IN THE LESHUMO VALLEY.
Departure from Sesheke--Refractory boatmen--An effectual
remedy--Beetles in the Leshumo Valley--The chief Moia--A
phenomenon--A party of invalids--Sepopo’s bailiffs--Kapella’s
flight--A heavy storm--Discontent in the Marutse
kingdom--Departure for Panda ma Tenka.
[Illustration: CAMP IN THE LESHUMO VALLEY.]
Convinced that to remain any longer in Sesheke would be to endanger
my life, I had consented, but with extreme reluctance, to take my
departure. The boatmen who were conveying me knew perfectly well that
I was going away from Sepopo for good, and did not allow many hours to
pass before they began to show that they did not care what became of
me, and insisted on drawing up at a place where there was no better
accommodation than a couple of miserable huts, that had been put up
for the use of the fishermen who periodically visited the lagoons. I
made my servants carry me on shore, and sent them out to get some fish.
They only procured five, of which I gave them four, and had the other
broiled for myself.
After dinner I discovered that the boatmen had made up their minds
to go no farther that day, although nothing could be more unhealthy
or less suitable for a night encampment than the spot where they had
pulled up. The two huts were on a reedy island just opposite a swamp;
and, to make matters worse, I found that as my boat had been the last
to arrive, they had both been appropriated by the crews that had landed
before me, so that I was obliged to wait while my servants erected
me another. This took them about two hours and a half; and when with
the help of the boatmen they had put my baggage inside, they found
that they had made it so small that it was with the utmost difficulty
that they squeezed me in afterwards and laid me upon my boxes. It was
so low that my face actually touched the roof, which was made of the
grass that had been washed ashore by the last year’s floods, and, being
still damp, emitted a most unpleasant smell, which, combined with the
exhalations from the swamp, made the atmosphere intolerably oppressive.
Sleep under the circumstances was quite impossible, and I lay brooding
sadly over my frustrated plans and my final disappointment. The
snorting of the hippopotamuses in the water, and the cry of the herons,
were the only sounds that broke the stillness.
Before midnight some small dark clouds arose, and gradually overspread
the heavens, till not a star was to be seen. To my exhausted system
the sultriness became more than ever trying, and the hours wore away
without affording me the least refreshment.
Soon after sunrise we resumed our journey down the stream, but the
slovenly and care-for-naught way in which the boatmen handled the
baggage, and the general tone of their behaviour, warned me what I had
to expect. The more I hurried them, the slower they went, and after a
while, finding that a slight breeze was getting up, they pulled up all
of a sudden at a sandbank, and declared that they would not proceed
another inch.
I promised them beads, I threatened them with punishment from Sepopo,
my servants blustered and stormed; but it was all to no purpose, the
men only laughed; some of them went away and laid themselves down to
sleep on the sand; others remained where they were, and appeared to
chuckle over my weakness, enjoying the helplessness of my condition.
This was a state of things that I was not disposed to allow. The
remedy was not far to find. I was quite aware that the Marutse people
were acquainted with very few guns better than the old musket. Taking
my seat at the bow of my boat, I began handling my breech-loader.
After letting it flash for a few minutes in the sun, I took aim at a
reedstalk standing just between two groups of the refractory boatmen,
who, whether they were really asleep or not, in a moment started to
their feet. Not many minutes afterwards I fired again, hitting the
mark I had selected with due precision. My third shot grazed the stump
of the reed I had already broken. The little expedient I had adopted
answered admirably, every one of the fellows seemed instantaneously to
return to his senses; the boats began to glide off into the water as it
were by some secret magic, and we were very soon on our way again. The
boatmen begged me not to fire any more; they did not like the noise;
they would pull hard, and would bring me very quickly where I could
shoot plenty of “polocholo” (game). Within three hours I landed at
Makumba’s baobab.
[Illustration: WANA WENA, THE NEW KING OF THE MARUTSE.]
The sky was now quite clear, and the refreshing breeze that blew down
from the hills over the Impalera Island acted on me like a stimulant. I
took my gun and brought down some of the baobab fruit that was hanging
over me, and whilst the crews were unloading the boats, my own people
made their way to the woods to get more fruit.
For crossing the Chobe on the 15th I was obliged to pay three times the
ordinary amount of passage money. This extortion was practised on me
simply because it was known that I was leaving the kingdom.
Having a great dread of passing the night in the marshy Chobe district,
I sent my servants forward at once with a portion of my baggage to the
Leshumo valley, where Blockley had placed two waggons at my disposal
until Westbeech should arrive. For myself I required a little rest, but
quite intended to follow them before the evening. I engaged a number
of Masupias to conduct me and carry on the rest of the luggage to the
place of rendezvous, but just as we were on the point of starting a
violent storm came on, and compelled me after all to remain where I
was; I was consequently obliged to spend the night in the miserable
hut where Bauren, who had died at Panda ma Tenka a few days since, had
first been taken ill. In the morning I began my slow and painful march,
and found myself necessitated to take a whole day in accomplishing a
distance which is ordinarily traversed in a few hours. Almost every
hundred yards I was obliged to stop and rest, while the perspiration
poured from my body, and as a consequence of my exertions I had to lie
by completely all the next day.
As I felt myself tolerably well recruited on the 17th, I was very
anxious to go out and do a little botanizing in the immediate
neighbourhood of our waggons; the rain, however, came down so
continuously, that I had no chance of indulging my wishes. For the last
few days I had been expecting Westbeech, and his non-arrival was giving
me some uneasiness, as my small stock of tea, sugar, and salt had
come to an end; accordingly it was a pleasant surprise to me when my
servants returned from one of their rambles and brought a good supply
of honey.
During the night which I had been forced to spend on the bank of the
Chobe, my forehead and my hands had been stung all over by some very
venomous mosquitoes, and the places now came into pustules, of which I
carried the scars for months. I had much to harass me and to contribute
to my discomfort, but amidst all my grievances I had the satisfaction
of being attended by trustworthy and industrious servants; I could only
regret that they were not to be induced to take my breech-loader and
procure some game from the woods; their assegais were quite unfit for
the purpose of killing gazelles, elephants, or buffaloes, which were
the animals that chiefly haunted the locality. Only two nights before
our arrival a large herd of elephants had passed quite close to the
spot where the waggons were stationed.
With the assistance of my people, I took a little walk on the 19th, and
collected some plants and insects. For pressing my botanical specimens
I used the only two books that I had saved, and as these were octavo
volumes instead of quarto, many of the plants had to be divided under
the prospect of being joined together again at some future time;
I was careful to keep a special note-book, in which, besides other
particulars, I recorded the different names by which the plants were
called by the Masupias, the Manansas, and the Matongas respectively.
Of such funguses as I could neither press nor dry I took sketches, an
employment that gave me occupation on a number of sleepless nights.
My entomological curiosities had to be stored away in a wide-mouthed
pickle-jar that Westbeech had given me, having thoughtfully filled it
with slips of writing-paper, which he knew would be useful; the insects
were killed by plunging the jar several times into boiling water in my
coffee-pot.
The beetles that seemed to me to be most abundant were the
ground-beetles (_Cicindela_, _Mantichora granulata_, _Carabidæ_),
_scarabæidæ_, leaf-beetles, weevils, and sand-beetles (_Psammodes_).
Of this last genus there are such countless varieties that they excite
the astonishment of even the phlegmatic Dutch farmers; they have thick
hard tails, which they raise every few seconds, and give a tap to the
ground or floor on which they are crawling; this habit has made the
Dutchmen say that they are knocking, or calling for one another. I was
glad to find the _Mantichora_ and the _Anthia thoracica_, which are
very interesting; they live in holes already made in the ground, or in
cavities scraped out by themselves, often so deep that it was quite
a wonder how they could be pierced in the loose sand; their industry
seemed to keep them at work all day long, and they had a habit of
rearing themselves up on their long legs, as though they were making a
survey of what was going on all round. Another habit they have--well
known to the Dutch, but of which I, as a novice, had an experience far
from pleasant some years previously--whenever they are captured they
discharge a very offensive fluid from their body; and I can testify
that it is ill-luck for the entomologist if this flies into his face
and eyes.
On the next day Westbeech’s servant Diamond, accompanied by some
Manansas, arrived at the waggons. They had all been out on a
hunting-excursion.
I felt myself again a little better, and would not lose the opportunity
of going out for a few miles. I was particularly anxious to obtain some
birds’ skins; but although I had the best assistance of my people, I
was quite unequal to follow a bird to any distance, so that I only
succeeded in bagging a black swallow-tailed shrike. My exertions,
however, were rewarded in another way, as I made a good collection
both of plants and insects. During my stay in the Leshumo Valley I
added nearly 3000 botanical and about 500 entomological specimens to my
collection. During my walk I came upon several smelting-furnaces, made
of the smallest of bricks; they were about six feet long and three feet
wide, and had, I conjectured, been put up fifty or sixty years before
by the Marutse vassals, who had resided on this side of the Zambesi
before the settlement of the free-booting kingdom of the Matabele Zulus.
A day or two afterwards some Masupias came from Impalera bringing corn
for sale, and Diamond, as a contribution from his hunting-expedition,
brought me some buffalo-beef; he seemed inclined to grumble at the
alacrity the buffalo-bulls displayed in getting out of his way, and
said that the density of the summer foliage made it very hard to get
at them. We were thus well supplied for the time, but I had been so
long debarred from taking animal food, that the buffalo-meat did not at
all agree with my digestion. My servants, however, were all delighted
at the change in their accustomed bill of fare.
I had indulged the hope that I should find the higher ground adjacent
to the little Leshumo river much more healthy than the mouth of the
Chobe. My disappointment was consequently great to find, that morning
after morning the whole valley was full of fog, which after rain was
always especially dense. The result was that I felt deplorably ill all
the early part of every day; and although I revived somewhat later on
as the fog lifted a little, I remained so extremely sensitive to the
least breath of wind, that even in these hottest months of January
and February, I always had to wear two coats whilst I was engaged in
writing or botanizing.
On the 23rd I received a visit from a company of Marutse men, who
rather surprised me by saying that they had come from the south. The
party consisted of a chieftain named Moia and several adherents. Moia
was the brother of Kapella, Sepopo’s commander-in-chief, and had been
condemned to death by Sepopo about a year before. Some liquid had been
poured in front of the king’s residence, and as the king was feeling
more than usually unwell, he came at once to the conclusion that he
had been bewitched, and Moia’s enemies had taken advantage of the
circumstance to charge him with the deed, the consequence being that
in order to escape being sentenced to be burnt or poisoned he had to
fly the country. He had betaken himself to Shoshong, where Khame had
received him most kindly and allowed him to remain; but discovering
after a while that the fugitive was being consumed with the desire to
get back to his home, the king resolved to send him to Sepopo, with an
autograph letter demonstrating Moia’s entire innocence of the crime
that had been laid to his charge. For my own part I was convinced that
Sepopo would never be persuaded, and I advised the chief to beware how
he placed himself within the tyrant’s reach; but the longing to return
to his wife and children was too intense to allow him to listen to any
voice of caution, and he continued his homeward way.
By this time I was so destitute of provisions that I was obliged
to send two of my servants to the Zambesi, and get them to bring
me some of the Masupia people from whom I might purchase a supply
of kaffir-corn and maize, and I requested them if possible to buy
me a goat. Unfortunately the servants missed their way, and I had
to send two others instead of them, so that there was a delay of
four-and-twenty hours before the Masupia dealers arrived. When
they came, they brought besides the corn a number of interesting
curiosities, amongst which was the horn of an enormous rhinoceros.
A celestial phenomenon occurred on the following evening, so remarkable
that I think it ought to be recorded. It was almost sunset; in the
west and south there was a narrow strip of blue sky, whilst in the
east, where a storm was rising, there were repeated flashes of
lightning. When only a small section of the sun’s disk was visible,
a strange fiery glow arose about 45° above the eastern horizon, and
seemed entirely to overpower the central portion of the arch of a
rainbow opposite, leaving only the extremities to be seen down in
the east-north-east and south-east; as the sun disappeared, the glow
faded gradually away, but so remarkably that every tint in the rainbow
seemed to be absorbed in the prevailing colour, and the entire arch
was a gorgeous red. In the course of the next few minutes the glow
reappeared, but this time only to rise about 10° above the horizon.
The entire spectacle was not of long duration; the brilliancy became
gradually dim, and in the course of about a quarter of an hour, the
valley was shrouded in the obscurity of night.
Two of my own servants and some of Diamond’s party were here attacked
by influenza, but the complaint was soon relieved by the administration
of emetics. The weather was unfavourable, and brought on several
relapses of my own fever, which, although I managed in various ways to
alleviate them, invariably left me extremely weak and incapable of any
exertion. A short time afterwards several of Diamond’s people began to
sicken with typhus.
All through this dreary time, the occasional hunting-excursions were
all we had to look to in the way of excitement. April, the Basuto, had
the good-luck to kill a buffalo-bull, and when the flesh was brought
to the camp there was a regular banquet in the evening, accompanied by
singing and dancing; even the invalid negroes sucked some fragments
of the half-cooked meat which they were quite unable to swallow.
Diamond likewise went out, but returned on the 2nd of February without
bringing any material contribution to our stores; he had come upon a
herd of elephants, but they had startled him so completely by their
rush, that he did not recover himself in time to get a shot at them.
When it was announced to me that part of Westbeech’s ivory had arrived
at Impalera, I was much cheered by the expectation that Westbeech
himself would immediately follow. My means of purchasing corn were now
so nearly exhausted that I could not help growing more and more anxious.
On the 7th I was equally surprised and distressed by the arrival of a
party of about thirty Masupias, who proved to be bailiffs on the hunt
for Moia and Kapella. Moia had carried Khame’s letter to Sesheke, where
his appearance caused a great sensation, as the return of a condemned
fugitive was a thing quite unprecedented. The particulars of what
ensued I afterwards learnt from Westbeech, who told me that he had been
summoned to the royal enclosure, which he found in great commotion. The
king had just received Khame’s letter written in Sechuana, professed
himself to be highly gratified by the contents, and had sent for
Westbeech to write a reply, in which he gave his assurance that Moia
should have a free pardon. But that very night he sent Mashoku a list
of twelve names of chiefs who were to be executed forthwith, amongst
them Inkambella, Maranzian, Kapella, and Moia.
This was too much even for Mashoku. Alarmed at the prospect of such
wholesale slaughter, the executioner immediately let Kapella know
what was in store for him, and without the loss of a moment the
commander-in-chief aroused his two wives, his brother, who was
sleeping in an adjoining hut, his young son, and three of his most
trustworthy servants, and took to flight. On the way to the river-bank
Kapella had called upon Westbeech, and informed him of the desperate
step he was driven to take; and he, ever a friend in need, had supplied
him with ammunition and a number of necessaries for the journey.
Taking possession of the first two canoes they could find, the
fugitives hurried down the stream, and while it was still dark found
themselves twenty miles away from Sesheke; here they landed, sent their
boats adrift, and proceeded on foot towards the Masupia settlement
above Impalera. This was under the jurisdiction of a brother of
Makumba’s, a staunch ally of Sepopo’s; but Kapella hoped to reach the
place while the natives were still in bed, and to make use of their
boats to cross the Chobe. It was a most difficult journey; the passage
through the reeds was in some places dangerous in the extreme, and
Kapella would never have risked it but in the greatest emergency.
However, nothing went amiss, and the party all arrived safely before
dawn; but early as it was, some of the Masupia fishermen were already
on the move. Terrified at the sight of two armed chiefs, and probably
recognizing who they were, they water-logged their canoes, and ran off
to raise an alarm in the town. This was Kapella’s opportunity; quick as
thought he had the canoes dragged to land, emptied them of the water,
and made use of them to ferry his party to the opposite shore.
The chieftain, on hearing what had occurred, took no immediate action.
He was aware that Kapella was a wonderful shot, and this rather
indisposed him to take any precipitate measures to arrest him. He came
to the decision that a council of the village should be called, and
during the hours of deliberation the fugitives were getting safely far
away, so that when the bailiffs arrived at our quarters they had no
chance of overtaking them, and after ransacking the woods for a short
time they gave up the pursuit and took themselves off.
Diamond’s next hunting-expedition proved a great success; and he shot a
fine buffalo. He made his servants put him up a grass hut close to the
place where the carcase was lying, that it might be guarded from the
attacks of any beasts of prey; but not only had the old sportsman now
lost much of his former zest, but he had contracted rather too great
a love for brandy, so that although he distinctly heard the beasts
gnawing at the prey, he did not rouse himself to go to the rescue. The
consequence was that in the morning it was found that the carcase had
been considerably mangled by lions, the entrails especially having
furnished the materials for their feast. We were, however, all glad to
see the hind-quarters, quite free from mutilation, conveyed safely to
our camp.
A few evenings afterwards Diamond came to me in great haste, and told
me that two Marutse men had just come in search of Kapella and Moia,
with strict orders from Sepopo to kill them at once if they could
find them. I did not wait to see the men, but sent out peremptory
instructions that they were to be off about their business, or they
would have to rue their delay. My vexation was very great when I
afterwards ascertained that Diamond, through his ignorance of the
Serotse dialect, had quite misunderstood their errand. It turned out
that instead of being bailiffs acting on behalf of Sepopo, they were
two of Kapella’s own servants, whom their master had sent to beg for
some food.
The 12th was quite a day of bustle; both in the morning and in the
afternoon several troops of Masupias arrived from Impalera with ivory,
and one of Westbeech’s servants passed through on his way to Panda ma
Tenka to fetch bullocks for the waggons. That night I slept better than
usual; the feeling that Westbeech was really on his way towards me
revived my drooping spirits, and I was inclined next morning to rise
at an early hour, and as soon as Narri had dressed me, I took my seat
upon the box of the waggon, enjoying the morning air, which although
probably by no means healthy, certainly seemed very refreshing. As
Narri was preparing the kaffir-corn coffee, he drew my attention to the
sound of voices a long way down the valley. I inquired of the other
servants what it meant, and after listening for a few seconds they
unanimously affirmed that it was Westbeech’s cavalcade, carrying their
burdens of ivory and singing as they marched.
As I sat pondering, only occasionally saying a word to Narri, my
attention was suddenly arrested by the dusky form of a man advancing
towards the camp, and within fifty yards of us. He was quite unarmed. I
hardly believed my eyes, and yet I felt that I could not be mistaken.
The man undoubtedly was Kapella, no longer the powerful commander, but
a sad and dejected fugitive. I was too weak to alight from the waggon
and go to meet him, but he was immediately at my side. “Help me, help
me, intate (friend),” he cried; “I am hungry; my wife, my child, my
brother are starving in the woods!” Probably he would have said more,
but his keen ear caught the sound of the Masupias singing almost close
at hand, and he paused; his face, ordinarily beaming with good nature,
became distorted with terror. The excitement of the moment seemed to
give me renewed strength. I can hardly tell how I did it, but I leaned
back, and catching hold of a sack containing about a bushel of corn
that was lying in the waggon, I lifted it into Kapella’s arms. He
smiled, and made a hasty gesture of thanks; and before the Masupias
had come in sight he had made his way into the long grass towards his
retreat.
One of the heaviest storms that I ever remember in South Africa
occurred a few days afterwards. It came on suddenly, and so violently
that my servants were obliged to throw sand and earth upon the fires,
that the wind should not carry the flames into the dry grass; and the
downpour of rain was so great, that I had to use all my wraps and extra
clothing to protect my collections. The top of the waggon swayed to and
fro in the gale; and cumbrous as the vehicle was, it rattled and shook
as if it were the plaything of the hurricane. One of the grass-huts
was completely overturned, and several others in which my people had
sought shelter had their sides blown in, and it was only owing to the
lightness of the material of which they were constructed, that no
injury was done to life or limb. When the storm had subsided in the
evening, they found that it was necessary to build two entirely new
huts, one for themselves and one for my baggage, so that the waggons
which we had been occupying should be left free for Westbeech’s ivory.
Westbeech’s long-anticipated arrival took place on the 16th. He
complained very much of Sepopo’s behaviour to him after my departure,
and avowed his intention of never going so far as Sesheke again, but
of disposing of his goods in the valley of the Chobe. He gave me all
the latest news, and said that the disposition to revolt, and the
determination to dethrone the king, were fast gaining ground among
the chiefs. A recent proceeding on Sepopo’s part had done much to
accelerate the growth of the general disaffection. In his rage at
Kapella’s flight, he had not only, as usual, vented his temper on
his attendants by laying about him with his kiri, but he had openly
declared his intention of preparing a charm which should have such an
effect upon the senses of the fugitives that they would be sure to make
their way back to Sesheke; once there, they should be handed over to
Mashoku. Accordingly he gave orders that an ox should be slaughtered,
that the fat from the region of the heart should be affixed to the end
of some cleft-sticks, and that the sticks should be planted in front
of the doors of the huts of the runaways. It was the first time that
Sepopo had ever prepared any incantations, or even mentioned his system
of charms in public, and the eyes of his people were only now opened to
the detestable humbug which was the chief feature of his character.
Nor was it only his own subjects that had become thoroughly
dissatisfied with his proceedings. The Portuguese traders had failed
to get payment for the goods they had supplied, and had been put off
time after time with equivocal excuses.
It was further reported, that most likely Jan Mahura, with his brother,
would find his way next day to the Leshumo valley. He had just received
a payment, after five years, for his services as interpreter, and
felt only too certain that his life was now quite insecure beyond the
Zambesi.
Westbeech had still left a small portion of his property in Sesheke,
under the charge of Fabi, his half-caste cook, who could not accompany
him, because Asserat, the wife Sepopo had given him, refused to go
to the south. But the bulk of Westbeech’s ivory, weighing altogether
11,080 lbs., had now arrived at the Leshumo valley.
On the 17th my servant Elephant was taken ill with inflammation under
the knee, a disorder that is very common among the Masupias and
Matongas. It is called “tshi kana mirumbe,” and may generally be cured
by the application of bean-flour poultices.
Two days later the waggons were packed. The bullocks arrived at
midnight, and we started without delay for Panda ma Tenka.