We take our departure from the Transvaal and make a start for Victoria
Falls, in Rhodesia, also British territory. Traveling some 300 miles
out of a direct line, through Fourteen Streams, to Vryburg, on to
Mafeking, finds us nearly opposite the place started from, but headed
in the right direction. A gap of 40 miles from Zeerust to the main
line has since been closed, which makes the trip from Johannesburg to
Bulawayo much shorter. Two trains a week care for all the business
over that stretch of native territory.
From Fourteen Streams, which is only a railway junction, we start
northward over the treeless veld on our way to Rhodesia, 700 miles
beyond. Vryburg is the next place reached where white people live, and
most of the 3,000 inhabitants are engaged in business connected with
farming. Nearly a hundred miles further Mafeking was reached, which
has been made historical in virtue of the seven-months' siege of
Britishers during the Boer War. It is located near the Transvaal
border, and is a trading center for the western Transvaal. Railway car
shops are located at Mafeking, and these and the trading industries
give employment to its 3,000 inhabitants.
An hour's ride further, and we have crossed the Cape
Colony-Bechuanaland Protectorate border line. Northward from that
point we pass through what seems an uninhabited country, so far as
white people are concerned. A railway station is built here and there
along the line, where a few Europeans may be seen; but the country is
wild and populated with natives. Were one to go to sleep for six or
eight hours, upon waking up he would not know that he had moved a
mile, so far as any change in the appearance of the landscape would
indicate. At a few stations signs of industry were in evidence, bags
of corn being piled along the track.
Natives with karosses (skins of wild beasts) and native-made souvenirs
surrounded the train when stops were made, spreading their wares on
the ground and holding the objects of native handicraft to the gaze of
the passengers. The natives' souvenirs were the images of giraffes,
elephants, lions, tigers, storks and other animals cut out of wood and
painted or dyed black, but many of the imitations were far from good.
Splendid karosses are bought cheap along the line. One can have his
choice of a lion, tiger, hyena, jackal, wildcat, monkey and baboon,
and sometimes a giraffe. Many are as large as a buffalo robe.
"How much!" shouted a splendid specimen of a Bechuana woman, in the
native language, as she held her naked pickaninny over her
head--laughing heartily at the same time--at a place where the train
had stopped and where natives and karosses were numerous. Passengers
were bartering and haggling with the natives over the price of
karosses, and others were ambitious to sell their souvenirs. The black
mother had imbibed the "shopping" spirit, when she jocularly offered
her babe for sale. "Half a crown!" (60 cents) shouted a passenger.
With that offer the semi-barbarous mother quickly brought her
pickaninny to her bosom, threw her arms about the little one and gave
it such a hug that the baby's eyes bulged, she laughing so heartily
the while as if to split her sides.
Still traveling toward the heart of Africa, we reach Mochudi and the
Kalahari Desert, the eastern fringe of which we traverse, a distance
of 200 miles. The dust had become so thick in this stretch of the
journey that the color of the passengers' clothes could not be
detected. All the way along from Mafeking I could not keep from my
mind the Americanism, "It's a great country, where nobody lives and
dogs bark at strangers."
When the train stopped at Mahalapye we entered what is known as
Khama's country. The course of the railroad is nearly on the line
taken by David Livingstone, the explorer. When Livingstone and his
band passed through that section of Africa, the grandfather of the
reigning chief offered every hospitality to the explorer, and espoused
the Christian religion. Chief Khama, the grandson, is the most
important ruler of Bechuanaland, and has spent some time in Europe; he
conforms largely to European customs. Besides being a strict
disciplinarian, he forbids the sale of liquor to his people. He
receives a pension from the English Government. Serowe, Khama's
capital, located 30 miles inland from Palapye Road station, is the
largest town in Bechuanaland, having a population of 40,000. His
subjects pay the smallest head tax of any of the tribes in South
Africa.
We were passing through a country about which the wildebeeste,
gemsbuck, eland, tiger, lion, and even the giraffe, still roam. Along
the railway may be seen the secretary bird, guinea fowl and also
handsome cranes. The secretary bird, so named from feathers growing at
the back of the head, which look like quill pens, is what is known as
"royal game." "Royal game" are beasts or fowl that must not be killed.
The reason the secretary bird is protected is because it is a bitter
foe to snakes. Snatching a snake in the middle with his bill, he at
once begins to fly upward with the reptile, and when at a certain
height will let go his prey. The snake, when he strikes the earth, is
killed.
White traders are located through these desolate tracts of country,
sometimes a hundred miles from a railway. Little cash changes hands
between natives and traders in out-of-the-way districts. For his skins
and corn, or whatever the native may have to sell, he receives as pay
bright-colored calico, Jew's-harps, concertinas, mouth organs, tinware
and such things.
Passing out of Khama's country we enter a territory known as the Tati
Concessions. Traversing this tract, we crossed the northern boundary
of Bechuanaland a few miles south of Plumtree, when we were in
Matabeleland, Rhodesia. In this section Lobengula, the Matabele king,
held undisputed sway until Cecil Rhodes decided to annex this part of
Africa to England's possessions. What Andries Pretorius did to Dingaan
at Blood River--broke forever the power of the Zulus--Cecil Rhodes did
with the powerful Lobengula in Matabeleland.
We passed within ten miles of the Matopo Hills, on the top of which
is buried Cecil John Rhodes, "the Colossus of South Africa," as he was
termed. Whatever shortcomings Rhodes may have possessed, or the means
he resorted to to attain his ambition, one of his virtues will always
remain unquestioned--bravery. He wished his remains to rest where his
greatest feat of daring took place. It was during the rebellion of the
Matabeles in 1896-97 that Rhodes, unarmed, with a friend accompanying
him, walked up the Matopos through the files of the warring hordes of
blacks to where their chiefs were stationed. His cool bravery and
personal magnetism so impressed the chiefs that the rebellion ceased.
"Here lie the remains of Cecil John Rhodes" is the brief inscription
carved on a granite slab that covers his grave, which was chiseled out
of a solid rock on the highest of the Matopo Hills. "World's View" is
the name Rhodes gave the place where he is buried. It is located 30
miles southeast of Bulawayo.
Bulawayo, meaning in English "the place of killing," is located in the
heart of wildest Africa. We find here splendid streets, as wide as
those of Salt Lake City, fringed with trees, with monuments erected at
convenient places in the center; a good public library, containing
5,000 volumes; hospitals, parks, a botanical garden, zoölogical park,
museum and art gallery, schools, churches, business buildings, daily
newspapers--all of a high order. Bulawayo, nearly 1,400 miles from
Capetown, has a population of 5,000 whites. It is the largest town of
Matabeleland, the center of the gold mining industry, and has had
railway connection with the Transvaal since 1897. Only four years
earlier Lobengula's Kraal occupied the land that Bulawayo is built on.
It required the sacrifice of many lives of hardy frontiersman to
conquer the Matabeles, and to pave the way for the accession of
Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Barotseland and the other sections that
comprise Rhodesia.
Industries in Bulawayo are few and small. In this respect, however, it
is no different than most African towns. But located in the country
away from the metropolis are numerous gold mines, and Bulawayo is
headquarters for that industry. The annual output from these mines
run from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000.
We find in this place the typical frontiersmen. This feature of the
country is reflected from its founder, as Rhodes was not a "toff."
Every one goes in his shirtsleeves, and derby hats are not sold in
Bulawayo. Soft, wide-brimmed hats, like those worn by the Boers, rule
the day. One occasionally sees the butt of a revolver sticking out of
a hip pocket or at the side of a belt, and hunting knives, incased in
a sheath, are carried by almost every one, particularly on leaving
town. A rifle strapped over the shoulder of men coming in from country
districts is a common thing to see. Lions and tigers are so numerous
in Rhodesia that weapons are carried to protect one's-self from any
attack that might be made by the wild beasts. Still, under these
"trouble-making" conditions, we find maintained that same respect for
law and order that was so noticeable in other parts.
A native word--"indaba"--much in use in Rhodesia, is often used in
South Africa. When the chiefs met to talk over matters pertaining to
their tribe--a native cabinet meeting--the meeting would be termed an
"indaba." When Cecil Rhodes was engaged in dissuading the Matabele
chiefs on the Matopo hill to discontinue the rebellion, the meeting of
the "great white chief" with the native chiefs was termed an "indaba."
In the grounds of Government House stands what is known as the "Indaba
Tree." The residence of the Governor-General is built on the site of
Lobengula's home, and it was under this tree that the rulers of the
Matabele tribe assembled and dispensed native justice.
Though the altitude of Matabeleland is about 5,000 feet, the weather
is warmer in winter than it is in the Transvaal.
Mention has been made of "salted" cattle in South Africa. The only
people who can live in most parts of Rhodesia are "salted" men. If the
inhabitants are so fortunate as to take on a few pounds of flesh at
certain seasons, they lose that much, and generally more, from fever
and ague at another season. Among the creditable buildings mentioned
of Bulawayo was included "good hospitals." Wherever hospitals are
seen frequently, particularly in small settlements, one is using sound
judgment if he makes his escape from that place early, as otherwise he
will soon be personally familiar with the interior of these
institutions. Wherever hospital facilities of a small community are of
the first order, one finds a graveyard out of all proportion to the
number of people who live in the place. A hen with a brood of chicks
was crossing a sidewalk in Bulawayo, and each chick had its head drawn
back between its wings. They were so slow getting across the walk that
one had to step over them--stepping over chunks of fever, as it were.
Rhodesia is a trap in which many poor men get caught. The riches of
the country are much advertised in England, and those who come out and
buy land soon find that their limited means are gone, and they are
practically stranded. Both Rhodesia and South Africa are countries
only for men with capital.
The railway branches in two directions from Bulawayo--one easterly to
Salisbury and out to Beira, Portuguese East Africa, the latter place
being the port for Rhodesia; and northwesterly to Victoria Falls, and
from that point 300 miles northward toward the southern border of the
Congo Free State. This branch is what is known as the Cape-to-Cairo
route.
We will start for the Falls. Fifty miles from Bulawayo we left the
plains and passed through a forest of teak trees. Further on, growing
palms indicated a warmer climate.
"Thirteen years ago," said a traveling companion, who was a trader in
these parts, "fourteen of us came up to Rhodesia. None was over 25
years of age. I'm the only one left out of the fourteen," he
concluded. Asked what had taken off his companions, he answered: "One
was killed by a lion, and the others died of fever."
Ho! a smokestack is in view. We have reached Wankie, a coal mining
district, and a rich one, too, for the mineral may be seen cropping
out of the ground on each side of the track. A big hospital is
observed, situated on a hill, which bears the usual significance in
Rhodesia.
"Do you see that low, white cloud to the right?" asked a passenger.
"That's the spray from Victoria Falls. We have several miles yet to go
before we reach the bridge," he added.
We had traveled 1,200 miles from Johannesburg to this place, the
journey taking three days. Recklessness, rather than good judgment,
marked my course, for railroad fare from and back to Johannesburg
tapped my purse for $100. Expenses on the train had increased also, as
the cheapest meal from Mafeking north was 60 cents, and the next
cheapest 75 cents. But to one whose mind inclines to seeing the acme
of nature's handicraft, promptings of this character outweigh
financial considerations. Hotel accommodation at Victoria Falls was
correspondingly high--$5 a day. One has no choice, as there is but a
single hotel there, which is the property of the railroad company.
Aside from the hotel, a photographer's studio and a few houses
comprise all there is in the way of buildings in Victoria Falls.
Some of the Boers who took part in the Great Trek from Capetown north
in 1835-38 did not stop long in what later became the Transvaal, but
kept trekking, until they reached the Zambezi River. Most of these
voortrekkers, however, were massacred by Matabeles. This occurred from
ten to fifteen years earlier than Livingstone's visit. But it fell to
David Livingstone to make known to the world the greatest of
waterfalls, on which he first set eyes in November, 1855.
For a distance of seven miles above the falls the river is dotted with
evergreen islands. Through this archipelago the waters of the Zambezi
slowly run, giving no intimation of what is taking place several miles
below. On these islands hippopotami feed when inclination prompts, and
crocodiles sun themselves and sleep when they choose land to water
rest.
Two islands--Livingstone and Cataract--are located at the edge of the
precipice, which accounts for Victoria Falls being of three parts,
namely: Rainbow, Main and Cataract Falls. The distance from one side
of the river to the other here is over a mile--5,808 feet, to be
correct. The water, unlike that of Niagara, is of a dark, sallow
color, but not muddy, and the falls are straight, instead of horseshoe
shape.
Stealthily the water moves over the wide ledge of rock, when its dull,
lifeless color in the archipelago now assumes a much brighter shade.
Save for two dark panels of unwatered space, made by two green islands
just above, there unfolds before the visitor's eye what seems a
mile-wide mantle of amber-colored, gauze-like lace. Myriads of water
crystals dart from the broad flow's filmy web and, jewel-like,
embellish the absorbing water spread for a depth of 380 feet. Also
rainbows revel in still further enhancing this crowning masterpiece of
art--these, in beautifying, sharing a radiant part--the bars of iris,
of lustrous, engrossing hues, burnishing the peerless tri-falls'
breast, as the veil-like flow descends in brilliant, multi-colored,
wavy folds from its smooth, extended crest to the roaring, misty maw
below. Clouds of spray, which may be seen 15 miles away, rise to a
height of 2,000 feet from the boiling abyss, and the thunderous roar
made by the impact of the waters is heard 12 miles beyond.
A parallel wall rises in front of the precipice over which the water
flows. A space varying from 80 to 240 feet separates the two. Into
this narrow chasm 5,000,000 gallons of water a minute dash from a
height of 380 feet, and one may imagine what pandemonium is taking
place all the time in the great vault. For three-quarters of a mile
the second, or parallel, wall, runs westward, unbroken. Then there is
a break of something like 200 feet in width, that looks as if it had
been gnarled out not only by water, but that even some other powerful
agency had taken part in making this cleavage. The wall rises again to
its full height and maintains a solid, unbroken front for a quarter of
a mile further to Cataract Falls, at the west bank of the river. The
water from Rainbow Falls, at the east bank, and from Main Falls, in
the center of the river, runs westward to the 200-foot gap in the
parallel wall, and the water from Cataract Falls runs eastward and,
boiling and foaming, intermixes with the other waters and flows
through the same opening. One may form an idea of the great depth of
water at the narrow outlet when it is borne in mind that this vast
quantity, falling over a ledge of rock a mile wide, finds its way out
of the huge rock tank through that narrow channel.
[Illustration: VICTORIA FALLS.
ZAMBEZI BRIDGE AND GORGE BELOW FALLS.
NOTE.--The parallel wall against which the flow dashes is equal in
height to the precipice over which the water passes, the picture
being drawn with a view of affording a clearer conception of
Victoria's wide descent.]
After the water storms through the 200-foot wide channel the torrent
travels several hundred feet, when it flows under the Zambezi railway
bridge, 450 feet above. On it turbulently runs, the water befoamed,
through high, perpendicular walls of basaltic rock for over a mile.
The rocky banks then decrease, but the course of the river remains
rugged and tortuous for a distance of 40 miles.
Vegetation growing about the falls, particularly palm trees, adds much
attractiveness to the environment. The absence of improvements--save
for the bridge, together with grass-thatched native huts showing dimly
through the vegetation on the banks; the evergreen islands; the
stillness of the water before making its plunge, contrasted with the
wild-appearing, rugged, high, rocky walls below and the foaming and
billowy torrent as it dashes madly through the narrow gorge--make
Victoria, like other great works of nature, distinctive in formation
from other notable waterfalls.
Summing up the comparative grandeur and greatness of Niagara and
Victoria Falls, most persons who have seen both would decide, I
believe, that Niagara Falls is the more beautiful and Victoria the
greater. In this connection one has only to compare the grand crescent
of sky-blue water of Niagara with the dull color of Victoria Falls,
the water of Niagara, after plunging over an unbroken stretch of rock
ledge into a roomy, circular-shaped basin, assuming its true blue
color, with the gradual narrowing of the banks to the Gorge; contrast
Niagara's broad, sweeping, unconfined character with the water of the
Zambezi, hemmed in from view in tank-like walls after passing over the
falls, and then prevented from making a good showing, as it were, by a
continuation of similar walls for a distance of 40 miles.
The bridge across the Zambezi River is a pretty one, with a single
span of 610 feet, and was constructed by an American firm. Cecil
Rhodes instructed the builders to erect it where it now stands, "so
that it would always be wet by spray from the falls."
Nature's fickleness, a trait disclosed in choosing remote regions for
some of her noted wonders, entailing, as it does, long journeys,
fatigue and much expense to reach, is conspicuous by her placing
Victoria in a country hemmed in on the west by Angola and German West
Africa, north by the Belgian Congo, northeast by German East Africa,
east by Portuguese East Africa, and south by Bechuanaland and the
Transvaal. The shortest time in which a journey could be made from an
American port to these falls is about five weeks. Landing at Capetown,
four days' travel, on a slow train, mostly over a dry and dusty
country, must be undergone to reach that point, when Victoria Falls is
viewed in all its sublimity, located in a wild, interesting, but
fever-ridden, section of Rhodesia, where only a handful of languid
white persons live, and on a continent where the superior race number
less than a million and a half.
It is dangerous to cross the Zambezi River in a rowboat, the river
being infested with crocodiles, which grow from 12 to 16 feet long.
The hippopotamus, though, starts the trouble. He hides just under the
water, and nothing can be seen of the beast until a boat is on top of
him. Then he rises, overturning the boat. "Hippo" will not harm a
person in the water; but crocodiles are generally found close to a
hippopotamus, and the former are always hungry. As soon as the
unfortunate occupants of a boat have been dumped overboard there is a
swirl of water close by, another farther off, yet more disturbed
water, when long, dull colored shapes come lashing swiftly up. The
poor swimmers disappear, the muddy water reddens for a short time, and
then becomes sallow colored again. To the Barotse native the crocodile
is a sacred animal, and, as he will not harm the voracious beasts,
deaths of both natives and Europeans by crocodiles occur frequently in
this part of Rhodesia.
The Zambezi River rises in West Portuguese Africa and empties into
the Indian Ocean at Chinde, Portuguese East Africa, about a thousand
miles from its source.
Beer and whiskey are drunk a great deal in that part of Rhodesia, and
almost every one takes quinine to allay fever. No one would dare take
a drink of water were it not boiled.
"Knocking around" is a term much in use in Rhodesia. "Have you seen
John Smith knocking around?" "Is there a boat knocking around?" "Are
there lions knocking around here?" are common instances in which the
term is used.
Tigers are so numerous about Victoria Falls that they rob hen roosts,
and even climb through pantry windows and take away what eatables are
handy.
Vegetation in these parts is interesting to visitors, as all the
bushes and trees are strange to those coming from foreign places.
Nearly every tree or shrub produces its seed in the form of a pod,
like beans. Thorn prongs, as sharp as needles and two and three inches
in length, grow on some trees. The cream-of-tartar tree, however, will
interest a visitor more. This one grows very large, and the bark is
the color of a hippopotamus' skin. In fact, the bark of all trees has
a dark color. The pod of the cream-of-tartar is the shape of a
cucumber and 10 to 12 inches long. The shell is very hard, but, when
broken open, if ripe, the substance in the pod is white, and separates
from the fibers in the form of sugar cubes. The natives eat it. One
cream-of-tartar tree seen close to the falls measured 22 feet in
diameter.
A very good tribe of natives is found in that part of Rhodesia--the
Barotse. At a kraal visited, several of the sightseers asked a native
for a drink of native beer. The liquid was brought in a large
calabash, and the drinking cup was the bowled-out end of a small
calabash. Before the native served the beer he poured out some of the
brew in the hollow of his hand and drank it. Then he tilted the
vegetable demijohn, when the beer was poured into the cup for the
Europeans. The reason of the Barotse sampling the beer first was to
allay any suspicion his white visitors might entertain concerning its
genuineness.
Natives' musical instruments are a one-string fiddle, a skin drum, and
a little wooden frame containing three and four pieces of steel a
quarter of an inch in width and four inches in length. This last is
called a "piano." The small strips of steel are fastened at one end of
the frame. By touching these with the fingers a faint musical sound is
produced. For hours at a time a husky native keeps playing the
"piano," happy in the thought that he is an accomplished pianist.
Lewanika is the head chief of the Barotse tribe.
Native wives are much cheaper in Barotseland than in Zululand, prices
ranging from two sheep to ten cows. Should the wife leave her
husband--elope, for instance--the girl's father must return the sheep
or cows to the deserted husband.
North of the Zambezi River the territory is known as Northwestern
Rhodesia, and also Barotseland. Seven miles from Victoria Falls is
located Livingstone, the capital of Northwestern Rhodesia. Here, right
in the heart of one of the fever regions of Africa, one finds small
but substantial provincial buildings, a good, roomy hotel, an
up-to-date printing office, and a small but interesting botanical
garden.
Malarial, or African, fever is very bad at Livingstone. Horses and
cattle cannot live in this part of Rhodesia unless they are well
"salted." Everything must be "salted," both man and beast. Transport
riders, when taking a load of provisions to traders or to mining camps
located far from the railway, are provided with extra oxen. Lions are
so numerous it frequently occurs that an ox is found in the morning
dead and partly eaten, the work of Leo during the night while the
cattle were resting or grazing. It is said the vital part of the
cattle where the lion makes his attack is the nose. In a second the
beast is thrown, and it is but a matter of a few minutes when the lion
will have his prey dead and badly torn.
The tsetse fly is in his own bailiwick in these parts. This fly is one
of the worst plagues of Central Africa. In size, this insect is as
large as a bumblebee, and when he bites he draws blood, whether it be
man or beast. It is said the deadly virus he injects is extracted from
the bodies of big wild game. Nagana is the name of the disease caused
by the tsetse-fly bite. The scientific name for this fly is rather
prosy--Glossina morsitans; also for a first cousin, whose bite
likewise caused nagana disease, Glossina allidipes. Mail must be
carried to the interior by immune native runners, as a bite from these
flies means a very short life for a horse. Deaths from sleeping
sickness have occurred in this section of Africa.
Machillas are the means of transportation by which people are carried
from place to place. The machilla is a long pole, with the ends of a
piece of canvas made fast, over which a cover is stretched. The ends
of the pole rest on the shoulders of four natives--eight in all--who
run along at a good gait, with their passengers in the hammock-like
device, until they reach a relay station--at intervals of about five
miles--when a fresh "team" of natives take up the machilla and are off
again at a good trot.
The European population of this large tract of land is said to be only
30,000, blacks numbering 150 to one white person--and it is doubtful
if that number will ever be greater, for the large graveyards with
numerous fresh mounds of dirt are becoming better known through the
receipt of mail by friends living in countries of the North sent by
cadaverous, shaking relatives dying in the fever glades of Rhodesia.
From Livingstone, 1,650 miles north of Capetown, the projected
Cape-to-Cairo line extends 300 miles further, to Broken Hill, where it
stops. The route from here is to the southern borderline of the
Belgian Congo, thence through that country, crossing the equator,
until Uganda is reached. From Uganda it will traverse the Soudan,
running thence into southern Egypt. At a point in this country the
line will connect with a tongue extending southward from Cairo, the
northern terminus. When the center has been linked, the length of the
line from Capetown, the southern terminus, to Cairo, will be about
5,000 miles.
Returning to Johannesburg, we passed through Bulawayo, then over the
Matabeleland borderline into Bechuanaland, through the Kalahari
Desert, next into Cape Colony, and thus into Boerland.
Perhaps the prettiest and most shapely mountains in the world are
those in South Africa. Though not so high as those in other countries,
their shapeliness attracts, most of them bearded with brush at bases
and sides, the tops being round and grassy. With the deep blue sky
above--the sun nearly always shining on the high veld, except during a
shower of rain--and the same colored horizon all round, together with
the rays from a bright sun lavishly diffusing the summits, there is a
tone and finish to Boerland mountains which, in other countries,
rocks, snow and timber do not bestow. The highest mountain is Mount
Aux Sources, rising 10,000 feet, located in the Drakensburg range.