The Victoria Falls of the Zambesi--Marvellous grandeur of the
Cataracts--The Makololo's town--The Chief Sekeletu.
During the time we remained at Motunta a splendid meteor was observed to
lighten the whole heavens. The observer's back was turned to it, but on
looking round the streak of light was seen to remain on its path some
seconds. This streak is usually explained to be only the continuance of
the impression made by the shining body on the retina. This cannot be,
as in this case the meteor was not actually seen and yet the streak was
clearly perceived. The rays of planets and stars also require another
explanation than that usually given.
Fruit-trees and gigantic wild fig-trees, and circles of stones on which
corn safes were placed, with worn grindstones, point out where the
villages once stood. The only reason now assigned for this fine country
remaining desolate is the fear of fresh visitations by the Matebele. The
country now slopes gradually to the west into the Makololo Valley. Two
days' march from the Batoka village nearest the highlands, we met with
some hunters who were burning the dry grass, in order to attract the game
by the fresh vegetation which speedily springs up afterwards. The grass,
as already remarked, is excellent for cattle. One species, with leaves
having finely serrated edges, and of a reddish-brown colour, we noticed
our men eating: it tastes exactly like liquorice-root, and is named kezu-
kezu. The tsetse, known to the Batoka by the name "ndoka," does not
exist here, though buffaloes and elephants abound.
A small trap in the path, baited with a mouse, to catch spotted cats (_F.
Genetta_), is usually the first indication that we are drawing near to a
village; but when we get within the sounds of pounding corn, cockcrowing,
or the merry shouts of children at play, we know that the huts are but a
few yards off, though the trees conceal them from view. We reached, on
the 4th of August, Moachemba, the first of the Batoka villages which now
owe allegiance to Sekeletu, and could see distinctly with the naked eye,
in the great valley spread out before us, the columns of vapour rising
from the Victoria Falls, though upwards of 20 miles distant. We were
informed that, the rains having failed this year, the corn crops had been
lost, and great scarcity and much hunger prevailed from Sesheke to
Linyanti. Some of the reports which the men had heard from the Batoka of
the hills concerning their families, were here confirmed. Takelang's
wife had been killed by Mashotlane, the headman at the Falls, on a
charge, as usual, of witchcraft. Inchikola's two wives, believing him to
be dead, had married again; and Masakasa was intensely disgusted to hear
that two years ago his friends, upon a report of his death, threw his
shield over the Falls, slaughtered all his oxen, and held a species of
wild Irish wake, in honour of his memory: he said he meant to disown
them, and to say, when they come to salute him, "I am dead. I am not
here. I belong to another world, and should stink if I came among you."
All the sad news we had previously heard, of the disastrous results which
followed the attempt of a party of missionaries, under the Rev. H.
Helmore, to plant the gospel at Linyanti, were here fully confirmed.
Several of the missionaries and their native attendants, from Kuruman,
had succumbed to the fever, and the survivors had retired some weeks
before our arrival. We remained the whole of the 7th beside the village
of the old Batoka chief, Moshobotwane, the stoutest man we have seen in
Africa. The cause of our delay here was a severe attack of fever in
Charles Livingstone. He took a dose of our fever pills; was better on
the 8th, and marched three hours; then on the 9th marched eight miles to
the Great Falls, and spent the rest of the day in the fatiguing exercise
of sight-seeing. We were in the very same valley as Linyanti, and this
was the same fever which treated, or rather maltreated, with only a
little Dover's powder, proved so fatal to poor Helmore; the symptoms,
too, were identical with those afterwards described by non-medical
persons as those of poison.
We gave Moshobotwane a present, and a pretty plain exposition of what we
thought of his bloody forays among his Batoka brethren. A scolding does
most good to the recipient, when put alongside some obliging act. He
certainly did not take it ill, as was evident from what he gave us in
return; which consisted of a liberal supply of meal, milk, and an ox. He
has a large herd of cattle, and a tract of fine pasture-land on the
beautiful stream Lekone. A home-feeling comes over one, even in the
interior of Africa, at seeing once more cattle grazing peacefully in the
meadows. The tsetse inhabits the trees which bound the pasture-land on
the west; so, should the herdsman forget his duty, the cattle straying
might be entirely lost. The women of this village were more numerous
than the men, the result of the chief's marauding. The Batoko wife of
Sima came up from the Falls, to welcome her husband back, bringing a
present of the best fruits of the country. Her husband was the only one
of the party who had brought a wife from Tette, namely, the girl whom he
obtained from Chisaka for his feats of dancing. According to our ideas,
his first wife could hardly have been pleased at seeing the second and
younger one; but she took her away home with her, while the husband
remained with us. In going down to the Fall village we met several of
the real Makololo. They are lighter in colour than the other tribes,
being of a rich warm brown; and they speak in a slow deliberate manner,
distinctly pronouncing every word. On reaching the village opposite
Kalai, we had an interview with the Makololo headman, Mashotlane: he came
to the shed in which we were seated, a little boy carrying his low three-
legged stool before him: on this he sat down with becoming dignity,
looked round him for a few seconds, then at us, and, saluting us with
"Rumela" (good morning, or hail), he gave us some boiled hippopotamus
meat, took a piece himself, and then handed the rest to his attendants,
who soon ate it up. He defended his forays on the ground that, when he
went to collect tribute, the Batoka attacked him, and killed some of his
attendants. The excuses made for their little wars are often the very
same as those made by Caesar in his "Commentaries." Few admit, like old
Moshobotwane, that they fought because they had the power, and a fair
prospect of conquering. We found here Pitsane, who had accompanied the
Doctor to St. Paul de Loanda. He had been sent by Sekeletu to purchase
three horses from a trading party of Griquas from Kuruman, who charged
nine large tusks apiece for very wretched animals.
In the evening, when all was still, one of our men, Takelang, fired his
musket, and cried out, "I am weeping for my wife: my court is desolate: I
have no home;" and then uttered a loud wail of anguish.
We proceeded next morning, 9th August, 1860, to see the Victoria Falls.
Mosi-oa-tunya is the Makololo name and means smoke sounding; Seongo or
Chongwe, meaning the Rainbow, or the place of the Rainbow, was the more
ancient term they bore. We embarked in canoes, belonging to Tuba Mokoro,
"smasher of canoes," an ominous name; but he alone, it seems, knew the
medicine which insures one against shipwreck in the rapids above the
Falls. For some miles the river was smooth and tranquil, and we glided
pleasantly over water clear as crystal, and past lovely islands densely
covered with a tropical vegetation. Noticeable among the many trees were
the lofty Hyphaene and Borassus palms; the graceful wild date-palm, with
its fruit in golden clusters, and the umbrageous mokononga, of cypress
form, with its dark-green leaves and scarlet fruit. Many flowers peeped
out near the water's edge, some entirely new to us, and others, as the
convolvulus, old acquaintances.
But our attention was quickly called from the charming islands to the
dangerous rapids, down which Tuba might unintentionally shoot us. To
confess the truth, the very ugly aspect of these roaring rapids could
scarcely fail to cause some uneasiness in the minds of new-comers. It is
only when the river is very low, as it was now, that any one durst
venture to the island to which we were bound. If one went during the
period of flood, and fortunately hit the island, he would be obliged to
remain there till the water subsided again, if he lived so long. Both
hippopotami and elephants have been known to be swept over the Falls, and
of course smashed to pulp.
Before entering the race of waters, we were requested not to speak, as
our talking might diminish the virtue of the medicine; and no one with
such boiling eddying rapids before his eyes, would think of disobeying
the orders of a "canoe-smasher." It soon became evident that there was
sound sense in this request of Tuba's, although the reason assigned was
not unlike that of the canoe-man from Sesheke, who begged one of our
party not to whistle, because whistling made the wind come. It was the
duty of the man at the bow to look out ahead for the proper course, and
when he saw a rock or snag, to call out to the steersman. Tuba doubtless
thought that talking on board might divert the attention of his
steersman, at a time when the neglect of an order, or a slight mistake,
would be sure to spill us all into the chafing river. There were places
where the utmost exertions of both men had to be put forth in order to
force the canoe to the only safe part of the rapid, and to prevent it
from sweeping down broadside on, where in a twinkling we should have
found ourselves floundering among the plotuses and cormorants, which were
engaged in diving for their breakfast of small fish. At times it seemed
as if nothing could save us from dashing in our headlong race against the
rocks which, now that the river was low, jutted out of the water; but
just at the very nick of time, Tuba passed the word to the steersman, and
then with ready pole turned the canoe a little aside, and we glided
swiftly past the threatened danger. Never was canoe more admirably
managed: once only did the medicine seem to have lost something of its
efficacy. We were driving swiftly down, a black rock over which the
white foam flew, lay directly in our path, the pole was planted against
it as readily as ever, but it slipped, just as Tuba put forth his
strength to turn the bow off. We struck hard, and were half-full of
water in a moment; Tuba recovered himself as speedily, shoved off the
bow, and shot the canoe into a still shallow place, to bale out the
water. Here we were given to understand that it was not the medicine
which was at fault; that had lost none of its virtue; the accident was
owing entirely to Tuba having started without his breakfast. Need it be
said we never let Tuba go without that meal again?
We landed at the head of Garden Island, which is situated near the middle
of the river and on the lip of the Falls. On reaching that lip, and
peering over the giddy height, the wondrous and unique character of the
magnificent cascade at once burst upon us.
It is rather a hopeless task to endeavour to convey an idea of it in
words, since, as was remarked on the spot, an accomplished painter, even
by a number of views, could but impart a faint impression of the glorious
scene. The probable mode of its formation may perhaps help to the
conception of its peculiar shape. Niagara has been formed by a wearing
back of the rock over which the river falls; and during a long course of
ages, it has gradually receded, and left a broad, deep, and pretty
straight trough in front. It goes on wearing back daily, and may yet
discharge the lakes from which its river--the St. Lawrence--flows. But
the Victoria Falls have been formed by a crack right across the river, in
the hard, black, basaltic rock which there formed the bed of the Zambesi.
The lips of the crack are still quite sharp, save about three feet of the
edge over which the river rolls. The walls go sheer down from the lips
without any projecting crag, or symptoms of stratification or
dislocation. When the mighty rift occurred, no change of level took
place in the two parts of the bed of the river thus rent asunder,
consequently, in coming down the river to Garden Island, the water
suddenly disappears, and we see the opposite side of the cleft, with
grass and trees growing where once the river ran, on the same level as
that part of its bed on which we sail. The first crack is, in length, a
few yards more than the breadth of the Zambesi, which by measurement we
found to be a little over 1860 yards, but this number we resolved to
retain as indicating the year in which the Fall was for the first time
carefully examined. The main stream here runs nearly north and south,
and the cleft across it is nearly east and west. The depth of the rift
was measured by lowering a line, to the end of which a few bullets and a
foot of white cotton cloth were tied. One of us lay with his head over a
projecting crag, and watched the descending calico, till, after his
companions had paid out 310 feet, the weight rested on a sloping
projection, probably 50 feet from the water below, the actual bottom
being still further down. The white cloth now appeared the size of a
crown-piece. On measuring the width of this deep cleft by sextant, it
was found at Garden Island, its narrowest part, to be eighty yards, and
at its broadest somewhat more. Into this chasm, of twice the depth of
Niagara-fall, the river, a full mile wide, rolls with a deafening roar;
and this is Mosi-oa-tunya, or the Victoria Falls.
Looking from Garden Island, down to the bottom of the abyss, nearly half
a mile of water, which has fallen over that portion of the Falls to our
right, or west of our point of view, is seen collected in a narrow
channel twenty or thirty yards wide, and flowing at exactly right angles
to its previous course, to our left; while the other half, or that which
fell over the eastern portion of the Falls, is seen in the left of the
narrow channel below, coming towards our right. Both waters unite
midway, in a fearful boiling whirlpool, and find an outlet by a crack
situated at right angles to the fissure of the Falls. This outlet is
about 1170 yards from the western end of the chasm, and some 600 from its
eastern end; the whirlpool is at its commencement. The Zambesi, now
apparently not more than twenty or thirty yards wide, rushes and surges
south, through the narrow escape-channel for 130 yards; then enters a
second chasm somewhat deeper, and nearly parallel with the first.
Abandoning the bottom of the eastern half of this second chasm to the
growth of large trees, it turns sharply off to the west, and forms a
promontory, with the escape-channel at its point, of 1170 yards long, and
416 yards broad at the base. After reaching this base, the river runs
abruptly round the head of another promontory, and flows away to the
east, in a third chasm; then glides round a third promontory, much
narrower than the rest, and away back to the west, in a fourth chasm; and
we could see in the distance that it appeared to round still another
promontory, and bend once more in another chasm towards the east. In
this gigantic, zigzag, yet narrow trough, the rocks are all so sharply
cut and angular, that the idea at once arises that the hard basaltic trap
must have been riven into its present shape by a force acting from
beneath, and that this probably took place when the ancient inland seas
were let off by similar fissures nearer the ocean.
The land beyond, or on the south of the Falls, retains, as already
remarked, the same level as before the rent was made. It is as if the
trough below Niagara were bent right and left, several times before it
reached the railway bridge. The land in the supposed bends being of the
same height as that above the Fall, would give standing-places, or points
of view, of the same nature as that from the railway-bridge, but the
nearest would be only eighty yards, instead of two miles (the distance to
the bridge) from the face of the cascade. The tops of the promontories
are in general flat, smooth, and studded with trees. The first, with its
base on the east, is at one place so narrow, that it would be dangerous
to walk to its extremity. On the second, however, we found a broad
rhinoceros path and a hut; but, unless the builder were a hermit, with a
pet rhinoceros, we cannot conceive what beast or man ever went there for.
On reaching the apex of this second eastern promontory we saw the great
river, of a deep sea-green colour, now sorely compressed, gliding away,
at least 400 feet below us.
Garden Island, when the river is low, commands the best view of the Great
Fall chasm, as also of the promontory opposite, with its grove of large
evergreen trees, and brilliant rainbows of three-quarters of a circle,
two, three, and sometimes even four in number, resting on the face of the
vast perpendicular rock, down which tiny streams are always running to be
swept again back by the upward rushing vapour. But as, at Niagara, one
has to go over to the Canadian shore to see the chief wonder--the Great
Horse-shoe Fall--so here we have to cross over to Moselekatse's side to
the promontory of evergreens, for the best view of the principal Falls of
Mosi-oa-tunya. Beginning, therefore, at the base of this promontory, and
facing the Cataract, at the west end of the chasm, there is, first, a
fall of thirty-six yards in breadth, and of course, as they all are,
upwards of 310 feet in depth. Then Boaruka, a small island, intervenes,
and next comes a great fall, with a breadth of 573 yards; a projecting
rock separates this from a second grand fall of 325 yards broad; in all,
upwards of 900 yards of perennial Falls. Further east stands Garden
Island; then, as the river was at its lowest, came a good deal of the
bare rock of its bed, with a score of narrow falls, which, at the time of
flood, constitute one enormous cascade of nearly another half-mile. Near
the east end of the chasm are two larger falls, but they are nothing at
low water compared to those between the islands.
The whole body of water rolls clear over, quite unbroken; but, after a
descent of ten or more feet, the entire mass suddenly becomes like a huge
sheet of driven snow. Pieces of water leap off it in the form of comets
with tails streaming behind, till the whole snowy sheet becomes myriads
of rushing, leaping, aqueous comets. This peculiarity was not observed
by Charles Livingstone at Niagara, and here it happens, possibly from the
dryness of the atmosphere, or whatever the cause may be which makes every
drop of Zambesi water appear to possess a sort of individuality. It runs
off the ends of the paddles, and glides in beads along the smooth
surface, like drops of quicksilver on a table. Here we see them in a
conglomeration, each with a train of pure white vapour, racing down till
lost in clouds of spray. A stone dropped in became less and less to the
eye, and at last disappeared in the dense mist below.
Charles Livingstone had seen Niagara, and gave Mosi-oa-tunya the palm,
though now at the end of a drought, and the river at its very lowest.
Many feel a disappointment on first seeing the great American Falls, but
Mosi-oa-tunya is so strange, it must ever cause wonder. In the amount of
water, Niagara probably excels, though not during the months when the
Zambesi is in flood. The vast body of water, separating in the comet-
like forms described, necessarily encloses in its descent a large volume
of air, which, forced into the cleft, to an unknown depth, rebounds, and
rushes up loaded with vapour to form the three or even six columns, as if
of steam, visible at the Batoka village Moachemba, twenty-one miles
distant. On attaining a height of 200, or at most 300 feet from the
level of the river above the cascade, this vapour becomes condensed into
a perpetual shower of fine rain. Much of the spray, rising to the west
of Garden Island, falls on the grove of evergreen trees opposite; and
from their leaves, heavy drops are for ever falling, to form sundry
little rills, which, in running down the steep face of rock, are blown
off and turned back, or licked off their perpendicular bed, up into the
column from which they have just descended.
The morning sun gilds these columns of watery smoke with all the glowing
colours of double or treble rainbows. The evening sun, from a hot yellow
sky, imparts a sulphureous hue, and gives one the impression that the
yawning gulf might resemble the mouth of the bottomless pit. No bird
sits and sings on the branches of the grove of perpetual showers, or ever
builds its nest there. We saw hornbills and flocks of little black
weavers flying across from the mainland to the islands, and from the
islands to the points of the promontories and back again, but they
uniformly shunned the region of perpetual rain, occupied by the evergreen
grove. The sunshine, elsewhere in this land so overpowering, never
penetrates the deep gloom of that shade. In the presence of the strange
Mosi-oa-tunya, we can sympathize with those who, when the world was
young, peopled earth, air, and river, with beings not of mortal form.
Sacred to what deity would be this awful chasm and that dark grove, over
which hovers an ever-abiding "pillar of cloud"?
The ancient Batoka chieftains used Kazeruka, now Garden Island, and
Boaruka, the island further west, also on the lip of the Falls, as sacred
spots for worshipping the Deity. It is no wonder that under the cloudy
columns, and near the brilliant rainbows, with the ceaseless roar of the
cataract, with the perpetual flow, as if pouring forth from the hand of
the Almighty, their souls should be filled with reverential awe. It
inspired wonder in the native mind throughout the interior. Among the
first questions asked by Sebituane of Mr. Oswell and Dr. Livingstone, in
1851, was, "Have you any smoke soundings in your country," and "what
causes the smoke to rise for ever so high out of water?" In that year
its fame was heard 200 miles off, and it was approached within two days;
but it was seen by no European till 1855, when Dr. Livingstone visited it
on his way to the East Coast. Being then accompanied as far as this Fall
by Sekeletu and 200 followers, his stay was necessarily short; and the
two days there were employed in observations for fixing the geographical
position of the place, and turning the showers, that at times sweep from
the columns of vapour across the island, to account, in teaching the
Makololo arboriculture, and making that garden from which the natives
named the island; so that he did not visit the opposite sides of the
cleft, nor see the wonderful course of the river beyond the Falls. The
hippopotami had destroyed the trees which were then planted; and, though
a strong stockaded hedge was made again, and living orange-trees, cashew-
nuts, and coffee seeds put in afresh, we fear that the perseverance of
the hippopotami will overcome the obstacle of the hedge. It would
require a resident missionary to rear European fruit-trees. The period
at which the peach and apricot come into blossom is about the end of the
dry season, and artificial irrigation is necessary. The Batoka, the only
arboriculturists in the country, rear native fruit-trees alone--the
mosibe, the motsikiri, the boma, and others. When a tribe takes an
interest in trees, it becomes more attached to the spot on which they are
planted, and they prove one of the civilizing influences.
Where one Englishman goes, others are sure to follow. Mr. Baldwin, a
gentleman from Natal, succeeded in reaching the Falls guided by his
pocket-compass alone. On meeting the second subject of Her Majesty, who
had ever beheld the greatest of African wonders, we found him a sort of
prisoner at large. He had called on Mashotlane to ferry him over to the
north side of the river, and, when nearly over, he took a bath, by
jumping in and swimming ashore. "If," said Mashotlane, "he had been
devoured by one of the crocodiles which abound there, the English would
have blamed us for his death. He nearly inflicted a great injury upon
us, therefore, we said, he must pay a fine." As Mr. Baldwin had nothing
with him wherewith to pay, they were taking care of him till he should
receive beads from his wagon, two days distant.
Mashotlane's education had been received in the camp of Sebituane, where
but little regard was paid to human life. He was not yet in his prime,
and his fine open countenance presented to us no indication of the evil
influences which unhappily, from infancy, had been at work on his mind.
The native eye was more penetrating than ours; for the expression of our
men was, "He has drunk the blood of men--you may see it in his eyes." He
made no further difficulty about Mr. Baldwin; but the week after we left
he inflicted a severe wound on the head of one of his wives with his
rhinoceros-horn club. She, being of a good family, left him, and we
subsequently met her and another of his wives proceeding up the country.
The ground is strewn with agates for a number of miles above the Falls;
but the fires, which burn off the grass yearly, have injured most of
those on the surface. Our men were delighted to hear that they do as
well as flints for muskets; and this with the new ideas of the value of
gold (_dalama_) and malachite, that they had acquired at Tette, made them
conceive that we were not altogether silly in picking up and looking at
stones.
Marching up the river, we crossed the Lekone at its confluence, about
eight miles above the island Kalai, and went on to a village opposite the
Island Chundu. Nambowe, the headman, is one of the Matebele or Zulus,
who have had to flee from the anger of Moselekatse, to take refuge with
the Makololo.
We spent Sunday, the 12th, at the village of Molele, a tall old Batoka,
who was proud of having formerly been a great favourite with Sebituane.
In coming hither we passed through patches of forest abounding in all
sorts of game. The elephants' tusks, placed over graves, are now allowed
to decay, and the skulls, which the former Batoka stuck on poles to
ornament their villages, not being renewed, now crumble into dust. Here
the famine, of which we had heard, became apparent, Molele's people being
employed in digging up the _tsitla_ root out of the marshes, and cutting
out the soft core of the young palm-trees, for food.
The village, situated on the side of a wooded ridge, commands an
extensive view of a great expanse of meadow and marsh lying along the
bank of the river. On these holmes herds of buffaloes and waterbucks
daily graze in security, as they have in the reedy marshes a refuge into
which they can run on the approach of danger. The pretty little tianyane
or ourebi is abundant further on, and herds of blue weldebeests or
brindled gnus (_Katoblepas Gorgon_) amused us by their fantastic capers.
They present a much more ferocious aspect than the lion himself, but are
quite timid. We never could, by waving a red handkerchief, according to
the prescription, induce them to venture near to us. It may therefore be
that the red colour excites their fury only when wounded or hotly
pursued. Herds of lechee or lechwe now enliven the meadows; and they and
their younger brother, the graceful poku, smaller, and of a rounder
contour, race together towards the grassy fens. We venture to call the
poku after the late Major Vardon, a noble-hearted African traveller; but
fully anticipate that some aspiring Nimrod will prefer that his own name
should go down to posterity on the back of this buck.
Midway between Tabacheu and the Great Falls the streams begin to flow
westward. On the other side they begin to flow east. Large round masses
of granite, somewhat like old castles, tower aloft about the Kalomo. The
country is an elevated plateau, and our men knew and named the different
plains as we passed them by.
On the 13th we met a party from Sekeletu, who was now at Sesheke. Our
approach had been reported, and they had been sent to ask the Doctor what
the price of a horse ought to be; and what he said, that they were to
give and no more. In reply they were told that by their having given
nine large tusks for one horse before the Doctor came, the Griquas would
naturally imagine that the price was already settled. It was exceedingly
amusing to witness the exact imitation they gave of the swagger of a
certain white with whom they had been dealing, and who had, as they had
perceived, evidently wished to assume an air of indifference. Holding up
the head and scratching the beard it was hinted might indicate not
indifference, but vermin. It is well that we do not always know what
they say about us. The remarks are often not quite complimentary, and
resemble closely what certain white travellers say about the blacks.
We made our camp in the afternoon abreast of the large island called
Mparira, opposite the mouth of the Chobe. Francolins, quails, and guinea-
fowls, as well as larger game, were abundant. The Makololo headman,
Mokompa, brought us a liberal present; and in the usual way, which is
considered politeness, regretted he had no milk, as his cows were all
dry. We got some honey here from the very small stingless bee, called,
by the Batoka, moandi, and by others, the kokomatsane. This honey is
slightly acid, and has an aromatic flavour. The bees are easily known
from their habit of buzzing about the eyes, and tickling the skin by
sucking it as common flies do. The hive has a tube of wax like a quill,
for its entrance, and is usually in the hollows of trees.
Mokompa feared that the tribe was breaking up, and lamented the condition
into which they had fallen in consequence of Sekeletu's leprosy; he did
not know what was to become of them. He sent two canoes to take us up to
Sesheke; his best canoe had taken ivory up to the chief, to purchase
goods of some native traders from Benguela. Above the Falls the paddlers
always stand in the canoes, using long paddles, ten feet in length, and
changing from side to side without losing the stroke.
Mochokotsa, a messenger from Sekeletu, met us on the 17th, with another
request for the Doctor to take ivory and purchase a horse. He again
declined to interfere. None were to come up to Sekeletu but the Doctor;
and all the men who had had smallpox at Tette, three years ago, were to
go back to Moshobotwane, and he would sprinkle medicine over them, to
drive away the infection, and prevent it spreading in the tribe.
Mochokotsa was told to say to Sekeletu that the disease was known of old
to white men, and we even knew the medicine to prevent it; and, were
there any danger now, we should be the first to warn him of it. Why did
not he go himself to have Moshobotwane sprinkle medicine to drive away
his leprosy. We were not afraid of his disease, nor of the fever that
had killed the teachers and many Makololo at Linyanti. As this attempt
at quarantine was evidently the suggestion of native doctors to increase
their own importance, we added that we had no food, and would hunt next
day for game, and the day after; and, should we be still ordered
purification by their medicine, we should then return to our own country.
The message was not all of our dictation, our companions interlarded it
with their own indignant protests, and said some strong things in the
Tette dialect about these "doctor things" keeping them back from seeing
their father; when to their surprise Mochokotsa told them he knew every
word they were saying, as he was of the tribe Bazizulu, and defied them
to deceive him by any dialect, either of the Mashona on the east, or of
the Mambari on the west. Mochokotsa then repeated our message twice, to
be sure that he had it every word, and went back again. These chiefs'
messengers have most retentive memories; they carry messages of
considerable length great distances, and deliver them almost word for
word. Two or three usually go together, and when on the way the message
is rehearsed every night, in order that the exact words may be kept to.
One of the native objections to learning to write is, that these men
answer the purpose of transmitting intelligence to a distance as well as
a letter would; and, if a person wishes to communicate with any one in
the town, the best way to do so is either to go to or send for him. And
as for corresponding with friends very far off, that is all very well for
white people, but the blacks have no friends to whom to write. The only
effective argument for the learning to read is, that it is their duty to
know the revelation from their Father in Heaven, as it stands in the
Book.
Our messenger returned on the evening of the following day with "You
speak truly," says Sekeletu, "the disease is old, come on at once, do not
sleep in the path; for I am greatly desirous (_tlologelecoe_) to see the
Doctor."
After Mochokotsa left us, we met some of Mokompa's men bringing back the
ivory, as horses were preferred to the West-Coast goods. They were the
bearers of instructions to Mokompa, and as these instructions illustrate
the government of people who have learned scarcely anything from
Europeans, they are inserted, though otherwise of no importance.
Mashotlane had not behaved so civilly to Mr. Baldwin as Sekeletu had
ordered him to do to all Englishmen. He had been very uncivil to the
messengers sent by Moselekatse with letters from Mr. Moffat, treated them
as spies, and would not land to take the bag until they moved off. On
our speaking to him about this, he justified his conduct on the plea that
he was set at the Falls for the very purpose of watching these, their
natural enemies; and how was he to know that they had been sent by Mr.
Moffat? Our men thereupon reported at head-quarters that Mashotlane had
cursed the Doctor. The instructions to Mokompa, from Sekeletu, were to
"go and tell Mashotlane that he had offended greatly. He had not cursed
Monare (Dr. Livingstone) but Sebituane, as Monare was now in the place of
Sebituane, and he reverenced him as he had done his father. Any fine
taken from Mr. Baldwin was to be returned at once, as he was not a Boer
but an Englishman. Sekeletu was very angry, and Mokompa must not conceal
the message."
On finding afterwards that Mashotlane's conduct had been most outrageous
to the Batoka, Sekeletu sent for him to come to Sesheke, in order that he
might have him more under his own eye; but Mashotlane, fearing that this
meant the punishment of death, sent a polite answer, alleging that he was
ill and unable to travel. Sekeletu tried again to remove Mashotlane from
the Falls, but without success. In theory the chief is absolute and
quite despotic; in practice his authority is limited, and he cannot,
without occasionally putting refractory headmen to death, force his
subordinates to do his will.
Except the small rapids by Mparira island, near the mouth of the Chobe,
the rest of the way to Sesheke by water is smooth. Herds of cattle of
two or three varieties graze on the islands in the river: the Batoka
possessed a very small breed of beautiful shape, and remarkably tame, and
many may still be seen; a larger kind, many of which have horns pendent,
and loose at the roots; and a still larger sort, with horns of
extraordinary dimensions,--apparently a burden for the beast to carry.
This breed was found in abundance at Lake Ngami. We stopped at noon at
one of the cattle-posts of Mokompa, and had a refreshing drink of milk.
Men of his standing have usually several herds placed at different spots,
and the owner visits each in turn, while his head-quarters are at his
village. His son, a boy of ten, had charge of the establishment during
his father's absence. According to Makololo ideas, the cattle-post is
the proper school in which sons should be brought up. Here they receive
the right sort of education--the knowledge of pasture and how to manage
cattle.
Strong easterly winds blow daily from noon till midnight, and continue
till the October or November rains set in. Whirlwinds, raising huge
pillars of smoke from burning grass and weeds, are common in the
forenoon. We were nearly caught in an immense one. It crossed about
twenty yards in front of us, the wind apparently rushing into it from all
points of the compass. Whirling round and round in great eddies, it
swept up hundreds of feet into the air a continuous dense dark cloud of
the black pulverized soil, mixed with dried grass, off the plain. Herds
of the new antelopes, lechwe, and poku, with the kokong, or gnus, and
zebras stood gazing at us as we passed. The mirage lifted them at times
halfway to the clouds, and twisted them and the clumps of palms into
strange unearthly forms. The extensive and rich level plains by the
banks, along the sides of which we paddled, would support a vast
population, and might be easily irrigated from the Zambesi. If watered,
they would yield crops all the year round, and never suffer loss by
drought. The hippopotamus is killed here with long lance-like spears. We
saw two men, in a light canoe, stealing noiselessly down on one of these
animals thought to be asleep; but it was on the alert, and they had
quickly to retreat. Comparatively few of these animals now remain
between Sesheke and the Falls, and they are uncommonly wary, as it is
certain death for one to be caught napping in the daytime.
On the 18th we entered Sesheke. The old town, now in ruins, stands on
the left bank of the river. The people have built another on the same
side, a quarter of a mile higher up, since their headman Moriantsiane was
put to death for bewitching the chief with leprosy. Sekeletu was on the
right bank, near a number of temporary huts. A man hailed us from the
chiefs quarters, and requested us to rest under the old Kotla, or public
meeting-place tree. A young Makololo, with the large thighs which Zulus
and most of this tribe have, crossed over to receive orders from the
chief, who had not shown himself to the people since he was affected with
leprosy. On returning he ran for Mokele, the headman of the new town,
who, after going over to Sekeletu, came back and conducted us to a small
but good hut, and afterwards brought us a fine fat ox, as a present from
the chief. "This is a time of hunger," he said, "and we have no meat,
but we expect some soon from the Barotse Valley." We were entirely out
of food when we reached Sesheke. Never was better meat than that of the
ox Sekeletu sent, and infinitely above the flesh of all kinds of game is
beef!
A constant stream of visitors rolled in on us the day after our arrival.
Several of them, who had suffered affliction during the Doctor's absence,
seemed to be much affected on seeing him again. All were in low spirits.
A severe drought had cut off the crops, and destroyed the pasture of
Linyanti, and the people were scattered over the country in search of
wild fruits, and the hospitality of those whose ground-nuts (_Arachis
hypogoea_) had not failed. Sekeletu's leprosy brought troops of evils in
its train. Believing himself bewitched, he had suspected a number of his
chief men, and had put some, with their families, to death; others had
fled to distant tribes, and were living in exile. The chief had shut
himself up, and allowed no one to come into his presence but his uncle
Mamire. Ponwane, who had been as "head and eyes" to him, had just died;
evidence, he thought, of the potent spells of those who hated all who
loved the chief. The country was suffering grievously, and Sebituane's
grand empire was crumbling to pieces. A large body of young Barotse had
revolted and fled to the north; killing a man by the way, in order to put
a blood-feud between Masiko, the chief to whom they were going, and
Sekeletu. The Batoka under Sinamane, and Muemba, were independent, and
Mashotlane at the Falls was setting Sekeletu's authority virtually at
defiance. Sebituane's wise policy in treating the conquered tribes on
equal terms with his own Makololo, as all children of the chief, and
equally eligible to the highest honours, had been abandoned by his son,
who married none but Makololo women, and appointed to office none but
Makololo men. He had become unpopular among the black tribes, conquered
by the spear but more effectually won by the subsequent wise and just
government of his father.
Strange rumours were afloat respecting the unseen Sekeletu; his fingers
were said to have grown like eagle's claws, and his face so frightfully
distorted that no one could recognize him. Some had begun to hint that
he might not really be the son of the great Sebituane, the founder of the
nation, strong in battle, and wise in the affairs of state. "In the days
of the Great Lion" (Sebituane), said his only sister, Moriantsiane's
widow, whose husband Sekeletu had killed, "we had chiefs and little
chiefs and elders to carry on the government, and the great chief,
Sebituane, knew them all, and everything they did, and the whole country
was wisely ruled; but now Sekeletu knows nothing of what his underlings
do, and they care not for him, and the Makololo power is fast passing
away." {3}
The native doctors had given the case of Sekeletu up. They could not
cure him, and pronounced the disease incurable. An old doctress from the
Manyeti tribe had come to see what she could do for him, and on her skill
he now hung his last hopes. She allowed no one to see him, except his
mother and uncle, making entire seclusion from society an essential
condition of the much longed-for cure. He sent, notwithstanding, for the
Doctor; and on the following day we all three were permitted to see him.
He was sitting in a covered wagon, which was enclosed by a high wall of
close-set reeds; his face was only slightly disfigured by the thickening
of the skin in parts, where the leprosy had passed over it; and the only
peculiarity about his hands was the extreme length of his finger-nails,
which, however, was nothing very much out of the way, as all the Makololo
gentlemen wear them uncommonly long. He has the quiet, unassuming
manners of his father, Sebituane, speaks distinctly, in a low pleasant
voice, and appears to be a sensible man, except perhaps on the subject of
his having been bewitched; and in this, when alluded to, he exhibits as
firm a belief as if it were his monomania. "Moriantsiane, my aunt's
husband, tried the bewitching medicine first on his wife, and she is
leprous, and so is her head-servant; then, seeing that it succeeded, he
gave me a stronger dose in the cooked flesh of a goat, and I have had the
disease ever since. They have lately killed Ponwane, and, as you see,
are now killing me." Ponwane had died of fever a short time previously.
Sekeletu asked us for medicine and medical attendance, but we did not
like to take the case out of the hands of the female physician already
employed, it being bad policy to appear to undervalue any of the
profession; and she, being anxious to go on with her remedies, said "she
had not given him up yet, but would try for another month; if he was not
cured by that time, then she would hand him over to the white doctors."
But we intended to leave the country before a month was up; so Mamire,
with others, induced the old lady to suspend her treatment for a little.
She remained, as the doctors stipulated, in the chief's establishment,
and on full pay.
Sekeletu was told plainly that the disease was unknown in our country,
and was thought exceedingly obstinate of cure; that we did not believe in
his being bewitched, and we were willing to do all we could to help him.
This was a case for disinterested benevolence; no pay was expected, but
considerable risk incurred; yet we could not decline it, as we had the
trading in horses. Having, however, none of the medicines usually
employed in skin diseases with us, we tried the local application of
lunar caustic, and hydriodate of potash internally; and with such
gratifying results, that Mamire wished the patient to be smeared all over
with a solution of lunar caustic, which he believed to be of the same
nature as the blistering fluid formerly applied to his own knee by Mr.
Oswell. _Its_ power he considered irresistible, and he would fain have
had anything like it tried on Sekeletu.
It was a time of great scarcity and hunger, but Sekeletu treated us
hospitably, preparing tea for us at every visit we paid him. With the
tea we had excellent American biscuit and preserved fruits, which had
been brought to him all the way from Benguela. The fruits he most
relished were those preserved in their own juices; plums, apples, pears,
strawberries, and peaches, which we have seen only among Portuguese and
Spaniards. It made us anxious to plant the fruit-tree seeds we had
brought, and all were pleased with the idea of having these same fruits
in their own country.
Mokele, the headman of Sesheke, and Sebituane's sister, Manchunyane, were
ordered to provide us with food, as Sekeletu's wives, to whom this duty
properly belonged, were at Linyanti. We found a black trader from the
West Coast, and some Griqua traders from the South, both in search of
ivory. Ivory is dear at Sesheke; but cheaper in the Batoka country, from
Sinamane's to the Kafue, than anywhere else. The trader from Benguela
took orders for goods for his next year's trip, and offered to bring tea,
coffee, and sugar at cent. per cent. prices. As, in consequence of a
hint formerly given, the Makololo had secured all the ivory in the Batoga
country to the east, by purchasing it with hoes, the Benguela traders
found it unprofitable to go thither for slaves. They assured us that
without ivory the trade in slaves did not pay. In this way, and by the
orders of Sekeletu, an extensive slave-mart was closed. These orders
were never infringed except secretly. We discovered only two or three
cases of their infraction.
Sekeletu was well pleased with the various articles we brought for him,
and inquired if a ship could not bring his sugar-mill and the other goods
we had been obliged to leave behind at Tette. On hearing that there was
a possibility of a powerful steamer ascending as far as Sinamane's, but
never above the Grand Victoria Falls, he asked, with charming simplicity,
if a cannon could not blow away the Falls, so as to allow the vessel to
come up to Sesheke.
To save the tribe from breaking up, by the continual loss of real
Makololo, it ought at once to remove to the healthy Batoka highlands,
near the Kafue. Fully aware of this, Sekeletu remarked that all his
people, save two, were convinced that, if they remained in the lowlands,
a few years would suffice to cut off all the real Makololo; they came
originally from the healthy South, near the confluence of the Likwa and
Namagari, where fever is almost unknown, and its ravages had been as
frightful among them here, as amongst Europeans on the Coast. Sebituane's
sister described its first appearance among the tribe, after their
settling in the Barotse Valley on the Zambesi. Many of them were seized
with a shivering sickness, as if from excessive cold; they had never seen
the like before. They made great fires, and laid the shivering wretches
down before them; but, pile on wood as they might, they could not raise
heat enough to drive the cold out of the bodies of the sufferers, and
they shivered on till they died. But, though all preferred the
highlands, they were afraid to go there, lest the Matebele should come
and rob them of their much-loved cattle. Sebituane, with all his
veterans, could not withstand that enemy; and how could they be resisted,
now that most of the brave warriors were dead? The young men would
break, and run away the moment they saw the terrible Matebele, being as
much afraid of them as the black conquered tribes are of the Makololo.
"But if the Doctor and his wife," said the chiefs and counsellors, "would
come and live with us, we would remove to the highlands at once, as
Moselekatse would not attack a place where the daughter of his friend,
Moffat, was living."
The Makololo are by far the most intelligent and enterprising of the
tribes we have met. None but brave and daring men remained long with
Sebituane, his stern discipline soon eradicated cowardice from his army.
Death was the inevitable doom of the coward. If the chief saw a man
running away from the fight, he rushed after him with amazing speed, and
cut him down; or waited till he returned to the town, and then summoned
the deserter into his presence. "You did not wish to die on the field,
you wished to die at home, did you? you shall have your wish!" and he was
instantly led off and executed. The present race of young men are
inferior in most respects to their fathers. The old Makololo had many
manly virtues; they were truthful, and never stole, excepting in what
they considered the honourable way of lifting cattle in fair fight. But
this can hardly be said of their sons; who, having been brought up among
the subjected tribes, have acquired some of the vices peculiar to a
menial and degraded race. A few of the old Makololo cautioned us not to
leave any of our property exposed, as the blacks were great thieves; and
some of our own men advised us to be on our guard, as the Makololo also
would steal. A very few trifling articles were stolen by a young
Makololo; and he, on being spoken to on the subject, showed great
ingenuity in excusing himself, by a plausible and untruthful story. The
Makololo of old were hard workers, and did not consider labour as beneath
them; but their sons never work, regarding it as fit only for the Mashona
and Makalaka servants. Sebituane, seeing that the rival tribes had the
advantage over his, in knowing how to manage canoes, had his warriors
taught to navigate; and his own son, with his companions, paddled the
chief's canoe. All the dishes, baskets, stools, and canoes are made by
the black tribes called Manyeti and Matlotlora. The houses are built by
the women and servants. The Makololo women are vastly superior to any we
have yet seen. They are of a light warm brown complexion, have pleasant
countenances, and are remarkably quick of apprehension. They dress
neatly, wearing a kilt and mantle, and have many ornaments. Sebituane's
sister, the head lady of Sesheke, wore eighteen solid brass rings, as
thick as one's finger, on each leg, and three of copper under each knee;
nineteen brass rings on her left arm, and eight of brass and copper on
her right, also a large ivory ring above each elbow. She had a pretty
bead necklace, and a bead sash encircled her waist. The weight of the
bright brass rings round her legs impeded her walking, and chafed her
ankles; but, as it was the fashion, she did not mind the inconvenience,
and guarded against the pain by putting soft rag round the lower rings.
Justice appears upon the whole to be pretty fairly administered among the
Makololo. A headman took some beads and a blanket from one of his men
who had been with us; the matter was brought before the chief, and he
immediately ordered the goods to be restored, and decreed, moreover, that
no headman should take the property of the men who had returned. In
theory, all the goods brought back belonged to the chief; the men laid
them at his feet, and made a formal offer of them all; he looked at the
articles, and told the men to keep them. This is almost invariably the
case. Tuba Mokoro, however, fearing lest Sekeletu might take a fancy to
some of his best goods, exhibited only a few of his old and least
valuable acquisitions. Masakasa had little to show; he had committed
some breach of native law in one of the villages on the way, and paid a
heavy fine rather than have the matter brought to the Doctor's ears. Each
carrier is entitled to a portion of the goods in his bundle, though
purchased by the chief's ivory, and they never hesitate to claim their
rights; but no wages can be demanded from the chief, if he fails to
respond to the first application.
Our men, accustomed to our ways, thought that the English system of
paying a man for his labour was the only correct one, and some even said
it would be better to live under a government where life and labour were
more secure and valuable than here. While with us, they always conducted
themselves with propriety during Divine service, and not only maintained
decorum themselves, but insisted on other natives who might be present
doing the same. When Moshobotwane, the Batoka chief, came on one
occasion with a number of his men, they listened in silence to the
reading of the Bible in the Makololo tongue; but, as soon as we all knelt
down to pray, they commenced a vigorous clapping of hands, their mode of
asking a favour. Our indignant Makololo soon silenced their noisy
accompaniment, and looked with great contempt on this display of
ignorance. Nearly all our men had learned to repeat the Lord's Prayer
and the Apostles' Creed in their own language, and felt rather proud of
being able to do so; and when they reached home, they liked to recite
them to groups of admiring friends. Their ideas of right and wrong
differ in no respect from our own, except in their professed inability to
see how it can be improper for a man to have more than one wife. A year
or two ago several of the wives of those who had been absent with us
petitioned the chief for leave to marry again. They thought that it was
of no use waiting any longer, their husbands must be dead; but Sekeletu
refused permission; he himself had bet a number of oxen that the Doctor
would return with their husbands, and he had promised the absent men that
their wives should be kept for them. The impatient spouses had therefore
to wait a little longer. Some of them, however, eloped with other men;
the wife of Mantlanyane, for instance, ran off and left his little boy
among strangers. Mantlanyane was very angry when he heard of it, not
that he cared much about her deserting him, for he had two other wives at
Tette, but he was indignant at her abandoning his boy.