skilful in tracking game, their
quiet, cautious method of proceeding often proving more effectual than
greater dash and daring. As far also as my experience went, I must say
that they are civil and beyond the average for honesty and fidelity.
By the more powerful tribes they are regarded with great contempt,
and laughed at as “the simpletons of the north,” but nothing worse
seems to be alleged against them than their habitual courtesy and
good-nature--qualities which, since the Matabele rule has spread from
the Limpopo to the Zambesi--have become synonymous with hypocrisy and
cowardice. Not content with murder and rapine, the savagery of the
Matabele Zulus has gone far to stifle every noble impulse, and to cast
mistrust over every friendly word.
Whenever the Manansas are being pursued, and find themselves cut off
from every prospect of escape, they will stop, turn round, and advance
towards their adversaries with the points of their assegais lowered,
and as soon as they come near their conquerors they will lay down their
weapons, squat upon the ground, and wait until the enemy has done his
worst. During the time when Moshesh was the Bamangwato king, they
could generally manage to appease him and stay his acts of oppression
by gifts of ivory; but Moselikatze carried off their boys and a great
number of their women, while the present Matabele despot commissioned
his hordes to plunder everything upon which they could lay their hands.
It is only when they have been put in charge of some white man whom the
missionaries have introduced as a person of importance to be protected
as far as the falls, that orders are given to refrain from robbery or
violence. Such, for instance, was the case when Major S. was escorted
through the district in 1875; the object of the king in such cases
being that the traveller should have no tales of cruelty to tell “the
great white queen” of England on his return.
I used to talk to a Manansa who was hired every year by one of the
traders, and appeared to be above the level of his fellow-tribesmen in
intelligence. Happening to say something about the cowardice imputed to
his race, I saw him shake his head and smile. “No,” he replied, “we are
not timid pallahs, nor ever have been; but we love our village life
and our hunting; we catch our game in pits and not by arms; we give up
our elephants’ tusks to the remorseless Matabele; we show them where to
hunt the elephants; let them hunt as they will; we want not the blood
of the beasts, much less do we thirst for the blood of men!”
It had been a Manansa custom, after the death of a king, for the men to
meet together and conduct the heir to the royal residence; then they
brought a handful of sand and small stones from the Zambesi, and a
hammer; these they gave him as tokens of his sovereignty over the land
and over water and iron, symbolizing industry and labour. At the same
time they reminded him of the obligation that rested upon him that from
the day of his accession to the throne he was to eat the flesh neither
of the rhinoceros nor the hippopotamus, as these being “mischievous”
animals, would be likely to impart their own evil qualities to him.
Even regarded as unassociated with the magnificence of the Victoria
Falls, the Albert country, with its wooded rocks and grassy valleys,
is undoubtedly one of the most attractive districts in the whole of
South Africa. Intersected by the Zambesi, it is bounded by the sandy
pool plateau on the south, and extends as far as the mouth of the
Chobe on the west. Geologist, botanist, mineralogist, all alike must
find it full of interest. Except the springbock, blessbock, and black
gnu, all the larger kinds of mammalia are to be seen that Southern and
Central Africa can show. Reptiles are numerous, and crocodiles haunt
the banks and troubled waters of the remotest mountain streams. Insects
of various sorts abound, the lepidoptera especially exhibiting new
species. Let proper means be taken to exterminate the tsetse-fly, and
to guard against the prevalence of summer fever, and the rich soil and
mild climate of the valleys would be found amply to repay a liberal
cultivation, and would yield a profitable return of tropical produce.
It was by a slightly different route that we made our way back to
Panda ma Tenka. On the Matopa river our servants shot a wild pig; and
a little further up the valley some of our people discovered a dead
elephant. Their attention was caught by a disgusting smell, which they
thought they recognized; and pushing into the bushes they found the
carcase of a huge male elephant, dead from gunshot wounds. The adjacent
flesh had been gnawed by lions, and one of the blacks declared that
he saw a lion making off as we approached. Westbeech and Francis took
possession of the ivory, leaving the carcase to the servants who had
smelt it out. They cut off the feet, intending to carry them off as a
dainty for their next meal, but the stench of them was so intolerable
that we soon made them throw their tit-bit away. When cooked fresh the
fleshy substance enclosed beneath the tough skin of the elephant’s foot
is accounted as choice a morsel as a bear’s paw, but it is the only
fragment of the brute that is in any way suited for human food.
So sore did my feet continue that it was with the greatest difficulty
that I dragged myself along. The ladies, as they had done on the way
out, walked the greater part of the distance between the falls and the
Gashuma Flat; and apart from my own trouble, the whole of us were in
perfect health when, on the 24th of September, we reached Panda ma
Tenka. There I found two Matongas and a Manansa on the look-out for
employment. I engaged them at once, and Westbeech and Francis did their
best to assist me in procuring what was requisite for my start again to
the Leshumo valley.
[Illustration: ENCOUNTER WITH A TIGER.]
CHAPTER IX.
SECOND VISIT TO THE MARUTSE KINGDOM.
Departure for Impalera--A Masupia funeral--Sepopo’s
wives--Travelling plans--Flora and fauna of the Sesheke
woods--Arrival of a caravan--A fishing-excursion--Mashoku,
the king’s executioner--Masangu--The prophetic dance--Visit
from the queens--Blacksmith’s bellows--Crocodiles and
crocodile-tackle--The Mankoë--Constitution and officials
of the Marutse kingdom--A royal elephant-hunt--Excursion
to the woods--A buffalo-hunt--Chasing a lioness--The lion
dance--Mashukulumbe at Sepopo’s court--Moquai, the king’s
daughter--Marriage festivities.
[Illustration: HUNTING THE SPUR-WINGED GOOSE.]
When I found myself once again sitting in my waggon at Panda ma Tenka,
I occupied myself in writing my journal, but I was altogether much
dispirited and out of sorts, the continued pain in my feet tending in
no slight degree to aggravate my sense of depression. I was temporarily
cheered by the companionship of my good dog Niger, who returned to me
after having been left behind at the falls; but I felt very keenly the
prospect of soon losing him altogether for a time; I was unwilling
to expose him to the attacks of the tsetse-fly, and accordingly had
arranged for my Bamangwato servant, Meriko, to take him back with him
to Shoshong and confide him to the care of Mr. Mackenzie. Could I have
foreseen that I was parting with the creature finally, I would not have
suffered him to leave my side; I paid Meriko well to attend to him, and
took care that he had a proper supply of provisions, but unfortunately
it turned out that Mr. Mackenzie was away from home; poor Niger was
entrusted to a waggon-driver in the employ of Messrs. Francis and
Clark, who just then was starting for Grahamstown, and from that time
forward, notwithstanding all my inquiries, I never could ascertain what
became of him.
By this time I had come almost to the end of the stock of goods that I
had procured for bartering; it was absolutely necessary that the supply
should be replenished, and in spite of the exorbitant prices that were
asked I had no alternative but to buy what calico, cloth, and beads I
could.
On the 27th I had an attack of dysentery, which happily did not prove
very serious.
During my stay I made the acquaintance of a man named Henry W., who
came from the neighbourhood of Grahamstown; he was an experienced
hunter, but somehow or other I could not take to him; I could not get
over the barbarities which he permitted during his excursions. On one
occasion, after wounding a female elephant that had been pursuing him,
he allowed his servants to torture it for a couple of hours with their
assegais before he put the poor brute out of its miseries by shooting
it dead.
Although there had been no rain in the district for several months,
the two days before we left Panda ma Tenka were wet and stormy. When
we started we made but a very short progress on the first day, as my
baggage proved too heavy for the cart, and I was obliged to halt and
send back for a waggon; this did not arrive until the afternoon of the
following day, but we lost no time in moving forwards again, and spent
the night on the Gashuma Flat. Our encampment was an attraction to
several lions that prowled around, ready to pounce upon any animal that
might be scared from the enclosure.
Three out of my four servants spoke as many different dialects,
Sesupia, Setonga, and Senansa, but they all understood the
Sesuto-Serotse, so that from the chatter which they kept up I was able
to pick up a number of colloquial expressions.
A short distance before we reached Saddler’s Pan, one of Westbeech’s
servants had a narrow escape; having seen some zulu-hartebeests grazing
a little way off, he approached them by degrees, and was about to
fire when he found himself almost within the clutches of a lion that
was watching the very same herd. He was glad enough to make a timely
retreat.
Late in the evening of the 4th of October, all safe and sound we
reached the Leshumo valley. Next morning I sent my servants forward
to the Chobe, and as Westbeech had placed the eight donkeys at my
disposal, they took the greater part of my baggage. I myself followed
on later in the day, and on my way fell in with two English traders
named Brown and Cross, who were pleased to see me; they were returning
from a fruitless visit made in the hope of seeing Sepopo; they told me
that they had been fortunate enough to kill two magnificent lions, one
of them a full-grown male of the maneless species.
I found sixteen boatmen waiting my arrival at the Chobe, and next
morning Sepopo sent six more; they were to take both Westbeech’s
goods and mine to Sesheke, where the king was very anxious to inspect
everything, having been already informed that Westbeech had brought a
considerable number of elephant-guns. I should have been quite ready
to cross the river that same morning, but the wind was too high for
the passage to be attempted prudently; setting aside the prospect of
being capsized, which would have been sufficiently unpleasant, there
was the risk of falling a victim to the numerous crocodiles. I myself
subsequently witnessed some casualties of this kind at Sesheke.
Strolling about, I observed that the poisonous mushungulu-tree was now
in full bloom, covered with large crimson blossoms. On my way back from
my ramble my attention was arrested by a succession of gun-shots, which
I was told were part of a funeral ceremony that was then taking place.
A Masupia was being buried, and on an open space between two trees,
about 400 yards from the settlement, I saw a dozen or more men running
about wildly and letting off their guns, shouting aloud during every
interval between their shots: under one of the trees a number of people
were sitting drinking beer, and under the other tree was the grave that
had been just closed in.
The Masupias are accustomed to make their graves six or seven feet deep
and two feet wide, and to bury with the deceased his coat, his mattock,
and other weapons; a little corn is likewise thrown into the grave. The
friends always spend the rest of the day at the place of interment, and
if the buried man has been wealthy a large quantity of meat is consumed
as well as the beer. The shouting and running about and the discharge
of the guns are supposed to scare away the evil spirits from the spot.
I asked one of the bystanders how the person just buried had come by
his death; he only raised his eyes to signify that it was all owing to
Molemo.
In the course of the day some of the people brought in a quantity of
the flesh of a hippopotamus that they had killed; they considered it
quite a young animal, but its teeth were full ten inches long.
In the conveyance of my baggage to Makumba’s landing-place I was
assisted by a brother of the chief’s, named Ramusokotan; he resided
some miles further up the left bank of the Chobe, and was entrusted
with the duty of guarding the lower course of the river. On my way to
the landing-place I saw several pallah-gazelles, being twice so close
to them that I could observe all their movements.
The Zambesi was lower than I had seen it before. As we crossed it we
had a narrow escape of being upset by a hippopotamus, another of the
three animals of which Blockley had killed the largest on our previous
voyage to Sesheke. Remembering the spot, we were trying to pass along
as quietly as possible, when Westbeech’s boatmen felt a sudden jerk at
one of the paddles close under their canoe; the creature was probably
startled for the instant, and allowed the boat to proceed without
attacking it; the next moment, however, it made a furious dash towards
my boat, which was following close behind. But my men had fortunately
been put on their guard by the cries of Westbeech’s crew, and made so
vigorous a spurt that when the head of the hippopotamus emerged from
the water, it was several yards in the rear.
On arriving at Sesheke I was informed that I was at liberty, if I
liked, to occupy one of the new huts just erected by the king, but I
preferred accepting Westbeech’s invitation to take up my quarters in
his own courtyard, where Blockley also had put up a small warehouse for
himself. My first greeting from the king was that I had been too long
coming, that I was too late now, and that he could not keep his Marutse
men waiting for me; but I went to see him in the afternoon, and took
him a variety of little presents, which seemed to put him in a very
much better temper, and he was evidently pleased when I tried to speak
a few sentences to him in the Sesuto-Serotse language.
It was getting towards evening when Blockley called me out of my hut
to witness a curious scene. The king was receiving a visit from his
wives who resided in the Barotse valley, and from his daughter Moquai,
the Mabunda queen; they were arriving with about forty canoes, those
occupied by the royal ladies being covered in the middle by a mat to
protect them from the sun and rain. Many of the canoes had thirteen
oarsmen, who all rowed standing, such of them as did not convey
passengers being laden not only with great mats, pots, and provisions
for the way, but with baskets full of presents for the king.
[Illustration: KING SEPOPO.]
I called the next morning upon Captain M’Leod, Captain Fairly, and
Cowley, whom the king had accommodated in a round hut near the royal
enclosure; they were full of complaints because Sepopo persisted in
putting off the great elephant-hunt for which they had come the
second time. I also went with Westbeech to pay my respects to the
newly-arrived queens, most of whom he had already seen in the Barotse
valley. Amongst them was the chief wife, Mokena, or “mother of the
country.” Altogether I made acquaintance with sixteen of the wives.
Sepopo’s favourite was a Makololo named Lunga. The third wife was
Marishwati, the mother of Kaika, already nominated as the future
heiress to the throne. The fourth wife was named Makaloe; the fifth,
Uesi; the sixth, Liapaleng; then came Makkapelo, on whose account
two men were put to death in 1874; next in order were Mantaralucha,
Manatwa, Sybamba, and Kacindo. The twelfth was called Molechy; this
wife, as well as another named Sitan, had been all but drowned by
Sepopo for faithlessness.
A seducer of any of the royal wives is at once handed over to the
executioner’s assistants, with the instruction that he is “to be sent
to fetch buffalo-meat for the king,” meaning that he is to be taken to
the woods, and there assegaied. The mode of dealing with an adulterous
wife may be illustrated by Sepopo’s proceedings with Sitan. He ordered
a number of canoes full of people to push off into the middle of the
stream, taking his place in one of them with the culprit. He then had
her bound hand and foot, and ducked under the water repeatedly until
she became insensible; on her recovering consciousness, he asked her
to tell the people how she liked being drowned, and warned her that if
ever her offence should be repeated, he should simply put her under
water, and leave her there.
The fourteenth wife was Silala, and there were two others, but both
of these had been presented by the king to two of his chiefs. The
true heir to the throne had died two years previously. His name was
Maritella, and he was the son of Marishwati. Just before his death he
was lying on his bed, and complained of being thirsty, whereupon the
Barotse chieftain, who happened to be present, poured him out some
drink from a pitcher standing by; the lad died very soon afterwards,
and Sepopo immediately accused the chieftain of having poisoned him,
and condemned him, in spite of his being universally beloved by his
people, to be poisoned himself.
The king’s daughter, Moquai, had married Manengo, one of the few
Makololos who had survived the general massacre. The king of the
Makololos, Sepopo informed me, had died a miserable death, his body
having become a mass of ulcers, and after his demise the whole tribe
had been distracted by party squabbles.
I was determined to give the king no peace on the subject of my
journey, and on the 12th I had a long conference with him and the
Portuguese. He told me that although I might make up my mind to
stay only two days at each of the towns in the Barotse, the whole
boat-journey through his kingdom could not take me less than two
months, and that after I had reached the kingdom of the Iwan-yoe, where
I should find the sources of the Zambesi, I should have to go on for
about another nine weeks to get to Matimbundu.
I went more than once to visit the queens, and always found that they
were treated with great respect, their quarters being nearly always
surrounded by residents patiently waiting their turn to be admitted to
an audience.
On the 14th I received a visit from a dancer. The calves of his legs
were covered with bells made of fruit-shells, and his dancing consisted
of little more than shaking himself so that the bells were all set in
motion.
Amongst the other inmates of Sepopo’s court was a Mambari named
Kolintshintshi, who held the office of royal tailor; he had been taken
prisoner during one of the raids of the Marutse to the west; two
companions who had been captured at the same time had been restored
to their home after receiving a liberal present of cattle, whilst
Kolintshintshi had been detained.
During the time that I was delayed at Sesheke I took several
opportunities of rambling into the surrounding woods, and found a
number of trees and bushes that were quite new to me, whilst a great
proportion of the kinds that I had already seen in the Bechuana forests
appeared here to attain double the height that they did elsewhere.
Four-footed game was very plentiful, and I noticed a hartebeest with
flat compressed horns, different from any kind with which I was
acquainted. Birds, likewise, seemed tolerably numerous, and I found a
singular kind of bee-eater (_Merops Nubicus_), a grey medium-sized
hornbill, the great plotus, and two species of spurred plovers with
yellow wattles.
Returning from a walk I came across one of the caravans that arrive
from the more distant parts of the kingdom, bringing in the periodical
tribute for the king. It consisted of about thirty people, but very
often a caravan of this kind will include considerably more, because
whether the men come voluntarily, or under the compulsion of a chief,
they are always obliged to bring their whole households with them. On
making their entry into Sesheke the party was arranged mainly with
regard to the stature of the people who composed it; a leader went in
front, carrying nothing but his weapons and a great bell, which he
continued ringing without intermission; following him were the men
laden with the elephants’ tusks, the manza-roots, and the baskets of
fruit that composed the tribute; then came the women in charge of the
travelling-apparatus and provisions, the children all trudging on
behind.
On the 19th Westbeech, Bauren, Walsh, and myself made up a party to
go and fish in one of the lagoons. We arranged to go two and two in
separate boats, but we were so unlucky in our choice that we soon
found that we were in perpetual danger of losing our equilibrium, and
had to return and exchange into craft of safer dimensions. We had
an opportunity during our excursion to observe the way in which the
Marutse and Masupias manipulate their nets. Made of bast, with meshes
that are somewhat wide, each net is cast out with its ends secured
to two boats, which are stationed at a distance from each other, and
manned by four oarsmen apiece; when the net is sunk the two boats are
made to approach each other at the same point upon the shore where the
net is drawn up; the fish are stupified by being knocked with kiris,
and then brought to land.
We were witnesses on our way back of a scene that was anything but
pleasing. Some girls had been bathing in a creek, and one of them had
stolen some beads belonging to another. On discovering that she had
been robbed, the owner of the beads fell upon the unfortunate thief,
and belaboured her so savagely with the reeds that she tore from the
stream, that the culprit fell down and sued for mercy. A man who
was standing near attempted to interfere, but nothing could pacify
the anger of the infuriated girl; she persisted in administering
chastisement, and was not deterred from her violence till she had
actually snatched off the leather apron from the victim’s loins.
The same evening I was again invited to supper with the king. On this
occasion an episode took place which unfortunately was by no means
rare in Sepopo’s court, and which serves to illustrate his habitual
cruelty. It was about an hour after sundown, and there was no lack
of merriment in the royal enclosure. The king was sitting in his
usual fashion--crossed-legged upon a mat. The wives whose turn it was
to entertain him were on his right. On his left was spread another
mat for myself, his nephew, and his immediate attendants. The rest
of the company were arranged opposite to him, in a semicircle. The
intervening space was left free for Matungulu, the royal cup-bearer, to
dispense the honey-beer, a beverage peculiarly belonging to the court;
all honey, as crown property, being sent to the royal kitchen. Men,
moreover, are sent out to collect it by the aid of the honey-cuckoo,
their expeditions frequently lasting several days. The king took a
little draught of the beer, and handed the remainder to Lunga, his
favourite wife, with a remark universally supposed to be so witty,
that the whole assemblage, according to etiquette, burst into roars
of laughter. Meanwhile one of the inferior chiefs took advantage of
the noise to approach the king; and, clapping his hands gently without
cessation as he spoke, said: “There was a man in my village, my lord
king, too weak in his legs to hunt polocholo (game). It has pleased
Nyamba (the great god) that all his wives should die; so that he can
no longer procure any mabele (corn). This man has now come to settle
here with you in Sesheke; but he is old, very old, and his relations
are far away in the Barotse.” Sepopo nodded to signify that he quite
understood the story. While he had been listening, his eye had again
and again glanced towards a distant quarter, where the general crowd
were gathered; and when the chief ceased to speak, the king cried out
“Mashoku!” In an instant the executioner hastened towards him and
received his commission to take care that the old man should no longer
be permitted to be a burden to the neighbourhood.
Throughout the kingdom no one was more feared or more hated than the
executioner Mashoku. He was a Mabunda; but the peculiar aptitude he
had shown for his office had induced the king to raise him to the rank
of a chieftain. He was over six feet high, and of a massive build;
so ill-shaped, however, was his head, and so repulsive his cast of
countenance, that I could never do otherwise than associate him in my
mind with a hyæna.
Nothing could be more odious than the way in which Mashoku received his
orders. Crawling up on all fours to the royal presence, he grinned
with satisfaction at the instructions he received. He kept clapping his
hands softly while he was attending; and having taken a sip from the
goblet offered him by his royal master, he crawled back to his former
place. The king was in high good humour; and after a few more jokes,
retired to his bedchamber, whilst the band played their usual serenade
from their adjacent hut.
Only too faithfully was the king’s sentence carried out next morning.
Before it was light, five men wended their way towards the old man’s
hut, one of whom, Mashoku himself, went in and seized his victim
by the leg. Quite incapable of making any resistance, the poor man
trembled like a leaf. He was dragged off to the river-side, and there
thrust into a canoe that was lying in readiness. A few strokes of the
paddle brought it into midstream; and while three of the assistant
executioners kept it steady, Mashoku and the other man lifted the
helpless creature by the shoulders and legs, and held him in the water.
A gurgling noise, a few bubbles on the surface of the stream, and all
was over. The body was hauled back into the boat, to be thrown into the
water again at a spot near the bank where the king’s scavengers always
flung their refuse to the crocodiles.
Such is an example of the summary way in which Sepopo would dispose
of the friendless and infirm; and as the number of strangers that
gathered round the king at Sesheke was considerable, executions of
this kind were more frequent than in many other places. Under certain
rulers--such for instance as Sepopo’s grandfather, who was much
respected by the people--these cruelties fall into disuse, nor are
they often practised when a queen holds the reins of government.
Next day I paid a visit to Masangu, to whom, as being responsible
for the control of the guns distributed to the king’s vassals, I
have already given the designation of governor of the arsenal. He
was likewise superintendent of all the native smiths. I found him
employed in repairing a gun, for which he was using hammers, chisels,
pincers, and bellows, all of his own making, and of the most perfect
construction that I had yet seen in South Africa.
He asked me whether I had ever seen the Masupias dance, and drew my
attention to the sound of the drums in the royal courtyard. On hearing
that I had never been present when any dancing was going forward, he
invited me to go with him to the performance that was then about to
commence.
All the inhabitants of the Marutse kingdom are fond of dancing, most
of the tribes appearing to adopt a style peculiar to themselves. In
common with the Bechuanas they have a dance which is performed by girls
on reaching the age of maturity. This is repeated day after day for
weeks at a time, and, accompanied by singing and castanet playing, is
sometimes kept up till midnight, and is supposed to answer the design
of uniting the girls of the same age and born in the same neighbourhood
in a bond of friendship. There are also betrothal dances and elephant
dances, at which a great quantity of butshuala is consumed, the
ill-effects of which soon become apparent. On these occasions the
instruments of fan-palm are beaten very rapidly with reeds, the time
being marked by striking gloves of steel, or bells without clappers.
Besides these, again, there are the lion and leopard dances, which
are performed by hunters returning from successful expeditions, in
conjunction with the villagers, who go out to meet them. In an elephant
dance the king himself occasionally takes a part, as likewise in the
mokoro, or boat dance.
[Illustration: THE PROPHETIC DANCE OF THE MASUPIAS.]
That to which Masangu now invited me to accompany him was known as
“the prophetic dance.” It was one of several juggleries peculiar to
the Masupia tribe. The largest drums of the royal band are brought
out, and while they are beaten about thirty performers stand round,
singing and clapping their hands with all their might. Two men then
commence dancing in the middle of the open space, and continue their
performances for hours together, sometimes from sunrise to sunset, till
they sink down almost in a state of exhaustion. In this condition they
have to deliver their prophecies about any royal hunt or raid that may
be coming off. As a general rule these predictions are favourable,
and the dancers are rewarded with presents of beads or calico; but if
the event should belie the anticipation, they take good care to keep
themselves out of the way, to escape the chastisement that would be
sure to fall to their lot.
The two Masupia dancers that I saw had their heads, arms, and loins
fantastically adorned with the tails of gnus and zebras. The dance
itself seemed to consist principally in hopping from one foot to
another, varied by the performers occasionally laying themselves flat
on the ground, at one time falling suddenly, at another sinking so
gradually that no joint appeared to stir, although the head was kept
in a perpetual agitation. Attached to the calves of the legs were
little bells and a number of gourd-shells, which acted as rattles;
and when the dance is executed in their own homes, the Masupias very
often introduce some conjuring tricks, one of which consists in giving
a tremendous gash to the tongue, from which flows a stream of blood:
but the tongue is immediately afterwards exhibited, and shown to have
sustained no injury.
After having devoted some days to a general examination of the fish in
the Zambesi, I took an opportunity to make a more precise investigation
of several varieties, applying my attention particularly to the
sheat-fish (_Glanis siluris_), which, however, I could not
discover differed in any respect from the same species in the more
southern rivers, except that it was of a somewhat darker colour. We set
some ground-lines in places that appeared to be free from crocodiles,
and were successful in getting a very fair haul.
A loud clamour of women’s voices that broke the silence of the night
was explained to me to betoken that a Marutse had just died in the
village of Katan, a chief on the west. This was followed in the morning
by the discharge of guns, indicating that the deceased was being buried.
In the course of that day the king sent a boat to convey Blockley and
Bauren to Impalera, to enable them to start on their trading-expedition
to the territory of the Makololo prince Wankie. The offer, however,
of a single boat to carry a white man, several servants, and all the
merchandise, was regarded by Blockley as little less than an insult,
and did not tend to heal the unpleasantness which Sepopo’s recent want
of courtesy and consideration had provoked. He was not long in visiting
our quarters again, coming not only with his full band, but attended by
a company of 120 servants, that completely filled our courtyard, his
design evidently being to make us sensible how thoroughly we were in
his power.
[Illustration: VISIT OF THE QUEENS.]
Sepopo had hardly taken his departure, and I had seated myself to
finish some sketches that I had begun, when twelve of his queens
pushed into my hut. They had heard that I had taken the likenesses of
the king and his executioner, and were not only very curious to see
them, but anxious to learn how they were done. In their eagerness
to handle everything, I almost thought they would squeeze the breath
out of my body; one of them took hold of my pencil, several of them
felt the surface of my paper, whilst those behind, who could not see,
pushed those in front, till their breasts pressed against my shoulders.
Certainly they were more obtrusive in their behaviour than any of the
Bechuana or Zulu women that I had elsewhere seen. When the royal ladies
entered, one of our black servants, who was in the hut, prepared to
leave, but knowing the jealous disposition of the king, I thought it
advisable to make him remain where he was.
My guests remained with me for about half an hour, when they betook
themselves to the small warehouse next door, and began to pester
Westbeech very much as they had pestered me. As soon as they had gone,
I hung a mat over my doorway, leaving only aperture enough to admit
a little light, but the expedient was an utter failure; I had taken
much too moderate an estimate of woman’s curiosity. Almost immediately
afterwards one voice was heard, “Sikurumela mo’ ndu” (a curtain is hung
up), followed by another, “Nyaka chajo” (doctor gone out), and two of
the queens were inside, much disconcerted, no doubt, at finding the
doctor at home.
Altogether, I consider the Marutse to be the cleanest of all the South
African tribes that I came across. Although there are but few shallow
sandy spots in the river near the larger settlements, and even these
are dangerous on account of the crocodiles, the people will not allow
themselves to be deprived of their bath; if the stream is deep or the
bank precipitous, they pour the water over their heads. Washing is to
them an absolute necessity, and they rinse their mouths and clean their
hands after every meal.
I made an excursion on the 23rd to the plain known as Blockley’s kraal,
and there saw some puku, letshwe, and water-antelopes. The plain lies
under water during the floods; but at its edge, close to the woods, I
noticed a number of fields under cultivation; women and children were
digging, and men were felling trees, the clearance they made being an
enlargement of their master’s estate. On my way back I saw several
homesteads already finished, and close beside them some rude, conical
huts of grass and reeds, so slightly put together that they could have
taken only a few hours to construct. They were intended for the female
slaves, and were not allowed to have any enclosure, so that the ingress
and egress of their occupants might be under supervision.
Going into a hut next day I found a Mambari doing blacksmiths’ work
with some tools that Masangu had lent him; he was sharpening mattocks,
and kept his fire alive by means of a pair of the bellows that are in
ordinary use among the Marutse. These bellows were somewhat peculiar,
and may claim a detailed description. They had two compartments, formed
of circular boards covered with leather, and with an aperture in the
sides; these were alternately raised and lowered by handles, the air
being forced into two wooden tubes that ran parallel to each other into
the two compartments; fixed into the ends of the wooden tubes were two
shorter tubes made of antelopes’ horns, but these, instead of running
parallel, converged in front, and met in a clay nozzle, which was
applied to the fire.
I was taking an afternoon stroll along the river-side, when I saw a
crowd of natives manifestly in great excitement; it appeared that the
body of a girl, who had been killed by a crocodile a few days before,
had just been washed ashore. Crocodiles have the habit of drowning
human beings, or any animals that they are unable to swallow, by
holding them down at the bottom of the water until the cessation of
all struggling seems to make them aware that no resistance is to be
expected, when they open their jaws and let free their prey. Unless
one crocodile is assisted by another, it cannot by itself tear a fresh
corpse in pieces; but it has to wait until the process of decomposition
sets in, when the gaseous exhalations raise it to the surface in a
condition that permits it to be torn asunder and devoured piecemeal.
If a crocodile’s attention should be attracted by a fish, or anything
else that seems fit for food, it will forsake its larger prey in the
day-time, but only to return to it in the evening. I was told by Sepopo
and by many of his people, that these reptiles are more dangerous near
Sesheke than in most other parts of the kingdom. Shortly before my
arrival a man had been dragged by one of them from his boat, and a boy
of six years of age had been snapped up while bathing; and during my
stay I heard of no less than thirty deaths that were attributed to the
rapacity of these creatures.
Small crocodiles are occasionally caught by accident in the
fishing-nets; the larger ones have to be captured by an arrangement of
great hooks. The crocodile-tackle is very ingenious, and probably may
be more easily understood from an illustration than from any verbal
description. The bait which conceals the hook is covered by a net,
which is attached to a strong bast rope more than twelve feet long by a
number of twisted bast threads, the other end of the rope being wound
round a bundle of reeds that serves as a float. It is only now and then
when the casualties have been unusually numerous that the king gives
orders for the tackle to be brought into use, and then the bundle of
reeds is laid upon the bank; the hook is generally baited with a piece
of putrified dog’s flesh, of which the Marutse believe the crocodile
to be especially fond, and is supported on a tripod of reeds, three
or four feet above the water, and almost close to its edge. After a
crocodile has scented the bait, it usually hovers round it for a long
time, sometimes until late in the evening, before it makes a snap at
it; but when it attempts to swallow it, the projecting points of the
hook prevent the closing of the jaws, and the water rushing into the
throat and windpipe makes the brute sink to the bottom, where it soon
becomes exhausted; its carcase floats down the stream, either towards
the shore or against a sandbank, its position being indicated by the
float which it drags after it. Two or three crocodiles have been
repeatedly known to be taken in this way during a single night from the
setting of five hooks. Except they are found alive on the hook, or are
accidentally wounded by fishermen or hunters, they are never speared.
Crocodile-snares, like fishing-nets, are all royal property.
On one occasion, when the hooks had been baited overnight, I went down
to the river to ascertain the result, and met three large canoes with
two men apiece, each of them conveying the carcase of a crocodile big
enough to contain a human body. As soon as the carcases were brought to
shore, some of Sepopo’s people proceeded to cut off their heads; the
eyelids, the coverings of the nostrils, and a few of the scales from
the ridge of the back were reserved for the king, to be used as charms.
I did what I could to induce the crowd that had found the body of the
poor girl to have it buried, but my pleading was to no purpose; her
relatives declared that it was Nyambe’s will that the crocodile should
seize her, and therefore the crocodile must be allowed to have her. The
body was accordingly left to be devoured at sunset.
Queen Lunga took an opportunity of calling upon me, to introduce her
daughter Nyama. She was a girl of fourteen, and had just been married
to Sepopo’s eldest son, Monalula, who was half an idiot. Before the
wedding she had been sent to reside with her mother and some other of
the royal wives in a retired hut in a neighbouring wood, where she was
made to fast, and to spend her time in working and in learning her
domestic duties; her hair meanwhile had been all shaved off, except an
oval patch that was rubbed with manganese. Nyama’s father was Sekeletu,
the Makololo prince.
In one of my next rambles through the woods, I came upon a little
Mankoë settlement. The people were perhaps the finest men in the
Marutse empire. They had long, woolly hair, which they combed up
high, giving their heads the effect of being larger than they
really were. Their purpose in coming to Sesheke was to assist the
king in his projected great hunting-excursion. I noticed that their
travelling-utensils of horn and wood were ornamented with carvings
scarcely inferior in execution to those of the Mabundas. The four huts
in which they were residing were about seven feet in height, and the
same in width, and were arranged in the shape of a horseshoe. On my
way back I saw several graves of Masupia chieftains, all adorned with
ivory; I likewise noticed some calabashes, with sticks thrust right
through them, resting mouth downwards on a small ant-hill, and filled
with pulverized bone. They were supposed by the Marutse to bring rain.
From a conversation with Sepopo I gathered some information about
the constitution of the country and the ranks of the officials. The
hierarchy may be divided into four classes; first, the officers of
state; secondly, the koshi or viceroys of the tribes in the different
provinces; thirdly, the kosanas or makosanas, sub-chieftains who serve
under the koshi; and lastly, the personal attendants of the king, whose
rank may be said to be intermediate between the two latter classes.
The officers of state were, first, the commander-in-chief, who in
Sepopo’s time was a Marutse relation of his named Kapella, and whom
he afterwards condemned to death; secondly, there was the controller
of the arsenal, having, as I have explained, the supervision of the
ammunition and guns distributed to the vassals, an office that under
Sepopo was shared by two Masupias, Masango and Ramakocan; next there
was the captain of the body-guard, a post then held by Sepopo’s cousin,
Monalula, but whose services were only required in time of war; and
fourthly, the captain of the younger warriors, who had the command of
a special division of the army during a campaign; this office was at
present held by a man named Sibendi.
The second class of officials includes all the governors of the more
important provinces. They are invested with both civil and military
powers. In some of the more extensive districts, as the Barotse, there
are several of these chiefs appointed, but they are all subordinate
to the one who is chosen to reside at the principal town, and in all
cases they are accountable to the head governor of the Barotse, who is
regarded as ranking next to the king. In Sepopo’s time this office was
filled by Inkambella.
Officials of the third grade were such as held control as
deputy-viceroys over separate towns or small villages where
cattle-breeding, hunting, or fishing, was carried on in behalf of the
king. Their principal duty was to look to the proper payment of the
royal tribute; the contribution of cereal products was ordinarily sent
to the koshi, who were responsible for forwarding it to the sovereign.
It is the law of the land that when a vassal kills a head of game,
and even when a freeman slaughters any of his own cattle, the breast
must be given to the kosana, or must be sent to the koshi if he should
happen to be in the neighbourhood, or must be reserved for the king
himself when the royal residence is within reach. The law likewise
demands that all matters of importance should be submitted at once to
the deputies, who refer them to their superiors to transmit, if need
be, to the king himself.
Dignitaries of what I have called the fourth class comprise what may
be designated as the king’s privy-council. Nominally they are reputed
to rank below the koshi, but practically the monarch holds them as
their superiors; they include the state executioner, five or six
private physicians, the royal cup-bearer, one or two detectives, the
superintendent of the fishermen, and the overseer of the canoes. There
was likewise a kind of council belonging to Moquai. Although the king
had virtually withdrawn the sovereignty from his daughter, the Mabunda
people persisted in regarding her as their proper ruler, and she was
allowed to retain her court-retinue, of whom her husband, Manengo, was
the head; she had moreover a chancellor and a captain of the guard,
both of whom were appointed viceroys in her dominions. I myself made
the acquaintance of Sambe, her premier, as well as of several of her
chiefs, Nubiana a Marutse, Moquele, Mokoro, and two Masupias, Monamori
and Simalumba.
Sepopo had both a privy-council and a general council. Under a queen
a privy-council has no existence at all, and in Sepopo’s hands it was
entirely his tool, composed of men as cruel as himself. Nor in his time
was the general council itself, made up mainly of state officials,
much better than a farce; whatever decisions it might arrive at, and
whatever sentences it might pass, were completely overruled in the
other chamber. Besides the state officials the larger council always
included any chiefs or subordinate governors who might be resident near
the royal quarters.
Although Sepopo had several times changed his residence he had
hitherto generally succeeded in getting a council fairly amenable to
his authority; recently, however, his barbarities, and especially
the wholesale way in which he was putting people to death upon the
slightest pretext, had brought about a spirit of dissatisfaction.
Conscious of the growing opposition, the king proceeded to yet greater
severity in his dealings, and condemned a number of the leading
counsellors, both of the Marutse and Barotse kingdoms, to be executed,
an arbitrary measure which only served to hasten his downfall.
By the tribes of the Marutse kingdom in general the larger council
was held in high esteem, the privy-council being regarded only with
detestation and servile fear.
In Sepopo’s employment there were likewise two old wizen-looking
magicians or doctors, Liva and his brother, who exercised almost a
supreme control over state affairs. They had practised their craft for
more than sixty years; they had served under previous sovereigns, and
their experience enabled them now to minister to Sepopo’s suspicions,
to manage his temper, and to foster his superstitions. They enjoyed a
kind of hereditary reputation, as in spite of the atrocities which they
were known to have encouraged, they were regarded by the various tribes
with awe rather than with hatred. That there had not been a revolt
long ago against Sepopo’s tyranny was mainly to be attributed to the
belief that he had those in his secret council who could divine any
plot beforehand and frustrate any stratagem that could be devised, and
even when his despotism grew so great that the life of the highest in
the kingdom was not secure for a day, not a man could be found to lift
an assegai against him. At last it happened that a certain charm which
he had publicly exhibited and proclaimed to be infallible failed to
produce its proper effect; scales as it were fell from the eyes of the
populace; they discerned that all his pretensions were hypocrisy and
deceit, and proceeded forthwith to expel him from the throne.
The elephant-hunt, so long talked of, came off on the 27th. At dawn of
day all Sesheke was in commotion; the royal courtyard, where the king
was distributing powder and shot, was so full of men equipped for
the excursion that I could only with difficulty make my way across.
I hurried to tell my English friends the news, but I found that they
had already been apprised of the hunt by one of the chiefs, and that
although they had not been invited by the king, they were preparing to
join the throng. The excitement between the royal enclosure and the
river was very great; as the people ran backwards and forwards they
shouted and laughed, and I had never seen them in such high spirits
and so generally blithe and genial. A hunt on this extensive scale
was very rare; the present occasion had been anticipated for months,
and it had a special interest of its own from the circumstance that
some white men and the king himself were to take part in the sport.
Long rows of canoes lined the river bank, another flotilla having
collected on the opposite side, the crews on the sand ready to embark
at a moment’s notice. Hurrying on their way to the Kashteja to await
the arrival of canoes to take them across were caravans of men,
chiefly Mankoë, Mabundas, and Western Makalakas; every chief made his
own people arrange themselves in proper order, and despatched the
proper contingent to look after the embarkation of the clothes and
water-vessels, and especially to look to the guns, which necessarily
engrossed a good deal of attention.
As the king was leaving his residence he was confronted by the party
of Englishmen, who remonstrated with him very severely because he had
failed to keep his promise of inviting them to the hunt. His behaviour
towards them had really been abominable. After endeavouring to fall
in with his wishes in every way, and having twice come from Panda ma
Tenka on purpose, and, moreover, having submitted to be fleeced by him
till they had little more than the clothes on their backs, they now
found that he was about to start without them. This could not be. No
doubt Sepopo had his own motives for his conduct; he was accustomed to
consider all elephants as his own property, whether shot by himself or
not, and probably he was anxious to conceal what numbers of elephants
there were in the country, lest the visits of white men should become
too frequent; but he was bound to keep his word, and at length, in
deference to the representations of some of the chiefs who were in
attendance, he consented that the three sportsmen, as well as a trader
named Dorehill, who had paid him a visit the year before, should have a
canoe placed at their disposal.
It was about noon when the king and his flotilla started off. He was
accompanied by his band, and at least two hundred canoes set out
from Sesheke alone, apart from those that joined at other parts of
the river. It was with no little reluctance that I refrained from
going, but I considered it prudent to do nothing to arouse Sepopo’s
suspicions, and feared that by taking part in the hunt I might lead him
to suppose that my proposed expedition in his country had some design
of interfering with the elephants.
My general rule at this time was to spend my evenings with Westbeech,
where with his assistance I tried to converse with the natives, and
gathered many particulars about their manners and customs. In his hut I
met a Marutse named Uana ea Nyambe, i. e. the child of God, who prided
himself very much upon his wisdom, and was often consulted by Sepopo.
On the 29th I stayed at home to keep guard while Westbeech and his
servant went out hunting; they were more fortunate than I had been on
my last excursion, and returned with a letshwebock that had no less
than ten bullets in its body. I believe that the muscles of the neck
are more strongly developed in this species of antelope than in any
other.
The next day we received a visit from several Marutse who had their
foreheads and chests tied up with bandages of snake-skin, to keep
off pain, as they explained; they told us that they not unfrequently
fastened the bandages round their waists to allay the pangs of hunger;
the Makololos use leather straps, and the Matabele strips of calico for
the same purpose.
Two boatmen came in a little before sunset to fetch some provisions for
the white men on the hunting-ground; they reported that hitherto the
chase had been somewhat unsuccessful, but that it was to be resumed in
the morning. But about another hour later we were much surprised to see
Cowley and Dorehill turn up; they were disappointed, and consequently
angry; they told us that they had been stationed in a reed-thicket with
the king and the principal members of his suite, and had been waiting
for the elephants to be driven up; Sepopo, however, grew so impatient
that he fired while the herd was more than sixty yards distant; the
consequence was that they immediately took to flight; there were nearly
800 huntsmen following the king, and almost as many beaters, and when
the elephants began to run, a sort of panic seized everybody, guns
were fired in every direction, often without an aim at all, and in
the general pell-mell it was no great wonder that only five elephants
should be killed altogether. Cowley and Dorehill affirmed that they
had been obliged to throw themselves on the ground to escape the
random volley of shot; and they declared, moreover, that the beaters
had utterly failed in their work, which would have been done far more
effectually by a couple of Masarwas than by the whole host of them. The
king had given vent to his anger at the bungling in his usual fashion
by thrashing every one within reach with a heavy stick till his arm
ached. Before starting, he had been smeared with a variety of ointments
which he called a “molemo” to give him influence over the elephants.
Wishing to make rather a longer excursion into the Sesheke woods than
I had previously done, I started off before sunrise, and having passed
the site of Old Sesheke, turned to the west. On my left lay the Zambesi
valley, an apparently boundless plain overgrown with trees and clumps
of reeds, and intersected in various places by side-arms of the river,
some of them several miles in length. The woods to which I was bending
my way were about twenty feet above the level of the water. Some of
the lagoons extended right up to the trees, stretching along the edge
of the forest for miles, though the river itself was at an average
distance of three miles away. Near one of the lagoons I saw a couple
of darters, and very singular their appearance was as they perched
upon a bare projecting bough, their stumpy bodies and short legs being
quite out of proportion to their long, thin necks, that never rested
from their snake-like contortions; but a still stranger sight it is
to see them swim, the whole of the body being immersed and nothing
but the upper part of the neck with the head and sharp beak visible
above the water. Until arriving at the Zambesi, I had not seen the
darter (_Plotus congensis_) since I left the eastern parts of Cape
Colony. In a way that is scarcely credible without being witnessed,
their long, narrow throats are capable of swallowing fish as large
as a man’s hand. I shot several, but they all fell into the water,
and as the lagoons abounded with crocodiles, it was not without risk
that I and my four servants contrived to fish them out again. Shortly
afterwards I shot a _Francolinus nudicollis_.
Noticing some buffalo tracks that apparently led down to the river I
determined to follow them, and found that they soon turned back to
the woods, past a native village. We continued our way about three
miles beyond this, when we observed how the grass alongside the tracks
had been quite recently eaten away, and drew an inference that the
buffaloes were not likely to be far distant, and that we ought to be on
our guard; the trees around us were not of any great height, but the
underwood was dense, and the bushes round the glades were rather thick,
so that our progress was not at all easy.
We kept on our way, however, and at length came to a spot where the
tracks were so unmistakably new, that it was certain the buffaloes must
be close at hand. We moved forwards with increased caution, keeping
only a few yards apart.
“Narri! narri!” (buffalo! buffalo!) suddenly whispered Chukuru, and
beckoned to us to halt.
“Kia hassibone narri,” (I see no buffalo), I answered, and kept on.
But Chukuru touched me on my shoulder as a sign that I should crouch
down; the others took the hint and concealed themselves instantly in
the grass.
“Okay?” (where) I asked.
He pointed to four dark objects lying on the ground about 120 yards
distant. There could be no mistake. They were four buffaloes. One of
them had its head towards me. I took aim and fired; up jumped every
one to see the effect. Up sprang the buffaloes, and made off in a
gallop. One of them however lagged behind; it rolled over for a moment,
but sprang up quickly and overtook the rest; then again it seemed to
linger. We had no doubt that it had been wounded, but whether mortally
or not we could not tell.
Nothing can exceed the cunning that a buffalo will exhibit when it is
wounded or infuriated. Having better powers of discrimination, it is
more wary than a hippopotamus, and consequently is not so dangerous to
an unarmed man, but once provoked it will fight to the bitter end. It
generally makes a little retreat, and conceals itself behind a bush,
where it waits for the hunter, and when he comes up makes a dash at
him. Attacks of this kind are by no means unfrequent, and huntsmen of
considerable experience have been known to be outwitted and seriously
injured by these South African buffaloes. Sometimes the angry brute
will content itself with tossing its victim into the air, in which case
the mischief is generally limited to the dislocation or fracture of a
limb, but far more often it holds its antagonist down upon the ground,
whilst with its feet it tramples him to death. I heard of an instance
on the Limpopo, where a white man and three negroes were killed, and a
fourth negro much injured, all by a single buffalo bull.
The buffaloes of which we were in pursuit came to a standstill after
about 200 yards; the leader of them turned, and seemed to be scenting
us out; then again they started off, but after a very short run the one
that was wounded fell behind and appeared anxious to conceal itself
under the shelter of a tree. I made my servants approach and attract
its attention, while I crept up unobserved till I was within proper
range, when I immediately discharged both my barrels. The first shot
entered the breast, the second hit the shoulder; and tottering forwards
on to the open ground, the animal almost directly fell upon its knees.
With shouts of glee my servants ran up to the spot, but on discovering
that the buffalo was not dead, they were careful not to go too near,
nor would I allow them to touch it until I had contrived to get
sufficiently close to send a bullet behind its ear, when it fell back
powerless, and its limbs were stiffened in death. The delight of my
negroes was unbounded; they danced round the carcase for a few minutes,
and then set to work to light a fire, at which they roasted the best
part of the heart, and cutting off one of the feet toasted the marrow.
Illustration: CHASE OF THE WATER-ANTELOPE.
_Page 249._]
I went home with one of the men in the evening, leaving the rest to
dismember the buffalo’s body. There were many lion-tracks about, and
as they cut up the joints they were obliged to hang them up out of the
lions’ reach. In the midst of their operations a heavy storm came
on, which made it quite impossible for them to light a fire, so that
they were themselves obliged to spend the night on the branches of a
tree.
Before I reached my quarters the wind had begun to blow violently,
and just as I was entering the town, I saw a boat capsize with two
fishermen and a quantity of fish. Fortunately the men managed to get
safely to shore, but the surface of the water was covered with the dead
fish, which the current carried inland. In a moment, almost like magic,
from every direction there started up a crowd of boys, who began taking
possession of the unexpected haul; they tore off their leather aprons,
and were filling them with the best and biggest they could find, when
all of a sudden their mirth was checked, and they were as eager to
scramble out of the water as they had been to plunge in. The well-known
red coat of the overseer of the fishermen had been observed in the
distance, and the dread of the thick stick of that important official
was for the tribe of juvenile freebooters a sufficient notice to quit.
The next morning I was somewhat startled by seeing a large number of
men all carrying arms, and hastening towards the woods. I was beginning
to wonder whether there had been an alarm of some enemy approaching,
when the mystery was solved by the arrival of some young men with a
message from their chief that they were going out on a lion-hunt, and
inviting us to join them. Four lions had made an attack upon the royal
herds, and had killed four cows.
The scene of the disaster was not far away. About 150 yards above our
courtyard the Zambesi made a sudden bend from west to north, and then,
after awhile, turned at right angles to the east, past New Sesheke; on
the opposite side at this last bend was a lagoon that branched off into
two arms, and it was on the strip of land between these that the havoc
had been committed. Neither Westbeech nor Walsh cared to join the hunt,
but I and Cowley accepted the invitation.
Cowley was a good-natured young fellow of eighteen, with a face round
and rosy as a girl’s; his manners were very genial, and he had nothing
to spoil him, except perhaps a little weakness in his desire to be a
Gordon Cumming; he had already killed two lions, and was quite ready to
risk his life in adding a third to the number.
Although about 170 natives had assembled with their chief, only four of
them were provided with guns. It was not much more than half an hour
after I had received my invitation that I arrived at the lagoon, where
the whole troop advanced to meet us. It had been already decided that
the track of the largest lion should be followed, and the herdsmen were
being questioned about the details of the attack. It appeared that they
had thought it impossible for any lions to come so near the town, and
leaving their herds in a place that was quite unenclosed, they had all
gone to sleep in some huts close by.
I understood that it is only when lions have done some injury that the
Marutse ever go out to attack them.
Our arrival was the signal to commence operations. The procession was
opened by a few natives and a couple of dogs that were put on the
liontrack; Maranzian, the chief, went next, followed by Cowley and
myself; the rest of the throng came on without much order behind. But
it was only in the open places that any particular rank could be kept;
the thorn-bushes were often so thick that even the dogs could hardly
make their way through, and every one got forward as best he could.
The bushes however hardly impeded us so much, or were so uncomfortable
as the tall reeds in the dried-up hollows. We persevered for more than
an hour without coming in sight of our prey, and the negroes began
to joke about the lion feeling itself guilty, and said that it was
ashamed to show its face, and glad to hide away; but on leaving the
next hollow the dogs commenced growling angrily, and made a rush into
another hollow beyond again, about ten feet deep and thirty feet wide.
The condition of the trail satisfied us that the lion was concealed
here close at hand. We made the crowd of natives halt, Maranzian and I
hastened round to the farther side and prepared to fire, Cowley staying
on the nearer side, and sending the dogs into the reeds; but we schemed
to no purpose, the baying of the hounds made us aware that the lion had
got round behind us, and we were obliged to change our position.
Followed by the throng, we proceeded to the open space beyond the
reeds, close to the spot in which we imagined that the lion was now
concealed, and having chosen our places where we thought we had the
best chance of firing at it on its escape, we made the whole crowd
shout to the top of their voices, and throw in bits of wood; and when
that proved ineffectual we ordered them, whether they liked it or not,
to go into the thicket and rummage about with their spears.
It was a very pandemonium. The screaming and yelling of the negroes was
quite unearthly, and the noise seemed to grow louder and more frightful
as their courage increased at not finding any lion to alarm them.
Maranzian, with his four men that had guns, was standing about twenty
yards in front of me. We were beginning to think that we were again
baulked, when, like a flash of lightning, a lioness made a tremendous
spring out of its concealment, and then another spring as sudden into
the very midst of the excited crowd of hunters. There were so many of
them scattered about between me and the angry brute, that it was out
of the question to think of firing, and it made a third bound, and
disappeared into another thicket close behind; it knocked over several
of the men, but fortunately it did not hurt any of them seriously.
Without the loss of a moment, Maranzian sent his men to drive the
lioness to the very extremity of her new retreat. It rather surprised
us to find the dogs perfectly silent as we followed them into the
thicket, but before long we heard them barking vehemently in the open
ground beyond; they had driven out the brute, and were in full pursuit.
As he saw the lioness bounding away in the distance, with the dogs at
her heels, Cowley was terribly chagrined at having abandoned his former
position, and sighed over his lost chance of adding to his rising
renown as a lion-hunter.
[Illustration: LION HUNT NEAR SESHEKE.
_Page 253._]
Only an artist’s pencil could properly depict the scene at this moment.
The plain was more than half a mile long, and nearly as wide; bushwood
enclosed it on the north, reed-thickets on the south and west;
far in front was the fugitive lioness; the dogs were pressing on at
various intervals, whilst the frantic crowd of well-nigh 200 negroes
was scampering in the rear; nothing could be imagined more motley
than their appearance; their aprons of white, or check, or brown, or
red contributed a variety of colour; their leather mantles on their
shoulders fluttered wildly in the wind; many of them brandished their
assegais as if ready for action; others kept them balanced evenly in
their hands; some of them continued to yell at the very top of their
voices, and a few could be heard chanting, as if by anticipation, the
strains of the lion-dance.
The climax was now at hand, and full of excitement it was. Again the
lioness took refuge in a triangular thicket, with its vertex farthest
from us. Close beside it was a sandbank, some ten feet high. Maranzian,
with a number of men, placed himself on the right side of the thicket;
I took up my position on the left, Cowley stationing himself on the
sandbank at a point where he conceived the lioness when pressed by the
negroes would try to escape. By encouraging words, and where words
failed by the free use of a stout stick, Maranzian made a lot of the
men go and ransack the reeds, and as they tumbled about they gave the
place almost the aspect of a battle-field. The excitement became more
intense when there remained but one little corner of the thicket to
be explored. Now or never the lioness must be found. Suddenly there
was an angry growl, and the beast leaped towards the pursuers. A shot
was fired at that moment, but it only struck the sand; the negroes,
taken by surprise, fell back, some of them disappearing altogether, a
few of them desperately hurling their spears. Once again the lioness
retreated, and when the natives had recovered themselves, they saw her
crouching down as if prepared for another spring. Here was my chance;
catching sight of her head, I took deliberate aim and fired; my shot
took good effect, and at the same time a couple of spears hit her on
the side. One more growl and she was dead.
It was only for greater precaution that Cowley and I, before we
permitted the carcase to be moved, each put another bullet into it, but
it was subsequently pierced by more than twenty spears; many of the
negroes, as they approached the lifeless body, thrust the points of
their assegais into it, muttering some mysterious formula. As it was
the king’s cattle that had been slaughtered by the lions, the skull of
the brute we had now killed would be employed as a charm, and hung up
in the royal kraal.
Cowley and I returned home, leaving the carcase to be brought in
afterwards. When it arrived it was received with much shouting and
singing. It was carried by four of the strongest of the men on a couple
of poles, its paws tied together, and its head hanging down well-nigh
to the ground; it was brought into the town just as my own servants
were returning with the buffalo-meat, and a large proportion of the
male population turned out to greet the hunters. The next thing to be
done was to beat the lion-drums, and to announce that the lion-dance
would be performed. The procession advanced in two groups, one
consisting of the bearers, with the carcase as a trophy of success;
the other being the hunters. The leader of the expedition opened the
dance, and he was followed by such of the huntsmen as had been nearest
at the death; they were accompanied in their performance by the beating
of a drum. The dancers next gave a representation of the lion-hunt,
running in all directions, and pretending to hurl their spears; the
singing was taken up by the two groups alternately, and though it was
not so monotonous as some that I heard at other times, yet any melody
it might have had was utterly destroyed by the painful discord of the
instruments that accompanied it.
After the body of the lioness had been deposited on the ground under a
mimosa, we took the opportunity of investigating the wounds. It turned
out that my first bullet had passed completely along the left side of
the skull, and that immediately on receiving it the wounded beast had
fallen so as to leave only the lower part of its face exposed; this
we had both struck, and we traced one bullet into the vertebræ of the
neck, while the other, Cowley’s we presumed, had shivered the lower
skull-bone to splinters.
In making my memoranda of this lion-hunt I used up the last of my
writing-paper; it was some that Westbeech had torn out of his own
journal and given me. It was now that I found the newspapers that I had
received from Shoshong very useful; the parts that were printed on were
very serviceable for pressing plants, and I was only too glad to fasten
the margins together into sheets by means of mimosa-gum, and to use
them for writing on.
After our hunting triumph Maranzian honoured me with a visit next day.
In the course of his conversation with Westbeech and myself, he gave
us some fresh information about the Barotse, the mother country of the
Marutse. Noticing how I made entries in my “lungalo” (book) of all that
I had seen in Sesheke, he told me that when I got to the towns of the
Barotse I should see many objects much more worthy of being recorded;
the buildings, he assured me, were very superior, and he referred
especially to the monuments of the kings. What he described, added
to what I had heard from Westbeech, as well as from the king, from
Moquai, from the chiefs Rattan and Ramakocan, and from the Portuguese,
only served to increase the longing with which I looked forward to the
journey before me. The conversation afterwards turned upon Maritella,
the heir to the throne, who had died. Maranzian said that after his
death the king had had all the cattle from the town and environs driven
to the grave, and left standing there until they bellowed with hunger
and thirst; whereupon he exclaimed: “See, how the very cattle are
mourning for my son!”
When the king returned from his great hunting-expedition he was
extremely discontented with the result, and consequently very much
out of temper. On one of the days the party had sighted more than a
hundred elephants in the swamps near Impalera, but although at least
10,000 shots had been fired only four elephants had been killed. I
called to see him and he showed me the tusks that had been brought
back; there were two weighing 60 lbs., six between 25 lbs. and 30 lbs.,
four small female tusks, and four from animals so small that they were
comparatively of no value. The two largest tusks had been much injured
by the bullets.
On the 7th I started off on the longest pedestrian excursion I had yet
taken, rambling on for fifty-two miles. Leaving Sesheke in good time,
I crossed the western part of Blockley’s kraal and made my way to the
Kashteja, where I had to go a long way up the stream before I could
find a fording-place. The lower part of this affluent of the Zambesi is
flat and meadow-like and bordered with underwood. On my way thither I
noticed zebras, striped-gnus, letshwe and puku antelopes, and rietbock
and steinbock gazelles. In the river-valley itself the orbekis and
rietbocks had congregated in herds, a mode of living which I had never
seen before, nor do I think that any other hunter had.
Altogether dissatisfied with their visit to Sesheke, the English
officers were now very anxious to leave; but Sepopo would not provide
them with canoes, and though they urged their request again on the
following day, they were again refused. Blockley returned from Panda ma
Tenka on the 9th. I was much pleased to greet once more a man who had
shown me so much kindness; and I accompanied him when he paid his visit
to Sepopo.
The king at length rejoiced my heart by acceding to my long-cherished
wishes; he told me that Moquai and the queens who had come from the
Barotse country were about to return, and that I was at liberty to go
with them. Fellow-travellers more influential than these distinguished
ladies could not be desired.
On my next visit to Sepopo I found the royal courtyard crowded with
people. As soon as I entered the house the king asked me whether I had
ever seen any Mashukulumbe; and understanding that I had not, he took
me by the hand and introduced me to six men who were squatting on the
ground. Their appearance was strange, and seemed to invite a careful
scrutiny. Their skin was almost black, and their noses generally
aquiline, though they had an effeminate cast of countenance, to be
attributed very much to their lack of beard and to the sinking in of
the upper lip. All hair was carefully removed from every part of their
bodies, except the top of the skull, where it was mounted up in a very
remarkable fashion.
[Illustration: MASHUKULUMBE AT THE COURT OF KING SEPOPO.
_Page 258._]
The Mashukulumbe, Sepopo informed me, were the people who lived to
the north and east of his territory; and the men who had now arrived
were ambassadors who were sent every year to the Marutse court with
complimentary presents, and who would go back in a few weeks carrying
other presents in return. When at home they go perfectly naked, the
women wearing nothing but a little leather strap, hung with bells and
fastened round their waists. Their pride is their _coiffure_,
which consists of a conical chignon that fits tight round the head,
and is composed of vertical rolls or horizontal tiers, the tresses
being most ingeniously plaited together, sometimes crossing and
recrossing each other, sometimes kept quite parallel; the whole being
finally matted together with gum, which gives it the appearance of
really growing from the crown of the head. But this is by no means
the case; the hair that is periodically shaved off the entire body,
except from the patch of ten or twelve inches in circumference on the
head, is all carefully preserved until enough has been accumulated
for the headgear; and the master of the house will not unfrequently
add the hair of his wives and slaves, twisting it up into bands that
are intertwined with his own. I saw a coiffure twelve inches round,
worked into a tail more than a yard long that inclined towards the
right shoulder; so that every time the man moved, and especially when
he stooped, the headdress appeared to be toppling over with him. The
average height to which the hair was trained was about ten inches;
but in all cases the unusual weight upon the skull had the effect of
developing the muscles of the temples till they stood out like cords,
not unfrequently as thick as one’s finger. The falling in of the top
lip was caused by extracting the upper incisor-teeth, an operation with
the Mashukulumbe that corresponds with the boguera of the Bechuanas,
and is practised upon youths when attaining the state of manhood,
being part of their discipline. One of the Makalaka tribes north of
the Zambesi, as well as the Matongas on its bank, break out their top
incisor-teeth from the sheerest vanity. Their women say that it is only
horses that eat with all their teeth, and that men ought not to eat
like horses.
With the help of his attendants, the king was engaged in manufacturing
a musical instrument out of the leaf-ribs of a saro-palm. Except just
at the ends, the concave surface was hollowed into a furrow, the
convex side underneath being scored with a number of little incisions
about the thirtieth part of an inch in width. When played, the
instrument is struck with small sticks, and is used particularly at the
elephant-dance.
Westbeech, Dorehill, and Cowley left on the 10th for Panda ma Tenka;
but Sepopo still refused to provide any canoes for the English
officers, who were becoming more impatient than ever to get away.
On the 11th he had a mokoro, or boat-dance, executed through the town.
It was supposed to represent a boating-excursion, the principal feature
being a boat-song that was sung in chorus. On this occasion the king
himself took the leading part, and went through all the gesticulations
of a steersman, whilst about seventy of his people had to follow him
and imitate the movements of rowers.
Not doubting that the English officers would very soon be permitted to
depart, I had devoted some time to the preparation of several articles
for insertion in various journals in England and at home; but I now
began to fear that the opportunity of entrusting my correspondence to
their charge would be again deferred. At length, however, the desired
boats were forthcoming, and they were suffered to take their departure.
Sepopo made a last effort to detain them, but finally yielded to their
solicitations. The boatmen, taking their cue from the king, were at
first inclined to be disagreeable; but I interfered and checked their
insolence, and they were all brought to reason before the officers
proceeded on their way.
My next excursion was towards the north-east. I shot a steinbock, and
secured a good variety of coleoptera.
Rising before daybreak on the 21st, I set out on a ramble to the
north, not returning till after sunset. The dew in the morning was
very heavy; and I was tired in the evening by my long exertions;
but I was amply compensated for all inconvenience and fatigue by the
many objects of interest that I saw and collected. Many parts of the
wood were overgrown with a tall spreading shrub covered with large
white blossoms that perfumed the air with their fragrance. In one
of the glades I found two new kinds of lilies, one with a handsome
violet-coloured flower. A leaf-beetle of a yellow-ochre tint had
settled on the other lily; and I likewise discovered another species
with red and blue stripes, and two new species of weevils on the young
sprouts of the musetta bushes. As I went back I caught three sorts of
little rose-beetles on the white-flowering shrubs; and in a dry grassy
hollow I found the species of _Lytta_ which I had already seen in
Sechele’s country during my second journey.
Having arranged to join a buffalo-hunt on the 24th, I retired to my hut
rather earlier than usual on the previous evening; and it was scarcely
nine o’clock when I was roused by a noise like sounds of weeping coming
from the river. At first I did not take any particular heed; but
finding that the noise continued, and that there was a murmur of voices
that seemed to increase, I had the curiosity to send Narri, one of my
servants, to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. In a few minutes
he came running back with the news that Queen Moquai was having one of
her maids drowned. Unable to believe that she could be capable of such
an act, I hurried out, determined to convince myself by the testimony
of my own eyes before I would credit so shameful a report.
A crowd of men and women, brawling, screeching, and laughing, was
gathered on the shore; and just as I arrived, the body of a girl,
apparently lifeless, was being lifted up the bank. In a few moments,
however, she recovered consciousness and was dragged away towards
Moquai’s quarters.
I followed in the train, and as I went I elicited the facts of the
case. The girl was a slave of Moquai’s, and on the day before had been
informed by her mistress that she was to marry a hideous old Marutse
wood-carver. Folding her hands upon her breast, she had expressed her
desire to be submissive as far as she could, but was quite unable to
conceal her aversion to the husband that had been chosen for her;
she burst into piteous sobs, which had the effect of making the
queen extremely angry, and she dismissed the girl from her presence.
Altogether unused to have her wishes questioned, the queen presently
had the girl recalled. Again she protested that she was anxious to
serve her mistress with all fidelity, but pleaded that she might have
nothing to do with the odious old man she was expected to marry.
Moquai’s fury had known no bounds; she had sent for the proposed
bridegroom, and given him instructions to carry off the girl that very
night from the royal hut to the river, to hold her under the water till
she was half dead, and thence to take her to his own quarters, where
she would wake up again a “mosari”--a married woman.
The orders were duly executed; and I had not been awake long next
morning before I heard the singing and beating of drums that betokened
that the nuptial dance was being performed in Moquai’s courtyard before
the door of the newlymarried pair. On going to the spot I found ten
men kicking up their heels and slowly twisting themselves round in
an oval course, while a man in the middle pirouetted in the contrary
direction, and beat time with the bough of a tree; they all wore aprons
of roughly-tanned leather, mostly the skins of lynxes and grey foxes,
and many of them had the calves of their legs, as in the other dances,
covered with bells or fruit-shells. The singing of the man in the
middle was accompanied by the beating of two of the large drums; and
four more dancers were squatted on the ground, ready to relieve any of
the ten men that were tired out. Two boys of about ten years of age
were amongst the dancers; and various passers-by stayed and took a turn
at the performance for the sake of having a share in the kaffir-corn
beer which the queen would distribute when the dance was over. Every
now and then the whole of the dancers would put shoulder to shoulder,
sing aloud in chorus, and quicken their pace to a great rapidity. The
dance would be repeated at intervals for no less than three days.
I passed the place again on the afternoon of the following day as I
was on my way back from the woods, and found the huts appropriated to
the attendants in the queen’s enclosure still in a state of uproar;
there was still the group of dancers; a number of extra performers were
drinking from the brimming pitchers of butshuala that were continually
replenished; while many spectators, attracted by the sound of the
drums, added the hum of their voices to the general merriment. The
unfortunate bride alone seemed to have no enjoyment of the festivity;
dejected and miserable, she sat in front of her hut, with her head
resting on her hands, and her eyes gazing vacantly towards the next
enclosure; manifestly she neither saw nor heard anything that was going
on.
A day or two afterwards we were surprised by a serenade from Sepopo and
Moquai, who were accompanied by a band of eight musicians, including
two performers on the myrimbas, or gourd-shell pianos, and four on the
morupas, or long drums. Not to offend the king, I stayed at home all
day.
[Illustration: SEPOPO’S DOCTOR.]
At noon on the following day Westbeech returned from Panda ma Tenka
with guns for the king. Two Portuguese also made their appearance in
the town. They called themselves Señhores; but one was as black as a
Mambari, though he indignantly repudiated the appellation. His name
was Francis Roquette, and including some black women, he had twenty
servants in his train, who all had their woolly hair shaved off, except
a small tuft standing up at the top of their head like a back-comb.
Both the Portuguese had arrived from the north, having come from one of
the Mashukulumbe countries, where they had bartered the great bulk of
their goods, and had brought the small residue to Sesheke, consisting
of flint-guns, cases of coarse gunpowder, some lead and iron bullets,
and a little calico.
[Illustration: A MABUNDA.]
[Illustration: A MAKOLOLO.]
Long before this time my servants had finished making the canvas
coverings for my baggage; and as far as I was concerned I was ready
to set out. It was therefore with unbounded satisfaction that I saw
the council-chamber being furbished up, the great drums being put into
readiness, and the various other indications that the queens were
really about to take their departure.
Expectation was not much longer deferred. On the 1st of December I
started on the expedition for which I had waited so eagerly and so
long.
CHAPTER X.
UP THE ZAMBESI.
Departure from Sesheke--The queens’ squadron--First night’s
camp--Symptoms of fever--Agricultural advantages of the Zambesi
valley--Rapids and cataracts of the central Zambesi--The
Mutshila-Aumsinga rapids--A catastrophe--Encampment near
Sioma--A conspiracy--Lions around Sioma--My increasing illness.
On the morning fixed for the start one of the Marutse sub-chieftains
came to me with a message that I was to accompany him to the river
side. There I found three of the royal canoes waiting for me; but as
they barely sufficed to carry my baggage, I had to ask for a fourth, my
servants for the present having to follow on foot.
[Illustration: MANKOË.]
It was about noon when we quitted Sesheke. We proceeded at good speed
past a number of islands, creeks, and lagoons, at which I should have
been glad to linger, and could only regret that the approach of
the unhealthy season made it necessary to hurry forwards, and quite
prevented me from drawing up either a proper map or detailed plan of
the river-bed. The shore, sandy and sloping, was covered with a layer
of turf and clay about a foot deep; and during the first part of our
voyage I noticed several plants that I should very much have liked to
stay and gather; but I could not venture to stop, as I was anxious to
overtake the queens, who had started some hours earlier.
[Illustration: TYPES OF MARUTSE.]
Towards evening we arrived at a place which required very careful
navigation; some trunks of trees that had been washed down by the
stream had become imbedded in the ground, and formed dangerous
impediments in the line of traffic; we succeeded, however, in passing
them with safety, and just about sunset reached the spot where the
royal ladies had landed. It was a bare sandy place on the bank,
enclosed on two sides by sedge, and sheltered from the wind by tall
bushes. The serving-maids had already lighted several fires, and had
commenced their cooking, and a number of boats had been despatched to
fetch reeds to build the huts for the night’s accommodation.
In the course of the day’s progress I had noticed a great many
water-birds and swamp-birds, as well as starlings, finches, and
kingfishers, all along the river.
Had I followed my own inclinations I should have stayed close to the
spot where the queens had landed; but my boatmen recommended a place
a few miles further on. Not suspecting any artifice on their part, I
acceded to the proposal, though it turned out that their only motive
was to separate me from the royal flotilla, that I might not have the
protection of the queens if they should be inclined to be insolent
or misconduct themselves in any way. It was quite late before we
reached the landing-place to which they carried me, and which was a
Mamboë settlement, containing a few huts occupied by fishermen and
hippopotamus-hunters; their character being sufficiently indicated by
the nets hung out on poles ornamented by crocodiles’ heads, and by the
quantities of fish that were lying about. We found our quarters for the
night in a grass-hut thirty yards long, but not more than ten feet wide
and about ten feet high.
While we were reloading our boats in the morning the royal squadron
came in sight, and we awaited its arrival. The Mamboë in the place
sent the queens a bullock which had been slaughtered the evening
previously, and Mokena, “the mother of the country,” was courteous
enough to send me one of the hind-quarters. I made my own boatmen keep
up with the others all the morning, and we made our way along with
good speed. The boats were all well manned; and as they darted about,
sometimes in the rear and sometimes well to the front, threading their
way between the islands on the dark blue water, and past the luxuriant
mimosas on the banks, they formed a picture that I should willingly
have done my best to transfer to paper if I had not felt that every
available moment ought to be employed in making the best survey I could
of the cartographical features of the stream.
When it was necessary to give the energetic boatmen a rest we lay to
for something under an hour against a sandbank opposite a Marutse
settlement on the right-hand shore. They all enjoyed their dacha-pipes,
while the queens partook of some light refreshment; one of them,
Mamangala, thoughtfully sending me some broiled fish for my luncheon.
The river-scenery, and the examples of animal life, corresponded very
much with what I had noticed the day before.
Towards evening we arrived at a place where some recent travellers
had left about twenty huts. Here we resolved to land; and, indeed, it
was high time that we did so, as a storm was gathering, and it began
to rain before I could get my baggage on shore. The fourth boat for
which I had asked was here awaiting me. The storm continued till near
midnight; and as the huts were not waterproof I was induced to use
my wraps to protect my packages. While sitting dozing upon one of my
boxes I slipped off, and woke to find myself lying in a great pool of
water that had dripped through the thatch. Of such a night’s rest it
was hardly to be expected that I should escape the consequences.
I yielded next morning to the solicitations of the boatmen, and
started, much against my inclination, on a hunting-excursion across
the plain stretching far away from the Sesheke woods towards the west.
Overgrown with grass four or five feet high, the plain was full of
swamps, and was subject to floods that left nothing unsubmerged except
the few hillocks on which the Marutse had erected some straggling
villages, the largest of which is called Matonga. The whole expedition
was damp and dreary, and as far as sport was concerned absolutely
fruitless. Before I reached our encampment, when we had only about
another mile to go, I was seized with a sudden weariness, which
increased so rapidly that I was unable to move a step, and my servants
had to carry me the rest of the way back. I understood the symptoms
only too well, and could come to no other conclusion than that I was in
the preliminary stage of fever.
The boatmen were inclined to be very angry because we had come back
without bringing a supply of game, and were also ready to make a
disturbance with the villagers in Matonga for not procuring them enough
corn and beer. I began to fear that I should have a difficulty with
them; but happily Sekele, the sub-chieftain who had the oversight of
things, took my part and brought them to reason.
During the night one of Moquai’s waiting-women was reported to be
missing, and it was soon found that she had taken her way back towards
Sesheke. Some messengers were sent, who quickly overtook her; she
proved to be the bride who had been forced into marriage against her
wishes.
Continuing our voyage, we entered a narrow side-arm of the river lying
between the left shore and the most northerly of a wooded group of
islands, to which I gave the name of Rohlf’s Islands.
[Illustration: A MAMBARI.]
[Illustration: A MATONGA.]
Upon the mainland was Sekhose, the most westerly of the Masupia
settlements, where for many years there has been a good system of
husbandry, manza and beans being grown, as well as other crops. The
Marutse only grow what they require for their own use, and to make
up their tribute; but the Masupias, Batokas, and eastern Makalakas
do somewhat more than this, selling the overplus to the hunters and
traders who come from the south; but even they hardly cultivate more
than the sandy slopes and the wooded declivities in the neighbourhood
of ant-hills, leaving the marsh-lands completely untilled; yet these
are the districts which would prove most fertile, and with the mild
climate and the means of irrigation at their command, seem to me to
hold out a grand prospect for the future. Away in the interior of the
country are vast tracts of meadow-land, often miles in extent, that are
now enclosed with primæval forest, but which might be transformed into
prolific fields, while the rivers might, like the Zambesi, be utilized
for watering them. The tribes are all ambitious and industrious; and
if once the plough shall be introduced, and a free trade opened either
to the south or east, the Marutse kingdom, it may be predicted, will
exhibit a rapid development.
About twelve miles from Sesheke the woods came right down to the
river bank, a foretoken of the chain of hills that accompanied the
stream from the Barotse valley. East of Sesheke, half way between
the Makumba rapids and the mouth of the Kashteja, where the country
began to rise, I had noticed a cessation of the palms and papyrus, and
west of Sekhose, where the stream has a considerable fall, was the
commencement of the southern Barotse rapids and the cataracts of the
central Zambesi. They are caused by ridges of rocks running either
straight or transversely across the river, connecting links, as it
were, between the hills on either side. The peaks of these reefs made
countless little islands; and the further we went the more interesting
I found their variety, some being brown and bare, whilst others were
overgrown with reeds, or occasionally with trees of no inconsiderable
height. Within fourteen miles I counted, besides a cataract, as many as
forty-four rapids. In some cases the river-bed beneath them presented a
continuous, sloping surface of rock, while in others it fell abruptly
in a series of steps; rapids again were formed by great boulders that
projected above the water, and I noticed one instance where the rocks
made almost a barrier across the river, whilst only here and there were
the gaps through which the current forced its way.
Were it not that the rapids are avoided by crocodiles, they would be
impassable for canoes; but the absence of crocodiles makes it possible
for the natives to disembark, and push or drag their craft across
the obstacle. In places that are especially dangerous, it is found
necessary to stow the baggage on the top of the boulders, and to take
the boat over the rapid empty.
The first rapids at which we arrived were called by the natives Katima
Molelo. Our oars sufficed to carry us over the first stretch of them,
but afterwards the boatmen were obliged to get out and pull every canoe
after them, taking care to lose no time in jumping in again, well aware
that the deep water just beyond was almost sure to be a lurking-place
for crocodiles.
On the 5th we crossed the rapids known as Mutshila Aumsinga, which, as
I found to my cost, only too justly had the reputation of being the
most dangerous of any of the Sesheke and Nambwe cataracts. I was still
feeling very unwell, and could not even sit in my canoe without much
pain; but there was nothing in my condition that alarmed me, and I
continued to work at my chart of our course.
The Mutshila Aumsinga rapids are formed by a considerable slope in the
river-bed, combined with the projection of numerous masses of rock
above the water. But the chief danger in crossing them arises from
another cause. Between a wooded island and the left-hand shore are two
side-currents, about fifty yards broad, formed by some little islands
at their head; and as no part of the rapids is sufficiently shallow for
boats to be lifted across them, the strength of the rowers has to be
put to the test by pulling against the full force of the stream, and is
consequently liable to be exhausted.
[Illustration: ASCENDING THE ZAMBESI.]
The boat in which I was sitting happened to be the third in the order
of procession. It carried my journals, all my beads and cartridges,
and the presents intended for the native kings and chiefs. Like all
my other boats it was too heavily laden, and not adequately manned.
The second boat just ahead of me conveyed my gunpowder, my medicines,
and provisions, and all the plants and insects that I had collected
at Sesheke, the bulk of my specimens having been left with Westbeech
to send back to Panda ma Tenka. Observing that the crew in front
were experiencing the utmost difficulty in holding their own against
the current, I shouted to them to catch hold of the branches of some
overhanging trees; I was most anxious to see them at least keep their
bow in the right direction. My voice was lost in the roar of the
waters. I could see that the oars of the men were slipping off the
surface of the rock that was as smooth as a mirror, and that the men,
although obviously aware of their peril, were paddling wildly and to
no purpose at all. My heart misgave me. Nothing could save the boat;
still I could not bring myself to believe that fate was about to deal
so hardly with me. I could not realize that just at the moment when a
threatening fever made me especially require my medicines I was about
to lose them all. I could not face the contingency of having my stock
of provisions, on which I depended not only for the prosecution of my
journey, but for my very maintenance, totally destroyed; neither could
I resign myself to the loss of all the natural curiosities that I had
laboured for so many days to accumulate. I called vehemently upon my
own crew to hasten to the rescue; but they, in their alarm at the
desperate plight of the others, were quite powerless; they were utterly
bewildered, and were letting themselves drift into the fury of the
current; but happily they were within reach of the drooping branches
of a tree, at which they clutched only just in time to make their boat
secure. By this time the boat in front had twisted round, and presented
its broadside to the angry flood. Nothing could save it now. Heedless
of the state of fever I was in, I should have flung myself into the
current, determined to help if I could, had not the boatmen held me
back. Not that any assistance on my part could have been of any avail,
for in another moment I saw that the paddles were all broken, the men
lost their equilibrium, and, to my horror, the boat was overturned.
[Illustration: MY BOAT WRECKED.]
At the greatest risk, by the combined exertions of both crews, the
capsized canoe was after some time set afloat again, and a few trifling
articles were gathered up, but the bulk of my baggage was irrecoverably
lost.
Thus ended all my schemes; thus vanished all my visions for the future.
No one can conceive the keenness of my disappointment. The preparations
of seven previous years had proved fruitless. Here I was, not only
suffering in body from the increasing pains of fever, but dejected in
spirit at the conviction that I must forthwith abandon my enterprise.
An hour after that deplorable passage of the Mutshila Aumsinga, which
never can be effaced from my memory, we landed on the right-hand bank
of the Zambesi, just below a Mabunda village called Sioma. My servants,
who had continued following on foot, were ferried across, and we made
our encampment before it grew dark. We were rather surprised to be told
by the residents that the neighbourhood was infested with lions, and
that the village was night after night ravaged by their attacks; and,
for my own part, I was inclined to believe that the stories were made
up as a pretext to induce us to move on. In exchange for some beads I
obtained a quantity of kaffir-corn beer, which I distributed to the
boatmen in acknowledgment of the exertions they had made in my service.
Finding that I was not intimidated by the representations they made,
and pleased moreover with the beads I had spent among them, the natives
became more hospitable, and gave us their advice and assistance in
collecting the roofs of seven deserted huts, which we placed closely
side by side in a semicircle, resting one edge on the ground, and
propping up the other on poles, so that from the wood the encampment
looked merely like a lot of grass-piles. I had several large fires
lighted in front.
During the voyage that had ended so disastrously, I had noticed some
trees on the river-bank with a whitish bark, growing from twenty to
forty feet in height. What was most remarkable about them was the way
in which, from the boughs that overhung the river, masses of red-brown
roots descended like a beard, sometimes as much as six feet in length.
The rain fell heavily all the next morning, and in the afternoon the
wind blew so icy cold, that although the servants did all they could to
cover up the front of my hut with mats, my body suffered from repeated
chills. My illness increased so much that I was quite unable to turn
myself without assistance. I had a sort of couch extemporized out of
some packing-cases, on which I reclined and got what rest I could.
While I was lounging in this way, I heard a conversation going on
outside the hut amongst my servants, who supposed that I was asleep.
One of them, Borili, was saying that it was a lucky thing that Nyaka
(the doctor) was sick, and proposed that they should all make off with
my property to the southern bank of the Chobe. The rest of them did
not seem altogether inclined to acquiesce, but I made up my mind to
nip anything like a conspiracy in the bud. Calling them all in, I made
each of them a present of beads, except Borili, whom I asked whether
he expected a gun from me when we parted, as a remuneration for his
services. Of course he told me he should reckon on his gun; but he
looked somewhat surprised when I replied that he was much mistaken, and
that having found out that he was a bad servant and a thief, I should
keep my eye on him, and that if he repeated his misconduct, I should
send him back to Sesheke for Sepopo to punish. He knew what that meant.
Towards evening, the fever having slightly abated, I made the servants
lift me on to the ground, where I sat with my back supported against
the bed. In this position I received a visit from some Mabundas, from
whom I obtained various specimens of their handicraft. To one of the
boatmen I was able, out of the very limited stock of drugs that I had
left, to give an emetic that proved very effectual. He had made himself
ill by eating too freely of the fruit of a shrub called ki-mokononga;
the symptoms of the man and the smell of the fruit made me inclined to
believe that he was suffering from the effects of prussic acid. The
fruit itself was about an inch long, and half-an-inch thick; it had a
yellowish pulp, an oval kernel, and in flavour was not unlike bitter
almonds. The emetic soon relieved the sufferer, and next day he was
ready for work again.
The Mabunda chief from Sioma came to see me, and in the intervals
between the attacks of fever I took the opportunity to ask him, as well
as the guides and boatmen, all the questions I could about the land and
population of the Marutse empire. Our conversation generally turned
upon the Livangas, Libele, and Luyanas, the tribes between the Chobe
and the Zambesi, and upon the independent Bamashi, on the lower Chobe,
who are also called Luyanas, and are subject to three princes of their
own, Kukonganena, Kukalelwa, and Molombe.
Our experience at night proved that the Mabundas had not exaggerated
much in what they told us about the lions. After sunset we heard their
chorus begin, and it did not cease till dawn. I should not think the
animals were more than 150 yards away from us. Up in the little village
the people had to be on the watch to keep them at bay, and kept on
shouting and beating a drum, while nearly every enclosure was illumined
by a fire. My own boatmen sat up, spear in hand, nearly all night, and
weird enough their shadows were as they fell upon the fence. No lions,
however, ventured to attack us.
For the next two days I was worse rather than better, and vain were
my efforts to amuse myself with either my diary or my sketch-book. My
disorder was aggravated by the ungenial weather, and even in the most
violent fits of fever I was conscious of a feeling of shivering under
the keen north-east blast. I endeavoured to keep up my spirits, but
writing, which was my sole resource, was a painful trial to me, and the
lines danced before my eyes.
I could not bear the thought of going back to Sesheke, and determined
to make a vigorous endeavour once again to go ahead. Accordingly on
the 8th we started, but the exertion was too much for me, and in the
evening I had to be carried ashore. Scarcely had I been laid down in a
grass-hut left by some previous passengers, when I was seized with such
an attack of sickness and diarrhœa, that I really began to fear that I
should not live till morning.
[Illustration: NIGHT VISIT FROM LIONS AT SIOMA.
_Page 280._]
[Illustration: IN THE MANEKANGO RAPIDS.
_Page 281._]
Except at the Victoria Falls, the part of the river over which
we had been passing was in itself the most interesting that I had yet
seen. We had crossed forty-two rapids, and had now come to the most
southerly of the Barotse cataracts, here about 1000 feet wide. I was
removed on the following morning to a more roomy hut that had been
prepared for Queen Moquai, and in which she had waited my arrival;
imagining, however, that I had turned back, she had proceeded on her
way, but when she heard where I was, she sent her husband Manengo back
from her next landing-place to inquire after me.
The last rapids that I crossed were the most dangerous of all in the
Marutse country; one of them was known as Manekango, the other was
Muniruola. They were formed by ridges of rocks extending right across
the river, with an average height of not much over two feet and a half,
but the openings were so few and narrow that the water dashed through
with the fiercest violence. I had to submit to be laid upon the reef
while the men dragged the boat through the rifts at the most imminent
peril.
The sickness, which had a little abated, returned again towards
evening, and I had considerable difficulty in drawing my breath. In the
morning I was so far relieved that I was able to take a few spoonfuls
of maizena.
In the course of that day Inkambella, the most important man in the
country next to Sepopo, passed down the river.
To hold out any longer was simply impossible. I grew worse and worse. I
felt that I had no alternative than to yield to necessity, and calling
the boatmen together, I announced my intention of going back. To my
surprise I found that my resolution had been forestalled; boats were
already waiting, ready to retrace our course. In spite of my weakness I
was inclined to take my people to task for presuming to decide for me,
but I was given to understand that they were only obeying orders; it
transpired that Sepopo had given definite instructions that my health
was to be particularly studied while I was in his country; as I was
a doctor, the king had been anxious that no mischief should befall
me, and regarding me as a sort of magician, he feared that some dire
calamity would happen to his kingdom if I were to die while under his
protection.
When the men had placed me in one boat, and my servant Narri in
another, they declined to start until I had distributed some presents
amongst them, and I heard an altercation going on, which I was too weak
to check, because my servants had detected them trying to steal some of
my goods.
All day long the sun glowed fiercely down, and I was tortured with the
most agonizing thirst. Once, in the hope of obtaining a little relief,
I let my fevered hands hang from the boat’s side in the water, but my
people instantly replaced them on my knees, with the warning that I
must not entice the crocodiles to follow us.
After a painful night in an encampment a few miles to the east of
Katonga, I was put on board again and carried on to Sesheke. I was
conveyed by the boatmen to Westbeech’s hut. He did not recognize me.
CHAPTER XI.
BACK AGAIN IN SESHEKE.
Visits of condolence--Unpopularity of
Sepopo--Mosquitoes--Goose-hunting--Court ceremonial at
meals--Modes of fishing--Sepopo’s illness--Vassal tribes of
the Marutse empire--Characteristics of the Marutse tribes--The
future of the country.
[Illustration: OTTER-SHOOTING ON THE CHOBE.]
For a time I continued to indulge the hope that I should have to
remain at Sesheke only for a short period, and that I should soon be
convalescent and able to start afresh upon the journey I had been
compelled to give up. But I grew worse instead of better, and as the
unhealthy season was now coming on, both Westbeech and Sepopo advised
me to leave the Marutse district altogether, to return to the south,
and not to resume my travels until my health was completely restored.
To me, however, this suggestion looked tantamount to a proposal to
postpone my project indefinitely, and I was loth to acquiesce.
I received visits, not only from the king, but from a number of the
chiefs with whom I had made acquaintance, and while they all expressed
their sympathy with me in my illness, they declared they had foreseen
it. It was their unanimous opinion that I had stayed too long in
Sesheke, the king himself reprimanding me for having taken my trip to
the Victoria Falls and losing my chance of starting earlier, although
every one knew that the blame rested entirely with himself, and that he
had detained me from October to December, and even then had furnished
me with boats only at Moquai’s solicitation.
Since my departure the hut that I had occupied had been appropriated
to another purpose, but Westbeech kindly found me accommodation at his
store.
Sepopo’s unpopularity was very much on the increase. Inkambella,
the great chief whom I mentioned as passing as I lay at the Nambwe
cataract, had been on his way to Sesheke to pay homage to the king,
but the reverence and affection with which he was regarded made him
an object of aversion to Sepopo, who would willingly have disposed of
him. No one, however, could be found to assassinate him, and the only
resource was to have him accused of high treason, the other Barotse
chiefs being included in the charge; they were, however, all adjudged
not guilty. Westbeech and Jan Mahura were present at the trial, and,
as an instance of how Sepopo’s authority was on the wane, they told me
that Mahura had plainly called him a fool, and denounced him as the
greatest traitor in the country.
When Sepopo next visited me he was indulging in the excitement of
the mokoro-dance, and was attended by a large court retinue. He was
in a patronizing mood, and made a great fuss with me, calling me his
mulekow; but when Inkambella arrived shortly afterwards, he moved off
at once to Westbeech’s quarters.
On the evening of the following day I was attacked with such violent
spasms in the chest that I writhed upon the ground in agony, and it
was as much as four men could do to hold me still; it was not until
Westbeech had administered a dose of ipecacuanha, which made me sick,
that I could draw my breath at all freely. Subsequent attacks of a
similar kind recurred at intervals during the sixteen months that my
illness lasted, but I always found that the same remedy gave me relief.
For several days I was unable to rise from my bed. As I lay all alone I
had only too much time to brood over my disappointment and frustrated
scheme. I found, however, that in the way of sickness I was not by any
means a solitary sufferer; some people that came from the Chobe brought
the intelligence that M’Leod, Fairly, Dorehill, Cowley, with several of
their attendants, and my late servant Pit, were all ill with fever at
Panda ma Tenka.
It was not until the 19th that I was able to leave my room at all,
but, with the help of my servants, I then made an effort to walk a
little way on the grass outside our enclosure. A fresh inconvenience
was now beginning to annoy us, for we were perpetually tormented by the
mosquitoes, which at certain seasons are quite a plague on the Zambesi;
every evening, and especially at night, these bloodthirsty little pests
renew their attacks upon man and beast, and even woollen coverings
form no protection from their sharp beaks. The only stratagem by which
I could escape the irritation they caused was the unsavoury one of
allowing my servants to burn a heap or two of cow-dung inside my hut.
In order to get something fresh for our larder, Westbeech and Walsh
went out for a morning’s goose-hunting. It was vexatious that my state
of health did not permit me to go even a little way with them. At this
time of year the geese, and other birds of the duck breed, frequented
the open parts of the marshes, and sportsmen, guided by their cackle,
had to get at them in boats, pushing their way through the reeds.
The best time for hunting them is when there is a moderate wind, as
then the rustle of the reeds overpowers the noise made by the boats.
When Sepopo heard of the success that had attended the expedition, he
bought a lot of Westbeech’s shot, and sent some of his own people on a
similar errand, and I should suppose with similar good luck, as when
I breakfasted with the king a morning or two afterwards, I noticed
several geese upon the table.
From the manner in which they were served, I could perceive that it was
a dish to which the Marutse were by no means unaccustomed. The people
generally take their meals sitting on straw or rush mats, sometimes
inside the huts, and sometimes just in front of the entrance. All
solid food is taken up with the fingers, but anything of a semifluid
character is conveyed to the mouth by means of wooden spoons.
There is little to add to my previous account of the royal meals. The
queens and white men invited to breakfast sat facing the east, but at
supper, which was nearly always taken in the open air, they had their
seats always placed on the king’s left hand. The king sipped the goblet
of kaffir-corn beer before passing it first to the favourite wife, and
then to the other lady-guests, and if no ladies were present, it was
handed on to the court officials at once. Besides the kaffir-corn beer,
honey-beer was occasionally introduced at supper, and the cup-bearer
invariably tasted it before offering it to the king. As the whole of
the honey in the country belongs to the crown, the beverage made from
it is only consumed at court; and on occasions of festivity it is not
passed beyond the circle of the royal family and certain distinguished
guests, except to those from whom the king had already asked or was
about to ask a favour. The honey is not purified for its preparation,
but the beer is made by simply pouring water on to the honeycomb thrown
into gourd-shells, and left to stand for about twelve hours in the sun.
After the 24th I was able to take more regular exercise, and went
several times into the town with the object of exchanging my
travelling-gear, now unfortunately of no service to me, for some
local and ethnographical curiosities. Two-thirds of the plants that I
collected were new to me, and most of those that were found on the
river-bank belonged to the Zambesi highland.
As the mosquitoes prevented us from sleeping, I used to sit up and talk
with Westbeech. I obtained from him all the information I could about
the western Makalakas who resided on the Maitengwe as subjects of the
Matabele. Some of these people I had already seen at Shoshong, and I
had heard a good deal about them from Mr. Mackenzie.
About this time, Sepopo, not feeling very well, sent out instructions
that no white men were to be admitted to his courtyard until further
orders. No doubt Sykendu was at the bottom of this prohibition; he was
always on the alert to do anything to revive the failing trade of his
fellow-countrymen, and lost no opportunity of damaging the character of
the merchants from the south.
Sepopo’s fishermen came to us every day with fish for sale. The Marutse
fisher-craft may be divided into the two sections of reptile-hunting
and fishing proper. It is only a few tribes that devote themselves
systematically to the pursuit of the great reptiles, the crocodile and
the water-lizard; but fishing proper is carried on by every one of the
Zambesi tribes, from the Kabombo to far beyond the Victoria Falls,
their skill in their art being superior to that of the residents on the
coast, or even of the natives at Lake N’gami, who are said to be by no
means wanting in expertness. Besides its importance as an article of
diet, fish constitutes a regular portion of the royal tribute.
There are five principal ways of fishing. The first method consists
in net-fishing, and may be estimated as the most remunerative. The
nets used by the Marutse are of excellent quality; they are made
with meshes of different sizes from bast twisted into cords about as
thick as a man’s finger; they vary from fifteen to twenty-five feet
in length, and are provided with proper weights; they are carefully
cleaned and dried whenever they have been used, and this contributes
very much to their durability. It is in the larger lagoons that they
are generally supplied, especially in those of which the confines
are not marshy. The Marutse, Manubas, and Masupias have the highest
reputation for skilfulness, and have established fishing-stations, some
permanent, others only for a season, all along the river.
A second way of catching fish adopted by the Marutse people is by
weels, which are used either when the river is very low or very high,
in which latter case they are placed against the dams; but at seasons
when the water is low and parted into several streams at the rapids,
they are fixed right in the current between two blocks of rock; in
construction they are obliged to be narrow, seldom more than a foot in
diameter, and they are mostly about a yard and a half long; in shape
they are much like those used in Europe; they are made of strong reeds,
and are fixed with their mouths facing the stream.
Another method consists in enclosing certain portions of the inundated
plains, just at the time of the first abatement of the waters, with
circular dams or embankments of earth. The flood subsides rapidly, and
the fish are easily secured, the muddiness of the water facilitating
their capture. In level places, especially near towns or villages, I
noticed the remains of a good many of these dams, and I was told that
the inquisi is very often caught in this way.
A fourth plan practised in the country is the simple device of blocking
up the mouths of the small lagoons, where sedge is either wanting
altogether or very scanty, with coarse mats made of strong rushes. This
mode of fishing, which is carried on from May to August, while the
floods are going down, is said to be very successful. The rain-channels
that make their way to the river are not unfrequently stopped up in the
same fashion.
[Illustration: SPEARING FISH.]
But next to net-fishing there is no kind of fishing that can compare
either in attractiveness or in efficiency with the last of the five
methods to which I refer. The Zambesi people are all remarkably
dexterous in fishing with the spear, and sometimes can secure
water-lizards as well as fish by this means. Otters are likewise
captured in this way, the assegais employed being proportioned in size
to the purpose for which they are used; generally the point is not
above four inches long, attached to a quadrilateral shaft, one barb
being affixed to each side.
Sepopo’s annoyance at his illness daily increased; he considered that
it was brought about by sorcery on the part of some of his subjects,
and with a view of liberating himself from the spell under which he
imagined he was lying, he gave orders for a large number of executions,
a proceeding that opened the way for any one to get rid of an enemy or
rival, as he had only to accuse him of high treason, and sentence of
death was pretty sure to be passed forthwith. Still finding that he did
not recover his health, the king sent for Sykendu, and told him that
he would have him executed too, if his disorder did not quickly take a
turn for the better. The Mambari promised to effect a speedy cure, but
stipulated that it must be on condition that Sepopo gave him a handsome
Makololo or Masupia woman for a wife; he had frequently made the same
request before without effect, but succeeded now in extracting the
promise from the anxious king.
I held out as long as I could, but yielding at length to the general
advice, I consented to leave Sesheke, and to return to Panda ma Tenka.
There had been many days on which I had been unable to leave my bed
or my hut, but during these I received a number of visits from the
chieftains, and learnt many particulars about the social life of the
Marutse people. It appears to me a convenient place here to insert some
of the facts that I elicited.
[Illustration: WALK THROUGH SESHEKE.]
Except they have been declared free by the sovereign, members of all
the subject tribes, except the Marutse and Mabundas, are regarded as
slaves, but even the Marutse, although exempt from vassal-service, may
be condemned to it for any misdemeanour, or by falling into disgrace
with the king. The children of any vassal who may have married a
Marutse wife are also regarded as vassals, and bound to perform the
same service as their father. The price of a slave in Sesheke is a
boat, or a cow, or a couple of pieces of calico; in the western
part of the kingdom it is much lower, and in the north, in the upper
Kashteja, a slave may be purchased for a few strings of beads. There
are no public slave-markets, but slaves may be bought in any of the
villages. The Mambari, who are the chief buyers and vendors, set the
negroes the vilest of examples. With their prayer-books in their hand,
they endeavour to represent themselves as Christians to any one who can
read or write, but they are utterly unworthy of the name they pretend
to bear, and so far from advancing in any way the civilization of the
superstitious tribes on the Zambesi, they only minister to their deeper
degradation.
Unless a man is an absolute vassal in the strictest sense, he may,
with his master’s permission, have several wives, and free women who
have not been given away or sold as slaves are allowed to choose what
husbands they please. The preference given to female rulers causes
the weaker sex to be treated with far more consideration than they
receive amongst the Bechuana and Zulu races, where they are reckoned as
servants, not to speak of the Masarwas, who treat their women as mere
beasts of burden.
On the 10th we received the melancholy news that Bauren, Westbeech’s
assistant, had died of fever at Panda ma Tenka.
The next day, Kapella, the commander-in-chief, came to our quarters
with a message from the king to say that he was sending six boats to
convey Westbeech’s ivory to Impalera. Westbeech sent word back that
he required double that number of boats, and moreover that he was not
ready to start for a day or two; but I took the opportunity of packing
up my own baggage and departing, relying on the promise given me by
Westbeech that he would follow me in three days. We did not doubt that
the extra boats would be duly sent, and I only carried the provisions
that were requisite to supply my wants for the time; I little dreamed
that Sepopo would be five weeks before he provided the additional
boats, and the consequence was that I was exposed to the severest
privation that I had experienced throughout my journey.
I propose devoting the following chapter to a description of the
manners and customs of the various tribes in the empire at large, but
before bringing my account of Sesheke to a close, I may be allowed to
mention some of the chief characteristics of the more important tribes
that reside in Marutse-land proper.
For courage and bravery none of the Marutse-Mabunda tribes can compete
with the Zulus and Amaswazies of the south; but leaving the Matabele
colony in the Barotse out of the reckoning, the Mamboë and Masupias
may in this respect be considered to bear the palm. The Masupia
elephant-hunters exhibit great fearlessness in all encounters with
wild beasts, though even they are surpassed by the Mamboë in their
adroitness in killing hippopotamuses and crocodiles. Both Mamboë and
Mabundas are well qualified for hard labour and for employment as
bearers, the former being probably the finest and most muscular men in
the whole empire. The Manansas have the reputation of being somewhat
cowardly, but I found them very good and trustworthy servants. With
all native races, pride goes very much hand-in-hand with courage, and
consequently while it is highly developed amongst the Matabele, it is
at a very low ebb amongst the Marutse-Mabundas; and notwithstanding
that the Marutse make the other tribes feel that they are a dominant
race, they exhibit nothing of the arrogance of conscious power that
characterizes the Zulus. Even the Matabele settled in the Barotse have
been influenced by their peaceful surroundings, and have exhibited
something of the qualities of tamed lions; and altogether the relations
between master and servant in the districts about the Zambesi are much
more friendly than amongst the tribes to the south.
The Mamboë, and all the more northerly tribes that seldom come to
court, are particularly unassuming in their demeanour; and although
the natives of the Chobe district, the Batokas and Matongas on the
Zambesi, as well as the Marutse, can be very overbearing with white
men, the blame is more often than not to be attributed to the white men
themselves. But haughtiness of this kind can scarcely be called pride,
and I observed that a little firmness and severity rarely failed to
bring the offenders to reason, and to check their disposition to be
insolent.
The blindness of the obedience which is ordinarily rendered to
rulers is exemplified by the fidelity of the people to Sepopo; but
I am obliged to record that a corresponding faithfulness does not
extend itself to conjugal life. Although I am prepared to allow that
marriage in many instances may be the result of mutual affection, I am
convinced that marriage-vows are very rarely considered binding, as
the mulekow system too plainly testifies. This odious regulation is
like a plague-spot amongst the people; it not only destroys anything
like conjugal felicity, but has the most demoralizing effect upon the
rising generation, as bringing them up with the idea that affection
has nothing to do with married life. Though originally confined to the
western and south-western tribes, it has now generally spread all over
the kingdom.
With regard to affection between parents and children, I have no
hesitation in saying that it is displayed chiefly on the side of the
parents, who often lavish a care upon their offspring that is very
ill-requited when they become old and infirm.
From my own experience I should not advise any traveller in the
Marutse-Mabunda kingdom to trust himself unreservedly to servants
provided by the king; it is far better to ask a chief or some other
person of importance to act as guide, and to chastise with the kiri all
unruly boatmen and bearers; but before starting it is necessary that
all stipulations with the sovereign should be definitely settled.
It is unadvisable to be over-liberal, and each tribe should be treated
as its character demands. From what I have already said it may be
inferred that a little kindness prevails much with the Mamboë and
Manansas; but more reserve must be used with the Marutse and Mankoë.
The Matabele require a serious if not a stern demeanour; and it is
necessary to recollect that with the Makalakas everything must be kept
under lock and key. Whoever the ruler is, he should be treated with
marked civility; and if there should be any difference of opinion with
him, it is best to try and conceal it; but should courtesy fail, and
he begins to be in any way overreaching in his demands, he should be
resisted calmly and firmly, without precipitate recourse to forcible
measures. As so few of the tribes are remarkable for bravery, it
follows that whenever a traveller finds his progress interrupted, or
his designs thwarted, he will best surmount the difficulty, or provide
for his safe retreat, by preserving a resolute and fearless bearing.
[Illustration:
A MASUPIA. A PANDA.]
Their human sacrifices, their manner of slaughtering their domestic
animals, and the use of barbed assegais for destroying game,
demonstrate that a brutal cruelty is one of the predominant failings
of these people; and yet malice and perfidy are extremely rare, the
Makalakas alone being guilty of the latter vice. All tribes profess
a certain amount of indebtedness to the white men, the measure of
gratitude increasing in proportion to the simplicity of their mode of
living, or the farther they are removed to the north, north-east, or
north-west of the Victoria Falls and the mouth of the Chobe.
Vanity is common, no doubt, to all savage races, but the
Marutse-Mabunda tribes indulge in it with greater tact than the people
farther south. Their moral standard is very low, but this, as I have
before had occasion to remark, is the result of ignorance rather
than of corruption; and I believe that instruction and good example,
combined with a little gentle pressure put upon the rulers by white
men, would in a very few years work a marvellous amendment; but to
bring about a reformation, it must be confessed that the kings should
be very different men from Sepopo. The first thing that it behoves a
stranger to do is to set his face against the mulekow system. It is the
proper way in which he should seek to gain respect for himself; and it
is of great advantage to let the people know that no such custom is
tolerated in any other country.
The system, too, by which the sovereign takes for wives any women he
will, must also be broken down before any great moral improvement can
be expected. They nearly always have to marry him in defiance of their
own wishes, and are only free to refuse under the penalty of death;
consequently they are seldom otherwise than unfaithful. Sepopo took
care to expose every breach of fidelity that came to his knowledge; but
the general example of the queens was so utterly bad, that even women
who had been free to marry at their own choice, never held themselves
bound to keep the marriage vow inviolate.
As one proof that the few white men who have visited the Zambesi
district have exercised some influence on the habits of the population,
it may be recorded that the natives have begun to wear a kind of
clothing, however primitive, instead of going, like their northern
neighbours, the Mashukulumbe, absolutely naked.
[Illustration: SINGULAR ROCK.]
CHAPTER XII.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE MARUTSE TRIBES.
Ideas of religion--Mode of living--Husbandry
and crops--Consumption and preparation of
food--Cleanliness--Costume--Position of the women--Education
of children--Marriages--Disposal of the dead--Forms
of greeting--Modes of travelling--Administration
of justice--An execution--Knowledge of
medicine--Superstition--Charms--Human sacrifices--Clay and
wooden vessels--Calabashes--Basket-work--Weapons--Manufacture of
clothing--Tools--Oars--Pipes and snuff-boxes--Ornaments--Toys,
tools, and fly-flappers.
[Illustration: DROWNING USELESS PEOPLE.]
In the several preceding chapters I have had various occasions to refer
to different customs and characteristics of the Marutse-Mabunda people
that attracted my attention; but I propose to devote the present
chapter to some further details before resuming the account of my
travelling experiences.
Before it was split up into its present large number of tribes, the
Bantu family believed in the existence of a powerful invisible God;
and by no people has the conception been so well preserved as by the
Marutse, inasmuch as they retain an idea, however indistinct, of an
Omnipotent Being who observes every action and disposes of every
individual at his own will.
They shrink from pronouncing His name, generally substituting for it
the word “molemo,” which has a very comprehensive meaning, as besides
signifying God, it is used to denote good and evil spirits, medicines,
poisons, charms, and amulets. Their real designation of the unseen
Deity is “Nyambe,” and if ever they pronounce it they raise both hands
and eyes to the sky, and not unfrequently they use the same gestures
without mentioning the name at all. They assume that the Supreme Being
resides “mo-chorino,” i.e. in the azure of the heavens, and I have
heard them allude to him as “He who lives above,” or simply as “He.” If
a man dies a natural death, it is said that Nyambe has called him away,
or if any one is killed in battle or by wild beasts, or by the fury of
the elements, it is all supposed to have occurred at the bidding of
Nyambe. A criminal sentenced to death meets his fate with submission,
not doubting that Nyambe is sending the punishment due to his crime, or
if any innocent person is condemned, as often happened during Sepopo’s
government, both he and his friends will hope to the last that Nyambe
will interfere for his protection from the poison, or from whatever
else is to be the means of death.
The people also believe in good and evil spirits, the latter of which
they endeavour to exorcise, or at least to propitiate, by means of
charms, such as bones of men or beasts, hippopotamus’ teeth, bits
of wood, pieces of bark, and calabash-gourds, which are enclosed in
baskets made of bast, and hung up on poles three or four feet high.
Most of the Marutse-Marunda tribes hold the belief of continued
existence after death, and the principal reasons alleged by the
Masupias for depositing great elephants’ tusks on the grave of a chief
are that he may be consoled for his separation from his property, and
may be induced to extend to them his protection, now more powerful than
ever by reason of his nearness to Nyambe.
Besides ascribing their calamities to the operation of evil spirits,
they often think that they arise from the displeasure of a departed
chief, who consequently has to be propitiated by certain ceremonies
at his grave. For instance, if a member of the royal family is ill,
he is carried, by the permission of the authorities, to the grave of
the most important chieftain deceased in the neighbourhood, and there
some dignitary, not unfrequently the king himself, will repeat a form
of prayer supplicating the departed on behalf of the patient, and
entreating him to intercede with Nyambe that he may be restored to
health.
[Illustration: SEPOPO’S HEAD MUSICIAN.
_Page 302._]
The mode of living throughout the empire is certainly less rude
than that of the tribes south of the Zambesi. Agriculture is so
remunerative, and cattle-breeding in two-thirds of the country is
so successful, the other third, in spite of its being infested by the
tsetse-fly, is so abundant in game, the rivers and lagoons produce
such quantities of fish, and the forests yield so many varieties of
fruits and edible roots and seeds, that, unlike many of the Bechuana
tribes, the natives never suffer from want during the summer rains. In
husbandry and in cattle-breeding alike they have great advantages in
their abundance of water, their fertile soil, and their genial climate.
The fields are weeded with great assiduity by the women, and most
of them are sufficiently drained by long furrows. As harvest-time
approaches huts and raised platforms are erected in the vicinity, so
that guard may be kept over the produce; children as well as adults
are set to perform this office, which has to be maintained night and
day. The corn is threshed by laying the ears on large skins or on straw
mats, and then beating it with sticks. A certain proportion of the
ingathering is allotted to the women to dispose of as they please; and
to judge from the hard bargains they drove with myself and the white
traders, they seem to manipulate their property with considerable
advantage to themselves. The men, too, always demanded more for the
goods that belonged to the women than they did for their own, saying
the wife had fixed the price, and that if they could not obtain it they
were to carry the things back again.
Apart from the tribute which they have to provide for the king and
for the local chief, a family of five people, to meet their own
requirements, will cultivate, according to their means, one, two, or
three of the ordinary plots of ground, running about three-quarters
of an acre each. Two-thirds of the tilled soil are in the wooded parts
of the country, and the land is first cleared by the men and boys, who
cut down the underwood and the lower branches of the trees, the wood
thus obtained being used for the fences, and the weeds and faggots
being burnt for manure. September and October are the usual months for
sowing; but gourds, leguminous plants, and tobacco are sown any time
up to December; the growth of the two latter crops being so extremely
rapid that they often ripen by January, whilst kaffir-corn and maize
are ready by February, beans coming in during both these months.
The crops most extensively cultivated are the two kinds of kaffir-corn,
the red and the white; they both thrive admirably, and form the staple
of the cereal impost, and the chief material of external traffic. Both
sorts are identical with those that are found throughout South Africa.
There is a third kind of corn which is only occasionally seen in the
district, called “kleen-corn” by the Dutch hunters, and “rosa” by the
Marutse. The grains are small, not unlike hemp-seed, and when ground
they produce a black flour that binds better for bread-making than
either of the two sorghum-like species. The Marutse regard it as being
especially choice, and it is double the price of the others.
Maize is very frequently cultivated, and with good success; but there
is a still larger preponderance of crops of the gourd tribe, such as
various species of water-melons, edible gourds, and bottle gourds,
which are only grown for the sake of their shells. About as common
as these are two species of beans, one small and almost colourless,
the other larger and of a crimson or purple tint. Like mabele (common
corn), rosa, and imboni (maize), these beans, known respectively as
the “li-tu” and the “di-nowa,” form a certain part of the contribution
to the royal revenue. When boiled with meat or with hippopotamus-bacon
they have a flavour which is reckoned superior to our European species.
[Illustration: MARUTSE-MABUNDA CALABASHES FOR HONEY-MEAD AND CORN.]
Three other vegetable products must be added to the list, viz. manza,
masoshwani (_Arachis hypogæa_) and cotton. The manza is all crown
property, and is sent to the royal quarters whole; it is there ground
and used for a kind of pap without salt. The arachis, which forms part
of the tribute, being identical with the ground-nut of the West Coast,
is grown nearly everywhere; it is eaten by the natives after it has
been roasted in the shell, and not unfrequently utilized by Europeans
as a substitute for coffee. The cotton is cultivated for domestic
use, and is woven into good strong fabrics; but it is hardly ever
seen except in the eastern districts. The growth of all these crops
furnishes a proof that rice might be cultivated with advantage.
Round about the huts and amongst the corn and maize may be seen
luxuriant masses of sugar-cane (imphi) which is grown not so much for
food as for a means of relieving thirst; it is the same sort that is
found throughout South Africa, and here ripens between December and
February.
The spots chosen for the tobacco plantations are generally hollows,
from ten to twenty square yards in area. After being dried and pounded,
the tobacco is slightly moistened and made into conical or circular
pellets, in the corn-mortars. As a general rule, that which is grown by
the Marutse tribes is of closer substance, keeps better, and contains
a larger amount of nicotine than that produced amongst the surrounding
people.
Considering the climate and the ample means of irrigation, I cannot
help being of opinion that all our cereals, especially wheat, would
thrive perfectly well in this country, and that not only rice and
coffee in the eastern districts, but likewise the vine and many
descriptions of European fruits could hardly fail to ripen admirably.
Taking all the various articles of food into account, we find that,
after game, ordinary kaffir-corn, kleen-corn, maize, and gourds hold a
foremost place; next comes fish; then follow in diminished proportions,
sour milk, fresh milk, beef, mutton, goats’ flesh, forty-two species of
wild fruits, the two kinds of beans, ground-nuts, fowls, wild birds,
manza and honey. Meat is generally boiled in covered earthenware pots,
or roasted in the embers, either with or without a spit. In their
way of dressing meat, the people are really very clever, and I do
not believe that dishes so savoury could be found throughout South
Africa as those which are served in the better-class residences of the
Marutse, and this is the more surprising when it is remembered that
they lead a far more secluded life than any of the Bechuana tribes.
Wild birds are either roasted or boiled, and served up with their
head-feathers or crests unremoved, on handsome perforated dishes.
Many tribes reject certain kinds of wild game through superstitious
motives; some will not touch the pallah; others will not eat the eland;
and still more refuse to taste hippopotamus-meat; while, on the other
hand, there are some of the Marutse people who enjoy the flesh of
certain wild beasts of prey which the great majority of South Africans
would hold to be utterly revolting. Both meat and fish are dried and
preserved without undergoing any salting process. The various kinds
of corn are either boiled or pounded in mortars, and then made into
pap with milk or water, maize being boiled or baked, both in its green
and dried state. Beans are boiled, and earth-nuts baked; gourds and
water-melons are cut up and boiled, the latter being also eaten raw.
Manza requires a somewhat careful preparation; when green the roots
contain poisonous properties, but after being thoroughly dried and
finely pounded they may be safely mixed into a pap something like
arrowroot, which forms an excellent sauce for meat of any kind. Wild
fruits are baked, both when fresh, and when they have been dried in the
sun; sometimes, too, they are stewed in milk, and occasionally they are
reduced to pulp; some sorts are ripening at all periods of the year, so
that there is an unfailing supply of this means of subsistence.
Salt has to be brought from such long distances, either from the west
or south-west, that it is only the wealthier people that can afford to
use it at all.
[Illustration: BARK BASKET AND CALABASHES FOR HOLDING CORN, USED
BY THE MABUNDAS.]
The poorer people have only one regular meal a day, which is taken in
the evening; the well-to-do classes have two daily meals; the first an
hour and a half or two hours after sunrise, and the other at sunset.
Beer is usually drunk after every meal. Of the two kinds of beer made
from kaffir-corn, one is strong, called matimbe; the second sort, known
as butshuala, being much weaker; besides these, there is a sweet beer
made from wild fruits, that produced from the morula fruit being like
cider; and there is likewise the honey-beer, or impote, which I have
had to mention several times before.
Besides being clever in their cooking, the Marutse-Mabundas are very
clean; they always keep their materials in well-washed wooden or
earthenware bowls, or in suitable baskets or calabashes. They were the
first people that I saw making butter. Their cleanliness in their work
only corresponds to that of their persons, and I am repeating what I
have elsewhere observed in stating that rather than lose their bath
they are always ready to run the risk of being snapped up by crocodiles.
They smoke more tobacco than any of the tribes among whom it has been
introduced by the white men, accustoming themselves to it from their
earliest youth, and all of them, including young girls, take snuff.
The snuff which they use is a compound of tobacco ashes, pulverized
nymphæa-stalks, and the secretion from the glands of the _Rhabdogale
mustelina_. Tobacco is usually made up into little cakes, which are
strung together in rows.
In spite of its simplicity the costume of the Marutse may be pronounced
more graceful than that of the majority of South African tribes.
Instead of the leather fringe of the Zulus, or the narrow strap of
the Bechuanas and Makalakas, the men wear leather aprons, which are
fastened round their waist-belts, from the front to the back. Tribes
like the Batokas, Manansas, Masupias, and Marutse, who frequently
visit the southern side of the Zambesi, and consequently come more in
contact with white men, wear cotton aprons, for which they generally
require nearly three yards of calico; they are by no means particular
about colour, but if they are unable to procure a piece of sufficient
length (which they call a sitsiba), they make a point of getting at
least enough for an apron to reach down to the knees in front. Those
who wear leather aprons make them of the skins of the smaller mammalia,
the Marutse and Masupias using those of the _scopophorus_ and
_cephalopus_, which are pierced all round the edge with square
or circular holes, and the head part thrust through the girdle. The
Manansas wear a small flap about as wide as their hand, made of calico,
cloth, or leather.
In the style of their mantles, too, the Marutse subjects show a marked
difference from the other branches of the great Bantu family. They
prefer those of a circular shape, something like a Spanish mantilla,
and reaching to their hips. Small mantles made of letshwe and puku
skins are also worn. The sovereign and some of the principal officials
occasionally attire themselves in European costume, but more often
than not they wear nothing but their aprons, covering themselves in a
woollen wrap in rainy weather. The waistband is made of every variety
of material; sometimes of the hide of gnus, gazelles, or elephants,
sometimes of the skins of water-lizards, boas, cobras, and other
snakes, and occasionally of simple plaited grass or straw.
[Illustration: MABUNDA LADLE AND CALABASHES.]
Boys go entirely naked until some time between their sixth and tenth
years of age. Little girls on attaining their fourth year begin by
wearing tiny aprons made of twisted cords about ten inches long, and
sometimes ornamented with brass rings; when ten years old they have
small square leather aprons fastened to a belt. Many of them, who are
affianced when very young, wear two aprons, a short one in front, and a
longer one behind.
Married women have short petticoats of roughly tanned leather,
generally cowhide, with the hair inside; these reach to their knees,
and are fastened on by double waistbands. A red-brown substance that is
prepared from bark, and has a somewhat agreeable odour, is rubbed into
the outer surface. Women who are suckling their infants wear mantles
of letshwe-skin like the men, which are generally thrown across their
back, and drawn over their bosom on the approach of a stranger.
In bad weather the women, and sometimes the men too, wrap themselves up
in a huge circular leather cloak reaching to the ankles, and fastened
at the throat with a strap or a brooch of wood or metal; it requires
to be held together in front by the hand. As a rule the people go
barefooted, which is much more practicable on their sandy soil than in
the thorny districts south of the Zambesi; for long journeys, however,
they wear sandals made of rough leather, which are fastened to the
great toe and ankle by a strap across the instep.
The eastern vassal tribes who grow cotton make pieces of calico of all
sizes, from handkerchiefs to sheets. The smaller pieces are used for
men’s aprons, and the larger, which are one or two yards wide, and from
one and a half to two and a half yards long, are used for domestic
purposes; their narrower ends are all finished off with fringes,
varying from four to sixteen inches in length. The Mashonas weave
similar articles of clothing, but employ bast for the material instead
of cotton.
The position held by the women of the Marutse empire is better than
that of their southerly neighbours. Although they till the soil, and
assist in the erection of huts, all the hardest work, such as hunting,
fishing, and the collection of building materials, is performed by the
men. I generally found the elder people at work, the men gathering wild
fruit in the woods, and the women in the fields, either superintending
the young or engaged in some of the less arduous labour. The sons of
the poorer people, and slave boys, usually act as shepherds, sometimes
by themselves, but more generally under supervision, whilst boys of the
upper class go hunting, either with assegais or guns. At harvest-time
a very serviceable occupation is found for them in watching over the
crops and scaring away the gazelles and birds; they are likewise
employed to warn the villagers of the approach of any antelopes,
buffaloes, or elephants.
It is not the habit of the Marutse to indulge in much sleep; they
generally retire to rest late, and go to their work an hour or two
before sunrise. Their recreations seldom begin until the close of the
day, the lower their rank the later. They sleep chiefly upon mantles,
skins, or straw mats. The king’s bed consisted of forty-five splendid
mantles, piled one upon another, and three or four of the queens were
appointed every night to keep watch over his slumbers.
The training of the children is entrusted to the women, though the boys
soon escape the maternal eye, and associate more with the fathers. The
children of freemen are allowed to have slave-children as companions
and playmates, and as these are to form their future retinue, they
often have a great influence upon the rising generation, who become
much more attached to them than to those who have the natural authority
over them; in fact, the children in this way are often so much indulged
that I have known boys of only twelve years of age have quite the upper
hand of their fathers. Boys are instructed in the use of weapons while
they are quite young, and soon acquire the art of building a hut. The
girls are kept strictly to their work, and the householder always
expects the daughters to take a share in the maintenance of the family
as soon as possible. Until ten or twelve years of age they are chiefly
employed in fetching water.
Marriages are celebrated by noisy demoralizing orgies, of which, as at
funerals, a large consumption of kaffir-corn beer and a special dance
are the principal features. Children, as I have remarked, are often
affianced at an early age, and the marriage is consummated as soon as
the girl arrives at maturity. Not unfrequently a man of rank, although
already he may have several other wives and a number of children,
obtains the daughter of a friend for a wife, arranging meanwhile to
give one of his own daughters to his new father-in-law in return, thus
making him his son-in-law likewise. Sepopo, it has been mentioned, held
this double relationship to several of the koshi and kosanas.
When a girl reaches her maturity, the fact is formally announced to all
her companions, an invitation is sent round, and they visit her at her
own home every evening for about a week, and execute a dance, which
is accompanied by singing and castanet-playing. The performance is
generally kept up until a very late hour. If the girl is a daughter or
near relation of the king or a koshi, she is carried off by her people
to some out-of-the-way place in a neighbouring wood or reed-thicket,
where she has to reside in seclusion for eight days, attended only by
her own maid, except that in the evening she is visited by her friends,
who perfume her head, and instruct her in her conjugal duties, so that
at the end of her probation she may be ready to go to her husband. I
have already described the marriage-dance, in which only men take part.
As a rule, even in the case of vassals, it lasts for three days and
nights. A vassal may only marry by the consent of his lord, who assigns
him one of his slave women as a wife.
In complete contrast to the tribes south of the Zambesi, who bury their
dead at night in secluded spots near their homes, or under the hedges;
the Marutse-Mabundas celebrate their funerals with music, singing,
shouting, and firing of guns. Many of them mark the place of interment
by depositing on it the hunting-trophies of the deceased, such as the
skulls of gazelles and zebras, that during his lifetime have been
preserved upon poles. Sometimes trees are planted in an oval form round
the grave, which never fails in being protected by some means or other
from desecration by wild animals. The ceremonies observed at funerals,
it is only reasonable to suppose, are associated with certain ideas of
a future existence. Monuments of more elaborate construction are said
to exist in the Barotse, the mother country of the dominant tribe,
where a mausoleum is erected to the memory of every important member
of the royal family. It is a matter of much regret to me that I failed
to get far enough north to enable me to inspect these monuments; the
only accounts that I received of them were from Sepopo and several of
the chiefs, and from Westbeech and Blockley, who, under the king’s
authority, had visited the district in 1872 and 1873.
Audiences with the king are conducted in prescribed form. When subjects
who have come from distant provinces enter the royal courtyard they
keep repeating the cry “tow-tu-nya” over and over again, and then
squat down close to the entrance in silence, and wait until they are
summoned; in course of time they are generally introduced by their
own koshi or kosana residing in Sesheke, who crawls up to the king
and announces their arrival; on their admittance they have to creep
forwards on their knees, and when within a few yards of the king they
have to halt and keep clapping their hands gently, while their leader
acts as spokesman. As soon as they have received the royal answer, the
audience is at an end, and they have to retire in the same way as they
advanced. Visitors from the neighbourhood greet the king with the cry
of “shangwe-shangwe;” other forms of salutation are “shangwe-koshi,”
and “rumela-rarumela intate,” the former of these being more
particularly addressed to white men.
There is one form of salutation to a stranger which is observed by
every householder, from the king downwards. After a few words have been
exchanged, the host produces a snuff-box that hangs from his neck or
his waistband by a strap, or from his bracelet, and having opened it,
offers it to his guest; though, sometimes, instead of passing the box,
he empties its contents into his own left hand, from which he takes a
pinch himself, and then extends his half-opened palm to those about him.
Travelling is performed with the help of bearers, who are either hired
for the entire distance, or from tribe to tribe, the conditions being
rigidly investigated by the king. In return for a supply of bearers
the king expects a present of a breech-loader and 200 cartridges, or
three elephant-guns, or muzzle-loaders, and recently looks for some
articles of clothing in addition; and every governor of a province
that is traversed has to be presented either with a gift of clothes
or with a good blanket. If hired for two months a servant receives
a cotton sheet, or three yards of calico, or a pound of small blue
beads. No subject may be engaged as servant to a white man for a period
of more than six months without the consent of the sovereign, except
the transaction be a private one between a koshi and his slave. For a
year’s service the remuneration on the Zambesi was usually a musket,
the servant of course being kept by the employer, and receiving an
occasional present of tobacco, or dacha. If bearers and boatmen are
under the supervision of a good overseer they do their work very
well, are contented with one meal a day, and with intervals of one
rest of half an hour, and about five more of a quarter of an hour
each, they will march or row from daybreak until after four o’clock
in the afternoon. Immediately upon halting they light a fire with a
brand which they always carry with them, and commence smoking their
dacha-pipes.
But without a good makosana or overlooker the case is very different.
Then the traveller, especially a white man, is exposed to all sorts of
annoyances, and not only will the servants do all in their power to
hinder his progress, but the more indulgently he acts, the worse they
will be. The baggage is generally carried on their heads, or on a stick
placed across the shoulder, very heavy packages being conveyed on a
long pole by two or four men. They travel on an average at the rate of
nearly three miles an hour. On the river, boats make from three and a
half to four and a half miles against the stream, and from five and a
half to seven miles with the stream, if unimpeded by rapids, and not
interfered with by hippopotamuses.
When travelling alone the natives take very few provisions. The small
two-oared boats that convey the corn-tribute to Sesheke are nearly
always so heavily laden that the boatmen take nothing with them but
a little fish, satisfied to get what food they can upon their way by
gathering wild fruits from the banks, and by knocking over with their
thoboni-sticks, which they use with an aim that seldom errs, some of
the birds in the rushes, which their noiseless advance allows them to
approach without disturbing.
The administration of justice in the Marutse kingdom is a topic not
without its interest. By the formation of the greater council the cause
of judicial equity was materially advanced, but unfortunately this
institution, founded by a constitutional ruler now long deceased, has
latterly lost much of its _prestige_, and has received almost
its death-blow under the despotism of Sepopo. For the last ten years
justice has been set at defiance more and more. Long established
customs, having the sanction of law, are fondly clung to by the
natives, who naturally resent any interference with their privileges,
and it was Sepopo’s attempt to suppress the ancient usages that first
estranged him from his subjects. The laws of property, the social
relations between the tribes, the law of succession to the throne, the
recognized rule of treaties, and the criminal code, were all completely
subverted by him, being either abrogated altogether, or remodelled to
suit his own fancy. It seems, however, a matter of certainty that under
Wana-Wena, his successor, the greater part of the old Marutse law will
be re-established.
Minor differences are adjusted by the kosanas and makosanas, more
important charges being referred to the governing chiefs; but all
offences of a serious character, if they are committed within moderate
distance of the royal residence, are tried before the king and the
greater council. Murder, which is of rare occurrence, is always
punished with death. More executions took place at the royal quarters
than in any other part of the country, because any one who incurred
any unpopularity in the provinces was tolerably sure to be dragged
thither upon a charge of high treason. When once Sepopo’s suspicions
were aroused against an individual, he had no respect of persons;
neither close relationship, faithful service, nor official rank had
any weight with him, and he would credit no evidence; in such cases
the mere accusation of high treason, murder, desertion, selling ivory
or honey, stealing royal property, adultery with one of the queens, or
manslaughter, was quite enough to secure a conviction, and the accused
would forthwith be condemned to be poisoned and burnt. Brawling,
causing bodily injury to others, and pilfering, were punished by hard
labour in the king’s fields, or by slavery for life. When the king
had no personal interest in a case he suffered the council to pass
sentence without interference on his own part, and when any criminal
was declared to be worthy of death, the sentence ran that he was to be
poisoned by the judgment of God.
I was myself a witness of an execution under this sentence. It was
a singularly calm morning, and after a night disturbed by a grand
carousal of the people, there was perfect silence. Before daybreak,
however, the stillness was broken by the noise of the Mamboë starting
off with their canoes and nets to get the daily supply of fish for
the court, and being aroused, I went out, as I had occasionally done
before, to watch their departure. As I was returning I met a group of
about twenty people hurrying off towards the woods; a second glance
explained the cause that had brought them out so early. At the head
of the party was that Mabunda hyæna, Mashoku, the king’s executioner;
he was attired in a gaily checked woollen shirt, reaching almost to
his heels, and close behind him was a dejected-looking man of middle
age; then followed two old creatures, like walking mummies, who, by
their fez-like headgear, were at once known as the king’s physicians,
and the ruling spirits of his secret council; next came four young
men armed with assegais. Two little clusters of people brought up the
rear; in the foremost of these was a woman and two children; the last
batch was screeching and shouting with excitement. As I stood watching
the proceedings I heard a voice whispering close behind me--it only
confirmed what I had already supposed--“Camaya mo mositu, ku umubulaya
mona mo” (they are going to the woods to kill that man there). I looked
round, and found that I was being informed of what was going on by one
of the Sesheke boys who used to sell me his fish for beads.
I ascertained that the unfortunate who was being dragged to execution
had been accused of high treason by some of his neighbours, who were
jealous of his crops, and Sepopo had condemned him to death in spite
of the general wish of the council to acquit him; but it happened that
Sepopo was more unwell than usual, and it was made a part of the charge
that his illness was brought about by some charms that the man had
devised.
On reaching the woodland glade that was the place of execution, Mashoku
tore off the condemned man’s leather apron, and broke his wooden and
ivory bracelets, the four young men in attendance fastening on him
another apron made of some leaves that they gathered on the spot. In
the middle of the glade stood a sort of low gallows, consisting of two
upright posts, five feet high and three feet apart, with one horizontal
crossbar along the top, and another about a third of the way up. There
were several piles of ashes lying about, from which projected some
charred human bones.
Mashoku made his victim sit down upon the lower crossbar and take hold
of the uprights with each hand. One of the four assistants then brought
out a small gourd-bottle, and he was followed by a second carrying
a wooden bowl. Having poured out into the bowl a black decoction
with which he had been supplied by the king, Mashoku ordered the man
to swallow it. The order was immediately obeyed; but no sooner had
he drunk the contents of the bowl than all his relations who were
present rushed up in the hope of seeing him vomit the draught. “Father,
husband, brother, friend!” they cried; “fear not! you are innocent.
Your foes were jealous; they grudged you your mabele! Nyambe knows you
are a good man! Nyambe grant you to vomit the poison!” But meanwhile
the accusers took advantage of any opportunity they could get to revile
the poor creature bitterly; they shook their fists at him; they spat in
his face; they called him scoundrel, thief, cheat; declared that he was
getting only his deserts, and that his bones should be burned as the
bones of a traitor.
According to the old Marutse law, every condemned malefactor has
to drink a bowl of poison; if after swallowing it, he falls down,
succumbing to its influence, he is declared guilty, and his body is
at once burnt; if, on the other hand, he vomits what he has taken,
he is discharged as innocent; the respite, however, is practically
only temporary, as the poison is almost certain to have caused such a
disorder in the blood that death ensues in the course of a year or two.
In his general subversion of all the long established ordinances of the
kingdom, Sepopo set aside this rule just when he pleased, and often
gave his executioner private orders to proceed to burn the accused
under any circumstances.
Several instances of this were related to me. When he moved from the
Barotse to Sesheke he was unable, on account of the tsetse-fly in
the neighbourhood, to bring his cattle with him; some large herds
belonging to one of the chieftains aroused his envy, and the owner
was soon a doomed man. He was brought to judgment and condemned, but
evacuating the poison, he escaped; he was brought to trial again with
the same result; the third time he was not permitted to get off, but
his body, by private orders, was exposed to the fire till he was dead.
On another occasion, after I left Sesheke, the wife of the chief Mokoro
was sentenced to death; the poison test declared her innocent, but the
executioner informed her that he was commissioned by the king to burn
her alive next day all the same. To avoid her fate the wretched woman
flung herself into the river, where a huge crocodile seized her and
mangled her body frightfully before carrying it to the bottom.
But to resume my account of the victim in the wood. When the clamour
around him ceased a little, and the accusers grew tired of reviling
him, the two old doctors came forward and twisted him round and round,
to make the poison, as they said, work itself into his system. They
then made him resume his old position on the scaffold, where all
the hubbub of the sympathizers and enemies was again renewed, the
impatience of both parties continually increasing till they saw whether
the poison would act as an emetic or a narcotic. Their curiosity was
not set at rest for half an hour, when the man at last fell senseless
to the ground. This was the signal for the executioner’s deputies to
proceed to business; without losing an instant they pounced upon the
body and carried it off to the fire already kindled; it was in vain
for wife or friends to protest; the poor wretch’s head was held over
the flames until the face was half-burned away, and he was choked.
A quantity of brushwood was then added, and the body, as rapidly as
possible, was consumed in the bonfire. The relations, uttering loud
lamentations, began to return homewards, but they were careful to
suppress all their wailing on reaching the town, lest their tokens
of grief should excite the king’s anger, and provoke him to further
barbarities.
During this reign of terror many who thought themselves likely to come
under suspicion tried to leave the country, and some even committed
suicide to avoid coming under the royal sentence. Runaways who were
caught were either assegaied by their pursuers, or brought back to
Sepopo for execution; if any of them were interceded for either by an
important chief or by any of the white men, it was very likely that the
application would be received with a very gracious acquiescence, but
the chances were that a few days afterwards he would be again accused
and convicted afresh.
In cases of theft neither the king nor any of his officials will punish
a man except upon his own confession, or upon the evidence of a number
of witnesses. No pains are ever taken by the authorities to discover or
apprehend a thief; they simply say to a complainant, “Bring your man
here, and then we can deal with him.”
I have already mentioned that two respited criminals acted as
scavengers at the royal residence. These men had always to be up and
to complete their work before any one was stirring; and occasionally
they had to remove corpses out of the thoroughfares, as Sepopo regarded
all dead bodies, except those of his own people at the court, merely as
offal, and gave orders that they should be treated as other rubbish.
It is only giving the Marutse people fair credit for their medical
knowledge to say that it is certainly in advance of that of other
South African tribes; on this superior knowledge the physicians in the
secret council have devised their sorceries in such a way as to gain
for themselves a kind of awe from the common people; their acquaintance
with the medicinal or poisonous properties of many plants is such as
might enable them to be of universal service, were they not actuated
by the desire to maintain their hold upon the ignorant by the old
routine of magic. Apart, however, from this, I found that they quite
understood the treatment of dysentery, fever, coughs, colds, wounds,
and snake-bites, although their remedies were always accompanied by
mysterious ceremonies to inspire the faith which, perhaps, after all,
contributed very largely to the cure. As with the Bechuanas, bleeding
was quite a common operation; it was performed with metal, horn, or
bone lancets upon the temples, cheeks, arms, breast, and shoulders,
the blood being drawn out by bone suckers; it was adopted in cases
of neuralgia to relieve any local pain, and was supposed to reduce
inflammation in any of the neighbouring organs. Plants of which the
medicinal qualities had been ascertained were dried and used in powder
and decoctions, or sometimes they were burnt and reduced to charcoal.
The animal substances employed for medicine were bone-dust, scales
of the pangolin, and the glandular secretions and excrements of
certain mammalia. In one respect the Mabunda doctors differed from the
Bechuanas, in having no external indication to mark their profession,
unless their extreme old age might be interpreted as a badge of their
calling.
The prevalence of superstition is no doubt the principal and most
serious obstacle to the intellectual development of the Marutse-Mabunda
tribes. It was the awe with which his subjects regarded him that
enabled Sepopo, in spite of his atrocities, so long to maintain his
power over them; the aged doctors that he kept about him never failed
to inculcate the most superstitious notions upon the people, and the
influence they exercised was very largely increased by the manifest
efficacy of many of the remedies they used; there was no room left to
question the sacredness of the person of the sovereign.
It would be absolutely impossible to enumerate all the charms that are
employed, and I will only pause to recapitulate a few of them.
At the commencement of a war, after the completion of a new town,
or in any season of general calamity, certain portions of the human
body, removed during life, are deposited in special places in vessels
designed for the purpose.
Bracelets and chestbands made of buffalo fat are supposed to keep off
various disorders, and to act as a protection in cases of pursuit.
Fat, taken from the heart of a domestic animal, and fastened crosswise
to a stick, and placed near the hut of any fugitive from his country,
is imagined to be sure before long to overpower his senses and to make
him reel home again like a drunkard to receive his proper punishment.
Pulverized and charred bones of mammalia, birds, and amphibious animals
are sold to hunters to ensure their fleetness in the chase, the powder
being either carried in bags about the person, or rubbed into incisions
made in the arms and legs.
All kinds of pharmaceutical preparations obtained from white men are
regarded as possessing magic properties, as are also the skins of
rare animals, such as the great black lemur, the eyes, nostrils, and
ridge of the tail of the crocodile, the horns of the _Cephalopus
Hemprichii_ and of the _Scopophorus Urebi_, beads of any scarce
sort, and any abnormal growth in the hair, on the bones, or on the
horns of animals.
Other charms consist of small bags made of the skin of the python,
belts and chestbands cut from the skins of snakes and lizards, and
little shells fastened together into headbands, necklaces, bracelets,
and girdles. The shells, as well as other products of marine animals,
have been introduced by the Portuguese, and are in great demand.
Instead of being worn about the body, charms and amulets are often
deposited in some secret place known only to the master of the house.
All along the enclosure at the back of his reception-hut, Sepopo
had a row of clay-pots and calabashes containing a great collection
of charms, besides those that were stored in his laboratory. The
receptacles were very diversified. Those that were uncovered consisted
of bags and baskets made of bast, grass, or straw, rude wooden dishes
of many sizes, pots and pans of baked or unbaked clay, generally
covered with patterns and glazed, either supported by wooden legs or
hung upon poles, and calabashes that were generally arranged under
little roofs of their own. The closed receptacles were makenke baskets,
tiny baskets made of palm-leaves, small calabashes in the shape of an
hour-glass with wooden stoppers, horns of gazelles with the end plugged
up, goats’ horns engraved all over, and the horns of the larger kinds
of antelopes, such as harrisbocks and gemsbocks, neatly carved and
in shape like powder-flasks. All of them were provided with straps
by which they could be hung up. I also noticed some boxes that had
been carefully carved out of wood, reeds, birds’ or animals’ bones,
hippopotamus’ and elephants’ tusks, fruit-shells, and various sorts of
claws; and there were bags made of skins, and even the intestines and
the bladders of certain animals, while some were merely fragments of
woollen cloth or cotton sewn together. The greatest care seemed to be
bestowed on the preservation of every article of this character.
If it could be transferred to a European museum, Sepopo’s medicine-hut
would be in itself a very remarkable and promiscuous ethnological
collection; but, unfortunately, it is very difficult for any one to
obtain objects of this sort at all, as the natives are extremely
reluctant to part with the most trifling thing that is credited with
the possession of magic properties.
Liquids, poured out in front of the entrance of a house or courtyard,
are supposed to act as a spell upon the master or any one who may
inadvertently step across the place while it is still damp. Illness,
as I have had occasion to remark, is nearly always presumed to be the
result of magic or malevolence. My own profession, and the general
character of my occupation, as well as my success from time to time in
relieving certain cases of sickness, caused me to be regarded in the
Marutse kingdom as a magician, and at least had the satisfactory result
of ensuring me more respect than white men generally get. The nostrums
used for medical purposes were known only by the king, his confidential
doctors, and the executioner, who did not fail to extort a large price
for their commodities.
Before any inhuman measure on which the king had set his mind could be
carried in the council, it was frequently found unavoidable to have
several sittings; but if any of the members were ascertained to be
persistently obstructive, measures were soon found for getting rid of
them, and they were perpetually being accused of high treason or some
other crime, and thus removed out of the way. Sepopo’s propensity for
human sacrifices was by no means in accordance with the usual practice
of the country, and it was only by coercing his secret council that he
succeeded in perpetrating his superstitious barbarities.
In this way it was that while New Sesheke was being built, Sepopo
brought it about that a resolution should be passed by the secret
tribunal to the effect that in order to save the new town from the fate
of the old, the son of one of the chiefs should be killed; but that his
toes and fingers should first be cut off, and preserved as a charm in a
war-drum.
In spite of the secrecy which was enjoined, the rumour of the
resolution came to one of the chiefs, who communicated it privately to
many of his friends. This was about the end of September, when Blockley
was the only white man left in Sesheke. Night after night groups of men
were to be seen stealthily making their way past his quarters to the
woods; they were the servants of the chiefs, carrying away the young
boys whither they hoped to have them out of the tyrant’s reach, and
some little time elapsed before either the king or his executioner was
aware of the steps that were being taken to frustrate the bloody order.
The appointed day arrived. Mashoku’s emissaries were sent to ascertain
from which of the chieftains’ enclosures a victim might most readily be
procured, but one by one they returned and reported that not a child
was to be found. At last, however, one of the men brought word that he
had seen a solitary boy playing outside his father’s fence. Apprised of
this, the king immediately sent directions to the father to go out at
once and procure some grass and reeds for a hut that he was building,
and then charged Mashoku to lose no time. As soon as he had satisfied
himself that the man had left his home, Mashoku sent his messenger to
fetch the child to the royal courtyard, where, although the place was
full of people, a perfect silence prevailed. The king was in a terribly
bad temper, and no one dared to breathe a word. The executioner’s
assistant made his way to the abode of the chief, and was greeted by
the mistress of the house with a friendly “rumela;” he then proceeded
to tell her that the kosana, her husband, was just setting out in his
canoe, and that he had sent him to say he wished his little son to go
with him. The mother acquiesced, and the boy was delighted to accompany
the man, who of course took him off to the royal courtyard, where a
sign from Mashoku announced their arrival to the moody king. Sepopo
started to his feet, and accompanied by his band, made his way towards
the river, the child being led behind him. Bewildered as the poor
little victim was, he was somewhat reassured by the direction they were
taking; but all at once he was alarmed at the shrieks of a chieftain’s
wife, whose house they were passing, and who, knowing the purpose on
which they were bent, cried out in horror.
At the river the whole party, numbering nearly seventy, embarked and
crossed to the opposite side. The myrimbas were left behind, but the
large drums were taken over. Shortly after landing the king seated
himself on a little stool; he made the executioner, a few of his own
personal attendants, and the members of his secret council form an
inner circle; beyond them he placed the drummers; and, outside these,
he ordered the rest of the company to group themselves, so as to
conceal from the town the deed that was being perpetrated. The poor
boy by this time had almost fainted from fear; but when, at a nod from
the king, the executioners seized him, he began to scream aloud with
terror. The drummers were ordered to play with all their might, so that
the piteous shrieks should not be heard; several assistants were then
summoned to hold the child, so that resistance was impossible, and the
two doctors set themselves deliberately to work to amputate finger
after finger, and toe after toe.
No drumming could drown the heart-rending cries of the sufferer. The
people of Sesheke could hear him, in the midst of his torture, calling
out, “Ra, ra, kame, ra, ra!” (Father, O my father!) and “umu umu
bulaya” (they are killing me!); but though a large crowd was thus made
aware of what was going on, no one dared to raise a hand to rescue the
miserable sufferer.
When the doctors had finished their cruel operation, the hapless boy
was strangled, and knocked on the head with a kiri. The whole party
then returned to their boats, which were pushed off into midstream,
where, as if by accident, they were formed into a circle; but, in
reality, with the design of concealing the corpse as it was dropped
into the water. Meanwhile the weeping mother had made her way down to
the bank, and regardless alike of the crocodiles and of the displeasure
of the tyrant, waded into the stream and demanded her son--her darling
Mushemani. But to Sepopo a mother’s grief was nothing; he landed quite
unconcerned, and proceeded with his myrmidons to enjoy his pots of
butshuala, while the doctors stored away the dismembered toes and
fingers in a war-drum.
This narrative I give as related to me in its general outline on my
second return to Sesheke by two of the resident chiefs, the details
being filled in by Blockley, whose quarters were just opposite to the
scene of the murder.
Before crossing the Zambesi I had been told about the industrial skill
of Sepopo’s people, and had been given to understand that amongst the
southern tribes the Mashonas particularly excelled. Prevented as I was
from visiting the country, I had no opportunity of forming an opinion
that is conclusive; but, judging from various specimens that I saw, I
am inclined to believe that there are some of the Marutse tribes, that
in certain branches of industry surpass even the Mashonas.
Amongst cooking-utensils, those that are made of clay form an important
class. Many of them are in the shape of vases, some ornamented round
the neck with patterns of a lighter or a darker colour, others polished
so that they seemed to be entirely covered with glaze; the lower parts
were never ornamented, nor did I see any with handles. The clay vessels
that are used as corn-bins are immensely large, and most frequently
urn-shaped; they are made more roughly than the cooking-vessels, and
always of unbaked clay; they are shut in at the top by a lid made also
of clay, and in front, close to the ground, they have a semi-circular
opening about as wide as one’s hand, protected by an interior slide
which may be raised and lowered by means of horizontal handles;
occasionally they are made so large that it requires as many as sixteen
men to lift them, and, when moved, they are carried on poles. For the
most part clay utensils are manufactured by women, and are used in the
preparation of kaffir-corn beer, for holding water and milk, and for
ordinary culinary purposes.
Utensils of wood are most commonly made by men, particularly by the men
of the Mabundas; they are burnt all over inside with red-hot irons,
a process which is so skilfully performed that it gives them the
appearance of ebony; many of them are ornamented with raised carvings,
running in symmetrical patterns round the edge and neck; and some of
them have perforated bosses, which serve the purpose of handles. All of
them are provided with carved lids.
The variety of wooden vessels is as large as that of the earthenware,
and their shapes quite as diversified. The dishes used for minced meats
are good specimens of their kind, and exhibit some of the best carving
of the Mabundas. As a general rule wooden pots are either conical
or cylindrical in shape, rounded inside at the bottom, and are used
for holding meal, beans, small fruits, and beer. As an intermediate
production between the pots and the dishes, there are bowls with lips
or spouts.
Wooden dishes are either oval or round, those to which I have just
alluded are oval, and are hollowed into the form of a boat, and are
repeatedly to be seen with a horizontal rim of fretwork; they are
perfectly black, and without handles. Except in the houses of the upper
classes they are rarely to be met with, and the most elaborately worked
of any that I saw belonged to the king; but although all the oval
dishes are large, I noticed a good many amongst the Matabele that were
double or treble the size of any of Sepopo’s; all of them had handles
at the end, and they were usually kept for serving heavy joints to a
number of guests. Not unfrequently they are ornamented with a kind of
arabesque carving, raised about half an inch above the surface, a mode
of decorating their work in which I believe that the Mashonas carry off
the palm.
Of round dishes there are a good many varieties; all of them appeared
to have bosses projecting more or less, to serve as handles, and
they were nearly always curved at the bottom, though in some rare
cases they had a small flat surface at the bottom about the size of
a crown-piece; the edges are generally notched. No household is ever
without them, as they are especially serviceable for holding milk and
oil, and all substances of a fatty nature.
The dried shells of nearly all the gourds are universally utilized as
vessels, and on account of their light weight, there is no purpose to
which they are so generally applied as that of carrying water, both for
domestic use and for travelling. In variety of natural form, as well as
in their artificial adaptations to use, they exhibit a still greater
diversity than either the clay or the wooden wares. For common purposes
they are polished to yellow, various shades of brown and brick red, and
are often covered with a network of grass or bast; but those that are
reserved for rare or more important occasions, are generally branded
with well-executed devices. The Mabundas are notoriously skilful in
this kind of work, particularly in figures. Amongst the designs thus
burnt in I saw arabesques that were sometimes very elaborate, figures
of men, animals, birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects; representations
of huts, oars, weapons, and implements of many kinds; pictures of
the sun and moon, besides scenes of hunting or of fighting, of which
two especially attracted my attention, depicting with considerable
minuteness the capture of a besieged town, and showing the stone
breastworks that have now ceased to be erected as defences in warfare.
It must be confessed that on the whole the designs were executed with a
certain amount of skill, and, considered as the production of savages,
indicated a kind of artistic power; though I could not pretend to
compare them in this respect with the carvings of the Bushmen.
Occupying, as they do, a prominent place in the industrial products
of the central Zambesi, these carved calabashes must be allowed to
indicate a decided advance upon anything of the kind that is to be seen
on the southern side of the river. The gourds chosen for the purpose
are partly grown in the maize-fields, and partly close round the huts.
The smallest-sized gourds were made into snuff-boxes, but not so
frequently as among the Bechuanas.
I observed also some very handsome spoons, and some large ladles, made
from a peculiar kind of gourd that grows thick at one end; not a few
of these were ornamented with devices elaborated with much patience;
their general colour was yellow, brown, or chocolate. Not all their
spoons are made from gourds, as I saw some made of wood, two feet
long, and used for serving out meal-pap or stewed fruit; many of those
used for meals are also wood; and altogether I am disposed to think
that throughout the savage tribes of Africa none would be found to
use wooden utensils more neatly finished off than the spoons of the
Mabundas. I may add, that in addition to other wooden productions,
I saw some well-made mortars for pounding corn, and some sieves,
dexterously put together with broad wood-shavings, to be used for
sifting meal.
The Marutse-Mabunda people likewise do a good deal of good basket-work.
Perhaps the simplest specimen of this would be found in the circular
corn-bags, made of grass or baobab rind, about two feet long and
not quite so wide; another sort of bag, hardly more elaborate in its
make, is woven from reeds, from the stalks of plants, or from fan-palm
leaves; these are of larger dimensions, and are really sacks for
carrying dried fish and the heavier descriptions of fruit. Most of
the tribes are skilful in making bags of thick bast, and in putting
together very rapidly a kind of sweep-net. A basket that is of very
easy manufacture is made from pieces of a bark very much resembling
our red birch, sewn together with bast. It is nothing more than a
tube closed at one end, and having a piece of wood thrust through the
other, or a strap attached to form a handle. It is generally used at
the ingathering of fruit. Basket-making of a superior character is
exemplified in the makuluani baskets, which are manufactured from the
lancet-shaped leaflets of the fan-palm; these are very strongly made,
and with their close-fitting covers and firm texture, are sufficiently
solid to serve the purpose of boxes or chests; so various are they
in form, that it is rare to see two alike. The Matabele who have
settled in the Barotse valley weave grass and straw into basket-work,
so fine and compact that it is quite watertight, and can be used for
drinking-cups.
The best specimens of this kind of handicraft are found in the makenke
baskets made by the tribes in the Barotse, in spite of the material out
of which they are formed being somewhat unmanageable. This material is
the root-fibre of the mosura, a tree not unlike a maple. There are two
kinds of them, one without any covering, and generally of uniform shape
and size; the other with a close-fitting lid, and found in endless
diversity of form and dimensions. As works of skill, there is not much
to choose between them; they always have elaborate patterns woven into
them with fibres that have either been burnt black or dyed of a darker
colour than the rest. Except in the Barotse, they are very scarce, and
in Sesheke there is the greatest difficulty in obtaining one at all.
Knives of the kind used by men in their daily occupations, and for
ordinary domestic purposes, are worn without any sheath, and consist of
a thin pointed iron blade, often bent round into a sickle shape, with
a handle made of the skin of snakes or lizards. Weapons of offence are
assegais of various kinds, daggers, hatchets, knives, and kiris; those
of defence being shields and sticks.
There is a large variety of assegais, all of them exhibiting good form
and workmanship, and carefully adapted to the different uses for which
they are designed. Altogether they struck me as the best specimens
that I had seen in South Africa, and they are far superior to those
of either the Bechuanas or Makalakas. Amongst the stronger and more
uncommon of the assegais are those belonging to the chieftains, and
serving as insignia of their office; they vary from five feet to six
and a half feet in length, a third part of which is iron; the shafts
are the most substantial that are made north of the Zambesi, and are
generally carved or ornamented with indented lines or circles.
The assegai that is used for hand-to-hand fights is a most formidable
weapon, especially as wielded by the Matabele. It has a kind of gutter
running along the blade; the neck is formed of embossed rings; the
shaft is short and strong, and weighted at the end with an iron band
as thick as one’s finger. When it is to be hurled as a javelin, an
assegai has a different character; it is much lighter, and has a longer
shaft, the length being frequently as much as seven feet; the blade is
quite plain, and the neck altogether slighter.
For hunting purposes there are assegais of a good many different sizes;
the necks of these are furnished with either single or double barbs,
and the blades are sometimes harpoon-shaped, and sometimes like an
ordinary spear-head. They may be divided into two leading groups, one
being such as are used for killing gazelles and the smaller mammalia;
the other including those adapted to buffaloes, lions, zebras,
panthers, and wild game generally.
Of all the various sorts of assegais, perhaps the longest is the
crocodile spear, of which the most remarkable feature is the head,
which carries four barbs, two close to the blade, and the other two,
which are bent upward, just where the neck joins the shaft. There are
also two special javelins adapted for killing otters; the blades of
these are narrow, but very sharp, and averaging about six inches in
length. The water-lizard assegai corresponds with the war assegai in
every respect, except that its blade is only half as long. Not unlike
this is the weapon used for spearing fish, only it has a point much
more rounded; all the upward bent barbs, and those projecting outwards
from the sides, exhibit very clever workmanship, and every one of the
many kinds seems to answer its purpose well.
In its construction no assegai is more simple than that used in
hippopotamus-hunting; the shaft of this is made of soft wood, and
from two to three feet long. The elephant assegai is entirely of
iron, becoming thicker and broader at its lower end, and covered in
the middle with a piece of leather. There is a very rude sort of
assegai which is often buried in pits, point uppermost, and succeeds
occasionally very well as a stratagem for trapping water-antelopes.
Before concluding my summary of thrusting weapons, I must not omit
to mention the Marutse-Mabunda daggers. They are distinguished from
those of the Bamangwatos, which are by no means despicable weapons,
and from those of the Matabele, which are singularly formidable, by
the tastefulness of their workmanship. They are remarkable, too, for
their perforated sheaths, which, like the handles, are covered with
ebony-like carvings; the blades are of iron, and generally of inferior
quality to those of either assegais or hatchets.
The sticks which are employed as missiles are from a yard to a yard and
a half long; they are double as thick at one end as they are at the
other, the lighter extremity being in the usual way about as thick as
one’s finger.
Hatchets are made of different shapes by different tribes; not only
are they better than those of the southerly tribes as regards form,
lightness, and choice of material, but they possess a decided advantage
in being firmly set in their sockets, which the tomahawks of the
Bechuanas, Kaffirs, Makalakas, and Matabele seldom or never are. The
handles are cut out of strong well-seasoned wood, with ornamental
patterns burnt in. The weapon generally is so light, that it seems
like a toy in the hands of a man, though it can perform very effectual
service in close encounters.
Such knives as are used for particular purposes, like wood-carving, and
those that are worn as weapons of defence, are longer in the blade,
and altogether more carefully made than the common domestic knives;
slightly curved at the end, they are made very strong at the back, and
are often found highly ornamented, the handles, into which they are
well secured, being usually flat, and occasionally elaborately carved.
The kiris, just as they were elsewhere, were short round sticks, with a
knob at one end. Amongst the Marutse they were made either of some hard
kind of wood or of rhinoceros horn. Those of wood are the more common.
The knobs are about as large as a man’s fist, and are not unfrequently
scooped out. Ordinarily, the stick part is about two feet long, and
from one inch to two inches thick; it is more often than not highly
polished; its extremity is sometimes sharpened, sometimes rounded, and
examples are met with from time to time in which the end is finished
off by an iron ferule.
No weapon of defence is so important as the shield. The Marutse,
however, do not excel in its manufacture, like the tribes farther
south; what they use is generally made of black and white cowhide, and
is upon the whole very like the shield of the Bechuanas, though larger
than that of the Zulus or Masarwas.
As the last in my list of weapons, I may refer to the long sticks that
are used for defensive purposes; many of these run from six to eight
feet in length, their usual thickness being only about an inch; both
ends terminate in a ferule of twisted iron.
At the time of my brief sojourn in the district, the number of guns
that had been introduced into the country from the south and west
amounted to 500 flint muskets, 1500 ordinary percussion muskets, eighty
percussion elephant-guns, 150 rifles, thirty double-barrelled guns of
various sorts, ten breech-loaders, and three revolvers. After I left,
the great bulk of these were thrown into the Zambesi by the people in
revolt, and as they were not replaced, I do not suppose that the entire
number of fire-arms in the kingdom would exceed 1100 or 1200 at the
most.
In the manufacture of such clothing as they wear, the Marutse tribes
fail to exhibit anything like the same skill as in other branches of
handicraft. The shape of the various articles of their attire is not
bad, but they have not the knack, elsewhere common, of arranging a
number of skins so that a garment has the appearance of being formed
out of one single fur; nor do they ever think of mending any holes
or rents with pieces of skin that correspond in kind or colour with
the surrounding parts. The Bechuana sorts his skins with much care,
according to their colour, size, or length of hair, and only uses those
of one species of animal for the same garment; among the Marutse,
on the other hand, we find all kinds of fur patched promiscuously
together without any regard to symmetry. Their mantles, too, are not
finished off by being ornamented with claws or tails like those of the
Bechuanas. In the matter of sewing, the tribes north and south of the
river may be said to be about on a par; it is done by means of an awl
and the finest animal sinews that can be procured.
Such skins as have to be prepared for making into aprons, sandals,
straps, or bags, are thoroughly damped, and kept rolled up for some
time; the hair is then scraped off with the hand, or a blunt knife;
each skin is then turned face downwards to the ground, where it is
fixed firmly with wooden pegs; with the help of a wedge-shaped piece
of iron, or a scraper made on purpose and called a “pala,” or, in
cases where the hide is very thick, with a sort of brush made of ten
or twenty nails some five or six inches long, every particle of flesh
or sinew is cleared away, after which some oily substance is rubbed
thoroughly in upon both sides. The process is finally completed by the
men, who, in time to a tune, apply the friction of their hands till the
skin is quite dry and supple.
The handkerchiefs and sheets that I have mentioned must rank amongst
the best specimens of the industrial skill of the country; without
being in any degree coarse, the texture is substantial, and dark
stripes are often woven with very good effect upon a lighter ground.
For agricultural work there is hardly any other implement except the
mattock, which however is a much more efficient tool than is generally
met with to the south. The hatchet employed for cutting wood is very
similar in shape to the battle-axe; it is made of very good iron, and
is sometimes ornamented with raised patterns; the handle is quite
straight, and about two feet long. In hollowing out canoes and wooden
bowls, and in preparing planks, the people use hatchets of various
sizes, nearly all of them made in the same shape as the “pala.” Their
hammers are made of iron of superior quality, and are better than any
used by the Bechuanas. The chisels, both the hard chisels for working
metal, and those for soft materials, are of many different sizes, and
are either curved or straight; their nails are both round and square.
For boring and drilling they use gimlets very like our own, these as
well as their screws being all manufactured by a file. Their tongs and
pincers seem of a very primitive character, nevertheless, they answer
their purpose sufficiently well; the anvils at which the smiths work
are all of the rudest construction.
[Illustration: MABUTSE-MABUNDA PIPES.]
I observed three different kinds of oars in use, the long, the short,
and the hunting-oars. The last are the exclusive property of the king,
and in common with some of the others, form part of the tribute. The
long oars are over ten feet, the short about six feet long, and are
made of stout straight stems; at their paddle ends the short are
usually broader than the long, and have their extremities run out
to a point instead of being cut straight off; both these kinds are
occasionally carved or branded with ornamental designs, although not
so often as the hunting-oars. These hunting-oars have a forked end,
and are bound together by an iron clamp across them, to keep them from
splitting; they are generally about ten feet long; the principal time
for using them is during floods, when they are brought out for letshwe
and puku chasing.
[Illustration: PIPES FOR SMOKING DACHA.]
Tobacco-pipes are of two kinds, the one that is least elaborate being
of more common use in the west of the country, the other in the south.
The former is not unlike a Turkish pipe, consisting of a straight stem
about a yard long, of the thickness of a man’s thumb, occasionally
carved, attached to a small clay bowl, that is likewise generally
decorated with carved devices. The second form differs from the first
solely in having a calabash for a stem, the smaller end of which
constitutes the mouthpiece. A native rarely forgets his pipe, even on
his shortest journeys, especially if he is travelling with a white
man, and carries his tobacco in a little cotton or leather bag that is
tied to his mantle or waistbelt. For longer journeys the dacha-pipe is
an indispensable companion; the water reservoirs of these exhibit an
infinite variety of form. Dacha is composed of the dried leaves of a
kind of hemp, which is planted round nearly all the South African huts;
when smoked through water it is slightly intoxicating in its effects.
The pipes consist of three parts; the bowl, the stem, and the horn
containing the water, the broad end of the horn forming the mouthpiece
by which the smoke is inhaled. An inclination to cough is induced by
the inhalation, and the more violent the tendency the greater the
enjoyment.
Although snuff-boxes of home manufacture, as well as those introduced
by white men, are found throughout South Africa, I nowhere saw such a
variety as amongst the Marutse. The materials utilized for this purpose
are almost too diversified to enumerate; ivory, hippopotamus tusks,
the bones of animals and birds, stag’s horn, rhinoceros horn, claws,
snakes’ skins, leather, wood, reeds, gourd shells, and any fruit husks
that were either globular or oval; besides all these, not a few metal
boxes were to be met with that were of foreign make, and had been
brought into the country by Europeans.
The boxes made of ivory most frequently have small circular patterns
burnt in, and they are attached to the mantle or bracelet by a string
of beads, a piece of bast, or a strap; they were, as far as I could
judge, used exclusively by the upper classes. The most like them were
the boxes made of rhinoceros horn. Both kinds have only one small
aperture at the top, while those of the Bechuanas have a second opening
at the bottom.
Of all the kinds, that which struck me as most simple is made of reeds
and the bones of birds; it is the sort commonly used by boys and young
girls; but another form, hardly less simple, is that in ordinary use
amongst the Makalakas, made of the horns of animals, either wild or
domestic, and nearly always more or less carved; undoubtedly, however,
the kind which is most frequently to be seen consists merely of
fruit-shells, and of which four or five at once are often attached by
a strap to the mantle, all of them polished carefully into a shining
black, or a dark violet or plum colour. The most elaborate carvings
appear to be lavished on the wooden boxes, which are worn by the Mamboë
and Manansas, but the poorer classes amongst these often carry their
snuff in little cotton or leather bags.
Indispensable as I have said the dacha-pipe is to the native on his
longer journeys, and his tobacco-pipe when he leaves home at all,
yet no necessity of life is so absolutely requisite to him as his
snuff-box, and whether at work or at leisure, at home or abroad,
sleeping or waking, he never fails to have it within reach.
Besides snuff-boxes, amulets and cases for charms are continually worn
as ornaments, the materials of which they are composed being of the
most heterogeneous character, and in addition to the variety already
enumerated, comprising teeth, scales, tortoiseshell, husks, seeds,
feathers, grass, and tallow.
Amongst metal ornaments, besides rings, bracelets, and anklets, I saw
a good many earrings of iron, copper, and brass; gold I never saw.
The iron and copper articles were partly produced from the native
smelting-furnaces, and partly composed of the wire introduced by
Europeans; all the brass things were made of imported metal. Foreign
jewellery was rarely worn in its original form, but the material was
almost invariably melted down, and reproduced in a design to suit the
taste of the country. Nothing in this way is in greater requisition
than the anklets, of which the queens and the wives of men of rank wear
from two to eight on each leg. The poorer classes have their bracelets
and anklets generally made of iron, and do not wear so many of them.
It is comparatively rare to see any made of copper. Ordinarily only
one or two rings are worn on each foot, but the wives of the koshi and
kosanas are not unfrequently to be seen with four. As the king makes a
rule of buying all the best and strongest imported wire for himself,
the subjects have to be satisfied with the inferior qualities; the
result is that all the good jewellery is found near Sesheke and in the
Barotse, and amongst the tributary Makalakas and Matongas, and its
quality degenerates altogether in the more remote east and north-east
countries, where it is seldom anything better than what is produced
from the native iron. The little earrings, whether of iron, brass, or
copper, hardly differ at all from those of the Bechuanas.
Not a few ornaments are made of bone and ivory; amongst these again
bracelets and anklets predominate. All rings in ivory are turned upon
a lathe, and made precisely to fit the part on which they are to be
worn; their finish is little short of faultless, and even when left
plain, without any carvings, they are really elegant examples of
workmanship. I obtained a few of them as curiosities, but only with
great difficulty. Ivory is also worked up into little oblong cases,
bars, and disks, that are fastened to the hair by bast strings passed
through the holes with which they are perforated. Hair-pins in great
variety are made from bone and hippopotamus ivory, and trinkets of all
sizes are cut out of the tips of large horns and the thicker substance
of the horns of the gazelle; they are either twisted into the hair, or
strung together to form bracelets. The delicate long-toothed combs of
the Marutse are a striking illustration of their skill, and amongst the
finest specimens of wood-carving in all South Africa.
Slaves make their bracelets and other ornaments, whether for the neck
or feet, from the untanned skins of gnus, zebras, and antelopes, with
the hair outside; the Masarwas also make headbands from the manes of
zebras. Hair of all kinds, and the bristles of many animals, are worked
up into tufts, fringes, bosses, balls, and pads, which are fastened to
straps and bound round the chin for dancing; many of them are, however,
used like the trinkets, for the decoration of the hair. Plumes of two
or three handsome feathers are often fastened on the head, especially
on such occasions as a visit to the royal residence, the festival
dances, or expeditions either for hunting or for war. Amongst the
Matabele people these plumes are a remarkably conspicuous feature, and
I succeeded in procuring one which was considerably larger than the
head of the man who had been accustomed to wear it.
Another art in which the Marutse excel is that of weaving grass,
wood-fibre, bast, or straw, into the neatest of bracelets, in a way
even superior to the Makalakas, who have the repute of being very
adroit in work of this kind. The boys who do the greater part of this
weaving are very particular in their choice of material, and will only
gather certain kinds of grass at the right season, which, after being
dyed most carefully yellow or crimson to suit their taste, they make
up with great patience into elaborate designs; it is in this respect
that their work is superior to that of the Makalakas, who although
they are dexterous enough in manipulating the fibre, are comparatively
indifferent to the quality of the substance they are weaving.
Threaded so as to be worn as bracelets, or fastened together in pairs
so as to fit the back of the head, claws of birds and of many animals
are used as ornaments, and I have known three small tortoise-shells
placed in a row along the top of the skull. The little shells brought
by the Portuguese, small round tarsus and carpus bones polished black,
seeds, and small fruits with hard rinds, are further examples of the
almost endless variety of decorations in which the Marutse-Mabundas
delight.
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE ZAMBESI SHORES AT SESHEKE.
_Page 351._]
Although several of the ornaments that have been introduced by the
traders pass as currency, nothing in this respect can compare with
beads, of which different tribes exhibit a preference for certain
colours. Hereabouts the violet, the yellow, and the pink were reckoned
as of no value at all; those which were most highly appreciated were
the light and dark blue, after which rank the vermilion, Indian
red, white, black, and green. The whole of these are of the kind of
small beads about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. Amongst the
medium-sized beads, about one-fifth of an inch long, those seem to be
most sought after which are variegated, or have white spots on a dark
ground, but sulphur-coloured and green are likewise in good request.
To every tribe alike the shape of the beads is quite a matter of
indifference.
No matter how ill a traveller in the Marutse district may be, nor how
many bearers he may require, if only he has a good stock of blue beads,
he may always be sure of commanding the best attention and of securing
the amplest services; his beads will prove an attraction irresistible
to sovereign and subject, to man, woman, and child, to freeman and
bondsman alike.
It may fairly be claimed for the Marutse that they have decidedly
better taste in the use of beads as ornaments than any of the tribes
south of the Zambesi. They avoid crowding them on to their lower
extremities, like the Bakuenas and Bamangwatos, or huddling them round
their necks and arms, like the Makalakas; but they string them, and
arrange them with considerable grace on different parts of their body.
Nearly all the tribes bestowed great pains on the arrangement of their
hair. Some of them combed it out regularly; others, the Mankoë for
instance, whose hair was extra long, kept it powdered in a way that
helped to set off their well-formed figures to advantage, and many
plaited it into little tufts containing three or four tresses each; but
I did not observe that any of them covered it with manganese, like the
Bechuanas, or twisted it into a coronetted tier like the Zulus.
A good deal of ingenuity is exhibited in making playthings of clay for
the young. Very often these take the shape of kishi dancers in various
attitudes, or of hunters, or of animals, particularly those with horns,
or of elephants and hippopotamuses. The clay selected for the purpose
is dark in colour, and the puppets vary from two to five inches in
length. Toys are likewise made of wood, especially by the Mabundas,
spoons and sticks ornamented with figures being great favourites with
the children.
Mats form another item in the native industry, and are used for
different purposes, according to the material of which they are
made--it may be of rushes, grass, straw, or reeds. They are always
neatly finished off, and frequently have darker bands or borders of
some sort woven into the pattern; in colour they are usually a bright
yellow, and the ornamental part black or red.
Bolsters are carved of wood, and however primitive they might be
in design, I saw many of which the details were very elaborate in
execution. The stools in common use are simply short round blocks of
wood, about ten or twelve inches high, and five or six inches broad,
slightly curved at the top; but some of these were very laboriously
carved, and stood upon carefully cut fluted pedestals. Wherever a man
of rank goes it is part of his dignity to be followed by an attendant
carrying his stool.
My list of the Marutse handicraft would hardly be complete if I
omitted to mention the fly-flappers. These are made in two parts, the
handle and the whisk; the handles are either wood, reed, hippopotamus,
rhinoceros, or buffalo hide; or occasionally they are formed of the
horns of a gazelle or a rhinoceros; the whisks are composed of the
long hair of the withers or tails of animals, of manes or feathers,
no material being more common than the tails of bullocks, gnus, and
jackals. The brush is fastened either inside or outside the handle,
with bast, grass, horsehair, or sinew; and in most cases the handle
is carved, though sometimes it is decorated instead with rings of
horsehair or bands of snake-skin.
CHAPTER XIII.
IN THE LESHUMO VALLEY.
Departure from Sesheke--Refractory boatmen--An effectual
remedy--Beetles in the Leshumo Valley--The chief Moia--A
phenomenon--A party of invalids--Sepopo’s bailiffs--Kapella’s
flight--A heavy storm--Discontent in the Marutse
kingdom--Departure for Panda ma Tenka.
[Illustration: CAMP IN THE LESHUMO VALLEY.]
Convinced that to remain any longer in Sesheke would be to endanger
my life, I had consented, but with extreme reluctance, to take my
departure. The boatmen who were conveying me knew perfectly well that
I was going away from Sepopo for good, and did not allow many hours to
pass before they began to show that they did not care what became of
me, and insisted on drawing up at a place where there was no better
accommodation than a couple of miserable huts, that had been put up
for the use of the fishermen who periodically visited the lagoons. I
made my servants carry me on shore, and sent them out to get some fish.
They only procured five, of which I gave them four, and had the other
broiled for myself.
After dinner I discovered that the boatmen had made up their minds
to go no farther that day, although nothing could be more unhealthy
or less suitable for a night encampment than the spot where they had
pulled up. The two huts were on a reedy island just opposite a swamp;
and, to make matters worse, I found that as my boat had been the last
to arrive, they had both been appropriated by the crews that had landed
before me, so that I was obliged to wait while my servants erected
me another. This took them about two hours and a half; and when with
the help of the boatmen they had put my baggage inside, they found
that they had made it so small that it was with the utmost difficulty
that they squeezed me in afterwards and laid me upon my boxes. It was
so low that my face actually touched the roof, which was made of the
grass that had been washed ashore by the last year’s floods, and, being
still damp, emitted a most unpleasant smell, which, combined with the
exhalations from the swamp, made the atmosphere intolerably oppressive.
Sleep under the circumstances was quite impossible, and I lay brooding
sadly over my frustrated plans and my final disappointment. The
snorting of the hippopotamuses in the water, and the cry of the herons,
were the only sounds that broke the stillness.
Before midnight some small dark clouds arose, and gradually overspread
the heavens, till not a star was to be seen. To my exhausted system
the sultriness became more than ever trying, and the hours wore away
without affording me the least refreshment.
Soon after sunrise we resumed our journey down the stream, but the
slovenly and care-for-naught way in which the boatmen handled the
baggage, and the general tone of their behaviour, warned me what I had
to expect. The more I hurried them, the slower they went, and after a
while, finding that a slight breeze was getting up, they pulled up all
of a sudden at a sandbank, and declared that they would not proceed
another inch.
I promised them beads, I threatened them with punishment from Sepopo,
my servants blustered and stormed; but it was all to no purpose, the
men only laughed; some of them went away and laid themselves down to
sleep on the sand; others remained where they were, and appeared to
chuckle over my weakness, enjoying the helplessness of my condition.
This was a state of things that I was not disposed to allow. The
remedy was not far to find. I was quite aware that the Marutse people
were acquainted with very few guns better than the old musket. Taking
my seat at the bow of my boat, I began handling my breech-loader.
After letting it flash for a few minutes in the sun, I took aim at a
reedstalk standing just between two groups of the refractory boatmen,
who, whether they were really asleep or not, in a moment started to
their feet. Not many minutes afterwards I fired again, hitting the
mark I had selected with due precision. My third shot grazed the stump
of the reed I had already broken. The little expedient I had adopted
answered admirably, every one of the fellows seemed instantaneously to
return to his senses; the boats began to glide off into the water as it
were by some secret magic, and we were very soon on our way again. The
boatmen begged me not to fire any more; they did not like the noise;
they would pull hard, and would bring me very quickly where I could
shoot plenty of “polocholo” (game). Within three hours I landed at
Makumba’s baobab.
[Illustration: WANA WENA, THE NEW KING OF THE MARUTSE.]
The sky was now quite clear, and the refreshing breeze that blew down
from the hills over the Impalera Island acted on me like a stimulant. I
took my gun and brought down some of the baobab fruit that was hanging
over me, and whilst the crews were unloading the boats, my own people
made their way to the woods to get more fruit.
For crossing the Chobe on the 15th I was obliged to pay three times the
ordinary amount of passage money. This extortion was practised on me
simply because it was known that I was leaving the kingdom.
Having a great dread of passing the night in the marshy Chobe district,
I sent my servants forward at once with a portion of my baggage to the
Leshumo valley, where Blockley had placed two waggons at my disposal
until Westbeech should arrive. For myself I required a little rest, but
quite intended to follow them before the evening. I engaged a number
of Masupias to conduct me and carry on the rest of the luggage to the
place of rendezvous, but just as we were on the point of starting a
violent storm came on, and compelled me after all to remain where I
was; I was consequently obliged to spend the night in the miserable
hut where Bauren, who had died at Panda ma Tenka a few days since, had
first been taken ill. In the morning I began my slow and painful march,
and found myself necessitated to take a whole day in accomplishing a
distance which is ordinarily traversed in a few hours. Almost every
hundred yards I was obliged to stop and rest, while the perspiration
poured from my body, and as a consequence of my exertions I had to lie
by completely all the next day.
As I felt myself tolerably well recruited on the 17th, I was very
anxious to go out and do a little botanizing in the immediate
neighbourhood of our waggons; the rain, however, came down so
continuously, that I had no chance of indulging my wishes. For the last
few days I had been expecting Westbeech, and his non-arrival was giving
me some uneasiness, as my small stock of tea, sugar, and salt had
come to an end; accordingly it was a pleasant surprise to me when my
servants returned from one of their rambles and brought a good supply
of honey.
During the night which I had been forced to spend on the bank of the
Chobe, my forehead and my hands had been stung all over by some very
venomous mosquitoes, and the places now came into pustules, of which I
carried the scars for months. I had much to harass me and to contribute
to my discomfort, but amidst all my grievances I had the satisfaction
of being attended by trustworthy and industrious servants; I could only
regret that they were not to be induced to take my breech-loader and
procure some game from the woods; their assegais were quite unfit for
the purpose of killing gazelles, elephants, or buffaloes, which were
the animals that chiefly haunted the locality. Only two nights before
our arrival a large herd of elephants had passed quite close to the
spot where the waggons were stationed.
With the assistance of my people, I took a little walk on the 19th, and
collected some plants and insects. For pressing my botanical specimens
I used the only two books that I had saved, and as these were octavo
volumes instead of quarto, many of the plants had to be divided under
the prospect of being joined together again at some future time;
I was careful to keep a special note-book, in which, besides other
particulars, I recorded the different names by which the plants were
called by the Masupias, the Manansas, and the Matongas respectively.
Of such funguses as I could neither press nor dry I took sketches, an
employment that gave me occupation on a number of sleepless nights.
My entomological curiosities had to be stored away in a wide-mouthed
pickle-jar that Westbeech had given me, having thoughtfully filled it
with slips of writing-paper, which he knew would be useful; the insects
were killed by plunging the jar several times into boiling water in my
coffee-pot.
The beetles that seemed to me to be most abundant were the
ground-beetles (_Cicindela_, _Mantichora granulata_, _Carabidæ_),
_scarabæidæ_, leaf-beetles, weevils, and sand-beetles (_Psammodes_).
Of this last genus there are such countless varieties that they excite
the astonishment of even the phlegmatic Dutch farmers; they have thick
hard tails, which they raise every few seconds, and give a tap to the
ground or floor on which they are crawling; this habit has made the
Dutchmen say that they are knocking, or calling for one another. I was
glad to find the _Mantichora_ and the _Anthia thoracica_, which are
very interesting; they live in holes already made in the ground, or in
cavities scraped out by themselves, often so deep that it was quite
a wonder how they could be pierced in the loose sand; their industry
seemed to keep them at work all day long, and they had a habit of
rearing themselves up on their long legs, as though they were making a
survey of what was going on all round. Another habit they have--well
known to the Dutch, but of which I, as a novice, had an experience far
from pleasant some years previously--whenever they are captured they
discharge a very offensive fluid from their body; and I can testify
that it is ill-luck for the entomologist if this flies into his face
and eyes.
On the next day Westbeech’s servant Diamond, accompanied by some
Manansas, arrived at the waggons. They had all been out on a
hunting-excursion.
I felt myself again a little better, and would not lose the opportunity
of going out for a few miles. I was particularly anxious to obtain some
birds’ skins; but although I had the best assistance of my people, I
was quite unequal to follow a bird to any distance, so that I only
succeeded in bagging a black swallow-tailed shrike. My exertions,
however, were rewarded in another way, as I made a good collection
both of plants and insects. During my stay in the Leshumo Valley I
added nearly 3000 botanical and about 500 entomological specimens to my
collection. During my walk I came upon several smelting-furnaces, made
of the smallest of bricks; they were about six feet long and three feet
wide, and had, I conjectured, been put up fifty or sixty years before
by the Marutse vassals, who had resided on this side of the Zambesi
before the settlement of the free-booting kingdom of the Matabele Zulus.
A day or two afterwards some Masupias came from Impalera bringing corn
for sale, and Diamond, as a contribution from his hunting-expedition,
brought me some buffalo-beef; he seemed inclined to grumble at the
alacrity the buffalo-bulls displayed in getting out of his way, and
said that the density of the summer foliage made it very hard to get
at them. We were thus well supplied for the time, but I had been so
long debarred from taking animal food, that the buffalo-meat did not at
all agree with my digestion. My servants, however, were all delighted
at the change in their accustomed bill of fare.
I had indulged the hope that I should find the higher ground adjacent
to the little Leshumo river much more healthy than the mouth of the
Chobe. My disappointment was consequently great to find, that morning
after morning the whole valley was full of fog, which after rain was
always especially dense. The result was that I felt deplorably ill all
the early part of every day; and although I revived somewhat later on
as the fog lifted a little, I remained so extremely sensitive to the
least breath of wind, that even in these hottest months of January
and February, I always had to wear two coats whilst I was engaged in
writing or botanizing.
On the 23rd I received a visit from a company of Marutse men, who
rather surprised me by saying that they had come from the south. The
party consisted of a chieftain named Moia and several adherents. Moia
was the brother of Kapella, Sepopo’s commander-in-chief, and had been
condemned to death by Sepopo about a year before. Some liquid had been
poured in front of the king’s residence, and as the king was feeling
more than usually unwell, he came at once to the conclusion that he
had been bewitched, and Moia’s enemies had taken advantage of the
circumstance to charge him with the deed, the consequence being that
in order to escape being sentenced to be burnt or poisoned he had to
fly the country. He had betaken himself to Shoshong, where Khame had
received him most kindly and allowed him to remain; but discovering
after a while that the fugitive was being consumed with the desire to
get back to his home, the king resolved to send him to Sepopo, with an
autograph letter demonstrating Moia’s entire innocence of the crime
that had been laid to his charge. For my own part I was convinced that
Sepopo would never be persuaded, and I advised the chief to beware how
he placed himself within the tyrant’s reach; but the longing to return
to his wife and children was too intense to allow him to listen to any
voice of caution, and he continued his homeward way.
By this time I was so destitute of provisions that I was obliged
to send two of my servants to the Zambesi, and get them to bring
me some of the Masupia people from whom I might purchase a supply
of kaffir-corn and maize, and I requested them if possible to buy
me a goat. Unfortunately the servants missed their way, and I had
to send two others instead of them, so that there was a delay of
four-and-twenty hours before the Masupia dealers arrived. When
they came, they brought besides the corn a number of interesting
curiosities, amongst which was the horn of an enormous rhinoceros.
A celestial phenomenon occurred on the following evening, so remarkable
that I think it ought to be recorded. It was almost sunset; in the
west and south there was a narrow strip of blue sky, whilst in the
east, where a storm was rising, there were repeated flashes of
lightning. When only a small section of the sun’s disk was visible,
a strange fiery glow arose about 45° above the eastern horizon, and
seemed entirely to overpower the central portion of the arch of a
rainbow opposite, leaving only the extremities to be seen down in
the east-north-east and south-east; as the sun disappeared, the glow
faded gradually away, but so remarkably that every tint in the rainbow
seemed to be absorbed in the prevailing colour, and the entire arch
was a gorgeous red. In the course of the next few minutes the glow
reappeared, but this time only to rise about 10° above the horizon.
The entire spectacle was not of long duration; the brilliancy became
gradually dim, and in the course of about a quarter of an hour, the
valley was shrouded in the obscurity of night.
Two of my own servants and some of Diamond’s party were here attacked
by influenza, but the complaint was soon relieved by the administration
of emetics. The weather was unfavourable, and brought on several
relapses of my own fever, which, although I managed in various ways to
alleviate them, invariably left me extremely weak and incapable of any
exertion. A short time afterwards several of Diamond’s people began to
sicken with typhus.
All through this dreary time, the occasional hunting-excursions were
all we had to look to in the way of excitement. April, the Basuto, had
the good-luck to kill a buffalo-bull, and when the flesh was brought
to the camp there was a regular banquet in the evening, accompanied by
singing and dancing; even the invalid negroes sucked some fragments
of the half-cooked meat which they were quite unable to swallow.
Diamond likewise went out, but returned on the 2nd of February without
bringing any material contribution to our stores; he had come upon a
herd of elephants, but they had startled him so completely by their
rush, that he did not recover himself in time to get a shot at them.
When it was announced to me that part of Westbeech’s ivory had arrived
at Impalera, I was much cheered by the expectation that Westbeech
himself would immediately follow. My means of purchasing corn were now
so nearly exhausted that I could not help growing more and more anxious.
On the 7th I was equally surprised and distressed by the arrival of a
party of about thirty Masupias, who proved to be bailiffs on the hunt
for Moia and Kapella. Moia had carried Khame’s letter to Sesheke, where
his appearance caused a great sensation, as the return of a condemned
fugitive was a thing quite unprecedented. The particulars of what
ensued I afterwards learnt from Westbeech, who told me that he had been
summoned to the royal enclosure, which he found in great commotion. The
king had just received Khame’s letter written in Sechuana, professed
himself to be highly gratified by the contents, and had sent for
Westbeech to write a reply, in which he gave his assurance that Moia
should have a free pardon. But that very night he sent Mashoku a list
of twelve names of chiefs who were to be executed forthwith, amongst
them Inkambella, Maranzian, Kapella, and Moia.
This was too much even for Mashoku. Alarmed at the prospect of such
wholesale slaughter, the executioner immediately let Kapella know
what was in store for him, and without the loss of a moment the
commander-in-chief aroused his two wives, his brother, who was
sleeping in an adjoining hut, his young son, and three of his most
trustworthy servants, and took to flight. On the way to the river-bank
Kapella had called upon Westbeech, and informed him of the desperate
step he was driven to take; and he, ever a friend in need, had supplied
him with ammunition and a number of necessaries for the journey.
Taking possession of the first two canoes they could find, the
fugitives hurried down the stream, and while it was still dark found
themselves twenty miles away from Sesheke; here they landed, sent their
boats adrift, and proceeded on foot towards the Masupia settlement
above Impalera. This was under the jurisdiction of a brother of
Makumba’s, a staunch ally of Sepopo’s; but Kapella hoped to reach the
place while the natives were still in bed, and to make use of their
boats to cross the Chobe. It was a most difficult journey; the passage
through the reeds was in some places dangerous in the extreme, and
Kapella would never have risked it but in the greatest emergency.
However, nothing went amiss, and the party all arrived safely before
dawn; but early as it was, some of the Masupia fishermen were already
on the move. Terrified at the sight of two armed chiefs, and probably
recognizing who they were, they water-logged their canoes, and ran off
to raise an alarm in the town. This was Kapella’s opportunity; quick as
thought he had the canoes dragged to land, emptied them of the water,
and made use of them to ferry his party to the opposite shore.
The chieftain, on hearing what had occurred, took no immediate action.
He was aware that Kapella was a wonderful shot, and this rather
indisposed him to take any precipitate measures to arrest him. He came
to the decision that a council of the village should be called, and
during the hours of deliberation the fugitives were getting safely far
away, so that when the bailiffs arrived at our quarters they had no
chance of overtaking them, and after ransacking the woods for a short
time they gave up the pursuit and took themselves off.
Diamond’s next hunting-expedition proved a great success; and he shot a
fine buffalo. He made his servants put him up a grass hut close to the
place where the carcase was lying, that it might be guarded from the
attacks of any beasts of prey; but not only had the old sportsman now
lost much of his former zest, but he had contracted rather too great
a love for brandy, so that although he distinctly heard the beasts
gnawing at the prey, he did not rouse himself to go to the rescue. The
consequence was that in the morning it was found that the carcase had
been considerably mangled by lions, the entrails especially having
furnished the materials for their feast. We were, however, all glad to
see the hind-quarters, quite free from mutilation, conveyed safely to
our camp.
A few evenings afterwards Diamond came to me in great haste, and told
me that two Marutse men had just come in search of Kapella and Moia,
with strict orders from Sepopo to kill them at once if they could
find them. I did not wait to see the men, but sent out peremptory
instructions that they were to be off about their business, or they
would have to rue their delay. My vexation was very great when I
afterwards ascertained that Diamond, through his ignorance of the
Serotse dialect, had quite misunderstood their errand. It turned out
that instead of being bailiffs acting on behalf of Sepopo, they were
two of Kapella’s own servants, whom their master had sent to beg for
some food.
The 12th was quite a day of bustle; both in the morning and in the
afternoon several troops of Masupias arrived from Impalera with ivory,
and one of Westbeech’s servants passed through on his way to Panda ma
Tenka to fetch bullocks for the waggons. That night I slept better than
usual; the feeling that Westbeech was really on his way towards me
revived my drooping spirits, and I was inclined next morning to rise
at an early hour, and as soon as Narri had dressed me, I took my seat
upon the box of the waggon, enjoying the morning air, which although
probably by no means healthy, certainly seemed very refreshing. As
Narri was preparing the kaffir-corn coffee, he drew my attention to the
sound of voices a long way down the valley. I inquired of the other
servants what it meant, and after listening for a few seconds they
unanimously affirmed that it was Westbeech’s cavalcade, carrying their
burdens of ivory and singing as they marched.
As I sat pondering, only occasionally saying a word to Narri, my
attention was suddenly arrested by the dusky form of a man advancing
towards the camp, and within fifty yards of us. He was quite unarmed. I
hardly believed my eyes, and yet I felt that I could not be mistaken.
The man undoubtedly was Kapella, no longer the powerful commander, but
a sad and dejected fugitive. I was too weak to alight from the waggon
and go to meet him, but he was immediately at my side. “Help me, help
me, intate (friend),” he cried; “I am hungry; my wife, my child, my
brother are starving in the woods!” Probably he would have said more,
but his keen ear caught the sound of the Masupias singing almost close
at hand, and he paused; his face, ordinarily beaming with good nature,
became distorted with terror. The excitement of the moment seemed to
give me renewed strength. I can hardly tell how I did it, but I leaned
back, and catching hold of a sack containing about a bushel of corn
that was lying in the waggon, I lifted it into Kapella’s arms. He
smiled, and made a hasty gesture of thanks; and before the Masupias
had come in sight he had made his way into the long grass towards his
retreat.
One of the heaviest storms that I ever remember in South Africa
occurred a few days afterwards. It came on suddenly, and so violently
that my servants were obliged to throw sand and earth upon the fires,
that the wind should not carry the flames into the dry grass; and the
downpour of rain was so great, that I had to use all my wraps and extra
clothing to protect my collections. The top of the waggon swayed to and
fro in the gale; and cumbrous as the vehicle was, it rattled and shook
as if it were the plaything of the hurricane. One of the grass-huts
was completely overturned, and several others in which my people had
sought shelter had their sides blown in, and it was only owing to the
lightness of the material of which they were constructed, that no
injury was done to life or limb. When the storm had subsided in the
evening, they found that it was necessary to build two entirely new
huts, one for themselves and one for my baggage, so that the waggons
which we had been occupying should be left free for Westbeech’s ivory.
Westbeech’s long-anticipated arrival took place on the 16th. He
complained very much of Sepopo’s behaviour to him after my departure,
and avowed his intention of never going so far as Sesheke again, but
of disposing of his goods in the valley of the Chobe. He gave me all
the latest news, and said that the disposition to revolt, and the
determination to dethrone the king, were fast gaining ground among
the chiefs. A recent proceeding on Sepopo’s part had done much to
accelerate the growth of the general disaffection. In his rage at
Kapella’s flight, he had not only, as usual, vented his temper on
his attendants by laying about him with his kiri, but he had openly
declared his intention of preparing a charm which should have such an
effect upon the senses of the fugitives that they would be sure to make
their way back to Sesheke; once there, they should be handed over to
Mashoku. Accordingly he gave orders that an ox should be slaughtered,
that the fat from the region of the heart should be affixed to the end
of some cleft-sticks, and that the sticks should be planted in front
of the doors of the huts of the runaways. It was the first time that
Sepopo had ever prepared any incantations, or even mentioned his system
of charms in public, and the eyes of his people were only now opened to
the detestable humbug which was the chief feature of his character.
Nor was it only his own subjects that had become thoroughly
dissatisfied with his proceedings. The Portuguese traders had failed
to get payment for the goods they had supplied, and had been put off
time after time with equivocal excuses.
It was further reported, that most likely Jan Mahura, with his brother,
would find his way next day to the Leshumo valley. He had just received
a payment, after five years, for his services as interpreter, and
felt only too certain that his life was now quite insecure beyond the
Zambesi.
Westbeech had still left a small portion of his property in Sesheke,
under the charge of Fabi, his half-caste cook, who could not accompany
him, because Asserat, the wife Sepopo had given him, refused to go
to the south. But the bulk of Westbeech’s ivory, weighing altogether
11,080 lbs., had now arrived at the Leshumo valley.
On the 17th my servant Elephant was taken ill with inflammation under
the knee, a disorder that is very common among the Masupias and
Matongas. It is called “tshi kana mirumbe,” and may generally be cured
by the application of bean-flour poultices.
Two days later the waggons were packed. The bullocks arrived at
midnight, and we started without delay for Panda ma Tenka.
CHAPTER XIV.
THROUGH THE MAKALAKA AND WEST MATABELE CODNTRIES.
Start southwards--Vlakvarks--An adventurer--The Tamasanka
pools--The Libanani glade--Animal life on the plateau--The
Maytengue--An uneasy conscience--Menon the Makalaka chief--A
spy--Menon’s administration of justice--Pilfering propensities
and dirtiness of the Makalakas--Morula-trees--A Matabele
warrior--An angry encounter--Ruins on the Rocky Shasha--Scenery
on the Rhamakoban river--A deserted gold-field--History of the
Matabele kingdom--More ruins--Lions on the Tati--Westbeech and
Lo Bengula--The leopard in Pit Jacobs’ house--Journey continued.
[Illustration: RUINS OF ROCKY SHASHA.]
Taking a south-easterly route, we drove on to Schneeman’s Pan, where we
halted for the rest of the day. Throughout the early morning, nothing
could be more agreeable than the odour of the white cinque-foiled
blossoms of the mopondo shrubs. In the evening we started off again,
and travelled all night and some part of the next day until we came
to the edge of the Gashuma Flat. Here we were obliged to pause for a
time, because the recent rains had transformed the meadows into perfect
swamps. The grass, known by the natives as matumbe, was in many places
six or seven feet high, so that we did not see a great quantity of
game. Whilst we were halting, we were overtaken by six Marutse who had
hastened after us to bring some buffalo horns of mine that Westbeech
had accidentally left behind at Sesheke, as well as an elephant’s tusk
weighing 25 lbs. They followed us as far as Panda ma Tenka, under the
excuse that they wanted to get some lucifer-matches for Sepopo, but
their real motive was to ascertain whether Kapella had joined our party.
Ever since I had become aware of Kapella’s circumstances I had
endeavoured to keep him supplied with corn from my own and Westbeech’s
store, and he had left the Leshumo valley, going on ahead of us
towards the Gashuma Flat, where we again fell in with him and with
Moia. Amongst their attendants I recognized one of the boatmen who had
behaved so badly to me after starting from Sesheke.
As not a single head of game had been shot by one of our party for
some days, the arrival of a goat, which Bradshaw sent us from Panda ma
Tenka, was a very agreeable surprise. Another night’s journey took us
beyond the tsetse district, and after putting up the heavy waggons
beside one of the Panda ma Tenka affluents, we proceeded in advance to
the settlement itself. It was sad to see how fever had reduced both
Bradshaw and my former servant Pit to the merest skeletons.
Soon after our arrival Westbeech made me the unwelcome communication
that the tsetse-fly had committed such havoc amongst his bullocks that
he was absolutely unable to fulfil the contract he had made when he
purchased my team. He could not take my waggon to the south, and had
no alternative but to ask me to transfer my packages to one of those
in which he was conveying his own ivory. The removal of my property
occupied me some time on the 27th.
We here met an ivory-dealer who had just come from Shoshong. He told us
that Khame was still using all his influence to check the importation
of brandy, and with regard to myself he observed that the people of
Shoshong would be much surprised to see me back again, as they had been
quite sure that I should never return to the south.
After clearing out my waggon, I spent the rest of the day in trying to
make good any deficiencies in my collections. I bought 1300 beetles
from Bradshaw, for which I gave him 20_l._, and paid him in ivory
for forty bird-skins besides; Walsh also for some of my ivory let me
have sixty-three more bird-skins.
On the following afternoon we left the valley. Westbeech showed me
every possible consideration on the way to Shoshong, but naturally I
could not feel anything like the same independence as when travelling
in my own waggon; there were many places in which we only halted a
few hours where I should have been glad to stay on indefinitely, and I
saw enough of the West Matabele country to satisfy me that an explorer
might find things of interest in it to occupy him for a year at least.
During our passage along the valley our dogs started two vlakvarks.
White men seized their guns, black men followed with their assegais,
and a hot chase lasted for twenty minutes before the creatures were
brought down. Although it has more formidable tusks than any other of
its species, in comparison with the European wild boar, the vlakvark is
a feeble, spiritless creature; its skin is extremely thin, and nothing
gives it so remarkable an appearance as its conspicuous white whiskers.
I did not get much sleep on the first night after the transfer of my
boxes; they had been so shaken about in their day’s journey that I
could not lie down to rest until I had properly rearranged them. Next
morning while passing over the last of the grassy glades that are so
frequent between the Zambesi district and the sandy pool plateau, I
observed that herds of ostriches had been along the game-tracks. Had I
been independent I should certainly have stayed a day or two and made
a deliberate investigation of some of the habits of these birds by
following up their traces into the woods; but here, as along the rest
of the way, although I took every available opportunity of seeing what
I could, and devoted much of the night to recording what I had seen
by day, I was constantly deploring the rapid pace at which we had to
travel.
Before reaching Henry’s Pan on the 3rd of February, I noticed that
a herd of at least twenty giraffes had preceded us on our road. As
we approached the Tamasetze pools we were met by a horseman whom
we recognized as a trader named Webster, who had formerly been an
associate of Anderson, an ivory-dealer that I have already mentioned.
Anderson had now gone back, and Webster, as he informed us, was here in
the neighbourhood of Tamasetze hunting ostriches, being encamped almost
close by with two others, one of whom, named Mayer, I had met at one
of the Klamaklenyana springs whilst travelling northwards; the other
I will simply designate as Z. This Z., who professed that he had once
been a trader, had now come into this district under rather peculiar
circumstances. The Zoological Society of London had written out to Cape
Town for a young white rhinoceros, for which they offered the sum of
500_l._, and attracted by the liberal bidding, Z. had resolved to
try his chance of securing the prize.
His first proceeding was to provide himself with a supply of barter
goods which he reckoned he could dispose of at a profit of some 500
per cent., including a very considerable proportion of “fire-water,”
for which he felt certain the demand would be great. He was quite
aware that the likeliest place in which to obtain a rhinoceros such
as he wanted was in the Mashona country; but he had been guilty of
some offence in Matabele-land, so that he was afraid to apply to the
king for permission to re-enter his dominions. Accordingly he betook
himself to Shoshong, but as it came to Khame’s knowledge that he was
bringing brandy for sale, he was forthwith ordered to return to the
south. However, he was unwilling to be diverted from his purpose, and
went to Khame and gave him a distinct promise that he would carry
back all the spirit and dispose of it to the Damara emigrants on the
Limpopo. Khame, not apprehending the _ruse_ that was to be played,
expressed himself satisfied. Z. started off towards the Limpopo, but
was back again so quickly that his return awakened some suspicion;
however, by pointing to his empty waggons, and declaring that he had
found a readier sale than he anticipated, he succeeded in making the
king believe that it was all fair. The truth was he had only concealed
his casks in the woods.
Receiving the king’s permission to proceed, Z. now started on his
venture. He lost no time in picking up his contraband goods, and made
his way north-west through West Matabele and Makalaka-land towards the
sandy pool plateau, giving out to the Zulus that he was Captain Y., and
that he was anxious to obtain permission to visit the Victoria Falls.
He sent messengers to Lo Bengula, the Zulu king at Gubuluwayo, to that
effect, but spending several months afterwards on the pool plateau, he
lost the four horses he had brought with him; however he succeeded in
disposing of all his goods except four kegs of spirits of wine.
Meanwhile Khame had heard of his proceedings through some travelling
Bamangwatos, and from the Masarwas and Madenassanas, who resided near
the plateau, and Z., aware that his smuggling had been discovered, was
in a state of great alarm lest he should be prohibited from returning
to the south; for reasons already stated, he was even more afraid of
falling into the hands of Lo Bengula, and as he was obliged to abandon
his scheme of getting the rhinoceros, he hailed our arrival as a
circumstance that might be turned to his advantage.
Poor Mayer was terribly altered since I saw him last; the ravages of
fever in a few weeks had pulled him down so much that I hardly knew
him. Several of Z.’s servants were also suffering from weakness which
the fever had brought on, and he wished me to prescribe for them. I
could only tell him that I had not a grain of medicine left, having
given the last which I had bought of Bradshaw to Pit and Jan Mahura’s
son; at the same time I instructed him that he would materially benefit
the men’s muscles if he would make them rub their ankles with some of
his brandy. It was then he told me that he had no brandy left, having
sold everything except some spirits of wine. That, I replied, would
answer the purpose just as well.
But Z. had no idea of employing his spirits of wine for any such
beneficent object; he diluted his alcohol as freely as he dared
with water, and took an early opportunity of selling it to my
fellow-travellers, principally to Westbeech, for 33l. The atrocious
stuff completely overpowered Westbeech, and Z. took advantage of his
condition to induce him to purchase his team, thereby ensuring that it
should not fall into Khame’s hands.
I am only too ready to draw a veil over the proceedings of the rest of
that sojourn at Tamasetze; they are even now painful in the retrospect;
suffice it to say, that they ended in an arrangement by which Z. was to
be conveyed to the south as Westbeech’s guest. He seemed to rejoice in
the recollection that although his expedition had not brought him any
vast profit, at least it had entailed no serious loss.
Leaving Tamasetze on the 7th, we went on past the Tamafopa and Yoruah
pools towards the most northerly of the Klamaklenyana springs, where
a road branched off to the south-east to the Makalaka country. The
deplorable effects of Z.’s alcohol extended beyond our stay at
Tamasetze, and the man who drove the waggon in which I was riding
remained so drunk that several times the vehicle was in danger of being
overturned, and more than once I was obliged to take the reins, thus
exposing myself in a way which in my condition of health proved very
bad.
At the Yoruah pools Bradshaw had a relapse; Diamond and a waggon-driver
fell ill; my own servant, Elephant, had an attack of dysentery, and two
more of Westbeech’s people showed symptoms of fever; in consequence of
such an amount of sickness we halted for nearly two days, an interval
of which I took all the advantage I could to add to my store of
natural curiosities. We did not reach the springs until the 12th, and
started again the same evening. Game was very scarce on the plateau,
obviously owing to the fact that the hollows in the woods were so full
of rainwater that the animals had no occasion to resort to the springs
near the roads.
As the result of my premature exposure I had a severe shivering fit
next night, and to add to my misfortune our tipsy driver failed to
get out of the way of a bough that protruded across the road, and the
concussion was so severe that all the coleoptera that I had collected
during the last five days were damaged, and many of them quite
destroyed.
We had a toilsome march next day through a dense sandy underwood.
In the night a herd of rhinoceroses and some elephants crossed our
path, and shortly afterwards we came to a glade called Tamasanka,
containing some pools that never dry up. The water in them was clear,
but Westbeech told me that if kept in a vessel for two or three days it
always begins to thicken. I had no opportunity of proving the fact for
myself.
In the afternoon I for the first time saw a widow-bird (_Vidua
paradisea_), a species of finch which is very common on the west
coast; I also found fly-catchers, pyroles, small speckled-green
woodpeckers, and the _Vidua regia_. As a general rule birds
abounded more in the open parts of the pool plateau than in the densely
wooded district where the ponds lay in small glades.
For the two succeeding days the track was so thickly overgrown with
grass that we had some difficulty in determining our proper route. The
servants, in investigating the path, were highly delighted at finding
the half-eaten carcase of a giraffe that had probably been killed by
lions.
On the 16th we came to a region which is almost a precise counterpart
of the Maque plain, being covered with mapani-trees and abounding in
pools full of fish. The natives call it the Libanani, and it forms the
south-eastern extremity of the plateau. It now belongs to the eastern
Bamangwatos and the Matabele; but in Moselikatze’s time it belonged
exclusively to the Matabele, being the most westerly part of their
territory; its outlying parts, however, were so continually ravaged by
lions, that no safety could be secured for cattle, which consequently
had all to be withdrawn. The woods are thick only at the edge of the
ponds, which I imagine are all in the line of what was the bed of a
river, that in all likelihood has now been dry for centuries.
From the open character of the adjacent country the Libanani glade has
a special charm for sportsmen. It abounds in many varieties of game,
from the duykerbock to the elephant, and here, as in other parts of the
plateau, the ornithologist will find a most interesting field for study
in the waders and swimming-birds. Both by day and by night, too, birds
of prey are perpetually to be observed, and in the moist places, where
the soil is carpeted with flowers, sun-birds and bee-eaters may be seen
in swarms, while in the boughs that overhang the water, the bright
blue _Alcedo cristata_, the _Halcyon Swainsonii_ and the
black-and-white _Ceryle rudis_ are perpetually sporting. I must
also include in my list the giant heron (_Ardea Goliath_), and the
beautiful little _Nettapus Madagascariensis_. This is of the goose
tribe; it is from twelve to fourteen inches long; its head, neck, and
back are of a glossy dark green; underneath it is white, except the
breast and sides, which are of a reddish brown; its face and throat are
also white, and it has a bright green spot on either side of its neck.
Attractive as the diversity of animal life makes the Libanani, there
are two reasons why it is very undesirable to make a lengthened stay
there; in the first place the pools at the end of summer exhale a very
malarious atmosphere, and in the second, it is infested with yellow
cobras, which, in the way to which I have elsewhere referred, lie in
wait in the trees overhanging the game tracks. Westbeech told me that
in dry winters the ponds contain so little water that the fish in them,
of which the glanis is the most common species, can be easily caught
with the hands. It was here that for the first time for many months I
heard the howl of the silver jackal (_Canis mesomelas_). I found
that many of the plants were identical with those that grew in the
salt-lake basin, and was consequently confirmed in my opinion that the
Libanani is one of the lowest parts of the whole pool-plateau district.
I noticed also some handsome palm-bushes, the first I had seen since I
left the vicinity of the Zambesi.
Winter was said to be the best time for game, and this was confirmed
by the small amount of success that some of our party had in going out
to shoot for the replenishment of our larder; but even at this period
of the year I noticed the tracks of a considerable number of animals
across our path, amongst them those of the black rhinoceros.
A long drive on the 18th brought us into the valley of the Nata, which
we should subsequently have to cross. The river here had all the
characteristics of a sandy spruit, opening at intervals into pools,
the banks being overgrown with grass six or seven feet high, and
containing a number of hollows, which after floods are left full of
water, corresponding in this respect with many South African streams,
particularly those included in the Limpopo system.
Our road next lay through a dense mapani-wood. Four years previously,
Westbeech had been the first traveller to use this route by the Nata
and Maytengue rivers to the Matabele country, and I accordingly gave
the track the name of the “Westbeech road.” In the evening we came to
a grass plain almost entirely enclosed by woods, where the Maytengue
river in its course from the Makalaka lands is said to lose itself in
the soil.
The Maytengue appears to diminish both in breadth and depth towards its
mouth, and its banks are literally riddled with pitfalls. We crossed a
great many deep but narrow dry rain-channels, hundreds of which find
their way to the river, but flow for so short a time that they hardly
make any appreciable difference to the stream, which consequently
dwindles away in the lower part of its wide sandy bed; the longer
section of its course runs through the fine hill-country occupied by
Menon’s Makalakas.
Throughout the whole of the next day we followed the right hand bank
of the stream. Bradshaw had an attack of dysentery, and Westbeech was
so far from well that I insisted upon his coming for a time under
my immediate charge. Ever since we left Panda ma Tenka the weather
had been very trying, the days, and especially the afternoons, being
extremely sultry, the nights bitterly cold.
Just before we crossed the Maytengue on the 21st, my attention was
called to a tall hollow mapani-tree, beneath which a Makalaka chief
had been buried. The people had a superstition that their “morimo,”
or unseen god, resided in the tree, and as they passed by were in the
habit of dropping their bracelets into the hollow trunk. They had the
same belief about one of the caves in the hills, and carried presents
every year to the spot.
The country became more elevated as we proceeded, and some hills of
granite rose in front of us, though not lofty enough to shut out the
view of the real Makalaka heights in the background. On arriving at the
first of these hills, Westbeech, with Bradshaw, walked off to obtain an
interview with Menon; he was anxious to get the chief to provide him
an escort as far as Gubuluwayo the capital, where he wanted to see a
friend of his, named Philipps, who was staying with Lo Bengula, and to
induce him to go on with him to Shoshong, and assist him in settling
his accounts. The high esteem in which Westbeech was held by the
Makalakas ensured him a kind reception from Menon, who not only granted
the request that was made, but lost no time in paying a return visit.
Ever since we had entered the Maytengue valley, Z. had been in a
perpetual fidget. Whether we were on the move or at rest his uneasiness
continued just the same; he was always on the look-out, and there
seemed no end to his fancies. He had never been a favourite with any
of our party, and Westbeech openly avowed his disapproval of all his
business transactions; finding, therefore, that there was no one on the
road who cared for his society, he would try and seek refuge with me,
confined as I was to my waggon. But even here his nervousness did not
desert him: as he sat beside me he would continually ask whether I did
not hear a noise in the woods, or had not seen some one disappearing
in the bushes. At night, too, when we were all round the camp-fire
I generally found that he took his place at my side, although he
was never still long together, but kept creeping away to peer into
the darkness. I remonstrated with him for his strange behaviour,
without succeeding for a long time in getting anything out of him;
after a while, however, he told me that on a previous visit, as he
and his servants were returning single file from an elephant-hunt, a
gun had accidentally gone off and killed one of Menon’s people, and
he now feared that he might be recognized and accused of the deed.
Understanding that we were here encamping close to Menon’s residence,
his alarm became more intense than ever, and he kept most cautiously in
the rear of the waggons, not suffering his face to be seen until the
chief’s visit was over.
Menon was a gaunt-looking man of about fifty years of age, and an
arrant hypocrite. All his attendants had countenances as ignoble as
his own. It is in order that the tribe may be distinguished from
their brethren north of the Zambesi that I have designated them as
Menon’s Makalakas. Together with their southern compatriots they were
subjugated by the Matabele Zulus in 1837. Up to that time they had
been peaceful agriculturists and cattle-breeders; but now they do very
little in the way of rural pursuits, and have become the most notorious
thieves and the greatest rascals in South Africa, a change entirely
to be attributed to the demoralizing and vicious influence of their
oppressors.
The six attendants of the chief squatted round our fire, and Menon,
wrapped in a mangy mantle of wild cats’ skins, remained standing.
He scanned every one so carefully, that it was quite apparent
he was looking for some one in particular, and an expression of
dissatisfaction rested on his face as he closed his scrutiny. He spoke
of the death of his servant, saying that he had heard all about the
affair from a man who had been in company with the victim, adding
that he had been assured by one of his spies that the perpetrator of
the deed was a white man, who had joined our party at the Nata river.
Disappointed at not identifying the individual he wanted, Menon began
to vent his annoyance by demanding toll from Walsh and myself, under
the pretext that we had entered his territory for the first time.
Westbeech, who was the only one among us who understood the Makalaka
dialect, told us to be quiet and to take no notice of the chief, and
then proceeded to give him such a lecture on the duty of hospitality,
that he very soon altered his tone, and promised that he would send
us a goat, adding that he was sorry that he was unable to give us
a cow, as the Matabele had stolen all his cattle. We acknowledged
his politeness by making him a present of powder and shot, which he
accepted as graciously as he could.
After he was gone, one of his attendants, a mean-looking creature,
lingered behind with our servants near the fire; the behaviour of the
fellow was peculiar, and I kept my eye on him. He was pretending to
warm himself, but it was easy to see that he was looking behind the
waggons. All at once he stirred the fire into a blaze. He had caught
sight of Z., who, not observing that a stranger was amongst our party,
had returned from his retreat in the rear. He inquired nervously of me
whether Menon had asked any questions about him, and when I replied
that he had alluded to the death of the Makalaka, he jumped up and
swore that Menon was a great liar. At this moment Menon’s man, who most
probably had heard what passed, got up and walked quietly away.
“Look,” I said to Z., “that fellow is one of Menon’s spies!”
Z. clenched his fist and made a movement as if he would run after him,
but his courage failed him, and he remained where he was.
When we retired at night to our waggons, it was manifest that Z. was
still very uneasy, and by the glances he threw in all directions he
showed that he was apprehensive of some sudden attack.
Of the men who came with Menon, two were armed with assegais, and four
carried kiris. Some of the Makalakas have muskets.
The Makalaka women wear short leather petticoats, covered with
white and violet beads; they are fairly expert in various kinds of
handicraft, but the specimens I saw were on the whole inferior to the
work of the Bechuanas.
It appeared to me that the Maytengue valley has all the elements of a
future El Dorado. There is excellent pasturage on the wooded downs, and
for the naturalist it is a region full of delight; the great drawback
to its being properly explored is the unsatisfactory character of the
natives.
When Westbeech, accompanied by a servant on horseback and a few
Makalakas on foot, set out on his visit to Gubuluwayo, the rest of us
proceeded on our way, but only for about three miles. We halted under
a morula-tree, staying for the double purpose of purchasing corn and
melons, and receiving the goat that Menon had promised us. We soon
came upon a great assembly of Makalakas, and at first imagined that
some festival was being celebrated. We were not long, however, in
being informed that Menon was about to hold an assize, and that Z.
was forthwith to be summoned to take his trial. And so it proved; Z.
was sent for, and as the cause was to be tried in Sechuana, Jan Mahura
was appointed to act as interpreter. The trial was of short duration,
and Z. was adjudged guilty. Menon’s sentence was somewhat remarkable;
it was to the effect that it did not matter whether the white man had
really shot the Makalaka or not; it did not matter whether the gun had
or had not gone off accidentally; the white man must make compensation,
both to the dead man’s relatives and to himself, the dead man’s master.
Great was Z.’s alarm; his face turned crimson; he trembled with
agitation; he began to assert his innocence with such volubility that
Jan Mahura in vain tried to keep pace with him. At last, finding that
the defendant was only damaging his own case, the interpreter took up
the matter independently, and argued with such good effect, that in
spite of the outcry of the relations of the deceased, Menon ruled that
a fine should be inflicted, consisting of a coloured woollen shirt,
a blanket, and seven pocket-handkerchiefs, instead of the musket and
ammunition and the lot of woollen goods he had intended to demand.
He insisted, moreover, that the shirt should fall to his own lot as
arbitrator; and as soon as he received it, he doubled it up and was
walking away quite content. But the relations were not to be pacified
quite so easily; they flung the blanket and the handkerchiefs down
before Z.’s feet, and abusing him vehemently as a murderer, made such
an outcry that Menon was obliged to come back. Jan Mahura’s tact again
proved adequate to the occasion. He whispered to Z. that he should
offer blanket and handkerchiefs all to the chief, and so secure him
as an ally. Menon accepted the contribution, sent all the complainants
quickly to the right about, and thus put an end to the whole affair.
The Makalakas appear to have very much the same aptitude for pilfering
as the Masupias have for conjuring, and I was told of a circumstance
which may serve to illustrate their thievish propensities. An
ivory-trader purchased a tusk of a party of them and stowed it away in
his waggon; another party soon afterwards brought a second tusk, but
they asked a price for it so much higher that the trader hesitated;
they urged him to have it weighed, and in the middle of the weighing
process another lot of Makalakas arrived bringing a third tusk.
Meantime, the first tusk was being deftly abstracted from the waggon.
The men represented that they were in a great hurry, and induced the
trader to buy the two tusks together. Having got their payment, the
sellers made their way off quickly into the woods. The trader carried
off his new purchase to compare what he had just bought with the tusk
he had left in the waggon, and his chagrin may be better imagined than
described when he found that the ivory had disappeared, and that after
paying for three tusks he was only in possession of two.
As ivory can only be sold by clandestine means, when the natives want
to dispose of any of the contraband article they generally come to a
traveller in a party, and while some of them carry on the negotiations,
the others watch their opportunity for laying their hands upon anything
and everything within reach. It may almost be affirmed that nothing is
safe except it has been tied or screwed to the panels of the waggon.
Their dishonesty, as I have said, is ingrained, so thoroughly has it
been instilled into them or forced upon them by the Matabele. During
any conversation with them it is advisable to keep them at a distance,
and to take care that at least one servant is left on each side of the
waggon, and that even he is prohibited from talking with them. When,
however, they find themselves baffled, and obliged to retire without
securing any plunder, or when any of them has been detected in a theft,
they will go back to their people, and declare that it is of no use
trying to rob the white man, because he has “a good medicine;” meaning
that he possesses a charm which enables him to see what is going on in
one place while he is engaged in another.
In addition to their other disgusting qualities all the Makalakas south
of the Zambesi, especially those under Matabele rule, are indescribably
dirty. With the exception of those who have been in service under white
men, I believe the majority of them have not washed for years, and I
saw women wearing strings upon strings of beads, several pounds in
weight, of which the undermost layers were literally sticking to their
skins.
Since their subjugation to the Matabele, their mode of building their
huts has very much degenerated, and most of their little villages are
not much better than collections of ruins. Some few of them may be said
to be fairly industrious; but almost the sole remaining virtue at all
conspicuous in this sunken people is their extreme modesty and decorum,
which is hardly equalled in any other of the South African tribes.
Above the underwood through which we passed in the afternoon rose a
great number of granite hills, varying from twenty to seventy feet
in height, and either pyramidal or conical in form. The further we
advanced along the bank of the Maytengue, the finer the scenery became.
From time to time we passed some more of the morula-trees that I have
mentioned; each family in a village is allotted one or more of these,
according to the population of the place, for its own special use; they
are usually enclosed by a fence placed about three yards away from the
stem, the object of which is to save the wild fruit from being devoured
by animals as it falls. The pulp of the fruit is made into a beverage
which has very much the character of cider, and the kernel, if I am
rightly informed, is occasionally pounded and used as meal.
Our road several times brought us quite close to the Maytengue, and the
country in the valley was often very charming. On the way I chanced to
be a witness of a very affecting meeting between a negro and his aged
mother; and various incidents were related to me by Diamond and others
that all tended to confirm my belief that many a native has really
refined feelings lurking in his breast which are only waiting for
civilization to draw forth.
Our afternoon camp was made in the vicinity of several villages, of
which the residents told us that a few days previously Menon had
received a visit from a troop of Matabele soldiers, who had come to
demand boys as recruits for their last-formed regiment. Menon had
refused to comply, and it was only too likely, they said, that the
refusal would cost him his life, as although the Makalakas are fairly
supplied with guns, their villages are so small and scattered, that
they are soon overpowered by such a force as the Matabele can bring
against them. It was by mere force exercised in this way, and by
carrying off the young lads violently from their parents, that in 1837
Moselikatze with a complement of only forty warriors began to found a
kingdom which at present has an aggregate of about 20,000 fighting-men.
On the following day our route lay amongst the numerous granite hills,
every few hundred yards opening a new and pleasant prospect to our
view. At our first halting-place we fell in with a sub-chieftain named
Henry, who was an old acquaintance of Westbeech’s, and out of regard to
him provided sorghum, maize, and melons for the benefit of Bradshaw,
who remained far from well. Henry had his people under very good
control, and as long as we were near him we felt pretty secure against
any great annoyance; during our halt, however, we were surprised by the
sudden appearance of one of those scourges of the district, a Matabele
warrior, who came blustering up and shouting, “Hulloa, white men! you
have some of Sepopo’s people there. Give them up, or pay for them. If
you don’t, one by one I’ll kill them all.” He had his gun in one hand,
and in the other he brandished his kiri, which once very nearly touched
my face. I was inclined to be angry, but controlled my temper, and
warned the swaggering idiot off in a way that made all the Makalakas
roar with laughter. Finding that he could make no impression upon me,
he went to Bradshaw and Walsh, who merely laid their hands upon their
rifles, an action which the fellow pretended that he was to take as a
challenge, whereupon he began to storm more furiously than ever; but
when they advanced towards him and showed that they were in earnest, he
lost no time in beating a retreat, to the unbounded amusement of the
lookers-on.
The next drive took us through fresh mountain scenery, the heights
being clothed with the candelabra-euphorbias as I had seen them
on the Bamangwato hills. The fields that we passed were of
considerable extent; the farmsteads were large and well enclosed; the
dwelling-houses situated in their most prominent parts. At intervals of
about every eighty yards in the enclosure was a simple wooden pitfall.
The whole of the Makalaka villages, however, were but a mere wreck of
what they had been before the Matabele invaded the Matoppo mountains.
The village that we had last passed was called Kasheme, and before the
day was gone we came to another named Bosi-mapani. The settlements
hereabouts were very numerous, and the next morning we arrived at
another, where, although we halted and unyoked our teams half a mile
away from the residences, we were soon visited by a number of the
people, who wanted to sell us provisions. Bradshaw, after bargaining
with a party of the Makalakas, bought a goat and a sheep, but it
happened at the moment that all our servants were engaged at the
waggons, and that there was no one at hand to drive the purchase home
to our encampment. After a while one man was procured, but before he
could get near them, the animals had all scampered off. The cunning
Makalakas had set their shepherd-boys to sound their pipes close
by, and as soon as the goat and the sheep heard the accustomed note
they galloped away, each to its separate herd. Our man succeeded in
overtaking and capturing one of the sheep, but the other two creatures
got clean away. It was in vain that we threatened to report the dealers
to Lo Bengula. They took our threats in the calmest way, and walked
off to their homes, contriving, before they went, to get possession of
Westbeech’s pocket-knife. It is scarcely necessary to say, that neither
the goat nor the sheep was ever recovered.
By the 25th we had diverged somewhat from the Maytengue. Most of the
granite hills were now on our left; but we could see others still more
important rising on the southern horizon in front of us.
The visits that from time to time continued to be made to us by
Matabele soldiers were a perpetual source of uneasiness to Z.; he
appeared to dread them much more than the Makalakas, and the mere
sight of any Zulu made him creep back as rapidly and as stealthily
as he could to his waggon. None of them ever recognized him, but it
happened once during a noonday halt, that he came into collision with
two of them in a way that almost cost him his life. Distinguishable at
once as Matabele by their feather head-dresses, and by their aprons of
wild cats’ tails, two young fellows came to the waggon begging for a
“lapiana” (a piece of calico). Z.’s little dog flew at them, growling
and barking, and one of them in his annoyance was about to give the
animal a tremendous blow with his kiri, which probably would have
dashed its brains out. Z. came rushing forward, flushed with rage, to
protect his dog, and shook his fist in the face of the intruders. It
was just the excuse for a fight which the Matabele wanted; a regular
scrimmage ensued, and two to one as they were, a kiri would inevitably
very soon have descended on Z.’s head if Bradshaw and I had not
interfered in time. We held our guns in our hands, but when the young
rascals saw that we did not raise them, they struck their kiris upon
the ground and broke out into a storm of abuse, which they were still
continuing, when an old Matabele, his rank as a warrior indicated by
his leather circlet covered by hair, made his appearance on the scene.
Hearing what had transpired, he caught hold of a good stout bough of a
tree, and laid it vigorously about the shoulders of the offenders. He
treated them exactly like naughty little boys, and they, like little
boys, crept back in disgrace, keeping their grumbling to themselves.
In the course of the afternoon we came to a village named Kambusa.
It consisted only of about fifteen huts, and belonged to a man of
the name of Tantje, whom Westbeech knew very well, so that we had no
fear of meeting with any annoyance in it. Tantje’s residence had two
enclosures, one of stakes round his hut, and another of thorn-bushes
outside his fields. This was the last of the Makalaka villages we had
to pass; five-and-twenty years ago they extended another hundred miles
to the south, but now we were close to the boundary of the province,
and before the evening we had crossed the existing frontier.
Upon the shore of the little river Ashangena, about 600 yards away
from the road, Diamond drew my attention to a bush, beneath which he
informed me that Mr. Frank Oates, an Englishman, had been buried. He
had been hunting in the district, and had taken fever and died. His
death had really occurred in the Makalaka country, but it was necessary
to bring him to be buried at the frontier. His brother, Mr. William
Oates, in 1874 erected a gravestone over the spot.
We had two small streams to cross before we came to the Matliutse,
which crossed our path transversely. During the last stage of our
journey through Makalaka-land we had crossed no fewer than seventeen
rain-streams, all of them flowing into the Maytengue, and yet forming,
I believe, not more than a tenth part of the affluents of that river.
The scenery was as fine as any I saw during my hurried journey through
the country. The soil was chiefly granite, thickly veined with quartz,
and in many places marked with dark slate-coloured mica, the strata
being variously horizontal, vertical, or oblique, generally towards
the top of the hills slanting downwards at an angle of seventy degrees
to the south-west. I saw nothing more interesting than the picturesque
masses of granite that crowned the slopes of the hills; so strange and
fantastic were their forms that I could not resist entering them upon
my chart with names corresponding to what seemed to be their shapes.
One on the Matliutse I called “the cap;” another on the next spruit,
“the two sparrows;” another, “the club;” and a fourth, to the right of
the road, the most striking of all, I named “the pyramid.” The scenery
gave me some idea how charming the country must be in the highlands in
the upper parts of the Matliutse, Shasha, Tati, and Rhamakoban, which
are all of them affluents of the Limpopo.
As I crossed the two Shasha rivers next day it became perfectly clear
to my mind that the Shaneng must flow either into the Matliutse or one
of its tributaries. The district seemed full of game, but not to the
same extent as in former years. The animals of which I saw most were
pallahs, zulu-hartebeests, harrisbocks, and zebras.
In the evening we halted on the right-hand shore of the rocky Shasha,
a stream that has derived its name from the character of its bed. I
took the opportunity of getting out a little distance towards the
east, where, on one of the granite mounds, I found some ruins that had
played their part in the history of central South Africa. The hill was
isolated, and not so high as those near it, and it had been fortified
by a wall composed of blocks of granite laid one upon another, without
being fixed by cement of any kind. The wall was about 140 feet long,
and enclosed a space of ground as nearly as possible on the top of
the hill, being built on the natural crags in such a way that the
artificial rampart it formed hardly rose in some parts many inches from
the ground, whilst in other places it was six feet high; in thickness
it varied from twelve to eighteen inches. It had an entrance facing
the north, and there it projected so as to make a kind of avenue.
The blocks of which it was made were flat, and varying in size from
four to ten inches in length, three to six inches in width, and two
to ten inches in depth, the flat sides being irregular trapeziums. My
impression was that the occupants of this limited fortress--whether
permanent or temporary there was nothing to decide--had also erected
a superior palisade of wood or bushes above the top of the masonry;
but as we were bound to recommence our journey in about two hours
and a half, I had no opportunity of making a deliberate survey, or
of commencing any excavations which might throw more light upon the
subject. We had only time that evening to go a little farther, and the
gathering twilight brought us to a halt on the left-hand shore of the
river, which we crossed.
After traversing as many as twelve tributaries of the rocky Shasha, we
crossed the sandy Shasha, which is connected with its fellow-stream,
finding the scenery at the point where we quitted the river as
beautiful as any in the whole West Matabele country. The abundance and
variety of plants were truly marvellous; and on the slopes where the
stems of the euphorbias were mouldering, I found numerous scolopendra,
two kinds of scorpions, some lizards, and many sorts of insects. Since
I had entered the Makalaka country I had had no return of fever;
and although I was still very weak, I persevered in my naturalist’s
pursuits, finding that the enjoyment refreshed me and more than
compensated for a little extra fatigue. In many places the river was
sandy, but not unfrequently the bed was of granite, that formed a
sort of basin, or opened in a channel, by which the water threaded
its way to the south, to lose itself in the marshes of the valley.
The next stream at which we arrived was the Tati, and its bed was not
only sandy, but so deep, and the banks so steep, that we had very
considerable difficulty in getting across.
Two days later we found ourselves pushing our way along the right-hand
bank of the Rhamakoban, crossing fourteen of its little tributaries,
besides three of the Tati, the whole of which after heavy rain are sure
to be full of water. The district about the Rhamakoban is noted amongst
elephant-hunters for its great abundance of game; giraffes, zebras,
grey pallahs, harrisbocks, gnus, hyænas, and bustards are frequently
to be seen, lions, ostriches, and rhinoceroses being by no means rare.
We were making our way forward with the best speed we could, because
Bradshaw, who was in charge during Westbeech’s absence, had announced
that his stock of corn, meal, tea, sugar, and salt was running short,
and that it was necessary that we should reach the next settlement to
procure fresh supplies.
After crossing eight of its right-hand tributaries we kept along the
valley of the Rhamakoban until we turned into another valley, which
led us under the highlands back again to the bank of the Tati. On
our way I noticed some more of the remarkable rocks, and gave to one
of them the name of “the tablets,” and to another that of “the white
boundary stone,” close to which our road was joined by the road leading
to the central Matabele-land. All this time we were passing a number
of mapani-trees, constituting almost a forest, occasionally broken by
extensive glades.
At the place where we again came upon the Tati, we saw on the slope
of two low hills several buildings in the European style; only two of
these, however, were occupied, one by Pit Jacobs, the elephant-hunter,
the other by a Scotch ivory-trader named Brown. A few years back there
had been no lack of life in the place; gold-diggers had congregated
from all parts of the world in search of the precious metal, but the
discovery that only quartz gold, and not alluvial, was to be obtained,
damped their ardour and soon thinned their ranks. Various companies
were formed to carry on the work, but they were ultimately obliged
to abandon it on account of the insufficiency of machinery. The real
cause of the failure was the distance from the coast, every piece of
machinery, however simple its character, costing five or six times its
own value for its transport up the country.
As a general rule not more than seven ounces of gold were found in a
ton of quartz, though I was told that exceptional cases had been known
where the ton had yielded twenty-four ounces. As well as carrying on
his own business, Mr. Brown was now acting as agent for the companies
in liquidation, as some of their property was still undisposed of.
I saw the remains of the steam-engine by which the quartz had been
pounded still standing in the Tati valley, a short distance below the
settlement; the rock containing the gold had been brought from a spot
some way inland, but when the pits, although they were by no means
deep, once became filled with water, there was no second engine to
empty them, and consequently the whole work was brought to a standstill.
Mr. Brown was away from home at the time of our arrival, having gone to
Gubuluwayo to be married by Mr. Thompson, the resident missionary, to
Miss Jacobs; his managing clerk, however, received us very courteously,
and we were invited to take up our quarters in the place until
Westbeech’s return.
Besides these two residents, I was not a little surprised to find that
the Lotriets, whom I had met at Henry’s Pan, had settled at Tati, and
were living in some grass-huts.
All waggons on their way from the Bamangwato country to the Matabele
are bound to stop at Tati for a change of bullocks, and most of the
traders keep extra teams of their own there to avoid unnecessary
delay. The Matabele had at one time possessed immense herds of cattle,
plundered for the most part from their neighbours, but the Roi-water
plague, which had been brought in from the south, had made such
frightful ravages among them that the king had ordained and enforced
the measure to check any further spread of the disease.
There is always a guard of Matabele troops stationed at Tati, who are
supposed to have surveillance over the countries to the south-east; but
as far as I could make out their chief business consisted in annoying
every white man who arrived, and in arresting all Makalakas on their
way back from the diamond-fields, and after administering a severe
flogging, seizing their guns and ammunition in the name of the king.
[Illustration: BOER’S WIFE DEFENDING HER WAGGON AGAINST KAFIRS.]
At this time the Matabele kingdom was only second in power to any of
the native tribes south of the Zambesi, and now, since the subjugation
of the southern Zulus, it must rank as absolutely the most powerful
of all. It is considerably more than 300 miles long, and from 250 to
300 miles broad. According to Mr. Mackenzie, Moselikatze, the founder
of this extensive kingdom, was the son of Matshobane, a Zulu captain
in Natal; he was taken prisoner by Chaka, the most powerful of the
Zulu chiefs, who subsequently, when he found out the courage of his
captive, gave him the command of one of his marauding expeditions; but
Moselikatze, instead of returning with his booty, carried it off to
the heart of what is now the Transvaal country, subdued the Bakhatlas,
Baharutse, and other Bechuana tribes, and finally settled in the
highlands round the Marico and its tributaries. Here he was attacked by
the Griqua chief, Berend-Berend, whom he defeated and killed. All this,
however, was but the beginning of a series of engagements. Two Zulu
armies in succession were sent after him as a recreant, one by Chaka,
and the other by his successor Dingan, but both failed to dislodge
him. His next assailants were the Boers, who were most anxious to get
rid of such a dangerous neighbour, and to drive him from the beautiful
Marico country, which they coveted for themselves. To accomplish their
aim they sent out a considerable force in 1836, and attacking the Zulu
at the foot of one of the hills, completely defeated him. Moselikatze
gathered together the little remnant of his force, including only
forty “ring-heads” (full grown warriors), and quitted the district,
making his way to the north, and laying waste the whole country as
he proceeded. It was his plan to found a new settlement on the other
side of the Zambesi; but the tsetse-fly did what it seemed forbidden
to human hand to do, and checked his career. He was in consequence
obliged to fall back, and began to attack first the Makalaka villages,
and then to carry his ravages on to the Manansas and others. His mode
of dealing with these agricultural settlements was to set fire to them
in the middle of the night, to kill the men as they rushed out of
their burning huts, and to carry off the women and children, as well
as the cattle. In this way his power began again to increase, until
after a while South Africa had a new Zulu empire. All the stolen boys
were brought up as soldiers, and such as were capable of bearing arms
were at once incorporated into the army; the women were given to the
warriors, the cattle being deemed the king’s special property, and
serving to maintain his ever increasing regiments. Whenever Moselikatze
observed any signs of his warriors treating the women better than
their cattle he came to the conclusion that the men were growing
effeminate, and at once gave peremptory orders for the dangerous women
to be slaughtered. During his annual marauding expeditions into the
neighbourhood, thousands of helpless creatures lost their lives, for
besides the men, all people incapable of work, young children, and
babies, and some of the women, were relentlessly massacred.
From my own observation, and from what I gathered from Mr. Mackenzie,
Westbeech, and the traders, I should describe the Matabele Zulu
government as a military despotism, with supreme control over every
man and beast, and every acre of land in the country. Each division of
the army is under the command of an “induna” or chief, with several
sub-chiefs holding commission as officers. The rank and file fulfil
their commanders’ orders with blind obedience, but the superior and
inferior chiefs are always at rivalry, and if they fail to win the
approbation of the king by their feats of bravery, they try and curry
favour with him by carrying him tales of slander against each other.
The king keeps several executioners, who perpetrate their deeds under
cover of night; and as the kaffir-corn beer which is served out
with the meat at supper rarely fails to induce a sound sleep, the
opportunity is readily found for what is known as “the king’s knife” to
do its work.
Mr. Mackenzie told me of an instance that will serve as an illustration
of what I have been saying. The bravest man in Moselikatze’s army was
Monyebe, one of the superior chiefs, who in acknowledgment of his
services had been rewarded by the king with a number of presents. This
so far aroused the jealousy of the other chiefs that they conspired to
accuse him to the king of witchcraft and treachery. Moselikatze allowed
himself to listen to their slander, and without giving Monyebe a chance
of exonerating himself, kept the accusation a thorough secret from him,
and gave permission to the chiefs to kill him. Next morning nothing
more remained of the king’s favourite than a few ashes smouldering at
the door of his hut.
[Illustration: MASARWAS DRINKING.]
When Mr. Mackenzie visited Matabele-land in 1863, he found very few
real Zulu soldiers; the flower of the army consisted of Bechuanas, who
as boys had either been stolen or exacted as tribute by Moselikatze
during his residence in the Transvaal, the younger regiments being
principally composed of Makalaka and Mashona lads recently enlisted.
In times of peace the boys are sent out to take care of the cattle, but
on their return home they are always carefully instructed in the use
of weapons. This constant exercise makes them so strong and muscular
that a Masarwa straight from the Kalahari Bushveldt, and another having
undergone his training with the Matabele, could not be recognized as
belonging to the same tribe. The Matabele warriors live in barracks,
and domestic life is quite unknown; only in very exceptional cases
is it allowable for any one but a chief to treat his wife otherwise
than as a slave, though it must be allowed that there is hardly any
appreciable difference between the two conditions. The king does not
prevent people of other tribes from practising their own religious
and superstitious ceremonies, subject to the general prohibition that
no subject of his may be a Christian. The ivory-traders followed the
missionaries into the country; they found a ready sale for guns and
ammunition, but the natives were little disposed to purchase any
articles of clothing.
Every year before starting on their expeditions of plunder the Matabele
perform their Pina ea Morimo, or religious war-dance. The warriors
assemble on the parade-ground in full military costume, their heads,
breasts, and loins being adorned with coverings made of black ostrich
feathers. A black bull is led forward and baited till it is angry; it
is then chased by the soldiers, until, covered with blood, it sinks
lame and exhausted to the ground; a few practised strokes then sever
the muscles; the flesh is stripped off in cutlets and held for a few
minutes before a fire, and the men proceed eagerly to devour the
half roasted meat, convinced that in swallowing it in this semi-raw
condition they are acquiring the strength and courage that will equip
them for their undertaking.
The European settlement on the Tati was surrounded by low hills, partly
formed of ferruginous mica, quartz, and granite, some being isolated
mounds, whilst others were portions of the slope of the river-valley. I
made excursions to them in all directions, although I was warned to be
on my guard against the lions that haunted the neighbourhood.
On arriving at the settlement I found that Pit Jacobs, like Mr. Brown,
was away from home. He had gone elephant-hunting with one of his sons.
I went to the hills next day and saw numbers of pits, some fifty feet
deep, that had been made by the diggers in their search for gold; and
on one hill to the north, contiguous to the slope of the Tati valley,
I found another ruin, consisting of the remains of a wall that formed
a rampart round the hill-top, joined on to a second wall three times
its size that ran round the next hill a little lower down. It was
over three feet thick, and, like what I had previously seen, made of
stones, blocks of iron mica, piled together without cement. On the
inside it could be seen how the erection was made of oblong lumps of
various dimensions, but outside, probably with some view to symmetry
and decoration, there had been inserted double rows of stone hewn into
a kind of tile, and placed obliquely one row at right angles to the
other. Each inclosure had an entrance facing the north, that of the
largest being protected by the wall on the right projecting outwards,
whilst on the left it curved inwards towards the centre. Altogether
the resemblance between these ruins and those we had seen before on
the Shasha was very striking; to my mind they conveyed the impression
that the walls might originally have been put up with some reference to
the gold that was being found in the locality; but I look for a future
visit, in which I may be able to make such investigations as may settle
whether they were erected by the Mashonas in the east or by the people
of Monopotapa.
Hearing on my return that Pit Jacobs had come home, I called and stayed
some hours with him. It could hardly be otherwise than with intense
interest that I listened to the recounting of the many episodes in
the experience of five-and-twenty years of a man who had acquired the
reputation of being the second-best elephant-hunter in all South Africa.
Numerous as lions are in other parts, I never heard of them being so
bold as they notoriously are in the neighbourhood of the Tati station.
The gold-diggers suffered greatly from their depredations, and they
had been known to get inside kraals enclosed by a thorn-fence six
feet high, and the same thickness at its base. Brown and Pit Jacobs
had often seen them prowling in the night in the space between their
houses, and one morning, while the mining operations were going on,
a native labourer on entering the coal-cellar to get fuel for the
engine, was pounced upon by a lion, that would certainly have torn him
to pieces if it had not been that it was old and its teeth blunt. On
another occasion a lioness had been shot at midday; and within the last
few days Mr. Brown’s horse had been dragged from the stable, which was
well protected by a strong fence, except on the side facing the house.
These are facts that illustrate the persistent daring of the lions in
the locality, and of which an example now came within my own experience.
[Illustration: LIONESS ATTACKING CATTLE ON THE TATI RIVER.]
I had occasion to make some purchases, and on the morning of the 2nd
of April called at the office of Mr. Brown’s foreman. Whilst we were
transacting our business, a negro came rushing in with the intelligence
that lions were among the cattle. No time was to be lost in giving
chase. I hurried with what speed I could down to our camp, nearly a
quarter of a mile away, to get my Snider and some cartridges, and
communicated the news to Bradshaw, who entered into the spirit of the
thing at once, and seized his double-barrelled muzzle-loader, a weapon
with which he had often done wonders. We quickly made up a party of
about twenty, including besides ourselves a lot of half-armed negroes,
Pit Jacobs’ son, and the half-caste hunter Africa, the two latter being
on horseback. Leaving the hill surmounted with the ruins on our left,
we worked our way up the river-valley, which was here from 200 to 300
yards wide, to a spot close to the river where there was a mass of
mimosas. On our way the negroes told us that the lions, only the day
before, had attacked some cattle down at a watering-place that had been
dug in the sand at the river-side, not very distant from where we were;
a lioness had seized a cow by the heel in a very unusual way, and had
dragged it to the ground. Acting upon this information, we turned our
course in that direction, and in a short time arrived at a mimosa, upon
which we were told that the terrified herdsmen had taken refuge on the
previous day. We discovered the herdsman’s dog still lingering near the
tree, and guided by its barking, we followed on to a glade, where, we
caught sight of the head of a cow above the long grass, and in another
moment ascertained that it was being mangled by a great lioness.
Without a word of warning, before we were aware of his intention,
Africa fired. No luckier shot was ever aimed. The bullet hit the brute
in the back, and shattered the vertebral column; it rolled over in the
grass behind its prey. The dog, which was famous among the Tati people
for its courage, and which already had been disturbing the lioness
at its meal, now darted forward, and seizing it by the ear drew back
the head, while the negroes pummelled away at its sides. The ill-fated
cow was not quite dead, although the lioness had begun to gnaw at its
entrails; we put the poor thing at once out of its misery. Africa was
kind enough to make me a present of the skin of the lioness.
Since I met Africa on the Chobe, Khame had banished him from the
Bamangwato country on account of his poaching propensities with regard
to elephants and ostriches; he had now come to Tati, and hoped to
induce Lo Bengula to accept payment from him and allow him to hunt
ostriches on his land.
Until the 7th my time was fully occupied in making a geological
investigation of the neighbourhood, and in making records of some of
the interesting adventures of Pit Jacobs, Bradshaw, and another Boer
hunter, who had just arrived. One day Africa received a visit from his
son, who brought him some puku-meat; he cautioned us to be more than
ever on our guard against lions, saying that at his own encampment,
only a few miles away, he hardly ever passed a night without being
disturbed by them. Another ivory-dealer arrived next day from the
south, by way of Shoshong; he seemed to be a keen man of business, but
nothing more; like other people, he complained of the number of lions
in the neighbourhood, and mentioned that water was scarce between this
place and Shoshong.
Westbeech arrived from Gubuluwayo on the following day. He was
accompanied by his friend Philipps, and by F., an ivory-trader.
Mr. Brown and his young bride returned likewise at the same
time. Westbeech brought a document attested by Lo Bengula’s mark,
granting permission for elephant-hunting on his western territory in
consideration of the payment of a salted carcase of a horse. Mr. Brown
and the trader both told me several things that entertained me about
Lo Bengula. The king had a very corpulent sister, who exercised a
very considerable influence over him. On being asked one day why she
did not get married, she replied that she was too fat to walk, and as
her brother was the only person in the country who kept a waggon, she
thought it was far better for her to remain where she was, and not to
entertain any idea of having a husband.
It is my own impression about Westbeech that he never turned to such
good account as he might the favour he enjoyed with Lo Bengula; I think
too that he yielded over much to Sepopo, and failed to manage Khame
judiciously. In the course of his twelve years’ residence amongst the
various tribes he had mastered all their languages in a way that could
not fail to give him a great advantage at the different courts. As a
proof of his familiarity with Lo Bengula, I was told that during his
last visit he and some friends (probably some of the ivory-traders, or
the two missionaries who resided in the vicinity of the royal quarters)
went to call upon the king just at the moment when the dish (which, by
the way, I may mention was rarely washed) was brought in containing
the dinner for the high table. Without waiting for any invitation,
Westbeech calmly proceeded to help himself, and to hand some of the
food to his companions. The indunas, who were waiting in expectation,
began to grumble; “George,” they said, “is treating the king like a
child.” “Yes,” replied Westbeech; “I have been trusted by Moselikatze
himself to drive his waggon and treat him as a child; and surely if
I may do this with Moselikatze, I may do it with his son too; I am
treating Lo Bengula as my child.” The answer seemed thoroughly to
satisfy the chiefs, and they clapped their hands in applause.
I asked the Masupia servant whom Westbeech had taken with him to
Gubuluwayo, whether the Matabele women were handsome? “O, not at all,”
was his answer; “they wear no aprons, and are not tattooed.” Their
well-built forms and comely features had evidently made no impression
upon the man.
Before closing my notes about Tati, I cannot help mentioning an
incident that occurred in Pit Jacobs’ house, in February, 1876. Jacobs
himself, with two of his sons and his elder daughter, had gone on a
hunting-excursion to South Matabele-land, leaving his wife, his younger
daughter, just now married to Mr. Brown, his two little boys, and a
Masarwa servant in the house. The house was what is locally known as
a “hartebeest” building, its four walls consisting of laths plastered
over with red brick earth, and covered in with a gabled roof made
of rafters thatched with grass. Inside, of the same material as the
walls, was a partition dividing the house into two apartments, of which
the larger was the living-room, and the other the sleeping-chamber
of the family. In the larger room, amongst other furniture, stood a
sewing-machine that Mr. Brown had just bought as a present for his
intended wife; in the other room, opposite the door, were two beds. On
this particular evening, the door of the house, which was made in two
parts, had the upper division open; the window in front was likewise
open, and a kitten was sitting on the sill. Mr. Brown had just called
to pay an evening visit, and Mrs. Jacobs had gone to put the two boys
to bed, laying herself down for a few minutes beside one of them.
Now the whole village was aware that a half-starved leopard was
haunting the place, trying one cattle-kraal after another, and doing
serious mischief amongst the poultry; every fence ought to have been
well guarded, but somehow or other the leopard had gained an entrance
into Jacobs’ enclosure, and catching sight of the kitten in the open
window, made a spring to seize it. The kitten, however, was not taken
unawares, but leaping from the window-sill hid itself under the
sewing-machine, and the leopard, missing its aim, bounded through the
window right into the middle of the room, where the two lovers were
sitting.
They called out in alarm, but were hardly more terrified than the brute
itself, which, in order to escape, rushed into the bedroom, and under
the bed where Mrs. Jacobs was lying. Catching sight of it, she cried
out to know what it was, and in order to pacify her, Mr. Brown and her
daughter replied that most likely it was a dog. Satisfied in her own
mind that a dog would not have made them scream out in such alarm, and
concluding that it was a hyæna, she started up, took the child by which
she was lying in her arms, and ran into the living-room.
[Illustration: LEOPARD IN PIT JACOBS’ HOUSE.
_Page 415._]
Finding that she had brought out only one of the little boys, Brown
thought it was best to tell her the truth, which made her so agitated
that she would have gone back quite unprotected to the other bed, if
she had not been prevented by force.
The immediate question now was how the brute could be disposed of.
There was a loaded elephant-gun hanging up inside the partition, but in
the commotion no one thought of it. Brown took hold of a kitchen-knife,
but afterwards it was remembered that the Masarwa servant had an old
assegai; the man was soon sent for; Brown took the spear; Miss Jacobs
held the lantern; Mrs. Jacobs clung to her daughter, and the servant
kept close behind. At the appearance of the light, the leopard was more
terrified than ever, and the hubbub of voices, English, Dutch, and
Sesarwa, only increased its alarm. Making a sudden spring it lighted on
the bed, where the child was sleeping. The little fellow slumbered on
peacefully, and knew nothing of what happened until the next morning.
With such an excited cluster of people at his elbow, it was not very
surprising that Brown made a bad aim with his assegai; the point merely
grazed the creature’s skin, and in an instant it flew at his breast, so
that he could feel its claws upon his neck; losing his balance he fell
over; the women came tumbling on him, dragging the old Masarwa on the
top of them all, the commotion putting the leopard into such a state of
bewilderment that it never used a fang, but bounded forth, first into
the other room, and then through the open portion of the door.
Thus relieved of their anxiety, and finding no harm done, they all
laughed heartily, and congratulated each other at the happy issue of an
adventure which might have had a tragical _dénouement_.
Leaving the Tati station on the 10th, we made our way through wooded
hills till we came again to the sandy Shasha, which receives the Tati
and many other tributaries of a similar character. Close to where we
halted, at the mouth of a dried-up spruit, there was a small deep pool
in the river-bed, containing crocodiles.
In the course of the next two days we crossed as many as fourteen
spruits that were affluents of the Shasha, Matliutse, and Seribe
rivers, our road all along being very bad, and obstructed with rocks.
One whole day we halted on the Matliutse, which now, instead of the
Tati, forms part of the boundary between the Matabele and Bamangwato
territories. Here there was an interesting double row of hills, some
being conical, and some perfectly hexagonal in shape.
The heat now became extremely oppressive, and after crossing the
Kutse-Khani and Lothlakane rivers, we halted by the bank of a third,
named the Gokwe, where our animals were encouraged to drink freely on
account of the dearth of water which we were led to expect during our
next stage. After passing a hilly country we came on the following
afternoon to the Serule, and caught sight of the chain of the Choppo
mountains running south to south-west, their highest points being at
the two extremities of the ridge.
On the 16th we entered the valley of the Palachwe, crossing the bed of
the Lotsane the same day. It is my belief that these two rivers unite
at the foot of the Choppo heights, and continue their course below the
northern declivity. The Lotsane ford was one of the most troublesome on
the whole way from Matabele-land, and some years ago had a bad name
amongst the hunters and ivory-traders, on account of its being haunted
by a large number of lions that were reputed to be unusually audacious.
The drive of the next day brought us through some hilly country, where
there were a good many rain-pools, only three of which, however,
retained any water in the winter. The second of the series was called
Lemone Pan, and both here, and at the next, we found Bamangwato
cattle-stations. Much to Z.’s discomfort, a number of Matabele people
had accompanied our caravan all the way from Tati.
At night we made our camp at the Chakane Pan, the last of the three
rain-pools, where we were told that Sechele was at war with the
Bakhatlas on his territory. As we were unable to kill any game, and the
provisions that we had brought from Tati were beginning to run short,
we slaughtered one of our reserve bullocks. After starting again we
crossed the Tawani, and found ourselves in the course of the night on
the bank of the sandy Mahalapsi river. Early in the morning we were at
the foot of the Bamangwato hills and close to Shoshong.
Being afraid to meet Khame, Z. parted company with us at this time, and
turned towards the Damara emigrants on the Limpopo.
Hearing that the prolonged drought had scorched up all the grass, and
that the Shoshong springs yielded hardly enough water to supply the
needs of the population, a good many of our party resolved to rest
where they were, and it was only a few of us who proceeded up the
Francis Joseph Valley to the town, which was reached after an easy
march.
CHAPTER XV.
FROM SHOSHONG TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
Arrival at Shoshong--Z.’s chastisement--News from the
colony--Departure from Shoshong--Conflict between the Bakhatlas
and Bakuenas--Mochuri--A pair of young lions--A visit from
Eberwald--Medical practice in Linokana--Joubert’s Lake--A series
of salt-pans--Arrival in Kimberley.
[Illustration: RETURN TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.]
Not only did my kind friend Mr. Mackenzie give me a hearty welcome,
but he insisted upon my becoming his guest for as long a time as he
remained in Shoshong. I am sure that his hospitality, and that which
I subsequently received from Mr. Jensen, did more than anything else
towards re-establishing my shattered health. I remember that the first
time I again tasted proper bread I felt as happy as a king.
On the very day of my arrival I went with Westbeech to visit Khame.
To Westbeech’s surprise the king immediately began to interrogate him
about Z.; he had heard that he had been travelling with us, and we were
forced to acknowledge that he had only left us early that morning.
Khame lost no time in sending out a body of armed men to capture him;
and when they returned in the evening unsuccessful, he despatched a
troop of horsemen with orders to search the whole district as far as
the Khame Saltpan.
The men brought in their prisoner in the morning; they had been
attracted by the glimmer of a fire in the bushveldt, and alighting from
their horses, they had laid their hands upon Z. before he had time to
make use of his revolver. He professed to be extremely indignant at his
arrest; but the king upbraided him severely for his violation of his
orders, and sentenced him to pay a fine of 100_l._ It was in vain
for Z. to protest, and to assert that he had not the means to raise
such a sum. Khame replied that he was quite aware that Westbeech had
not yet paid him for the team and the waggon that he had bought of him,
and that he should hand over the money to himself instead.
At the same sitting Khame publicly fined two traders’ agents
10_l._ apiece for having been found tipsy outside their quarters
on the outskirts of the town, telling them that if they were determined
to drink, they must confine themselves to their own houses or their
own waggons; he for his part was quite resolved that they should not
make an exhibition of themselves before his subjects.
The Matabele who had come with us were the bearers of a letter from
Lo Bengula, inviting Khame to co-operate with the President of the
Transvaal Republic in preventing the advance of the Damara emigrants.
My late travelling-companions only stayed at Shoshong two or three
days, and then started for the south, leaving me with Mr. Mackenzie.
Before his departure, Westbeech cleared out the ivory from a waggon
of which he was not in immediate want, and placed the vehicle at my
disposal. On the 25th and 26th I was feeling considerably better, and
found much amusement in inspecting all the collections I had made.
There was a Captain G. staying in the place, on his way back from a
hunting-tour on the Limpopo, who expressed himself highly delighted
with what I showed him. In the evening I wrote my journal, except when
Mr. Mackenzie kept me in conversation, and supplied me with additional
particulars about the Bamangwatos. It was a great satisfaction to me to
find that I could now converse with Khame in Sechuana, without the aid
of an interpreter.
[Illustration: KORANNA HOMESTEAD NEAR MAMUSA.
_Page 420._]
Three weeks passed away without anything transpiring particularly to
record, until the 13th of May, when the native postman brought the
news that war had broken out in the Transvaal between the Boers and
Sekokuni. During my leisure time I undertook, at Khame’s request, to
prescribe for some of his people who were ill; Mr. Mackenzie kindly
provided the drugs that were requisite. On the 15th I despatched a
letter to Lord Derby, the Foreign Secretary, containing a report of the
slavery in the Marutse empire.
Almost daily at this time we received accounts of the atrocities that
were being committed by the Bakuenas and Bakhatlas, the two rival
tribes that were at war upon Sechele’s territory. Towards the end of
the month the girls’ boguera was commenced at Shoshong, but Khame
assured me it was for the last time.
At the beginning of June Mr. Mackenzie began to prepare for his
move to Kuruman, whither he had been summoned to found a large
training-college. I did what I could to assist him in his packing, but
I was still so weak that I could not be of much service; indeed, during
the hot weather I was so exhausted by visiting my patients, that I was
obliged to ask the king to allow me the use of a horse.
We heard here that Matsheng and some other Bechuana chiefs had settled
upon the right bank of the Limpopo without recognizing the authority of
the Transvaal Republic, so that the Limpopo could hardly now be said
to be the actual northern boundary of the country; and on the 13th we
received the further intelligence that the Bakhatlas had been worsted
in their attack upon Molopolole, the Bakuena capital, having been
unable to make a stand against their opponents’ breech-loaders.
It was on the 17th that we started from Shoshong with a caravan of
seven waggons. Besides Mr. Mackenzie and myself, there were Mr.
Mackenzie’s colleague, Mr. Hepburn, and Mr. Thompson and Mr. Helm,
the two missionaries from Matabele-land, who were going to attend a
conference at Molopolole.
At Khame’s Saltpan we were honoured by a farewell visit from the
king himself, who said he could not resist coming once more to shake
hands with Mr. Mackenzie, the friend to whom he owed so much. When
he arrived he found several waggons belonging to a trader who asked
permission to pass through his country, but recognizing him as a man
who had been disposing of some brandy to his people about a year ago,
he peremptorily refused to comply with his request, and sent him back
immediately to the south.
The deficiency of water made our journey to the Limpopo extremely
toilsome. Instead of crossing the Sirorume as usual, we made a circuit
to avoid the arid and sandy woods upon its bank. We halted at the
mouth of the Notuany for three days, and whilst there I made the
acquaintance of Captain Grandy, the African explorer, then on his way
to Matabele-land. He died some time afterwards of fever.
The track that we followed up the Limpopo valley bore every indication
of not having been used for years; it was painfully bad, being
everywhere either blockaded by stones or covered with deep sand. On
the 1st of July we halted, and stayed the next day as well, at one of
the pools on the Notuany, that I have elsewhere described as being fed
by springs as well as by the overflow of the river, and consequently
contain water long after the stream itself is dry. This pool was about
150 yards long, and about twenty yards wide, and full of fish.
One of the wheels of the waggon in which Mr. Mackenzie was travelling
having broken, we had to wait while Mr. Hepburn went forward to
Mochuri, the next town on our route, belonging to the western
Bakhatlas, to procure a new one from the traders there. The damage
being made good, we all proceeded to Mochuri, where we learnt the
full particulars of the late engagement--the remnant of the Bakhatla
defeated force having returned there on the preceding day. They had
succeeded so far as to approach Molopolole unawares. They had killed
sixteen Kalahari herdsmen, and had made themselves masters of all their
cattle. They had defied all the efforts of the residents to recover
their herds, and it was only at last, when they found themselves face
to face with the breech-loaders which the Bakuenas had procured from
the traders, that they were obliged to retreat and abandon their booty.
Ten of them had fallen on the spot; four of the wounded had made their
way home; but numbers of them, in spite of Sechele, the Bakuena king,
being a Christian, were overtaken and massacred according to the custom
of the tribe. They had, they avowed, been goaded on to make their
attack because the Bakuenas had pillaged their cattle-stations, and cut
off the hands and feet of many of the women.
Formerly the Bakhatlas had resided in the Transvaal; but after the
occupation of the Boers, most of them left, and settled under two
separate chiefs in Sechele’s territory, becoming known respectively as
the eastern and western Bakhatlas. Sechele had now demanded the same
tribute from them as he exacted from the Makhosi and the Batlokas, and
it was their refusal to pay this that had brought them into their
present contention.
Mochuri struck me as one of the cleanest Bechuana towns that I ever
saw. It is situated in a depression between two hills, being surrounded
by a high thorn-fence, and having all the enclosures about its
farmsteads well cemented and neatly preserved. Until 1876 the Bakhatlas
were the only central Bechuana tribe that cultivated tobacco and used
it as an article of commerce. Besides being agriculturists, they spend
a good deal of their time in tanning leather. Nearly all of them speak
Dutch.
[Illustration: MISSION HOUSE IN MOLOPOLOLE.]
Here I had to part with Mr. Mackenzie and the other missionaries. It
was with a heavy heart that I said good-bye. They had to turn off for
about thirty miles to the east to go to Molopolole; I had to continue
my way south towards Chwene-Chwene. As a farewell kindness, Mr.
Mackenzie induced the chief to let me have a couple of young lions.
After leaving the valley of the Notuany I had to cross a wide plain,
where the soil was salt, and consequently the growth of grass was
very scanty. I did not stay longer than was absolutely necessary at
Chwene-Chwene, as it was suffering so much from drought that holes
thirty feet deep had to be dug in the rocky beds of the spruits before
any water could be obtained. While we were halting next upon the
northern slope of the Dwars Mountains, we incautiously allowed my two
little lions to make their escape. It took us two hours to catch them;
nor could we put them back into their cage again without getting our
hands scratched and bitten considerably.
Instead of proceeding south-west from Brackfontein through Buisport,
I turned due south across the bushveldt to Linokana, noticing on the
way that the little Morupa stream quite lost itself in the shallow
depressions of its bed, so that it is only after heavy rain that it
makes its way over the grass plains to the Great Marico.
Mr. Jensen welcomed me most cordially when I arrived at Linokana on the
8th. I was also highly delighted to have a visit from my old friend
Eberwald, who had come all the way from the Leydenburg gold-fields on
purpose to see me. He was of great assistance to me while I remained in
the place, and proceeded with me on my way south. He did his best to
acknowledge the hospitality that he received from Mr. Jensen by working
for him in his garden.
Moilo, the chief, was dead, and had been succeeded by his nephew, who
came from Moshaneng. His name was Kopani. He was a Baharutse chief,
subordinate to the Transvaal government. The war was still going on in
the east, the whites decidedly getting the worst of it. In the Marico
district, as elsewhere, there had been a conscription of men, cattle,
and waggons, much to the dissatisfaction of the agriculturists.
I had a roomy cage made for my two lions, but unfortunately just as it
was finished the female died.
Mr. Mackenzie joined me again unexpectedly on the 5th of August. He
was on his way to Kuruman, and was accompanied by Mr. Williams, who
had come from Molopolole to consult me about his health. Next day I
paid my four servants--To, Narri, Burilli, and Chukuru--their wages,
telling them they might now go back to the Zambesi; and in the prospect
of again securing their services, I gave them something more than
was really their due. As two of them were Matongas, I had taken the
opportunity, while they were with me, of turning my slight knowledge
of the Senansa and Sesuto-Serotse dialects to account, to acquire
something of the Setonga.
Mr. Wehrmann, a missionary who resided amongst the eastern Bakhatlas,
informed me that their town Melorane was a few miles to the west of
the Great Marico. The chief of the western Bakhatlas was a son of
Rhamananis, named Linsh.
In order to get sufficient money to carry me back to the diamond
fields I had to resort to medical practice. Amongst my patients was a
trader, who had been thrown out of a waggon through Westbeech’s bad
driving, and had been a good deal hurt. Another patient was the Dutch
minister, De Vries, and by curing him I made a number of friends in the
neighbourhood, where he was much beloved.
About this time I received a very courteous answer from Lord Derby
in reply to the letter which I had sent him from Shoshong. A few
days afterwards I took my departure from Linokana; and choosing the
nearest route to Mamusa, went past Oisthuizen’s Farm, and along the
southern portion of the west frontier of the Marico district. The stony
condition of the road made the whole journey very toilsome.
Whilst rambling about in the neighbourhood of Dornplace Farm on the
Molapo, I came to a rocky lake, named Joubert’s Lake, after the owner
of the farm. It is probably the smallest of all the lakes in South
Africa, and lies in a deep hollow, about a hundred yards long by
fifty yards wide; less than twenty yards from the shore it was 800
feet deep, and the farmer informed me that in the rainy season the
water rose some four or five feet higher than it was when I saw it; he
likewise expressed his belief that the lake was in communication with
the Molapo, which flows at no great distance, and on a lower level. I
formed an opinion that the lower rocks are of hard grey limestone, and
that at the bottom there are caves and grottoes by which the lake is
fed. The shores, which were both steep and rocky, were all alive with
large brightbrown rock-rabbits, rock-pigeons, and starlings, as well
as with innumerable bees. Mr. Joubert related to me some interesting
hunting-adventures, and gave graphic descriptions of three very
exciting lion-hunts. In former times lions, especially of the maneless
breed, seem to have been very numerous on the Molapo. In common with
other farmers, Mr. Joubert expressed great dissatisfaction with the
Transvaal Republic. He held the post of field-cornet, and tried to
induce me to employ any influence I might have in urging the British
Government to annex the Molapo valley. The complaints of the way in
which justice was administered were very bitter; the farmers murmuring,
moreover, that after the Republic had conceded to them the purchase of
farms and land, it was impotent to protect them from the Barolongs, to
whom the territory by ancient right belonged.
Starting off again on the 30th, I was not long in reaching Rietvley
Farms, where several families resided, but I made no stay, leaving
again the same afternoon for Poolfontein. This was formerly a
farm, but is now a settlement of Barolongs, who migrated from the
neighbourhood of Potchefstroom under their chief Matlabe, and are
industrious agriculturists. Mr. Hansen was here working very hard on
behalf of the Hermannsburg Mission, but the majority of the population
were Wesleyans. A spring that I saw in the neighbourhood was issuing
from one of the deep cavities in the hard limestone, and at no great
distance from this I noticed a small rock-pool, on the surface of which
was a little floating island of grass.
Hence to the Harts River, which we crossed about a day’s journey from
Mamusa, our way led over the Quagga Flats. The grass was low and the
soil dry, consequently the game, which is generally very abundant,
had retreated to moister and better concealed districts. I found
the underwood very dense in the shallow valley at the source of the
Maretsane.
Water-birds were plentiful at a salt-pan at which I arrived on the 1st
of November, but unfortunately at this date I had so many indications
of a return of fever, that neither here nor at the Calvert or Helmore
lakes, was I in a condition to enjoy any sport.
Continuing my journey three days later, I paid a visit to the Harm
Saltlake, where some Boers contrive to make a miserable livelihood by
hunting and by selling salt.
The Mackenzie and the Livingstone salt-pans lay in the next day’s
route, and after a drive of some hours over marshy soil, we came to
a pond encircled by tall sedge, in the middle of which there seemed
to be a rock-pool; as far as I know, it is the only one of the kind
on the plain between the Harts and Molapo. As we approached we were
almost deafened by the chorus of bird-cries that rose from its banks.
We put up for the night in two deserted huts that had belonged to some
Dutch hunters, who had left the tokens of their calling behind them in
a great accumulation of the bones of the gnus and antelopes they had
killed. I was sorry that there was no boat at hand in which I could
make an investigation of the bottom of the pond. Besides the numerous
swamp-birds and water-fowl, there was a great variety of finches in the
sedge; and before night closed in, it was a remarkable sight to see the
thousands of swallows that came back from their day’s flight across
the boundless plains.
Crossing the Harts River on the 9th, we found it so swollen by the
rain that the transit was somewhat dangerous, but we arrived safely
at Mamusa on the next day, and at Houmansvley on the day after. Mr.
Houman, the resident proprietor, gave me a courteous welcome, and I
stayed with him until the 14th, when I continued my way south, till I
came to Hallwater Farm, where there were a good many Korannas.
[Illustration: NIGHT JOURNEY.]
The nearer I approached the diamond-fields, the more disheartened and
out of spirits I felt. I had not 2_l._ in my possession, and I
owed Mr. Jensen 120_l._, a sum considerably more than I could
realize by the sale of my waggon and team, which would fetch much less
here than they would if I could have sold them in the Transvaal.
While I was in Christiana I was pleased to make the acquaintance of a
trader named Sanders, who had been travelling in the tropical parts of
the west coast.
On my way down the Vaal valley I had another attack of fever, which
came on so violently, that when I arrived at Kimberley on the 26th, I
was thoroughly ill.
CHAPTER XVI.
LAST VISIT TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
Resuming medical practice--My menagerie at
Bultfontein--Exhibition at Kimberley--Visit to Wessel’s
Farm--Bushmen’s carvings--Hunting hyænas and earth-pigs--The
native question in South Africa--War in Cape Colony and
Griqualand West--Major Lanyon and Colonel Warren--Departure for
the coast.
[Illustration: FINGO BOY.]
When now for the fourth time I reached the diamond fields I was
perfectly insolvent. It was impossible to conceal from myself the
difficulty I should find in re-establishing my medical practice, as
an absence of a year and nine months had made me little better than
a stranger in the place; and yet it was upon my practice alone that
I had to rely for obtaining the means of discharging my obligations.
Reluctant as I was to leave my designs unaccomplished, I could not
resist the desire that came over me to return home and recruit my
broken health. The question of means, however, had to be entertained,
and the idea occurred to me that perhaps a public exhibition of my
collection of natural and ethnographical curiosities might yield me
some profit, which I could apply to the expense of a homeward passage.
My friend Herr Werner came to see me as soon as he heard of my arrival,
and voluntarily advanced me money enough to make my exhibition scheme
feasible.
My next step was to take my waggon off to Bultfontein, as I could live
for a time in greater retirement there than in Kimberley. I hired a
small house close to my friend, who, although he was no longer rich,
showed me every kindness during my illness. My residence was modest
enough; it contained only one apartment, consisting of four bare clay
walls; the floor was of the same material; but worst of all, the roof
was of zinc, which made it insupportably hot in the summer. Such as
it was, however, I made it serve as the temporary store of all my
collections, and took up my quarters there with Eberwald, who remained
in the place, acting as my assistant in preparing medicines for my
patients, the number of which increased so rapidly that I could not
fail to be cheered and encouraged to look forward to the future with
something like equanimity.
In front of what I called my “house,” and not far from it, stood an
old erection, now roofless, and there I placed the great lion-cage
that Eberwald and I had made, and all round I arranged a number of
other cages of many kinds and sizes, containing the rest of the
animals and birds that I had brought with me. Strangers coming to the
diamond-fields from the Colony, the Free State, or the Transvaal,
rarely failed to come and make an inspection of my pets, nearly all of
which were perfectly tame; and some of the visitors afterwards sent me
several rare zoological specimens as additions to my stock.
[Illustration: MY HOUSE IN BULTFONTEIN.]
So large did my professional practice grow in the course of the
following year, that all Eberwald’s time was occupied in dispensing my
medicines, so that he had no opportunity of attending to my menagerie;
the consequence was that the charge of it had to be entrusted to two
negroes, who neglected their duty abominably, and failed to keep the
animals either clean or properly fed. I had taken pains to have all
the cages made as roomy as possible, but they rotted through exposure
to the weather, and some few of the animals escaped and were killed,
being probably eaten by the neighbouring blacks; but these were nothing
in comparison with the number of those that died from negligence and
mismanagement. By the time I left the place, more than two-thirds of
the whole had disappeared. Round the cages that contained the smaller
birds I planted ivy and several kinds of creepers, beneath which the
little prisoners hopped about and twittered, well protected by a bower
of natural foliage from the scorching sun.
I have no space in which to enter upon a detailed account of all the
habits of the occupants of the various cages. It was a great pleasure
to me to observe them for the best part of two years. My surviving
lion was especially attached to me, and would always extend his paws
to caress me whenever I approached his cage, and it was only out of
regard to the nervousness of others that I did not venture occasionally
to allow him his liberty. I refused an offer of 100_l._ for him
when he was five months old, but by the time I lost him he had cost
me double that sum. I had occasion to go to the Free State for a
fortnight’s visit, and during my absence his cage was allowed to remain
so dirty, that when I returned the poor beast was suffering from an
illness too far advanced to be arrested. Throughout its last days I
always went to see it as often as I returned from my rounds, and it
never failed to start to its feet with an alacrity that startled any
visitor who was standing by, and even when it grew too weak to stand
it would drag itself towards the front bars of its den the instant it
heard my voice. Though amongst my pets I had tame jackals that were
constantly running away and coming back again, and affectionate little
jumping-hares that allowed themselves to be fondled like babies, none
of them could ever console me for the loss of “Prince,” my young lion,
the pride of my whole collection.
Besides what I have mentioned, my menagerie contained apes and baboons,
hedgehogs, reed-rats, a caracal, a mangusta, black and white striped
weasels, hyæna-wolves, mountain-hares, ground-squirrels, striped mice,
blind mice, pangolins, several steinbocks, duykerbocks, springbocks,
and a rock-rabbit; and amongst the birds I may enumerate three brown
South African eagles, a crested eagle, two species of kites, red
falcons, various kinds of sparrow-hawks, secretary-birds, brown and
black vultures (_Gyps socialis_), two kinds of owls, parrots,
black and white crows, grosbeaks and insectivorous song-birds, a
hornbill, a pelican, a darter, and several varieties of wild geese and
herons.
By the beginning of 1877 I had finished all my arrangements, and
opened my exhibition of curiosities in the public hall at Kimberley.
It proved financially a failure, and in spite of the co-operation of
many kind friends, I found myself out of pocket by the transaction.
In order, therefore, to meet my liabilities and to forward my project
of returning for a time to Europe, I had to fall back upon my medical
practice with more assiduity than ever.
Notwithstanding that the value of diamonds was still further
depreciated, as a consequence of the prolonged drought the price
of corn was much higher, so that the cost of living was largely
increased. It was a great satisfaction to me that I was able to
purchase a horse. I was fortunate in buying a good sound animal, that
did as much work as the whole three together that I had to keep in 1873.
Largely, however, as my business developed, and beneficial as it was
in replenishing my pocket, the perpetual exertion told seriously on my
health, and I was obliged to seize an opportunity of taking a holiday
when most of my patients seemed unlikely to require any immediate
attention. I made up my mind to visit Mr. Wessel at his neighbouring
farm in the Free State, where I was received with the most liberal
hospitality. While I was staying there I saw a number of those
remarkable carvings on rocks done by the Bushmen, which had recently
been inspected by Stow the geologist, and by Captain Warren.
Though the Bushman tribe is gradually dying out, they are still to
be found in certain parts of Cape Colony, but remaining, even to the
present time, as impervious as ever to the influences of civilization.
Formerly they occupied the rocky caves in the slopes from the heights,
both in the colony and in the Free State. They are probably the oldest
inhabitants of South Africa; but now one branch of them seems to have
blended with the Bantu families on the north, whilst another has become
amalgamated with the Hottentots more to the east. They hunt the game
which they spy out from their elevated resorts with the most primitive
bows and arrows; but low as is the grade of their intellectual culture,
they have the very wonderful art of decorating the rocky walls of their
dwellings with representations of quadrupeds, tortoises, lizards,
snakes, fights, hunts, and the different heavenly bodies.
As the game became gradually destroyed by the European colonists, the
Bushmen began to make raids upon the white men’s cattle, the result of
which was to pave the way for their own annihilation. The true Bushman,
as distinguished from the many half-breeds, has a passionate love for
his rocky home, and whether he enters service by a voluntary contract
or under compulsion, he will take the first opportunity of stealing
a sheep and making off to his beloved hills. Instances of periods of
stipulated service being faithfully fulfilled are very rare.
But as I have already intimated, these people are not altogether of
the low grade of humanity that at first sight they appear to be, and a
traveller may penetrate far into Central Africa before finding another
tribe so skilful in its manipulation of stone, and in the manufacture
of vessels out of wood, bone, or ostriches’ eggs; but most remarkable
of all is the way in which, by the aid of the rudest tools, they have
adorned their primitive homes with carvings that will long survive any
productions of their contemporaries, the Bantus and Hottentots.
The drawings that are made inside the caves are chiefly upon sandstone
in ochre of various colours. Stow, the geologist, has devoted a good
deal of attention to them, and has taken many copies of the designs;
and if ever it be my good fortune to recommence my South African
researches, I hope to bring away some larger specimens than my want of
proper tools enabled me now to obtain.
[Illustration: ROCK INSCRIPTIONS BY BUSHMEN.
_Page 438._]
Besides the carvings that I collected, I succeeded in getting several
of the curious tools, consisting simply of triangular pieces of flint,
with which the outlines of the engravings are cut; these are likewise
used for several domestic purposes. Another implement not uncommon
among them was a heavy stone fastened to the thicker end of a pointed
stick, sometimes 3 feet long, though occasionally not more than half
that length, its use being either to dig up edible roots, or to
make holes in search of water. Stones, it may be mentioned, are not
unfrequently found on which the engraving had only been partially made,
and where there has been an attempt to obliterate the design by the
application of emery and another stone. In some cases the objects are
indicated only by lines of shading, while in others they are chiselled
entirely out of the rock. These last are the most striking of all, and
I believe that the eighteen specimens that I brought home with me from
Wessel’s farm are unique in Europe. Amongst the subjects are the bust
of a bushman, a woman carrying a load, an ostrich with a rider on its
back, an ostrich meeting a rhinoceros, a jackal chasing a gazelle, but
many of them are single figures of cows, gnus, and antelopes.
In the course of my sojourn at the farm I collected a large number
of insects, birds, bird-skins, and plants, and before leaving my
hospitable quarters I was invited by the neighbours to join them in
some hunting-excursions. I went out twice, and on each occasion we were
accompanied by a party of horsemen, a number of natives on foot, and by
a pack of dogs. The object of the chase was to hunt hyænas and animals
that live in holes in the earth, but, for myself, I was desirous of
obtaining some live porcupines, jumping-hares, and earth-pigs. The
first expedition was made by day. Those of us who were on horseback
surrounded a rocky crag, and sent the natives with the dogs to beat up
the hill; our success, however, was most indifferent, as we discovered
that the hyænas had been alarmed in time to make their escape.
The second excursion was by night over a district composed of grass
plains studded with bushes and ant-hills, and bordered, especially
on the east, by wooded crags. It was as beautiful a night as I ever
remember, the moonlight being perfectly unclouded. I had been out
inspecting the carvings for a long time that day, and contemplated
taking a still longer ride on the morrow. I therefore left my own horse
at home, and was mounted on one that my kind host had lent me, and that
was well accustomed to the locality. The dogs, of which every farmer
had contributed several to make up the pack, were put upon the scent,
and we had hardly been galloping more than five minutes before we heard
them baying at the foot of a hill a little distance to our right. We
spurred on our steeds, but gave them their heads, as they could see
better than we could the blocks of stone that lay on the ground among
the bushwood. We soon came up to the struggling mass in the midst of
which was an object that kept glittering as it rolled over and over in
the moonlight. It proved to be a porcupine which the dogs were rending
to pieces; in spite of the armament of quills with which nature has
endowed it, the porcupine has a remarkably fragile skin, so that it
is easily torn by any animal that once makes good its hold upon
it, and thus, although we dismounted without loss of time and beat
off the hounds, we were too late to prevent the prey being lacerated,
and it was in a very mangled condition that it fell to the lot of the
fleet-footed Basutos.
[Illustration: CAPTURE OF AN EARTH-PIG.
_Page 440._]
Two more porcupines, a jumping-hare, and a South African skunk, all had
a similar fate, and then the dogs took a circuitous route back again
to the hills, and started an earth-pig (_Orycteropus capensis_).
To escape its pursuers, the creature made an effort to burrow in the
earth, and had partially succeeded, when we came up to it. Our men did
their very best to secure it, but it rolled them over and over like so
many balls, and got clean away.
The earth-pig is undeniably the strongest of all the edentata. Its
body is long and round, and it has long powerful nails at the end of
its claws, of which the sinews are remarkable for their strength; its
fleshy wedge-shaped tail acts as a great support to its body, and
though it sometimes uses it as a means of defence, it seems to be of
most service when the creature is bounding away in flight. The tail
likewise comes into requisition when, squatting on its hind quarters,
it digs away at an ant-hill, for it is known to be one of the largest
ant-eaters in South Africa. Its skin is tough and bristly, defying the
fangs of the jackal, and it has a pair of long ears that are keenly
alive to sound. The skin is used in the colony for making certain parts
of harness. Other enemies to ants are the short-tailed pangolins, the
hyæna-wolf, the mangusta, and the plover.
After our last failure we gave up our chase, and rode slowly home;
but my friends were unwilling that I should be disappointed in my
wish to carry away with me some of their live birds and animals, and
subsequently assisted me in procuring a nice collection, amongst them
some weaver-birds, which, however, did not live long.
During one of my rambles about the farm, I caught sight of a cobra,
five feet long, in a weaver-bird’s nest. I was fortunate in killing it
at my first shot, and found that it had destroyed several old birds and
devoured a number of eggs.
The time of this last visit of mine to the diamond-fields was a period
of vast importance to South Africa. Events were then taking place
which, as far as my judgment goes, could not have otherwise than a
wide influence upon the country generally, especially with regard to
the solution of the native question; I allude to the conflicts between
the colony and the tribes on the east, and those between Griqualand
West and the tribes farther still in that direction, all which minor
conflicts were the forerunners of a great Zulu war. Another disturbing
element was the annexation of the Transvaal by the British Government.
My views upon this subject generally were stated in a pamphlet which
I put into circulation at the time; and as a great deal of what I
then said has actually come to pass, I hope I may be excused if I
here refer to that little publication, which was issued not simply at
my own option, but by the desire of several influential men in South
Africa, to weigh the comparative merits of the several aspects of this
subject. “Recent events,” I wrote, “clearly show that in South Africa,
as in North America, England has taken greater hold upon the continent
than any other colonized nation. Her mode of action has been in many
respects the same in either case, but the native element here differs
so much from that in America that it was impossible for the same
treatment to have a like effect. The European colonists were ruled by
two very opposite prejudices; one party, overlooking the fact that the
natives had been accustomed time out of mind to their burdens, regarded
them as wrongfully oppressed; the other party deeming all negroes as of
so inferior a race as to be scarcely human at all. Practical men who by
long residence in the country had gained some insight into the native
character, and who consequently took a more moderate view of the case,
were in so great a minority, both with respect to numbers and position,
that they were unable to exercise any influence.”
When I wrote my pamphlet in 1875 I did not know to how great an extent
my ideas corresponded with those of many experienced colonists, but
ultimately these ideas seemed to gain such ground that they became the
basis of public questions.
There are certain tribes of South Africa who in their intellectual
development and adult powers of comprehension seem to me to be about
equal to children of our own of six years of age; and there are tribes
that, according to their varying degrees of culture, possess separate
tribal characteristics just in the same way as may be noticed amongst
the individual members of a civilized family. One tribe, for instance,
will be remarkable for its good-nature, one for its industry, and
another for its thievish propensities. No doubt these various traits,
as far as they are independent of association, may be accounted for in
a great degree by the larger or smaller size of the brain.
The Hottentots, Griquas, and Korannas may perhaps not inaptly be
compared to children that allow themselves to be attracted by anything
that amuses them, and clutch at whatever takes their fancy. For this
reason alone, in spite of anything they may acquire of the mechanical
arts of reading and writing, they must be unfit to be admitted as yet
to the privileges of a civilized race. It seems to me indispensable
that before they can be held entitled to the ordinary rights of
citizenship they must be cultivated to receive correct views about
labour, capital, and wages, to appreciate better methods of husbandry
and architecture, to take more pains about the cleanliness of their
persons, and especially to recognize the moral principle that should
guide their transactions alike amongst themselves and with the white
men.
Hitherto the worst obstacle to civilization has been superstition; nor
can I believe that much will be accomplished towards the elevation of
the natives until they are brought to understand that the supply of the
necessaries of life is not dependent upon the influence of magicians,
fetishes, and rain-doctors.
I ventured to point out to the Government that a different future
awaited the South African negroes from that of the North American
Indians, and that accordingly we ought to protect them from some of
the abuses by which the latter were decimated. For one thing, there
ought to be restrictions put upon the sale of brandy to the black
population in the colony; but more than this, there should be an
absolute prohibition of its introduction into any of the adjacent
native independencies. The rulers of a few tribes are already rendering
considerable assistance in this way by preventing the sale of alcohol
in any form upon their territory; and I am glad to testify that in at
least a part of Africa the measure has been beneficial both to white
men and blacks. Beyond this, I pointed out that it was necessary, alike
for the Government and for private individuals, to pay particular
attention to the separate characters of the tribes and of the chiefs
with whom they were holding intercourse; and I went so far as to point
out that the application of several native rulers to be incorporated
with the English colonies ought to be entertained with the utmost
caution.
The cases of Mankuruane, the Batlapin ruler, of Sechele, the Bakuena
king, and still more recently that of the Damara people, and that of
Khame, the sovereign of the Bamangwatos, have proved much of what I
stated in my pamphlet; and I am now more than ever satisfied that the
portrayal I made of the Zulu character was in every respect accurate.
Whatever opinion I may once have held, I have long ceased to think that
after once quelling the Zulu power it is desirable for Great Britain
to extend her colonial possessions in South Africa. I am convinced,
on the other hand, that it would work far better for the interests
of trade and for the ultimate opening up of the continent, if one or
more commissioners, duly authorized, were maintained permanently at
the separate independent native courts--arms and ammunition being, of
course, excluded as articles of traffic.
There has hitherto been an erroneous impression in Europe that the
English are greedy to devour all the land in South Africa on which
they can lay their hands; but the opponents and critics of their
colonial policy do not seem to understand that in well nigh every case
the cession of the territory has been made by voluntary surrender on
the part of the native rulers. Before I undertook my third journey
I entertained a very sanguine hope that there would be a highway of
commerce opened into Central Africa, but my expectation all centred on
the idea that this was impossible until the entire district between
the Vaal and the Zambesi should be subjected to British rule. I see
things now very differently, and am consequently gratified to know
that in several instances Great Britain has declined to annex native
territories, even although they have been ready to submit to her
authority.
Just at the time when my pamphlet was written, several of the native
princes were, it was said, on the point of making their spontaneous
cession; and it was my desire to warn the Government to act with
caution in every transaction of the kind. I said: “Here is Mankuruane,
the Batlapin king, with one tribe, and here is Montsua, the Barolong
king, with another. They tell us that they want to be numbered among
our subjects, but before their request is complied with they should
be made to declare whether it is by their own wish or by that of
their people that they seek to be reckoned as British subjects; they
should be forced to confess whether it was their friendship to the
English or their fear and hatred of other white men that prompted
them to make the proposal; they should be bound to declare whether
it was not simply because they were threatened by some neighbouring
chief that they sought English protection; or, again, they should be
obliged to disclose the truth as to whether there was a rival chief
in the territory whom it was sought to paralyze. Two years after they
had been annexed the Damaras acknowledged that they had had no other
motive in seeking incorporation under the British sceptre, except this
last of getting rid of a rival chief. Further than this, I beg to
suggest the necessity, even after the true origin of the proposal has
been ascertained, of making strict investigation into the character of
the chief and the grade of culture of the tribe, before any treaty of
affiliation is concluded.”
As I have already said the war with the colonial Kaffirs broke out
during my last stay in the Diamond-fields, and Griqualand West became
the scene of a like misfortune. In both wars the right cause had
the victory. That the little colony of Griqualand West, with its
insignificant number of white men, should have brought the conflict
to so speedy and satisfactory a termination with such slight expense
and trifling loss of life, was owing to two causes, first, that
the governor was an experienced soldier, and secondly, that the
Diamond-fields were occupied by a brave and true-hearted population.
The history of the province during the last three years gives ample
proof of this, and I refer especially to the war which it has had
to maintain with the Griquas, Masarwas, and Batlapins, under their
chiefs Mora, Donker-Maglas and others. These natives, who have
hitherto turned a deaf ear to the beneficial precepts of the white
man, being strengthened by the addition of many foul elements, such
as fugitive rebels from the colony, and runaway thieves and other
criminals from the west, from Kuruman, and from the farther side of
the Lange-Bergen, had suddenly fallen upon the neighbouring settlers,
and after massacring them, had ransacked their houses. These crimes
led to another war. The negro-robbers had taken into account that
Griqualand West could receive no assistance from the colony, which was
already occupied with the Kaffir war, and they had likewise reckoned
that the thousands of natives who were employed in the Diamond-fields
would mutiny at the same time, burn down the buildings, annihilate the
population, and carry off the booty; whilst they, the originators of
the war, would meanwhile be plundering the roadside hotels and stores,
as well as laying waste the farms.
I was myself a witness of the position of the whites at that critical
time. Fortunately the purifying process that had been going on at the
Diamond-fields by the withdrawal of adventurers, had left few but
true-hearted men behind, and Major Lanyon, who then represented the
government, thoroughly understood the state of affairs. In Colonel
Warren, who has since succeeded as governor, he had an associate
who never shunned danger, and was always prepared for emergencies.
Thus by what seemed almost like supernatural energy, Griqualand West
was defended, women and children were saved from destruction, and
the Europeans gained for themselves the respect without which it is
impossible to live at peace and in harmony with the natives.
[Illustration: COLONEL WARREN.]
Major Lanyon issued an appeal in which he called upon all the residents
in the central diggings to combine to protect their new home from
destruction; the result of this was that in a few days more than six
hundred men had come forward, all capable of bearing arms, and ready
to shed their blood for their people. About two hundred of these were
volunteers, the rest were young men and diamond-diggers, who expressed
a wish to be enrolled in the civilian corps. Horses were purchased
without delay, and the men were drilled by day and by night, the
military instruction being given by diggers, merchants, or any others
who had been themselves trained. The corps was further reinforced by
400 Basutos. Setting out against the foe, they surprised the natives
in the midst of one of their marauding forays, and drove them back to
the hills. What ensued was a sort of guerilla war. No sooner forced
to surrender one of their stone barricades, than seeking another from
which they were driven out as quickly, the natives at length had to
yield; Colonel Warren had demonstrated that he had all the talents of
a general, and the men enlisted from the diggings had proved that they
well understood how to do their duty.
So successful had I been in my practice, that I began to indulge the
hope that I could start for Europe in December, 1877; but when I came
to reckon up the actual cost of conveying my numerous large packages
and my cases of live-stock, I found it impossible to carry out my
intention so soon. The carriage of all the collection that I had made
on my two previous journeys had already been generously defrayed by
Herr Naprstek, of Prague, and the same kind friend now again sent
me 20_l._, and the Vienna Geographical Society remitted me
40_l._, but this would be barely enough to convey a waggon and
my animals as far as the coast. Under the circumstances I came to the
conclusion that I would postpone my departure for another year, by
which time I did not doubt that I should have saved enough to cover all
the expenses of my passage, and to leave me a small reserve fund in
addition; by carrying out this plan I should also be travelling through
the Orange Free State and the east province of Cape Colony, at a season
when the best pasturage could be secured for the bullocks.
I took an opportunity of sending on twenty-one of my chests by a
transport-waggon that went to Port Elizabeth, where the Austrian
Vice-Consul, Herr Allenberg, stored them in his warehouses until my
arrival; but it did not suit my purpose to travel by such a conveyance
myself, because I wished on my way to stop wherever I pleased to make
geological and palæontological observations, which could not be done if
I were to be hampered by the proceedings of a driver who was not under
my own control.
Matters, however, turned out better for me than I had anticipated. An
unexpected and munificent gift of 1000 florins from the Emperor of
Austria, 60_l._ from the Bohemian National Society, 200 florins
from the “Svatabor Club,” and a loan of 1000 florins from a kind lady
patroness placed me in a position to start as soon as I was disposed,
and I proceeded to quit the Diamond-fields six months before the date I
had fixed.
A series of mischances that befell me on my way to Port Elizabeth
made such unlooked-for inroads upon my resources, that I again found
it necessary to stop, and betook myself once more to medical practice
at Cradock. The success that attended me was so satisfactory that in
August I was enabled to resume my journey. To drive my waggon I hired
a man who had formerly been servant to a merchant whom I knew at
Kimberley.
My party was now increased by the addition of three children, who
were to accompany me to the south. Amongst my numerous patients and
acquaintances none had shown me greater attention than my next-door
neighbour at Bultfontein, and as an acknowledgment of his good offices,
I agreed to take one of his sons with me to look after my birds and
other pets, and to be instructed as soon as possible in more important
work. I promised that if the boy turned out well, I would try and
take him on with me to be educated in Europe. In order that he should
not occupy too much of my time, and interrupt me in my studies, a
young Bechuana maid-servant was sent to take charge of him. The third
of these young people was Philip Schneeman, about thirteen years of
age, the son of a Dutchman whose family I had attended professionally
for many weeks. Schneeman had already shown his gratitude to me by
assisting me at every opportunity he could, and he now entrusted
me with his eldest son upon the condition that in return for his
services I should make him an educated man. The father was one of
those unfortunate characters only too commonly to be met with in the
Diamond-fields, who having come out with visions of wealth had met with
nothing but trouble and disappointment; he considered he was doing the
best for his boy in engaging him to me, but poor Philip, before he
reached Cradock, had begun to pine so painfully for his home that I
had no alternative but to send him back to his parents, who meanwhile
had settled in the Bürgensdorf district. The other boy turned out so
careless and mischievous that I was only too glad to send him away at
the same time.
In concluding the narrative of my stay in the Diamond-fields I cannot
help expressing my gratitude for the general courtesy of my patients,
and returning my best thanks to many other residents for their kind
advice, sympathy, and numerous acts of friendship. I would not omit
to acknowledge the favours I received from the editors of various
newspapers, and I beg to thank Miss Matilda Proksch, of Leydenburg,
for the revision of my articles inserted in the South African English
journals.
CHAPTER XVII.
THROUGH THE COLONY TO THE COAST.
Departure from Bultfontein--Philippolis--Ostrich-breeding--My
first lecture--Fossils--A perilous crossing--The Zulu war--Mode
of dealing with natives--Grahamstown--Arrival at Port
Elizabeth--My baggage in danger--Last days in Cape Town--Summary
of my collections--Return to Europe.
Besides being delayed in Cradock, I was compelled by various
circumstances to spend a considerable time in Port Elizabeth, so that
altogether my homeward journey was somewhat prolonged.
[Illustration: BELLA.]
Shortly after leaving Bultfontein I had to cross the Modder River, the
passage being attended with much difficulty. The river-bed is full of
deep holes containing numerous fish, and the entire valley is really
a channel worn by the rain in the soft soil, the steep slopes on
either side being clothed with trees and bushes that are the habitat of
countless birds. The prettiest part of the stream is at its junction
with the Riet River. As implied by its name (Modder or Mud River) many
places on its bank are extremely miry, and so trying are these spots to
bullocks, wearied by their long journeys, that not unfrequently they
sink down and are unable to rise again.
I just touched at Jacobsdal, which I found much increased since my
visit in 1872, and then went on towards the little town of Philippolis.
On my way I passed the Riet River hotel. The old iron and canvas
erection had been replaced by a substantial stone building, and I was
quite astonished when the landlord recollected me, asking me whether
I had not been there six years before with Mr. Michaelis and Mr.
Rabinowitz.
While staying at Kalke Farm I found a good many oolitic fossils, which
increased in number as I went southwards. The bare, monotonous aspect
of the country made me aware that the district I was approaching had
been suffering from prolonged drought; it might literally be said to be
scorched up, not a single green blade of grass was to be seen, and one
uniform shade of brown overspread the soil and rocks alike.
Through the courtesy of many of the residents, my stay in Philippolis
was extremely pleasant. I made several excursions in company with Dr.
Knobel and Dr. Igel, and obtained some additions to my collection.
Amongst other things I secured some live birds, and a full-grown
springbuck doe. Mr. Schultze, a merchant, made me a present of a
beautiful quartz druse, which I had noticed in his drawing-room in
1872, but had not then the means of purchasing. The postmaster, Mr.
Försterlein, also gave me a very interesting object, a talisman that
had been given him by a Basuto doctor in acknowledgment of some
service; it was a tablet of black wood about an inch and a half long,
half as wide, and about a third of an inch thick, in which was set
a piece of rock crystal. Some Basutos to whom Mr. Försterlein had
happened to show it were anxious to buy it, one of them offering two
cows in exchange.
After leaving Philippolis, I was for a few days Mr. Schultze’s guest at
his farm at Ottersport, where for the first time I had an opportunity
of seeing tame ostriches. Now that the feather trade is on the decline,
it is less expensive to keep the birds in this way than to hunt them
wild; and they are bred in such numbers in South Africa, particularly
in Cape Colony and the Free State, that in 1879 there were at least
100,000 of them. Directly it is out of the shell an ostrich chick
is worth 5_l._, a half-grown bird varies from 20_l._ to 50_l._, and
as much as 150_l._ has been paid for brooding-hens. Ostriches are
generally bred in the localities where sheep and cattle-breeding has
proved unremunerative.
The greatest difficulty that the ostrich farmer has to contend with
is the parasite plague. From five to twenty-five per cent. of the
birds each year die from being infested by tape-worms, which swarm in
thousands and eat their way into the body; a great number of them are
likewise attacked by palisade worms, occasionally a yard long, that
gnaw into the muscles of the heart. Not unfrequently the parasites
take possession of the eggs before the shell is formed; and from an
English newspaper that I recently received from the Cape I learnt that
some ostriches’ eggs had been found quite full of worms.
Having crossed the river at Mr. Ross’s ford, I arrived at Colesberg.
Here I had so hospitable a reception, that I did not like to refuse the
request made by a number of my friends that I would deliver a lecture.
It was the first that I had ever attempted, but the result was so
satisfactory that I ventured to plead in this way for the opening up of
Central Africa from the south in some of the other towns of the colony.
In company with Mr. Knobel I paid a visit to the Colesberg hill. It is
equally interesting to the botanist, the geologist, and the zoologist.
The number of mountain-hares, rock-rabbits, birds of prey, starlings,
pigeons, snakes, lizards, spiders, and other insects that I saw more
than repaid the exertion of the clamber.
Hence my next stage was towards Cradock, not however by the shortest
route, because of the parched state of the district, but _viâ_
Middleburg, so as to find better fodder for the bullocks. The first
destination on the route was Kuilfontein, Mr. Murray’s farm, where Mr.
Knobel told me he had seen some fossilized animal remains in a wall.
I obtained permission of the owner to take as much of the wall down
as I wanted, and found some fine pieces of the skeletons of saurians
embedded in hard sandstone; they belonged principally to the dicynodon
and to the lacertan and crocodilian species; besides these I discovered
a fossil plant in the grey sandstone overlying the dicynodon strata
that are common in the eastern province of the colony. I stayed over a
week at the farm, and so pleasant was my entertainment, and so full of
interest my fossil investigations that I should have been delighted to
avail myself of the hospitable invitation to remain longer, but I knew
that in consequence of the drought Mr. Murray was at a great expense
in buying food for part of his cattle, and in sending the other part
off to a distance where some grass survived, and I would not permit
myself to encroach upon his kindness longer than I could help. My
host, during the time I was with him, took me for several excursions
around Kuilfontein, and I found strata of clay-slate containing small
mollusks, as well as traces of huge lizards, probably dicynodons. The
only game that I saw was springbucks, bustards, grunters, partridges,
wild pigeons, and wild ducks. On the farm itself I secured three of
the herons that are nearly tame, and build every year on the pastures
beside the springs.
The continuation of the extreme drought made the latter stages of my
journey to Cradock very arduous. At Newport Farm I found some pretty
fossils, including some impressions of lizards. Here, again, I had a
hearty welcome, and was sorry not to be able to accept an invitation to
join a party that was being arranged for gazelle-hunting and fishing.
The Newport Farm scenery is the best in the Middleburg district, and I
look forward to making good use of a photographic apparatus on a future
visit.
My intention had originally been to stay only a few days in Cradock to
recruit my bullocks, all of which were now very weary, a few of them
having succumbed to insufficient food. But, as I have said, I found
myself detained by a different cause, and I had to apply myself to my
old profession to recover various losses that I had sustained. I have
a most grateful remembrance of the kindness I received from many of
the resident families, and their cordiality did much to alleviate the
temporary difficulties by which I was harassed.
Before I finally made up my mind to settle for a few months in the
town, I remained quartered in my waggon about half a mile further up
the opposite bank of the Fish River. I soon had about twenty patients,
and had to ride into Cradock several times a day. My horse Mosco did me
good service, although on one occasion he very nearly came to grief.
[Illustration: NARROW ESCAPE NEAR CRADOCK.]
There were two rain-channels that had to be crossed before arriving
at the bridge; these were more than three feet deep, and I was told
that after a very few hours’ rain they were filled with the water that
rushed down from the slopes of the hills, amid a cluster of which the
town is situated. After fourteen months’ drought, when I had been in
my retreat about six weeks, there came a succession of wet days; the
consequence was that both channels were quickly filled with muddy
water, in one stream nearly red, in the other nearly yellow. One
morning at this time I was summoned to the town, but patients in such
numbers had come to consult me at my waggon that I could not set out
until the afternoon. The Fish River roared at my side, but I kept on my
way, and crossed the first of the little affluents in safety; but on
arriving at the second I found a group of nearly thirty people brought
to a standstill on its bank. They were for the most part laundresses,
who had gone out in the morning as usual to the sulphurous springs, a
mile or two further up the river, but on their return had found their
progress arrested by the sudden rising of the flood. I was greatly
tempted to turn my horse’s head round, and if I could have believed
that the case was of trifling importance, I should unhesitatingly
have gone back; but the account of the symptoms that the messenger had
brought inclined me to suspect that the case was serious, and I felt
that I ought to persevere if possible. The torrent seethed in front of
me; the red turbid stream was certainly thirty feet wide, and its depth
had increased to quite four feet. Not far below was a hollow, some ten
feet in depth, and into this the waters plunged in an angry cataract. I
relied, however, with all confidence upon my horse, and urged him into
the stream. Very few steps had he taken before I felt him tremble, but
at a word of encouragement from me he went forwards again. In order
to avoid the cataract, I thought it best to guide him a little to the
right, but unfortunately the stream proved to be violent beyond all
expectation. Mosco stumbled, but happily his head and mine remained
above water; by a vigorous effort he recovered himself, and after a
fatiguing struggle was nearing the opposite side, when again he missed
his footing, and came down upon his knees. I momentarily expected to be
rolled into the torrent, but had the presence of mind to give my horse
his head; one dash, and he fixed his forefeet into the soft clay of the
shore; an instant’s pause, and with a desperate bound he carried me
safe to _terra firma_.
It was during the time of my residence in Cradock that the Zulu war,
the most important event that has occurred in South Africa for the last
quarter of a century, was going on. For the advancement of civilization
that war was a necessity, and it must not be supposed either that it
was a mere arbitrary proceeding on the part of Sir Bartle Frere, or
that the British Government had no valid reason for taking up arms.
It was, I am convinced, the wisest step that Sir Bartle Frere, as a
statesman, could have taken; he foresaw the danger that threatened the
colony from Zululand; he was perfectly aware of Cetewayo’s warlike
preparations; and he knew, moreover, that all the force that had been
collected was eager for a conflict with the whites. The colonists in
Natal, and the residents in the south-east of the Transvaal, had been
perpetually complaining of the encroachments which the Zulus made,
whilst for the last ten years numbers of the Zulus themselves had been
taking refuge in both these districts from the cruelty and oppression
of the king and the indunas.
If the English Government had not taken the initiative, the whole
horde of Zulus, bloodthirsty as hounds, would have overrun Natal, and
probably 20,000 lives or more would have been sacrificed. Cetewayo had
long made up his mind what he would do; his scheme might cost him many
lives, but hundreds and thousands of lives were of little account to
him considering the numerical strength of his tribe as compared with
all others; it sufficed for him to rely on the courage and daring of
his warriors, and thus he was encouraged to indulge his one great
vision of becoming master of Natal. Had his venture proved successful,
the first terrible result of the victory achieved by him would have
been a general rising of the adjacent tribes in revolt against the
white men.
I know indeed that there are many men both in South Africa and in
England who regard the Zulu war as a great act of injustice, but I can
only express my conviction that the opinion they form is founded upon
a complete misunderstanding of the character of the natives as a whole,
and of the Zulus in particular; I can only believe of them that they
have never been in contact with natives, so as to become aware of the
bare-faced line of action they pursue; and generally I should presume
of them that in the view they take they are blinded by the prejudice
that every negro is a poor oppressed creature, ever ill-used, abused,
and trampled on.
In England, after my return, I had several opportunities of talking
over this matter with various influential people, and found that
whenever I expressed my belief that there was a happy future in store
for the natives of South Africa, my anticipations were uniformly
regarded with extreme surprise. The general impression seemed to be
that the black man was becoming extinct as the result of oppression,
and that the outbreak of the Zulu war was only an additional proof of
this. That there has hitherto been a failure in the relations between
white men and coloured in so many places is, I conceive, attributable
to the entire misapprehension of the character and position of the
native; either he has been treated as a being scarcely endued with
human qualities at all, or, by the opposite extreme, he has been
encouraged to regard himself as in every respect the equal of his
master. To give a negro the rights of civilization, and to entitle him
to enjoy its privileges before training him to use them aright, is
only like treating a child as though he were a full-grown man, and the
result has been to make him presume upon his alleged equality to take
up arms against his superiors. Other things that have been very fatal
to the establishment of a proper relationship are the introduction of
alcoholic liquors, the spread of contagious diseases, and the want of
integrity on the part of those commissioned by the government to open
traffic with the natives, and who have only too often consulted their
own selfish interests without the least regard to the welfare of those
with whom they were sent to deal. On this latter point, however, as
far as South Africa is concerned, there is not much to be said; the
veracity of the reports made by the commissioners can be easily put
to the test, and the slightest abuse of power is quickly visited by
chastisement. In the previous chapter I have attempted to show that the
authorities are now in a fair way of understanding the best mode of
dealing with the natives. With respect to the sale of spirits, we find,
incredible as we might have imagined it, that it has been prohibited by
several native princes, and that some of the colonial governments have,
if not forbidden, at least limited the traffic with the independent
tribes.
With so warlike a people as the Zulus, a settlement of the question
of their relations with the colonists could not possibly be arrived
at without an appeal to arms; and it has to be remembered that it was
a question as important to South Africa as “the Eastern Question” to
many of the European powers. My long residence amongst many of the
tribes, and especially my peculiar sphere of work, gave me repeated
opportunities of seeing them in different aspects, and of considering
their relations not only with each other, but with the English and
Dutch colonists, and it was mainly on this account that I ventured to
publish my pamphlet and other articles.
I am quite aware that this is hardly the place to enter into any full
details concerning the Zulu war, of which the general history is
universally known, but I cannot forbear making one or two observations.
The disaster that befell the British force at the commencement of
the campaign was, I think, to be attributed first, to the mistake of
supposing that the Zulu method of attack would be the same as that of
the Kaffirs; secondly, to the circumstance that the numbers of the
Zulu warriors had been so much underrated that an insufficient English
force was brought into the field against them; not that Sir Bartle
Frere was in any way responsible for this, as he had already asked for
reinforcements; and thirdly, that there had not been diligence enough
exercised in reconnoitring the country. But if the defeat brought
its indignity, it was soon obliterated by the victory that ensued,
when general, officers, and men, regained their laurels in contending
with the most martial of African people upon the most unfavourable of
soils. It was the victory of Ulundi, not any achievements of Sir Garnet
Wolseley, that was the crowning-point of the campaign, and I cannot but
consider that it was premature on the part of the English Government to
supersede Sir Bartle Frere, and to recall Lord Chelmsford, before the
war was actually at an end. The consequence has been that the treaty
made with the Zulus has not been of a character to ensure a permanent
peace with the native element in South Africa.
The truth of my convictions seems to me to be borne out by the recent
rising of the Basutos against the Cape Government with respect to
disarmament. Had peace been concluded with the Zulus in strict
accordance with the general feeling that rules in the colonies, the
Basutos would never have ventured upon rebellion; but the leniency
of the policy pursued by the Government towards the Zulu chiefs was
regarded by the other native tribes not in any way as a generous
forbearance, but as an indication of weakness.
The object of disarmament, which undoubtedly in some instances has
answered very well, is twofold; its first design is to bring about
peace in South Africa; its second to secure a permanent satisfactory
solution of the entire native question. By purchasing fire-arms of the
people and refusing to sell them any, it is thought that tribes warlike
by hereditary character, and tribes that have been rendered warlike by
the acquisition of guns, may be converted into peaceful husbandmen and
cattle-breeders; the process should be gradual, but the main object
being once attained, it might then be safe for the Government to issue
gun-licences to any individuals who should require them for hunting
purposes.
On my way back to Europe I happened to fall in with Lord Chelmsford
and his staff; at my first interview with him he thanked me for the
candour with which I had expressed my opinions during the war. He was
accompanied by Sir Evelyn Wood, whose personal bravery has won for him
a high renown in the British army. This distinguished officer was not
a little surprised when I showed him some telegrams demonstrating
that I had been in direct communication with Natal all throughout the
campaign; one of these contained the announcement of his own victory
over the Zulus at Kambula.
I can safely say that since my return to Europe my regard for South
Africa has in no degree diminished, in spite of the calumnies published
in one of the South African newspapers by Westbeech and Anderson,
although they, as well as the newspaper itself, applauded all that I
said while I was out there. It was gratifying to find that the most
influential of the papers had all reviewed my proceedings with strict
impartiality. I shall always take a deep interest in the progress
of the colony, and cannot do otherwise than entertain a pleasant
recollection of the kindness I received from both English and Dutch
colonists.
Before the war was over I had earned the means I required for
continuing my journey, and accordingly I proceeded towards Port
Elizabeth. On reaching Grahamstown I took up my quarters in a house in
Bathurst Street, where there was a yard large enough to allow my horse
and most of my live-stock to run about. My brief visit was rendered
very enjoyable by the courtesy of many of the principal residents. I
obtained some interesting natural curiosities, including a live lynx
from Dean Williams, and some trilobites from Mr. Glanville, the curator
of the museum. I also made several additions to my collection of
minerals, and procured a number of exotics from the Botanical Gardens.
Of the live birds that I secured, three-fourths died on the day that
I went on to Port Elizabeth; an icy rain began to fall, and as we
had some miles to travel by road to the nearest[4] station many of my
animals, in spite of my care, succumbed to the inclement weather.
[Illustration: MAIN STREET IN PORT ELIZABETH.]
I arrived at Port Elizabeth in the evening of the same day that I left
Grahamstown. It was a great pleasure to me to see the sea again, and
throughout the six weeks that I stayed there I rarely allowed a day to
pass without riding out to Cape Recif, or to the mouth of the Zwartkop
river or even farther, to make collections upon the shore. I gave
several lectures in the town, for one of which I received 60_l._
from the Chamber of Commerce. Much kindness was shown me by the
editors of the _Eastern Telegraph_ and the _Eastern Herald_,
and several residents took a warm interest in my scientific pursuits.
Mr. Holland pointed out to me, at several places on the coast, piles of
bones and shells, the remains of the meals of the ancient inhabitants;
but as my attention was only drawn to them shortly before my departure,
I had not time to ascertain whether they had been accumulated by the
Bushmen; if not, I should be inclined to suppose they must be the
relics of some extinct tribe.
[Illustration: FINGO VILLAGE AT PORT ELIZABETH.
_Page 469._]
The twenty-one packages that I had sent on to Port Elizabeth a year ago
were all in good condition. Those that I had now brought with me raised
the number to forty-seven; and two more, subsequently added at Cape
Town, made a total of forty-nine to be conveyed to Europe.
My intention was to take all my collection from Port Elizabeth to Cape
Town by the Union Steamship Company’s “Arab,” and after staying at Cape
Town for a fortnight to proceed homewards in the “German.” Accordingly,
after seeing all my baggage carefully stowed on board the little cutter
that acted as tender to the “Arab”--that lay at anchor about half a
mile out--I went back into the town to pay some farewell visits. My
consternation may in a measure be imagined when returning a few hours
afterwards, I found all my cases piled up promiscuously on the beach.
The rope by which the tender was being towed through the surf had
broken, and the vessel had been washed back to the shore, but not until
she had begun to fill with water.
The great wonder was that the craft had not been dashed against the
wooden landing-stage; I could not be too thankful that the collision
had been averted; it would have brought all my labours of the last four
years to a deplorable end. I had proposed bringing my good horse Mosco
with me, and was much disappointed that circumstances prevented me from
including him with my general baggage.
As the “Arab” was bound to leave that day, and it was too late for
me to get my property conveyed on board, I consented to go without
it, leaving it in charge of Herr von Mosenthal, the newly-appointed
Austrian Consul, who most kindly undertook to have it forwarded to Cape
Town.
The same cordial reception awaited me at Cape Town as I had found at
Port Elizabeth, and I delivered several lectures, one of them before
the Philosophical Society, which, a year before, had elected me one
of their corresponding members. It was here that I had the honour of
an introduction to Sir Bartle Frere and several of the members of his
staff; I also made the acquaintance of many of the most distinguished
members of both houses of the Cape Parliament, and of the leading
scientific men and newspaper editors of the place. All alike entered
warmly into my plans for the exploration of Central South Africa, and
for the opening up of the great continent from the south. The very day
that I left Cape Town Mr. Brown did me the honour of bringing forward a
motion (which, at the desire of the Government, was only withdrawn on
account of my departure) that my services should be secured for making
an investigation of the district between the Vaal and the Zambesi.
I passed most of my time on the sea-shore, still adding to my
collection of fishes and sponges. Algoa Bay supplied me with numbers
of cephalopods, mollusks, sea-snails, aphrodites, and algæ; the
surrounding neighbourhood with a considerable variety of plants and
fossils.
Before finally quitting Cape Town I received a gift of 40_l._,
which was very acceptable, as I had again been compelled to spend part
of the money that I had reserved for my passage.
It was on the 5th of August, 1879, that I embarked on board the
“German.” After an absence of seven years, I had been drawn homewards
by an irresistible desire to see my kindred and friends. Green Point
and the summit of Table Mountain faded from my view, and I was again
upon the bosom of the ocean that on my outward voyage had so nearly
cost me my life, but which now lay calm and placid till I set my foot
safely once more on the soil of Europe.
I would not omit to express my obligation to the Directors of the Union
Steamship Company, who franked my baggage all the way from Cape Town to
Southampton, nor would I fail to acknowledge the kindness of the Hon.
Mr. Littleton, the son of Lord Hatherton, who placed 100_l._ at my
disposal, which materially assisted me in forwarding my collection to
Vienna.
My ethnological specimens collected from about thirty[5] tribes of
South Africa, and those of my natural history collections amounted
to more than 30,000; of these a selection of nearly 12,500[6] was
made, and by the permission of the Board of Trade was exhibited in the
Pavillon des Amateurs in Vienna. The exhibition was open from May to
October, 1880.
Of the live animals that I brought with me, I gave the caracal, the two
brown eagles, and a secretary-bird to the London Zoological Society,
and the rest I took to Austria. I have already mentioned that the Crown
Prince Rudolph did me the honour to accept the two royal cranes. My
baboon, which was remarkably tame, and a grey South African crane I
sent to the town council of Prague for the public park, and I presented
the dark-brown vulture, and one of the long-armed Zanzibar monkeys to
the Physiocratical Society of that city.
I stayed several weeks in London, and contributed a paper to the Royal
Geographical Society. Many kindnesses were shown me by various English
families, and I very gratefully acknowledge the assistance I received
in the transmission of my large collection to my home.
If my life and health be preserved, I have it in my heart to return
as soon as may be to the scene of my researches. In the first place,
I am anxious to make a more accurate survey of the places that I have
already visited; but more than all, I am longing to extend to Central
Africa those investigations for which “seven years in South Africa”
have given me so much experience.
[Illustration]
INDEX.
Acacias, i. 78.
Accidents, i. 3, 116, 129, 208; ii. 274.
Albert Country, ii. 194, 211.
Algoa Bay, i. 11.
Algæ, ii. 185, 195.
Aloes, i. 410.
Alumba tribe, ii. 173.
Amulets, i. 332; ii. 327.
Anthills, i. 127, 313.
Assegai-traps, i. 35; ii. 51.
Assegais, ii. 338.
Baboons, i. 74, 82, 85, 244; ii. 199.
Baharutse, ii. 22.
Bakuenas, i. 310, 316, 321; ii. 103.
_Balearia regulorum_, i. 148.
Bamangwato district, i. 364.
Bamangwatos, i. 370;
their history, i. 376, _seqq._
Banquaketse district, i. 304.
Baobab, ii. 53, 97.
Barolongs, i. 246, 269, 282, 294.
Barotse Valley, ii. 145.
Barwas, i. 345.
Basutos, i. 83, 214; ii. 143.
Batlapins, i. 119, 125; ii. 11.
Batlokas, i. 411.
Batokas, ii. 199.
Beads, ii. 351.
Bechuanas, i. 102, 315, 327, 392; ii. 15.
Bee-hunt, i. 22.
Beetles, i. 161, 278; ii. 261, 360.
Beltong, i. 188.
Birds, varieties of, i. 105, 190; ii. 98.
Blessbocks, i. 146, 156; ii. 10.
Blignaut’s Pont, ii. 4.
Bloemhof, i. 143.
Bluewilde beest, i. 107.
Boers, i. 33, 43, 59; ii. 48.
Bogueras, i. 398; ii. 420.
Buffaloes, ii. 89, 246, 361, 364, 367.
Buisport, i. 413; ii. 25.
Bultfontein, i. 64; ii. 3, 431.
Bushbocks, i. 27.
Bushmen, ii. 435.
Bustards, i. 48, 267.
Canoes, ii. 119, 125.
Cape Town, i. 4, 7, 9; ii. 465.
Celestial phenomenon, ii. 363.
Cetewayo, i. 9; ii. 458.
Chelmsford (Lord), ii. 461, 462.
Chenalopex, i. 137, 275.
Chobe River, ii. 108, 121, 358.
Christiana, i. 141, 202; ii. 5, 428.
Chuai Jungmann, i. 276.
Chukuru, i. 417.
Chwene-Chwene, i. 411; ii. 423.
Cobras, i. 113, 234; ii. 440.
Coffeefontein, i. 49.
Colesberg, i. 38; ii. 453.
Conflagration, i. 223; ii. 155.
Cradock, i. 30; ii. 455.
Crane (S. African grey), i. 42, 183; ii. 9;
(royal or crowned) i. 148; ii. 10.
Crocodiles, i. 408; ii. 32, 234.
Cucumber, i. 364.
Damara Emigrants, i. 25, 33.
Dances, reed, i. 295;
kishi, ii. 168;
prophetic, ii. 170, 229;
lion, ii. 254;
boat, ii. 260;
nuptial, ii. 262;
Matabele war-dance, ii. 405.
Darters, i. 180; ii. 125, 245.
Deykah River, ii. 99.
Diamond fields, i. 50, 58, 65, 426; ii. 430.
Dolos, i. 330, 350.
Dornveldt, i. 409.
Doves, i. 47.
Drought, i. 135, 222; ii. 44, 64, 97.
Drums, ii. 123, 171.
Dutch hunters, i. 389; ii. 96.
Dutoitspan, i. 51, 63, 209, 420.
Duykerbocks, i. 99.
Dwars Mountains, i. 412; ii. 25.
Earth-pigs, ii. 439.
Elands, ii. 49.
Elephants, i. 27; ii. 90, 92, 97, 107, 212.
Elephant-hunt, ii. 241.
Elephant-hunters, ii. 20, 82, 85, 123.
Euphorbias, i. 17.
Executioner (Mashoku), ii. 148, 226, 320.
Fan-palms, ii. 50.
Fauresmith, i. 43.
Fig-marigolds, i. 16.
Fish, i. 317, 405; ii. 30, 139.
Fishing, ii. 224, 288.
Fish River, i. 37; ii. 456.
Fossils, i. 19; ii. 454.
Francis Joseph Valley, i. 365; ii. 416.
Francolin (S. African), i. 402.
Frere (Sir Bartle), i. 6, 9; ii. 457, 465.
Funnel chasms, i. 169.
Gashuma Flat, ii. 105, 178, 183, 216, 373.
Gassibone, i. 132.
Giraffes, i. 343, 356.
Gnus, i. 107, 157, 188, 200, 271.
Gold-diggings, ii. 399.
Gong Gong, i. 108.
Gourd-shells, ii. 117, 335.
Grahamstown, i. 30; ii. 463.
Graves, ii. 6, 118, 218, 237, 315.
Griqualand West, ii. 445.
Griquas, i. 96.
Grottoes, i. 173; ii. 45.
Guinea-fowl, i. 159; ii. 30.
Hallwater Farm, i. 192; ii. 5, 428.
Hartebeest, i. 227; ii. 63.
Harts River, i. 110; ii. 6, 428.
Heaths, i. 18.
Hebron, i. 62, 94, 125, 205.
Henry’s Pan, ii. 96.
Hippopotamus, ii. 128, 219.
Honey, i. 363; ii. 107.
Hoogeveldt, i. 421.
Horse whims, i. 68.
Huts, Koranna, i. 97, 102;
Gassibone’s, i. 134;
Barolong, i. 294;
Bakuena, i. 316;
Masarwa, i. 347;
Bamangwato, i. 391;
Masupia, ii. 121;
Marutse, ii. 163.
Hyæna-dogs, i. 302.
Hyænas, i. 145, 255; ii. 29, 77.
Iguanas, i. 139.
Illness, i. 3, 357, 410; ii. 190, 270, 278 _seqq._, 285, 358.
Impalera, ii. 109, 121, 124, 358.
Ivory-traders, ii. 43, 84, 99, 177, 376.
Jackals, ii. 67, 73, 382.
Jacobsdal, i. 50; ii. 451.
Joubert’s Lake, ii. 425.
Kapella, ii. 138, 148, 238, 365, 373.
Karri-Karri Saltpan, ii. 55.
Kashteja River, ii. 133, 257.
Khamane, i. 385.
Khame, king of Bamangwatos, i. 335, 369, 377; ii. 35;
his prohibition of sale of brandy, ii. 42, 374, 376, 418;
farewell visit from, ii. 421.
Khame’s Saltpan, i. 403; ii. 44, 421.
Khari, i. 377.
Khatsisive, king of Banquaketse, i. 291, 305.
Kimberley, i. 60, 67.
King-finch (_Vidua Capensis_), i. 178.
Kiri, i. 109; ii. 341.
Klamaklenyana springs, ii. 80.
Klerksdorp, i. 162.
Klipdrift, i. 101.
Kobuque Pass, i. 311.
Konana, i. 261.
Koodoo antelopes, ii. 68.
Kopjes, i. 64.
Korannas, i. 84, 96; ii. 5.
Kotlas, i. 318, 374, 394.
Lanyon (Major), ii. 446.
Leopard, ii. 413.
Leshumo Valley, ii. 178, 216, 358.
Letshwe antelopes, ii. 128, 244.
Libanani, ii. 380.
Libeko, ii. 140.
Likatlong, i. 118.
Limpopo River, i. 408; ii. 31, 421.
Linokana, i. 416; ii. 22, 424.
Linyakas, ii. 330, 395.
Lions, i. 192, 262; ii. 27, 65, 69, 76, 90, 100, 179, 200, 249,
367, 407, 423, 433.
Litta or Lytta, i. 285; ii. 261.
Livingstone (Dr.), i. 314; ii. 103, 135.
Lizards, i. 392.
Lo Bengula, ii. 410.
Locusts, i. 75, 134, 199, 252.
London Geographical Society, ii. 468.
_Lycaon pictus_, i. 301.
Lydenburg, i. 423.
Lynx, i. 309.
Madenassanas, ii. 82.
Mahura’s Town (Taung), i. 120.
Makalakas, ii. 31, 41, 44;
Menon’s, ii. 145, 383, 389.
Makalahari, i. 258, 364; ii. 11.
Makalolos, i. 379; ii. 143.
Makumba, ii. 107, 123.
Malau’s Heights, i. 286.
Malays, i. 7.
Malmani River, ii. 19.
Mambari, ii. 150, 293.
Manansas, ii. 106, 204.
Mankoë, ii. 237.
Mapani-tree, ii. 48.
Maquassie River, i. 150;
hills, i. 192.
Maque plain, ii. 47.
Maritsana River, ii. 11.
Markets, i. 72; ii. 22.
Marutse-Mabundas, history, ii. 143–146;
culture, ii. 158;
cleanliness, ii. 233;
character, ii. 294;
religion, ii. 300;
manners and customs, ii. 302 _seqq._;
industry and handicraft, ii. 332, _seqq._
Masarwas, i. 345.
Mashukulumbe, ii. 258.
Masupa, i. 304.
Masupias, ii. 112.
Matabele Zulus, i. 380; ii. 59, 115, 205, 400.
Matebe River, ii. 24.
Matliutse River, ii. 396.
Matonga, i. 270.
Matsheng, i. 380; ii. 420.
Maytengue River, ii. 383.
Medical practice, i. 13, 45, 53, 92, 210, 424; ii. 425, 431.
Menagerie, ii. 431, 434.
_Meliera Canorus_, i. 239.
Menon, ii. 385.
Mimosas, i. 277, 288, 404.
Missionaries: Brown, i. 238;
Webb, i. 280; ii. 13;
Price, i. 315;
Williams, i. 315;
Hephrun, i. 373;
Mackenzie, i. 373; ii. 41, 417, 423, 424;
Jensen, i. 417; ii. 22, 424.
Modder River, i. 46; ii. 451.
Moffat’s Salt Lake, ii. 11.
Moilo, i. 417; ii. 424.
Molapo River, i. 278; ii. 18.
Molema, i. 279; ii. 13.
Molema’s Town, i. 279; ii. 12.
Moloi, i. 334.
Molopolole, i. 310, 313.
Monkeys, i. 138; ii. 32.
Monomotapa, i. 196.
Montsua, i. 280, 291; ii. 12, 17.
Mooi River, i. 165.
Moquai, Sepopo’s daughter, ii. 144, 159, 219, 261, 281.
Morula-trees, ii. 391.
Moselikatze, i. 380; ii. 205, 392, 401.
Moshaneng, i. 294.
Moshungulu-tree, ii. 111, 270.
Mosquitoes, ii. 286, 359.
Mountain groups, i. 293.
Mulekow, ii. 114, 207, 298.
Musemanyana, i. 251.
Mutshila Aumsinga rapids, ii. 273.
Myrimbas, ii. 137.
Nata River, ii. 64, 382.
Native question, views on, ii. 440.
Nautilus, i. 15.
Nectariniæ (sun-birds), i. 29.
New Year’s Day, i. 354.
Night watch, ii. 26, 65, 86.
Notuany River, i. 408; ii. 24, 39, 431.
Oates, Frank, ii. 396.
Orange Free State, i. 59.
Orange River, i. 39.
Orbeki gazelles, ii. 105, 183.
Ostriches, ii. 49, 79, 81, 375, 453.
Otters, i. 177; ii. 120.
Pallah Antelopes, i. 409; ii. 200.
Panda ma Tenka, ii. 99, 180, 374.
Parrots, i. 286.
Philippolis, i. 39; ii. 452.
Plat Berg, i. 205; ii. 3.
Pniel, i. 94.
Port Elizabeth, i. 12; ii. 464.
Potchefstroom, i. 164, 422.
Puff-adder (_Vipera arietans_), i. 406; ii. 40, 94.
Puku antelopes, ii. 128.
Quagga Flats, i. 251, 254; ii. 8, 427.
Quaggas, ii. 71.
Races of South Africa, i. 213.
Rain doctors, i. 330;
their ceremonies, i. 337.
Rapids, ii. 272.
Reed-rats, i. 187.
Rhamakoban River, ii. 398.
Rhyzœna, i. 76, 143; ii. 67.
Rietbocks, i. 177.
Riet River, i. 46;
hotel on, i. 49; ii. 452.
Rock-rabbits, i. 305.
Rohlf’s Pass, i. 412.
Ruins, ii. 397, 406.
Salt, i. 198.
Saltpans, i. 76, 197, 276, 403; ii. 53, 72.
Sandy pool plateau, ii. 78.
Schneemann’s Pan, ii. 106, 372.
Schweinfurth’s Pass, i. 412; ii. 25.
_Scopus umbretta_, i. 112.
Sechele, king of Bakuenas; history, i. 314;
visit to, i. 319;
policy, i. 382; ii. 30;
war with Bakhatlas, ii. 422.
Sekeletu, ii. 143.
Sekhomo, late king of Bamangwatos, i. 335, 368, 376, 389; ii. 42.
Sepopo, king of Marutse-Mabundas; change of residence, ii. 134;
appearance, ii. 137;
supper with, ii. 141;
dominions, ii. 147;
pilfering propensities, ii. 149;
interviews with, ii. 150, 174;
mode of chastisement, ii. 157, 245;
revenue, ii. 160;
residence, ii. 165;
laboratory, ii. 167;
band, ii. 137, 168;
wives, ii. 221, 231, 268;
cruelty, ii. 225, 329;
officials, ii. 238;
council, ii. 240;
magic, ii. 241;
unpopularity, ii. 284, 370;
meals, ii. 287;
illness, ii. 291;
medicine-hut, ii. 328.
Sesheke, ii. 133, 140, 154, 282.
Sesuto language, ii. 147, 216.
Shaneng River, ii. 56.
Shasha Rivers, ii. 397.
Sheat-fish, ii. 30, 231.
Shoshon River, i. 364, 367.
Shoshong, i. 367; ii. 42.
Sirorume River, i. 405.
Skerms, ii. 190.
Skins, i. 152; ii. 342.
Snakes, i. 20, 79, 113, 234, 356, 406; ii. 94, 440.
Soa Saltpan, ii. 57.
Springbockfontein, i. 130.
Springbocks, i. 31, 254; ii. 11.
Spitzkopf, i. 126.
Steinbocks, i. 99; ii. 67.
Storks, ii. 70.
Storm, i. 272; ii. 367.
Sugar-cane, i. 127.
Swallows, i. 164.
Table Mountain, i. 2.
Tamafopa Springs, ii. 86.
Tamasanka, ii. 380.
Tamasetze, ii. 93, 376.
Tati River, ii. 399.
Taung, i. 120, 235.
Tortoises, i. 105.
Transvaal, ii. 419, 426.
Tsetse fly, ii. 105, 183, 374.
Tsitane Saltpan, ii. 53.
Usnea, i. 25.
Vaal River, i. 61, 94, 219.
Vaalstone, i. 62, 205.
Vegetation on Chobe River, ii. 111.
Victoria Falls, ii. 191, _seqq._
Vlakvarks, ii. 375.
Wana Wena, ii. 319.
Warren (Colonel), ii. 446.
Waterbock, ii. 31.
Weaver-birds, i. 78, 122, 284.
Weltufrede Farm, ii. 20.
Wild dog, i. 301.
Wild goose, i. 137, 275.
Wood (Sir Evelyn), ii. 462.
Yochoms, i. 258.
Yoruah Pool, ii. 86, 379.
Zambesi River, ii. 99, 108, 121, 125, 266.
Zebras, ii. 71, 74, 88.
Zeerust, i. 420; ii. 22.
Zizka saddle, ii. 19.
Zooga River, ii. 58.
Zoological Society of London, ii. 376.
Zulus (Matabele), i. 380; ii. 59, 205.
Zulu War, ii. 457.
Zuur Mountains, i. 24.
Zwartkop River, i. 14; ii. 464.
THE END.
LONDON:
GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,
ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Boers of this kind are not to be confounded with the more
cultivated portion of the Dutch community in South Africa.
[2] It is well to bring this before the notice of any traveller in the
district who may have native servants with him. I would advise every
one to make definite preliminary inquiries as to whether the shores of
the Nata may be traversed without danger.
[3] This peculiarity may perhaps be physiologically accounted for by
the small weight of the brain as contrasted with the ponderous size of
the body.
[4] The railway is now open as far as Grahamstown.
[5] These tribes include Bushmen, Hottentots, Fingos, Gaikas, Galekas,
Pondos, the southern Zulus, the northern Zulus (Matabele), Basutos, the
various Bechuana tribes (Batlapins, Barolongs, Banquaketse, Makhosi,
Manupi, Baharutse, Bakhatlas, Bakuenas, Bamangwatos), the northern
and southern Makalakas, Mashonas, Manansas, Matongas, Masupias,
Marutse-Mabundas, and Mankoë.
[6] Besides about 40 skulls, 134 pairs of antlers, and 70 anatomical
or pathological curiosities, the exhibition contained 400 bird-skins,
a fine group of 57 ostrich feathers, nearly 300 reptiles, 2056 insects
(out of 18,000 collected and purchased), 782 mollusks, 933 of the
lower orders of marine animals, 3328 dried plants, 1138 fossils, and
720 minerals. The number of small animals would have been larger, but
many were spoilt by the bad quality of the spirits of wine. The insects
for the most part were pinned out and arranged by Dr. Nickerle, of
Prague. Except sixty-four, which were given me, I collected the 3328
plants myself; I also found the 1138 fossils, except about sixty, which
were given to me by Dr. Reed in Colesberg, Mr. Murray in Kuilfontein,
Mr. Kidger in Cradock, and Mr. Cook in Port Elizabeth. There were 365
sponges from Table and Algoa Bays.
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been
corrected silently.
2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have
been retained as in the original.
3. Italics are shown as _xxx_.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74291 ***