Level Plains --
Vultures and other Birds -- Diversity of Color in Flowers of the same
Species -- The Sundew -- Twenty-seventh Attack of Fever -- A River which
flows in opposite Directions -- Lake Dilolo the Watershed between the
Atlantic and Indian Oceans -- Position of Rocks -- Sir Roderick
Murchison's Explanation -- Characteristics of the Rainy Season in
connection with the Floods of the Zambesi and the Nile -- Probable Reason
of Difference in Amount of Rain South and North of the Equator -- Arab
Reports of Region east of Londa -- Probable Watershed of the Zambesi and
the Nile -- Lake Dilolo -- Reach Katema's Town: his renewed Hospitality;
desire to appear like a White Man; ludicrous Departure -- Jackdaws -- Ford
southern Branch of Lake Dilolo -- Small Fish -- Project for a Makololo
Village near the Confluence of the Leeba and the Leeambye -- Hearty
Welcome from Shinte -- Kolimbota's Wound -- Plant-seeds and Fruit-trees
brought from Angola -- Masiko and Limboa's Quarrel -- Nyamoana now a Widow
-- Purchase Canoes and descend the Leeba -- Herds of wild Animals on its
Banks -- Unsuccessful Buffalo-hunt -- Frogs -- Sinbad and the Tsetse --
Dispatch a Message to Manenko -- Arrival of her Husband Sambanza -- The
Ceremony called Kasendi -- Unexpected Fee for performing a surgical
Operation -- Social Condition of the Tribes -- Desertion of Mboenga --
Stratagem of Mambowe Hunters -- Water-turtles -- Charged by a Buffalo --
Reception from the People of Libonta -- Explain the Causes of our long
Delay -- Pitsane's Speech -- Thanksgiving Services -- Appearance of my
"Braves" -- Wonderful Kindness of the People.
After leaving the Kasai, we
entered upon the extensive level plains which we had formerly found in a
flooded condition. The water on them was not yet dried up, as it still
remained in certain hollow spots. Vultures were seen floating in the air,
showing that carrion was to be found; and, indeed, we saw several of the
large game, but so exceedingly wild as to be unapproachable. Numbers of
caterpillars mounted the stalks of grass, and many dragonflies and
butterflies appeared, though this was winter. The caprimulgus or
goat-sucker, swifts, and different kinds of swallows, with a fiery-red
bee-eater in flocks, showed that the lowest temperature here does not
destroy the insects on which they feed. Jet-black larks, with yellow
shoulders, enliven the mornings with their songs, but they do not continue
so long on the wing as ours, nor soar so high. We saw many of the pretty
white ardea, and other water-birds, flying over the spots not yet dried
up; and occasionally wild ducks, but these only in numbers sufficient to
remind us that we were approaching the Zambesi, where every water-fowl has
a home.
While passing across these
interminable-looking plains, the eye rests with pleasure on a small
flower, which exists in such numbers as to give its own hue to the ground.
One broad band of yellow stretches across our path. On looking at the
flowers which formed this golden carpet, we saw every variety of that
color, from the palest lemon to the richest orange. Crossing a hundred
yards of this, we came upon another broad band of the same flower, but
blue, and this color is varied from the lightest tint to dark blue, and
even purple. I had before observed the same flower possessing different
colors in different parts of the country, and once a great number of
liver-colored flowers, which elsewhere were yellow. Even the color of the
birds changed with the district we passed through; but never before did I
see such a marked change as from yellow to blue, repeated again and again
on the same plain. Another beautiful plant attracted my attention so
strongly on these plains that I dismounted to examine it. To my great
delight I found it to be an old home acquaintance, a species of Drosera,
closely resembling our own sundew (`Drosera Anglia'). The flower-stalk
never attains a height of more than two or three inches, and the leaves
are covered with reddish hairs, each of which has a drop of clammy fluid
at its tip, making the whole appear as if spangled over with small
diamonds. I noticed it first in the morning, and imagined the appearance
was caused by the sun shining on drops of dew; but, as it continued to
maintain its brilliancy during the heat of the day, I proceeded to
investigate the cause of its beauty, and found that the points of the
hairs exuded pure liquid, in, apparently, capsules of clear, glutinous
matter. They were thus like dewdrops preserved from evaporation. The
clammy fluid is intended to entrap insects, which, dying on the leaf,
probably yield nutriment to the plant.
During our second day on
this extensive plain I suffered from my twenty-seventh attack of fever, at
a part where no surface-water was to be found. We never thought it
necessary to carry water with us in this region; and now, when I was quite
unable to move on, my men soon found water to allay my burning thirst by
digging with sticks a few feet beneath the surface. We had thus an
opportunity of observing the state of these remarkable plains at different
seasons of the year.
Next day we pursued our
way, and on the 8th of June we forded the Lotembwa to the N.W. of Dilolo,
and regained our former path. The Lotembwa here is about a mile wide,
about three feet deep, and full of the lotus, papyrus, arum, mat-rushes,
and other aquatic plants. I did not observe the course in which the water
flowed while crossing; but, having noticed before that the Lotembwa on the
other side of the Lake Dilolo flowed in a southerly direction, I supposed
that this was simply a prolongation of the same river beyond Dilolo, and
that it rose in this large marsh, which we had not seen in our progress to
the N.W. But when we came to the Southern Lotembwa, we were informed by
Shakatwala that the river we had crossed flowed in an opposite direction
-- not into Dilolo, but into the Kasai. This phenomenon of a river running
in opposite directions struck even his mind as strange; and, though I did
not observe the current, simply from taking it for granted that it was
toward the lake, I have no doubt that his assertion, corroborated as it
was by others, is correct, and that the Dilolo is actually the watershed
between the river systems that flow to the east and west. I would have
returned in order to examine more carefully this most interesting point,
but, having had my lower extremities chilled in crossing the Northern
Lotembwa, I was seized with vomiting of blood, and, besides, saw no reason
to doubt the native testimony.
The distance between Dilolo
and the valleys leading to that of the Kasai is not more than fifteen
miles, and the plains between are perfectly level; and, had I returned, I
should only have found that this little lake Dilolo, by giving a portion
to the Kasai and another to the Zambesi, distributes its waters to the
Atlantic and Indian Oceans. I state the fact exactly as it opened to my
own mind, for it was only now that I apprehended the true form of the
river systems and continent. I had seen the various rivers of this country
on the western side flowing from the subtending ridges into the centre,
and had received information from natives and Arabs that most of the
rivers on the eastern side of the same great region took a somewhat
similar course from an elevated ridge there, and that all united in two
main drains, the one flowing to the north and the other to the south, and
that the northern drain found its way out by the Congo to the west, and
the southern by the Zambesi to the east.
I was thus on the
watershed, or highest point of these two great systems, but still not more
than 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and 1000 feet lower than the
top of the western ridge we had already crossed; yet, instead of lofty
snow-clad mountains appearing to verify the conjectures of the
speculative, we had extensive plains, over which one may travel a month
without seeing any thing higher than an ant-hill or a tree. I was not then
aware that any one else had discovered the elevated trough form of the
centre of Africa. I had observed that the old schistose rocks on the sides
dipped in toward the centre of the country, and their strike nearly
corresponded with the major axis of the continent; and also that where the
later erupted trap rocks had been spread out in tabular masses over the
central plateau, they had borne angular fragments of the older rocks in
their substance; but the partial generalization which the observations led
to was, that great volcanic action had taken place in ancient times,
somewhat in the same way it does now, at distances of not more than three
hundred miles from the sea, and that this igneous action, extending along
both sides of the continent, had tilted up the lateral rocks in the manner
they are now seen to lie. The greater energy and more extended range of
igneous action in those very remote periods when Africa was formed,
embracing all the flanks, imparted to it its present very simple literal
outline. This was the length to which I had come.
The trap rocks, which now
constitute the "filling up" of the great valley, were always a puzzle to
me till favored with Sir Roderick Murchison's explanation of the original
form of the continent, for then I could see clearly why these trap rocks,
which still lie in a perfectly horizontal position on extensive areas,
held in their substance angular fragments, containing algae of the old
schists, which form the bottom of the original lacustrine basin: the
traps, in bursting through, had broken them off and preserved them. There
are, besides, ranges of hills in the central parts, composed of clay and
sandstone schists, with the ripple mark distinct, in which no fossils
appear; but as they are usually tilted away from the masses of horizontal
trap, it is probable that they too were a portion of the original bottom,
and fossils may yet be found in them.
After dwelling upon the
geological structure of the Cape Colony as developed by Mr. A. Bain, and
the existence in very remote periods of lacustrine conditions in the
central part of South Africa, as proved by fresh-water and terrestrial
fossils, Sir Roderick Murchison thus writes:
"Such as South Africa is
now, such have been her main features during countless past ages anterior
to the creation of the human race; for the old rocks which form her outer
fringe unquestionably circled round an interior marshy or lacustrine
country, in which the Dicynodon flourished, at a time when not a single
animal was similar to any living thing which now inhabits the surface of
our globe. The present central and meridian zone of waters, whether lakes
or marshes, extending from Lake Tchad to Lake 'Ngami, with hippopotami on
their banks, are therefore but the great modern residual geographical
phenomena of those of a mesozoic age. The differences, however, between
the geological past of Africa and her present state are enormous. Since
that primeval time, the lands have been much elevated above the sea-level
-- eruptive rocks piercing in parts through them; deep rents and defiles
have been suddenly formed in the subtending ridges through which some
rivers escape outward. "Travelers will eventually ascertain whether the
basin-shaped structure, which is here announced as having been the great
feature of the most ancient, as it is of the actual geography of South
Africa (i.e., from primeval times to the present day), does, or does not,
extend into Northern Africa. Looking at that much broader portion of the
continent, we have some reason to surmise that the higher mountains also
form, in a general sense, its flanks only." -- President's Address, Royal
Geographical Society, 1852, p. cxxiii.
The characteristics of the
rainy season in this wonderfully humid region may account in some measure
for the periodical floods of the Zambesi, and perhaps the Nile. The rains
seem to follow the course of the sun, for they fall in October and
November, when the sun passes over this zone on his way south. On reaching
the tropic of Capricorn in December, it is dry; and December and January
are the months in which injurious droughts are most dreaded near that
tropic (from Kolobeng to Linyanti). As he returns again to the north in
February, March, and April, we have the great rains of the year; and the
plains, which in October and November were well moistened, and imbibed
rain like sponges, now become supersaturated, and pour forth those floods
of clear water which inundate the banks of the Zambesi. Somewhat the same
phenomenon probably causes the periodical inundations of the Nile. The two
rivers rise in the same region; but there is a difference in the period of
flood, possibly from their being on opposite sides of the equator. The
waters of the Nile are said to become turbid in June; and the flood
attains its greatest height in August, or the period when we may suppose
the supersaturation to occur. The subject is worthy the investigation of
those who may examine the region between the equator and 10 Deg. S.; for
the Nile does not show much increase when the sun is at its farthest point
north, or tropic of Cancer, but at the time of its returning to the
equator, exactly as in the other case when he is on Capricorn, and the
Zambesi is affected.
The above is from my own
observation, together with information derived from the Portuguese in the
interior of Angola; and I may add that the result of many years'
observation by Messrs. Gabriel and Brand at Loanda, on the west coast, is
in accordance therewith. It rains there between the 1st and 30th of
November, but January and December are usually both warm and dry. The
heavier rains commence about the 1st of February, and last until the 15th
of May. Then no rain falls between the 20th of May and the 1st of
November. The rain averages from 12 to 15 inches per annum. In 1852 it was
12.034 inches; in 1853, 15.473 inches. Although I had no means of
measuring the amount of rain which fell in Londa, I feel certain that the
annual quantity exceeds very much that which falls on the coast, because
for a long time we noticed that every dawn was marked by a deluging
shower, which began without warning-drops or thunder. I observed that the
rain ceased suddenly on the 28th of April, and the lesser rains commenced
about a fortnight before the beginning of November.
From information derived
from Arabs of Zanzibar, whom I met at Naliele in the middle of the
country, the region to the east of the parts of Londa over which we have
traveled resembles them in its conformation. They report swampy steppes,
some of which have no trees, where the inhabitants use grass, and stalks
of native corn, for fuel. A large shallow lake is also pointed out in that
direction, named Tanganyenka, which requires three days for crossing in
canoes. It is connected with another named Kalagwe (Garague?), farther
north, and may be the Nyanja of the Maravim. From this lake is derived, by
numerous small streams, the River Loapula, the eastern branch of the
Zambesi, which, coming from the N.E., flows past the town of Cazembe.
The southern end of this
lake is ten days northeast of the town of Cazembe; and as that is probably
more than five days from Shinte, we can not have been nearer to it than
150 miles. Probably this lake is the watershed between the Zambesi and the
Nile, as Lake Dilolo is that between the Leeba and Kasai. But, however
this may be, the phenomena of the rainy season show that it is not
necessary to assume the existence of high snowy mountains until we get
reliable information. This, it is to be hoped, will be one of the results
of the researches of Captain Burton in his present journey.
The original valley
formation of the continent determined the northern and southern course of
the Zambesi in the centre, and also of the ancient river which once flowed
from the Linyanti basin to the Orange River. It also gave direction to the
southern and northern flow of the Kasai and the Nile. We find that between
the latitudes, say 6 Deg. and 12 Deg. S., from which, in all probability,
the head waters of those rivers diverge, there is a sort of elevated
partition in the great longitudinal valley. Presuming on the correctness
of the native information, which places the humid region to which the Nile
and Zambesi probably owe their origin within the latitudes indicated, why
does so much more rain fall there than in the same latitudes north of the
equator? Why does Darfur not give rise to great rivers, like Londa and the
country east of it? The prevailing winds in the ocean opposite the
territory pointed out are said to be from the N.E. and S.E. during a great
part of the year; they extend their currents on one side at least of the
equator quite beyond the middle of the continent, and even until in Angola
they meet the sea-breeze from the Atlantic. If the reader remembers the
explanation given at page 109, that the comparative want of rain on the
Kalahari Desert is caused by the mass of air losing its humidity as it
passes up and glides over the subtending ridge, and will turn to the map,
he may perceive that the same cause is in operation in an intense degree
by the mountains of Abyssinia to render the region about Darfur still more
arid, and that the flanking ranges mentioned lie much nearer the equator
than those which rob the Kalahari of humidity.
The Nile, even while
running through a part of that region, receives remarkably few branches.
Observing also that there is no known abrupt lateral mountain-range
between 6 Deg. and 12 Deg. S., but that there is an elevated partition
there, and that the southing and northing of the southeasters and
northeasters probably cause a confluence of the two great atmospheric
currents, he will perceive an accumulation of humidity on the flanks and
crown of the partition, instead of, as elsewhere, opposite the Kalahari
and Darfur, a deposition of the atmospheric moisture on the eastern slopes
of the subtending ridges. This explanation is offered with all deference
to those who have made meteorology their special study, and as a hint to
travelers who may have opportunity to examine the subject more fully. I
often observed, while on a portion of the partition, that the air by night
was generally quite still, but as soon as the sun's rays began to shoot
across the upper strata of the atmosphere in the early morning, a copious
discharge came suddenly down from the accumulated clouds. It always
reminded me of the experiment of putting a rod into a saturated solution
of a certain salt, causing instant crystallization. This, too, was the
period when I often observed the greatest amount of cold.
Since the explanation in
page 109 [Chapter 5 Paragraph 5] was printed, I have been pleased to see
the same explanation given by the popular astronomer and natural
philosopher, M. Babinet, in reference to the climate of France. It is
quoted from a letter of a correspondent of the `Times' in Paris: "In the
normal meteorological state of France and Europe, the west wind, which is
the counter-current of the trade-winds that constantly blow from the east
under the tropics -- the west wind, I say, after having touched France and
Europe by the western shores, re-descends by Marseilles and the
Mediterranean, Constantinople and the Archipelago, Astrakan and the
Caspian Sea, in order to merge again into the great circuit of the general
winds, and be thus carried again into the equatorial current. Whenever
these masses of air, impregnated with humidity during their passage over
the ocean, meet with an obstacle, such as a chain of mountains, for
example, they slide up the acclivity, and, when they reach the crest, find
themselves relieved from a portion of the column of air which pressed upon
them. Thus, dilating by reason of their elasticity, they cause a
considerable degree of cold, and a precipitation of humidity in the form
of fogs, clouds, rain, or snow. A similar effect occurs whatever be the
obstacle they find in their way. Now this is what had gradually taken
place before 1856. By some cause or other connected with the currents of
the atmosphere, the warm current from the west had annually ascended
northward, so that, instead of passing through France, it came from the
Baltic and the north of Germany, thus momentarily disturbing the ordinary
law of the temperatures of Europe. But in 1856 a sudden change occurred.
The western current again passed, as before, through the centre of France.
It met with an obstacle in the air which had not yet found its usual
outlet toward the west and south. Hence a stoppage, a rising, a consequent
dilation and fall of temperature, extraordinary rains and inundations.
But, now that the natural state of things is restored, nothing appears to
prognosticate the return of similar disasters. Were the western current
found annually to move further north, we might again experience
meteorological effects similar to those of 1856. Hence the regular seasons
may be considered re-established in France for several years to come. The
important meteorological communications which the Imperial Observatory is
daily establishing with the other countries of Europe, and the
introduction of apparatus for measuring the velocity of the aerial
currents and prevailing winds, will soon afford prognostics sufficiently
certain to enable an enlightened government to provide in time against
future evils."
After crossing the Northern
Lotembwa we met a party of the people of Kangenke, who had treated us
kindly on our way to the north, and sent him a robe of striped calico,
with an explanation of the reason for not returning through his village.
We then went on to the Lake Dilolo. It is a fine sheet of water, six or
eight miles long, and one or two broad, and somewhat of a triangular
shape. A branch proceeds from one of the angles, and flows into the
Southern Lotembwa. Though laboring under fever, the sight of the blue
waters, and the waves lashing the shore, had a most soothing influence on
the mind, after so much of lifeless, flat, and gloomy forest. The heart
yearned for the vivid impressions which are always created by the sight of
the broad expanse of the grand old ocean. That has life in it; but the
flat uniformities over which we had roamed made me feel as if buried
alive. We found Moene Dilolo (Lord of the Lake) a fat, jolly fellow, who
lamented that when they had no strangers they had plenty of beer, and
always none when they came. He gave us a handsome present of meal and
putrid buffalo's flesh. Meat can not be too far gone for them, as it is
used only in small quantities, as a sauce to their tasteless manioc. They
were at this time hunting antelopes, in order to send the skins as a
tribute to Matiamvo. Great quantities of fish are caught in the lake; and
numbers of young water-fowl are now found in the nests among the reeds.
Our progress had always
been slow, and I found that our rate of traveling could only be five hours
a day for five successive days. On the sixth, both men and oxen showed
symptoms of knocking up. We never exceeded two and a half or three miles
an hour in a straight line, though all were anxious to get home. The
difference in the rate of traveling between ourselves and the
slave-traders was our having a rather quicker step, a longer day's
journey, and twenty traveling days a month instead of their ten. When one
of my men became ill, but still could walk, others parted his luggage
among them; yet we had often to stop one day a week, besides Sundays,
simply for the sake of rest. The latitude of Lake Dilolo is 11d 32' 1" S.,
long. 22d 27' E.
JUNE 14TH. We reached the
collection of straggling villages over which Katema rules, and were
thankful to see old familiar faces again. Shakatwala performed the part of
a chief by bringing forth abundant supplies of food in his master's name.
He informed us that Katema, too, was out hunting skins for Matiamvo. In
different parts of this country, we remarked that when old friends were
inquired for, the reply was, "Ba hola" (They are getting better); or if
the people of a village were inquired for, the answer was, "They are
recovering," as if sickness was quite a common thing. Indeed, many with
whom we had made acquaintance in going north we now found were in their
graves. On the 15th Katema came home from his hunting, having heard of our
arrival. He desired me to rest myself and eat abundantly, for, being a
great man, I must feel tired; and he took good care to give the means of
doing so. All the people in these parts are exceedingly kind and liberal
with their food, and Katema was not behindhand. When he visited our
encampment, I presented him with a cloak of red baize, ornamented with
gold tinsel, which cost thirty shillings, according to the promise I had
made in going to Londa; also a cotton robe, both large and small beads, an
iron spoon, and a tin pannikin containing a quarter of a pound of powder.
He seemed greatly pleased with the liberality shown, and assured me that
the way was mine, and that no one should molest me in it if he could help
it.
We were informed by
Shakatwala that the chief never used any part of a present before making
an offer of it to his mother, or the departed spirit to whom he prayed.
Katema asked if I could not make a dress for him like the one I wore, so
that he might appear as a white man when any stranger visited him. One of
the councilors, imagining that he ought to second this by begging, Katema
checked him by saying, "Whatever strangers give, be it little or much, I
always receive it with thankfulness, and never trouble them for more." On
departing, he mounted on the shoulders of his spokesman, as the most
dignified mode of retiring. The spokesman being a slender man, and the
chief six feet high, and stout in proportion, there would have been a
break-down had he not been accustomed to it. We were very much pleased
with Katema; and next day he presented us with a cow, that we might enjoy
the abundant supplies of meal he had given with good animal food. He then
departed for the hunting-ground, after assuring me that the town and every
thing in it were mine, and that his factotum, Shakatwala, would remain and
attend to every want, and also conduct us to the Leeba. On attempting to
slaughter the cow Katema had given, we found the herd as wild as
buffaloes; and one of my men having only wounded it, they fled many miles
into the forest, and were with great difficulty brought back. Even the
herdsman was afraid to go near them. The majority of them were white, and
they were all beautiful animals. After hunting it for two days it was
dispatched at last by another ball. Here we saw a flock of jackdaws, a
rare sight in Londa, busy with the grubs in the valley, which are eaten by
the people too.
Leaving Katema's town on
the 19th, and proceeding four miles to the eastward, we forded the
southern branch of Lake Dilolo. We found it a mile and a quarter broad;
and, as it flows into the Lotembwa, the lake would seem to be a drain of
the surrounding flats, and to partake of the character of a fountain. The
ford was waist-deep, and very difficult, from the masses of arum and
rushes through which we waded. Going to the eastward about three miles, we
came to the Southern Lotembwa itself, running in a valley two miles broad.
It is here eighty or ninety yards wide, and contains numerous islands
covered with dense sylvan vegetation. In the rainy season the valley is
flooded, and as the waters dry up great multitudes of fish are caught.
This happens very extensively over the country, and fishing-weirs are met
with every where. A species of small fish, about the size of the minnow,
is caught in bagfuls and dried in the sun. The taste is a pungent aromatic
bitter, and it was partaken of freely by my people, although they had
never met with it before. On many of the paths which had been flooded a
nasty sort of slime of decayed vegetable matter is left behind, and much
sickness prevails during the drying up of the water. We did not find our
friend Mozinkwa at his pleasant home on the Lokaloeje; his wife was dead,
and he had removed elsewhere. He followed us some distance, but our
reappearance seemed to stir up his sorrows. We found the pontoon at the
village in which we left it. It had been carefully preserved, but a mouse
had eaten a hole in it and rendered it useless.
We traversed the extended
plain on the north bank of the Leeba, and crossed this river a little
farther on at Kanyonke's village, which is about twenty miles west of the
Peri hills, our former ford. The first stage beyond the Leeba was at the
rivulet Loamba, by the village of Chebende, nephew of Shinte; and next day
we met Chebende himself returning from the funeral of Samoana, his father.
He was thin and haggard-looking compared to what he had been before, the
probable effect of the orgies in which he had been engaged. Pitsane and
Mohorisi, having concocted the project of a Makololo village on the banks
of the Leeba, as an approach to the white man's market, spoke to Chebende,
as an influential man, on the subject, but he cautiously avoided
expressing an opinion. The idea which had sprung up in their own minds of
an establishment somewhere near the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye,
commended itself to my judgment at the time as a geographically suitable
point for civilization and commerce. The right bank of the Leeba there is
never flooded; and from that point there is communication by means of
canoes to the country of the Kanyika, and also to Cazembe and beyond, with
but one or two large waterfalls between. There is no obstruction down to
the Barotse valley; and there is probably canoe navigation down the Kafue
or Bashukulompo River, though it is reported to contain many cataracts. It
flows through a fertile country, well peopled with Bamasasa, who cultivate
the native produce largely. As this was the middle of winter, it may be
mentioned that the temperature of the water in the morning was 47 Deg.,
and that of the air 50 Deg., which, being loaded with moisture, was very
cold to the feelings. Yet the sun was very hot by day, and the temperature
in the coolest shade from 88 Deg. to 90 Deg.; in the evenings from 76 Deg.
to 78 Deg.
Before reaching the town of
Shinte we passed through many large villages of the Balobale, who have
fled from the chief Kangenke. The Mambari from Bihe come constantly to him
for trade; and, as he sells his people, great numbers of them escape
to Shinte and Katema, who refuse to give them up. We reached our friend
Shinte, and received a hearty welcome from this friendly old man, and
abundant provisions of the best he had. On hearing the report of the
journey given by my companions, and receiving a piece of cotton cloth
about two yards square, he said, "These Mambari cheat us by bringing
little pieces only; but the next time you pass I shall send men with you
to trade for me in Loanda." When I explained the use made of the slaves he
sold, and that he was just destroying his own tribe by selling his people,
and enlarging that of the Mambari for the sake of these small pieces of
cloth, it seemed to him quite a new idea. He entered into a long detail of
his troubles with Masiko, who had prevented him from cultivating that
friendship with the Makololo which I had inculcated, and had even
plundered the messengers he had sent with Kolimbota to the Barotse valley.
Shinte was particularly anxious to explain that Kolimbota had remained
after my departure of his own accord, and that he had engaged in the
quarrels of the country without being invited; that, in attempting to
capture one of the children of a Balobale man, who had offended the
Balonda by taking honey from a hive which did not belong to him, Kolimbota
had got wounded by a shot in the thigh, but that he had cured the wound,
given him a wife, and sent a present of cloth to Sekeletu, with a full
account of the whole affair. From the statement of Shinte we found that
Kolimbota had learned, before we left his town, that the way we intended
to take was so dangerous that it would be better for him to leave us to
our fate; and, as he had taken one of our canoes with him, it seemed
evident that he did not expect us to return. Shinte, however, sent a
recommendation to his sister Nyamoana to furnish as many canoes as we
should need for our descent of the Leeba and Leeambye.
As I had been desirous of
introducing some of the fruit-trees of Angola, both for my own sake and
that of the inhabitants, we had carried a pot containing a little
plantation of orange, cashew-trees, custard-apple-trees (`anona'), and a
fig-tree, with coffee, aracas (`Araca pomifera'), and papaws (`Carica
papaya') Fearing that, if we took them farther south at present, they
might be killed by the cold, we planted them out in an inclosure of one of
Shinte's principal men, and, at his request, promised to give Shinte a
share when grown. They know the value of fruits, but at present have none
except wild ones. A wild fruit we frequently met with in Londa is eatable,
and, when boiled, yields a large quantity of oil, which is much used in
anointing both head and body. He eagerly accepted some of the seeds of the
palm-oil-tree (`Elaeis Guineensis'), when told that this would produce oil
in much greater quantity than their native tree, which is not a palm.
There are very few palm-trees in this country, but near Bango we saw a few
of a peculiar palm, the ends of the leaf-stalks of which remain attached
to the trunk, giving it a triangular shape.
It is pleasant to observe
that all the tribes in Central Africa are fond of agriculture. My men had
collected quantities of seeds in Angola, and now distributed them among
their friends. Some even carried onions, garlic, and bird's-eye pepper,
growing in pannikins. The courts of the Balonda, planted with tobacco,
sugar-cane, and plants used as relishes, led me to the belief that care
would be taken of my little nursery.
The thermometer early in
the mornings ranged from 42 Deg. to 52 Deg., at noon 94 Deg. to 96 Deg.,
and in the evening about 70 Deg. It was placed in the shade of my tent,
which was pitched under the thickest tree we could find. The sensation of
cold, after the heat of the day, was very keen. The Balonda at this season
never leave their fires till nine or ten in the morning. As the cold was
so great here, it was probably frosty at Linyanti; I therefore feared to
expose my young trees there. The latitude of Shinte's town is 12d 37' 35"
S., longitude 22d 47' E.
We remained with Shinte
till the 6th of July, he being unwilling to allow us to depart before
hearing in a formal manner, in the presence of his greatest councilor
Chebende, a message from Limboa, the brother of Masiko. When Masiko fled
from the Makololo country in consequence of a dislike of being in a state
of subjection to Sebituane, he came into the territory of Shinte, who
received him kindly, and sent orders to all the villages in his vicinity
to supply him with food. Limboa fled in a westerly direction with a number
of people, and also became a chief. His country was sometimes called
Nyenko, but by the Mambari and native Portuguese traders "Mboela" -- the
place where they "turned again", or back. As one of the fruits of
polygamy, the children of different mothers are always in a state of
variance. Each son endeavors to gain the ascendency by enticing away the
followers of the others. The mother of Limboa being of a high family, he
felt aggrieved because the situation chosen by Masiko was better than his.
Masiko lived at a convenient distance from the Saloisho hills, where there
is abundance of iron ore, with which the inhabitants manufacture hoes,
knives, etc. They are also skillful in making wooden vessels. Limboa felt
annoyed because he was obliged to apply for these articles through his
brother, whom he regarded as his inferior, and accordingly resolved to
come into the same district. As this was looked upon as an assertion of
superiority which Masiko would resist, it was virtually a declaration of
war.
Both Masiko and Shinte
pleaded my injunction to live in peace and friendship, but Limboa,
confident of success, now sent the message which I was about to hear --
"That he, too, highly approved of the `word' I had given, but would only
for once transgress a little, and live at peace for ever afterward." He
now desired the aid of Shinte to subdue his brother. Messengers came from
Masiko at the same time, desiring assistance to repel him. Shinte felt
inclined to aid Limboa, but, as he had advised them both to wait till I
came, I now urged him to let the quarrel alone, and he took my advice.
We parted on the best
possible terms with our friend Shinte, and proceeded by our former path to
the village of his sister Nyamoana, who is now a widow. She received us
with much apparent feeling, and said, "We had removed from our former
abode to the place where you found us, and had no idea then that it was
the spot where my husband was to die." She had come to the River Lofuje,
as they never remain in a place where death has once visited them. We
received the loan of five small canoes from her, and also one of those we
had left here before, to proceed down the Leeba. After viewing the Coanza
at Massangano, I thought the Leeba at least a third larger, and upward of
two hundred yards wide. We saw evidence of its rise during its last flood
having been upward of forty feet in perpendicular height; but this is
probably more than usual, as the amount of rain was above the average. My
companions purchased also a number of canoes from the Balonda. These are
very small, and can carry only two persons. They are made quite thin and
light, and as sharp as racing-skiffs, because they are used in hunting
animals in the water. The price paid was a string of beads equal to the
length of the canoe. We advised them to bring canoes for sale to the
Makololo, as they would gladly give them cows in exchange.
In descending the Leeba we
saw many herds of wild animals, especially the tahetsi (`Aigoceros
equina'), one magnificent antelope, the putokuane (`Antilope niger'), and
two fine lions. The Balobale, however, are getting well supplied with
guns, and will soon thin out the large game. At one of the villages we
were entreated to attack some buffaloes which grazed in the gardens every
night and destroyed the manioc. As we had had no success in shooting at
the game we had seen, and we all longed to have a meal of meat, we
followed the footprints of a number of old bulls. They showed a great
amount of cunning by selecting the densest parts of very closely-planted
forests to stand or recline in during the day. We came within six yards of
them several times before we knew that they were so near. We only heard
them rush away among the crashing branches, catching only a glimpse of
them. It was somewhat exciting to feel, as we trod on the dry leaves with
stealthy steps, that, for any thing we knew, we might next moment be
charged by one of the most dangerous beasts of the forest. We threaded out
their doublings for hours, drawn on by a keen craving for animal food, as
we had been entirely without salt for upward of two months, but never
could get a shot.
In passing along the side
of the water every where except in Londa, green frogs spring out at your
feet, and light in the water as if taking a "header"; and on the Leeambye
and Chobe we have great numbers of small green frogs (`Rana fasciata',
Boie), which light on blades of grass with remarkable precision; but on
coming along the Leeba I was struck by the sight of a light green toad
about an inch long. The leaf might be nearly perpendicular, but it stuck
to it like a fly. It was of the same size as the `Brachymerus
bi-fasciatus' (Smith),* which I saw only once in the Bakwain country.
Though small, it was hideous, being colored jet black, with vermilion
spots.
The discovery of this last
species is thus mentioned by that accomplished naturalist, Dr. Smith: "On
the banks of the Limpopo River, close to the tropic of Capricorn, a
massive tree was cut down to obtain wood to repair a wagon. The workman,
while sawing the trunk longitudinally nearly along its centre, remarked,
on reaching a certain point, `It is hollow, and will not answer the
purpose for which it is wanted.' He persevered, however, and when a
division into equal halves was effected, it was discovered that the saw in
its course had crossed a large hole, in which were five specimens of the
species just described, each about an inch in length. Every exertion was
made to discover a means of communication between the external air and the
cavity, but without success. Every part of the latter was probed with the
utmost care, and water was kept in each half for a considerable time,
without any passing into the wood. The inner surface of the cavity was
black, as if charred, and so was likewise the adjoining wood for half an
inch from the cavity. The tree, at the part where the latter existed, was
19 inches in diameter; the length of the trunk was 18 feet. When the
Batrachia above mentioned were discovered, they appeared inanimate, but
the influence of a warm sun to which they were subjected soon imparted to
them a moderate degree of vigor. In a few hours from the time they were
liberated they were tolerably active, and able to move from place to place
apparently with great ease."
Before reaching the Makondo
rivulet, latitude 13d 23' 12" S., we came upon the tsetse in such numbers
that many bites were inflicted on my poor ox, in spite of a man with a
branch warding them off. The bite of this insect does not affect the
donkey as it does cattle. The next morning, the spots on which my ox had
been bitten were marked by patches of hair about half an inch broad being
wetted by exudation. Poor Sinbad had carried me all the way from the Leeba
to Golungo Alto, and all the way back again, without losing any of his
peculiarities, or ever becoming reconciled to our perversity in forcing
him away each morning from the pleasant pasturage on which he had fed. I
wished to give the climax to his usefulness, and allay our craving for
animal food at the same time; but my men having some compunction, we
carried him to end his days in peace at Naliele.
Having dispatched a message
to our old friend Manenko, we waited a day opposite her village, which was
about fifteen miles from the river. Her husband was instantly dispatched
to meet us with liberal presents of food, she being unable to travel in
consequence of a burn on the foot. Sambanza gave us a detailed account of
the political affairs of the country, and of Kolimbota's evil doings, and
next morning performed the ceremony called "Kasendi", for cementing our
friendship. It is accomplished thus: The hands of the parties are joined
(in this case Pitsane and Sambanza were the parties engaged); small
incisions are made on the clasped hands, on the pits of the stomach of
each, and on the right cheeks and foreheads. A small quantity of blood is
taken off from these points in both parties by means of a stalk of grass.
The blood from one person is put into a pot of beer, and that of the
second into another; each then drinks the other's blood, and they are
supposed to become perpetual friends or relations. During the drinking of
the beer, some of the party continue beating the ground with short clubs,
and utter sentences by way of ratifying the treaty. The men belonging to
each then finish the beer. The principals in the performance of "Kasendi"
are henceforth considered blood-relations, and are bound to disclose to
each other any impending evil. If Sekeletu should resolve to attack the
Balonda, Pitsane would be under obligation to give Sambanza warning to
escape, and so on the other side. They now presented each other with the
most valuable presents they had to bestow. Sambanza walked off with
Pitsane's suit of green baize faced with red, which had been made in
Loanda, and Pitsane, besides abundant supplies of food, obtained two
shells similar to that I had received from Shinte.
On one occasion I became
blood-relation to a young woman by accident. She had a large cartilaginous
tumor between the bones of the fore-arm, which, as it gradually enlarged,
so distended the muscles as to render her unable to work. She applied to
me to excise it. I requested her to bring her husband, if he were willing
to have the operation performed, and, while removing the tumor, one
of the small arteries squirted some blood into my eye. She remarked, when
I was wiping the blood out of it, "You were a friend before, now you are a
blood-relation; and when you pass this way, always send me word, that I
may cook food for you." In creating these friendships, my men had the full
intention of returning; each one had his `Molekane' (friend) in every
village of the friendly Balonda. Mohorisi even married a wife in the town
of Katema, and Pitsane took another in the town of Shinte. These alliances
were looked upon with great favor by the Balonda chiefs, as securing the
good-will of the Makololo.
In order that the social
condition of the tribes may be understood by the reader, I shall mention
that, while waiting for Sambanza, a party of Barotse came from Nyenko, the
former residence of Limboa, who had lately crossed the Leeba on his way
toward Masiko. The head man of this party had brought Limboa's son to his
father, because the Barotse at Nyenko had, since the departure of Limboa,
elected Nananko, another son of Santuru, in his stead; and our visitor, to
whom the boy had been intrusted as a guardian, thinking him to be in
danger, fled with him to his father. The Barotse, whom Limboa had left
behind at Nyenko, on proceeding to elect Nananko, said, "No, it is quite
too much for Limboa to rule over two places."
I would have gone to visit
Limboa and Masiko too, in order to prevent hostilities, but the state of
my ox would not allow it. I therefore sent a message to Limboa by some of
his men, protesting against war with his brother, and giving him formal
notice that the path up the Leeba had been given to us by the Balonda, the
owners of the country, and that no attempt must ever be made to obstruct
free intercourse.
On leaving this place we
were deserted by one of our party, Mboenga, an Ambonda man, who had
accompanied us all the way to Loanda and back. His father was living with
Masiko, and it was natural for him to wish to join his own family again.
He went off honestly, with the exception of taking a fine "tari" skin
given me by Nyamoana, but he left a parcel of gun-flints which he had
carried for me all the way from Loanda. I regretted parting with him thus,
and sent notice to him that he need not have run away, and if he wished to
come to Sekeletu again he would be welcome. We subsequently met a large
party of Barotse fleeing in the same direction; but when I represented to
them that there was a probability of their being sold as slaves in Londa,
and none in the country of Sekeletu, they concluded to return. The
grievance which the Barotse most feel is being obliged to live with
Sekeletu at Linyanti, where there is neither fish nor fowl, nor any other
kind of food, equal in quantity to what they enjoy in their own fat
valley.
A short distance below the
confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye we met a number of hunters belonging
to the tribe called Mambowe, who live under Masiko. They had dried flesh
of hippopotami, buffaloes, and alligators. They stalk the animals by using
the stratagem of a cap made of the skin of a leche's or poku's head,
having the horns still attached, and another made so as to represent the
upper white part of the crane called jabiru (`Mycteru Senegalensis'), with
its long neck and beak above. With these on, they crawl through the grass;
they can easily put up their heads so far as to see their prey without
being recognized until they are within bow-shot. They presented me with
three fine water-turtles, one of which, when cooked, had upward of forty
eggs in its body. The shell of the egg is flexible, and it is of the same
size at both ends, like those of the alligator. The flesh, and especially
the liver, is excellent. The hunters informed us that, when the message
inculcating peace among the tribes came to Masiko, the common people were
so glad at the prospect of "binding up the spears", that they ran to the
river, and bathed and plunged in it for joy. This party had been sent by
Masiko to the Makololo for aid to repel their enemy, but, afraid to go
thither, had spent the time in hunting. They have a dread of the Makololo,
and hence the joy they expressed when peace was proclaimed. The Mambowe
hunters were much alarmed until my name was mentioned. They then joined
our party, and on the following day discovered a hippopotamus dead, which
they had previously wounded. This was the first feast of flesh my men had
enjoyed, for, though the game was wonderfully abundant, I had quite got
out of the way of shooting, and missed perpetually.
Once I went with the
determination of getting so close that I should not miss a zebra. We went
along one of the branches that stretch out from the river in a small
canoe, and two men, stooping down as low as they could, paddled it slowly
along to an open space near to a herd of zebras and pokus. Peering over
the edge of the canoe, the open space seemeda patch of wet ground, such as
is often seen on the banks of a river, made smooth as the resting-place of
alligators. When we came within a few yards of it, we found by the
precipitate plunging of the reptile that this was a large alligator
itself. Although I had been most careful to approach near enough, I
unfortunately only broke the hind leg of a zebra. My two men pursued it,
but the loss of a hind leg does not prevent this animal from a gallop. As
I walked slowly after the men on an extensive plain covered with a great
crop of grass, which was `laid' by its own weight, I observed that a
solitary buffalo, disturbed by others of my own party, was coming to me at
a gallop. I glanced around, but the only tree on the plain was a hundred
yards off, and there was no escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle,
with the intention of giving him a steady shot in the forehead when he
should come within three or four yards of me. The thought flashed across
my mind, "What if your gun misses fire?" I placed it to my shoulder as he
came on at full speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is a
lumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and bunch of grass
fifteen yards off made him swerve a little, and exposed his shoulder. I
just heard the ball crack there as I fell flat on my face. The pain must
have made him renounce his purpose, for he bounded close past me on to the
water, where he was found dead. In expressing my thankfulness to God among
my men, they were much offended with themselves for not being present to
shield me from this danger. The tree near me was a camel-thorn, and
reminded me that we had come back to the land of thorns again, for the
country we had left is one of evergreens.
JULY 27TH. We reached the
town of Libonta, and were received with demonstrations of joy such as I
had never witnessed before. The women came forth to meet us, making their
curious dancing gestures and loud lulliloos. Some carried a mat and stick,
in imitation of a spear and shield. Others rushed forward and kissed the
hands and cheeks of the different persons of their acquaintance among us,
raising such a dust that it was quite a relief to get to the men assembled
and sitting with proper African decorum in the kotla.
We were looked upon as men
risen from the dead, for the most skillful of their diviners had
pronounced us to have perished long ago. After many expressions of joy at
meeting, I arose, and, thanking them, explained the causes of our long
delay, but left the report to be made by their own countrymen. Formerly I
had been the chief speaker, now I would leave the task of speaking to
them. Pitsane then delivered a speech of upward of an hour in length,
giving a highly flattering picture of the whole journey, of the kindness
of the white men in general, and of Mr. Gabriel in particular. He
concluded by saying that I had done more for them than they expected; that
I had not only opened up a path for them to the other white men, but
conciliated all the chiefs along the route. The oldest man present rose
and answered this speech, and, among other things, alluded to the disgust
I felt at the Makololo for engaging in marauding expeditions against
Lechulatebe and Sebolamakwaia, of which we had heard from the first
persons we met, and which my companions most energetically denounced as
"mashue hela", entirely bad. He entreated me not to lose heart, but to
reprove Sekeletu as my child. Another old man followed with the same
entreaties. The following day we observed as our thanksgiving to God for
his goodness in bringing us all back in safety to our friends. My men
decked themselves out in their best, and I found that, although their
goods were finished, they had managed to save suits of European clothing,
which, being white, with their red caps, gave them rather a dashing
appearance. They tried to walk like the soldiers they had seen in Loanda,
and called themselves my "braves" (batlabani). During the service they all
sat with their guns over their shoulders, and excited the unbounded
admiration of the women and children.
I addressed them all on the
goodness of God in preserving us from all the dangers of strange tribes
and disease. We had a similar service in the afternoon. The men gave us
two fine oxen for slaughter, and the women supplied us abundantly with
milk, meal, and butter. It was all quite gratuitous, and I felt ashamed
that I could make no return. My men explained the total expenditure of our
means, and the Libontese answered gracefully, "It does not matter; you
have opened a path for us, and we shall have sleep." Strangers came
flocking from a distance, and seldom empty-handed. Their presents I
distributed among my men. Our progress down the Barotse valley was just
like this. Every village gave us an ox, and sometimes two. The people were
wonderfully kind. I felt, and still feel, most deeply grateful, and tried
to benefit them in the only way I could, by imparting the knowledge of
that Savior who can comfort and supply them in the time of need, and my
prayer is that he may send his good Spirit to instruct them and lead them
into his kingdom. Even now I earnestly long to return, and make some
recompense to them for their kindness. In passing them on our way to the
north, their liberality might have been supposed to be influenced by the
hope of repayment on our return, for the white man's land is imagined to
be the source of every ornament they prize most. But, though we set out
from Loanda with a considerable quantity of goods, hoping both to pay our
way through the stingy Chiboque, and to make presents to the kind Balonda
and still more generous Makololo, the many delays caused by sickness made
us expend all my stock, and all the goods my men procured by their own
labor at Loanda, and we returned to the Makololo as poor as when we set
out. Yet no distrust was shown, and my poverty did not lessen my
influence. They saw that I had been exerting myself for their benefit
alone, and even my men remarked, "Though we return as poor as we went, we
have not gone in vain." They began immediately to collect tusks of
hippopotami and other ivory for a second journey. |