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.